One of my friends contacted me asking help about a computer problem. He has a Toshiba tablet laptop. This laptop turn off if it is moved or bumped. This happens even though it has 2 batteries and even if it is plugged into the wall. I have never seen this problem before, and we failed to find a cause. The laptop even turn off if it is in standby and you bump it. It's like it looses power or for some reason.

Do you guys have any suggestions?

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Seems like a loose connection in the laptop to me...

Unless there are any system logs that would indicate anything else.

Or one real wild outside possibility...
A malfunction of an accelerometer, if the laptop is equipped with such.
Some recent models have one to shut down the laptop or at least home the hard drive if dropped. If it were overreacting, it's possible that this scenario could make such a laptop shut down at the slightest motion.

But that is just a real 'out there' theory.

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

It is obviously a hardware malfunction because this happens even if the laptop is in standby mode. My friend took the laptop apart but did not see anything obviously wrong.

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Question: does the laptop work fine on battery? 95% of the time, this particular situation is due to the batteries being fried from being charged for so long, and it operates like a desktop.. temporary power loss and it shuts down. Now, if that's the case, then it sounds like the power jack inside the laptop has broken loose from its cold-soldered joints. I have fixed that on several Toshibas in the past..they're actually not that difficult.

Hope this helps.

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Linux laptop:
record uptime: 1511d 20h 19m (ended due to the power brick giving-up)

Question: does the laptop work fine on battery? 95% of the time, this particular situation is due to the batteries being fried from being charged for so long, and it operates like a desktop.. temporary power loss and it shuts down. Now, if that's the case, then it sounds like the power jack inside the laptop has broken loose from its cold-soldered joints. I have fixed that on several Toshibas in the past..they're actually not that difficult.

Hope this helps.

It works on the battery. My friend has two batteries bought for the laptop because he was heavily using it in class to take notes.

So the laptop runs on batteries if it is stationary, but if he bumps it the right way or even if he uses it on the couch it sometimes just turn off.

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Some new laptops have a motion sensor that shuts down the laptop if something violent happens. If this is too sensitive, it might be causing the problem.

It also might be a loose connection or cold solder joint.

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BOINC WIKI

One of my friends contacted me asking help about a computer problem. He has a Toshiba tablet laptop. This laptop turn off if it is moved or bumped. This happens even though it has 2 batteries and even if it is plugged into the wall. I have never seen this problem before, and we failed to find a cause. The laptop even turn off if it is in standby and you bump it. It's like it looses power or for some reason.

Do you guys have any suggestions?

A client at the present gig I'm doing has had no end of trouble with Toshiba tablets. The hard drive has died so often I am staggered. The entire unit has been replaced twice so he is now on the third one.

I've never had any luck (other than bad) with Toshibas - the Satellite model in particular. They've cost me a lot of lost work on two occasions. I'd suggest your friend sends it back to see if they will replace it - hopefully if he raises enough of a complaint they might consider something else to replace it with - like money.

Regards,

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Do you guys think there is any way of narrowing down the problem?

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Do you guys think there is any way of narrowing down the problem?

I can't really add anything that hasn't already been said, but perhaps the problem could lie in the battery. If your friend has another of the same battery, I would try putting that one in the laptop and see if the same problem occurs.

Also, is it still under warranty? If so, sending it back to Toshiba (or the purchase place) is probably your best option.

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Have you checked the switches on the lid these sometimes are set to switch off on closing. My Advent 8117 did this until disabled.

Michael.

It sounds like the problem is possible a combination of a faulty switch and settings. Laptops I have worked with do have a sensor that locks the hard drive when moved, so damage won't occur. I was unaware that they had used the sensor to shut down, but I am not on the cutting edge of what a manufacturer does. The problem may be the accelerometer as has been pointed out. I have a lot of experience with accelerometers as that is the industry I work in. There may have been a high spike triggered by movement, instead of a bandwidth controlled increase in amplitude. This may be caused by a faulty accelerometer.

With Windows 7, or Vista, rigt click on the desktop, and select properties. Go to the screen saver, and select advanced power settings. Disable sleep, hybernation, and display shut off. (I'm not sitting by a Win 7 or Vista machine, so I am going by memory) Set your hard drives to turn off in 20 minutes, and set the power button to turn off the computer. Disable shutdown when closing the lid.(There may be a faulty switch in the lid) Disable anything that may cause a sleep of shutdown condition except for the power switch. If it is a faulty switch or accelerometer, these settings may disable it. If not then you would have to locate and or replace the switch or accelerometer.

This is my best guess, not being in front of the offending computer. I could still be wrong, and as stated earlier it could be a bad solder joint on a connector somewhere.

Steve

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