Toshiba Satellite A70 and A75. Taking apart notebook.
I repair Toshiba Satellite A70 and A75 laptops almost every single day and I like to work with this model. I think that Toshiba Satellite A70/A75 is one of the easiest Toshiba laptops for disassembly. Unfortunately, this model has some issues. About 90% of all laptops we repair have one of the following problems:
- Not properly grounded top cover. The laptop will shut down or lock up when you touch it around the speaker or touchpad area. This problem could be fixed by replacing the top cover assembly.
- Overheating problem. The laptop will shut down by itself without any reason. To fix the overheating problem you have to take the laptop apart and clean up the heatsink.
- The power jack issue. The laptop will not charge the battery. The laptop LED flicker when you wiggle the power jack. To fix this problem you have to replace or resolder the DC jack on the system board.
August 25th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
I have a Toshiba Satellite, not sure what model it is, don’t have the box or can’t find the model actual name.. But here’s my problem. I wanted to get Some RAM for it, so I looked online, found out it was super cheap, so I proceeded to try to open up the laptop and took out a bunch of screws. I almost got to see the whole motherboard but the corner closest to the power button, or top left, had a screw under a part I couldnt get to. So I figured well I cant get it open so lemme put everything back.. When I popped all the screws back in, I turned the power button on and the screen just kept flashing white and then just stayed white.. I called my friend and he said something was either unplugged or moved. I’m not too great with computers so i have no idea what to do.. Any suggestions?
August 21st, 2008 at 11:29 am
Does anyone know what the specifications is for the RTC CMOS battery? I need a replacement part for a A75S206 motherboard.
August 7th, 2008 at 9:19 am
I know its been a while, but I think I solved a similar problem to that faced by Thomas (see text quoted below), and thought I’d post it for the benefit of readers of this excellent site.
Here are my symptoms, which became apparent after the laptop was dropped. The only way to activate the laptop is to hit that little music button. The fans whirr and then it does nothing, even though the music button’s green LED remains on. Later it was discovered that the power button can be used to shut off the fans while they whirr – the laptop shuts off for a few seconds, and then restarts with the blue glowing power button. Now, one of two things happen – the screen either stays blank, or on rare occasions, the screen comes on but is completely faint (as if the backlight is dead). Thought it could be the inverter, so ordered a new one and installed it – same set of problems. With the keyboard strip removed, I noticed that the mechanism on the motherboard that registers the closure of the laptop’s screen was permanently depressed. Figured this was telling the laptop not to turn on the backlight. I also noticed that the button would pop up if I moved the little plastic fixture to the side (probably got dislodged when I dropped it). With the button popped up, the laptop started normally, power button works, LCD bright as day. Used some epoxy to keep the plastic fixture in place so that problem wouldnt recur.
Thomas’s original post:
“OK guys a few problems. The backlight went out and I suspected it was my inverter. Tore it down changed the inverter and went to power up and the button does nothing and the battery light comes on once. Plug it in and try again and nothing. I hit the little music button and I hear the fans go off… start pressing other buttons and it powers on, and the screen works.. SUCCESS!!! Not so fast. I barely move the screen and it goes into hibernate and I lose everything. Power button does nothing and I hear the sound cut out. Any ideas? Im too frustrated and depressed to try again today. Also on step two when you remove the metal brace (which mine didnt have) and uplug the main and aux black and white cords, which one goes to which? I forgot to mark them off and I think I put black to aux and white to main…”
July 26th, 2008 at 6:17 am
Hi;
A friend gave me a A70 laptop without memory or harddrive ,
he said that the laptop starts up for 3-4 sces you hear the fans going then stops booting with no screen display
at all.
Is there a quick inexpensive fix – befor buying a new harddrive and memory for it ?. or is the laptop dead ?.
Regards
Elie
July 20th, 2008 at 6:20 am
Fixed A70 faulty dc jack and no monitor output!
After fixing the faulty dc jack (according to the wonderful tutorial!), I experienced that once it was put back together, the unit lights would be on and fans would kick in for a bit, but then it would stop and the whole unit was then silent. There was also no output to the lcd screen or external monitor.
The I dismantled and reassembled, and the same issue occurred. The solution. Unlock the cpu from position, remove the cpu, put the cpu back into position (ensure the pins align), relock and reassemble. All was good after that. It is also worth noting that I had done the same for the ram and power inverter for the lcd.
