Libretto L5 - CD ROM Drive

Any L-series users out there? We seem to be very few and far between. Perhaps someone would know where to find the external CD-ROM drive that is bootable for the L5? Anyone?

 

OK, let's try this. Has any one come across any pages with bootable CD-ROM drives for the Toshiba Libretto L-series?? I've found a couple that were manufactured in Japan, but availability is an issue. I find it hard to believe that the L5 will only boot from a CD from certain drives. Any help is appreciated. I'm trying to install Linux and really don't feel like setting up a net boot.

 

*crickets*

I tried to help by searching around, but found nothing that would help...sorry.

Editor in Chief http://www.bargainPDA.com and http://www.SPOTstop.com

 

Thanks Brian. I've actually be on this search for almost a year now. The best 'hints' have been coming from pages dealing with installing Linux on this series, but nothing solid to lead me to a compatiable model. I think booting over lan is going to be the most feasible option. I've seen a couple of pages about removing the HD and installing it on another machine for the install, but it seems like a delicate operation. Net boot...here I come...Thank God I'm off tomorrow, plenty of time to be frustrated ;-)

 

Hi Big Calhoun. As you know, I've got a Libretto L5. I also have both the USB floppy and CD-ROM drives purchased from Dynamism. I've been unable to get the L5 to boot from the floppy, so I'm not sure it's possible.

 

How compatible is the L5 to the 110CT? Supposedly, you can use a Port/Noteworthy 24X External PCMCIA CDROM drive. You just need a utility from the Toshiba support site to create the bootable FDD with the correct settings/drivers loaded. The file's called BootPort.exe. If you can't find it, I can get it from the Toshiba Canada site and upload it to you.

Theise,
Does your BIOS (assuming it's called TSETUP) have an option for the PC Card Controller? If it does, is it set to PCIC Compatible? This could be the reason why it hasn't worked for you.

Here's the instructions I got from the Toshiba Site regarding restoring on a Libretto 110CT, don't know if it's compatible/similar to the L5 series.

Description:
How do I use the recovery CDs that come included with my Portégé and my Port/Noteworthy PCMCIA based CD-ROM Drive?

Resolution:
The Windows 95/98 Recovery CD's that come with any Portégé can be installed from the Port/Noteworthy CD-ROM with the appropriate settings and software on a boot disk. To perform a software recovery with the Port/Noteworthy drive you will need to download BOOTPORT.exe, or the appropriate bootdisk from from http://www.toshiba.ca/support.

Note: You can find Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows 2000 Recovery CD bootdisks in the bootdisk section of the support site for the PORT Noteworthy 24X drive:

Configuration:

Set the jumper switch on the drive to the left
Set the PC Card Controller setting in TSETUP to PCIC Compatible
Place the first CD in the drive
Restart the computer (cold boot) with the diskette in the "A:" drive
Confirm that you want to recover the software
Setup will format the hard drive and prompt for the second CD after it finishes copying files from the first CD
Restart the computer when prompted
If you see an error message indicating the file command.com is either missing or corrupted, at the a> prompt, type in a:command.com to specify the location of the file. Then at the a:> prompt, manually type in "autoexec.bat" to continue the software recovery process.

Hope this works!

-Vb-

 

Hey Vb, thanks for all the info -- looks very helpful! Actually, my L5 *will* boot from the PCMCIA CD-ROM, but not from the USB 3.5" floppy disk drive. I *did* goof in saying the CD-ROM was also USB.

 

Excellent information...Thank You!!!! I'll have to start searching for that particular drive and toy around with it!!

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by Venombite
Theise,
Does your BIOS (assuming it's called TSETUP) have an option for the PC Card Controller? If it does, is it set to PCIC Compatible? This could be the reason why it hasn't worked for you.
<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'></font id='quote'></blockquote id='quote'>

Actually, I've never been able to get into the BIOS on my L5. During the boot sequence there is a row of icons at the top of the screen (HD, network, CD-ROM, etc.) and you can arrow between them to pick the boot device. This was not at all obvious to me, and someone else (I think it was Dynamism tech support) pointed it out to me.

 

I could have sworn that the there is a way to access the BIOS of the Libretto. Of course now, I can't remember where or when I saw that information...I'll search again. Conics has some usueful information regarding the L5 and has drivers for download: http://downloads.conics.net/

 

Great link, thanks!

 

To get into the BIOS, you hold down the ESC key and then power on the unit while still holding down the ESC key. It'll then beep and should asked you to hit F1. This will then take you into the BIOS. This is Toshiba's way to get into the BIOS. Still applies to the newer units they release. If that doesn't work, try powering on unit and immediately start tapping the ESC key until you see the F1 message.

Theise, I don't think this unit was designed with a BIOS that supports USB booting. It may only be available in the newer notebooks, well at least newer than the L5. [ ]

-Vb-

 

Thanks Vb.


Esc on power up does indeed get the F1 prompt, but after pressing F1 (or holding it down) it goes right on into loading XP.

 

Hmmm.... That's weird. It should go into the BIOS. I wonder if these units require a disk or some software to take it into the BIOS. Older Compaq's were like that, there was no way to get into the BIOS, you had to boot off a BIOS disk. That may be the same case here, I'll see if I can find more info about this.

-Vb-