Beware! This little notebook can cause you big problems. I think that I disassembled and assembled back more then a hundred of these laptops. Most of the time our customers complained about the same faults. Laptop locks up, freezes up or will not boot at all. We also received a lot of complaints about CMOS (RTC) battery errors on startup.
Why Toshiba Tecra TE2100 laptop locks up or will not boot at all?
Toshiba Tecra TE2100 notebook disassembly guide will help you to open the laptop case and reseat or replace the system board and the power board, to repair above mentioned laptop faults. Hopefully it will help you to fix the problem.
April 5th, 2006 at 1:38 pm
CJ,
Yeah your right I misread the error code this time. It is the same error code as before. Thanks for the email. But I am a little frustrated with Tecra. I need something reliable. WIth all your repair experience what notebook would you buy for your daughter who is going off to college and needs at least 1.8 GHz for video editing. And do you have a fav purchasing venue?
thanks much,
tamsey
April 5th, 2006 at 11:30 pm
Hey Tamsey,
This is my personal opinion and I guess that some people may not agree with me, but anyway.
I wouldn’t buy Sony. It is a very expensive brand and very it has expensive post-warranty maintenance. Hard to find a service center, so you have to ship it to Sony for repair.
Dell might be a good candidate if you are short on money. Dell also offers a very expensive post-service maintenance. I think they do not have a regular walk-in service centers at all, I do not know any. You have to send it to Dell. But it’s pretty cheap.
I would suggest buying Toshiba. Pretty dissent quality, available parts for post-warranty service. Also Toshiba has a lot of service centers where you can walk in and talk to real people.
Also you can consider buying HP or IBM. IBM laptops are pretty expensive, but I think the most reliable from all above mentioned computers. Here are some more tips for buying a notebook computer.
There is no such a thing as a perfect laptop, they all break. Most important – buy an extended warranty, get piece in mind for 3-4 years. It pays off! Here’s my experience with Best Buy warranty.
I just got my new notebook: Toshiba Satellite A105-S361
Pentium M 2GHz
1GB DDR2 memory
120GB 5400RPM SATA hard drive
So far so good! I know how to repair laptop but I paid $249 for 3 years extended warranty.
May 14th, 2006 at 2:55 am
hi thanks for the hints , i fixed my problems but, i have had all sorts of problems trying to get new drivers to work with the gforce 4 420 go , is there any drivers for the tft display ?
June 12th, 2006 at 3:31 am
I’m love this great website. Many thanks guy
June 28th, 2006 at 12:49 am
Dear all,
I feel Tecra TE2100 laptop’s keyboard repair/disassemble is required to be shown like the laptop. Mostly I came accross the problems with the keyboard which is quite expensive.
July 24th, 2006 at 7:39 pm
Hi I have the video problem. No vid on boot 2 laptops te2000 with the same.long beep 1 short beep too. sometimes beeps sometimes don’t .I followed your guide on disassembly but mine does not seem to have the video card you refer to. mine has a ALi trident cyber alladdin-t chip located in the center of the main board.
any help appreciated
james
August 22nd, 2006 at 5:18 am
really great instruction - thanks!! I am not sure that I will try but this has geiven me a pretty good understanding what to expect if I do.
question: are the USB ports accessible after removing the left speaker?
August 22nd, 2006 at 8:27 am
Bing,
It depends on what you want to do. If you remove the speaker, you would be able to see the USB port. But if you want to replace them or re-solder connectors, then you still have to remove the system board from the laptop base.
August 23rd, 2006 at 5:22 am
Thanks for a great web site… and especially for responding. Now I know the replacement of USB ports involve removing the system board and that it is “barely feasible” for me.
You probably saved my laptop
)
I will just buy a PCM… card with USB 2.0 ports and plug it in - guess I should use that slot for something after all this time!
One or both of the USB 1.(0)? are periodically “malfucntioning” - issuing a msg multiple times in a series and is a real pain… I will just disable them from the BIOS after installing the card.
Thanks again! This is great!
