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.
April 9th, 2007 at 2:44 pm
Carrie, if you go to page 3, step 21 you will see a blue circle next to the lowest red circle drawn,around the bottom screw to be removered. That blue ring encompasses the battery, the battery is soldered to the motherboard.Your board may be slightly differrent but it should be in the same vacinity.
April 1st, 2007 at 4:40 pm
Where is the CMOS battery in a A105-S2101 computer?
Thanks
March 25th, 2007 at 1:28 pm
I just swaped out a Cel to a dual core chip, seems stable now, might be running a little hotter now, gonna wait and see ( A105 2201 )
March 24th, 2007 at 4:12 pm
This guide is great. My keyboard had an unfortunate encounter with a glass of soda. Removing the cover panel to get to the keyboad screws was a bit tough, but I got through it.
As a recommendation for future guides, I’d say add a little more detail about steps like this. — two tags on each side, four in the front then lift the back off the hinges for the LCD.
Thanks!
March 20th, 2007 at 10:00 pm
Hi, your disassembly guides are great. I tore down The Satellite A105-S2141 in a breeze. My purpose in doing so
was to look for the bios chip except that I can’t find info on it see which one. They are SMCS KBC1108-nu, PS5120,ISL 6227CA2 or ? Any ideal which one it can be ? Thanks.
March 20th, 2007 at 9:57 am
My a105-s2716 just quit. The AC and Battery power lights are on, but the on/off, hard disk drive, bright media adapter lights are off. The power on button also has no response. We had power fluctuation the other night and, stupidly, I was connected to the wall socket without surge protection. Any comments on how I diganose the problem. If it is the motherboard, where do I get areplacement? This is a great site. Thanks for any help!
February 28th, 2007 at 4:43 am
Good morning folks! I’ve changed my CPU processor! As everybody knows, the toshiba’s Satellite A105 family have a Celeron Processor and I put a Pentium M. The chipset of may motherboard suports de Pentium M, but someone said before, it could let de computer slower! And that was what Happened! Why??????
February 2nd, 2007 at 9:49 am
please,can u tell me how much does cost the motherboard for your Sattelite?
January 14th, 2007 at 5:40 pm
I tried removing the screw that holds the CD/DVD drive and it will not budge. Do they use some type of lock tite in it?
December 13th, 2006 at 10:57 am
where did you get the replacement motherboard everywhere i called says yiou cant get it unless you are a dealer?
December 7th, 2006 at 5:25 pm
I am having trouble removing the top plastic cover (between the keyboard and LCD screen on a A105. I have the front side parts of it loose, but the back is stuck on the hinge covers for the screen. I have no idea how it comes loose from the hinges. Any ideas?
November 23rd, 2006 at 8:48 am
This is some very helpful information. I have disassembled my 2435 a few times; the first time I was “flying blind” and had to learn on my own. Just yesterday, I disassembled it for the last time to replace the power connector for my mother.
I recently purchased the A105 for myself with the intention of haveing a notebook that can be upgraded down the line.
Thank-you for posting these helpful instructions on these computers.
November 9th, 2006 at 1:01 pm
I own a toshiba A105 S2021. I’ve found this site very useful. While reading some of the replies, someone asked if it was possible to upgrade the CPU. Upgrading it, may carry some problems, you know, like BIOS or stuff, but I don’t think it is impossible, just ’cause of the fact that many laptop models are available with different configurations. Why manufacturers don’t provide information about that? Easy, because it doesn’t represent money for them. They want us to buy a complete new laptop every time. So, a good upgrading choice would be (as someone said here) buying more RAM or a faster HD. But, one no-cost-at-all option would be: find a friend with a similar model but higher processor laptop, persuade him to take the CPU out, try it on yours and see what happens.
Take care, guys.
