[egestrella]

Hi everyone! Yesterday when I tried starting my laptop (Toshiba Satellite S55-A5295), I got the error "Checking Media - Fail" and "No bootable device -- Please restart system." This seems to be for no reason at all (I haven't downloaded anything recently or made any changes), however my hard drive had been making some loudish noises the day before, so I'm not sure if that's the issue. I've read multiple forums and have tried everything I could find, but nothing has worked. 

 

Here's what I've tried:

1. Opened up laptop and took out hard drive, battery, then plugged everything back in

a) removed battery, held power button 20 seconds, replaced battery re-connected to AC adapter

2. Tried hitting the reset button

3. Checked BIOS boot settings

a) changed Boot Mode to CSM Boot, and back to UEFI Boot

b) tried moving around the Boot startup (HDD/SDD) to the top

c) tried loading Setup Defaults

 

Is my laptop dead? I don't have a recovery CD and am not sure what else I can do. All of the videos and forums seem to suggest the same BIOS boot setting changes. Please help! Thanks!

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What version of Windows are you running? Does your drive show in the Bios? Have you tried testing the drive with something like Seatools or the manufacturer diagnostic utility.

 

Check Hard Drive for Errors using one of the following options:

1. BIOS based system

• Run Seagate Seatools for DOS (Long Generic test). Boot from disk to run it.
   

Seagate Seatools for DOS (free): http://www.seagate.c...ols-dos-master/

[dmccoy]

What version of Windows are you running? Does your drive show in the Bios? Have you tried testing the drive with something like Seatools or the manufacturer diagnostic utility.

 

Check Hard Drive for Errors using one of the following options:

1. BIOS based system

• Run Seagate Seatools for DOS (Long Generic test). Boot from disk to run it.
   

Seagate Seatools for DOS (free): http://www.seagate.c...ols-dos-master/

[egestrella]

Hi dmccoy, I'm using Windows 8.

I can see my drive, it says: HDD/SSD TOSHIBA MQ01AB.....

Can you please explain how I can test my drive if I am unable to turn on my laptop?

I do not have the CD that came with the laptop. Do I need to buy a CD for the Seagate Seatools?

 

Thanks!

[dmccoy]

You will need to download free from another computer and put it on USB or CD. Is that an option for you?

 

If not, then you can try one of the following options to try and  in Safe mode with Command prompt. Let me know if you can get any of this to work and we will proceed from there.

 

1. Pressing Shift +F8 or F8 continuously as the computer starts

 

2.  Force Safe Mode with Power On/Off

1) Press the Power On/Off button to Start and Shut Down the computer 2-3 times to stat the Windows Recovery Environment.
2) Select Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Startup Settings > Restart from the Choose an Option screen.
3) After your PC restarts, select one of the following Safe Mode options you are instructed to from the Start Up Settings menu:

• Safe Mode (4)
• Safe Mode with Networking (5)
• Command Prompt (6)

4) Wait for Safe Mode to load.
5) Logon with an Administrator account.

[egestrella]

I found this article (http://blog.nowherel...of-a-usb-drive/) and tried to boot my computer from a USB using Seagate Seatools for DOS.

I changed the boot order and put boot from USB first. (Oddly enough, I don't see a CD-ROM option and my laptop does have that function. I see USB, ODD, LAN, HDD/SSD).

Unfortunately, the result was the same. I'm still getting the "No bootable device error."

I tried starting my laptop in safe mode, but the only thing I can bring up is BIOS by pressing F2. F12 brings up a Boot Menu (but that has the same info found in the BIOS menu).

I read in a couple notes that I should change SATA from AHCI to ATA or IDE, but I can't find that option anywhere in BIOS. The only thing I see is "SATA Interface setting" and the options are Performance or Battery Life. 

 

Is there anything else I can try? I think I correctly downloaded Seagate Seatools to the USB, so I'm not sure why it's not booting from that. 

[dmccoy]

Try to disable SecureBoot and enable CSM/Legacy mode in the bios and see if it will boot to th Seatools usb.

[egestrella]

That didn't work either unfortunately. Is there any other way to access my hard drive to at least save the files?  

[dmccoy]

I cannot figure out why you can’t get it to boot to with a USB or CD/DVD. Are you getting an error message or does it just not boot into the USB or CD/DVD? The only other option is to remove the drive and connect it to another computer with a USB caddy.

You mentioned that you can bring up the boot menu using F12. What happens if you select the USB as the boot device with seatools? Are you able to download files and create a bootable CD/DVD using another computer?

If so, create a Hirens Boot USB Disk from the following link
http://www.hirensbootcd.org

[Merwin]

Ill try to delete.all my data so that my toshiba will work properly then i cancel the deleting when i turn on. no bootable device system restart afear on my monitor i alreadry try all the suggestion a got but no ones work

Edited by Merwin, 29 June 2019 - 06:07 PM.

[Nemesis-Dinu]

Why dont you go ahead and get a Windows disc from your friend or colleague and try to boot through it, try to do a dirty installation of windows. Also while doing this you will get to know if the HDD is actually getting detected by the windows or not and you have to be very care full while doing that or else you will loose the data . if the HDD is not bad.