Today we are going to remove and replace broken display hinges on Toshiba Satellite A20 or A25 laptop. Replacing broken laptop hinges is a very time consuming repair because you have to take apart the laptop base and the laptop display. This guide has a lot of disassembly steps, so make sure to memorize the disassembly process. For all removed screws I usually use plastic caps. I mark these caps by layers: bottom, keyboard, under keyboard, system board, LCD mask, screen, etc. You can use your own names. It also would be very useful to make some notes so you can use it when assembling the laptop after the repair.
Here are the left and right hinge part numbers for Toshiba Satellite A20 and A25 laptops:
Brake hinge, right: P000378510
Brake hinge, left: P000368300
You can search for these parts on ebay on via google. Be prepared, hinges are very expensive.
June 2nd, 2007 at 6:40 am
Where are the memory modules in this model, I have a very corrupted memory and I want to exchange it, but I can’t find where the memory is located :S
Thanks.
May 7th, 2007 at 6:14 pm
Jason,
Regarding comments 13 and 14:
what is status of your A20-S207?
were you able to correct your dim screen?
I am having same problem with my 3 yr old
Model A20.
See my comment # 28 above.
thanks!
May 7th, 2007 at 5:24 pm
Has anyone replaced the FL Inverter Board and still have a problem with a dim (dark) screen. I have a Satellite A20-S207 which is almost 3 yrs old. My screen was flickering for a day & then went dark. I researched & purchased a new FL Inverter Board. I just replaced it but did not solve my problem. My connections are all tight. Could it be a light within the LCD screen? If so, how do I get to it?
Thanks for helping!
April 30th, 2007 at 11:43 am
Hi,
I have a toshiba s2450-101 and the hinges are loose so the display can’t stay erected. I tried looking for hinges on the internet but they are no where to be found for this model. Does anyone know where I can find hinges to this specific model? alternatively, are there any other hinges from other models that would fit on my laptop?
Thank you,
April 25th, 2007 at 11:02 am
I own a A25 S279 laptop and need to replace the power jack. I had disassembled the laptop and unsure if the power jack needs to be soldered or is fixed in this model. Would like to clarify if I can pull this apart if I were to replace the power jack for this model. Your timely help is very much appreciated.
March 21st, 2007 at 2:43 pm
Toshiba Satellite A25-S3072. I had a very dark monitor that would improve every once in a while by flexing the cover open as far as it would go. I used your instructions to check physical cable connections on motherboard, back of LCD panel, check for broken wires etc. Nothing obvious. Then the fun began…powerin up is shot.
When I put it all back together and plug it in and look at the little lighted display panel at the front where the various status lights are: the plug symbol is lit, the power symbol comes on/off when you press power button, the battery symbol comes on, the main fain turns on from time to time, the heat sink gets warm, the Link light on the network jack responds, but nothing else happens–no hard disk symbol light, the CD drive won’t open/light doesn’t blink, etc. The FN key lights up on the keyboard but nothing else responds.
What have I done!? Is there a grounding wire I accidentally unplugged or a way to tell if I have fragged my motherboard without paying someone to test it (we are a non-profit, so budget is an issue). I’ve tried taking it apart and reassembling just to see if I missed a screw or something, but same response.
February 7th, 2007 at 7:38 am
Hey I have a 5205-s705 (compatible with a few others.
WHERE can I buy hinges for this notebook? Ebay is useless for my model..???
Anyone?
kevflynn@alltel.net
December 23rd, 2006 at 11:17 am
The hinges are labeled left and right as seen with the display open and you sitting in front of it, ie: the left hinge is on the Esc key side and the right one is on the Home key side of your laptop.
December 6th, 2006 at 5:43 am
I bought a battered old version of my laptop from ebay for pennies and took out the working hinges, bargain! If I follow the instructions and disassemble and reassemble my own laptop will it still function as normal? i.e. Will removing the guts of the computer and putting it all back together effect it when I go to turn it back on? Or will it not know that anythings happened and function as normal?
December 3rd, 2006 at 10:35 am
Great guide!
I had to fix a broken hinge in my laptop this summer and just winged it. I ended up with a couple of extra screws at the end but everything works.
Now the other hinge is broken (the side with the video cable). My question is a simple one - is left relative to the laptop our the user? I can’t find a part source that actually has a picture with the model number and I want to make sure I order the right part.
Thanks,
Mac
November 28th, 2006 at 11:19 pm
Anyone know how to get at the hinges on a Satellite 2400? If anyone has info about the last post please contact me……..Thanx
November 17th, 2006 at 2:57 am
(hmmm….the drawing didn’t work properly above…
drawing 1:
screen
|
|
|_
(O)_________laptop
my hinges…:
screen
|
|
|
(O)_________laptop
November 17th, 2006 at 2:55 am
i’m not sure if it’s actually broken
the hinge doesn’t really come apart, but the
hinge normally looks something like this from the side…
screen
|
_|
laptop_______(O)
and mine looks like this now
screen
|
|
laptop_______(O)
(without the top part of tube…which is broken off…)…is it normal for that part to come off ?
(in the last picture of the guide it’s off….
thx very much for the reponse
bye,
Carlo
November 16th, 2006 at 11:37 pm
Carlo,
To find out if the hinges are broken it’s necessary to open up the laptop. Usually you can see a broken hinge right away because the top side (connected to the display) of the hinge separates from the bottom part (connected to the laptop base). Hinges for this model are very expensive and if you don’t want to pay $140 just for hinges save money for a new laptop.
