Taking apart the display assembly on a Toshiba Satellite A210 and A215 laptop
Here are instructions for taking apart the display assembly on a Toshiba Satellite A210 and A215 laptop. These instructions are not for beginners. In order to get inside the display panel on this model you’ll have to go through many disassembly steps.
You can use these instructions for:
- removing the hard drive, the memory modules and the DVD drive
- removing the keyboard with the top cover assembly
- removing the LCD screen, the video cable and the inverter board
I have no idea why Toshiba engineered it this way, you cannot remove the LCD bezel without removing the top cover. Weird! This is extremely service unfriendly model.
December 24th, 2007 at 9:14 pm
On the last page, step 27 is the last step shown, but it seems like there should be more steps, or something that says the end.
Otherwise, the instructions are great.
January 9th, 2008 at 8:54 pm
I understand your complaints about having to take the chassis apart to remove the front bezel. Repairing Toshiba laptops used to much more of a pain in the rear. The newer models seam to have some engineering behind them and come apart much easier. They are similar to the new HPs. Thanks for the good info.
March 15th, 2008 at 10:21 pm
I bought two A210’s, but different models. One has an internal bluetooth card and the other does not. Does anyone know if it’s easily accessable and where is it located?
August 31st, 2008 at 4:56 am
Excellent guide!
I have used this to replace the mediocre RTL8187B wireless card with a much better one, and cleaned out much dust from the cooling system. Note that if you have an A215 laptop, step 5 is misleading — the bezel includes the speaker grill and not only the silver trim by the keyboard.
August 31st, 2008 at 10:36 am
Phil Collier,
I created this guide while taking apart a Satellite A215-S4767 notebook and in my case I had only the silver trim by the keyboard. The keyboard bezel didn’t include the speaker grill.
September 20th, 2008 at 4:19 am
cj2600 – you are absolutely right but it concerns not only A215. I have A210 laptop and attempted to release the silver bezel like described here but all was in vain. Looks like it a single whole with black speakers grill. Who may tell disassembly procedure in this case, please?
September 22nd, 2008 at 10:51 pm
hi, i have a 215-s7472 the last one of the models, i’ve been thinking about replacing the thermal paste because it has been overheating for a while now (68-65 C both cores) … so anyone knows a tutorial for this ?
September 28th, 2008 at 8:29 am
Thanks so much! Someone managed to get something jammed inside my Toshiba laptops DVD drive. PC World would have charged me £70 to have a look at it. Following your guide I did it myself, so simple! Once again, my heartfelt thanks for your help!
September 29th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
Just a ? how do you rest the bios on the a215 laptop
October 8th, 2008 at 8:16 pm
I am trying to remove the bezel on an A215-S5837. The bottom of the bezel appears to be removable only if I diassemble the entire laptop. Am I missing something?
October 9th, 2008 at 9:08 am
Mario,
Are you talking about LCD screen bezel (display mask) or keyboard bezel?
It’s possible to remove the screen bezel without taking the whole thing apart, but it’s not easy. You can damage the bezel if you go this route. It’s way easier to remove the bezel if you remove the top cover first.
October 9th, 2008 at 11:09 am
So I take it no one knows how you rest the bios on the a215 laptop ?
October 9th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
Thanks for the aqdvice. I am talking about the LCD bevel. Apparently the only way to reove the bevel is to first remove the keyboard, wireless card wire and then remove the top. This seemed too difficult! I ended up removing all bevel screws. This gave enough “play” for me to pry the base of the bevel forward and wedge it. I then used a pair of needle-nose pliers and was able (after several tries) to connect the connector on my replacement screen into the inverter – it was not easy. I had to do all of this while the replacement screen was “kind of” in position. I then slid the screen into place and connected the video connector – again, not easy since I was forced to work in a confined space. The bottom line is that it worked, but I consider myself extremely lucky on this one. Lesson learned – I will now always have to look at how an LCD is affixed before I buy another laptop! Thanks again to all.
October 23rd, 2008 at 7:18 pm
Thanks for posting these instructions. I’ve been trying to swap out the LCD screen and thought it would be easier. Ha! I don’t know why Toshiba designed this crazy ass laptop like this. What should have been a 30 minute project has turned into over an hour as I remove all these screws, unplug cards and wires just to get to the LCD. It’s pretty ridiculous.
I feel sorry for those of you trying to replace stuff in this machine. Its way more complex then it needs to be. I feel your pain. I’ll be lucky if this thing works as well once its back together. Again, Toshibas fault completely. This tutorial is well made and is helping. Thanks for the info!!
