Troubleshooting Access to BIOS in Toshiba Sattelite Pro A40-C

davidd

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Hey guys I am having a tremendous amount of difficulty in installing Linux Mint from USB on this Toshiba Satellite Pro A40-C Laptop I have googled everything about how to access the bios but the usual F2 to F12 at start up is not working. I read somewhere to install Toshiba HWTools to change the boot order from fast to normal and after installing the HWTools I somehow miraculously managed to get to what I thought was a BIOS screen in the machine BUT the mouse was glitching really bad and I couldnt navigate the interface at all. Then when I restarted and tried to reaccess the bios but screwing around with the Esc, F2, F10 and F12 keys I booted straight to Windows 10. So basically whats going on is I am having a nightmare escaping windows and access the UEFI Bios to change the boot priority to USB on this Toshiba Satellite Pro A40-C Lap top. Basically just reaching out as a last hope to figure this out so I can install Linux on this troublesome box. Its being really stubborn and difficult to get to the BIOS to change the boot priority. I even tried accessing the boot priority from within windows 10 but the configuration doesnt give me any options to boot from USB. I was hoping someone could help me get this resolved.

Thanks
 


Try using a combination of shift and/or the Fn button. I have a laptop that requires the Fn button to be pressed, and previously had one that required shift. Try that with the correct Function key.

There's also the one-time boot menu, where you can choose to boot to a USB drive for example. That's usually F12 in a Toshiba.


I want to say it's F2 to enter the BIOS on a Toshiba, but don't quote me on that.

When you say the mouse wasn't working, do you mean touch pad? If you mean mouse, try it with just the touch pad. You might also be able to navigate with your keyboard, as has been the tradition for many years before they figured out how to make a mouse work in there.

So, I think it'd be shift + Fn + F2 or just maybe Fn + F2. But, figure out what it's supposed to be. I haven't owned a very modern Toshiba so that may have changed.
 
I have more success by tapping the shift key.... incessantly....I hit the start button and then immediately start tapping the shift key

you cannot tap too much
 
I booted straight to Windows 10.
Did you disable windows quick-start [fast-boot] ?
I don't know if this still works with a Tosh, insert USB with bootable ISO, as you switch on press and hold the "u" key
 
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The shift Plus F2 seems to have worked it boots to a Toshiba set up utility screen but all of the options including the boot menu are frozen. I mean that they don't work like you can't click on on anything or change anything they're just gray boxes and you can not change any of the options or settings. Which is pretty useless to me.
 
Hmm... Well, we got you that far.

Have you tried to temporary boot menu from the link above?

I also wonder if it's worth pulling the back off to pop out the small battery that's attached (and then putting it back in).
 
I also wonder if it's worth pulling the back off to pop out the small battery that's attached (and then putting it back in).
if its it would be esire to just disconnect the perifials and the mains power
 
if its it would be esire to just disconnect the perifials and the mains power

I did some looking before posting and Toshiba (from what I found) requires removing a battery to reset the BIOS/EUFI. I couldn't even find a jumper option. My thinking is a reset might get it out of its current state where everything is grayed out and non-functioning. Might...
 
@KGIII
good call, most makes of modern laptops have a BIOS/UEFI re-set,
 
I tried removing the battery from the back of the laptop and restarting but it didn't change anything. Next I reinstalled that Toshiba hardware setup utility there I can change the boot order to FDD. The issue remains that even though I can access the Toshiba set up utility and restart I am not able to access any of the internal options in the interface. The only option which is available to me in the setup utility is Diagnostics. This laptop is refusing me to access the UEFI settings and change the boot order to USB so I can install Linux Mint. I looked at the Toshiba A40-c manual and it basically tells you to use the Toshiba HW setup utility to access the UEFI settings or bio settings. I'm concerned about solving this technical issue and I was hoping for continued support solving this issue. Thanks.
 
The shift Plus F2 seems to have worked
I tried removing the battery from the back of the laptop
bear in mind I have no clue here....but I am willing to have a go

I remember reading in someone elses post here that they were to remove the battery, and then hold down the start button for thirty seconds minimum
Then replace the battery.

Do that, and then use your F2 + shift

Worth a try
 

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