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.
March 13th, 2009 at 4:04 pm
Hi,
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…
Thanks in advance!
February 27th, 2009 at 10:18 am
Well Tim unfortunately we are all minimalist and life is a b,but if you had looked at the guide you would have seen that the plug does not come out till step 21, so you are fortunate that it’s the last step before the motherboard comes out. Read the guide please that’s what it’s there for, or else give your laptop to a tech so that it’ll cost you less in the long run, Good Luck.
February 27th, 2009 at 5:18 am
In reply 128, you indicate one can replace the power jack. My question is how much of the disassembly process must I complete to get to replace the jack? Is it possible to do Step 1 (pull the battery) and then proceed to Step 9 (lifting the keyboard strip) and skip pulling the screen. I guess I’m a minimalist and don’t want to pull the whole laptap apart if I don’t have to.
Thank You.
February 21st, 2009 at 4:50 am
Me and my wife were arrguing and i slammed my fist down on the lcd and it cracked. I hooked the Toshiba up to my monitor and it would get half way threw windows and then just restart. Did the same for safe mode. Now it wont get past the first initial setup. Is there some wierd connection to the lcd that makes this happen. Nothing was hit on the side of the motherboard, cpu, hard drive ect..?
February 8th, 2009 at 3:02 pm
174
jocy Says:
February 8th, 2009 at 12:00 am
My A105 S4014 bios is not working when i tried to fix by myself it creates another problem. my keyboard connector clip is broke, wont hold the ribbon of my keyboard. do i need to change the mother board,If not where i could buy clips to connect my keyboard. and pls tell me where, and i still have problem about my bio password. i cannot turn on my computer w/out asking a password which i dont have.
# 1 I don’t know how many times it’s been stressed
if your not mechanically inclined don’t touch the damm laptop.
Now listen up and read well, your going to buy a five minute epoxy that’s for plastic and plastic only, then your going to put the ribbon in and press the clip back in the slot on top of the ribbon in the slot. Go mix the epoxy and with a toothpick and toothpick only take a drop only a drop and put one on each side where it broke, not on the ribbon hold for ten minutes and then it should stay firm and place the keyboard back carefully.
If you broke the holder off the solder then you should commit suicide for not reading previous post on a job that you that knew you couldn’t do cause it’s been said time after time ” Your not going to erase the Bios, so get a new Hard drive”
February 8th, 2009 at 9:30 am
jocy,
If the keyboard clip is broke you’ll have to replace the motherboard.
By the way, some Satellite A105 laptops can set the BIOS password on its own.
More info here: My Toshiba laptop displays Password= prompt on startup
February 8th, 2009 at 12:00 am
My A105 S4014 bios is not working when i tried to fix by myself it creates another problem. my keyboard connector clip is broke, wont hold the ribbon of my keyboard. do i need to change the mother board,If not where i could buy clips to connect my keyboard. and pls tell me where, and i still have problem about my bio password. i cannot turn on my computer w/out asking a password which i dont have.
thank you so much
January 31st, 2009 at 8:28 pm
here is what i found:
Support News
BIOS update for Satellite A100/A105, Satellite M110/M115, and Tecra A7
Posted on: 04/10/2007
Updated on: 04/10/2007 15:51:53
In very rare cases, the battery pack of your PC may stop accepting a charge, i.e., the battery stops working and no longer supplies power to the computer. To minimize the risk of ever experiencing this problem, we strongly recommend that you download and install the latest BIOS by clicking the ‘Downloads’ link that will appear when you are finished reading Support News.
January 31st, 2009 at 8:16 pm
I want to replace it to troubleshoot why it doesn’t start up. I left the laptop unplugged for over a year and I read on Toshiba’s site that it was possible that with A105 2061 there is a chance that the CMOS battery died. Also, what size of battery should I get?
January 31st, 2009 at 5:58 pm
Chris,
Why do you want to replace the CMOS battery? What is your reason?
If the BIOS password, it’s not going to help.
January 31st, 2009 at 5:27 pm
OK… I figured out the CMOS part of my question so nevermind. There are two brackets of thin metal clamping the CMOS into it… I don’t know what tool I should use to get that off, or if I should just break the metal and resolder it back on? HELP!
