Nice! I hope you're able to get it in good working condition again. Although I am in the process of collecting various Toshiba portables from the same era, I have no knowledge of this specific model, as my collecting is currently focused on the models equipped with plasma screens.

With that said, I currently have two T3100SX portables that also won't power on. The T3100SX is notorious for having faulty/leaky caps on the internal power converter board, and I wonder if this model has a similar problem. If so, check the area around the plug for the power adapter for leaky caps and corrosion. On my T3100SX, replacing the caps unfortunately didn't help, but IF this is what's wrong with your system, then hopefully you have better luck fixing it than I did.

Also, just an FYI in case you do get it working and discover the hard drive needs replacing...if this Toshiba is like the others I've worked with, then the BIOS is hard-coded to only accept Conner hard drives, specifically models that begin with "CP". Other brands won't work even though the system uses IDE. In addition, most likely the BIOS is set to only recognize a couple different capacities of Conner drives, so even if you do find a Conner drive it accepts, you may not be able to use the entire capacity without installing a DDO if it's larger than the predefined capacities in the BIOS. There are BIOS patches to remove these limitations, but AFAIK this requires physically replacing the BIOS chips with flashed EEPROMs, of which I have no experience and thus cannot provide any input on.

Good luck!

torindkflt wrote:

The T3100SX is notorious for having faulty/leaky caps on the internal power converter board, and I wonder if this model has a similar problem. If so, check the area around the plug for the power adapter for leaky caps and corrosion. On my T3100SX, replacing the caps unfortunately didn't help, but IF this is what's wrong with your system, then hopefully you have better luck fixing it than I did.

Thanks for the tip. I didn't look very closely but I recall they were okay. I'm very comfortable with re-capping so that step will be fine - it's the improvisation that I'm not so confident with like if parts just don't exist anymore and hacking a modern replacement.

torindkflt wrote:

Also, just an FYI in case you do get it working and discover the hard drive needs replacing...if this Toshiba is like the others I've worked with, then the BIOS is hard-coded to only accept Conner hard drives, specifically models that begin with "CP". Other brands won't work even though the system uses IDE.

The only other drive I have from that era is the Conner CP3000 in my 386 so fingers crossed.

This battery is a 3.6V NiMH Rechargable. (3x1.2V in series)

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/ab148/city … 0902_232603.jpg

So finally the replacement battery arrived from China. Not 3.6v, not rechargeable.

Fitted it to the motherboard anyway - worth a go (comparison with original battery - impossible to tell the scale on the eBay picture.

Tested the system in a somewhat dismantled state. Got a flashing DC-in LED, which apparently means power board error. I was going I could get away with not connecting the charging circuit as I'm not using it - apparently the board logic won't allow this. I even attached the dead standby battery just in case.

Still dead as a door nail. Either the replacement battery is supplying insufficient charge, in which case I'm back to square 1, or a working standby battery is required and I'm a step back *groan*.

Good Luck, i also have my own Restoration Nightmare with Compaq LTE 286 and LTE 8086.
You should check all Capacitors.
I also had a Toshiba 386SX with dead Capacitors in the DC Board, maybe this is you issue ?

You're probably right. Despite the board itself looking in awesome condition, with no bulging or leaking from any of the caps, checking each one is the only way to tell and I'm just guilty of wishful thinking really. It's worth the effort.

Soldering iron it is then!

I'm not sure it's caps, but maybe a connection issue. The DC in socket is being temperamental but I am getting a millisecond of activity with all the right LEDs lighting up, some lines on the LCD and a hard drive click. There is hope...

Ah, before i forget it, if you want to see if there is life inside, you can take a look on the lpt port,
many laptops spit post codes out there.

matze79 wrote:

Ah, before i forget it, if you want to see if there is life inside, you can take a look on the lpt port,
many laptops spit post codes out there.

Cheers - I believe that's references in the manual (when they were still technical) but hadn't thought of that.

Yep, found a leaker. Looks like recapping is the only sensible option now... *sigh*

I would replace all caps with new Rubycon or Panasonic caps, for safety 😉

Half-Saint wrote:

I would replace all caps with new Rubycon or Panasonic caps, for safety 😉

Yep, I found another one when I removed them all so I'll definitely redo the DC board There are two small ones on the motherboard and CPU board respectively, plus two big ones on the ATA board. Reckon I should replace the whole lot or would I get away with it?

I worked on this very model many years ago... It was a pain in the ass, but otherwise it seemed a nice machine, though in the years since I first got used to the T1200XE and then realized I liked the Zenith SlimsPORT best as a 286 laptop. Hopefully the re-capping goes well, it would be great to see this running again, if only so I can come back and troll with the Zenith.

Things I remember about the 1600 I worked on are that there were some weird looking electronics in there, the hard drive had died (which is what I was fixing, still have that drive) and the floppy used one of those weird 16-Pin ribbons.

Thoroughly test if traces or vias were damaged by the leaking caps/batteries, as leaking caps alone don't neccessarily cause total malfunction. I.e. I see one via that looks critical on your photo.

Edit: One? Multiple.

Also, if recapping doesn't help, photos of the complete power board would help (bottom and top). Some measurements could be done, both offline and live (if the power board can be exposed with everything else connected).

h-a-l-9000 wrote:

Thoroughly test if traces or vias were damaged by the leaking caps/batteries, as leaking caps alone don't neccessarily cause total malfunction. I.e. I see one via that looks critical on your photo.

Edit: One? Multiple.

Also, if recapping doesn't help, photos of the complete power board would help (bottom and top). Some measurements could be done, both offline and live (if the power board can be exposed with everything else connected).

Cheers - it's good to know I still have options if it doesn't resolve the issue. When you say via, do you mean the link between layers? Do I test that by measuring conductivity between the front and back on the same via?

Yes, put the probes on both sides - if it doesn't show '000' continuity immediately, push and turn the probes a bit to get through the finish.

Any Progress ?

matze79 wrote:

Any Progress ?

Waiting for parts. 😀 Plus I keep getting distracted by other projects (the list gets longer every day).

Waiting for parts. 😀 Plus I keep getting distracted by other projects (the list gets longer every day).[/quote]

Yeah i know.. this happens to me too.
i have plenty of work.. and not so much time for things i want todo. 😒