August 23rd, 2006 at 7:12 pm
Hey Bing,
I think that you made a right decision about PC card with USB ports. Both USB ports are v1.1
August 25th, 2006 at 10:13 pm
Ur website is cool. I hv tried to disassemble TE2100 right up to the last piece. 1 thing i note is that the VGA flat cable has sometin like a burned mark.. but not to obvious. i managed to put back everytin together but still the same tins happen. totally no boot at all and no display. i am using the elect and its led jus keep on blinking n no other activity or sound.
really clueless liao.
any help is deeply appreciated.!
August 26th, 2006 at 9:36 pm
Posb99,
First of all, make sure that the AC adapter is good.
Unfortunately, with this model there is no straight answer. I would guess that’s a bad connection between the motherboard and the power board, but on witch side connection is bad? I don’t know. You’ll have to guess, but I would try replacing the power board first. If it doesn’t help, then the next would be the system board.
August 28th, 2006 at 8:56 pm
cj2600,
yes i hv been having prob with the power since few months back. even b4 my lcd went completely blank. but i am still able to plug it to an external monitor, no prob. now its totally no boot.
wl fllow ur advise and maybe disemssemble one more time to resit all the cables n see how it goes.
thanks man.
October 10th, 2006 at 3:16 pm
Hi there,
do you know what is the cause of the CMOS error and how to fix it ?
October 15th, 2006 at 10:27 pm
KKGUSTA,
The CMOS – RTC battery error often caused by a connection failure between the power board and the system board. You’ll find more information on this issue here: Why Toshiba Tecra TE2100 laptop locks up or will not boot at all?
October 21st, 2006 at 4:58 pm
HI!
I’m upgrading my wirelesss modem in a TE2000.
From what I can see, there is little or no difference between the 2000 & the 2100.
?Do I need to remove all the bottom screws for this?
?Or can I just remove the keyboard to access the wifi mini-pci card?
(Rather not disassemble more than I have to!)
Very nice documentation, should I find a difference in the mechanics of the 2000 from the 2100, I’ll send pics.
Thanks for doing all this!
October 22nd, 2006 at 11:50 am
Charles,
There shouldn’t be any big difference between TE2000 and TE2100 laptops, if any at all. You don’t have to remove all screws from the bottom of the laptop in order to replace the wireless card. Follow these steps:
Step 2. Remove the battery.
Step 4. You have to remove only 2 screws from the bottom. These screws are securing the keyboard strip (bezel). These screws are located on the left and right sides from the docking station connector. The right screw right above the word “tech” and the left screw on the opposite side from the connector.
Steps 5,6,7,8. Remove the keyboard bezel and lift up the keyboard. It’s not necessary to disconnect the keyboard, just flip it over and place it on the palmrest.
Steps 9,10. Remove the wireless card cover and replace the card. It’s possible that the wireless card cover screw is not a regular screw. Ideally you have to use a special wireless screw tool (Philips screwdriver with a hole in the middle), but you can take it out with a small flat head screwdriver.
October 26th, 2006 at 6:12 am
Thanks,
I am looking at the keyboard besel of my TE2000. There does not seem to be a junction between the bezel part you removed, and the case–it’s cast in one piece–
Ideas?
November 1st, 2006 at 2:05 pm
Thank you for the guide…very generous of you!
My laptop had a blinking orange light of death; so I tore it apart and rebuilt it, as per this guide. Didn’t work when I put it back together
but that’s not the fault of this guide, of course!
Anyway, I eventually got almost all the internals replaced at a repair shop. Unfortunately, I had to sell myself into prostitution to pay for it all!
Problems I experienced during reassembly:
1. I didn’t keep track of which screws go where. I ended up with a bunch of mismatched screws and some were missing. I really would recommend keeping screws in an egg carton and documenting where they came from.
2. It was really bloody hard to reconnect the keyboard/mouse cables to the vga board. Perhaps a couple of reassembly tips could be added, including this one?
3. On the second attempt at reassembly, I was trying to reconnect the cable to the VGA card (see step 19), and I pushed too hard — the connector on the VGA card snapped off.
January 10th, 2007 at 4:24 am
HI, I wana buy a wireless card for my Toshiba TE2100, so could u give some advice pls??
many thx!!
March 9th, 2007 at 1:33 am
hi i have a toshiba 2100 laptop when i turn the power on i get a faint image on the screen and its really dim hoping u could help me out on what i can do to fix it thanks.