January 31st, 2009 at 12:21 am
I have an A105 S2061 laptop. I am trying to figure out where the CMOS battery is once you have taken it apart? Does anybody have a picture of this? Or can they do a photoshop circle on the spot for me of the dissasembly photo?
any help would be appreciated! thank you.
January 26th, 2009 at 7:08 pm
tyler,
I linked to the disassembly guide in the post. You’ll find the wireless card under the keyboard. The keyboard removal instructions will be the same for all flavors of Satellite A105.
January 26th, 2009 at 7:05 pm
hey…i have a toshiba satellite a105-s4384…and my wifi card isnt next to the memory as it is in yours…could you possibly do a disassembly on that model?
January 22nd, 2009 at 2:48 pm
Toshiba Laptop Satellite A105
Please help. I separated the top (lcd screen) from the mainboard to replace the wifi card. It was working before I separated the two parts. Now nothing will come up on the screen, when I start it up. It just stays black. I am sure something is not plugged in and was separated when I separated the two. I just don’t know what to look for. Please tell me what I should be checking to make sure it is plugged in. Thank you soooo much
January 19th, 2009 at 9:09 am
I was wondering if you knew which part to replace. I spilled, some tea on my laptop because I was an idiot, and now, even after cleaning, my caps lock key, left shift key, and ‘a’ key, does not work.
Toshiba Satellite a105-s4284. Thanks!
January 18th, 2009 at 9:11 pm
Minor problem here…
The screen committed suicide on my A105-S4184. I had some success in using an external display when I needed data from the laptop. However, I put it into storage and have pulled it out only to discover that the keyboard was damaged. So I disassembled the lsptop based on my work with previous machines, without the great guide here. However when I finally did figure out that I didn’t need to take the entire machine apart, I reassembled it. Now, the external display receives no signal. I don’t really know what to do. Like a fool I forgot to note which side of the ribbon cables went in which direction. I assume the power button one is correct since the power turns on. Do they all fit the same way (blue plastic edge towards the retaining clip)?
Would the damaged keyboard cause boot issues?
January 13th, 2009 at 12:57 pm
Hi Hi have a Toshiba Satellite A100 number model is PSAANC-03605-C the motherboard if faild could you plase tel me the corect parts number for a new motherboard
thanks
January 9th, 2009 at 2:16 am
This Toshiba is a dog. It overheats too easily. I have removed dust from it a couple of times, but the only ways I’ve found to make sure this machine doesn’t crash on a regular basis are:
1. Raise the bottom of the unit slightly (I use a cardboard template) to improve air circulation.
2. Use an OS that doesn’t keep the CPU so busy (I tried a clocked XP but have settled on an unclocked Ubuntu).
January 8th, 2009 at 10:08 am
I own a Toshiba A105-S1712, purchased new January 2006. It shuts down intermittently and abruptly, without any notice or regularity. Rarely do we use power from battery – it remains constantly plugged into a receptacle. The fan seems has been noisier for the past several months. Toshiba confirmed it is not a battery issue. Any thoughts?
December 23rd, 2008 at 2:12 pm
Mauricio,
You don’t have to replace the top cover. The power button is located on a 6-button switch board. You’ll have to replace the switch board. Here’s Toshiba part number for this board: V000060490
Google the part number.
December 23rd, 2008 at 2:05 pm
Hi there.
before my question. hey man thanks .. what a useful page.
Now.. i own a toshiba satellite A 105 s4384. the power button stopped working. i have to use the web button to turn it on. keeping it pressed does not work either (it doesn’t turn on or off the computer at all). as i saw in the pictures above, the power button belongs (or is attached) to the upper plastic cover. but unfortunately i couldn’t see it in detail. is there a way to repair the button? do i have to replace the entire upper case? don’t have much budget to repair it. to be honest don’t want to waste any money repairing it. i rather save it for a new one. that’s because the battery went dead and i also have a dead pixel. :S if i can repair it myself so i can use it a couple months more i will. thanks in advance. sorry for my bad English its not my mother language. bye
December 18th, 2008 at 10:15 pm
I just wanted to say thanks! My wife has an A105 series, and I just upgraded her HDD to a 250. Your site, especially the pictures, made it a snap! I’ve bookmarked you, and suggested your site to some of my IT people for working on the tricker aspects of our office Toshibas.
