Help!? Toshiba Satellite A205 XP downgrade

Hi all.

I've gotten really far downgrading from Vista Home to XP Pro SP2, and run into two or three problems I can't seem to solve.

My equipment:

Toshiba Satellite a205-4797
Chipset Intel 945GM, onboard video
Realtek HiDef audio card with software modem aboard
Intel SD Card reader
Hours of poring over forums studying downgrade issues

My procedure - a restart after *each* driver installation.

Performed Vista partition wipe
Installed XP Pro on available partition
Installed Intel Chipset Driver INF_AllOS_8.4.0.1016_PV_Intel.exe
Installed Intel Video Driver - GFX_XP32_14.31.1.4864_PV_Intel.exe
Installed Realtek Hi Def Audio Driver - driver_audio_realtek_27409A.exe

I got all my drivers from the Toshiba website except for a few that I allowed "Driver Detective" to change after they didn't work with the Toshiba ones. But that didn't change anything about my difficulties.

Other than these things, I can get everything up and running - wi-fi, LAN, modem, webcam, etc.

Now the problems arise:

1. Installed Toshiba Common Modules - util_common_modules_26672A.exe, restarted.

Tried to install Toshiba Hotkey Utility - util_hotkey_26673A.exe (supposed to make all the "fn" keys - Brightness, Volume, etc. keys work), but upon unpacking it immediately says "Toshiba Common Modules not found, exiting install."

The hotkeys still don't work, obviously. I have tried several different versions of Toshiba Common Modules with exactly the same results. TCM seems to install fine, but the subsequent programs that want it don't find it. TCM doesn't show up in the "Add/Remove Programs" list for removal and reinstallation. The hardware sound volume knob works fine.

2. Installed Mass Storage Controller - Texas Instruments PCIxx21 FlashMed - qe15flashdriver.exe. Still had "Mass Storage Controller" yellow question mark in Device Manager. Updated driver from within Device Manager to TI PCIxx21 Flash Media Controller. No more yellow question mark. Built-in SD Card reader *does not* recognize SD card at all, although a USB SD card reader works fine.

3. At some point in all these installs, an icon appeared in the system tray that I think is connected to my problems. It may well have appeared after the Toshiba Common Modules install. It appears as a small pic of a laptop with a "slashed circle" at the bottom right corner. This icon is entirely unresponsive to left or right clicking. In the taskbar properties where you decide which icons to hide, it ha <no title> next to it.

Questions:

Where am I going wrong? I've heard these drivers have to be installed in the order I've given, especially chipset first. Did I mess up the order, and is there a way to fix it without starting over with an HD reformat and XP reinstall?

Is there any way to make this computer work in full function with XP?

Is it necessary to restart the computer after each main driver install, or can you do several, then restart?

What the heck is that system tray icon?

I really appreciate the time of any of you experts that could help me out with this!

Bret Coil

 

i had some issues with my tosh u405

try this - boot xp pro and ntfs quick format everything, just 1 part left put xp on that

then load the drivers from intels site - disable auto updates and don't use tosh's site

the intel drivers won't work if they detect any other tosh drivers on the system

my sd card reader didn't work after i did tosh drivers but following the steps above i was surprised to see it working 100%

i still have 3 exclamation points - mass storage and sm bus controller + fingerprint

but so far everything except the finger print sensor is working as it should be

 

Thanks for helping me out.

Yeah, I did install the Intel drivers 1st, And they were not from Toshiba's site, but were the ones I was guided to by Intel for the 945GM chipset. Are you saying you never put any Toshiba drivers in at all, or you just waited til after the Intel ones from Intel's site were loaded.

I don't see how you'd get all the drivers for the hotkeys and stuff without using Toshiba's drivers. Am I missing a point here? Are your hotkeys working?

Thanks for your help!

 

my hotkeys are working but they are very simple

they're mute play pause stop next back and launch media player

these don't require any special drivers - this is with the u405-2820 remeber

 

I see I made typo in one of the descriptions above.

3. At some point in all these very basic installs, an icon appeared in the system tray that I think is connected to my problems. It may well have appeared after the Toshiba Common Modules install. It appears as a small image of a laptop with a "slashed circle" at the bottom right corner. This icon is entirely unresponsive to left or right clicking. In the taskbar properties where you decide which icons to hide, it has "<no title>" next to it.

What the heck is that system tray icon?

 

Hi,

Yeah, but are your "fn" keys working? The ones that have a different color on the function (like f6) buttons to do things like brighten, print screen, that stuff, by pressing a third key, marked "fn" on my puter.

 

I haven't been able to get the function keys to work in xp, but they didn't work well in Vista either on my machine. The only one that matters is the screen brightness, but I can adjust that via the Nvidia control panel.

 

Hi Ol'Zab

have u solved ur problems now?

 

Umm, nope. None of my questions in thsi thread answered yet.

I'm still trying to get together another plan for my fourth XP reinstall. I've read somewhere where someone said they had a lot better luck getting everything to work after they installed SP3, so now my plan is this:

Reformat
Install XP Pro SP2
Install SP3
Install Intel chipset driver for gm 945
Install Intel video driver for onboard video
Install Realtek Hi Def audio driver
Install Toshiba Common Modules
Install Toshiba Utilities

At that point, I'll probably be in the same boat again as I've been the first 3 times, and will toss the Toshiba out the window.