If it wasn’t for this forum and the great responses to questions, none of this would have been possible and this laptop would have been dead. Hence why I post my success. If you too have success in fixing an issue – Post it! It helps others.
May 20th, 2008 at 3:04 am
I have a M105, and I’m fairly sure I’m having the same problem as Thomas on page 6. Seems to work fine until I move the screen and then it blinks alot, and after maybe 60 seconds it will hibernate. If i’m very careful it wont do anything if i dont move the screen but eventually it will hibernate 30-45 min later. I didn’t see a full solution to Thomas’s problem, any help would be apreciated, thxx in advance.
May 11th, 2008 at 9:54 am
Josee,
In this model the sound card is integrated into the motherboard. If you want to replace the sound card, you’ll have to replace the whole motherboard.
May 11th, 2008 at 9:52 am
Jeff,
Can you solder the speaker wires directly to the contacts on the motherboard?
Also, you can replace speakers. Here are part numbers:
Speaker right: K000016180
Speaker left: K000016170
Search on the Internet by the part number and you’ll find a replacement.
Make sure that volume is turned on in software settings. Also, some people don’t know that there is a volume knob on the side of the laptop. Make sure it’s turned on too.
May 11th, 2008 at 9:35 am
hello, i have toshiba a75-s231
i have to replace the sound card can you tell me where i can go on line to purchase it. thanks
josee
May 7th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
I did the exact same thing to the Speaker wire, the white plastic cover was insanely hard to get out and on of them snapped, anyone know what can be done?
The sound is now extremely low volume.
April 29th, 2008 at 6:52 am
STEP 14
“Disconnect the speaker cables on the system board.”
I broke the white plastic plug and the 2 wires snapped out of it on one side, no damage on the motherboard side, been asking in a few computer and electronics stores about that tiny plug, any idea where u can get one, and if not should I just solder the wires tips to the that spot.
also, some of the screws f8 gave me hard time getting them out, should I put them back or try to get new screws for the future and also where to find these screws.
cheers and thank you for the great guide.
April 27th, 2008 at 2:47 am
I have a Toshiba Satellite A70 that BSOD ntfs.sys file missing after reinstall works for a minute bsod’s then comes up with the same. Have pulled apart lappy and cleaned heatsink and fans. Have replaced Hard Drive to 160 gig did install, worked well for a day, then BSOD with the exact error. Have also made it to installing SP2 updates and immediately after update and restart comes back up with missing ntfs.sys, Have spent a week of trying different OS WinXP Home, Professional, and have also checked bios upgrade but still the same old , same old. This Laptop can Blue Screen within minutes of a total reinstall or hours after updates are loaded. Has anyone got any other Ideas or checks before I drop it from a great height, or use it as a Frisbee?
April 14th, 2008 at 7:37 pm
Rob Boyd,
Do you have an external memory module installed? Check if the memory module is properly seated. Reconnect the module.
It looks like the ribbon cable is not seated properly. Reconnect the cable.
April 14th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
HELP ! I was amazed at how perfect your instructions were for disassembling my kids A75-021 laptop (it has the grounding issue). I followed the instructions and had no missteps. Unfortunately I did something wrong because the unit is now DOA. Actually, if I hit the button that plays CD’s without booting, the fans spin up and the power light comes on. But I still can’t boot the laptop. Also, when the a/c adapter is plugged in, NONE of the three lights come on. Any ideas what I screwed up? The only aspect I had the slightest problem was reinserting the touchpad ribbon cable but I’m pretty sure it’s in. thanks again for a great site and hopefully thanks in advance for some suggestions as to my recent problem
April 9th, 2008 at 6:49 am
what is the model# of the realtek ac97 audio chip that is on the motherboard of the a75-s206? i know it starts w/ “alc” but i don’t know the rest & i am afraid to open up my laptop to see on the motherboard. i’m getting windows error code 10, “this device cannot start.” i’ve already tried uninstalling/reinstalling it. my problem is that if the device is enabled (in device mgr) then my laptop freezes/locks up whenever i try to watch/listen to streaming video online (youtube). but when i disable it i can watch/listen to mediaplayer files w/ no problems. any suggestions? thanku, froggyboy009 at yah00.
March 21st, 2008 at 6:43 am
hi,
I used to have frequent shut downs esp. while surfing net. Now my screen has gone dim, i can hardly see anything though the window seem to be perfectly normal. Once it had gone to normal after adjusting the display settings and restarting but now again the problem has come up. what’s the problem with my A70 laptop and what is to be done to fix it?
