VOGONS


Toshiba T4900CT

Topic actions

Reply 21 of 65, by peido

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member

Hi. Have you tested the hard drive on another PC? Or have you replaced the hard drive with something you have absolutely sure it's working? The problem could be a faulty hard drive.

Last edited by peido on 2018-10-09, 10:22. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 22 of 65, by peido

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member

You could also try to fix the floppy drive and the cable connecting the floppy drive, then try to boot DOS from a diskette and see if that works. If it boots DOS from a diskette, than I don't think that you have a power issue.

Reply 23 of 65, by Arson

User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie
peido wrote:

Hi. Have you tested the hard drive on another PC? Or have you replaced the hard drive with something you have absolutely sure it's working? The problem could be a faulty hard drive.

Yup. I have checked the hard drive and it works just fine. It's not the hard drive. It's definitely an issue with the power board.

Reply 24 of 65, by Arson

User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie
peido wrote:

You could also try to fix the floppy drive and the cable connecting the floppy drive, then try to boot DOS from a diskette and see if that works. If it boots DOS from a diskette, than I don't think that you have a power issue.

I'm in the process of dealing with the floppy drive. That itself is new, just the flex cable is wonky. I am expecting some more cables in the mail so I will swap them and see if that gets the floppy drive working or just email the seller of the floppy drive and get another replacement.

Reply 25 of 65, by peido

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member

Just to make sure I'm getting it. After the boot screen, the computer shows a new screen with the "While initializing device IOS:
ERROR: An I/O subsystem driver failed to load.
Either a file in the .\iosubsys subdirectory is corrupt, or the system is low on memory." message?

---

About the damage on the screen, if it's unnoticeable when the screen is on, I wouldn't worry too much about it.

Reply 26 of 65, by Arson

User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie
peido wrote:
Just to make sure I'm getting it. After the boot screen, the computer shows a new screen with the "While initializing device IOS […]
Show full quote

Just to make sure I'm getting it. After the boot screen, the computer shows a new screen with the "While initializing device IOS:
ERROR: An I/O subsystem driver failed to load.
Either a file in the .\iosubsys subdirectory is corrupt, or the system is low on memory." message?

---

About the damage on the screen, if it's unnoticeable when the screen is on, I wouldn't worry too much about it.

That issue was the result of not enough ram to complete an OS bootup. The previous owner installed win98 on it. Which required more then the 8mb of ram on the board. Once i added the 32MB CC ram card, that message was gone.

Yeah. I'm not gonna worry about the screen issue.

Reply 27 of 65, by peido

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member
Arson wrote:

That issue was the result of not enough ram to complete an OS bootup. The previous owner installed win98 on it. Which required more then the 8mb of ram on the board. Once i added the 32MB CC ram card, that message was gone.

I get it now. So that problem is solved.

Can you give me more details about the power issue? Does the computer turns off after a while? Or does it reboot?

Reply 28 of 65, by Arson

User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie
peido wrote:

Can you give me more details about the power issue? Does the computer turns off after a while? Or does it reboot?

Neither. Basically, the laptop acts as though the cord is not plugged in and i have to jiggle and move it around. Sometimes even shifting the laptop from different angles just for the laptop to detect power going through it. And if i move the laptop after it's on, it'll shut off like it was disconnected. I am expecting the power supply board in the mail tomorrow and when i replace the existing one, i'll let you know if that issue has been corrected.

Reply 29 of 65, by peido

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member

I see. I think it's probably the connector on the old power supply board that needs to be re-soldered or replaced. Let's wait for the new power supply board to arrive and see what happens.

Reply 30 of 65, by Arson

User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie
peido wrote:

I see. I think it's probably the connector on the old power supply board that needs to be re-soldered or replaced. Let's wait for the new power supply board to arrive and see what happens.

After replacing the power supply board with a new one, i have reassembled the laptop and it no longer has that wonky power issue anymore. I can move it and even change up the battery without an issue. However. I still have an issue with the floppy drive. Keeps saying, "Device is not ready" Which i assume means that the system is not detecting the signal from the zif cable i used.

I have several other zif cables in the mail that i am going to try.

Reply 33 of 65, by Arson

User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie

I suspect that even though the floppy drive uses a standard zif connection on one side, it uses a proprietary connection on the other side to connect the floppy to the board. The floppy cable is compatible with Toshiba Satellite T2400CS, T2400CT, T2450CT, and T4900CT systems.

Reply 34 of 65, by Arson

User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie

I have ordered a CF to IDE adapter card as well as an 8GB CF card to replace the existing hard drive. After trying to access the laptop drive through a USB IDE cable, any attempt to read the drive files will cause windows to freeze up on my main computer. Running scandisk on the laptop, it has significant issues yet will not correct them. Determining the condition of the laptop hard drive has left me with the impression that it is either failing or standing on it's last leg.

Reply 35 of 65, by henryVK

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member

Hope the CF-adapter works for you. I have two later Toshibas (Tecra/Satellite) and they didn't like any CF-adapters, not even nice, name-brand ones.

The floppy cable is guaranteed to be a non-standard, proprietary pinout. These machines are still fairly common, I'm sure one will come around that you can cannibalize.

Reply 36 of 65, by Arson

User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie
henryVK wrote:

Hope the CF-adapter works for you. I have two later Toshibas (Tecra/Satellite) and they didn't like any CF-adapters, not even nice, name-brand ones.

The floppy cable is guaranteed to be a non-standard, proprietary pinout. These machines are still fairly common, I'm sure one will come around that you can cannibalize.

Yeah. Just in case, i also ordered a 2.5" IDE hard drive in case it doesn't work.

Right now, money is kinda low so i will be on the lookout for those models but it isn't a major priority. I also bought a PC card CD-ROM.

Reply 37 of 65, by Arson

User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie

I am happy to report that the CF-adapter worked perfectly and despite not having a working floppy drive, with some help of an IDE to USB cable and vmware, i managed to install MS-DOS 7.1 with Fat 32-bit support. From there, run dos drivers to get my PCMCIA SONY Vaio PCGA-CD51 working, install win95 onto the CF card with CD on the laptop.

Reply 38 of 65, by Arson

User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie

I have also determined that despite multiple driver updates, that the accu-touch built in mouse does not work. I considered replacing both the keyboard and built in mouse buttons but I will just find a PS/2 or serial mouse to work with it. I tried using a USB to Ps/2 adapter with a laser mouse but despite it being on, it would not work. I suspect it is either not receiving the right signal or it's not drawing enough power to function correctly.