Toshiba Satellite Pro T2150CDT adventures: testing and repairs

[retro-pc_user]

So I got this Holy Grail 486 laptop that has a double-speed CD-ROM integrated (works), the original external floppy drive (not reading anything and the ribbon cable is messed up on one side, will order a new one), ES688 + OPL3, TFT Active, 520MB HDD with Windows 98SE (making a clicking noise every 5-10 seconds, but it boots up), functioning and clean keyboard and mouse, and power cord.

I tested it during my live stream from last night and it boots up. Had to get the clock battery to charge and it's retaining the settings (Lithium-Vanadium 3V coin cell), however, the floppy drive doesn't read anything and I think I broke something on it (will see if I have a spare drive to swap in the meantime if find a working one).

It'll get an HDD swap and install the correct OS on it with all of the drivers and utilities and I wish I could find exact recovery diskettes for the unit.

I hooked up the floppy drive from my 410CDT and it works. The other item to replace is the hard drive (SSD method) and order an original floppy drive so that way I'll be able to install the original OS on the system with all of the drivers and utilities.

So far, the laptop is working without issues, except for the failing hard drive and having a spare floppy drive makes it totally worth it.

 

[brun]

I have recently acquired the same laptop, however it is missing the external floppy drive. Could you please share what is the model of the floppy. I found locally a Toshiba floppy drive in external case, but I am not sure if it will match the connector of the laptop. I read here that there are 17mm and 20mm connectors.

 

[TH2002]

The T2150CDT is one of the earlier Toshiba systems not manufactured by Compal. It really is a gem of a machine and in general the step up from Compal was a huge step up in quality.
Only major problems I've had with Toshiba systems of this era are with the screens (the TFT LCD's are sometimes prone to dead pixels and the inverter boards sometimes need recapping or replacement) and the floppy and CD drives. I have two external floppy drives to go with my Pentium-based Toshiba systems and neither of them really work while the CD drive in my Tecra is dead (but the one in my 420CDT still works fine). Otherwise Toshiba is up there with IBM in terms of quality, the 25 year old batteries still hold a good charge and they still have their original working hard drives (though I should probably back them up).

 

[retro-pc_user]

If there was a way to upgrade the internal display to an IPS display, that would be cool, but would be overkill.

The original drive that was in my T2150CDT was clicking every 5 seconds and I archived the HDD onto my main laptop and copied everything over to a CF card (SSD method), which works surprisingly well. I got an original Toshiba floppy drive that will get tested out (I know the 486 laptop floppy drives had a belt driven spindle, which is painful to work on, unlike the other drives that have their own motor that powers the spindle without having to rely on a belt).

One of the downsides is the main battery. Oh, boy. I attempted to use the Li-Ion from my 410CDT in my T2150CDT, which didn't work at all (charger light remained off and didn't turn on at all or charged) and that's the one thing I'd like to get: a Li-Ion main battery for the T2150CDT since the Ni-MH almost imploded (I disposed of it properly to prevent something to happen).

 

[compaqportableplus]

The original drive that was in my T2150CDT was clicking every 5 seconds

If that’s a Toshiba drive, that’s 100% normal. It’s an auto-park feature.

 

[retro-pc_user]

It's a Toshiba drive.

The eBay floppy drive would read a diskette and stop after 10 files/directories. The one from my 410CDT functions without issues, though and I forget the older drives used the belt and after I fixed the belt, it makes a horrible noise and the top head spring and mount broke off when I tried to pivot the floppy drive heads backwards to make sure the motor was working and not too stiff.