March 9th, 2008 at 10:32 am
Great instructions here. I had 2 of the 3 problems mentioned on my a75 I have taken everything apart and fixed the ac adapter seems to work great now and i also have completely cleaned the fans and coolers however when i start back up the fans spin and all of the lights come on but then the fans stop and I never get anything on the screen it appears to be dead I have taken it apart several times all of the cables are connected the cpu is seated and locked just nothing on the screen and nothing on an external monitor either.
March 8th, 2008 at 8:42 pm
Hi, I just got done disassembling my a70 using the how -to on this site, now that I’ve cleaned the fans/heatsink put new thermal grease on and reassembled, every time I plug in the AC adapter the l.e.d.s for the plug and battery on the front blink once, then nothing… did i brick it? Please help.
March 8th, 2008 at 8:53 am
Hello! I have a Toshiba laptop Satellite A75-S213 model. Yesterday, a little water splashed into the right side speaker, a tiny bit on the mouse pad, and another bit on a few letter on the right side corner above the right speaker. My screen went blank as if in standby mode (but the power button was still on) and after a few minutes my laptop shut-off by itself. I tried drying the spill and even tilted the laptop to the right so that the water inside came out. There seems to be no more water left inside, but my laptop will not turn on anymore. When plugged (i took the battery out), only the orange light indicating this turns on but not the one that indicates charging or that it is on. Also, when plugged, the fans turn on as well (is this some safety mode?). Do you think my laptop can be saved? If so, what do I need to do in order to fix the problem? (do I need to take it apart?)
Please help me. I’m a college student and my laptop holds the key to my education.
Thanks
February 10th, 2008 at 9:31 am
I have a Toshiba Satellite A70 also. I have a problem with the USB ports in the back being so loose that whatever’s plugged in there loses the connection or falls out. Is this a common problem? I’ve sent it back to Depot Repair twice and argued with about 12 tech support people about having this fixed. Still I see on the status that they have shipped it back to me NOT FIXED because they say “USB Ports momvement is normal.” NORMAL??? I’ve never had anything else with USB ports so loose. NOT NORMAL. Any suggestions?
January 13th, 2008 at 8:29 am
by the way, talking about Toshiba but LCD TV. i’d like to buy a 32 inches TV set. does anybody has an ideea which model is the best, price-quality, compromise?
January 13th, 2008 at 8:26 am
Hello and happy new year everybody. I’ve one problem with my Toshiba Satellite 2450-101. it’s about the SD memory card controller. i can’t read any type of SD card. i’ve tried from 32MB to 2GB, no way. i’ve updated the controller’s driver then i changed the old one. i’ve also made a BIOS update. still nothing. two years ago i’ve replaced the 30 Gb HDD with a 100Gb one. Could it be from this upgrade? pls. help me
regards
January 12th, 2008 at 10:31 am
What “external metal parts”, ya dildo? If your charger has any external metal parts, darn right there’s a problem with it!
January 11th, 2008 at 1:04 am
G’day.
My A70 has just electrocuted me. There’s a problem with the charger. The external metal parts are live to 100VAC above earth potential.
A70 owners beware.
January 10th, 2008 at 6:55 am
I have a Toshiba Satellite A70 and power button will not power up. What is causing the problem? All my LEDs (power & battery) all showing green light.
v/r John
Email: PalomoJB@gimail.af.mil
January 6th, 2008 at 3:13 am
Hi fellas. happy new year everybody. i have a satellite 2450-101 and i’ve just bought a SD card 2 Gb. i’ve plugged it in the slot, and everything stopped, frozen. it seems there’s a resources conflict. what can i do to solve this problem. pls. help me. tnx
January 5th, 2008 at 6:14 pm
Have a a70 with broken flex cable (for lcd)
Is the a60 the same cable?
thanks for any help.
is there a photo group to show how to
take unit apart?
December 12th, 2007 at 2:11 pm
Antony,
the power button is a part of the top cover assembly. If the power button is broken apparently you’ll have to replace the whole top cover. You can find it by the following part number: K000016190
December 12th, 2007 at 2:14 am
hey, my kid pushed the on off button too hard and it is half pushed in, hanging by 1 side, still works, how hard is it to fix, how expensive and where to take it, i am in melb vic aust, it is an a70
December 11th, 2007 at 2:49 pm
Hi, I just ordered a 1GB memory for my A75. To be sure there are two panels underneath. The middle one, the one with the expansion slot, and the lower right panel for the dvd/cd drive.