My toshiba laptop won't turn on.

[ahenshaw]

I have a toshiba laptop model satellite c55-A or something like that. Every time I try to turn it on, the thing lights up saying it's turned on and I can hear the fan and stuff running. But the screen stays black. Then after a few seconds the light goes out and fan stops going. I already tried removing the battery and holding down the power button but I had no success. If you can't tell, I'm horrible with computers so any suggestions/help is extremely appreciated.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Sounds like the display panel has failed. Since the system is powering on and attempting to boot but nothing is displayed that would be the most likely cause. Have you tried connecting an external display or tv, if you have an hdmi or vga output?

 

[ahenshaw]

I'm sorry, I'm terrible with computers. Can you explain how to do that and I'll give it a try.

 

[Darkbreeze]

What is the EXACT model of your laptop. It should be printed on the bottom of the case or in the battery compartment under the battery.

 

[ahenshaw]

It is a satellite c55-a

 

[ahenshaw]

Wait it is actually a satellite C55-A5308

 

[Darkbreeze]

That unit has both a VGA and HDMI output on the side. You can connect a cable to either of those ports and to an external monitor or tv with the same style of input to see if the unit is working correctly, outputting display, and that it's just the panel on the unit, or not working at all.

 

[ahenshaw]

Okay I will try that in a little and let you know if it works or not.

 

[ahenshaw]

I tried plugging it into my tv with hdmi and it woulden't work. On my tv, it said no signal before I turned on my laptop then it went away once I turned it on. But then my laptop shut off and no signal showed up again

 

[Darkbreeze]

Did you change the tv input to the hdmi channel you are plugged into?

 

[ahenshaw]

Yes I did haha. My laptop just shuts off after a few seconds so I think something might be wrong with the stuff inside

 

[Darkbreeze]

If you remove the battery and try powering up with only the AC charging cable attached, what happens? What color is the light on the charging cable and or other lights with only the cable plugged in and no battery installed? Does it still shut right down? When it first starts up are there ANY fans running that you can hear? If not, it's probably shutting down due to an overheating issue or lack of signal from the cpu fan.

You might also try disconnecting the integrated display, as per this thread:

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2547302/safe-mode-work-external-monitor-hdmi-laptop-monitor-broken.html#15350679

 

[ahenshaw]

if I try powering on with the battery out and the charger in it just makes a wierd soft bleep noise. The light is white with the charger plugged in, with and without the battery. When I start it up with the battery, I can hear the fan and stuff running then it slows down and stops, and the light that shows its on goes off. And if I try to start it with no battery it doesn't do anything but the bleep sound.

 

[ahenshaw]

I really apreciate your help by the way!

 

[Darkbreeze]

Sounds like your charging cable is toast or the power jack inside has failed or been damaged. It's not uncommon for the solder points to break where on the power jack inside. The power jack is the part of the unit that the charging cable plugs into. There are wires that attach to it and lead off to the motherboard and battery compartment.

If the unit fires up for a few seconds with the battery installed but NOT with only the charging cable installed, then it's likely the battery is nearly dead from not being charged due to a bad cable or power jack, but not entirely dead, so it does try to start. Since removing the battery causes it to do nothing, we can assume that no power is getting to either the battery or the motherboard through the charging cable or power jack. One of the two is bad almost surely.

I'd get a new AC charging cable, you can find them for under ten bucks for most models, and if that doesn't cure the issue, either replace the power jack or have an electronics or computer repair service do it. The power jack is normally less than twenty bucks for the part and probably (Since repair shops are so proud of themselves) about a hundred bucks to have replaced. It could be less. I'd call around to see what you're quoted. You can find disassembly tutorials by googling your model number and probably do the repair yourself.

 

[ahenshaw]

Thank you so much for the help. I'll try out everything. You have been extremely helpful.

 

[Darkbreeze]

You're most welcome. Hopefully this helps you to get to the bottom of it.