58 replies to this topic

[dr69]

Hi everyone i have a Toshiba Satellite L505D-GS6000, which is out of warranty and i was trying to Factory Restore. half way on the restore it stopped responding so i had to turn it off and when i booted again i tried to restore again but the Restore partition wasnt available no more, basically it wasnt even booting cause it was always asking for a boot disk, the i noticed that nothing on the PC was working or was not recognized cause i tried to install a retail windows and it wasnt booting from the CD, either from the USB, neither from the HDD. then i took it to a friend of mine to see what he could help me with and still the same i think he tried to install xp sp2 cause i found his cd inside the drive.
so what do you guys think i can do here?
is the PC done for good?
is there a chance that i can fix it?
is there a way to fix it?
can anyone provide me with apps, programs, links, names of programs i can use to restore my pc to a usable state at least?
all i want is to be able to use it again

thanks in advanced i hope someone can help me since this is my first time asking for help
have a nice day

[amalux]

Hi dr69 and welcome

Sorry for your troubles, probably dead or dying hdd or maybe just loose connection. Try opening access panel for drive (usually simple 1-2 screws) to check connection. Can you connect the drive to another PC (USB adapter) to see condition of partitions/data? It's possible restore partition was overwritten somehow. If backup image is there you might still be able to restore it; if not you can install fresh if hdd working; if not you can replace the drive. If not booting from CD, maybe BIOS boot order needs to be changed to look to CD first. If all this sounds too daunting, you should take it to a qualified repair shop

[dr69]

Hi dr69 and welcome

Sorry for your troubles, probably dead or dying hdd or maybe just loose connection. Try opening access panel for drive (usually simple 1-2 screws) to check connection. Can you connect the drive to another PC (USB adapter) to see condition of partitions/data? It's possible restore partition was overwritten somehow. If backup image is there you might still be able to restore it; if not you can install fresh if hdd working; if not you can replace the drive. If not booting from CD, maybe BIOS boot order needs to be changed to look to CD first. If all this sounds too daunting, you should take it to a qualified repair shop

The Connections from drive to pc are fine, they are not the problem. ill try connecting to another PC to see if drive is available and to see if theres anything inside left. i have an extra 80gb that i might try in it. the thing is that none if the ports are working, therefore usb are not working, and cd is not working either. do you know anyway around this particular issue?

thanks in advanced bro

[dr69]

ok i connected the HDD to my XP Desktop and when i access it through: Control panel--> Performance and Maintenance-->Administrative Tools-->Computer Management--> then click on Storage and select Disk MAnagement this is what comes up:

Disk 1
Basic
298.09GB
Online

289.08GB
Unallocated

HDDRECOVERY
9.01GB NTFS
Healthy (Unknown Partition)

So what can i do from here since i can see that the recovery is there is just theres no way to access it. and i think is because theres no Os cause theres no way to install it since the CD-ROM is not being read by the system

does anyone knows what to do here?
can anyone help me?

Edited by dr69, 19 July 2012 - 11:25 PM.

[amalux]

This is where it would be nice to have a rescue PE at the ready. You need to look at the contents of the HddRecovery partition to see if there's a WIM image or maybe a GHO etc. that could be a factory restore image. The .wim can be restored with imagex like this

imagex /apply d:\image\factory.wim 1 c:

where c: is the partition you want to restore to; backup any data you need and then format it before restoring image. If it's a GHO, TIB etc. you can restore with the appropriate program but you need some kind of PE or rescue boot media OR you can do this from another PC but you need to know what you're doing. The first thing to determine is if there's a usable image there; it will be a large file around 4-6GB.

It's hard to say what's going on with that laptop; did the USB, CD etc. work before? Those devices don't require an OS installed or special drivers so probably a hardware failure of some kind. What devices are shown in BIOS under boot order? Can you hit the F key (F12) to get a boot menu? What do you see on the screen when powered up?

