I apologise if you have tried this already but if you imaged the drive first could you not restore the image which would also change back the dma setting? At least then you could get back into it 😀

You also weren't joking on the scarce information, I've only found a few chinese websites with similar details as to what you have gleaned, I was hoping there was a similar model number as perhaps it was chinese only? Certainly seems that way from the information I can see

Edit:

The only info I've found that may give a clue is this translated chinese of the history of the Toshiba Libretto line

The history of the libretto
(1) Libretto 20 4月年1996
(2) Libretto 30 11月年1996
(3) Libretto 50 1月年1997
(4) Libretto 60 6月年1997
(5) Libretto 70 October 1997
(6 ) Libretto 100 March年1998
(7) Libretto SS 1000 6月年1998
(8) Libretto SS 1010 10月年1998
(9) Libretto ff 1050 6月年1999
(10) Libretto ff 1100 June 1999
(11) Libretto ff 1100V 10月年1999
(12) Libretto L1 5月年2001
(13) Libretto L2 8月年2001
(14) Libretto L3 10月年2001
(15) Libretto L5 4月年2002
(16) Libretto U1000 2005年April extra edition Libretto 110 (overseas only) DoCoMo mobile pack (Libretto 30) DoCoMo mobile Pack 2 (Libretto 60) DoCoMo Mobile Pack 3 (Libretto M3) Libretto MW1 (DoCoMo prototype) Cuaderia 20 Meiji Seimei smile kun (Libretto 50M) Mitsuiseimei WIN-B Dai-ichi Life navit (Cuaderia 100) Cuaderia 70 (navit prototype?) Addidas Edition (L3) Sofmap color model

Also found this info on another website, could be applicable if it is indeed based on the Libretto line - ignore!!!! I just noticed it doesn't have a keyboard and you stated it doesn't have ps2 port either!!!! 🙁

"This is going to be short and VERY special interest but I wanted to put it out there since I’ve searched all over the internet and back and couldn’t find the answer myself. If you need to get into the bios on your Toshiba Libretto 50CT, reboot it and hold down the ESC key until it comes back with a prompt that says:
Check system. Then press [F1] key.
After that, the rest is pretty obvious. Hopefully this is useful to someone."

Mr_ppp wrote:

"This is going to be short and VERY special interest but I wanted to put it out there since I’ve searched all over the internet and back and couldn’t find the answer myself. If you need to get into the bios on your Toshiba Libretto 50CT, reboot it and hold down the ESC key until it comes back with a prompt that says:
Check system. Then press [F1] key.
After that, the rest is pretty obvious. Hopefully this is useful to someone."

My Tecra 740CDT is of the same era (MMX 166Mhz) and this is how I have to enter the BIOS - took me forever to work it out and I use it so infrequently I forget inbetween times. As I have no floppy drive and no CD-ROM boot facility, I have to use another machine to install the OS on the Tecra's hard disk. That's bad enough when you have to remove it from the caddy etc. but your scenario is even worse.

Good find though! If you can get them (or at least 1) working they make a very quirky addition to any collection. It's just a question of how much effort you're willing to put in I suppose. It's likely the hardware is 'off-the-shelf' to a certain point i.e. drivers will be somewhere if you can identify the parts. AIDA might help to identify the hardware and then you can grab the OEM drivers. Shame about the proprietary power socket - could it be replaced? Might require a minor case mod 😒

Reminds me of the Viglen eXaro tablet I have with a Transmeta Crusoe CPU - terrible performance and zero info on the web but still handy somehow.

Very nice find. 😀

As for the power adapter issue - this one might fit http://www.ebay.com/itm/Toshiba-Power-AC-Adap … kt2qsDd_Ad7k1IA

Mr_ppp wrote:

I apologise if you have tried this already but if you imaged the drive first could you not restore the image which would also change back the dma setting? At least then you could get back into it 😀

Thing is, in order to get at the hard drive I have to remove:

• Bezel
• Digitizer
• LCD
• Inverter
• Battery bay covers
• Motherboard

And also the FFCs for the inverter assembly and digitizer are starting to wear out (seems it had been forcefully/repeatedly opened in the past) so you can see why I'd rather not pull the drive out to re-image it. 🙄

Mr_ppp wrote:

You also weren't joking on the scarce information, I've only found a few chinese websites with similar details as to what you have gleaned, I was hoping there was a similar model number as perhaps it was chinese only? Certainly seems that way from the information I can see

The OS being Chinese made me think that too, but it doesn't look OEM at all. No OEM branding, no OEM software and registered to Micosoft 🤣

By the way when I turned it on today I got this:

CMOS battery had leaked so it's hardly a surprise, but no amount of USB keyboard mashing or touchscreen tapping got me anywhere, with a quick power cycle I got past it, but it makes me think there should be a way to access the BIOS setup. I find it hard to believe that you lose total control of the computer if you ever fall outside a fully working MS Windows environment. Touch input doesn't work on Safe Mode so I assume it's not falling back to PS/2 mouse emulation or something.

On the plus side, it seems that at least 2 of the 4 batteries actually work somewhat. 😁

brassicGamer wrote:

Good find though! If you can get them (or at least 1) working they make a very quirky addition to any collection. It's just a question of how much effort you're willing to put in I suppose. It's likely the hardware is 'off-the-shelf' to a certain point i.e. drivers will be somewhere if you can identify the parts. AIDA might help to identify the hardware and then you can grab the OEM drivers. Shame about the proprietary power socket - could it be replaced? Might require a minor case mod 😒

Fortunately even if the Windows install seems non-original the all-important touchscreen driver is in there, so worst case scenario I can pull the drivers off the HDD image I made. As for the power connector thing I temporarily removed the power jack and ran wires to the outside.

havli wrote:

As for the power adapter issue - this one might fit eBay

Looks like that's it, but at $32 shipping for a $10 charger I'd rather look for a local solution first. 😀

They are indeed quirky and worth messing around with. 😁

EDIT: Just got this while messing around with the batteries, so the BIOS is indeed touch-aware: