VOGONS


First post, by Sugoll

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Got myself a Toshiba 400cdt as a DOS gaming laptop. It currently has Win95 on it. Because I'm a mouse man, I tried to connect a PS/2 mouse to it, but it didn't seem to recognize it. From google I found out that there indeed seems to be a problem with these laptops recognizing a ps/2 mouse. So I bought a PS/2 -> serial converter, thinking a serial device should surely work; but no. It doesn't detect that either.
Does anyone have any ideas on how to get a mouse working on this laptop?

Last edited by Sugoll on 2019-06-02, 18:42. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 1 of 7, by Caluser2000

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Are you trying through real mode dos or Windows? Load ctmouse at the Dos prompt and see if that works.

There's a glitch in the matrix.
A founding member of the 286 appreciation society.
Apparently 32-bit is dead and nobody likes P4s.
Of course, as always, I'm open to correction...😉

Reply 3 of 7, by henryVK

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Hm, I had one of those and I just assumed the PS/2 port was broken, because it didn't accept keyboards either. I went with a Microsoft serial mouse and it worked just fine.

Reply 4 of 7, by Sugoll

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Getting pretty desperate with this unit...the acupoint doesn't work either, and keyboard shortcuts don't seem to work as well. So I have basically no way of using this computer. Ultimately I tried to throw Windows 95 off by installing DOS 6.22 (and fdisking the hdd in the process), but the damned arrow keys refuse to work in the DOS setup program (they work fine in the BIOS screen though), so I can't select the options I need. I'm ready to give up on this thing.

Any thoughts?? Does anyone recognize this behavior, or is this just a seriously fucked up unit?

Reply 5 of 7, by henryVK

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Have you opened this thing up yet? You should check to see if the keyboard/trackpoint connectors (zif) are properly seated first. Take a close look at the cables too to see if there is any visible damage. If you haven't already done so, check the CMOS and RTC batteries for leakage and then replace them!

Read the maintenance manual and follow the steps under "2.7 Keyboard troubleshooting", basically. It also tells you to run the Toshiba diagnostic software!

http://www.minuszerodegrees.net/manuals/Toshi … ce%20Manual.pdf

https://support.dynabook.com/support/viewCont … ontentId=106727

Also test with a PS/2 keyboard, to see if the machine recognizes it. As I said, mine never did, but it's worth a shot. You shouldn't give up on this baby so easily imho. They are sturdy and parts are easy to get either single or from other Satellites sold for scrap.

edit:

Google search results yield some forum posts reporting keyboard failure (individual keys not responding) and, as you stated, PS/2 port not detecting devices...

Reply 6 of 7, by Sugoll

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Opened it up, took out the batteries. They are not leaking but the big one has a cell that's bursting. I'd like to replace them but when I search Google I just come up with one hit from a company in Washington state. I may be using the wrong keywords? Anyone have a tip on what to search for when I want a replacement battery for these?

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Reply 7 of 7, by Thermalwrong

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You could try doing what I did - I had the same corrosion coming from the RTC and standby batteries, which had unfortunately rotted the cables and their connectors entirely, but mostly stopped at the battery connectors on the board.

Toshiba750-replacementcells.jpg
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These are simple tagged cells, I just used cells of matching voltage and milliamp hours, I think 7.2v and 80mah for the bigger of the two. So you might find suitable replacements just by searching the voltage and exact or similar mah values (in tens).

The standby battery I think you can just skip. You can find proper replacements just by searching for a toshiba RTC battery or toshiba 2.4v / 3.6v