Error On Boot - Toshiba Satellite

Hey guys, got an issue that I wanted to run past everyone. I've had this Toshiba Satellite since back in March of 2003 (I don't remember the exact model number but I believe I could pull some of the specs from the BIOS if they're needed).

In any case, for the last year it's been giving me this error any time I tried to boot, which prevented it from booting at all. I didn't think much of it as at the time I had no need for the laptop as I had my desktops and my work laptop, though lately I've had the desire to experiment with Linux and figured this would be the perfect way to do just that.

So, here is the error that it gets when it attempts to boot:

For Realtek RTL8139(X)/8130/810X PCI Fast Ethernet Controller v2.12 (010817)
PXE-E61: Media test failure, check cable
PXE-M0F: Exiting PXE ROM

This obviously looks like an ethernet hardware issue. I was going to pop open the laptop case yesterday to go digging around on the insides but, as I've never done such a thing I didn't want to muck something up inadvertently and be left with a nice doorstop.

I get this error w/o an ethernet cable plugged in, however, when the cable is plugged in, it looks as though it's attempting to connect to something, or pull an IP of some sort (before it boots), and it hangs there and repeatedly fails the test and reattempts it. If that isn't specific enough I'll plug the cable in and type out the exact error.

Now, I've been able to install Ubuntu 7.04 from a live disk, the install didn't give me any errors, however I'm still unable to boot into it, as this error is occuring when I try to boot from the hard disk (leading me to believe that perhaps there is an HD issue, instead of just ethernet).

Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks!

as an update, it appears to be something other than the ethernet card, as i was able to boot from the ubuntu live cd and am typing this from it right now.

i'm not sure if it is then the HD? are there any important issues i should be aware of when disassembling the laptop to replace the HD?

thanks again for any help!

It sounds like it's trying to boot from LAN, and upon finding nothing it quits.

Go into the BIOS and check the boot sequence. If boot from LAN isn't in the list, there might be a "Boot other device" option where it looks for anything else that might be bootable. This might indicate the HD not being seen.

The boot sequence is probably:
CD? No CD.
HD? No HD.
USB? No USB.
LAN?
"PXE-E61: Media test failure, check cable
PXE-M0F: Exiting PXE ROM" No LAN.

negative, boot order is currently cd -> hd

logical advice though and i'll admit i hadn't thought of that before, wish that was the issue

Since the boot order is correct, the drive might not be responding. Try checking the hard drive with Ubuntu's fdisk in Terminal. There's another recent thread around here that talks about using fdisk...

Edit -
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=530380

Aha. Well use fdisk -l to list all the hard drives and their partitions. This will tell you whether it's the hard drive or whether it just won't boot.

thanks a lot for your help, i'll have to try this when i get home.

what's the level of difficulty in replacing the hard drive if it has gone bad? i would guess it's farily simple but haven't actually cracked open a laptop case before.

There's no "cracking open" really. You unscrew 3-4 screws on the bottom of the laptop and the HD comes out. Just take it slow, Google for a guide, and it is really simple.