TOSHIBA T2100CT looking for info and parts - UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

25th Apr 2021, 1:36 pm

Hello, today I bought (5 euros) this Toshiba T2100TC. That I think is from 1995 or so.

It is complete but in bad condition. The battery and HDD cover is broken, the lcd is damaged, and other parts of the plastic case are broken too.

The hard disk is an Toshiba 512MB the machine has a 3,5 floppy.

The machine do not turn on. Just a green light every time I try to turn it on.

I will like to repair it. So if anybody has plastic parts or Lcd. Etc. Please contact me.

Thanks
See photos

25th Apr 2021, 1:41 pm

A few more

ortek_service · 25th Apr 2021, 5:39 pm

I do remember once using one of these at work, > 20years ago.

I presume you have the AC Adaptor PSU for it, and are using this to power it
- And not trying to start it up off the battery (which you said was broken, but didn't say whether this was just the casing).

If the battery is very flat / gone short-circuit, it can prevent it running, so if not tried already, it's worth removing the battery and just running off the ext. PSU.

Or you might also find that if you just leave the battery in and leave it powered via the PSU, then it might charge after a few hours. Otherwise it may be necessary to try to remove short-circuits from the NiCad? cells in the pack, by briefly pulsing a few amps through these and using a DMM to see if they now read their nominal voltage.
This normally works best by doing it on the individual cells rather than the whole pack, and should only pass a high current through them for a short time, otherwise they can overheat and go bang! However, once NiCads have gone s/c, then they are likely to again / capacity will have dropped a lot. And NiMH cells may give a lot more capacity.

It's possible the broken screen might overload something, so might try disconnecting it and its backlight supply.
If you attach a VGA monitor to the rear connector, then you will probably find it will start-up using that, so that you can see the screen at least to see what else may be a problem - No doubt the CMOS RAM backup battery is flat, and BIOS Setup will need entering to reset the parameters inc. HDD type (if that has survived - could attach via a USB adaptor to a PC, to check it)

25th Apr 2021, 6:06 pm

Hello, the battery is dead, I tried to run it with and without the battery and with the LCD disconnected, with a VGA external monitor. It does not have power supply, just direct 220volts AC.

After that I opened the back and I realised that there was no memory RAM installed that could be the reason. But I did not heard any noise or beep indicating that the RAM is missing, I think this model has a 4 MB RAM on board, so it should run without extended RAM. I think the problem is on the mother board.
I will dismantle all the machine and will look for the problem on the board and will tell you.

buggies · 25th Apr 2021, 7:43 pm

You may have already found this - but just in case:-

ortek_service · 25th Apr 2021, 9:29 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aitor Eneko

Hello, the battery is dead, I tried to run it with and without the battery and with the LCD disconnected, with a VGA external monitor. It does not have power supply, just direct 220volts AC.

After that I opened the back and I realised that there was no memory RAM installed that could be the reason. But I did not heard any noise or beep indicating that the RAM is missing, I think this model has a 4 MB RAM on board, so it should run without extended RAM. I think the problem is on the mother board.
I will dismantle all the machine and will look for the problem on the board and will tell you.

I must have been confusing it with earlier T1200 / T1800? ones - that did have an external PSU. It might beep with no RAM, but no guarantees - depends on the BIOS.
So at least the PSU is working, and can hopefully check all the required voltage rails are present - which it probably details in the Maintenance manual, that's been linked to.

If the RAM has been removed, then hopefully nothing else has been removed - like any socketed IC's (Not sure the CPI on these would be).
It does sound like this Laptop has been previously rather treated as scrap!

25th Apr 2021, 1:36 pm	#1
Guest Guest Posts: n/a	TOSHIBA T2100CT looking for info and parts Hello, today I bought (5 euros) this Toshiba T2100TC. That I think is from 1995 or so. It is complete but in bad condition. The battery and HDD cover is broken, the lcd is damaged, and other parts of the plastic case are broken too. The hard disk is an Toshiba 512MB the machine has a 3,5 floppy. The machine do not turn on. Just a green light every time I try to turn it on. I will like to repair it. So if anybody has plastic parts or Lcd. Etc. Please contact me. Thanks See photos Attached Thumbnails Last edited by Guest; 25th Apr 2021 at 2:05 pm.

25th Apr 2021, 1:41 pm	#2
Guest Guest Posts: n/a	Re: TOSHIBA T2100CT looking for info and parts A few more Attached Thumbnails

25th Apr 2021, 5:39 pm	#3
ortek_service Octode Join Date: May 2018 Location: Northampton, Northamptonshire, UK. Posts: 1,440	Re: TOSHIBA T2100CT looking for info and parts I do remember once using one of these at work, > 20years ago. I presume you have the AC Adaptor PSU for it, and are using this to power it - And not trying to start it up off the battery (which you said was broken, but didn't say whether this was just the casing). If the battery is very flat / gone short-circuit, it can prevent it running, so if not tried already, it's worth removing the battery and just running off the ext. PSU. Or you might also find that if you just leave the battery in and leave it powered via the PSU, then it might charge after a few hours. Otherwise it may be necessary to try to remove short-circuits from the NiCad? cells in the pack, by briefly pulsing a few amps through these and using a DMM to see if they now read their nominal voltage. This normally works best by doing it on the individual cells rather than the whole pack, and should only pass a high current through them for a short time, otherwise they can overheat and go bang! However, once NiCads have gone s/c, then they are likely to again / capacity will have dropped a lot. And NiMH cells may give a lot more capacity. It's possible the broken screen might overload something, so might try disconnecting it and its backlight supply. If you attach a VGA monitor to the rear connector, then you will probably find it will start-up using that, so that you can see the screen at least to see what else may be a problem - No doubt the CMOS RAM backup battery is flat, and BIOS Setup will need entering to reset the parameters inc. HDD type (if that has survived - could attach via a USB adaptor to a PC, to check it)

25th Apr 2021, 6:06 pm	#4
Guest Guest Posts: n/a	Re: TOSHIBA T2100CT looking for info and parts Hello, the battery is dead, I tried to run it with and without the battery and with the LCD disconnected, with a VGA external monitor. It does not have power supply, just direct 220volts AC. After that I opened the back and I realised that there was no memory RAM installed that could be the reason. But I did not heard any noise or beep indicating that the RAM is missing, I think this model has a 4 MB RAM on board, so it should run without extended RAM. I think the problem is on the mother board. I will dismantle all the machine and will look for the problem on the board and will tell you. Last edited by Guest; 25th Apr 2021 at 6:11 pm.