Toshiba Satellite A10 and A15 notebook disassembly
These both notebook models, Satellite A10 and Satellite A15 are similar, so you can use the same disassembly guide for both models.
Overheating is a very common issue with these notebooks. It happens because dust get trapped between the cooling fan and the heatsink. Fortunately, it is very easy to access the cooling fan and clean it up. All you have to do is remove the fan cover as it shown on steps 2 and 3 and then remove and clean the heatsink, as it shown on steps 5 and 6. Alternatively, you can leave the heatsink connected to the laptop and remove the cooling fan instead. After the heatsink (or the cooling fan) is removed, thoroughly clean both parts with compressed air.
If you are removing the heatsink, make sure to apply some thermal grease on the CPU before you assemble everything back together. If you install the heatsink without thermal grease, the notebook will overheat.
In order to remove the CD/DVD drive, you’ll have to remove two screws. One screw is located on the bottom of the laptop, close to the DVD drive. The second screw is located under the keyboard, as it shown on the step 13. After both screws are removed, just push the drive from the case.
Here are compete notebook disassembly instructions.
September 4th, 2010 at 9:41 am
Guys, where is CMOS clear jumpers on this particular model?
– so i cannot change them.
I need to reset cmos… Almost 60% of menu items in bios are disabled
The idea is to clear cmos by shorting jumpers or spots…
des any one know it’s position?
July 23rd, 2010 at 3:11 pm
Toshiba A15-S1292 laptop would not boot, but the fix was easy !
After working for hours in 90s heat, my 2004 laptop froze. I turned it off, and it would just not start. Only the front power buttons showed any activity. I visited various websites including this one and found out that it could be the CPU, the motherboard or the memory. Someone wrote to test the memory. I did that, taking out one module. The laptop came alive again! Then I put back the one module taken out, and it continued to work !
March 14th, 2010 at 11:55 am
My Toshiba satellite A10 laptop has had a “floppy” display for months now. Either the screws are loose or the hinge is broken, from what I can infer.
A pictorial guide on how to assess the ailment and the cure for the ailment will be much appreciated.
Thanks and regards,
Amiostad.
February 24th, 2010 at 2:58 pm
Jeremy,
Can you hear/see the cooling fan spinning when the laptop turned on? Can you see it spinning when the laptop gets hot?
Maybe the cooling fan is bad.
February 24th, 2010 at 2:55 pm
I have a Toshiba A15-S127 that continues to overheat. I have replaced the hard drive, RAM, battery, fan and reapplied thermal grease to the heatsink. I completely disassembled it to be sure all of the houseing was clean and it is. I also tried a different processor and that didn’t help either. Do you have any suggestions on what to do from here? I thought of buying a new motherboard, do you think this could be the problem? Thanks in advance for your help.
February 19th, 2010 at 8:45 am
scott,
I just confirmed that this plug will work for a Satellite A10 laptop.
February 18th, 2010 at 10:44 pm
scott,
It’s possible that this trick can help to remove the BIOS password. Works great for older Toshiba laptops, not sure about Satellite A10.
http://www.laptoprepair101.com/laptop/2006/02/10/remove-clear-toshiba-laptop-bios/
February 18th, 2010 at 9:08 pm
i have a toshiba a10 satellite laptop.. when i turn it on it goes automatic to password….the person i bought it from cant remember it at all.someone said there might be an internal battery (cant find) tried entering Toshiba,no luck..please help going nuts..thanks scott
windows xp professional 1-2cpu
there is a long thing that says samsung 334 k4h5616380-tcbo,to the left of that is the same thing but that slot is empty
December 13th, 2009 at 7:38 am
Hi, I was wondering where the CMOS battery is located? There is a BIOS password set on the laptop, and I would like to reset it. I have a Satellite A15-S1692. I’ve looked at the disassembly tutorial, and I’m still unsure as to where the CMOS battery is located.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
November 14th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
I have a toshiba satellite A15 S129 and need to replace the motherboard. I found one for a reasonable price and it is listed as an “A10 A15 Motherboard P000381050″. Would this replacement work in my system?
November 12th, 2009 at 1:11 pm
Just in case I need it, where do I find the thermal paste (grease) needed for the CPU – when reinstalling the heat sink after cleaning and replacing the cooling fan.
November 6th, 2009 at 10:12 am
Al,
Could be but I’m not sure 100%. Remove the battery and run the laptop just from AC. Will it get hot when the battery is removed?
October 30th, 2009 at 5:29 pm
My AC adaptor/charger gets very hot when using my Satellite A15 plugged into the wall outlet. In fact, I’m on my 3rd AC adaptor. The others have smoked. The laptop battery will only last a few minutes if not on the charger. Is the battery causing this?
October 19th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
If so, do you know the model number?
thank you
September 16th, 2009 at 12:08 am
was to look for the bios chip except that I can’t find info on it see which one. They are SMCS KBC1108-nu, PS5120,ISL 6227CA2 or ? Any ideal which one it can be ? Thanks.
September 3rd, 2009 at 4:58 pm
Hello . I like your Site on the Toshiba A 10 repair . Also I
like the very clear pictures . I would like to make a donation cause I’m a watchmaker & I know how long it takes to do these jobs . What currency is the donation to be made in ? Also does the Repair manual have clear pictures as in your demonstration site ? & What price is it ( the repair manual for Toshiba A 10 Satellite ?
