Toshiba Satellite A105. Removing laptop motherboard.
Yesterday I had my first experience with Toshiba Satellite A105 notebook series. I had to replace the laptop motherboard because it was completely dead. The disassembly was easy and fast. I like the way this model was designed. Laptop disassembly instructions.
What I like in this model: The hard drive has a very nice rubber protector. Both memory slots can be accessed from the bottom of the laptop. There are no screws under the keyboard and it saves some time during disassembly. The power jack connected to the motherboard via cables and if it fails you do not have to replace the entire motherboard. There are very few cables connected to the motherboard. The laptop disassembly process is very easy and logical.
What I didn’t like in this model: There is no hatch for accessing the CPU fan and the heatsink without taking apart the laptop. It took me some time to remove the top cover assembly because of some hidden plastic latches. It is not very easy to disconnect the video cable from the motherboard. The touchpad has 2 cables connected to the system board. The second touchpad connector is hidden under the flat cable and can be easily overlooked during disassembly and the cable can be damaged.
Here’s another guide for this model. Removing laptop LCD screen.
Need spare parts for your laptop? Search here by the laptop model and part name or number.
June 19th, 2009 at 9:35 am
Hello!
I have this problem with my A105-S4334 notebook… I’ve updated the wrong version of BIOS (watch out because i’ve downloaded from the Toshiba’s website itself), but the worst part is that it accepted! The computer don’t start anymore. Actually, it runs and beeps, but the screen is black and i can see nothing… I’ve tried to reset the BIOS, no way to do that… (does anybody know how?). Is there any possibility i could by a new BIOS (chip)? Anyone knows? Thanks
June 17th, 2009 at 2:04 pm
I just replaced my motherboard. xp loads fine but the keyboard and mouse arn’t funcioning correctly. I can’t type anything and the mouse buttons wont allow me to double-click. I have tried using a usb keyboard and mouse no luck.
June 13th, 2009 at 7:27 am
Awesome directions my man. Perfect, and to the point. For those of you not able to follow this incredibly well laid out simple tutorial .. you shouldn’t be taking apart a laptop in the first place.
I always have a guitar pick handy !!
May 29th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
Ray,
Maybe it’s time to pick up a camera and create a better set of instructions? Can you?
I think my instructions are OK but your reading skills are not.
You have to click on the picture to enlarge it. You can see all screws marked on the large picture.
Now about your DVD drive. Again, read through the instructions carefully.
STEP 6 shows the screw securing the DVD drive (CLICK ON THE SMALL PICTURE!)
STEP 7 shows how to remove the DVD drive.
Good luck!
May 29th, 2009 at 12:39 pm
Every link on the internet points to these same set of directions that suck. You can’t tell what screw or what bar you are talking about. I have taken out every screw I can find and the dvd drive won’t budge.
May 18th, 2009 at 10:51 am
Thanks Cj for your reply BUT………………………
After disassembling and assembling my laptop I have experienced this time a serious and probably last problem. My laptop cannot open. I want to notice that I had this problem the last month but after some tries (2 or 3) the led was getting blue (active) and the O.S has been loaded.
1. I disassembled it and I fixed my first problem. A thick line of dust has been stopped the air to come out that’s why the laptop reached such high temperatures (~86 C).
2. I removed both the heatsink and the fan and I cleaned them out.
3. After Assembling the parts (followning your valuable advices) I tried to turn the laptop on. I tried a couple of times (4-5)
The led indicating the power was blue (active) and I pressed the power button but nothing happened. Sometimes (in those attempts) I managed to turn it on and the BIOS loaded but some bips was listened to. I don’t remember the exact sound to draw any conclusion.
4. After that, all the remaing attemps (trying to turn it on again) was fruitless. I couldn’t turn it on.
What I am def. sure about is that the AC power I checked it out and it’s ok it gives power so something wrong with some circuits in mobo. It’s the only thing I can figure out at this time. When the power led turns on I also checked to charge my PDA and I noticed that the USB port couldn’t give power.
Ok I know it’s difficult, if not impossible, to give me any hint what’s going wrong w/o seeing it but in case you have any idea it will be welcome.
Thanks a lot for your reply and see you
May 17th, 2009 at 10:30 pm
delk,
Can you hear the cooling fan spinning?
Before you disassemble the laptop, try cleaning the fan from outside. Find an air compressor or buy a can of compressed air and spray it inside the fan grill on the bottom of the laptop. You can remove 90% of dust this way. Does it help to keep your laptop cooler?
