Toshiba Satellite M35X. How to fix most common laptop problems.
Toshiba Satellite M35X is a very popular model in the United States. In general, most Toshiba Satellite M35X laptops suffer from the same problems. Here’s a disassembly guide.
Improperly grounded top cover assembly. If the top cover assembly wasn’t grounded properly, then laptop may lock up or freeze up when you touch it in the speaker area. It happens because of a static electricity discharge. This problem was fixed on some laptops, but still there are a lot of laptops with unmodified top cover assembly. This problem should be covered under warranty even if you laptop is not under warranty anymore.
Poorly designed DC-IN power jack on the system board. Overtime, the DC power jack gets disconnected from the system board. If it happens, you will experience a problem with charging the battery or the laptop may not start at all.
Read more:
Toshiba Satellite M35X and A75 power jack and battery charge problem.
Toshiba Satellite 1900 laptop looses power and shuts down without warning.
Laptop CPU overheating. It is a very common problem for some Toshiba laptops. If a laptop CPU overheats, then the laptop shuts down without by itself without any reason. Read more:
Why my Toshiba laptop suddenly shuts down by itself without warning?
You can use the disassembly guide to take apart Toshiba Satellite M35X notebook and repair it yourself. Do not open the case if your laptop is still under warranty.
Need spare parts for your laptop? Search here by the laptop model and part name or number.
August 8th, 2009 at 9:59 pm
I have an M30X with the famous power jack problem. I tried to diassemble it and got 90% of the way before I realized I had broken not only the keyboard cable connector clip, but also the two flat cable connector clips (also on the system board) from the top assembly. I saw in earlier posts that Toshiba does not sell these cable clips, and my service center doesn’t have any. I stopped the disassembly without fixing the power jack to see if I could reassemble the flat cables. Most of the clips for the keyboard connector and the power light connector were still intact (only one pin broken) and I was able to wedge the cables back into the connectors. For the small touchpad connector, the clip was hopelessly broken, but I found that I could wedge a small piece of a credit card between the conector and the cable and it worked. I would like to disassemble the machine again so I can finally repair the power plug, but am afraid I won’t be able to get the flat cables to work again without the proper clips. Does anyone know anywhere where I can get these plastic clips? I’m sure I’m not the only one who has broken these.
August 6th, 2009 at 8:22 pm
i have a m35x-s111 and i have no video i opened it and checked everything but everything looks fine. sometimes the tchiba logo come up when i turn it on but then goes away. i dont want to reboot it can i get any ideas on how to fix the problem?
August 1st, 2009 at 8:20 pm
I have a TOSHIBA SATELLITE M35X-S349 that does not boot. The blue power light and fan comes on (fan ran for 5 seconds and stop), nothing else.
This guide and the replies helped me learn a lot especially reply number 78 by Mr. 78 Jerry Hirsch. I tried replacing the DC Jack with a new one thinking it might solve my problem but it did not.
So my motherboard might have solder joints that broken on the 48 pin chip that is next to the DC jack or it that chip might be broken entirely.
I am now looking for someone who can repair this motherboard for me for a very reasonable price. I can’t afford to buy a replacement motherboard or a new laptop.
Thanks and Regards.
July 20th, 2009 at 7:15 am
I was following the Disassembling Toshiba Satellite M35X laptop guide which was a big help but under step 4 it says to carefully remove the dvd drive how does one go about doing that skillfully? do I just pull it out is there some latch or something do easily remove the dvd drive?
July 14th, 2009 at 9:51 pm
Josh,
Scan your laptop for viruses and spyware. You can use AVG antivirus and SpyBot spyware removal tools.
July 14th, 2009 at 7:46 pm
Hello, My Satellite M35x-S1142 speed has significantly decreased over the last 5 months. It now takes several minutes to pull up a website. My other computer on the same router is not slow at all. Any suggestions to speed things up? I have already upgraded the RAM – I added 1024MB to the 512MB.
Thanks!
June 15th, 2009 at 7:58 am
Hello,
I have a Satellite M30X-113 with a Intel Pentium M Processor 725 1,6 Ghz, I want to know if my notebook is capable to support this CPU Intel Pentium M Processor 765 2.10 GHz , and if it’s worth in terms of performance? I also have the latest build of the BIOS v2.0 released on 11/02/09.
Thanks for your answer
June 13th, 2009 at 6:10 pm
I read the IrisVista “Disassembling Toshiba Satellite M35X laptop” guide.
Since my problem is the heatsink, do I need to follow all the steps in sequence, or can I skip some and go straight to ArcticSilver-ing the heatsink and replacing it back?
June 12th, 2009 at 3:59 pm
My M40X was shutting down. I found this site and did the easy step first. I blew out the dust. That worked for a while but eventually, the fan started to sound like an electric razor.
I”m mecahnically & electrically inclined and I hate to throw out and waste but I never thought to take a laptop apart. I poured over the pictures and it seemed like I might be able to do it. After calling a few service centers it loked like it was going to cost me $150. Then I found a replacement fan assembly on ebay for $22 and I figured what did I have to loose. $22??
