Portege R700 Freezing: Full speed fan, no keyboard

A number of folks who bought the Toshiba R700 are reporting the laptop freezes for no apparent reason and (so far) with no real indication as to what actions trigger it.

Some have reported that they thought it might be related to the unit going to sleep. Others while web surfing, others editing in Word, others while the computer was inactive and not being used at the moment.

Symptoms: The fan comes on full, the unit is not hot, the keyboard is non-responsive. The only key that performs any function is the power button. Holding it down for 5 sec turns off the laptop (hard reboot).

So far Toshiba has shown no willingness to engage on this issue.

I recommend against getting an R700 until Toshiba gives some guidance about their plans in this area.

Here is the related thread on the Toshiba Forum: R700 Freezing up - Toshiba Laptop Forums

 

Have you called tech support to get help on it?

 

Usually a freeze is caused by a software conflict. I have not had this issue on my R705 from Best Buy but it may be helpful for owners who are experiencing this issue to document some of the applications they have installed. Hopefully that might pinpoint the cause of the problem.

Just a thought.

 

I empathize with anyone having issues with their notebook but it is extremely limited.
It can't even be confirmed to be Toshiba related and not just software related at this point. My guess would be software and not Toshiba.

If I were to have this issue I would do a full, clean install of Win7 x86 and update all drivers directly from the vendors.

 

I believe that all this has been done! Please see original thread.

I have purchased two of these notebooks now and they BOTH had the same problem. I honestly cannot believe that these are just isolated incidents.

I am a novice but I have ONLY Toshiba recommended software on my computer. I have lost work etc. due to the forced re-starts.

 

I posted on the big thread that it happened to me once when I left the computer idle for awhile. I've only had the computer five days. I installed Picasa and Microsoft security essentials and uninstalled Norton and the games. I don't think any software I have should be the problem. It hasn't repeated itself yet. Tonight I will leave it turned on and idle to see if anything happens.

 

What are the configurations of the notebooks having the problems? Maybe we can narrow it down to a certain part.

I have the i7 620 system, I never did a fresh install so it is whatever came with from the factory. I have used it in the eco mode and regular mode, I have let it go to sleep and haven't had any issues with it waking up. My fan is quiet and only gets a little louder if I am watching a dvd.

 

Mine is the R700-S1311 with the Win7 64 bit operating system installed. Like I say, I've only had it happen one time.

 

hey there. i have had my computer for more than a month now and i have had 2 crashes. more than i would like from a new computer, but not terrible-- that can be pretty typical in fact. but i have noticed both times that its actually a video card/ driver failure. i would notice that aero would suddenly shut off (no transparent windows anymore etc). i looked at my W7 action center to confirm this, and it showed the same problem. try turning off the driver for your video card and see what happens. i would be intrigued to know if this is in fact the problem.

 

We should keep this thread strictly to the so called 'freezing' problem. i.e. the fan is running at full speed but no heat is being generated, the keyboard is inoperative, and hard reboot is the only way out.

Your problem is unrelated.

 

Summary so far:

People running Windows 7 in both 32 bit as well as 64 bit versions have reported seeing this.

Also people running the version 1.4 bios (that comes with) as well as the 1.3 bios (which you can download from Toshiba website.

Also, it has been reported by owners of i3 and i5 as well as i7.

I believe it has been seen in both eco mode and non (mine were in eco mode but someone should confirm they get them in regular mode as well)

We have not been able (yet) to find a common denominator terms of applications, drivers, or installed components.

But my hope, in starting this thread, is that if we do as RunSilent is suggesting: i.e. describe our configurations and what was happening at the time of the freeze, we can start to make some sense out what is going on here.

 

Yes, they were supposed to get back to me with the escalated (level 2) technician, but did not. I will keep pursuing a solution from that end as well as this thread.

Another (in the toshiba forum thread) reported that Toshiba level 2 did get back to them and worked carefully with him for quite a long time, but the result was inconclusive and that technician indicated he would raise the problem up to a higher level.

(firple at http://laptopforums.toshiba.com/t5/Portégé-Laptops/R700-Freezing-up/td-p/120885/page/3)

 

I'm one of those that has experienced this very unsusual freeze (R700-ST1300, Win7 Pro 64 bit, SSD, 1.4 bios). I know that this has happened to folks using a dock and those not using a dock. I have not seen any indication that this has happened on a Best Buy R705.

