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.
November 10th, 2008 at 8:15 pm
Hi, thanks for the guide… those parts that snap out always get me. I used it to finish opening a A105-S4344 and cleaning a 5mm thick layer of dust that was in the heatsink.
. And you’re right about the cons… it’s a lot of trouble removing the monitor, keyboard and hard drive just to clean the fan.
Sadly though, after putting it back together (I did it quite calmly, I double-checked every cable and looked at the steps backwards… also I was grounded, so no static shocks) it doesn’t work.
It recognizes the battery quite well, it even finished charging it. All the status LEDs work, and the power on button also respond (as does the “Media Center” button). And the fan now blows a cool stream of air.
But that’s it. It only turns on the blue LEDs.No monitor(the laptop’s or an external), no backlight, not much Hard Drive activity, no sound, no caps lock light.
I disassembled again and rechecked every connection I even plugged and unplugged the CPU to rule it out (I had not touched it the first time).
I see Wayne (#51), Suresh (#136) and Henry S. (#137) appear to have a similar problem. Any ideas? I have an A135-S4677 standing by for support (I might use it to salvage the info on the Hard Drive) I could use it but if I don’t even know what’s wrong with this one, I don’t feel confident going with one more.
Just in case, I’ve successfully disassembled laptops before
Thanks, and please help if you can!.
November 2nd, 2008 at 6:00 pm
I have Toshia A105 S2017. Laptop would not turn on. They “said” they cleared over 200 viruses off and that it needed additional memory so I said OK. When I got it home it would not turn on. I called them to find out why it would not start and they had me bring it back in. After chargin $45 for a diagnostic check, they said it needs a new motherboard for $250 and $150 labor. Is it possible that the added memory may have done something to the motherboard?
October 23rd, 2008 at 3:21 pm
i have a 2 YEARS OLD toshiba A105 S2201 from QVC.My screen has a partial display with skinny white horizontal lines.someone said i should change the converter/inverter?not sure.please help.
October 18th, 2008 at 2:56 pm
Zyferus:
Can you boot into the bios and if you can surf around in it for awhile and see if the keyboard operates, but don’t save when you exit unless there’s a setting in it that over rides the keyboard for an external. If you can then it seems that the operating system is at fault but if not then the keyboard or the ribbon that hooks onto the motherboard could be loose.
Also when your in system properties check to see if the keyboard and touch pad are installed correctly.
October 18th, 2008 at 1:27 am
I have an A105-S4064 (PSAA8U-0K102K), out of warranty. It has had its share of issues that have mostly all been resolved, except one: The Keyboard AND touchpad have stopped responding. When the computer boots, the LED’s on the keyboard blink as they should, but after that I cannot get a response from either. On occation I can get the enter key to work, but somethimes what it does is not what the enter is supposed to do. The only way I nave been able to use the laptop is to plug in a USB keyboard and mouse (which somewhat defeats the purpose of having a mobile PC). Any Suggestions?
September 20th, 2008 at 10:39 am
dillen,
Take a look at the step 21. The CMOS battery is on the left side from the screw marked with red circle.
By the way, removing or replacing the CMOS battery will not clear the BIOS password. Just in case.
September 20th, 2008 at 10:08 am
well my lap to is opend up but i cant find the cmos baterry…where should i look
September 18th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
i have problem i boot toshiba logo no farther .i have a new bat i have clean mem mod . help where do go next help me please.
August 30th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
Hello Everybody
Just wanted to share my new experience.
If your system fails to run due to an error related to lost HAL.DLL, invalid Boot.ini or any other important system boot files you can fix this by using the XP installation CD. Simply boot from your XP Setup CD and enter the Recovery Console. Then run “attrib -H -R -S” on the C:\Boot.ini file and delete it. Run “Bootcfg /Rebuild” and then Fixboot
Cheers,
Carl
August 29th, 2008 at 7:25 am
Hey Meylin, how do you know the motherboard died ?
August 28th, 2008 at 7:03 pm
hi , I have a toshiba a105-s4014 and today the motherboard died… if someone can help me with the motherboard part number it will be great…. btw, someone knows how common is this issue with this model???