April 18th, 2007 at 3:34 pm
Hi there!
First off, many thanks for this website. Really done a good job.
I have a TE2100 which is about 5 years old. During this time, I have had it sent out for repair about 4 times, each time the motherboard or system board was replaced for me. Now its out of warranty (of course - warranty for just 3 years only) and the same problem seems to have resurfaced.
I can be using it for long or short periods, it doesnt seem to matter. In fact I’m using it now. But at times, it will just shut down suddenly, and the power light will blink orange.
I have taken it apart using the guide, and put it back together. It worked better for about a day, but the next morning it shut down suddenly again, after using it for just 10 minutes.
I’m really clueless about what the problem!
(oh, and when i run it using just the battery, i’m not sure, but i feel its more stable - but it does shut down as well sometimes)
Any ideas??? Thanks!
May 13th, 2007 at 4:36 pm
Hi JIF,
The problem you have is exactly like mine! I also bought TE2100 about 5 years ago, and a year later, problems start to emerge. First the hard drive broke down, then the LCD wouldn’t light up. In the following 2 years, these two problems occur repeatedly one after the other…I’ve sent it to the repair depot for no less than 7 times. Now the warranty expires, and all of a sudden I got the exact same problem as you described…So frustrated with this machine…
Kevin J.
May 24th, 2007 at 6:05 am
Hi,
Great information. I have had my TE2100 for about 5 years, it’s been a great computer until recently the dreaded common flickering screen with periods of blackout becoming more frequent has manifested itself.
Have read on another forum that it may just be that I need to reseat the components or replace an invertor on the display control circuit board; however I don’t know how to open the screen bezel. Just thought that I would ask how to do it properly before i start prying bits off with a swiss army knife….
Cheers,
Gus
May 25th, 2007 at 3:30 am
#21 Mark
Sounds like your CCFL is going for your display.
Does it work with an external monitor?
Replaccing the CCFL (Cold Cathode Flouresent Lamp) is relatively easy and relatively cheap (the lamps themselves can be found for under $30 and often around $10. The only real hassle is that the tubes are failry fragile (well, they’re only 2-4 mm in diameter, glass and several inches long.
There are a number of places on the web which can show you how to disassemble the screen to replace the lamp.
June 6th, 2007 at 6:53 pm
I have a TE2100 that has a video problem in that it boots up fine but will only allow 4 bit video and won’t allow me to switch to the external video modes such as the yellow rca output or the external monitor mode!
I had a friend look at it and he thinks it is the Video Board but I wanted some other opinions before I buy and replace it.
Thanks for any help or suggestions!!
June 7th, 2007 at 6:42 am
Hi Dave, do you have the latest video driver & utility that goes for you laptop? You can go to your display properties\settings\advanced and take a look because it sounds like a driver issue, urs Yago.
June 7th, 2007 at 11:08 am
I had the latest drivers availble that I could find and that where available from the auto check from Toshiba!
I could not find anything newer from nVidia!
Do you know where I may find something different?
I think it is a hardware issues since it worked fine until the problem started then like I stated I can only get 4 mg for the display setting and when I check the control panel it says that the video card is working fine!
I can’t get any of the external video options to work so do you think I should try the Video Board if I can get one at a resonable price or do you think it is something else???
Thanks again,
Dave
June 17th, 2007 at 4:39 pm
I have impressed so many co-workers when I take apart and reassemble my laptop! Thanks for the guide and pictures.
I have experienced all of the above with my 2100. Finally I took it to a geek and for $100 he found that when you turn the wireless switch off on my machine, it shorts out and instantly cuts off the laptop! This happened over a couple of months. I use a sprint data card at home and turned off the wireless. I then got the rtc error, time and date re-entry, you name it, it happened. Now my wireless is switched on but does not work. I swapped mother board, power board and now have enough parts make another laptop, just lacking a display. So try the wireless switch on the left side front, next to the volume control, push buttons, things you don’t normally use before you take it in for service. It’s a great little machine when it works. I just wished the usb’s were 2.0!
