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.
December 28th, 2009 at 11:07 am
Eugene,
Nope. You’ll have to use only A70/A75 motherboard.
December 28th, 2009 at 11:04 am
Toshiba Satellite A75
any other version of motherboard that can fit into this notebook case.
prefer nothing from A70-75s
thanks
December 17th, 2009 at 5:59 am
I know I am becoming a pest…. but I have now had the laptop on for twenty minutes and things are not resolved on the fans…. despite it being whistle clean inside the fans are still cycling — running constantly and getting faster and slower but the bottom of the laptop isn’t anywhere near as hot as it used to get…. just the fans haven’t quit running…..
Should I be upgrading the fans to something more powerful? should I be replacing the fans or what to stop this cycling? Could something else be running that is causing such a draw on the cpu? [I know some of my questions are probably very silly...]
Also I noticed another problem that is no doubt the result of my reassembly — the three indicator lights on the front for the power and charging are no longer functional…. they are all dark….. the blue power on at the back left is fine….
And the touchpad does not work — not that it matters that much as I have an external mini-mouse that I use because the touchpad was always way too sensitive…..
So now my list grows….. backlight, inverter, lid switch, fans, charging indicator lights, touchpad…..
December 17th, 2009 at 4:32 am
Hi CJ:
I spent last night looking on eBay per your suggestions in prior posts, looking for the backlight and an inverter…. the backlights listed there did not appear to have the connectors so I am at a loss as to where I would get them… I suppose even if I were to spring for the factory parts there would still be no connectors on the backlight. And I suppose there is no way to know which connectors I have without opening up the laptop again?
I also was looking at sparepartswarehouse to see if the lid cover switch is available as a separate part but it is not listed there…. is there a chance that the switch is faulty?
Please advise….. meanwhile I have the laptop hooked to an external monitor as a short term workaround and I am using a friend’s laptop to write this post….
Thanks for all your guidance….
Karen
December 16th, 2009 at 6:16 pm
Hi CJ:
Thanks for the advice to flex the case…. I was afraid I would snap something…. I did manage to get it out, but ran into an issue taking out the cooling unit which was completely stuck to the cpu, and the cpu came out with the cooling unit…. I cleaned them both with alcohol and keyed up the cpu and replaced it… put Arctic Silver thermal grease on the cpu and replaced the cooling unit…
I also sprayed the DeOxIt on the little cover switch but I was unable to discern if I could detach it and clean it any better…. the entire insides were cleaned and blown out and I have replaced everything in reverse order….
So the big moment came just a few minutes ago when I powered it up and alas, I am still with the same issue of the black screen and momentary views of the screen with a red tint to it when I flick the switch…..
Do I need to replace the backlight bulb? the lid switch? and how do I go about doing that? I can disassemble again but when I am down to the motherboard and the switch, I don’t know what I should be doing…..
Thanks for all your hours and hours that have been spent maintaining this website — I have been reading through posts now for two nights before doing this project…..
Karen
December 16th, 2009 at 3:44 pm
Karen,
You have to flex the laptop case, not the motherboard.
The order you are going through is correct.
1. Release the PC card slot.
2. Release USB ports on the right side.
3. Remove the motherboard.
December 16th, 2009 at 3:42 pm
Hi Cj:
It’s Karen again to update that after some prying that was causing my stomach to churn, the PC Card Slot side of the motherboard is now loose…. but the other side just does not seem to want to budge and I have been flexing the motherboard a bit… I also sliced my finger quite badly on the PC Card mount – beware! Is there some spot that requires to be popped loose along the plastic??
Well I just went to give it another gander and thought I would give it a good tug back towards the PC Card slot and now I have managed to free it up… it does require quite a bit of wangling to get it free…. not for the weak of heart…..
December 16th, 2009 at 2:59 pm
Hi CJ:
I am stuck at step 20 – trying to remove the motherboard…. the hex screws are out but I cannot seem to be able to pop up the board by the PC Card Slot…. any tips before I break something? Too bad there is no way for me to send you a photo so you can check the status with your keen eye….