 

There's been no confirmation that I've seen that anybody has fully updated their drivers direct from the hardware vendors let alone done a full, clean reinstall and then this.

You can't expect help troubleshooting like this. You need to give more info and then follow instructions and report back.

 

Please, if you make statements like this, keep them to actual facts. People have done a complete reinstall and they keep seeing the problem nonetheless.

Example:
modee at R700 Freezing up - Page 2 - Toshiba Laptop Forums

As far as updating each driver individually, I don't know for sure that anyone has done that, but it is a good suggestion. Sort of a canonball approach, like lobbing canonballs all over the beach in the hopes of hitting something

For myself, I am hesitant to try that approach for the simple reason that mine is so infrequent that it would be inconclusive. I have had 2 of these freezes over a period of a month. If I update all of my drivers and 3 weeks go by without a freeze, do we proclaim success, probably not. Like I said, inconclusive.

What worries me is not 2 freezes in 1 month but rather the fact that some people are having several per day (they may be good candidates for the driver update experiment). Given that the problem is currently not well understood, at any time any of us could fall victim to the more frequent freezing. That is the part that concerns me and makes me want to understand the source of the problem.

 

sorry, i guess i didnt make myself clear: what happened was that aero would shut off, and then the computer would crash. the screen would go blank and the fan would run on high. I would only be able to get the computer going through a hard reboot. i am not sure if any of you experienced aero getting deactivated when freezing occurs, but the two times it has happened to me, thats what happens. disabling the video driver should at least isolate the problem for those experiencing 2+ crashes a day.

 

Interesting, thanks. You are the first to report that it is aero related. Have any others seen this?

 

So you're not going to follow any sort of troubleshooting and will just wait until someone else tells you conclusively what the issue is?

I don't think this is going to end up being a problem Toshiba takes credit for and says "This is exactly what it was." A driver issues is probably about as close as it will come to being hardware related. Which you could wait around for Toshiba to update on their site or go direct to the sources now.

 

I'm not sure why you come across as angry. No one is doing anything to you.

I thought I explained well, but let me try again.

First of all I agree with you that "something" is causing this. Probably a driver, maybe an application, whatever, something is causing this. We would like to figure out what that is (hence this thread). But everytime anyone says anything you jump in and start screaming about how no one is following instructions and no one is troubleshooting. Sometimes, in the middle of your rant, you will expel a useful nugget of information, and we appreciate that. But most of the time it just comes across as angry but without purpose.

Now, to directly answer your question: I personally have only had the problem twice in the one month that I have owned the computer.

Since we don't know what might be causing it, therefore I have no way of inducing the condition, therefore I don't have a way to verify that changing a driver or removing or updating an application fixes this problem.

But there are others who have the problem on a daily basis. These people are better candidates than I to perform that aspect of this investigation. I'm not sure why that seems confusing to you, but I don't have a way of explaining it any more clearly than that. Maybe if you just read and respond a little slower, that will give your brain a little more time to process what is being said.

 

It is indeed frustrating trying to troubleshoot with someone who's not in it with you. I'm not angry at anyone though. Sorry if it seems that way.
If nobody is willing to troubleshoot software we're not going to get too far.

Would someone like to try updating their drivers direct from the sources?

 

I posted this on the Toshiba forum as well:

Would someone, who is getting the freezing problem on a regular basis, update their drivers from the toshiba.com location:

Model Content Page

Try one at a time until the problem goes away. Start with the display driver.

I notice that the video drivers, at the website, are currently at v6.14.10.5258 dated 05-24-2010

My laptop is v8.15.10.2125 dated 4-30-2010

Before today the bios that was listed on this page was 1.30 but today is 1.40. However I believe that everyone has 1.40 already loaded. In any case updating bios as well as reinstalling windows has not yet been seen to make this issue go away.

 

I am not suggesting to update with the ones listed on the Toshiba website.
I am suggesting you update directly from the individual vendors.

Update your chipset from intel, display driver form intel, etc.

It is extremely common with notebooks to not rely on the Computer Manufacturer for drivers and to go directly to the sources to fix problems.

 

New owner of an R700-S1321 who is reporting a freeze. It happened after I installed Firefox. Firefox crashed when I tried to open it and I couldn't get it to work, but I'm no expert. I was in IE when it crashed... a Norton box popped up in the left-hand corner (have the 30-day), don't remember what it said, and that's when the freeze happened. Since uninstalling (been a day and a half now) I have not had any problems, but I miss Firefox.

