Boot problems on toshiba laptop

dalboy · 08-02-2006, 09:19

Hi i have a portege a100 toshiba laptop

trying to sort it out for someone

im trying to boot from the XP cd to to a fresh install as i get the safe mode menu on boot and it just keeps re-setting itself, so thought best thing to do is xp repair or fresh install in worse case scenario

ive changed the boot sequence in BIOS but it just wont boot from cd. tried everything i know. been looking for hours on google and toshibas website but couldnt find anything. laptop doesnt have a floppy drive.

i get this error PXE-E61 media test failure check boot cable, then goes to the safe mode boot menu.
ive tried disabling boot on lan in bios and changed boot from PXE to RPL and still nothing
any help greatly appreciated.

thanks

Aragorn · 08-02-2006, 09:31

Sounds like either the CD isn't bootable or the CD drice is not being recognised. Are you using the Tosh recovery CD or another Win XP cd?

dalboy · 08-02-2006, 09:33

a win xp cd. cd drive light flickers and whirrs up so doesnt sound like its dead. is there any other cd i can boot with. i dont have the recovery CD. tried lookin online for it...

LSainsbury · 08-02-2006, 10:12

Do you have any other bootable CD's that yo can test on the laptop?

Can you boot the CD in another PC to confirm it boots?

Does it prompt to "Press any key to boot CD..."?

Aragorn · 08-02-2006, 10:21

You could try downloading one of the free 'bootcd's or a Live Linux distro (eg Ubuntu) to prove the system will boot off the CD drive - assuming you have a desktop with burner. Normally an XP install CD will just boot straight in to setup if the BIOS allows it. Don't know if the Tosh BIOS prevents it, but can't see why they would!

Bifta · 08-02-2006, 10:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by dalboy

Hi i have a portege a100 toshiba laptop

trying to sort it out for someone

im trying to boot from the XP cd to to a fresh install as i get the safe mode menu on boot and it just keeps re-setting itself, so thought best thing to do is xp repair or fresh install in worse case scenario

ive changed the boot sequence in BIOS but it just wont boot from cd. tried everything i know. been looking for hours on google and toshibas website but couldnt find anything. laptop doesnt have a floppy drive.

i get this error PXE-E61 media test failure check boot cable, then goes to the safe mode boot menu.
ive tried disabling boot on lan in bios and changed boot from PXE to RPL and still nothing
any help greatly appreciated.

thanks

Have a look here http://www.nocrash.com/ncbbs/msgs/3247.shtml, sounds like it's trying to boot from the network adaptor, not the CD

Aragorn · 08-02-2006, 10:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bifta

Have a look here http://www.nocrash.com/ncbbs/msgs/3247.shtml, sounds like it's trying to boot from the network adaptor, not the CD

I'm assuming that the CD is higher up the boot order than the Lan and it tried to PXE boot because it couldn't boot off the cd.

Bifta · 08-02-2006, 10:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aragorn

I'm assuming that the CD is higher up the boot order than the Lan and it tried to PXE boot because it couldn't boot off the cd.

People on that thread are saying that altering the boot order doesn't work, but disabling the onboard lan completely does.

LSainsbury · 08-02-2006, 10:44

I don't think the CD is bootable, otherwise it would have booted...

Is the CD a copy of the OS per chance?

dalboy · 08-02-2006, 10:47

Thanks for the replies. i was using a copy of xp and i reburned it with nero as a bootable and can boot. ok so im now in recovery console... trying to repair the boot. any chance i can get some help on this? thanks guys, excellent responses

just running a chkdsk at the mo... but never used recovery console before

Aragorn · 08-02-2006, 10:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bifta

People on that thread are saying that altering the boot order doesn't work, but disabling the onboard lan completely does.

I take your point - that thread reads upside down, so have to read carefully. Sounds drastic having to disable on -board lan in BIOS just to boot off CD!

---------- Post added at 11:52 ---------- Previous post was at 11:48 ----------

dalboy, First off, I would suggest you don't use the 'recovery console' initially. Boot off the CD and go into setup, rather than recovery. Setup should then identify an existing installation and offer the chance to 'repair' the installation. This will reload the XP files, build standard drivers and hopefully get you a base OS with all the programs and data files intact.
HTH

dalboy · 08-02-2006, 10:54

ok thanks dude will try that. still doing chkdsk scan....

LSainsbury · 08-02-2006, 11:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by dalboy

Thanks for the replies. i was using a copy of xp and i reburned it with nero as a bootable and can boot. ok so im now in recovery console... trying to repair the boot. any chance i can get some help on this? thanks guys, excellent responses

just running a chkdsk at the mo... but never used recovery console before

So are you saying the CD wasn't bootable?

I've done a direct CD copy of OS'es before and they have not booted - although the data is intact and you can read it normally, I don't think it copies the boot sector correctly - hence you need to use the bootable CD option when creating it. Glad it's sorted!

dalboy · 08-02-2006, 11:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by lsainsbury

So are you saying the CD wasn't bootable?

I've done a direct CD copy of OS'es before and they have not booted - although the data is intact and you can read it normally, I don't think it copies the boot sector correctly - hence you need to use the bootable CD option when creating it. Glad it's sorted!

im sure ive copied an xp cd 1 to 1 and its been ok. i got a feeling the cd i used was a copy of a copy (lol) so dunno if that made a difference.

anyway, chkdsk took ages but corrected any errors...rebooted and bobs your uncle her pc is now back working OK!!!

thanks for your help guys
respect.

nffc · 08-02-2006, 18:07

Hold down C or F12 at the POST (Toshiba) screen to force-boot from optical drive.