To make a long story short, I followed your steps exactly and except for the anxiety of some of the cable connectors was able to replace the assembly and, incredibly, it booted up and is still running. I can hear the fan coming on/going off so I think the operation was a success. It took me just 1.5 hours to do it.
Even though mine was an M40X, I have to say how impressed with your instructions and tips. I’ll be highly recommending this site to everyone who wants to try to fix their laptop.
Thank you so much for your help.
Stephen – Toronto, Canada
June 6th, 2009 at 2:43 am
Hello I have an old laptop and I lost my recovery disk, do you sell recovery disks for a toshiba Satellite M35X-S114 or do you know where i can get one please get back to me at your convenience.
JerryBarba@hotmail.com
May 22nd, 2009 at 7:46 pm
I have a M35x-s161, did the power jack replacement with a hard wire connector, and it worked so-so. I still had to press around the board, that tells me that the boards solder points are bad.The existing board is a k000019660, does anyone know what other boards might work(i.e. k000019200 as a cheaper replacement?) and what mods would have to be made (printer port cutout, etc.)
May 19th, 2009 at 6:52 am
Im working on getting a Toshiba Satellite M35x-s111’s wireless working and having no luck.. Ive read thru many of these posts and most say the same thing. anyways this computer doesnt have an on off button located beneath the volume slider on the side of the comp does this mean this computer doesnt have wireless? ive got programs on it that show wireless things like “wireless connectivity wizard” and “wireless link” in the control pannel, as well as an Atheros wireless driver installed in the “add/remove programs” so with all this shouldnt I have wireless on this computer? Ive also tried the Fn-F8 keys which I believe turns the device on and off but still nothing.. and help from anyone reguarding this would be helpfull. I can give more info if needed but id like to get this resolved so I dont have to part out this comp which works almost perfectly otherwise.
May 11th, 2009 at 8:23 am
Julio Perez,
If reseating memory modules doesn’t help and the laptop doesn’t work with each module installed separately, it’s very likely that you have a faulty motherboard.
Motherboards in Satellite M35X laptops fail a lot.
By the way, did you test the laptop with an external monitor?
May 11th, 2009 at 8:20 am
Julio Perez,
You don’t have any video on the screen, right? First of all, try reseating memory modules. Try removing them one by one and test the laptop with each module separately. One of the modules can be bad.
May 11th, 2009 at 8:17 am
Hi, I have a problem with a M35x S163.
I turn it on and the power blue light is on, I hear some noise from the fan but nothing else. I’m trying to get to the reboot/setup option to use my recovery cd but I can’t get there because it shuts down just before getting there.
April 22nd, 2009 at 9:03 am
Hi! I have this friend who has a Toshiba satellite M35x-S161
It runs Win Xp SP2 and After It boots Up about 3 to 4 mins Then It just restarts itself again. Now I have built computers before but this is my first laptop what should I do first the DC jack solder was broken so I resoldered it tight my self the trick is to insert the plug press down and solder under neath the dc jack and the green board leaving no room to move even when pluging and unpluging so what should I do about this problem with the restarting of the computer? If anyone has an answere please write to me at james_e_amari AT yahoo DOT com “THANKS”
April 20th, 2009 at 8:32 pm
Please help!
My laptop has been connecting perfectly to wireless. As of late, it appears that it does not anymore. I also tried “Repair Wireless Network Connection”, but I got a message “Windows could not finish repairing the problem because the following action cannot be completed: Connecting to the wireless network”.
April 11th, 2009 at 9:21 am
Hello,
My 3 yr old satellite M35X-s309 – takes about 10 minutes to start (just to come up to boot prompt – where it does memory test and displays bios info). This problem started, after I dropped it. After boot – everything works fine. Any idea what I should look into?
Thanks in advance.
~Bob
March 31st, 2009 at 12:44 pm
My husband is working on his sisters M35x-s111. We are having a problem with grounding the lcd, i know it says here that it’s a known problem and that toshiba should / might replace it even if it’s not under warrenty, however here is the problem, the laptop was dropped and it broke the lcd display, we purchased a new screen, but we can’t verify the laptop still works because it keeps coming ungrounded. It will boot up, but if touched or moved at all it stops working. any suggestions on where to ground it with a short ground wire?
March 30th, 2009 at 6:49 am
y friend’s M35X-S161 exhibited symptoms of a poorly connected DC-IN jack and I found the disassembly instructions fantastic! (I’m visual!).
However I had trouble removing (a) the DVD/CD dive and (b) the top cover until I took both the [F5] and [F10] screws from the base of the machine.
Also, please give details for disconnecting the ZIF cables. (I found that a dentist’s plaque pick was great as it allowed me to lift the locking bars easily).
I’d also add a tool list (guitar picks ARE hard to find!) – viz: Philips head screwdriver, flat bladed screwdriver, guitar pick, dentist’s plaque pick or curved awl, solering equipment (as described in “how to replace the DC-IN jack”).