[dr69]

This is where it would be nice to have a rescue PE at the ready. You need to look at the contents of the HddRecovery partition to see if there's a WIM image or maybe a GHO etc. that could be a factory restore image. The .wim can be restored with imagex like this

imagex /apply d:imagefactory.wim 1 c:

where c: is the partition you want to restore to; backup any data you need and then format it before restoring image. If it's a GHO, TIB etc. you can restore with the appropriate program but you need some kind of PE or rescue boot media OR you can do this from another PC but you need to know what you're doing. The first thing to determine is if there's a usable image there; it will be a large file around 4-6GB.

It's hard to say what's going on with that laptop; did the USB, CD etc. work before? Those devices don't require an OS installed or special drivers so probably a hardware failure of some kind. What devices are shown in BIOS under boot order? Can you hit the F key (F12) to get a boot menu? What do you see on the screen when powered up?

ok thanks for your response, the problem is that right now the nor the USB or the CD-ROM work, but they used to work before. what kind of software do i need to be able to see the contents of the HDDRECOVERY and i do think or know that thats where the factory image is.
Also can you tell me what those words mean: GHO, TIB, etc?
ok when i press the F12 key it gives me the list of devices and this is the list of devices:
1). HDD #1/SSD #1
2). eSATA
3). CD/DVD
4). FDD
5). LAN
6). USB

<Enter Setup>

but then if i put a CD/DVD with a OS in the drive it says the Following:

Intel UNDI, PXE-2.1 (build 082)
Copyright © 1997-2000 Intel Corporation
For Realtek RTL8101/8102E PCI-E Ethernet Controller v1.07 (080320)
PXE-E61: Media Test Failure, Chack Cable
PXE-M0F: Exiting PXE ROM
No bootable device -- insert boot disk and press any key

Soooo, what do you think man?
you got any ideas? also yes, all ports used to work including CDROM, USB, etc

[amalux]

...the problem is that right now the nor the USB or the CD-ROM work, but they used to work before.

If they really don't work, it means you can't boot to any media that might help you e.g. recovery DVD https://www.csd.tosh...kceghdgngdgmn.0 or PE boot disk like Win7PE, LiveXP etc. so you're options are very limited. IF you have a proper backup image and know how to restore it from another computer you should be able to boot from the hdd again but this is a big IF. It looks like the hard drive may have failed so you would be looking at replacing the hdd and optical drive and getting the recovery disks from toshiba. None of this guarantees it will work; if the failure is on the motherboard it's probably time for a new computer.

what kind of software do i need to be able to see the contents of the HDDRECOVERY and i do think or know that thats where the factory image is.
Also can you tell me what those words mean: GHO, TIB, etc?

Any OS capable of seeing that file system, Windows 7, Win7PE etc. Those are hard drive image formats; GHO is Symantec Ghost; TIB is Acronis TrueImage; WIM is Windows Imaging Format http://en.wikipedia...._Imaging_Format just to name a few.

My suggestion would be to take the laptop to a qualified tech to see what's really going on and make a decision from there

[Uvais]

Hello dr69

if you don't have your Driver/software's DVD (Backup) than you first need to Copy All Content from your Recovery partition.
..

for this you need to boot from LiveXP/7 in your Home-PC and assign a letter of your Recovery Partition than Copy.. and after Copy you can do any type of Practical with your Laptop



Edit : Check ..Is you Laptop's HDD/SSD/ OR DVD-Drive Showing in BIOS ?

[steve6375]

Did you try doing a BIOS Setup Reset to defaults?
Is there a BIOS Setup menu option for Boot Order?

[MedEvil]

Just for the record.
If CD, HDD, USB used to work fine and now are not anymore and this is not just due to the user not knowing, how to choose the correct settings,. then it is a waste of money to buy a new CD or HDD, as it is highly unlikely that multiple devices fail at the same time.

The more logical assumption in this case would be, that the soutbridge is defective.

However my money is still on a configuration error.




PS: dr69 how do you know USB used to work fine? Did you ever boot from a USB device?

[steve6375]

I think the trouble lies between the keyboard and the chair!

[MedEvil]

You mean the biggest bug always sits in front of the screen?

