How to disassemble Toshiba Satellite P300 or P305 laptop
In this guide I explain how to disassemble a Toshiba Satellite P300 or P305 laptop. I’m doing this disassembly in order to remove and replace the cooling fan.
In a Satellite P300 or P305 laptop the cooling fan cannot be accessed from the bottom, it’s hidden deep inside the laptop under the motherboard.
At the beginning of the guide I explain how to remove the keyboard. Follow steps 1-5. Be careful with the keyboard cable connector on the motherboard.
The DVD drive is secured by one screw hidden under the keyboard. After you find and remove that screw, you can remove the DVD drive.
Steps 8-11 shows how to access and remove laptop hard drive, memory and wireless card.
Read through steps 12-17 in order to remove the top cover assembly.
Finally, steps 18-31 explain how to remove the motherboard. Now you can access and remove the cooling fan.
Need spare parts for your laptop? Search here by the laptop model and part name or number.
May 12th, 2009 at 2:57 pm
In my Satellite P305 the power socket is pushed in. I cannot connect the power adapter? Do you know how to repair the socket?
May 12th, 2009 at 3:18 pm
CJ,
It’s hard to tell without taking a look inside the laptop. The power socket mounts to the base assembly. It’s possible the plastic around the socket is broken or the base assembly is broken. In the first case you’ll have to replace the DC-IN jacket, it the second case you’ll have to replace the base assembly.
By the way, you replace the original power socket with a more reliable one using this guide: Installing a new jack into Toshiba laptop.
May 25th, 2009 at 8:56 am
Hello. I own a Tosh P305-S8820 lappie and I want to replace the Video device. I just needed to know what kind/size of Video card will fit on my laptop. I know that ATI uses the AXIOM PCI-E slot. Now on this website I found a detailed manual on how to service the laptop and on page 4 (step 28) shows the Video board. Does ATI AXIOM standard goes by size like Nvidia’s MXM standard? And If the Video device can be updated, what other options (other than the Mobility 3650) do I have?
Gerald
May 25th, 2009 at 9:06 am
Sorry but forgot to say thank you and the current Specs.
Intel T9500 proc (updated Yeah!)
ATI 3470 Video Board w/ 256MB GDDR3
4GB RAM
BIOS 4.20 release date 2/6/09
June 3rd, 2009 at 10:02 am
I’ve got the hard drive out–now how do I get in back in? There’s a metal lip on one side of the metal hard drive case that’s screwing me up.
June 3rd, 2009 at 10:25 am
Never mind! I was being dumb.
July 17th, 2009 at 2:22 am
Hi
I would like to say thanks for these excellent guides! You have been very helpful.
I have the problem on my Toshiba P300 Satellite where the battery is not being charged at all. I noticed the DC jack in the case was loose, so I disassembled it but on inspection, I couldn’t see anything broken. I suppose its possible that the wires going into the back of the jack are not making contact properly. Either that, or the connection is further down the wires which is worrying. I will have to open it up again and give it another go.
Regarding the upgraded style Jack, do you know if the new style DC jack that you describe to install in your L305/L355 guide be compatible with my P300?
Many thanks again
Paul
July 18th, 2009 at 5:31 pm
wow!!! this really helped me out tons!! thank you so much for posting! saves me some $$ =)
July 23rd, 2009 at 4:56 pm
Hi- Thanks for putting up these guides. Very nice info to have. =)
2 quick questions about the p305 – Is it “normal” for the keyboard to have a bit of play in the center? I just bought one and the center/center-top of the keyboard panel moves up and down when I type. The action is centered below the F5 through F8 keys, down to the “FGH” keys. It feels as if the panel isn’t properly secured underneath.
Second question – I’m hesitant to remove the keyboard bezel (in step 2 of your guide) because the force it took to get the ends out seemed excessive. I’m worried I’ll snap the bezel as I try to move down the length of it. Any suggestions?
Thanks much in advance.
August 25th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
I would love to replace the tinny speakers which came with my L355 with a pair of the Harmon Kardon’s which Toshiba puts in the P305D-S8900. Seems like a great upgrade for only $30.
