Question Short Short Short Short Short Long Pause Short Short on a Portege Z30-C, means ?

[kingd123]

Hi,

Does anyone know what the following white flash sequence on the 'AC Power light/Battery light' LED means, on a Portege Z30-C laptop ? Short Short Short Short Short Long Pause Short Short. I guess it's in the service manual, if anyone has. My Portege sometimes does it, when I press the power button to switch it on, and won't start.

The workaround is to remove the power jack, remove the base, disconnect the battery, wait 2-3 hours, then hold down the power button for 1 minute, then connect the power jack, press the power button, see the message saying press F2 to set date/time in the BIOS, but don't because it 's fiddly, save and exit the BIOS, allow Windows to start, go to settings, choose set date/time, and press sync button to reset the date and time. Though sometimes, only a few mins with battery disconnected are needed. And sometimes, the 1 minute button press is not needed,

Twice, the same has happened while the battery and power jack have been disconnected overnight, and I try plugging in the power jack, and pressing the power button. So perhaps the problem is not solely to do with the battery.

I bought the PC second-hand. It had a faulty battery initially, that powered off the PC when the level dropped to between 65 and 75%. Battteryinfoview reported that it was 75% healthy.

The selling company replaced the battery, under their hardware warranty. The replacement battery is also not completely new. Batteryinfoview reports it is 85% healthy. But it does at least discharge all the way down to 2%. That's as far as I checked. And the battery lasts a good 5 to 6 hours, which seems fine to me.

After the battery changeout, the laptop worked fine for a good week, before the LED flash sequence started happening.

Two days ago, I used the Windows option to reset Windows. And the LED flash sequence problem stopped. Though I wouldn't be surprised if it started happening again. Perhaps, after a week or two.

I would love to know what the LED sequence means . If some kind person knows, or has access to the service manual.

Googling for the sequence, or the service manual, has drawn a blank. The user's manual I have, but unsurprisingly is silent on this matter.

Best regards,

kingd123

 

[Shjacks55]

There are beep codes for many BIOSs but Toshiba writes its own BIOS software. Boot up beeps and blinks are error codes emitted because there is no GUI access. Thats when the bios tests power and motherboard chipsets. Best bet would be to contact Toshiba.

 

[kingd123]

Hi Shjacks55. Thanks, interesting that Toshiba write their own BIOS software, I didn't know that. As for the LED blink code I'm sometimes getting, ah, I was interested specifically in which item it indicated was faulty. Perhaps the battery. Or the power brick. Or motherboard. Or TPM module. The blinks happen immediately I press the power button. I'm thinking, if someone has the Toshiba service manual for the Portege Z30-C, or any Z30 perhaps, that manual might say. Best regards, David

 

[Ziadul87]

Hi Shjacks55. Thanks, interesting that Toshiba write their own BIOS software, I didn't know that. As for the LED blink code I'm sometimes getting, ah, I was interested specifically in which item it indicated was faulty. Perhaps the battery. Or the power brick. Or motherboard. Or TPM module. The blinks happen immediately I press the power button. I'm thinking, if someone has the Toshiba service manual for the Portege Z30-C, or any Z30 perhaps, that manual might say. Best regards, David

You can get the manual from their website.

 

[kingd123]

Hi Ziadul87,

Thank you for your reply there. Unfortunately, I was unable to find a service manual PDF for the Portege Z30-C on the Toshiba website. A user manual PDF, yes, I could find . The user manual, understandably perhaps, doesn't go into LED error codes. Do say if you know where I might find the service manual PDF on the Toshiba website. It would be great to have.

Kind regards,

David

 

[Ziadul87]

Hi Ziadul87,

Thank you for your reply there. Unfortunately, I was unable to find a service manual PDF for the Portege Z30-C on the Toshiba website. A user manual PDF, yes, I could find . The user manual, understandably perhaps, doesn't go into LED error codes. Do say if you know where I might find the service manual PDF on the Toshiba website. It would be great to have.

Kind regards,

David

The LED codes should be the same for all of their devices.

Toshiba Laptop Error codes and Manuals

For those who will need this after us, I may say that I learned that if DC power led is flashing an error code.. Toshiba Laptop Error codes

camrojud.com

Do these help?

 

[Ziadul87]

Toshiba Laptop Error codes and Manuals

For those who will need this after us, I may say that I learned that if DC power led is flashing an error code.. Toshiba Laptop Error codes

camrojud.com

Diagnostic "Blink" codes for Toshiba notebooks

Hopefully someone can help me here. Toshiba tech support is full of morons. I am looking for the blink codes for a Toshiba satellite A105. I am getting no power with 11 blinks. I think its going to turn out to be a bad motherboard but I just want to verify the error code first. It...

www.technibble.com

And these too.

 

[kingd123]

Hi Ziadul87,

Ah, yes I've seen the info per the CamRojud link, when I tried googling for info the other day. Unfortunately that info doesn't align with what I see: My power/battery LED is blinking white, not orange. But even if I ignore the colour difference, my Short Short Short Short Short Long Pause Short Short code, is hex 20h. The info doesn't mention a code 20h :-( It also doesn't mention the pause. Which makes me think the Z30 series are perhaps different, in terms of how the flash codes work. The info you linked to, I think, when I googled for, indicated it was for the R830 series laptops. And perhaps, as you say, for many other Toshiba laptops besides. Thanks for your reply, anyway.

Best regards,

David

 

[Ziadul87]

Hi Ziadul87,

Ah, yes I've seen the info per the CamRojud link, when I tried googling for info the other day. Unfortunately that info doesn't align with what I see: My power/battery LED is blinking white, not orange. But even if I ignore the colour difference, my Short Short Short Short Short Long Pause Short Short code, is hex 20h. The info doesn't mention a code 20h :-( It also doesn't mention the pause. Which makes me think the Z30 series are perhaps different, in terms of how the flash codes work. The info you linked to, I think, when I googled for, indicated it was for the R830 series laptops. And perhaps, as you say, for many other Toshiba laptops besides. Thanks for your reply, anyway.

Best regards,

David

None of the links provided the info you need?

 

[kingd123]

Hi Ziadul87,

My apologies. I didn't spot the 'Diagnostic "Blink" codes for Toshiba notebooks' link. I've now looked at that also. Hmm, well it says 20h is 'Main battery voltage is over 13.46V. (Not supported)'. But I wonder if I can believe that, because as mentioned, I got the code also when powering up from the jack, having left the battery disconnected overnight. And also the code seems to have disappeared, for the moment at least, since performing a Windows reset. Also that link doesn't mention the pause, before the last two flashes. And the '(Not supported).' denotes perhaps that code 20h is unimplemented. Thanks all the same.

Regards,

David

 

[Ziadul87]

Deep hardware issues will require you to consult a professional in REAL LIFE or get your device to a service center. Just be careful as some service centers tend to lie about which parts are problematic and charge you way more than necessary.

 

[Shjacks55]

I used to sell and triage and upgrade memory for Toshiba laptops. Also worked at Microsoft re pnp bios with Toshiba rep. The information sought might be in a repair manual NOT a consumer manual of operation. Beep codes or blinking lights on MB are prevideo error codes from bios chipset checks or pre-CPU system management chip. On my laptop in device manager I have a plug and play battery attached to my plug and play bios. My battery has power pins and also communication pins. My laptop has system tests in bios options, and the battery test uses that communication. The battery tests its own voltage. As a chemist, there is no way a battery makes a voltage higher than its battery chemistry allows, hence charging circuitry received false voltage reading. Curious, 12.6 and 13.6 max are lead acid battery voltages not Lithium multicell voltage multiples.