2014-08-22 06:32:54

hi,
I finally got around to starting up my toshiba laptop a week or so ago
however the new laptop throws up an error message when starting
the message is
no bootable device found press any key to reboot
my laptop is a toshiba satelite l50-a4
I asumed that the store forgot to load the preinstalled recovery partition included with the laptop
I tried the f12 boot options menu  boot from hdd with no result
also I tried holding down the 0 key during bootup to access the toshiba recovery partition but the same error message comes up
does anyone know how I could go about resolving this

A learning experience is one of those things that say, "You know that thing you just did? Don't do that."

2014-08-22 06:47:48 (edited by livrobo 2014-08-23 03:19:31)

Is this a laptop that runs windows 8/8.1? If so, check to ensure that UEFI boot is enabled in the bios. I have no idea why it would be disabled but I know you'll see that error if windows 8 is installed using UEFI and then it is turned off in the bios or vice versa.
For example, if you install windows 8 on a machine running UEFI, and then change the boot method to Legacy, windows will not boot. Same thing if you install under legacy and then change to UEFI boot.

If a helicopter falls in the field and no one's around, it doesn't make a sound.

2014-08-22 06:56:37

If it's new you could always get the store to deal with it. It's also possible, though I'll stress only that it is possible, that it may not be finding a bootable device because the hard drive may be faulty.

cx2
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To live by honour and to honour life, these are our greatest strengths and our best hopes.

2014-08-22 07:27:45 (edited by Ghost 2014-08-22 07:28:27)

hi,
it is a windows 8.1 laptop
maybe the person who loaded the partitions forgot to re-enable secure boot after install

A learning experience is one of those things that say, "You know that thing you just did? Don't do that."

2014-08-23 02:11:40 (edited by Ethin 2014-08-23 02:13:22)

@enes, Windows 8/8.1 does not require a machine to support, or have enabled, secure boot. I have a Mac which does not even support it and it boots just fine. Here's some good suggestions:
1. Press f2 or f12 (I think); f2 should open the BIOS itself, and f12 should open the boot manager. However, I'm not exactly sure about that. Note: Do this as soon as you press the power button! Hold it down until you see complete white cover your screen. Go into the boot category, and turn on EFI boot. If its not in that category, move around the bios with the left and right arrow keys until you find it. Left and right
arrow keys move through categories, up and down arrow keys navigate options. Enter edits an on/off value, and f5/f6, or in one of my other computers case, f7/f8 changes values which have multiple values. Set EFI Boot to on. Press f10 and then select yes to save your settings, or go to the 'save and exit' category and select 'save and exit'. Press the up and down arrow keys to find "yes", and press enter. Your computer should reboot automatically. You should be good to go then.
2. Reinstall windows. It may be that your computer has "forgotten" windows, or "crashed" as some people call it. Note: Reinstalling windows is a very difficult process!
3. Send it into the store for reparation.
Note: Do not, under any circumstance, go into the BIOS unless you know absolutely what you are doing. Sited assistance is required. If you go into the BIOS, and do not understand what any of the options do, press control alt delete immediately to exit the BIOS and continue the boot process normally. Editing the BIOS settings without knowledge of what you are doing could have disastrous results, which includes failure to boot properly, your computer beeping at you, indicating in invalid option, blue screens randomly when your not expecting them or at a particular boot stage, failure to recognize a required or necessary device, failure to recognize the RAM/hard drive, etc.
If you do suggestion number one, make sure you have someone close by who actually knows what some of the options do.
A good suggestion when in the bios is: When you don't know what an option does, don't mess with it.

"On two occasions I have been asked [by members of Parliament!]: 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out ?' I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question."    — Charles Babbage.
My Github

2014-08-23 04:28:26

hi ethin,
if you did something rong in the bios you could always hit load default settings

A learning experience is one of those things that say, "You know that thing you just did? Don't do that."

2014-08-25 13:27:13

Is the bios accessible to begin with in the first place?

Ulysses, KJ7ERC
She/they
Reedsy

2014-08-25 15:53:50

If you mean accessible in the sense of useable without vision then no, he did specify sighted assistance was necessary.

cx2
-----
To live by honour and to honour life, these are our greatest strengths and our best hopes.

2014-08-29 03:52:14

@enes, I did forget that, yes.
@Green Gables Fan: No, the BIOS is not acessible in the terms of usability without sited assistance. The reason is because the computer is unable to load a speech driver at such an early stage. When the computer starts, and the BIOS initializes, it can't initialize the sound card and drivers associated with it because it has no consecutive file system. The file system doesn't just help us computer users, it also helps the computer as well. The BIOS doesn't have one, and its kernel is so small that it can't initialize anything beyond the base system that the windows kernel and all other OSes kernels run off of.
Think of the BIOS as a kind of platform. Now, imagine the platform shrinking to the size of a 32 or 64 byte USB drive. A driver for sound can't be loaded in such small storage copasities. A driver for sound requires at least 128 MB, and if the BIOS were to load a sound driver, it would destroy itself. Plus, after it loaded the sound driver, it has to load a form of a screen reader of some sort, and what screen reader can read computer screens that aren't fully initialized? I've never heard of a computer with a screen reader that runs in 8 bit mode before. Yes, the BIOS runs the processor in 8 bit mode temporarily because that's all it can run it in. The bootloader pulls it into 16 bit mode, and the OS then pulls it into 32 bit mode, and if your using a 64 bit OS, it then jumps to long mode, or 64 bit mode.
I'm not sure how to describe it any further than that.
HTH
Ethin

"On two occasions I have been asked [by members of Parliament!]: 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out ?' I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question."    — Charles Babbage.
My Github

2014-08-29 07:12:09

hi ethin,
it is true that bios is inaccessible on most pcs
however toshiba laptops come with a program called system settings formerly hw setup that you can use to modify most bios settings
the program is also fully accessible

A learning experience is one of those things that say, "You know that thing you just did? Don't do that."

2014-08-29 08:49:25

Here's an alternative example of how and why the BIOS is the way it is.

Imagine you're stranded on an island with nothing but a pen knife. Now you can use the pen knife to cut up some kindling and the like, pull together a few broken branches to build a fire. In time you may be able to use materials to build other tools like using the pen knife to carve an augur and so on, potentially to the point where you may be able to build yourself a log cabin.

When the computer is in the BIOS it only has access to the pen knife and the pen knife just doesn't offer you the right capabilities to make a screen reader, it's just the wrong tool for the job. You can use the BIOS to start an operating system which then can load the right tool for the job, but at that point you're not in the BIOS any more.

cx2
-----
To live by honour and to honour life, these are our greatest strengths and our best hopes.

2014-08-31 04:15:17

@enes, HWSetup is a very minimal program and only allows you to change certain settings that the processor allows. It is not unlimited like the BIOS is. Another limitation it as is that you cannot change every single setting that the BIOS allows you to change. For instance, in the BIOS, you can turn on and off virtualization, but in HWSetup you cannot do this. Finally, one other limitation is that HWSetup is only for Toshiba laptops. It is not available on any other type of computer, and it is impossible to get the source for it.

"On two occasions I have been asked [by members of Parliament!]: 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out ?' I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question."    — Charles Babbage.
My Github