Are these things interchangeable or truly specific to a model/series?
August 25th, 2009 at 9:03 pm
Ken M,
You cannot do that. L355 and P305D are two different units and all internal parts are shaped differently.
September 8th, 2009 at 11:47 am
Just like Spymagician above, i had a bad time trying to remove the keyboard bezel. It seems totally stuck in 3 points in between the extremeties. Pulling hard just made the plastic bend too much and almost broke it, leaving a horrible mark. I´ve read a post with the same problem: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=309298
Could you help us? I dont want to break or scratch my laptop anymore in order to get it open! And thanx for the guide.
September 9th, 2009 at 8:25 am
Hey man, you forgot to tell us all that in order to remove the keyboard bezel first we need to remove 3 screws in the battery compartment. Please correct your guide including this very first step, since myself and others are damaging the bezel by trying to force it out. And the A305 guide also needs this correction!
September 9th, 2009 at 8:39 am
Marlos,
Read the guide for P305 again my friend before complaining. It says in the first step:
Also, if you click on the small pictures, you’ll see all three screws marked. Am I missing something?
There are no screws securing bezel in Satellite A305.
September 9th, 2009 at 8:40 am
Shit man, now i realized your guide had this instruction all the time! I simply jumped the instrutions about the battery. Sorry, please delete all my posts, i feel stupid now. Thanx for the guide again!
September 26th, 2009 at 4:56 am
i need to replace the top cover on p300..do i just follow 12-17..or do i need to start a guide 1
September 26th, 2009 at 11:33 am
jason,
You’ll have to start from step 1 because before you can do steps 12-17, you’ll have to remove the keyboard.
October 28th, 2009 at 6:21 am
I have the p300 model and it looks like its getting power and charging the battery but when I go to turn it on the power light goes on for about 3 seconds the the unit turns back off again. Any ideas???
Thanks
November 6th, 2009 at 10:16 am
Kris,
1. It’s possible that you have defective AC adapter. Maybe the adapter is not working properly under load. Test laptop with another adapter.
2. Could be motherboard failure.
November 9th, 2009 at 10:06 am
where is the internal battery at?
November 9th, 2009 at 10:09 am
i have a toshiba P305D S8829
November 18th, 2009 at 10:30 am
p305-s8915
on the new 305 the clip tilts up and doesn’t push out. I found out the hard way and broke it in half. It took forever to get the clip vertically placed and then I tilted it back over and repaired it with scotch tape. I’m using it now after the repair. If you want pics, I’ll send em
November 18th, 2009 at 10:32 am
The clip on the motherboard connector for the keyboard
November 30th, 2009 at 4:05 pm
on STEP 26
Unplug the CD/DVD drive cable.
can you tell what type of cable is that?
my son pull the dvd drive out and that cable got lost.
thanks
December 29th, 2009 at 7:23 pm
Firstly, thanks for the great guide!
Iv got a toshiba satellite pro p300 20h, i have a few questions on upgrading it.
1. Can i install a better graphics card on it?
2. Is it possible to put in ddr3 ram into this as it currently only has ddr2.
3. It comes with a pentium dual core 2.16 ghz processor, whats this equivelant to a core 2 duo processor? And is it necassary to upgrade this processor if i want to play games like modern warfare 2?
Thanks in advance for your reply!
January 6th, 2010 at 6:25 pm
Will a P305 motherboard fit into a P300?
March 9th, 2010 at 7:17 pm
My cd/dvd drive burn out. I bought a new one. How do I replace it in Toshiba Satellite P305D-S8892
March 15th, 2010 at 6:02 pm
how can i fixed my toshiba sat. p300 it wont boot but there a power led but no display ill try to reseat memory and unplugged the cmos battery but still the same any idea will very much appreciated. is theres anyhere experience this before. thanks
April 13th, 2010 at 4:10 am
i have a P300 and it won’t give me the chargeing signal or turn on at all. im not sure if its the battery or if its someting with the hardware. also i’ve tried another charger and that didn’t work. any ideas?
