How to take apart Toshiba Satellite A300 or A305 laptop
In this guide I will be taking apart a Toshiba Satellite A305 laptop. Also this guide will work for a Satellite A300 series. Basically Satellite A300 and A305 laptops have a similar design but different names.
I start the disassembly process with removing the keyboard as it shown in steps 1-5. Be very careful with the keyboard cable connector on the motherboard. If you break this connector, you’ll have to replace the whole motherboard.
Steps 6-9 explain how to access and remove the hard drive, both memory modules and the optical drive. Fortunately, in this model both memory modules could be access from the bottom making the removal/upgrade process very simple.
In steps 10-14 I’m removing the laptop top cover assembly. By the way, both touch pad buttons are a part of the top cover. If one of the buttons feels loose, most likely the plastic bridge connecting this button to the top cover is broken. In order to fix this problem, you’ll have to replace the whole top cover assembly.
In steps 15-25 I proceed with removing the motherboard. I would like to mention that the cooling fan is mounted under the motherboard. If you would like to replace the fan, you’ll have to remove the motherboard first.
In the next post I explain the LCD screen and inverter board removal procedure.
September 4th, 2010 at 6:26 am
I have a Toshiba satellite A 300 When it connect to the power it’s alway restarting
August 13th, 2010 at 10:20 am
Dear Mr,
I have Toshiba dynabook satellite a300, bought from Japan.
now i cann’t turn it on even press power button for a while.
the adapter power is good, the indicators show charging and full charge. i faced this problem (in Japan) before this time, i sent pc to service center and they said this is because of virus. Now i am in Myanmar, there has no service center. for this time the power is shut down after installing some fonts. sometimes i can turn it on fortunately but it is for only two times.
Pls help me for this pc. Thank you so much for your website because i get valuable knowledge.
August 11th, 2010 at 2:39 am
Hi,
Need help with my Satellite A300 unit.
The problem is when i press power ON button after a while the unit restarting contineously. Unit will power ON again then after awhile it will restarted by itself.
I remove the battery pack & power ON the unit, this time using power adaptor charger but still same result.
Any idea to solve problem with my laptop.
Thanks.
August 5th, 2010 at 12:45 am
hi,
i own a toshiba A305D. over the last few days im having problems with my keyboard. one or two keys doesnt work and some keys when pressed gives someother outputs eg: when ‘a’ is pressed i get character ‘n{/;’ n so on.i removed the keyboard as given in ur guide repacked it.i found out that the key z is very sensitive ..so i removed the key ‘z’ and found that the plastic button inside works like a touchpad.all other keys are normal.what can b done abt that?if needs to be replaced,can i replace only that key?
also i am not able to remove the top cover.i removed the pins and screw n tried to pull it out but in vain.i need 2 clean up the cooler,plz help.
August 5th, 2010 at 12:32 am
hi nice site…very helpfull.
July 29th, 2010 at 5:37 am
i hav a problem with my charger, we ever i put it in mt laptop a305 it shuts the laptop down and freezes the screen. it works ok with out the power cord. what is the problem there?
July 18th, 2010 at 12:53 pm
Hello…I have A305-s6883 Satellite, really have been happy with it, got new motherboard 2 days before warranty was out 2/10 and replaced keyboard over a month ago. A few nights ago I had fallen asleep while checking email, I woke up and it had gone to sleep, but was making static noises, crackling like cellophane. I powered it off and went back to sleep.
When I went online the next day the speakers did not work; I went to toshiba online and dl’d new speaker driver, that did not do anything. Have virus scanned and malware scanned, still no sound. I have a strong feeling the speakers are kaput. I am in the middle of nowhere, probably at least 60 miles away from a repair service (Gainesville,FL). And it is out of warranty anyway. My daughter is pretty savvy about electronics, her fiance is too, but I hesitate to ask them for help right now, they are both working several jobs just to make ends meet. I am on Social Security but I have a lot of courage>>> stupidity?? and would like to do this myself. I have worked on laboratory equipment and done some reclamation after fires on expensive equipment so I think I could try this, where could I get the replacement parts and instructions??? I thank you for any consideration. Huggles, Grandma Ellie
July 17th, 2010 at 10:12 am
Gary M,
Sorry cannot help with your model. This is a Canadian model and I don’t have list of parts for it.
Search for the part number in the memory compartment. It should be somewhere on a white sticker. After that Google the part number.
July 17th, 2010 at 10:05 am
nick,
It’s necessary to disassemble the laptop and take a closer look at the DC jack (power connector).
It’s either bad DC jack or motherboard failure. You cannot tell without replacing the jack first.
Fortunately, the DC jack is not soldered to the motherboard and can be easily replaced. Take a look at this picture: http://www.irisvista.com/tech/laptops/Toshiba-Satellite-A305/disassembly-big/disassembly-process-24.jpg
You simply unplug the DC jack harness and replace it with a new one.
If the battery still not charging even after replacing the DC jack harness, I would assume you have a problem with the motherboard.
July 17th, 2010 at 9:56 am
Allan Barratt,
There is no easy way. You’ll have to remove the top cover first.
The CMOS battery is soldered to the motherboard.
