toshiba won't load

[gator]

I have a toshiba g35-av650 with two hard drives; it will not boot up, and keep sgiving me a loop back error message.  before i can read the message it is gone.  I have reseated everything in the system, flashed the bios and nothing works.  I used the recovery disks and still get nothing.  2x i got a message that the OS had not fully installed.  Ubuntu will install and operate, but not the windows xp.....any ideas???

[Allan]

1) What led up to this (what is different since the last time the system booted properly)?
2) At what point in the boot process does the error message appear?

[gator]

that part is unknown; this is not my computer. it was given to me to see if I could repair it; and #2, the windows logon screen comes up and processes then it goes to a blue info screen that talks about loop back errors ??

[patio]

Where is this Windows CD from and what exactly does it say on it ? ?

[Computer_Commando]

Is this the computer?  A laptop with 2 hard drives in a RAID configuration?
That's a weird one!!  Where does Toshiba come up with these configurations?
http://cdgenp01.csd.toshiba.com/content/product/pdf_files/detailed_specs/qosmio_G35-AV650.pdf
My 1st guess is one of the hard drives has failed.

[gator]

HDD failure would be my guess, but when I run the system diagnostics, everything passes as OK;  I have the OEM recovery disks that came with the laptop; however, even when it has been restored it still changes nothing.  I talked to Toshiba on the phone today and they said "maybe" the disks were defective, but they could sell me a new set.
I am thinking maybe that I need to download ALL of the drivers and reinstall them just like this is a new build ?  The only other odd thing that I noticed is that the system came with two 100Gb HDD, but now has one 160Gb Fujitsu and one 160Gb WD (that has an HP sticker on it)...........oh, by the way guys thanks for the help.

[patio]

That can be tried...overwriting drivers whether they are bad or not will cause no harm...
Just make sure you grab the correct ones.

PS What did they want for 2 new drives ?

[gator]

I did not ask about replacement drives, they said that they could sell me another set of recovery disks......sorry, if I did not say it right.

[Computer_Commando]

HDD failure would be my guess, but when I run the system diagnostics, everything passes as OK...

Is it set up as RAID 1 or RAID 0?  Go into BIOS & turn RAID off.
Since they are probably Toshiba drives, you can attempt to use Seagate Seatools.  It recognizes my Hitachi drives.
http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=287#toshiba

I did not ask about replacement drives, they said that they could sell me another set of recovery disks......sorry, if I did not say it right.

I think Toshiba drives have a "special" interface.  There was a thread here a couple weeks ago about this.  But that was IDE, the Spec says SATA

[gator]

Is this the computer?  A laptop with 2 hard drives in a RAID configuration?
That's a weird one!!  Where does Toshiba come up with these configurations?
http://cdgenp01.csd.toshiba.com/content/product/pdf_files/detailed_specs/qosmio_G35-AV650.pdf
My 1st guess is one of the hard drives has failed.

    Yes, this is the computer, except for hard drive changes; and yes, it is a pretty weird config.

[gator]

I cannot access the BIOS as of yet; I downloaded from another computer and run them on a CD.  Here is what is in system setup:

LDO-1 / online / 160Gb WDC WD1600BEVS-60RST REV. 04.01G04
LDO-0 / online / 160Gb Fujitsu MHY2160BH REV. 0000000B

Level : 2RAID-0

ACPI Bios version = 3.90

[Computer_Commando]

...The only other odd thing that I noticed is that the system came with two 100Gb HDD, but now has one 160Gb Fujitsu and one 160Gb WD (that has an HP sticker on it)...........

Sorry, I missed this.  Use FJDT for Fujitsu  & Data Lifeguard for WD.  I wouldn't expect the Toshiba diagnostics to work with these drives.
http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=287#toshiba

I cannot access the BIOS as of yet; I downloaded from another computer and run them on a CD.  Here is what is in system setup:
LDO-1 / online / 160Gb WDC WD1600BEVS-60RST REV. 04.01G04
LDO-0 / online / 160Gb Fujitsu MHY2160BH REV. 0000000B
Level : 2RAID-0
ACPI Bios version = 3.90

RAID-0 is striped data, the least robust of any configuration.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAID

[gator]

Thanks, I'm going to take a break and get back to this later tonight.  I appreciate all of the help; later I will post again to let you know how things turn out. 

Right now, it's time for some SCIFI and popcorn.....................

[patio]

Right now, it's time for some SCIFI and popcorn.....................

Both excellent choices ! !

[gator]

well.....the scifi and popcorn were good; now back to business.  I ran the WD hard drive diagnostics and it checked out as a "pass".  I checked the Fujitsu HD using Seagate tools an it also checked "pass".

What I am currently doing is erasing both drives (the Toshiba recovery disk is telling me 16:53:28 to complete) and will try to reinstall OS using the recovery disks from Toshiba.  I also have some extra Kingston memory laying around and I will try that also.    That's the latest............if I sound frustrated, I am not; I like the challenge