August 24th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Ok so here’s my problem. My screen broke awhile back and I have been using a desktop monitor. My uncle brought over another Toshiba laptop that had the hard drive blown, thinking that I could switch screens. Well, after measuring, they did seem to fit. So, without much computer experience I took the computer apart, and attempted to replace the monitor. Come to find out, the screen doesn’t fit. I put back the computer, the way that I thought it was, but it won’t turn on. When I plug in the charger, the blue and yellow lights come on, but it won’t power up. I did not attach the old monitor to it as the set of black and white cables broke in the process. My questions- 1) Does the monitor have to be connected in order for the computer to turn on? and 2) If it doesn’t, what am I doing wrong? I have a Toshiba Satellite A105- S4324
Thanks.
August 4th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
I’ve got a problem. I’ve got a a105-s4184 and I’m trying to replace the internal WiFi card. On your diagrams it shows the wifi card is really eady to get to. Well the problem is that in that picutre u have of where the wifi card is located? My wifi card isnt there. just the modem is. ive looked everywhere for a diagram of this specific model and cant find it anywhere any help?
July 31st, 2008 at 9:12 am
Hello, My Name is Henry.
I am somewhat experiencing a similar problem.
Except I am sure it is not a backlight failure.
I have a Toshiba Satellite a105-s2071
I was doing some work on it, and opened it up.
Nothing big just changing memory, and cleaning.
After i closed it up and tried turning it on.
It turned on fine, but the BackLight wont turn on.
I know its not a backlight failure or something like that because there are usually signs. and there are none.
I’m pretty sure i must have done something to a sensor of some sort that tells the laptop whether or not the lid is open or closed.
Can anyone help me fix this?
July 28th, 2008 at 10:25 am
Hi,
I dismantled my Toshiba Satellite A105-S4211 using your guide for my heating problem. Followed all the steps and even changed the grease. Now when I assembled its not starting, what should I do? Thanks.
suresh478360@yahoo.com
July 15th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
Hello, I’m caught in a catch-22 here. I have a A105 S2141 which had a resource conflict PCI on Motherboard Bus 0B Device 06 Function 00. This machine also had a bad hard drive which I replaced. Now when I set the boot options to CD for installation of the OS, the conflict prevents me by offering F1 default setup or F2 enter setup.
I’m writing here, as I was wondering about removing the CMOS Battery to reset or possibly soldering the PAD500 pins (Which I have heard works also)
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
July 13th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
raimy,
I think there is a problem with the DC-IN cable inside the laptop. It’s a power harness with the power jack on the end.
If you want to replace the DC-IN cable you’ll have to disassemble the laptop, unplug the old harness from the motherboard, plug in a new one.
Search for a new DC-IN cable using this part number: V000922060
You can see the DC-IN cable in the step 20 (top right corner).
July 13th, 2008 at 10:02 am
Hi,
I have an A105-s4211. I am having problems with charging my computer. At first I thought the problem was with the power cord. Sometimes it worked if the cord was in a certain position or if I touched it or turned it. Eventually it started barely charging at all. I ordered a new power cord, but it has the same problem. So the problem has to do with the computer itself but I don’t know what
July 12th, 2008 at 6:48 am
Thank you for the excellent guide. My Toshiba A105 would constantly power down after only a few minutes of use. I found that the fan stopped working. I found your guide and used it to take apart the computer until I got to the fan. I sprayed the fan with a blast of compressed air, and a big wad of cat hair flew out! I put it back together and it works great. The fan sits in this housing which can trap dust and hair. Too bad you have to take apart the whole computer to get to the fan. It would be nice if there was a removable plate to get access to the fan.
July 5th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
My Toshiba began running like a dog and overheating. The performance got worse and worse, despite such drastic measures as taking it apart to clean it, re-installing Windows and reformatting the hard disk. No joy. More memory always helps, but it didn’t make as much difference as on other PCs I’ve upgraded. Finally I loaded Ubuntu and at last I have a machine that is fast and doesn’t overheat.
June 27th, 2008 at 12:52 am
HD, yours is not a hardware issue, but more of a maintenance issue.
Yes more memory does help but in your case your laptop should be doing rings around my Pavilion Dv1000 which is a Centrino 1.6 P4 with then 512 Mb mem.
Correct me but yours is a Dual core 1.6 with 1 gig of memory.
Things you could be doing wrong:
1-Too many programs starting up and running at the same time.
2-File cleaning, and defragmenting not proper, especially if less than 15% free space left on the HD.