 

Firefox crashed on me when I first installed it. I had to disable an add on. I can't remember which one it was, but it should be the only one.

 

Freezing here as well. The laptop is maybe 3 weeks old.

r700 s1320
i7
60GB ssd
fresh win7 x64
Bios 1.30
some toshiba utilities (not on my laptops so i can't remember which ones)
fingerprint utility

The freezing happened maybe 4 times total so far.

 

I had a very similar experience that I posted in three messages a few weeks ago on the Toshiba forum ( Re: R700 Freezing - Page 2 - Toshiba Laptop Forums ). I've pasted those messages below. In the end I removed all versions of Firefox and unfortunately the freezes have continued. Here are the three posts:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
firple wrote:
I'm also part of the freeze club.
I just got a custom R700-ST1300 with an I7, 128Gb SSD, and 64 bit Win7 installed. In the five days I've had this it's frozen as many as 4 or 5 times per day. As reported by others it happens at random times usually with no heavy activity going on. As soon as it freezes the fan accelerates. It is totally frozen and control/alt/delete won't do anything. A hard restart is the only possibility.
My next move will be doing a fresh install but I'll wait a while to see if this becomes a known problem...hopefully a known problem with a solution
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
firple wrote:
To anyone who is having the freeze problem I'd like to offer a very preliminary series of thoughts, observations and a suggestion.
•Do you have 64 bit Win7 installed
•Do you have Firefox installed
•Has Firefox been running when the freeze occurred
I have absolutely no idea if any of this relates to Firefox but I do know that when I installed Firefox v3.6.8 (just a few days ago) it wouldn't run at first...but then it did run. Then the R700 freezes started. Yesterday I turned off Firefox and there have not been any freezes since. Last night I discovered that a new Firefox beta has been released that supports 64 bit systems (4.0 Beta 3). I installed that last night and still no freezes.
So...try turning off or uninstalling Firefox 3.xx and see if that helps. You might also want to try the beta but be aware that add-ons are mostly not available yet.
If I get another freeze I'll report it here and will promptly eat my words.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
firple wrote:
I can now report that I have removed all versions and personalization of Firefox. There are are now fewer freezes but I'm still getting one or two freezes per day. I searched and found other freezing reports at: http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/forum/thread/16569/p​roblems-with-toshibas-portege-r700/
Please report if you are having any freezing issues. I noticed in the thread above that someone mentioned they had the SSD. My R700 has an I7, SSD and Win7 64 bit installed. Thanks in advance for any information that you can provide. I'm going to contact Toshiba today and see what they have to say. I hope they are monitoring this thread.

 

That's the most info anyone has posted so far and still more is needed to properly troubleshoot.

Give it like you were witness to a crime. Details people.
Maybe I can find a template from one of the help sites. I'll check..

 

firple wrote:
To anyone who is having the freeze problem I'd like to offer a very preliminary series of thoughts, observations and a suggestion.
•Do you have 64 bit Win7 installed
•Do you have Firefox installed
•Has Firefox been running when the freeze occurred

If it helps to solve, I have:
1321 i5 x64 Win7, as delivered with the 320 GB 7200rpm drive.
Bios 1.40, 7/20/10
eta: don't use the fingerprint thing. The note keeps popping up asking me to set it up, but I don't want to use it.

Firefox was installed when freeze happened as I was browsing in IE. I have since uninstalled Firefox and have seen no further freezes. Will report if they continue. I do distinctly remember that Norton box popping up at the exact time that my computer froze. It wasn't an error message from Norton, more like an ad or a tip box. I thought at the time that's what caused it, but I don't know.

 

It does not appear that firefox is related to this problem. That has been ruled out. Also, the latest Intel display drivers were installed, with no reduction in the number of freezeups. There was a suspicion that it was related to IE/Outlook fingerprint logon, but that has been ruled out.

One of the possibilities, that Toshiba is currently investigating, is the idea that the ram chips may work themselves loose and cause intermittent problems. No final word on that yet.

So that's where that is. right now.

With regards to the separate question about firefox crashing on the R700. The solution is to disable the auto fingerprint logon for firefox, in the toshiba fingerprint id software.

 

The RAM possibility is very interesting. My old HP DV1000 gave me problems for a couple of months, and a bunch of BSODs, and eventually I figured out that it was loose RAM.

Lately I've gotten a couple of BSODs on the Portege r700 and it reminded me of that old scenario.

 

.....Another Crash. This is what I found in Event Viewer.....