My laptop has been running hot and the fans running a bit excessively, but the other night the screen went black…after fiddling with the lid cover switch I could get the display back on but then it quit again and flicking the switch could only get a momentary view of the screen and then the screen developed a reddish hue…. I had hooked up another external monitor and that was fine….. so I have decided to clean the heatsink and other innards, plus clean the oxidation off the lid switch with DeOxIt from CAIG Labs….. and I got Artic Silver thermal compound from Radio Shack to put on the heatsink….. I was doing quite well with the instructions up to this step,,,, only issue so far was a buggered F8 screw on the dvd drive [only prior work done on this laptop was by Toshiba when they replaced the defective cover two years ago due to the class action]. I regularly clean it by shutting it completely down and using a shop vac to pull out the dust bunnies….
Please give advice on Step 20 because I hate to be so close to getting this done and then have some disaster strike!
December 7th, 2009 at 4:36 pm
Hi,
Best instructional website I’ve seen…tip I can offer in exchange for a tip…the stripped or stuck screw problems(my biggest issue with taking the a75 apart)dremel the heads with fine diamond tips,takes awhile)the bootup problem for me when i take apart is usually solved by reating the dvd a few times …questions i hope to have answer for…my power jack was fine before i took apart,it was the major dust build up and i didnt have to take the cpu out but i get no recharging light whatsoever only runs when plugged in-the dc area still looks fine and not loose can it be some other connection?
also when putting back together and testing my cables to the video card touched i saw a spark and get a dimmed LCD screen-works fine on external(those flatscreen tvs are great monitors)is this an inverter problem(I HAVE THE SCREEN APART ALREADY)and if its a backlight bulb do i need a whole new screen or can i just get a bulb?
besides the dust build up problem I’d like to keep my toshiba running it is great when it works…
November 21st, 2009 at 11:51 pm
I have the exact same problem as Tito Roberto had
back in 2006 and Aderson Pifer had in 2007. Tito posted
later that he had found the part and fixed the problem.
I need to find the part number and the source so I can
do the same.
Can you possibly get me in touch with either of them
so I can find out where to get the part that I need?
Feel free to give them my email address.
Thanks in advance.
172
Tito Ribeiro Says:
September 9th, 2006 at 10:26 pm
“I disassembled my note again and noticed that there’s one component burned up. It’s sat on the upper left corner of the MOBO, just beside the coolers and says PQ7. There’s a PQ6 right on top of it where it seems to read 4407 BE4X1A (I could be mistaken cos the letters are too small).”
241
Aderson Pifer Says:
January 29th, 2007 at 8:52 am
Hi,
“I have a toshiba A70 S256 with same problems described by Tito Ribeiro in messages published on September 9th, 2006 at 10:26 pm and January 26th, 2007 at 3:57 pm. However, i didn´t figure out where can i find the burned out components to buy and fix the MOBO. Could you provide me his email address or forward this message to his email address?”
November 6th, 2009 at 10:20 am
Sean Fuller,
By the way, run the hard drive test. You can use Hitachi’s drive fitness test, works fine with most hard drives.
November 6th, 2009 at 10:06 am
Sean Fuller,
Man, still feels like a software issue. I had a Satellite A75 myself and it was running decently even with 512MB of RAM. Will it go to 90% if you use IE?
I’m having issues with Firefox lately. I don’t know why but it’s clogging my CPU badly.
Satellite A75 laptop has only one slot available for upgrades because one memory module is integrated into the motherboard. If in your laptop the external memory slot is occupied with 512MB RAM module, you can remove it and install a 1GB module instead.
November 1st, 2009 at 4:03 pm
Sorry, I have dumped it and started from scratch. I am upgraded to windows service pack 3, AVG virus protection, Mozilla and C Cleaner. It runs at around 50% til I open a browser then it jumps to 90% to 98% range. It still freezes (not over heats) after trying to run too much. My question was is there more than one slot for RAm. It has 512 can i add a second 512 card or do i need to jump to a 1gig…
THANKS! This is the best site I have found!
November 1st, 2009 at 2:33 pm
Sean Fuller,
98% is not normal. Backup all personal files and reinstall software from scratch.
Also, increasing RAM from 512MB will make it faster.
What? I don’t get it.
