Laptop switching off - help please

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Kev
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I have a Toshiba Satellite laptop, about 3 years old. Yesterday while it was plugged in and running but not being used it switched off on its own. It was on a table and has been used in the same position for most of the 3 years, I just use it for backing up and my wife uses it occasionally

Even though it was still connected to the charger there were no LEDs showing at all. It would not respond to the power button, mouse or keyboard.
I disconnected the charger but still it would not switch on, I then removed the battery for 30 secs and replaced it, I could then turn it on and it ran OK for about 30mins and then switched off again.

A search on the internet suggested that it may be an overheating problem so I removed the battery for 30 secs and got it going again, I then downloaded CPUID HWMonitor which monitors the ACPI (is this the power supply?), CPU & HDD temps. at one point the CPU temp reached 62C but the laptop kept running. As HWMonitor does not have a logging facility for the temps. I downloaded Core Temp, this only monitors the CPU but can log the temps.

I blew out all the grills, although they were not dirty at all, I then propped the back of the laptop on a book and left it running for an hour, I then used it for over an hour and the max temp of the CPU was 55C. I then left it and it switched itself off after another hour but the CPU temp was only 47C. During the hour the CPU temp had only got to 49C max.

Any help or suggestions would be most welcome.

Kev
 
Have a look at the power settings. It's not set to hibernate after a certain period of time is it?

Also is the battery OK. Sound as though it is, as it restarts the after removal, but may be worth a check
 
Thanks for the reply. It is set to hibernate when on mains power after 1080 mins? Never when on battery.
I have changed both to Never.
The battery seems OK I ran it for about an hour yesterday on battery when I was playing with the monitoring programs.
 
A fairly common problem with Tosh laptops, I had a satellite a30 (off the top of my head) and this was forever switching off due to overheating, I found the best way to make sure it didnt happen was to ensure that it had enough air circulation around it. I stopped using it with it on my lap and this solved the problems, I also just propped it up a little at the back when using at the table and blew out the vents and fans once a week with some compressed air, you will be amazed at what gets in.
 
I had the same laptop as well and it was bad for switching itself off due to overheating.Like Dave I had to stop using it on my lap and had to prop the back up to let air circulate.
 
Davec223 said:
A fairly common problem with Tosh laptops, I had a satellite a30 (off the top of my head) and this was forever switching off due to overheating, I found the best way to make sure it didnt happen was to ensure that it had enough air circulation around it. I stopped using it with it on my lap and this solved the problems, I also just propped it up a little at the back when using at the table and blew out the vents and fans once a week with some compressed air, you will be amazed at what gets in.
Click to expand...

babytiger said:
I had the same laptop as well and it was bad for switching itself off due to overheating.Like Dave I had to stop using it on my lap and had to prop the back up to let air circulate.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that.
Mine is only used on a table, I blew the vents out yesterday, took all the panels off the bottom and blew air everywhere, I propped it on a book but it still switched off when it was not being used.
The CPU temp when it switched off was only 47C, it had varied between 46C & 49C for the hour that I had left it.
 
neil_g said:
if youre confident take it apart to clean it properly. my old laptop i actually had to remove the fan to clean the vents correctly.
Click to expand...

I tried - removed all the screws from the back and bottom, including one under the battery. I could then slightly open the case from the back on one side but the other side would not move :(

Anyone know how to take a Toshiba Satellite apart?
 
If it switches offf when you are not using it, and thus not heating the CPU, it is almsot certainly the Powe supply temp sensor that is causing the shutoff. Sometimes the power supply vents ai into the inside of the machine, and then the fan moves it out of the case. If the vents on the inside of the power supply are blocked then anything you do from the outside won't help.

If you're confident try to take the back off and clean out the inside. ALso check the PSU fan, if there is one, is still running. You can also look in the BIOS and see if you can change the cutoff temp. Change it DOWN and see if it shuts off sooner, thus verifying the problem.
 
RicherSea said:
If it switches offf when you are not using it, and thus not heating the CPU, it is almsot certainly the Powe supply temp sensor that is causing the shutoff. Sometimes the power supply vents ai into the inside of the machine, and then the fan moves it out of the case. If the vents on the inside of the power supply are blocked then anything you do from the outside won't help.

If you're confident try to take the back off and clean out the inside. ALso check the PSU fan, if there is one, is still running. You can also look in the BIOS and see if you can change the cutoff temp. Change it DOWN and see if it shuts off sooner, thus verifying the problem.
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Thanks, I'm confident enough but I cannot get it apart:shake:
I will look into the BIOS change when it fails again.

Chappers said:
Found this. maybe of help

http://aps2.toshiba-tro.de/kb0/HTD7A01ZZ000AR01.htm
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Thanks for the link. I have not got any compressed air but I used the Rocket blower.