July 17th, 2010 at 9:52 am
rumesh,
First of all, make sure the AC adapter works correctly. Test your AC adapter with a voltmeter.
Test your laptop with another AC adapter.
If you still have a problem even after replacing the adapter, most likely there is a problem with the motherboard.
Also, could be bad DC jack (where you plug the adapter).
July 17th, 2010 at 9:24 am
max reason,
You are welcome. I’m glad my guide helps people.
July 15th, 2010 at 12:13 pm
Big problem after dissamble battery want charge where is the problem please help
sorry on my bad english
July 12th, 2010 at 8:08 pm
i am using SAT A300 which is asking for a password which i dont know nomatter if am on cemos or before the computer boots up the os please help me!
July 12th, 2010 at 11:09 am
thanks for making my life simple. Fixed a3oo fan, replacement fan i bought was not exact match, but worked after some alterations.thanks for well documented advice.
max
June 24th, 2010 at 9:58 pm
when i connect power cable to my toshiba sat a300 , its restarting,i can use it batter normally without any problems, what is the reason?
June 22nd, 2010 at 2:00 am
Hi,
I need to replace the CMOS battery on a A300, i’m having great difficulty seperating the top half of the laptop from the bottom half. Or is there an easy way to clear the CMOS
June 8th, 2010 at 6:13 pm
Hi I have a toshiba satellite a305-s6872 laptop and I’ve bought new batteries and chargers and had a guy check it and he says it’s the charging connector is there anyway I can check? My laptop won’t charge batteries at all but the technicians would wondering if I need to buy a new motherboard and if it’s even worth replacing it
June 6th, 2010 at 6:21 pm
Hi I have satellite a300 faulty motherboard. It is a Satellite a300 PSAG0C-O3401C. Could you give me a compatible part number please.
June 2nd, 2010 at 12:51 pm
hi your info very helpful and made the job so much easier than i thought it would be. managed to repair a faulty ac power connection which had broken inside.
had to take apart and put together all connections a few times until finally working 100%.
ended up having to pull apart and fit the touchpad to mobo cable at both of its ends a few times. the ends now have damaged metal strips and everything works except the touchpad buttons and pad – however when i plug in a usb mouse it works fine so suspect its the cable’s ends not connecting properly.
where can i get a replacement cable that’s new or used and is it specific for toshiba or some sort of generic one i can look for?
hope you can help and thanks again for your very informative site.
steve
May 29th, 2010 at 3:46 pm
THANK YOU for posting this. My 9 year old pushed a CD into the CD drive without clicking it down. It was stuck inside and his life was in the balance…by popping the keyboard off I could see the CD and was able to push it out. All is well. Thanks again.
May 21st, 2010 at 12:34 pm
i have a a305 s6916 it randomly just shuts off by itself i took a air blower to the fan to clean out dust i cant figure out why it keeps shutting down i have a temp moniter ave temp is running at about 60c with world of warcraft running and minmized is that too hot or what can i do?
May 10th, 2010 at 1:44 am
Hello…..I am wondering if you can tell me what is the fastest processor that will work in the Toshiba Satellite A305-S6916. Thank you so much for your help.
April 29th, 2010 at 4:30 pm
Our A305 power jack has come detached. The retail establishment we bought it at (B-Buy)has shipped it of to wherever they send the laptops too stating the mother board is most likely to be required to be replaced. My concern is that they say that but can’t give me a reason why the jack cannot be replaced without replacing the mother board. If I insist they only replace the jack will they give in to me and do as I tell them?
Thanks
April 24th, 2010 at 12:21 pm
Saul,
It’s possible that your laptop is hot because the cooling module is clogged with dust. Clean up the heat sink and cooling fan and this might fix the problem.
Find an air compressor and blow air inside the fan intake on the bottom. This procedure will help to remove most dust from the cooling module.
April 22nd, 2010 at 4:28 pm
Hi, I have a toshiba SATELLITE A305/S6858B and it is very hot on touchpad and in all front cover, is that normal?
March 18th, 2010 at 9:10 pm
Where is the wifi card on a Toshiba A30-S67872 laptop?
March 5th, 2010 at 4:04 pm
It would be great if you could add a note in the disassembly tutorial of the keyboard bezel. My computer seems to differ greatly from your A305D. I have a Toshiba Satellite A300D (AMD 64bit processor and Ati Radeon 3600 card in it, bought in Canada) but there were three screws holding the bezel (I broke them) that were accessible from the battery’s place (didn’t know that until I break the bezel). Also I don’t know how to remove the keyboard plug from the motherboard since its lock is different from your model.
Is there any other way to get the nearest possible of the fan and heat-sink? (like unscrewing the parts under the machine) I don’t want to break my laptop any further.
January 30th, 2010 at 7:00 pm
I am taking apart this laptop L305D-S5895 I am trying to take out the dvd drive with no sucess I have the cover taken off but I don’t see any screws fastening the dvd rom to the laptop??
January 30th, 2010 at 1:41 am
I have a Toshiba Satellite A300 15D and I am not very happy with its performance lately. Therefore I was wondering if I can take it apart and put better CPU and stronger Graphic card say Nvidia GTX series and 2.8 or 3.0 GH processor. I was searching for the service manuals in internet but unfortunately I couldn’t find them so I can see the schematics.