Wrong Motherboard Model Number in BIOS won't allow system recovery

[odum_chumblee]

Hello all,

Scoured the internet for an answer, and haven't found anything to help, so I thought I'd ask here. Trying to resurrect an old Toshiba Satellite P100 of mine.

I'm trying to reformat it with the Windows XP Professional SP3 recovery disc (ancient OS, I know; don't ask why I'm using it, just am) that came with my laptop.

However, it won't run because the motherboard model number in my BIOS is wrong. I get the following message:

"This Recovery and Applications CD is not configured to work with this machine (ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ)
This CD is for: Satellite P100,Satellite P105

Please use the correct Recovery and Applications CD"

That series of y's with umlauts is what's showing as the mainboard model number in CPU-Z. I know what my actual number is, and that definitely ain't it. I've run this same recovery disc on this very motherboard before and it worked no problem. I don't really know why the model number would have changed since then.

I've tried resetting BIOS and flashing new BIOS as well, and nothing changes the model number to the correct one. Is there any way that I can correct it?

The laptop is obviously out of warranty, so it's not like I can send it to a certified Toshiba repair center or anything. I'd like to use my recovery disk to reinstall XP Pro with all the original drivers, but if anybody could provide directions or a link to directions that would let me reinstall XP Pro with all of the proper drivers, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks!

EDIT:
I know that I have a bad RTC battery/CMOS battery. I'm not sure if that could have caused it. All I can tell so far is that it's messing with the BIOS time, but I didn't know if it could have caused it. I can't just replace it because apparently the battery is soldered to the motherboard for p100/p105 models, and if I have to buy a new motherboard then I think I'll just give up.

 

[C12Friedman]

The CMOS battery going bad can very well be the problem here but I don't think all is lost. While the battery is soldered, it is not soldered to the motherboard but is instead soldered to wires which have a two pin connector at the end. You can (barely, watch in highest definition) see the battery in this vid https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3gzlosdmzc at 6:54 into the video - its the green thing (motherboard camouflage heat-shrink, why it's hard to see) just above the PMCICI (whatever, haven't seen that in a long time) slot with the little wires that go to the white connector. The trick here is to source that battery since it'll be unlikely you can read the numbers from it even with the heat-shrink cover and solder removed (battery surface will likely be scratched to allow solder to adhere better). I found nothing with a quick on-line search as to what type of battery is used

 

[odum_chumblee]

Ok, good to know there's still a chance and that it's not soldered. I've been able to find replacement batteries on eBay, but that's about it.

You were right! The green heat shrink around the battery was held on to the motherboard itself with just some double-sided adhesive. I tried removing the battery by the two-pin connector, but it wouldn't really budge and the plastic tabs of the connector started to break off. Does that mean to replace it I'll need to cut the wires and solder the new one on that way? And will having a new battery reset the BIOS and fix the model number?

As for my other goal of reformatting, would using winnt32.exe or a recovery partition work? I tried doing the Toshiba HDD recovery by holding down "0" at startup to no avail. I'm not sure if it's because I may not have a recovery partition, if I'm using the wrong method to start recovery, or if it just won't work because of the model number.

I have a 251 MB Unknown partition with 251 MB free along with my C: partition that's NTFS with 22 GB free out of 92 GB. Would the 251 MB one be my recovery partition even though nothing's stored on it right now? Would using winnt32.exe or Toshiba recovery (if I can figure out how to access it) do the trick, or would they both run into the same model number problem as the recovery disc?

If I have to do winnt32.exe, I may need a little help going through it. I found some instructions, but most of them do walk-throughs for repair instead of clean install, and I don't know which partition I should delete or if it needs to be both. I backed up all my data, but I just get nervous with that sort of thing. Worried I may brick it all.

Thanks again for the help!

 

[C12Friedman]

I tried removing the battery by the two-pin connector, but it wouldn't really budge and the plastic tabs of the connector started to break off. Does that mean to replace it I'll need to cut the wires and solder the new one on that way? And will having a new battery reset the BIOS and fix the model number?

It's very likely (I can't say for sure yes here) that replacing the CMOS battery will bring all back to life. As far as pulling it, I've come to use plastic tweezers, not to actually pull but to place against the little tabs then tap or push the connector out with my other hand (it's just that it's nearly impossible to grip those tabs with fat fingers). A plastic or wooden pry stick might work also

As for my other goal of reformatting, would using winnt32.exe or a recovery partition work? I tried doing the Toshiba HDD recovery by holding down "0" at startup to no avail. I'm not sure if it's because I may not have a recovery partition, if I'm using the wrong method to start recovery, or if it just won't work because of the model number.

I'm thinking the CMOS battery is playing a role in that also, give it whirl after replacing the battery, see where you get then

 

[odum_chumblee]

Ok then, just ordered the battery. Should get here later this week. I'll let you know how it goes. I tried using some needle nose pliers before, but when it wouldn't budge I got a little uneasy about it. I'll try the tweezer trick next time. Hopefully I won't mangle everything in there trying to get it out!

Thanks so much!

 

[C12Friedman]

Just don't force it out, take your time, wiggle it a bit (but not too hard), a guitar pick may work well there to pry it out