Log Name: System
Source: Microsoft-Windows-DriverFrameworks-UserMode
Date: 8/31/2010 3:49:32 PM
Event ID: 10111
Task Category: User-mode Driver problems.
Level: Critical
Keywords:
User: SYSTEM
Computer: r700s1320
Description:
The device Apple iPhone (location Port_#0001.Hub_#0003) is offline due to a user-mode driver crash. Windows will attempt to restart the device 5 more times. Please contact the device manufacturer for more information about this problem.
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
<System>
<Provider Name="Microsoft-Windows-DriverFrameworks-UserMode" Guid='{2E35AAEB-857F-4BEB-A418-2E6C0E54D988}' />
<EventID>10111</EventID>
<Version>1</Version>
<Level>1</Level>
<Task>64</Task>
<Opcode>0</Opcode>
<Keywords>0x2000000000000000</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime="2010-08-31T19:49:32.858707100Z" />
<EventRecordID>17865</EventRecordID>
<Correlation />
<Execution Processid='988' Threadid='1148' />
<Channel>System</Channel>
<Computer>r700s1320</Computer>
<Security Userid='S-1-5-18' />
</System>
<UserData>
<UmdfDeviceOffline lifetime="{30C4771A-D0C9-4ABA-BAE6-4D8D178D2FDE}" xmlns:auto-ns2="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events" xmlns="http://www.microsoft.com/DriverFrameworks/UserMode/Event">
<DeviceInfo>
<FriendlyName>Apple iPhone</FriendlyName>
<Location>Port_#0001.Hub_#0003</Location>
<InstanceId>USB\VID_05AC&amp;PID_1292&amp;MI_00\0</InstanceId>
</DeviceInfo>
<RestartCount>5</RestartCount>
</UmdfDeviceOffline>
</UserData>
</Event>

I can't confirm that ALL my crashes was with my iPhone connected to my laptop, but it was today.

iPhone 3G
3.1.2
Modem - 05.11.07
Jailbroken on ATT

 

Interesting. Mine crashed with my new iPhone attached just the other day. And it won't let me sync now. Keeps saying that there's an error. ?

 

There may be something here worth pursuing.
I've had an issue with my R700 freezing and also an issue with syncing my HTC HD2. Like the freeze problem the sync problem is intermittent.

With my sync partnership setup properly and previously fully operational there are times when I plug the HD2 in via usb and the computer beeps indicating that the HD2 has been inserted. However...the sync does not start and when I look at the device manager the HD2 is not there. I then either plug and unplug the usb cable repeatedly or restart the R700 with the HD2 usb cable inserted. This 'sometimes' establishes the full connection.

I have no idea if this sync problem has anything to do with the freeze problem but I reported it to Toshiba and mention it here in case anyone else has observed this or similar issues. Thanks to those who are taking the time to post their observations.

I normally don't believe in double posting but I'm going to paste my comments into the Toshiba forum since I know the level 3 tech support folks are monitoring that thread.

 

My r700 crashed a ton too (no firefox). I ended up reinstalling a clean Win7 from non-toshiba discs, and that substantially improved it. I think I had my iPhone plugged in most of the times that it crashed.

My r700 shipped with bios 1.2, and I updated to 1.3. I'll probably update to 1.5 (decently long changelog, unlike 1.4) soon.

 

Currently, on the Toshiba thread addressing this topic, Toshiba is indicating they believe the problem to be related to the fingerprint reader power management. They indicate that a permanent solution is upcoming.
In the meantime they recommend this workaround for now:

-----------------------------------------------------
All:

Rather than uninstalling fingerprint reader software or disabling the fingerprint reader biometric device in Device Manager, your help testing the efficacy of the following procedure to disable power management of the fingerprint reader would be appreciated:

1. Start -> Control Panel - > System
2. Click on Device Manager
3. Click on “Biometric Devices”
4. Right-Click on “AuthenTec, Inc. AES1660”
5. Select “Properties”
5. Select “Power Management” tab
6. Uncheck “Allow the computer to turn off the device to save power”

If you've been experiencing the lockup/freeze issue, please try the above procedure and report back if you continue to have the issue after making this change.

Thanks,

Jim
-----------------------------------------------------

 

Great-- I just followed those directions and will report back. I was only getting the freeze-up about once a week, so it might take a while to get a sense of whether it's stopped altogether.