[DarkPhoeniX]

dr69 it will cost you about 30 USD to reload your software at a PC repair shop near you

[dr69]

Did you try doing a BIOS Setup Reset to defaults?
Is there a BIOS Setup menu option for Boot Order?

i did try the BIOS Setup Reset to Defaults options and nothing different happened, meaning that my CDROM is still not recognized

Just for the record.
If CD, HDD, USB used to work fine and now are not anymore and this is not just due to the user not knowing, how to choose the correct settings,. then it is a waste of money to buy a new CD or HDD, as it is highly unlikely that multiple devices fail at the same time.

The more logical assumption in this case would be, that the soutbridge is defective.

However my money is still on a configuration error.





PS: dr69 how do you know USB used to work fine? Did you ever boot from a USB device?

ok when you say the Southbridge, do you mean the actual hardware on the Mobo right?
cause i remember the problem being that during the restore process the PC froze and then after i tried to restore again i couldnt and then it didnt wanna turn on after that cause it says there is not Boot Disk the C particion is Unallocated i think i have to format the C partition again but i need the access to it via CDROM or USB but so far i out of ideas.

and when you say configuration error do you mean Bios Config, or actual Win Config?
cause i can see the Bios just fine and the available boot devices but then when i try to boot from one of the devices on the list it talks about cheking the cables, like if theres no physical connected device even thou is showing it in the list.
i tried installing Win 7 from A DVD and when i put it in the drive the drive blinks but then it doesnt keep reading the disk and doesnt do anything.
im gonna try getting a cdrom from my dell laptop hopefully they are compatible cause i think this one is SATA.

still trying

[steve6375]

The message about check connections is probably because it is trying to boot via the network (PXE boot).
I find it highly improbable that the south bridge chip is damaged as the keyboard and POST (Power On Self Test) are clearly working.
I would check the BIOS boot order, turn off any BIOS 'quiet' setting so it will do a full POST and you can see any error messages.
You mentions that it would not boot from USB - what 'USB' did you try exactly and did you select the USB device via the BIOS Boot Selection menu or did you change the boot order so that it booted from USB?
Did the BIOS detect the USB device and list it on the screen?

[dr69]

The message about check connections is probably because it is trying to boot via the network (PXE boot).
I find it highly improbable that the south bridge chip is damaged as the keyboard and POST (Power On Self Test) are clearly working.
I would check the BIOS boot order, turn off any BIOS 'quiet' setting so it will do a full POST and you can see any error messages.
You mentions that it would not boot from USB - what 'USB' did you try exactly and did you select the USB device via the BIOS Boot Selection menu or did you change the boot order so that it booted from USB?
Did the BIOS detect the USB device and list it on the screen?

You know what? im gona try those options in the mean time, but the issue right now is that i do have a WinXp live CD but i dont have Win7 Live CD and then i need the commnads to make my 8GB USB bootable. believe me i know im asking for a lot here since i started, but just bear with me for a while, pleeease cause all i want is to see my laptop working again.
i do thank you all for the help that you have given me so far.
if someone has those 7LiveCD and Commands for USB please let me have them or direct/link me to them so i start the testing again.
Also i dont really think that is something Hardware-Related that is defective.
if you guys requeste it i can even take screenshot with my phone of whatever you want info from from the BIOS so you can actually see what it says or i can just continue typing it. ur choice guys
thanks again thou

[steve6375]

I don't understand! How do you intend to boot from a USB drive if you 'know' that the system does not boot from USB?
In post #14 you said you had a Win7 DVD so why not use that - why do you need a liveCD when a win7 install DVD is a live (cut down) OS?
There are plenty of tutorials on my site or on reboot for creating a live USB drive.

1. What OS is your Tosh licensed legally for?
2. What BIOS options are set?
3. How do you 'know' that it won't boot from USB (what USB boot media do you have and how do you know it works)
4. Does the BIOS POST detect a connected bootable USB drive
5. Is a bootable USB device listed in the BIOS boot list if you connect one and switch on the Tosh


Pls answer these Q's to obtain any further assistance from me.

