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toshiba_t-series_support:toshiba_t3100e

T3100 | T3100e | T3100SX | T3200 | T3200SX | T3200SXC | T5200 | T5200C

Toshiba T3100e

The Toshiba T3100e

Technical Specifications
Year Announced 1986
Processor 16 MHz Intel 80286 CPU which can be slowed down to 12MHz with a keyboard shortcut
RAM Standard 1 MB of RAM, expandable to 5 MB
Hard disk T3100e comes standard with a 20 MB hard disk.
T3100e/40 comes standard with a 40 MB 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 (16C450 UART), 1x DIN AT-keyboard connector
Internal expansion slots 1x ISA Half-size 8-bit slot, 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. Can be powered with 100-240V and 50/60 Hz power.
Dimensions 310 x 360 x 80 mm (W x D x H)
Weight 5.9 kg or 13 lbs
Other features
Software
Operating System Toshiba MS-DOS 4.01
Toshiba MS-DOS 3.3 (option)
Toshiba MS-DOS 3.2
OS/2 1.1 (option)

Emulation

PCem v13 (released Dec 2017) added support for Toshiba T3100e emulation.

System Expansion

Hard disk

Toshiba T3100e came with either a 20 MB hard drive, and the T3100e/40 came with a 40 MB hard drive. Some models marked just “T3100e” (not “T3100e/40”) also came with a 40 MB hard drive. The system has a standard IDE interface to connect to the supplied Conner CP hard disk.

These are the drive configurations supported by the BIOS:

Model BIOS type selection Cylinders Heads Sectors per track Capacity Seek time
Conner CP-3022 Type 11 615 4 17 20 MB (Formatted 21.4 MB) 27 ms
Conner CP-3024 Type 11 615 4 17 20 MB (Formatted 21.4 MB) 27 ms
:?: Type 12 980 5 17 40 MB (Formatted 42.8 MB) 25 ms

This system can be expanded with an 8-bit and 16-bit ISA expansion cards. Hence, you can purchase an XT-IDE adapter to add a hard drive, such as the XT-CF-MINI or XT-CF-Lite card to add a Compact Flash card as a hard drive. They usually run for $40-$60. You can find them on eBay. Check out http://www.malinov.com/Home/sergeys-projects/xt-cf-lite and https://shop.bluelavasystems.com/products/xt-cf-mini-bootable-8-bit-isa-cf-card-interface-xt-ide

Another option is to purchase an XT-IDE adapter for the Toshiba proprietary expansion slot. There is a maker on eBay that sells Toshiba type expansion cards with XT-IDE 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)

Audio and ethernet

The same adapter that allows you to use the Toshiba proprietary slot connector for XT-IDE and custom hard disks also optionally allows to 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

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 do I replace the computer BIOS battery?
A: The BIOS battery is located on the system board. The correct voltage for the battery is 3.6V. You can replace it with either an original part, such as the Saft LS14500 Lithium 3.6V battery, or alternatively, you can replace it with a 3.0V CR2032 coin cell battery. If you are using a coin cell battery, get a CR2032 coin cell battery holder and a CR2032 lithium battery. Take the old battery connector and its wires, solder the coin cell holder to the existing wires like the following:
[PC +] - - - - [+ BATT -] - - - - [PC -]

You may search for CR2032 battery holders including leads using this eBay affiliate link

Files

Documentation

File Size Description
Toshiba T3100e - Flyer.pdf 2.2 MB Toshiba T3100e flyer with system specifications.
Toshiba T3100e - Maintenance Manual.pdf 3.7 MB Toshiba T3100e 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

Operating System

File Size Description
toshiba_dos_3_30.zip 524 KB Toshiba MS-DOS 3.30/R3C60SC bootable disk image transferred from a original T3100e.
toshiba_dos_3_30_files.zip 338 KB Toshiba MS-DOS 3.30/R3C60SC files only

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. Included with the T3100e.
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.
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 Setup program for T3100, T3200, T5100 and T5200 series
chad.zip 1.5 KB Set Screen Attributes for T1000, T1100 PLUS, T1200 and T3100 series
View more files on this support site

Goodies

File Size Description
toshiba_lcd_fonts_ttf_fon.zip 25 KB Windows fonts that resemble the Toshiba DOS fonts used in, for example the T3100e. Includes both TrueType (TTF) and bitmap (FON) versions. 1)

BIOS ROM dumps

File Size System Description
t3100e_bios_097a_098a.zip 2959 KB T3100e 097a 098a BIOS ROM. This ROM chips were marked with 097a and 098a. The archive comes with pictures of the ROM chips. Courtesy of M. Willers.
toshiba_t-series_support/toshiba_t3100e.txt · Last modified: 2023-08-31 17:36 by omolini