It has run OK since 0900 but I have not used it a lot. I just do not understand why it went off yesterday when the CPU was only 47C, I am now wondering if the initial switch off was due to overheating and I tried to use it too quickly afterwards. I don't know if the cut off temperature is fixed or changes after a problem?
 
You can buy compressed air in Tesco now, or Maplins if you want to give it a good clean.
 
Switched off again after 4 1/2 hours. I had firefox loaded and was playing a CD, the CPU temp was 52C, so was the ACPI. :cuckoo:
 
neil_g said:
thats not enough for a thermal shutdown..

depending on what model toshiba it is they dont come apart too well lol

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=174752&highlight=laptop
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Yeah I remember that thread, it was one of the reasons that I did not use too much force to get the case open. All the screws that I could see came out OK and I can prise open the front, sides and most of the back, it is just one corner that will not move.
As for the temperature I am not sure which temperature Toshiba uses and whether I am measuring it!
I have it running again now without the battery in as someone said it may be a battery/charging problem - been going for about 4 hours now.
I will get some compressed air from Maplins in the week, give it a blast, use it propped up to get the airflow and only switch it on when needed. At the moment the wife turns it on, uses it for an hour or so and then leaves it all day:D
 
If it runs OK without the battery, maybe the problem is in that area. It's possible that there may be a thermal sensor in the charging circuit and that's whats getting hot and shutting things down.

Christmas is coming and there are some good deals out there ;)
 
I had this problem with my Vaio earlier this year and found that the fan was working perfectly but temps were reaching 86c

I decided to upgrade my RAM and the problem disappeared. I figured I had too much going on for the laptop to cope with and the extra power has sorted out the heating issues and the fan still works as it always has done. Temps are now stable and well within expected boundaries.
 
Chappers said:
If it runs OK without the battery, maybe the problem is in that area. It's possible that there may be a thermal sensor in the charging circuit and that's whats getting hot and shutting things down.

Christmas is coming and there are some good deals out there ;)
Click to expand...

I think that was the reasoning behind the suggestion, I will see how it goes. I could get a new one at Christmas but I hate being forced to buy after just 2 years. I kept my old desktop going for 10 years until 2008, I only upgraded from W98 to W98SE in 2007 :D

getnoticed said:
I had this problem with my Vaio earlier this year and found that the fan was working perfectly but temps were reaching 86c

I decided to upgrade my RAM and the problem disappeared. I figured I had too much going on for the laptop to cope with and the extra power has sorted out the heating issues and the fan still works as it always has done. Temps are now stable and well within expected boundaries.
Click to expand...

That's interesting, it only has 1 GB and does struggle a bit. If I sort it enough so that it is suitable for the use we give it I will stick 2 GB in.

Kev
 
My sons Acer lappie had exactly the same problem a few weeks ago and it was solved by taking the back off and using the vauum cleaner to clear out all the crud round the fan. He now uses it on a tray and it works fine.

Hope this helps.
 
Hacker said:
My sons Acer lappie had exactly the same problem a few weeks ago and it was solved by taking the back off and using the vauum cleaner to clear out all the crud round the fan. He now uses it on a tray and it works fine.

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that. I can't actually dismantle it enough to see the fan.
I can prise the back up enough to see the cooling fins (I think thats what they are :shrug:) I will give them a blast when I get some canned air.

It's interesting that in the manual it just says that the computer will switch off if it gets too hot (very helpful) but on Toshiba's web site it suggests blasting all the grills with compressed air and doing that every 3-4 months, why don't they put that in the manual!
 
Hacker said:
My sons Acer lappie had exactly the same problem a few weeks ago and it was solved by taking the back off and using the vauum cleaner to clear out all the crud round the fan. He now uses it on a tray and it works fine.

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

Using a vac to suck the dust out, is much more preferable than blowing it or trying to blast it out with compressed air. imho
 
1. Could be thermal - does it shut down in safe mode or left in the BIOS?
2. Could be software related, does it shut down in safe mode?

If it doesnt shut down in the BIOS or safe mode, the issue could be that UNDER STRESS the laptop is overheating, or you have some rouge software

advice

A. Back everything up NOW
B. Check if shuts down in safe mode
C. If it does not GOTO step D If it does GOTO step F
D. Strip MSCONFIG/startup (everything except startup)
E. Strip MSCONFIG/services (everything that isn't a Microsoft or security related service)
F. Get the machines internals cleaned and fans checked
 
Its been running for about 6 1/2 hours now on mains with the battery out. Max CPU and ACPI temps 62C when playing music and surfing, but normally runs at 50C just playing music
No chance tomorrow but I will run it on Tuesday on battery only to see what happens.

Thanks for all the replies so far :D
 
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