Make sure it’s not just a software related problem. If it’s necessary, reimage the drive using a recovery DVD (backup all personal files before you run the restore). If the drive still doesn’t work after you reload the software, then most likely you have a bad drive.
November 12th, 2006 at 2:09 am
hi,
i have a toshiba satellite A20 S103 and i’m in trouble with the hinges.. i disassembled the pc with the guide, even if when i put it back together i had 2 F6 and an F4 left over everything seems to be ok…
The hinge seems to be broken, as the monitor is pretty loose and that “half a tube” of metal is loose in the hinge under the speaker (does that mean it’s broken?)
i didn’t look at the one on the right but it’s probably broken too…
what can i do other than spend 140$ on 2 stupid hinges ??
thankyou very much
PS oh, another thing, the cd burner won’t burn cd’s properly anymore…any suggestions other than replacement ?
thankyou again,
Carlo
November 7th, 2006 at 5:09 pm
Jason,
When you use a laptop with broken hinges, the display could be very loose and the cables can get damaged. Take a closer look at the video cable and the LCD wires and examine them for any visible damage.
It’s also possible that the connectors on the inverter board got loose. Reseat the inverter board connectors on both sides of the inverter board.
In most cases it indicates a FL inverter board failure. If the cables are not damaged and reseating them doesn’t help, I would probably replace the inverter board. It shouldn’t be very expensive, much cheaper then replacing the LCD screen.
November 3rd, 2006 at 2:23 pm
Following comment # 13,
Do I have to replace my lcd screen? I checked the video cable connection on the back of LCD screen (Step 25) and everything looks ok. The display is very very very dim. If I have to replace the display, where can i find it ?
Thank you very much for the great step-by-step instructions. Its an amazing work !!!!
November 3rd, 2006 at 1:18 pm
I am having a toshiba A25-s207 model. The left hinge is broken ,I have been using the laptop from past 4 months without fixing the hinges. Yesterday my display started flickering very much and if stared more than 30 sec, would even hurt the eyes. Since today morning the display has gone very very dim and it is hard to say even the laptop is turned on.
I followed steps 7, 8, 9 and step 15 to make sure display cable is not disconnected. I am not sure what the problem is now.
Please help.
October 18th, 2006 at 7:51 am
You are right Michael, all screws are different. F4 it’s a screw with a flat head 4 millimeters long, F6 – 6mm long and S8 – 8mm long (I don’t know what S means).
October 18th, 2006 at 7:44 am
Great tutorial! Repaired my hinges in less than 2 hours. It took awhile to clean up everything while it was apart. One thing I noticed that may help others is that the screw lengths for each hole is beside the hole F4(Short), F6 (Medium), and S8(long).
August 27th, 2006 at 3:12 pm
Thank you so very much for your prompt and accurate reply. The green connector had come out and fixing it was a snap (literally)! Everything is back to normal. Once again, thanks very much!
August 27th, 2006 at 2:42 pm
Peter,
I think that the video cable might be loose and not plugged properly into the system board. You’ll have to remove the keyboard (steps 7,8,9) to access it, it’s not necessary to disconnect the keyboard, just flip it over. Do not forget to unplug the battery and the adapter before you jump in. The video cable is shown on the step 15. Check both connections on the top, they marked with arrows. I think that you accidentally pulled them from the motherboard during disassembly.
Before you disassemble the laptop, turn it on with an external monitor and check if you can get it on the internal display by pressing Fn+F5. May be it’s just stuck in the external mode. Not likely, but worth trying.
August 27th, 2006 at 2:26 pm
I had a noisy fan so I opened up the notebook (A25-S279), used your procedure for A20/A25 replacing broken hinges, and went as far as Step 10, skipped Step 11, did Step 12, skipped Steps 13, 14 and 15 then did Steps 16, 17 and 18. Couldn’t find anything wrong with the fan — this is the secondary fan, not the one that sits next to the CPU heat sink (what is this secondary fan for?). Put everything back, fan has quietened down, but the screen is not working. If I connect an external monitor I can see the display. What are the possible problems that could have occurred? Which disassembly steps do I need to go through agaian to find if there is something loose? Thanks for all the wonderful step by step advice and pictures.
July 19th, 2006 at 3:31 pm
Thanks a lot this guide is very helpful
July 13th, 2006 at 4:36 pm
Thanks for putting this guide together!
A co-worker recently dumped a cup of coffee on his Toshiba A20, frying the keyboard. I hadn’t a clue how to remove the old keyboard to install a replacement — really appreciate the help!
July 2nd, 2006 at 9:58 pm
Rabih,
You can see the RTC battery on the step 19. It’s a green disk on the right side from the touchpad, close to the flat cable.
June 29th, 2006 at 12:11 pm
I have a problem in my RTC Battery “i receive a message in everytime i reboot the system” (CMOS inconsistant).
I charged the battery a lot.
I think it needs change, and if u please send the photos that shows the location of the RTC Battery in the Toshiba Satellite Laptop A20-S103.
June 13th, 2006 at 10:32 pm
Jay,
Give me the model name and model number for your laptop (example: Satellite A20-S259 PSA20U-09Z437) so I can find a correct screen.
June 13th, 2006 at 7:52 am
What are the alternative screens I can use?
I called a company that sells lcd screens and they said that I can use a Sharp LQ150X1LBH3 instead of the original Samsung LTN150X6-L01. Would the hinges match with Sharp?
thanks
May 23rd, 2006 at 7:43 am
The guide was great…
I would have landed myself into a lot of trouble had I not used this guide…
Thanks a ton.