On Sunday, April 28, 2013 12:24:30 AM UTC-7, wrote:
You shouldn't even need a boot disk, just pull the HD and see what it does.

Removing the hdd yields no improvement on the screen. Startup is still mostly a black screen with scattered white characters.

If it's running ME ...

Running Native Oberon. Most reliable system I've ever found.

If it is still f*, try pulling the battery, I mean both.

Removing the main battery is easy. With the plastic strip between the keyboard and palm rest removed, a pair of wires and connector are visible. Possibly connecting a small battery. Can anyone confirm this or tell where the small battery or batteries are?

How is the keyboard removed from this machine? Appears that it is held down by a screw or screws in the bottom side. Must the bottom housing of the machine be removed?

Incidentally an older Toshiba T2100 has three battery packs, the main black one, a set of cells in plastic shrink-wrap with lead attached and a coin cell about 2 cm across with lead attached. The coin cell is for the clock? The shrink-wrapped battery is to keep the RAM in hibernation while the main battery is removed?

The responses are helpful. Thanks, ... Peter E.