November 1st, 2009 at 2:27 pm
Great site
I have a A75 s211 it keeps freezing after a while. When i look at the use it is at 98% most of the time . I think if I up the RAm from 512 it will help. Does it have move than one slot or only 1 for ram?
THANKS!
October 24th, 2009 at 6:09 am
I also need to know how to replace the power button.
Thanks.
October 11th, 2009 at 7:43 pm
I HAVE A TOSHIBA A75 AND THE SCREEN DOESN’T SHOW. YOU CAN SEE A VERY LITTLE REFECTION ON THE BACK LIKE IF THE INVERTER WAS BAD. BUT WHEN I CHANGE THE SCREEN TO ANOTHER ONE THAT WAS WORKING AND IT CONTINUE DOING THE SAME THING. I KNOW IT HAS TO DO WITH THE MOTHERBOARD FOR A FACT. BUT MY QUESTION IS WHAT CHIP OR PART DO I NEED TO REPLACE. HOW DO I RECOGNIZED THE CHIP AND HOW CAN I TESTED? THANKS
September 17th, 2009 at 9:56 am
Wow. Clearly I have not had my coffee yet.
Thanks for all this, really fantastic resource you have here!
September 17th, 2009 at 9:39 am
Jeff,
Did you notice that my guide has more than one page?
I explain how to remove the fan on the page 3 (step 22).
Yes, it is necessary. The cooling fan is mounted on the bottom side of the motherboard. You’ll have to remove the motherboard first.
Again, read through all three pages of the guide and you’ll see how to replace the fan.
September 17th, 2009 at 9:32 am
Yes you did. There aren’t any details on the fan itself, so I what I’m wondering is:
1)Once inside, is the fan replacement fairly obvious and straightforward?
2)Is all that dissembly necessary just to get at the fans?
September 17th, 2009 at 9:13 am
Jeff,
I believe I linked to the laptop disassembly guide in the first sentence of my post. Didn’t I?
September 17th, 2009 at 9:07 am
Thanks for this great resource! Do you happen to have, or know of, some step by step intstructions for replacing the dual fan unit on a Satellite A70? I have the replacement fans here.
Many thanks.
August 25th, 2009 at 9:30 pm
Victor,
Is it possible that your laptop shuts down because of overheating? Check both cooling fans on start up and make sure both fans are spinning. Clean the heat sink using compressed air and test the laptop again.
You cannot disable the onboard memory.
If you have nothing to loose, you can try cut off all memory chips with a sharp knife and hopefully your laptop will start with memory module installed into the external slot.
Some people were successful doing that with Satellite A65 motherboards. Read comments here. Comment 321 maybe?
August 21st, 2009 at 5:29 am
I got a Satellite A75-S229, and it shuts down once OS starts comeing up, now i know that its the ON-board memory gone bad. Is there a way so i can fix it or take out the memory or disable it>?>
August 20th, 2009 at 7:29 pm
thanks for the reply. i believe you’re right. i just didn’t know that i could actually put an onboard wireless adapter on the thing.
August 18th, 2009 at 9:40 pm
sherwin ramos,
I guess you are talking about the wireless card slot. Apparently you are confusing this slot with the memory slot.
August 18th, 2009 at 3:57 pm
i have replaced my toshiba satellite a70 motherboard. i have noticed that there appears to be a second memory bank/slot on the motherboard that i did not have on the old one. it seems a lot shorter that a normal ddr slot. would you happen to know what it is for?
August 17th, 2009 at 10:23 am
For those wondering how to get the securing strip of, once you get the right side started (as you are looking at it), just run you hand behind it with some firm pressure, it should come out with a little effort. Took me forever to get it off successfully.
August 10th, 2009 at 5:34 pm
I found the fix for it. Anyhow the way I did it was, power management settings. Download newest Toshiba software. Then lower processor settings to low. And then put it on quiet. Throttles the fan lower. =D I am a happy man! Thanks for the aid through the docs on for the Toshiba laptop on this website. It was not easy disassembling it and putting it back together. but it was worth it in the end.
Thanks.
August 4th, 2009 at 10:02 am
I have a Toshiba Satellite A70/A75. How do I replace my broken power button.
Thanks.