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Toshiba T3100 clock battery

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Neosodium

Experienced Member
Joined
Nov 30, 2010
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119
Location
Oxfordshire, UK
Got me a (seemingly working) T3100e/40 recently to replace my zenith laptop (my portable III can only be replaced by another compaq portable ;) )

Anyhow when I first booted it up it was evident that the clock battery was flat, and it was also reporting a failed HDD, but the HDD seems to have jumped back into life now (touch wood)

The clock battery looks like a standard AA cell but says Lithium and 3.6v (i think) on it. Can it be replaced by a standard AA, or a rechargeable one?
 
I don't think one AA would be enough, and it's not rechargeable; I put a two-cell Alkaline AA battery holder in mine and it works well.

Unlike some other versions of the 3100/3200 the hard disk in the e/40 is a standard IDE drive, so if it does die replacement (or upgrade) should not be a problem (although you'll probably need a drive overlay or modified BIOS unless the replacement drive is one of the two standard types).

There's a thread elsewhere on here about expanding the RAM if you're interested.

You may find some display modes result in a hard or impossible to read display; there should be a TSR called CHAD on your HD that gives you some control (normally invoked by the Sys Req key).

Enjoy; nice machine.
 
The battery holder feels like it's held on with velcro, but I was a little nervous to just pull it off in case it was atttached to something crucial. I'll see if I can find a nice double cell holder for it...

In terms of replacing the hard drive, how on earth do you get the top cover off properly? the monitor leads seem to be hardwired (no plugs on them as far as I can see)

It's currently running DOS 5; Is it possible to install DOS 6 on these machines?

Very nice machine from what I have seen of it so far :)
 
Yeah, it's a little tricky getting that rear cover off; you might be able to twist and gently maneuver it around to get at the drive.

It's been a while but I think you have to disconnect the cables inside the display section; there are a couple of screws under the rubber bumpers in the top corners and after that it's the usual game of finding the right tool and the right places to pry to separate the two halves ;-)

There is a service manual on line somewhere (I think you'll find the link in the memory expansion thread) that outlines the various disassembly procedures.

I'd leave it alone unless/until I really had to...

Should be no problem running a later DOS, but I'd save the original DOS directory just in case there are some Toshiba utilies in there (CHAD, TEST3, etc.); I run 6.22 on mine FWIW.
 
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A service manual that shows how to d/c the monitor would be very useful, as this is looking like a pretty daunting task to me and I need to get it off to fix the hinges too. Where can I find such a manual? I can't find the memory expansion thread, is it in the handhelds/portables section?
 
Neosodium said:
A service manual that shows how to d/c the monitor would be very useful, as this is looking like a pretty daunting task to me and I need to get it off to fix the hinges too. Where can I find such a manual? I can't find the memory expansion thread, is it in the handhelds/portables section?
Click to expand...
http://www.vintage-computer.com/vcforum/showthread.php?22058-Toshiba-T3100e-Memory-Upgrade

See post #12:
http://www.laptopsolutions.net/toshiba_t3100e_manual.htm
Hard to read, but definitely useful; thanks again to humppa who found it originally.
 
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Using the information on that page I have been able to pull the machine to bits entirely. I'll just fix the hinges for now (see other thread) but I do hope this hard disk lasts because I never want to have to dismantle this beast again! Sadly managed to carve up the top of the screen housing as I prised it apart :(
 
Upon testing the leads, there's a resistor on one of the wires that brings the voltage down from 3.6 to about 1.7v. I think if I remove this resistor, I can get away with using a single 1.5v AA cell.
 
MikeS said:
Should be no problem running a later DOS, but I'd save the original DOS directory just in case there are some Toshiba utilies in there (CHAD, TEST3, etc.); I run 6.22 on mine FWIW.
Click to expand...

I can't see either of those utilities in the DOS directory. What others should I look for? I can't exactly copy the entire directory out as it won't fit on a floppy ;)
 
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Are those all the utilities? thanks, that's really helpful :) Took the T3100e to the hospital today when i was giving my friend a lift, and we sat and played elite on it while he was waiting to be seen. Good fun!

Neosodium said:
Upon testing the leads, there's a resistor on one of the wires that brings the voltage down from 3.6 to about 1.7v. I think if I remove this resistor, I can get away with using a single 1.5v AA cell.
Click to expand...

Yep, this works fine :)
 
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