May 1st, 2010 at 10:29 am
hello, I just found out that my wife’s Satelite A305’s cooling fan quit working and is causing her laptop to shut down every few minutes. I’ve ssen some of your manuals which are great. My question is, will I have to completely dissasemble her laptop to get to the cooling fan or is there a quicker way to replace this part. Looks like it’s connected to the motherboard as well. Thanks for any input you could give me on this.
May 3rd, 2010 at 5:12 pm
Hi there, I need to get a new top cover (the one on the other side of the screen) where can i look for one, and also is there a certain name for it? thanks for all the other tips!!
May 11th, 2010 at 6:59 pm
Thank you greatly for the well informed breakdown, it truly is great that people go through such great effort to help others in need. I have a P305D-S8828 that I knew was having overheating problems for a couple months now. It started off when I would have multiple heavy resource apps it would shut down. This past week it shutdown and now wont make it more than ten seconds or so. The fact that I am booting up is a good sign. I guess question is, should I look at replacing the cooling fan or should i upgrade the heat sink and thermal paste. Any help is greatly appreciated, I hope this page is still being monitored.
June 16th, 2010 at 6:37 pm
When I turn on my satellite p305 it stick on the very first screen that pops up,the toshiba leading innovations screen. I tried to hit F2 or F12 and it says loading please wait and then never does anything. I’ve tried hold the zero down to restore it and it does nothing. I’ve tried plugging in the power cord with the battery out and it still does nothing. Any ideas?
June 21st, 2010 at 7:28 am
Samantha,
Remove the hard drive and try using the F2 or F12 buttons again. Can you?
Maybe you have a failing hard drive and it’s halting the entire system on startup.
Also, try reconnecting memory modules. Test the laptop with only one memory module installed. One of the modules could be bad.
July 6th, 2010 at 10:48 am
I wonder could you help I have an Equiume p300-16t. I have bought a bluetooth moduel could you tell me where on the board it fits and how far I need to dissamble the laptop
July 17th, 2010 at 9:34 am
Steve Owen,
I’m not sure if there is a designated space/cable for the internal Bluetooth in this model.
Instead of taking apart the laptop, I would suggest using an external USB Bluetooth adapter. There are really small mini Bluetooth adapter on the market. You simply plug it into one of the USB ports and ready to go. They are very small.
Google for: “mini usb bluetooth”
July 19th, 2010 at 7:57 am
hey, anyone know where is CMOS or RTC battery on Toshiba SatelliteP300???
Thanks, Nenad
July 24th, 2010 at 1:51 am
Good day ,
I have a Toshiba p300 that start only when he want . and when he start an usb error appear ? What can I do with it to repair it !?
July 29th, 2010 at 1:09 pm
How I can reset the bios password on Toshiba Satellite P305D-S8900.
Thanks
August 2nd, 2010 at 7:22 am
I followed the great pics to disassemble my toshiba satellite P305d s8828. I took it apart because I needed to check my cmos. Error occurred on startup that said media cable (something -cant remember) and no operating system found. First I was told I needed a new Hard drive, then someone suggested testing the cmos – which I did and think it is ok. So I reassembled and replaced with new hard drive. Now on startup I get three beeps and a blank screen. Some suggestions – video card? But from what I find, I can’t replace. I do not have a video card as in the picture. Suggestions please?
August 8th, 2010 at 6:03 am
Hello,
I was surfing the internet for a tutorial about hoe to remove the optical drive from my P300-1AV Toshiba satellite and lo and behold
Your step by step makes it child’s play. Kudos to you! Do you have any tips on how to check operation of my drive before I go out and buy a new one for nothing?
Mine just went dead: won’t eject, indicator light does not go on, doesn’t play, it’s just plain dead. Have tried troubleshooting from the device manager (updating drivers), no luck. Yet device manager says this device is operating properly. Any help would surely be appreciated!
Regards,
Casey
August 25th, 2010 at 9:56 pm
I just want to check the cmos battery on motherboard. Must I do all the steps you mentioned, or can I just remove screws from bottom of laptop to access motherboard?
August 25th, 2010 at 10:29 pm
toshiba satellite p305d-s8900 laptop will not power on. want to check bios battery on motherboard and replace as next step. How do I access motherboard?