November 2nd, 2006 at 8:02 pm
Vahn,
I don’t know. Laptop manufacturers do not provide any information on upgrading laptop processor. Even though you can find a faster CPU that fits into the socket on the motherboard, the result would be unpredictable. The CPU might not be recognized by the BIOS, the laptop will not start at all, the CPU will run much slower then it should or something else. I would say that in most cases it’s impossible to upgrade laptop CPU.
If you want to speed up the laptop, buy more RAM and install a faster hard drive.
November 2nd, 2006 at 6:29 pm
Before trying to dismount my laptop for cleaning it, I would like to know if there is a chance to upgrade it, at least changing the main processor with a compatible one for better performance…
October 26th, 2006 at 11:15 am
Jjp15,
Here’s what you can try for troubleshooting. Disconnect the video cable from the motherboard again and start the laptop with an external monitor attached. If it starts fine with the external monitor, then problems is somewhere inside the LCD panel.
As I mentioned before, check out the video cable connector on the motherboard.
October 26th, 2006 at 11:05 am
didn’t remove anything else, just checked that the cable hadn’t become detached or lose then put it all back together.
October 26th, 2006 at 8:54 am
Jjp15,
What else you removed from the laptop?
I don’t think that this problem could be related to the video cable, it looks like there could be a problem with the motherboard or the battery itself.
Just in case, unplug the video cable again and take a look inside the connector. Make sure that you have no damaged pins and reconnect the video cable.
October 25th, 2006 at 10:06 pm
did the steps up to 14 to see if the video connections had come loose, due to a recent but constant screen flickering. Now the laptop will not power up. when I disconnect the battery and reconnect it and try to power up the laptop comes on for about 5 seconds then shuts back off, it also doesn’t show a battery charge light when it’s plugged in. any ideas?
October 21st, 2006 at 11:14 am
Rob,
To remove the keyboard you’ll have to follow these steps:
Step1. Remove the battery.
Step9-10. Remove the keyboard bezel.
Step11-12. Disconnect the keyboard, remove and replace (or clean) it.
October 21st, 2006 at 6:11 am
Trying to clean my keyboard because of a spill. Do I skip steps 2-8, and go right to step 9, lifting up the keyboard strip, or is there more I need to take off first?
October 4th, 2006 at 3:00 am
Thanks for the fantastic guide. Just had to swap out the keyboard because of a spill and this made it so easy!
September 30th, 2006 at 2:38 pm
Carmine,
You cannot remove just the power button cover, this cover is a part of the top assembly. You’ll have to remove the entire top cover assembly as shown on the step 19. After that you can remove the power button board and clean it up or replace.
September 27th, 2006 at 4:19 pm
Fixing one of these for a friend. Their daughter spilled coffee in it. Luckily, the keyboard absorbed most of it… so this guide really helped out in figuring out how to get at the motherboard to check and make sure it was ok. However, I’m trying to figure out how to take the cover where the power button is. Seems some coffee got under that and is gumming up the contact between the button and the switch on the green board.
September 22nd, 2006 at 8:30 pm
Psiblade,
I don’t know if these two processors are interchangeable and if it would be recognized correctly in Toshiba Satellite A105. I haven’t tried it myself.
September 17th, 2006 at 4:53 pm
I have a A105-S4134, Core Duo T2400, Socket M, can I upgrade to a Core 2 Duo T5600? I know the socket is compatible, but I don’t know if the BIOS will recognize it…
If it does works, will EM64T work too?
September 13th, 2006 at 8:33 pm
Christian,
You buy a new hard drive and install it.
So, what is your question?
September 11th, 2006 at 4:51 pm
How would you go by and upgrading to a larger hard drive
September 9th, 2006 at 11:01 am
Paul,
The memory cover has latches in 3 different places. You can use a flat-head screwdriver to lift up the memory cover; there is nothing special to it, it just tight.
September 9th, 2006 at 10:58 am
DeMarrio Bosworth,
To play more detailed games, you need a good video card. In this model the video card is integrated into the system board and you cannot upgrade or replace it. For playing games I would go with a good desktop computer because most laptops are not designed for games.