But really, it would be super to get some feedback on whether there's anything I could do different to improve my chances!

Thanks,
Ol' Zab

 

What finally worked for me:

After trying many different drivers and orders of installation with the same results as I originally got, I finally decided to try what a few had said you needed to do, and many had said you don't, which is find a BIOS that supports XP.

I went and looked at the latest BIOS for the A205-S4797 at the Toshiba USA website, and, lo and behold, it said it supported XP and Vista. I installed it via the "by Windows" method since the boot CD method didn't work.

Then I reinstalled all the drivers again, from the chipset and all the other couple of dozen, including the Toshiba common modules and Toshiba Hotkey Utility and this time *everything* worked perfectly as advertised and the 'puter is just like a brand new XP machine.

I used the instructions and installation order of drivers from the Toshiba Europe site, and also used a couple of drivers from the Toshiba Canada site. Since the A205 is not sold in Europe or Canada, in order to determine which was the correct one among the drivers where there were many to choose from, I picked the ones that were offered for the Satellite model with the hardware that most closely matched mine, especially chipset, onboard video, etc.

So, in closing, for me the key was to find a BIOS that supported XP. After installing that, everything was as it was supposed to be. No more headaches.

Yay!

 

Hey Ol' Zab
Your post was really informational!

I was hoping though, that you could perhaps give me some more details? I have the same laptop and am looking to do the same thing.. I'm not as familliar as to the hardware specifications of it to be able to determine which drivers to get off the european and canadian sites.. I would have pm'd you with this message but being the noob that I am, I can't find the option for it.

 

Open forum for this question is best anyway.

It's going to take me a while - days to weeks - to get the cd back that has all the correct files on it from the person that owns the A205. You ask, didn't I make 2? Didn't I save all the correct files and instructions and upload them somewhere? No, I'm a dumb****. I thought I did, but nope, can't find 'em.

Anyway, I'll try to get the final files back and send you the exact list or upload them. If I take too long, the model number on the Tosh Euro and Canada sites that appears to be most similar to the A205-S4797 is the A200-PSAE0.

If you go to the Canada site:
http://support.toshiba.ca/support/download/ln_bymodel.asp
and then just navigate to the A200-PSAE0, then "filter by OS" to XP, you'll see a near perfect list.

Assemble all the drivers listed on the page in a folder, or better yet, on a cd. Be sure you get the one called "Installation Instructions" because that contains the order of driver installation, which is important, especially the first 2/3, like from the chipset right on down through Toshiba Controls.

Start with the BIOS upgrade - read the readme in the .exe - mine only worked via the "install through Windows" method, but it worked perfectly. Without it, had nothing but problems.

Next, refer to your printout of the "installation instructions" which is just a list of the order to install.

Then open and install every driver on the list, here it is for reference:

Microsoft .NET Framework
Sun Java 2 Runtime Environment
Intel Chipset Utility
Intel Display Driver
Realtek Audio Driver
Realtek LAN Driver
ALPS Touch Pad Driver
Synaptics Touch Pad Driver
TI Card Reader Driver
Chicony Camera
TOSHIBA Software Modem
Atheros Wireless LAN Driver
Intel Wireless LAN Driver
Bluetooth Monitor
Bluetooth Stack for Windows by Toshiba
Atheros Client Utility
Intel PROSet Utility
TOSHIBA Assist
TOSHIBA Hotkey Utility
TOSHIBA Accessibility
TOSHIBA Hardware Setup Utility
TOSHIBA Supervisor Password
TOSHIBA Fn-esse
TouchPad ON/OFF Utility
TOSHIBA Controls (6 button)
TOSHIBA Power Saver
TOSHIBA Zooming Utility
TOSHIBA Speech System
TOSHIBA ConfigFree
TOSHIBA SD Memory Utilities
TOSHIBA PC Diagnostic Tool
CD/DVD Drive Acoustic Silencer
TOSHIBA User's Manual
Toshiba Power Saver
TOSHIBA Controls
Zooming Utility

Personally I didn't want some of the drivers, like Zooming utility, so I skipped 'em. Most are pretty needed, tho.

If you can't find a driver you think you need on the Canada site, got to the European site/support/navigate to your model and DL the driver.

If yours is not an S4797, I suggest you search these forums for how to get a simple listing of the hardware (esp. chipset, video card, etc.) on your computer. There's an easy way, and I can't remember it. System info via start/all programs/accessories/system tools/system information doesn't seem to have the hardware info in a simple list, but there is an easy way.

Anyway, once you get a list of your exact HW components, just go to the Tosh Euro or Canada site and find their model with all the same major components and then navigate to that model's support/download page, filter to xp, and everything you need is right there.

Zab

 

Thanks a million!
And yes, it is a s4797.


One question though, if you installed them out of order (not completely) will it break everything?

EDIT:
the bios downloaded won't install.. I got it from the canada site..
the bios i have been using is from the american toshiba site.. and fn-esse isn't compatible with it