Thanks again!
-Jammer29
December 18th, 2008 at 10:23 am
I have an A105-S4134. Dose the dc jack on this model also plug into the motherboard? If so, have any idea of the part number? Thanks!!
December 7th, 2008 at 10:07 pm
I have an A105 and the ethernet device has gone bad. It will sometimes get a DHCP response from a server, but the traffic rate is inermittent. Wireless is OK. Tried different cables. Same problem in different offices so I suspect the laptop, not the other end of the wire.
Any thoughts?
December 1st, 2008 at 12:14 am
Karinlinn,
Removing, replacing, shorting the BIOS battery in this model WILL NOT clear the BIOS password. Some Satellite A105 laptops can set the BIOS password on its own and Toshiba fixes this problem at no charge.
I guess you’ll have to bypass the BIOS password on your laptop first and hopefully after that the hard drive will recognize the HDD password.
November 30th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
Karinlinn, don’t waste your time, for the last two years there have been so many post on the internet on the password crack for the A105. You should have done your research because Toshiba uses a special management that they say they can’t crack and because it can’t be read and if you try anything on it, it becomes inoperable.
The good news is go buy a new HD cause no ones been able to crack it yet. I tried over a yr ago and that’s the way it is.
As I’ve said before if your not mechanical inclined leave it alone or do the leg work before jumping throat deep.
November 30th, 2008 at 8:28 am
I have two questions regarding my A105…
The first relates directly to the excellent illustrated disassembly guide that led me to this forum. You see, I need an EXTREME closeup of the CMOS battery so I can reattach it properly since, without too much investigation and with no instructions, I just sort of LIFTED my CMOS battery up in hopes of clearing a bios password. Stupid mistake!
Turns out that a) the old disconnect-the-cmos-battery-to-get-past-the-password trick doesn’t work on most newer computers – certainly not on laptops; b) I can’t figure out how to solder the right lead back onto anything to make it stick and c)I finally remembered the flippin’ password anyway.
Which brings me to my second problem: I CANNOT get past the HDD password I put on. Yes, me, myself, I put the password on and can’t get back in. I tried every permutation and combination of my usual PWs and can’t unlock my &*%$ hard drive.
Things that have NOT worked:
1. Holding down the left (or right) shift key while booting (reportedly a way to get past the FIRST PW)
2. Hot swapping the drive in an attempt to get to SET UP.
3. Using a SATA-to-USB hard drive adapter and trying to read the drive from my desktop.
Any ideas? (I don’t want to format it because I have many photos etc. that I want to retrieve)
P.S. I have the identical problem going on with a Dell Inspiron 1521 (WHICH, btw, CANNOT be jumped using the “paper clip method,” causing me to spend $60 on the admin PW, only to be stymied at this second one)
Any MORE ideas? (And, yeah, I might just format the Dell since, for all I know, it was stolen to begin with – who am I to ask? – and I just want to get the flippin’ thing working)
Thx
K
PS – I went ahead and donated $10 to this site in hopes of improving my computer tech karma.
PPS – sorry this ended up so long
November 23rd, 2008 at 8:18 pm
ok, so i have a A100, and it was just being used on battery. shut the lid (put to sleep) and it never woke up. now i get no lights at all. nothing mains, nothing w/o the battery. removed the battery, tried with just mains, still get nothing. no lights, no nothing.
November 17th, 2008 at 7:43 am
Hi, I have an A100 model that is quite similar to the A105.
Has anyone has any issues with a loose external video connection? When my external LCD is hooked up it has a hard time displaying the correct resolution. From what I can tell when I move the jack (left side of the computer at the back) with a regular monitor cable plugged in the screen turns off and on and at times has the correct resolution. I know this computer has a board that is integrated with video… I have seen some pictures of the connection on the inside. I am wondering if I can just re solder the connection and fix the problem.
Anyone else seen anything like this?
CK