I don’t think that your problem is related to the cable. I believe in a Satellite A100/A105 laptop the touch pad button is located on a touch pad board underneath the top cover. It’s possible that the right button is not working properly and the button board has to be replaced. That’s a guess.
May 16th, 2009 at 6:20 pm
Hi all folks,
I have a Toshiba Satellite Laptop A100-192 is the model in my country Greece I am not sure if we share the same name around the word but no problem cause the case of my laptop is the same as in your guide.
I want to clean up my CPU’s fan which causes problems to my laptop the temperature reaches on avarage more than 80 C w/o using it a lot.
I wanna dissamble it first, who knows it may be the dust that causes the problem but in worst case in if something’s wrong with my CPU’s fan which model will I have to buy?
Also I have experienced a serious problem with my mousepad (It is doing right click all the time as if I pressed the right click of touchpad) since the very first time I bought my laptop (almost 3.5 years ago) and I noticed in your comments that there are 2 cables connected the Motherboard with the Touchpad and the second one is a bit hidden so it’s likely something to be wrong with the secon cable.
In case you have any experience with it just let me know
cheers guys and thanks for your guide that I am gonna follow tom.
Bye from Greece
May 11th, 2009 at 9:27 am
john,
I want you to try something.
Connect the external USB keyboard and restart the laptop. Try entering the BIOS setup menu by pressing the F2 key as soon as Toshiba logo appears on the screen. Can you enter the BIOS using the external keyboard? Can you use the external keyboard in the BIOS?
May 7th, 2009 at 5:39 am
Hi well I spilled some gravy while making dinner and the keyboard keys would only work sometimes. I turned the unit over and tried to dry it. Then tried the hair dryer and it still worked half the time. Now it doesn’t work at all. I plugged in an usb keyboard and it still wouldn’t work, nothing. I disconnected the keyboard and tried the usb keyboard and nothing. All that happens is the computer reboots to the password screen. I know the usb keyboard is there because if I hit the caps key and then use the touchpad to hit enter it asks “did you leave the caps lock on?” I figured its a problem with liquid into the MB so I followed the disassemmbly instruction and while looking at it I do not see and type of damage at all. I have it all apart and really need some advice as to how to proceed next. Thanks for the help, Johncdbass AT aol DOT com, thanks John
May 4th, 2009 at 2:17 pm
I followed these instructions for a Toshiba Satellite A100-172 and it worked great! The only difference for the A100-172 was that the wireless modem was located under the keyboard rather than on the back.
Thanks for the help!
April 11th, 2009 at 2:00 am
My A105 S4384 went “blank”. The external monitor connected to it and the rest of the computer works great.
I disconnected and then re-connected the external monitor to make it default to a primary monitor and am able to continue using the laptop.
Obviously I am thinking, I got a buggered video card however, after reading one of your replies, you indicated there is no separate “video card” in this laptop. Is that correct? Having some experience in computers, I want to do my own repairs. Can you help me?
Thank you
April 6th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
ali,
Check out:
Toshiba Satellite A105 laptop sets BIOS password by itself
April 6th, 2009 at 1:50 pm
i have a labtop toshiba satellite a105-s2081
but unfortunally i forget its bios password
somebody tell me that there is a eprom chip in every labtop, which store the password.
can somebody help me to find this chip in the above model
thanks
March 30th, 2009 at 3:06 pm
I went to replace my keyboard on my A105 and broke the little plastic clamp that holds the ribbon to the motherboard. I went into a repair shop and they top me I had to replace the whole motherboard!! For a 5 cent plastic clasp!??!!! Does anyone know where I can get a replacement clasp/clamp that holds the keyboard ribbon onto the motherboard?
March 16th, 2009 at 12:23 am
Hi,
i have problems with my DC jack - so i have to replace it. Can you send me pls more detailed Pictures from this Part? Have i to disassemble the whole Laptop?
Thank you for that guide - it will help me so much
Nice greetings from Germany
March 13th, 2009 at 9:21 pm
Joshua
I have a Toshiba A105-s2101 and I was hoping someone could tell me what the biggest hard drive I can upgrade to would be… I can’t seem to find anything online or on the toshiba website…
This is what your system came with:
Hard Disk Drive
• 60GB (5400 RPM) Serial-ATA (SATA) hard disk drive; 9.5mm height
As long as you meet the interface and physical size then the sky’s the limit cause laptops now don’t have the limitations that those on windows 98 had, Newegg is my Fav.