Solved! Toshiba Bios update

Apr 6, 2018
6
0
10
I have a Toshiba L350D PSLESC 03f019 and can't find a BIOS update anywhere. Any help would be great. Toshiba doesn't list my model for a bios update unless it's under a different model now? I did a fresh win 7 install and having graphics driver issues and need to update the bios to remedy this. Bios is an Insyde corp 1.50, 2,27,2009. Anyone have a solution? Thanks in advance.
 
Solution
It crashes because you downloaded and installed a driver direct from AMD. Graphic card drivers are created by the chip manufacturers (AMD/NVidia/Intel). These drivers are, for lack of a better term, Generic drivers for any particular graphics card. Laptop manufacturers will take those drivers and tweak them to limit the power draw and heat ceilings to conform with the specifications of the laptops they install the chips in. As an example (and just throwing out numbers. These are not actual figures):

The AMD 560m mobile graphics chip (don't know if that's even a thing).
Let's say it has a TDP of 26 watts and on full draw, heats up to 97 degrees.

Now lets say that Toshiba wants to install that graphics chip into one of their laptops...
Apr 6, 2018
6
0
10
Yes it was Toshiba, but I keep getting a fatal error when system reboots, and if I'm lucky, like now it will boot into windows. This all started previous to new formatted hdd and fresh win7 install as the wrong driver may have been installed. The correct one is installed now from toshiba, but problem stil exists. I have read that a bios update is sometimes needed to have win7 work properly.
 
Apr 6, 2018
6
0
10
Note, It was working great before driver update previously but the graphics driver was outdated and would not display some programs. Updated and then the problems occured and have spent days with it to no avail on rectifying
 
Apr 6, 2018
6
0
10
8.56.1.16 is what is installed now. The driver previously that was working was from advanced micro devices and was version 7.14.10.0018. But would not display programs I was going to use so I updated and all things went south from there. I have had 8.634.1 before and did same issue. But there is no bios update that I can find to help update my system? Just at a loss as to why it was great before and then with graphics driver update, now it crashes fatal error upon rebooting. I get c000021a error constantly
 
It crashes because you downloaded and installed a driver direct from AMD. Graphic card drivers are created by the chip manufacturers (AMD/NVidia/Intel). These drivers are, for lack of a better term, Generic drivers for any particular graphics card. Laptop manufacturers will take those drivers and tweak them to limit the power draw and heat ceilings to conform with the specifications of the laptops they install the chips in. As an example (and just throwing out numbers. These are not actual figures):

The AMD 560m mobile graphics chip (don't know if that's even a thing).
Let's say it has a TDP of 26 watts and on full draw, heats up to 97 degrees.

Now lets say that Toshiba wants to install that graphics chip into one of their laptops, but 97 degrees it too much heat for the cooling system to handle. So Toshiba tweaks the driver to limit the power draw down to 22 watts and the graphics chip never heats up to more than 85 degrees.

Now you install a new driver direct from AMD and those power limitations are gone. Your system starts to overheat and Windows starts giving errors. It's even possible that the overheating could have damaged some components.

Not saying this IS what happened, but it is a possibility. Also, when you reinstalled Windows, did you use Windows 7 from the Toshiba Disk Creator or a generic Windows DVD/ISO? Same thing here could happen. Generic Windows 7 can cause issues just like generic drivers from AMD.

I understand where you're coming from, but from what I'm seeing, the system came with Windows 7 and should be able to run it (possibly tweaked by Toshiba) without a BIOS update. Additionally, a BIOS update only resolves whatever specific issues are listed in the BIOS update notes. If Toshiba has not listed a new BIOS version that specifically states it resolves a graphic card issue, then one does not exist. Anyone claiming otherwise should need to provide undeniable proof that it works on your exact model number before making any changes.

My recommendation here would be to get a reinstall disc from Toshiba and perform a clean Windows 7 install (this may be at a cost). Next, download and install the latest drivers from the Toshiba web site. If this is done correctly and you're still running into issues, I'd contact Toshiba directly and see what they have to say.

-Wolf sends
 
Solution
Apr 6, 2018
6
0
10
Thanks for your help, I absolutely appreciate it. The system has rebooted 3 times now (my own doing) and has stayed up but i do not trust it as my fan is almost constantly running. I'll prob take it in and have it gone over and fixed right as i'm not a professional at this. The computer is worth it i think :)