December 5th, 2008 at 6:44 am
NOT as SAFE as your method, but if only trying to remove inverter. I only removed 4 screws from display bezel and unfastened all the bezel clips with guitar pick. With display opened fully the bezel will flex enough to remove by CAREFULLY prying hinge up one side at a time, being CAREFULL not to poke wires in the hinge with tool.
December 10th, 2008 at 7:59 am
hi,
how can i reset the bios for toshiba a215-s4767 ?? do u kno where i can find the pins to reset the bios?? also i’ve found JP13 underneath the keyboard is i the right pin??
Thanks
Mike
April 14th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
Mario,
Yes it’s not easy. I don’t like this particular design.
Yes, it’s possible but you have to be very careful. You can damage the laptop this way.
April 14th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
Mike Khattab,
Are you trying to clear the BIOS password? Read this article. My Toshiba laptop displays Password= prompt on startup
May 7th, 2009 at 4:50 am
I tried to disassemply the notebook for no particular reason and the the screen is off (black).
Please, any ideas?
Mayby i accidentaly moves a connector or a cable?
Thanks
May 11th, 2009 at 9:39 am
Nick,
Does it work with an external monitor attached to the VGA port? If not, check the memory. Make sure the memory module is seated correctly.
July 22nd, 2009 at 9:10 am
They are great instructions but i need to reset the BIOS because i was flashing it and the power cut off. I want to know the way to reset via hardware because i the screen is black, no signal, and no HD activity. Please, I really need help.
Thx.
July 22nd, 2009 at 9:29 am
Patricio,
If the power cut off while updating the BIOS, there is not much you can do besides replacing the motherboard. Apparently the BIOS got corrupted.
July 22nd, 2009 at 9:42 am
Please, tell me there is another way…someone says, in the web, that maybe there is a solution similar to reset the password taking the CMOS battery for a few minutes or changing some jumper sequence. Is this true?, excuse my english and thx againg.
July 22nd, 2009 at 9:53 am
Patricio,
I’m not sure if it’s going to help. The CMOS battery is soldered to the motherboard and you cannot simply unplug it from the motherboard. It has to be unsoldered.
July 22nd, 2009 at 10:21 am
OK. Instead, can u help me taking apart the motherboard of my Toshiba Satellite A215-S7437? I will do it myself anyway, if not i have to sell it.
Thx again.
July 22nd, 2009 at 10:24 am
Patricio,
I don’t have instructions for this particular model. Take a look at the guide for a Satellite A205. Should be pretty close to your model.
July 25th, 2009 at 8:57 am
This helped me in replacing the keyboard on my daughter’s laptop Toshiba A215.
thank you
Shankar
July 26th, 2009 at 2:24 am
Thanks for this website. I used them only yesterday.
Those new to these instructions, please note the following;
In order to replace a broken lcd screen just follow step 1, steps 15-17 and lastly, steps 26 & 27. This means you do not need to remove the display panel to replace the lcd screen.
The display panel’s BAZEL seems to be stuck after step 17 but in fact it can come out without opening anything else. Just turn the unit front-side-back and try to push the basel cup (bottom cylinder shaped part) away from you. This should dislocate the holding clips in the bottom part of the bazel. A little twist and turn afterwards should get the bazel out.
I learnt this the hard way and had to suffer the connector misalignment problems to fix them is my next project. At the moment, i am using my Toshiba without fingerprint reader, and the mouse. The new screen has got me up and running again.
All the best and thanks again to IRIS team
August 6th, 2009 at 6:38 am
Pepaced the LCD in my A215 yesterday…It went well however here are some tips. The clips holding the Bezel on the side of the screen are different from those on the top and the bottom left and right side…The ones on the side you can just pry appart. The ones on the top and bottom you need to push down on each one to release it..If you sont do that they break…In addition I was able to get the screen out without having to take appart the computer. There is just enough room to unplug the LCD and plug in the new if you push back the Bezel at the base of the computer..You need someone else to help you… Good Luck!!
September 3rd, 2009 at 3:47 am
Hi, does anyone have any tips for removing a sony memory stick that I have managed to get stuck in the memory card slot, do I need to take the back of the laptop (Toshiba satellite A210)I really don’t want to destroy the card as it contains photos of my newborn!
Pleas help
September 3rd, 2009 at 10:41 pm
Care,
You can use something like dental pick.
September 21st, 2009 at 10:23 am
I have a Toshiba A205-s4707 I was wondering if I can completely swap out my motherboard for a better model ? something that will have a faster processor and an actual graphics card as opposed to a graphics chip ?
