I hate to break it to you but this is why one has to be very careful when it comes to vintage laptops and it was a big mistake in thinking overclocking it was going to be a good thing.

Hi, as I say in caps, problem was BEFORE installing Windows 98 and BEFORE overclocking.

I have two suggestions:
1- Check the clock battery (if the PC has one). It shouldn't affect the laptop to the point of not booting, but you never know with these vintage PCs.
2- Reflash the BIOS. This looks like a BIOS problem to me (since F12 still works - AFAIK the flash utility bypasses much of the actual BIOS code so it is less succeptible to BIOS errors, after all it is meant to be used when things go bad). The ROM chip might also be going bad.

Found this:
https://forums.computers.toshiba-europe.com/f … ?threadID=16556

Seems like the same exact issue. I'd try reflashing the BIOS as well.

Hi, I tried removing the clock battery but nothing changed.
I also reflashed the BIOS and nothing changed.
I don't know how to fix the ROM.
Thanks.

Seems like I have the same exact issue.
I then try 6 different CF-IDE adapter and found one labeled "CF-IDE44/2.0mm ADAPTER V.H2" is working fine with silicondrive 2GB CF card as well as transcend 32GB one.

What is the boot behavior when there is no drive attached?
If the FS / MBR is not readable - even with the old HDD - this can lead to it not booting and stalling at a black screen.

You mentioned that you are still able to boot into BIOS, which is a good sign. Besides reflashing, I would also check thoroughly the keyboard ribbon connector. Bad/incomplete connection - due to corrosion or dampening of the contacts will also lead to boot errors, rarely with a keyboard error presented.

I can attest that the 50ct does work well with a Sintechi SD2CF (SD2IDE, Rev1.0 and 1.1) adapter. Regardless, it should work with a CF adapter too, as well as the original drive.
Be sure that a compatible filesystem is present as well as written to index MBR. Above 8GB (or 6.4GB, cant fully remember), the Libretto needs a drive overlay in the veins of EZ-Drive.

An overclock to 100 and 120MHz is possible (if it is a later model that actually comes with an underclocked P120, the earlier ones did not and cannot be overclocked) by cutting and rearranging some legs/contact routes. but you have to adjust multiplier as well as FSB. And even with a new thermal pad in place between passive heatsink (yes, there is one) and CPU, these overclocks will make the Libretto run much hotter, and decrease its lifespan. I decided against it and wanted to leave it as it is, as a mobile P75 is nice to have. (To be honest, I do not plan on carrying it around anyways...) In addition to that, P75s are - at least in my opinion - much rarer and more interesting than P120s, but this is ofc subjective.

PS: I would also advise against W98 and recommend W95B for a P75 instead. especially if you are sitting at the 16MB stock RAM. Even if overclocked and with maxed out 32MB of RAM, this machine is thoroughly at home within Windows 95.

1) The Libretto 50CT runs fine without CMOS battery.
2) I just checked the default behavior with no hard drive attached. First, it shows the BIOS version. Then it tests RAM and then flashes the "_" sign. If you try to turn it off at that moment id does a lot of beeps as described.
3) There are two versions of BIOS out there. I do not remember the number (it's probably 6.30), but you have to have the earlier to use CF cards as HDD.

By the way, I ditched Windows entirely and use pure DOS in Libretto. I see no real advantages in having Windows. It boots twice as long, eats through the battery and does not really improve much in terms of functionality.

P.S. I checked the dates... This is a little embarrassing.

haha, happens... 😀
I'm just trying to put dos on my 50ct, but I keep on getting the error message that the drive is locked. I'm trying the freedos full installer though...
Tried with different cf card and also with different adapters. Any idea what the problem can be?

Do you think it possible to share your DOS drive image, so I can just write it to a cf disk and use it right away?

RacoonRider wrote on 2020-03-01, 14:48:

1) The Libretto 50CT runs fine without CMOS battery. 2) I just checked the default behavior with no hard drive attached. First, […]
Show full quote

1) The Libretto 50CT runs fine without CMOS battery.
2) I just checked the default behavior with no hard drive attached. First, it shows the BIOS version. Then it tests RAM and then flashes the "_" sign. If you try to turn it off at that moment id does a lot of beeps as described.
3) There are two versions of BIOS out there. I do not remember the number (it's probably 6.30), but you have to have the earlier to use CF cards as HDD.

By the way, I ditched Windows entirely and use pure DOS in Libretto. I see no real advantages in having Windows. It boots twice as long, eats through the battery and does not really improve much in terms of functionality.

P.S. I checked the dates... This is a little embarrassing.

hejluxom wrote on 2020-06-12, 07:27:

haha, happens... :) I'm just trying to put dos on my 50ct, but I keep on getting the error message that the drive is locked. I'm […]
Show full quote

haha, happens... 😀
I'm just trying to put dos on my 50ct, but I keep on getting the error message that the drive is locked. I'm trying the freedos full installer though...
Tried with different cf card and also with different adapters. Any idea what the problem can be?

Do you think it possible to share your DOS drive image, so I can just write it to a cf disk and use it right away?

I will share my CF card image with you when I get home via PM. I don't want to accidentally infringe any copyright by posting it here directly.

RacoonRider wrote on 2020-06-15, 04:03:

I will share my CF card image with you when I get home via PM. I don't want to accidentally infringe any copyright by posting it here directly.

thanks in advance!

thanks for the image! strangely I'm not allowed to reply in private message due to I'm too new here, so I'm thanking you here instead. 😀

RacoonRider wrote on 2020-06-15, 04:03:

hejluxom wrote on 2020-06-12, 07:27:

haha, happens... :) I'm just trying to put dos on my 50ct, but I keep on getting the error message that the drive is locked. I'm […]
Show full quote

haha, happens... 😀
I'm just trying to put dos on my 50ct, but I keep on getting the error message that the drive is locked. I'm trying the freedos full installer though...
Tried with different cf card and also with different adapters. Any idea what the problem can be?

Do you think it possible to share your DOS drive image, so I can just write it to a cf disk and use it right away?

I will share my CF card image with you when I get home via PM. I don't want to accidentally infringe any copyright by posting it here directly.

hejluxom wrote on 2020-06-18, 11:41:

thanks for the image! strangely I'm not allowed to reply in private message due to I'm too new here, so I'm thanking you here instead. 😀

You are welcome, my friend 😉

hejluxom wrote on 2020-06-18, 11:41:

thanks for the image! strangely I'm not allowed to reply in private message due to I'm too new here, so I'm thanking you here instead. 😀

Hey there! Did the image work? 😉

Hey there! Did the image work? 😉

Hi, yes! It's awesome! Strangely though I only see the second drive if I write the image on a 1gb card. If I use 2gb the second partition in not visible. So I stick with the 1gb card. 😀
Thanks again!
Find me on insta, @hej.luxom and send me a dm!