[dr69]

well i assume it doesnt boot from USB since i just have a plain 8GB usb drive probably just by drag and dropping an dumped Win image, i dont think it wont just boot like that, i think i have to make the drive bootable from the command prompt... am i wrong?
Also i do have a CD but i Do know for a a fat and like i said in previous post it does open the drive and when i close it it blinks and then it stops blinking and doesnt actually boot fro it.
ok now:
1. Win 7 Home Premium
3. like i said i dont know for sure if the USB ports work or not but i assume they dont cause nothing seems to work so far and no i dont have any USb bootable media
2, 4,5 i dont quite know how to answer this questions properly but below i will affix screenshot of the BIOS and Boot Manager Menu and the end Result (the POST i think) and then it stays there until a key is pressed, etc.

https://www.dropbox....25/IMAG1530.jpg
https://www.dropbox....tk/IMAG1531.jpg
https://www.dropbox....2e/IMAG1532.jpg
https://www.dropbox....4r/IMAG1533.jpg
https://www.dropbox....zz/IMAG1534.jpg
https://www.dropbox....9b/IMAG1535.jpg
https://www.dropbox....y4/IMAG1536.jpg
https://www.dropbox....ym/IMAG1538.jpg

Sorry i had to post them on DB, i didnt know how to attach them here
hopefully those pics will answer the Q's i couldnt answer myself.

[steve6375]

OK!
So if your BIOS is detecting the hard disk and the DVD ROM drive (which it is) then they ought to be working.
To test booting from USB - format a USB Pen drive with RMPrepUSB (use BOOTMGR WinPEv2/v3 option + NTFS + Format as HDD) and then copy all the files from your Home Premium DVD to it (including any hidden or system files - use Explorer - Tools - Folder Options - View to change defaults so you can see hidden and system files, etc.). Check if it boots by clicking on the RMPrepUSb QEMU button. If it does then try it on your 'broken' system. If it does not boot under QEMU at all, then you don't have a bootable USB drive and something went wrong with the USB preparation or you don't have a bootable DVD.

P.S. in picture https://www.dropbox....zz/IMAG1534.jpg change the boot order so USB is at the top.

[wimb]

Also in https://www.dropbox....tk/IMAG1531.jpg
set SATA Controller Mode to IDE (or Compatible)

AHCI Mode is known to give a lot of trouble ....

[steve6375]

Also in https://www.dropbox....tk/IMAG1531.jpg
set SATA Controller Mode to IDE (or Compatible)
AHCI Mode is known to give a lot of trouble ....

Sure, but if Win7 was already installed and can be repaired, it will crash if you change it to IDE mode now. So I wasn't going to mention it as we can't legally install XP onto a Home Premium licensed laptop... For now, Win7 will work fine in AHCI mode so I would not change it...

[wimb]

then i took it to a friend of mine to see what he could help me with and still the same i think he tried to install xp sp2 cause i found his cd inside the drive.

Yes, but may be XP Setup has been used already ..... And in that case you need in BIOS SATA Controller = IDE Mode

[dr69]

OK!
So if your BIOS is detecting the hard disk and the DVD ROM drive (which it is) then they ought to be working.
To test booting from USB - format a USB Pen drive with RMPrepUSB (use BOOTMGR WinPEv2/v3 option + NTFS + Format as HDD) and then copy all the files from your Home Premium DVD to it (including any hidden or system files - use Explorer - Tools - Folder Options - View to change defaults so you can see hidden and system files, etc.). Check if it boots by clicking on the RMPrepUSb QEMU button. If it does then try it on your 'broken' system. If it does not boot under QEMU at all, then you don't have a bootable USB drive and something went wrong with the USB preparation or you don't have a bootable DVD.

P.S. in picture https://www.dropbox....zz/IMAG1534.jpg change the boot order so USB is at the top.

