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