Thank you so much from Ken in Australia .
August 27th, 2009 at 2:35 am
I have aquired a Toshiba A10, and installed a SMC mini wifi card, which works AOK, I’m just curious about the antenna switch on the front panel. I read somewhere that it is just an on/off toggel for the antenna? I’ve been looking for a wiring diagram, taking into account the above statement, does this mean the antenna leads, main/aux go from the card, to the switch then up to their transmitting position by the hinges?? Seem an odd way to kill transmitting ?? Currently the switch postion doesn’t have any bearing on the operation of my wifi card. Just curious about it’s fuction.
Cheers
JG
August 25th, 2009 at 9:53 pm
Man P,
Make sure the video cable is connected properly.
August 20th, 2009 at 3:00 am
Hello
after disassambling motherboard (ref FHZSY1)and assambling the Toshiba Satellite A10 the display is dim (the backlight failure). pliz help
August 12th, 2009 at 7:50 pm
Dan,
Apparently both hinges are broken. It’s not easy to replace them. You’ll have to disassemble the whole laptop and remove the top cover with display assembly as it shown in the step 18. After that you’ll have to take apart the display assembly, unscrew hinges and replace them with new hinges. This repair is definitely not for beginners.
August 10th, 2009 at 11:26 am
the screen keeps falling backwards and forwards…how do I adjust this? I have replace the hard drive, the fan but can’t seem to figure out how to get to the hinges.
thanks
May 18th, 2009 at 2:34 pm
Brian,
Maybe it supports the keyboard in the middle? Take a look at the step 10.
May 18th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
I have a A15-S1292, after taking it apart, i was about to reasemble it back together, all of a suddent I found a rectangular plate that I took off, and cant figure out where it is supposed to go, and help? Where the scre goes it says F8 and has two legs to mount on something, I cant figure it out.
May 17th, 2009 at 7:52 am
Response to William about the blue self inductor,
the value written on the component L1200 is : R68J
Hope this helps
May 11th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
yolande,
Here’s the part number for the CMOS (RTC) battery for Toshiba Satellite A10 and A15 laptops: P000377300
Google the part number and you’ll find it.
April 30th, 2009 at 10:31 am
Dear Yolande
I can not answer to your question ( may be you can use a standard battery and solder it) but perhaps you could help me if your laptop is still disassembled.
I need the value written on the component L1200 of the mainboard to repare my A10.
The component (bleu self inductance) is placed near the top right corner int the picture of the board in step 20 (see my comment n°31)
Thanks for your help
April 24th, 2009 at 8:19 am
Hi,
I have disassembled my laptop satellite a10-521 until step 24 and have located the rtc battery (the green thing hanging on red and black wires). On this green thing, I read P71035017110 on one side and 123 Ni-MH on the other side.
The next step is to change it according to message displayed when laptop powered on [RTC battery is low or CMOS checksum is inconsistent. Press F1 key to set Date/Time]
First of all I would like to know what kind of battery to buy, I do not succeed to get a reference number on web. Should I unstick carefully the green paper.
Thanks for help.
April 14th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
For those who have future problems with A10 cooling, I suggest the following steps. Permanently remove the CPU undercover and the ram undercover, and place a cooling mat underneath it. Make sure the mat has fans.
My A10 has busted hinges, and replacing the hinges doesn’t feel like a solution, because it just feels so EASY to break them again. I’ll probably try some kind of external hinge to hold it up.
In my case, not only there was lint clogging up the CPU fan, there was the problem that, I think the ball bearing (or whatever that keeps the fan lubricated) melted or stopped functioning at a point, what I did was remove the aluminum panel underneath the fan, and pull out the fan to access the magnets underneath, a drop of HIGH QUALITY lubricant into the little hole and replace the fan, and it works like a charm.
Btw, because without the CPU cover, lint clogs up VERY soon, so you will need to remove the CPU fan to give it a blast with the good ol air can, I DO NOT recommend removing the heat sink instead, to clean it out, it might be EASIER, but the little SCREWS that keep the heat sink onto the CPU, will get loose easily due to frequent removal, and loose heatsink gives you a worse headache than a loose fan.
PS: Do not use WD40 or standard machine oil, they leave substance when they dry out, and this method requires you to reoil the fan using the above method once a month or so. (A bottle of HQ oil is better than trying to find a replacement fan)
PPS: The above cooling method is not recommend if you have kids or require to keep the laptop in constant mobility.
April 4th, 2009 at 4:22 pm
I had to replace the hinge on one side of the screen of a Toshiba A10. Only mishap was pulled antenna wire out of crimped connector at wireless board. Got new antenna. Antenna connectors must be pulled off straight up perpendicular to module board.
I’d suggest first step in disassembly should be to remove keyboard and DVD drive and one more screw under keyboard. Then proceed as in illustration.
New hinge and antenna installed, and computer works fine. Thanks for the help.
April 1st, 2009 at 2:18 pm
Hello,
I have a toshiba satellite laptop A10-S511 but he doesn’t start-up. I have dissasemble the motherboard (ref FHZSY1) and there is a blue self inductor component referenced as L1200 on the board (on the other side of CPU) whitch is burned. So the value on the self is not visible anymore to try to change it.
I would like to know a way to have the value of this component or if somebody have the same dissasembled motherboard to see the value write on it (xxRxx) and what is the risk to use a bad value.