1 formatted the USB with RMPrepUSB + Using the options you suggested
2 copied all the files from my 7 install dvd through Explorer like you suggested
3 didnt check if it booted with the Qmenu button cause it was asking me to create a hard disk something which i didnt do.
4 put it in the drive, booted the PC and nothing happened.
5 how did i test if the USB was bootable? like so: i got another PC that has no HDD i inserted the USB and booted and selected to boot from USB and this is what came up in the screen of the boot manger:

Windows Setup [EMS Enabled]
x64 Recovery Mode [EMS Enabled]

and in this case in that PC it even aotustarted the first choice cause it took me to the Setup screen of Win 7
sooo, what do you think about whats going on here now?
do you have any ideas?

ok let me tell you this idea i have a USB dongle that like i said in a previous post i used to view that the C: was unallocated and that there was a RECOVERY partition. so, im thinking that maybe i could with PrepUSB format the C: partition + make it Boot as HDD + my Win 7 DVD to it, then reinsert the Hdd into the laptop to see if it boots as C: and guides me through the setup process, that thing is that i dont want the formatting process to delete or format the RECOVERY partition by mistake.
what do you think?

[steve6375]

4 put it in the drive, booted the PC and nothing happened.

I am sure that is not quite true...
When you switch on a PC with a bootable USb stick inserted into a USb port, lots of things happen!
First the power light on the PC comes on, it may beep, then the display may show some text or a logo, the keyboard LEDs may flash, you may see some messages on the display, then the hard disk light and the light on your USb drive may flash, then you may see some more messages, etc. etc.

• Did you insert the USB pen into a USB port on the PC and then switch it on and go into the BIOS menu?
• Is the USB pen listed as a boot device by the BIOS - if so what EXACTLY?
• Do you see any messages from the BIOS just before it tries to boot (like 'USB Device xxxxx yyy zzz found') - what precisely are these messages (any relate to USB devices or CD/DVD for instance)
• Did you change the boot order so that USB is the first boot device?
• Does the USB Flash pen LED light up at all during the BIOS power-on/boot sequence?

QEMU just creates a virtual hard disk which is just a single file on your system, it does no harm to anything on the system and you can easily delete the harddisk.img file later if you don't want it. Or just use 0 to tell it not to create a hard disk virtual file and you can still test if the USB drive will boot or not.
Don't use RMPrepUSB to format your hard disk - you will lose everything!

[dr69]

I am sure that is not quite true...
When you switch on a PC with a bootable USb stick inserted into a USb port, lots of things happen!
First the power light on the PC comes on, it may beep, then the display may show some text or a logo, the keyboard LEDs may flash, you may see some messages on the display, then the hard disk light and the light on your USb drive may flash, then you may see some more messages, etc. etc.

• Did you insert the USB pen into a USB port on the PC and then switch it on and go into the BIOS menu?
• Is the USB pen listed as a boot device by the BIOS - if so what EXACTLY?
• Do you see any messages from the BIOS just before it tries to boot (like 'USB Device xxxxx yyy zzz found') - what precisely are these messages (any relate to USB devices or CD/DVD for instance)
• Did you change the boot order so that USB is the first boot device?
• Does the USB Flash pen LED light up at all during the BIOS power-on/boot sequence?

QEMU just creates a virtual hard disk which is just a single file on your system, it does no harm to anything on the system and you can easily delete the harddisk.img file later if you don't want it. Or just use 0 to tell it not to create a hard disk virtual file and you can still test if the USB drive will boot or not.
Don't use RMPrepUSB to format your hard disk - you will lose everything!

yeah i know all that you say happens when you boot a PC, but you know im talking about it being able to boot from the USB.
1. Yes
2. Yes, USB under the BOOT tab as you can see here: https://www.dropbox....zz/IMAG1534.jpg
3. no there are no reported messages whatsoever from the BIOS anywhere, it just goes into the BIOS like if it was working normally, like if nothing was wrong with the pc.
4. Yes
5. ok, when i press the Power on the pc the CD-rom light blinks a couple of times and the USB flashes once. when i exit the BIOS and enter the Boot manager it doesnt blink at all and after that when i boot normally from the USB it doesnt flash or blink or anything at all.
5a. also after making USB first boot device. i press power the cdrom blinks a couple of times i think twice, and the USB once and then it continues to the trying to boot process, neither the USB nor the CDrom blink or show any signs of activity at all no blinking lites or anything, i think the cdrom doesnt even keep spinning.

when i clicked 0 it said that it would create the image anyways or something like that.

thanks for the Headsup now i know not to format the drive with that utility, but besides that what do you think of my idea?

Edited by dr69, 26 July 2012 - 05:09 AM.