The power light on my Toshiba Satellite (model 1405-S171) blinks in a dot-dot-dash-dot-dot-dash-dot-dot pattern whenever it has power. Battery or plugged in, same thing happens. Other than the blinking the thing is totally dead.

I've found a few posts that mention the blinking but haven't found out what it means. Can somebody tell me what that blinking pattern means and if it can be fixed? Fixing at home would be great of course but I'd just like to know what to expect if I send it to a shop. All I can get is "send it in and we'll look at it".

I've tried a few things based on posts here. Looked for a loose video card connection, found the video connects directly to the motherboard. Moved the memory to a different slot, no help there either. Any suggestions welcome.

TIA,

Terry

Do you have the books that came with your laptop? What about *gasp* calling tech support? This type of question should be well within the grasp of support technician. Sorry I can't help otherwise...

I found references to the blinking lights in the manual but not a description of what a specific blinking pattern means. Similarly, when I **gasp** contacted tech support they told me the flashing indicates an error but could not / would not tell me _what_ error. I believe they said it's probably something on the motherboard. CompUSA told me the same thing - something on the motherboard. That's only slightly more informative than "the lights mean something isn't working right".

I believe this blinking is a diagnostic code which Toshiba does not think is useful _user_ information since Toshiba does not recommend opening the thing up and fixing it. However I would like to know what the code means of someone has that information. As many Toshiba notes as there are on this board I hope somebody recognizes this pattern and can share what it means. Again, best case is it indicates something I can fix but even if it needs to go to a shop for repair I'd like to know what to expect.

Thanks for your reply,

Terry

I have the same problem with a Toshiba Satellite 5100-201 in Germany.

Before 1 year i had that problem for the first time and i took out the Li-Ion-Akku a few times and plugged it back - also unplugging and plugging back the powercord - then after 20 minutes doing this - it worked again.

Now, one year later, the graficcard seams to be overheated (trash on the screen) so i opened the notebook for the first time and cooled the graficcard with an aircompressor... - so, i was sure that the ventilator must be broken or the mainboard doesnt turn on the ventilator. Within these minutes, the notebook did that blinking again, after i closed it. - So i ordered a new ventilator, installed it, but the notebook keeps blinking - nothing else.... (

According to your description you are getting a 24h error code. This means "24h Current sensing IC is not normal." Actually you are having problem with the battery or with the power curcuit. Try to remove the battery and start the computer. If that won't help than the problem is your motherboard or the battery board - it just may be loose. May be repairable, may be not.

Hello Max,
what if removing the battery doesn't make a difference? In fact the only LED that is lighting is the DC in. The battery light is off. Bad battery perhaps?

Mark

Not sure how helpful this is...

But I have the same problem. A few years back, in 2004 or so, this happened to my laptop. At first, I thought it might have been because my brother had spilled a beverage on the keyboard. However, I opened it up, and there was no spill damage or anything of the sort.

I didn't think much of it, chalked it up as a loss, and put it in a box. Then, three years later, I moved to Texas and it was just leaned up against its side. So I decided "Eh, what the heck" and I plugged it in. (Oh, by this time, I had destroyed the battery in frustration. ;P) So, I plug it in.. BAM damn thing turns on just fine.

Then I unplug it to move it to a new location; lights again and nothing.

Then I move apartments, set up the laptop, works fine. Then a power failure; Bam, out again.

So I recently bought a new battery. Same thing. Still won't work. That's when I decided to look up what the flashing lights might mean, and that's what brought me here.

I can pretty much rule out the battery part, since I just bought a new battery for it and it still doesn't work. And the fact that it randomly works (and stays working, even if I shut it down) until it gets unplugged or direct power leaves the system in some fashion.

Hope this helps at all.

Try compressed air! My Toshiba Tecra M2 laptop had the orange blinking light next to the little power chord picture when it shut itself down after a few hours of use. Nothing seemed to work until I tried that. I should also mentioned the laptop had remained off for long enough to cool down (a full days in this case, but that is probably more time then necessary). I didn't do too much research, but I would guess the light indicates a problem with the power supply that's built into the motherboard. In my case, I'm thinking dust and heat were preventing one of the internal fans from running. Not sure how long this old dog will last, but I'm happy for the moment and wanted to help others with the same issue.

Good idea. I am going to try that on my laptop before I toss up to a total loss. I spilled or tossed a little liquid which did not really go into it but more on it across the room as I am very aware to not have liquid near it. I was recovering from surgery and laptop was not in use but side of room and glass fell and splasheed on it. It appeared okay and I wiped off. Lights were fine.

My mistake was turning it upside down which I learned from this site was the worst thing to do. I couldn't do more at the time but live and learn. That is what I am doing on here. Learning. And yes I am. Now I have to get the LED codes down. One step at a time.

I got a Satellite 2405-S201. the lights flashing on it do a 6 dot 1 dash 1 dot pattern. so Im guessing the lights all flash with a 8 blink code. been looking for the manual with the codes but have nothign yet. any help would be appreciated.