Good luck,
Harry
August 20th, 2007 at 1:36 am
Hiya i’ve just taken apart my te2000 and theres a thin cable that comes from the monitor and goes down just in front of the fan and i can’t seem to find where it goes, so there’s no screen!! it’s the same type of cable that snaps from the wireless card and it should just pop back onto the board somewhere but i can’t see where at all. It was taken apart because of the usual bad rtc problem that seems to be so common with these bastard machines and i don’t know if i’ve managed to fix it cos the screen won’t work!! Help!!
Dave
November 7th, 2007 at 5:29 pm
How the heck do you remove the CD-DVD drive? I can’t find anything that is holding it.
November 8th, 2007 at 11:33 am
There is a screw covered over by a peice of plastic. It does not show that on the instruction picture.
November 18th, 2007 at 4:53 pm
TE2300 and Satellite M20 have almost same construction as TE2100. Therefore TE2100 guide can be used for TE2300 and Satellite M20.
Thank you for nice guide.
February 16th, 2008 at 6:56 pm
Hi,
I have a Toshiba TE2100 laptop, with some display issue.
I have plugged in a extrnal monitor and display is fine, but on the laptop screen is only display half the screen, does this mean that the screen is faulty, and the VGA card is working fine, or could this be an inverter problem??
Your help is much appreciated.
Cheers,
February 16th, 2008 at 8:03 pm
Ron,
This problem is not related to the inverter board, that’s for sure.
Most likely you have faulty LCD screen.
March 25th, 2008 at 9:26 pm
te2100 mostly error in vga card.
vga chipset is not good.
March 25th, 2008 at 9:30 pm
not in vga but the socket of the vga card mostly not plug better to mainboard
July 26th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS GUIDE!
I pulel dmy hair out for ages over a dodgy inbuilt mouse spot on this old te2000 i have, it had a mind of its own and woudl pull to one side, i coudl never stop it with uninstall of drivers etc. This guide enabled me to pull the unit apart and splice the ribbon connector between kb and mobo (the small one on the l/h side is the mouse) disabling the on board piece of tripe for ever!
Now this unit is usable again!
I tried myself to get to this mouse in the past withotu luck, but this guide made it possible.
AGAIN THANK YOU SO MUCH!
October 4th, 2008 at 9:40 pm
Cheers!
It hasn’t fixed my issue (where moving the laptop/taping it around where the battery lives causes it to power off)
but its increased my understanding and respect for my laptop and its creators ( poor barsteds, i thought the XBOX was bad but the laptop is much tighter)
October 31st, 2008 at 3:51 pm
Okay first of all, how do you remove both the hard drive and the cd/dvd drive? It does not mention how you do this in step three…do I have to go under the keyboard?
Also, is this laptop wifi compatible as is?
Finally, does this model have a cardbus slot I can use to put dual usb/firewire ports on the thing?
December 1st, 2008 at 9:43 am
Can anyone tell me if a Toshiba Tecra Te2100 comes with integrated video? I want to know if I can replace the videocard.
Thank you.
December 2nd, 2008 at 9:17 am
Nestor: You can replace the VGA. They call it a TransBoard. You can see it @ step 19 & 20 of the disassemble guide. Be very gentle removing the ribbons as the sockets tend to come unsoldered, then you have 25 little contacts to worry about. Right now I have one working board and two I’m attempting to micro solder.
The part numbers I have found for the VGA are:
V000011110, V000010930, V000010890, V000010880.
I replaced the inverter board and the ccfl lamp in the display before I figured out it was the VGA card.
I’ve bought enough parts off ebay to build a backup laptop if I can get another VGA to work.
Good luck!
December 2nd, 2008 at 10:02 am
Thank you so much for your quick reply!
December 9th, 2008 at 9:13 am
I followed your instructions to disassemble my laptop. Excellent work you did, THANK YOU.
I have some questions though, I reseated the video card, but there was no change on the video, it still flickers and shows lines and squares all over the screen as it flickers. And it does this from the moment the laptop is turned on. Do you think this is caused by the video card? or could it be the yellow connector that connects to the vga? I noticed that this connector showed some stains on the side attached to the little circuit where the vga connects. Could the connector be damaged due to overheating?
Thanks so much in advance
Nestor.
December 10th, 2008 at 5:14 am
One correction, when I said VGA, I meant LCD display.