September 25th, 2009 at 5:54 pm
How I can reset CMOS of Toshiba Satellite A215
September 26th, 2009 at 12:10 pm
B J,
Are you trying to clear the BIOS password? Removing the CMOS battery will not help.
If the laptop set the BIOS password on its own, you can take it to the authorized repair center and whey will clear the password at no charge.
October 1st, 2009 at 7:45 am
Followed the instructions to take apart a oshiba Satellite laptop. The internal power jack came dislogged and had to rescure it. Instructions worked well. But when I took off the top of the computer there was a flat cable from the touch pad to the mother board. I didn’t not which way the cable sshould be re-attached. Each end can be flipped and will fit.
Does anyone what side is up? The flat cable has a blue pull tab and I put that up but that didn’t work. Looking for ideas befre taking thia apart again.
Thanks
October 1st, 2009 at 8:04 am
John,
If the touchpad doesn’t work after reassembly, try enabling it first. Use Fn+F9 keys. Press and hold down Fn and at the same time press once on F9.
Take a look inside the connector, you may use a magnifying glass.
There are a few golden pins inside the connector. Contacts on the touchpad cable have to face those pins. When you insert the cable, contacts on the cable have to touch golden pins inside the connector.
Also, make sure the touchpad cable is properly connected to the touchpad itself, maybe you accidentally pulled the cable. You can do that only when the top cover is removed.
January 20th, 2010 at 3:48 pm
Broke the sping on the dvd rom that keeps it closed…now I need to replace the dvd rom…..please advice how I can remove broken one and install new one.. thanks
oH and does it have to be a DVD rom with the same name as the laptop?
Thanks again
February 3rd, 2010 at 4:54 pm
Hi,
I have a satellite A205 and I dropped it today. The backlight is working fine, and when I plug it into an external monitor, the computer loads just fine. The backlight also changes intensity as windows starts up and stuff…Any idea on what the problem might be? I am guessing its the LCD cable connection. Could it be anything else though? Because if it isn’t just an unplugged cable, then I’ll probably just not even bother opening up the laptop and use an external monitor from now on.
Thanks,
John
February 4th, 2010 at 7:16 pm
I have just taken apart my a215-7416 and there are several major differences from the steps here. To get the top of the case off, you have to remove the display… the top edge of the case top wraps under the pivot of the screen. I actually broke part of the metal frame inside trying to figure out how to release the top edge after getting everything else free. The speaker cover IS part of the keyboard bezel.. really hard to get off, but you have to remove it to get to the hinge screws anyway. I removed just the silver bezel strip above the keyboard but they are not supposed to come apart, now it won’t go back together, TAKE THE TWO PIECES OFF TOGETHER! Other than a few other first-time laptop mistakes, this guide was very helpful. Going to clean everything while I have it apart, wondering if I’ll ever get it back together now!
March 27th, 2010 at 8:19 pm
I have a Satilite A-205 and I lost my audio in both the front jack and internal speakers? Please help
April 21st, 2010 at 7:23 am
“Hi, does anyone have any tips for removing a sony memory stick that I have managed to get stuck in the memory card slot, do I need to take the back of the laptop (Toshiba satellite A210)I really don’t want to destroy the card as it contains photos of my newborn!” – Clare
THIS! The exact same thing happened to me! Help would be appreciated!
April 21st, 2010 at 8:28 am
dergt,
You can try removing the memory stick with a tool similar to dental pick. I did it a few times before without damaging the memory stick.
May 27th, 2010 at 10:41 am
Exclelent guide, It saved me time and plastic cracks, keep doing this kind of help!!
Best regards
Moses
May 28th, 2010 at 11:11 pm
Hi, I have a Satellite A210-128 with a smashed LCD screen. Can I use just any A210-128 screen from ebay or does it HAVE to be the same part number? Cheers
June 4th, 2010 at 11:03 am
I appreciate the great info! I was able to easily clean up my mother-in-law’s laptop and look like the hero! What a great find! Thanks!
July 17th, 2010 at 10:26 am
Mayhem,
Most likely any screen designed for A210-128 will work fine.
July 23rd, 2010 at 10:47 am
hi i need to replace the fan on a toshiba satellite A210 do u have any idea where i can find a full service manual thanks
July 23rd, 2010 at 10:57 am
Charlie,
Isn’t it similar to taking apart Satellite A200/A205 laptop?
Here’s the disassembly guide: http://www.irisvista.com/tech/laptops/toshiba-satellite-a205/laptop-disassembly-1.htm
There are 4 pages in the guide and you’ll see how to access the fan.