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Toshiba T3100

The Toshiba T3100

Technical Specifications
Year Announced 1986
Processor 8 MHz Intel 80286 CPU which can be slowed down to 4.77MHz with a keyboard shortcut
RAM Standard 640 KB of RAM, expandable to 2,6 MB (2488KB) via an 2 MB (2048 KB) memory expansion card 1)
Hard disk T3100 comes standard with a 3.5“ 10 MB MFM hard disk.
T3100/20 comes standard with a 3.5W 20 MB MFM hard disk.
Floppy disk 3,5” 1.44 MB High Density (HD) diskette drive
Video CGA on a 9,6 inch black/orange plasma screen with either standard maximum resolution of 640 by 200 or special high-resolution 640 by 400 which is partially compatible with Olivetti/AT&T 6300 graphics.
I/O Ports 1x RGB video (DB9), 1x parallel, 1x RS232C Serial, 1x DIN AT-keyboard connector.
Internal expansion slots Proprietary expansion slot for 1200 bit/s modem, expansion chassis for 5x 8-bit ISA cards, Ethernet NIC, 2400 bit/s modem, or a 1 MB memory card.
Power Supply Universal. Works with 110V/220V and 50/60 Hz power. 60 W
Dimensions 310 x 361 x 79 mm (W x D x H)
Weight 6.8 kg or 15 lbs
Other features
Software
Operating System Toshiba MS-DOS 3.2

Hard disk

Toshiba T3100 comes with a 10 MB and the T3100/20 comes with a 20 MB 3.5“ MFM hard drive.

Computer Model Hard Disk Model Cylinders Heads Sectors Recording method Capacity Seek time
T3100 JVC JD-3812M 612 2 17 MFM 10MB 100 ms
T3100/20 JVC JD-3824R00-1 615 2 34 2-7 RLL 20MB 78 ms
T3100/20 JVC JD-3824ROTO 612 4 17 2-7 RLL 20MB 78 ms

If you notice any errors, please do let me know. Thanks!

System Expansion

Hard disk, audio and ethernet

You can now purchase an adapter for the Toshiba proprietary expansion slot that has XT-IDE that can support many types of IDE and CF hard disks. Optionally you can also add audio (Adlib) and ethernet support (partially NE2000 compatible). Please see the following link for the item page. 3inONEder: Toshiba Portables (affiliate link)

Questions and Answers

Q: My computer gives me a CMOS error
A: If the CMOS battery is empty, you will be prompted with the following error when you power on the machine.

**** Error in CMOS.  Bad check sum ****
*** Error in CMOS. Bad memory size ***
** Error in CMOS. Bad configuration **
Check system. Then, press [F1] key.....

Please refer to instructions here:
How do I boot my T3100e with an empty CMOS battery

How can I replace the hard drive?
Currently the best option for this laptop model is to use the Toshiba proprietary expansion slot. There is a maker on eBay that sells expansion cards with XTIDE to allow many different types of IDE and CF cards to be used on the portable computer. Please see the following link for the sales article. 3inONEder: Toshiba Portables (affiliate link)

Q: How can I access the built-in BIOS ?
A: Press CTRL + SHIFT + F10 when the computer powers on. If this does not work, you may use the TEST3.EXE utility, a little program by Toshiba which will open up the BIOS settings from a DOS environment. You might want to include this utility in your computer recovery disk. See below for files that apply to this type of machine, or view all files at the files and resources section.

Q: I am still unable to access the BIOS.
A: When the computer BIOS battery runs empty, it will clear all BIOS settings and will prompt you to review the system settings on power-up. This may be used to your advantage to get into BIOS. To force this behavior, disconnect the clock battery entirely. Wait for a few minutes and power up the computer again. The computer will ask the user to review the default settings. Please refer to How do I boot my T3100e with an empty CMOS battery

Q: My computer does not hold settings or time
A: You probably have an empty BIOS battery. The battery holds volatile information in a CMOS chip like information about your BIOS settings and system time. When the battery runs out, the information will be lost. You can still use your computer by going into BIOS settings and accepting the defaults (see above).

Q: How can I replace my BIOS battery?
A: The BIOS battery is located on the system board. You can replace it with an original part, or alternatively, get a CR2032 coin cell battery holder, a CR2032 lithium battery and a diode. The diode is required to avoid charging the battery. Take the old battery connector and its wires, solder the coin cell holder to the wires and solder the diode in series as such:
[PC] - - - - [|<] - - - - [+ BATT -] - - - - [PC]

Q: How can I add ISA cards, for XT-IDE and others?
A: For this you need the Toshiba ISA expansion chassis. The expansion port is proprietary but apparently has all the ISA lines, DMA and IRQ, but uses a different connector. I was informed that the part numbers were 8800-040-170L-F and 8800-060-170L-F. These are stocked by RS Electronics, if you'd be interested to build an adapter. Credits to mohhingman for this information.

Files

Documentation

File Size Description
Toshiba T3100 - Flyer.pdf 1.4 MB Toshiba T3100/20 flyer with system specifications.
Toshiba T3100 - Maintenance Manual.pdf 6.7 MB Toshiba T3100 maintenance/service manual.
Toshiba - Accessory part list.pdf 26 KB Toshiba Accessory part list
Toshiba T3100 - Microsoft article Q81297.txt 2.5 KB Microsoft article Q81297 for T3100 and T3100e

Utilities

File Size Description
tdiagsup_r3c60.zip 159 KB Toshiba Diagnostics and Supplemental Diskette (R3C60) for MS-DOS 3.30. Includes all setup programs and diagnostics utilities.
tdiagsup_r3ce0.zip 284 KB Toshiba Diagnostics and Supplemental Diskette (R3CE0) for MS-DOS 3.30. Includes all setup programs and diagnostics utilities. Newer than R3C60. Newer version has a wider support for different laptop models.
tdiagsup_dos50.zip 339 KB Toshiba Diagnostics and Supplemental Diskette for MS-DOS 5.0. Includes all setup programs and diagnostics utilities.
test3.zip 21.1 KB TEST3.EXE - Setup program for T3100, T3200, T5100 and T5200 series
chad.zip 1.5 KB CHAD.COM - Set Screen Attributes for T1000, T1100 PLUS, T1200 and T3100 series
View more files on this support site

Toshiba T3100
Computer History Museum Page


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Thanks to Maciej for the contribution!