If running Xp you need to disable startup on all programs that you don’t use from the get go like AOL,Adobe,All users Startup,Roxio,Nero and any thing else that looks for an update. Either use Registry Repair or MSCONFIG to disable them.
This is my sequence for an optimum running computer :
1-Easycleaner 2.0 (Freeware)
2-Registry Repair
3-Window Washer
4-Windows Disk Cleaner
5-Ultimate Defrag
The only programs running from Startup are antivirus, ZoneAlarm,RocketDock and maybe 2 others.
If you are running Vista, Well! good luck, you need to strip alot more programs from startup.
Oh !, and I’ve been a bad boy lately cause I have too many movies with 2 gigs left on my HD from 150 gigs and my computer still plays Xvids great.
June 25th, 2008 at 6:22 pm
I have a A105-S4284. From my research on the net, I know it is not possible to upgrade my video card. When the laptop was new I could play HD movies compressed into xvid format and etc… But now it is no longer able to. Part of the reason is the CPU usage is always high when doing so (55-80%), resulting in skipping and freezing of frames. Outside of restoring it to its original state, I’ve tried countless programs to help optimize performance, clear registries, and so on. My question is, if I expanded the memory, will it help relieve some of the memory usage?
June 20th, 2008 at 8:10 am
Sallie,
1. Test the DC adapter. Make sure the problem is not related to the adapter.
2. If the DC adapter is OK, most likely you have a problem with the power jack (DC-IN cable). You can replace the jack without replacing the entire motherboard.
Part number for a new jack is V000922060. Take the laptop apart, unplug the broken jack and plug in a new one. Yes, on this model the power jack is not soldered on the motherboard, it’s on a harness and you can unplug it.
You can use my guide in order to disassemble the laptop. Proceed on your own risk.
June 20th, 2008 at 7:06 am
I have a A105-S4284. It is not showing that it is connected to the power cord. When I jiggle the port it registers. It seems loose. It doesn’t have warrenty. I took it in to best buy and they think my motherboard needs replaced. Please help if possible……
May 27th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
Thank you very much. I am obliged to you for the help you have provided. God Bless bro. I apologize for my sarcasm.
May 26th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
On the contary, everything was in jest, but if you need further explaining then we would have to lead you by the hand because the guides on this site do not get any better, and to further guide you then you should not be touching a computer because to go threw half a computer when the guide is showing you in 12 easy steps,then it doesn’t get better. Even the manufacturer doesn’t give it to you in pictures. As I said before and I’ll say it again if you not mechanically inclined don’t try to tear a laptop apart, cause you will do more damage then good.
Look at the picks good that are in these guides, because alot of work went into them and they are second to none. If I hurt anyone’s feelings take it as a joke.
But don’t ask for something that is in front of your face because then you should leave it to a pro. tech
I’m not a genius but I can take a wise crack.
Again look at the guide, that when you get to the keyboard there will be a ribbon connected to a biege holder, that holder will release the ribbon by pushing away or pulling the sides(tab). On toshiba’s I don’t remember but it’s just slight.
May 26th, 2008 at 11:40 am
Well I should say thanks; but honestly, you did’nt help me out at all! Furthermore, you insulted me and insinuated that your non-existent brother is more logical than I am. Needless to say, after viewing your other comments, I realize that you have no sense of sensitivity towards others. But hey! Thanks a lot Santiago
May 26th, 2008 at 11:39 am
Well I should say thanks; but honestly, you did’nt help me out at all! Furthermore, you insulted me and insinuated that your non-existent brother is more logical than I am. Needless to say, after viewing your other comments, I realize that you have no sense of sensitivity towards others. But hey! Thanks a lot
May 26th, 2008 at 10:20 am
Sam, in the Toshiba Satellite A105. Removing laptop motherboard (which is excellent) there are only 12 steps to removing the keyboard,( my kid brother could do it with eyes closed if I had one,lol.) so you’ve must have gone down the wrong path to take half apart. Using the above guide retrace and correct your mistakes. Don’t forget to strap yourself and people it’s good to say thanks to your helper’s and Laptopka.com for the terrific guides.
May 25th, 2008 at 9:26 am
I have this laptop as well. I spilled liquid over the keyboard and ordered an identical keyboard online. I assumed I would be able to change it, but it’s definitely more difficult than I presumed it to be. I already split the laptop in half; I just don’t know how to take out the keyboard. Any suggestions?