Red light "on"

[geoffreyhook]

Toshiba Satellite Pro model L750 PSK2ZA-004001. When laptop is switched off, a red light comes on and stays on until next time the computer is used. The light is the second one from the left hand side and it might be the on/off light which is white when the computer is on. Is this a problem and if so, what are the implications?

 

[jgustin7b]

If it is “amber” color and the light goes on and off, then it is completely normal. That is to show it is in sleep mode. Should be completely off when fully shut down.

 

[geoffreyhook]

If it is “amber” color and the light goes on and off, then it is completely normal. That is to show it is in sleep mode. Should be completely off when fully shut down.

 

[geoffreyhook]

Thank you for your response. Yes, the colour is more amber than red. However, after shutting the computer down (not sleep or hibernation) the light comes on a few seconds after the lid is closed, and it stays on. If I open the lid, the amber light goes out (then close the lid and it's back on, etc.). When I power up the computer, the light becomes white as it should be (or amber if the battery is not fully charged). I've had the computer several years and it's just started exhibiting this status and I don't know wether it's serious or nothing to worry about.

 

[jgustin7b]

When you turn on the Pc...do you see the Toshiba logo and then the windows logo and then the windows logon screen, or does it jump to logon?

 

[geoffreyhook]

When you turn on the Pc...do you see the Toshiba logo and then the windows logo and then the windows logon screen, or does it jump to logon?

 

[geoffreyhook]

When I turn the PC on, it goes through the normal steps, i.e. Toshiba logo, Windows logo and then the logon screen.

The computer appears to operate normally, but another problem has arisen. Sometimes during normal operation, 2 lights start flashing on about a 3 second period. The lights are the 2nd & 3rd lights from the left hand side. This doesn't always happen, but when it does, the lights continue flashing for the rest of my time on the computer. If I close the lid for a while and then open again, the computer has shut down (instead of presenting the logon screen). It won't restart unless I disconnect the ac power. If I shut the computer down with the lights flashing, then I also have to disconnect the ac power before I can restart.

Whilst I can still have the computer operating normally when I use it, these occurrences are beginning to worry me that a larger problem may be lurking.

 

[jgustin7b]

If you open the computer to a shut down computer, your power supply/battery is probably not working. If you have any spares of anything that can fit, try it out. It worked for me. All laptops have a battery that dies out eventually, and the power blocks can age over time...so do the following. Check to see if your battery has a charge or if it stays at 0. If it stays at 0 and you unplug the charger and the computer instantly (or within a minute) just shuts off, it’s the battery. If not, reply...

 

[geoffreyhook]

If you open the computer to a shut down computer, your power supply/battery is probably not working. If you have any spares of anything that can fit, try it out. It worked for me. All laptops have a battery that dies out eventually, and the power blocks can age over time...so do the following. Check to see if your battery has a charge or if it stays at 0. If it stays at 0 and you unplug the charger and the computer instantly (or within a minute) just shuts off, it’s the battery. If not, reply...

 

[geoffreyhook]

It did occur to me that it might be the battery. Your latest response gives me the impetus to try a new battery.
The battery does appear to hold its charge and will run for a couple of hours without the charger connected. I'm now thinking the battery is exhibiting an intermittent fault. The original laptop battery lasted until November last year when I replaced it with the current one. I should get more than 1 year out of the battery, but if a minor problem has developed leading to an intermittent fault, then that maybe that's the problem.

 

[jgustin7b]

It’s possible. Unless you know it’s the same exact battery, I don’t really trust any other battery except for the same one that came with the laptop.

 

[Glenwing]

Perhaps try consulting the manual to see if it says what the lights are for. It would surprise me if they built a laptop with an indicator light that has no label and no documentation saying what it is supposed to indicate.

 

[jgustin7b]

You mean this thing?

http://www.mytoshiba.com.au/file/download/resource/file/19480/sat%20l750_pro%20l750-userguide.pdf

I’ve been looking through it. With what he is describing and what the manual says, im a bit stumped

 

[geoffreyhook]

It’s possible. Unless you know it’s the same exact battery, I don’t really trust any other battery except for the same one that came with the laptop.

 

[geoffreyhook]

Thank you for the website for the manual. When I bought the laptop many years ago, I didn't download the manual. When I started having my troubles, I went to the Toshiba website and there was no indication of the manual being available (I didn't know about the mytoshiba website). It's good that I now have a manual for my laptop.
My original battery worked well until it couldn't hold charge for very long (rechargeables eventually die), so I bought a new one and it's been fine for a year but maybe has an intermittent fault.
I still have the original battery so I might try and get some charge into it and see if the amber light problem is still there when the computer is off. If the problem is not there, then I need a new battery.
The new problem of the 2 flashing amber lights hasn't occurred for a while. If it does come back, I'll probably have to take it to a service centre - this will only work if the problem is active at the service centre but since it's intermittent, it may be difficult to track down.
Thanks for your help - I have a few things to try before having to go to a service centre.