March 27th, 2009 at 2:40 pm
Just an update I replaced my K000019660 with an K000019630 in a M35X-S149 and it works fine, you just have to notchout the opening under the PCI Slot for the new card reader on this motherboard. Also goth the K000019630 for $50 less on ebay than the K000019660 was going for.
March 27th, 2009 at 6:18 am
#269
I posted a problem back in January about not being able to write to my CD, although being able to read it, on my M35X. Have not had any replies (not sure if I’m just supposed to wait until somebody has a response, if I’m in a queue on hold, or what); anyhow, in the meantime I fixed my problem:
Installed a known working drive–Didn’t help
Shut system down & removed drive
Rebooted without drive in place
Shutdown after complete reboot & Windows up
Shutdown again (with no drive in place)
Reinstalled drive & rebooted
Bingo–works like new–presumably corrected something in BIOS.
March 26th, 2009 at 8:06 pm
I recently had to reformat my hard drive and reinstall Windows XP Professional on my Satellite M35X-S3112 due to some spyware that caused my computer to restart every couple of minutes, if not more often.
I am now trying to get the video and audio features to work again, and am having little success. My computer has no sound, and only video capabilities when I’m on the internet.
I have tried running games on my computer and I come up with an error message saying that it cannot find an audio card installed.
When I try to watch a movie it comes up with this error message: The TV Out port of your display card is not working properly.
I am wondering if there is a website where I can get drivers that will fix this problem. If you have any ideas I would greatly appreciate any suggestions.
March 18th, 2009 at 11:50 am
Has anybody tried to use the motherboard K000019200 with the M35X-S149? They look the same, even the size of the video chips but I saw were someone said they though you needed a different heatsink for it. Just wanted to see if anyone has tried this. I have found this board much cheaper than the stock K000019660 so I figured if it works the same I would just repalce it with this one instead. Thanks for any info anyone can pass my way.
March 12th, 2009 at 8:31 pm
Sorry to hear about another your laptop Shan. The DC jack solder joints are purposely designed to break on this model. A couple nearby components solder joints also break, the 40-48 pin Maxim chip frequently, and a capacitor very infrequently.
Seem my M35X Laptop Repair auction under jrhirsch on Ebay for some pictures. I have repaired over 100 of these by removing the jack and replacing it with one that is mounted to the case, not the motherboard. This way, flexing the DC jack will not twist the motherboard which in turn breaks the solder joints on nearby components.
Staples might be scamming you. If they are, you should take them to court. If you don’t, companies will continue to ripoff people. I can check out your laptop for free, you just pay for shipping both ways. An independent inspection is the only way to know for sure.
Jerry
March 12th, 2009 at 6:18 pm
Staples is terrible! I had somewhat of a similar experience with Staples when I shipped a rare car console at a Staples store and they encouraged me to buy insurance which I did. I was led to believe that it was UPS insurance. Anyway the console was damaged during shipment and I was sujected to all kinds of delay and nonsense by Staples. It took me over 3 months and constant going back to the Staples store to register complaints about all the delays in processing a simple insurance claim. They finally paid but would not have if I didn’t keep contacting Staples and complaining.
March 12th, 2009 at 6:18 pm
Sorry to hear about another your laptop Shan. The DC jack solder joints are purposely designed to break on this model. A couple nearby components solder joints also break, the 40-48 pin Maxim chip frequently, and a capacitor very infrequently.
Seem my Ebay auction under jrhirsch for some pictures.
Staples might be scamming you. If they are, you should take them to court. If you don’t, companies will continue to ripoff people. I can check out your laptop for free, you just pay for shipping both ways. An independent inspection is the only way to know for sure.
Jerry
March 12th, 2009 at 4:45 pm
I baught my toshiba satelitte computer at staples 2 and a half years ago. I thought i was doing the smart thing by buying 3 year extended warrenty on it, which cost me about 200 dollars. About a month ago, my computer started going really slow and started freezing every few minutes. About a week after, my computer crashed. Whenever i turned it on i would get a blue screen and it wouldnt work. I took it to staples and they examined it and said that it was a part. So they sent it away to the company to fix. 2 weeks later staples called me and said that my computer was back. I went in, expecting it to be fixed and they said that they couldnt fix it because i spilled water on it. I did not once spill water on my laptop and they accused me of doing so. I will not ever buy a toshiba laptop again and i am very dissapointed in their services. My advice: Dont buy a toshiba laptop.
February 18th, 2009 at 7:21 am
Hi, I have a problem with a M35x S329.
I turn it on and the power blue light is on, I hear some noise from the fan but nothing else. Monitor is down, DVD is down. I removed the battery and turn it on the same. I cleaned the fan, problem stays.
It seems that after a while 10-15min it starts by itself, goes through the normal startup.
Any ideas what I can do?
Thank you,
Cris
February 15th, 2009 at 10:31 am
hey guys…do u know if i can actually replace my intel chipset for an nvidia graphics card??