 

Thanks for this information Oscar2. I was suffering from 4-6 lockups a day on my R700-15X, which is only two weeks old and I was beginning to regret moving from my old Vaio to this. However since this modifcation, I've been running well for 5 days and long may it continue.

Cheers

 

Toshiba has updated the fingerprint reader software to fix the freezing problem:

Toshiba Download


From the Toshiba discussion thread at Toshiba R700 Freezing up:

 

I had this problem on an M750 previously, but it was linked to using a Toshiba Dynadock. Once I stopped that and removed all the dynadock software, the freezing stopped.

I recently got a new M780 and it's been fine in the few months since I got it. But just today it started freezing on me. Same as everyone else: Can't move or use anything and the fan cycles on to full power. If it only happened that one time I'd get on my knees and kiss the ground. But I haven't been able to boot up fully in 4 hours (except Safe Mode). No matter how I work it, it freezes either during the login (immediately after or while typing in my password), or right as Windows comes up (Win 7 x64). No software conflicts would cause freezing WHILE I was typing in my password. I can also guarantee that no updates were done to either Windows or any other applications 3 days prior to this post. No new software has been installed and no software/files have been downloaded. I tried disabling the fingerprint reader (couldn't change power settings in Safe Mode) but still froze during login. There's no login scripts and only minimal software still running (checked in msconfig). I've been trying to use the Toshiba Recovery for over an hour now (taken that long because of freezes and restarts) and it's just now getting to the point it's installing drivers. We'll see if this helps at all.

 

Oh and to whoever that jackass was that was complaining about troubleshooting methods: people use a forum when they can't figure out the problem. Odds are that not everyone will have years of experience and know how it should be done. Don't complain about people's lack of knowledge, teach them a better way instead. As Oscar2 said earlier, randomly updating all the drivers would be useless; especially since many peoples problems didn't come after making driver changes. So you can't assume that changing a driver that had been working well would fix anything; especially when you don't have any clue about which driver might be affected.

 

i got 3 PORTEGE R700-187 two weeks ago

they both have that issue

full speed fan
very hot
freezes

in the first two it happens like 1 or 2 times a week but in the last one it's like a few times in a day!

i'm going to try that fingerprint software update os2010374b_TC00345000A.exe is this one still the latest version?

also going to update bios from 1.70 to 1.80 using this file BIOS180_EC140.exe i think it's the latest

btw that firefox is anoying i had to disable all plugins and extension in order firefox to startup using the safe mod first...

also ive heard disabling the use of multicore support in the bios could help keap it less hot and fan doing less noise...

anyway win7 x64 fails still no major x64 stuff available... lot's of issues there too...

i hope toshiba will make a recovery dvd for win7 x86 available for free (as it is downgrading) as they did for the r600

 

another tip ive read on toshiba forums is running

verifier /reset

btw how to see the temp in the bios? don't find the temperatur anywhere... weird bios...

 

My R700 does this like 2 - 3 times a day... this is so fustrating as I actively use my laptop for work, 8-10 hours a day...

I will go crazy if this keeps happening... i'm typing up an email on outlook and it would suddenly hang and fan runs at full speed...

I wish Toshiba will find a solution to this problem soon

 

update to latest bios

format

install windows using downloaded latest drivers should do the trick

 

I tried that, I did a clean install and installed newest drivers from the support site.. BIOS is version 2.4, which is the latest

 

call Toshiba support

 

I think I finally solved the keyboard freezing problem on my Toshiba Satellite P775.
Go to the control panel, (screen view selected must be "large icons")
Click on "Regions and Language"
Choose the tab "Keyboards and Languages"
Click on the button "Change keyboards"
I had TWO keyboards installed: one for US-English, the second one was for 64-bit something or other. When I deleted the second keyboard, I haven't had the problem since!
It is worth a try. I think that some program installed the 64-bit keyboard, and it was creating a conflict.
Definitely worth a try for you!

 

Hi guys
I have the same (I think) problem. I close the lid and put PC to sleep, reopen and I see black screen, fan is whirring like crazy.
I have confirmed that it is not software related - I have replicated issue on live version of ubuntu, arch linux, windows 7 and externally installed full vertions of those (they worked before). Noone seems to know why it happens, but it seems bios related. I don't know much about hardware, but since there is battery for holding BIOS data that can run out of juice, there might be other one used to load system to volatile memory. Nothing confirmed tho.
Another fact for BIOS problem is that windows does not report a thing (at least none that I could find) which would mean that there was nothing loaded yet - hence no software or driver issue.