Toshiba Satellite M35X-S149 laptop video problem
Laptop problem: Toshiba Satellite M35X-S149 has no video. The customer complained that the laptop LCD video just disappeared without any reason. When he starts the laptop the screen lights but there in no data on it.
Laptop diagnostics: I started the laptop normally and LED showed normal activity. The hard drive started spinning. The LCD screen lighted but it was solid white color without any data on it.
Laptop repair process: when I get a laptop for repair with video problem, I always start with checking an external video. I connected the laptop to the external CRT monitor and started the laptop. The external video was fine and the laptop booted to Windows without any problem. Usually, if the external video is fine, the system board is good and the problem is in the LCD itself, in the video cable or in a bad connection between the LCD and the system board. On the next step, I removed the keyboard and reseated the display video cable on the system board, but it didn’t fix the problem. The laptop still booted without any data on the screen. Finally, I opened up the LCD display and found that the video cable connector on the back of the LCD screen was half way out. I reseated the connector and restarted the laptop. This time the laptop started normally and I got internal video. So, if your laptop starts with solid white screen without any data on it, try to reseat the video cable connector on the back of the LCD screen.
The following guides could be helpful for you:
Complete Toshiba Satellite M35X disassembly guide with instructions
Removing LCD, inverter board, video cable
Entry Filed under: Everyday Laptop Repair
January 30th, 2006 at 10:39 am
I have a customer with a problem with the Toshiba Satellite-M35x-S149 Laptop. When turned on eother by battery or dc during boot up the whole background is orange-red, but you can still see the images. When it is in windows the graphics apear as if the resolution is at a mininum, but actualy it’s the highest. It does at times lock up and power off if no activity in less than 5 minutes. If on the internet the graphics are considerably better. any thoughts. also if anyone knows where I can get a dissasembly diagram it would be greatlt appriciated, as I have removed all the screws I can find on the back and no luck on opening it. Thaks, Paul
January 30th, 2006 at 12:51 pm
Hi Paul,
Actually I created a disassembly guide for Toshiba Satellite M35X. I think it will help you to take your laptop apart.
You can find it here: http://www.irisvista.com/tech/
February 15th, 2006 at 11:45 am
Hiya,
I just got a Toshiba 1800 - 364E off Ebay with missing screen (wanted it that way), no hard disk & no memory modules. Am I right in saying this should output something onto an external monitor in this state???? From what you say in your M35X video problem, my system board is suspect? It powers up fine & the seller said it all works fine apart from the above (I do not want to spend money on modules etc. to find a busted board).
February 15th, 2006 at 12:13 pm
To get an external video you have to put some memory into the laptop.
February 15th, 2006 at 1:55 pm
Cheers:) If I buy a memory chip, I should then be able to see the bios setup/ boot from a floppy? I have a Dell Inspiron & that won’t show on the external until Windows XP has loaded??
February 15th, 2006 at 2:19 pm
Yep, if you install a memory module and connect an external monitor, you should get video on the external monitor right away (If your system board works fine). I just tested it on Toshiba Satellite 1800-S274. I remove the hard drive and started the unit. On the external monitor I got Toshiba welcome screen and it hangs there for about 1 minute (I guess it’s looking for a hard drive) and after that goes to a normal cycle. I’ve been able to boot from Windows 98 floppy and also see the BIOS setup.
February 16th, 2006 at 7:18 am
Thanks a million:)
I’ll let you know how I get on
Dave
February 19th, 2006 at 7:53 am
Everything up & running - thanks a million — you should have something like a ‘paypal donation’ functionality - I would be quite happy to pay you something for your help:) If you hadn’t gave me that knowledge I wouldn’t have risked £40 for memory (I would’v e just sold it on in Ebay & bought a working copy)
I’ve just looked in your instructions for stripping down & it isn’t terribly clear what to do just to remove the entire lid section - could you give me an idea??
February 20th, 2006 at 12:26 am
Thanks Dave, I am glad that I was able to help you.
To remove the entire display assembly from Toshiba Satellite 1800 laptop you have to remove the display assembly/top cover assembly first. Step 1-20. After that you can separate the display assembly from the top cover assembly. This process is not described in my guide, but it shouldn’t be very difficult.
If you want to remove just the LCD screen from the display assembly, you have to remove the LCD mask first. Take a look at Toshiba Satellite 1415 LCD removal guide. It might be different, but the same idea.
BTW, if you really want to make a donation you can do it here: http://www.irisvista.com/tech/
March 21st, 2006 at 9:09 am
I have a laptop Toshiba Satellite M35X-S149. I shows the similar symptoms you describe above with the laptop booting the hard disk spinning but the screen remains black - no video display. I tried plugging in a monitor to test the external display but nothing changes. What can else can I try? Please help.
March 21st, 2006 at 10:12 am
Hi Hector,
I would try to test or replace the memory module. Toshiba Satellite M35X laptop gives you an easy access to the memory modules on the bottom. Try to find a test memory module or find a way test your memory . If you have 2 memory sticks installed, try to remove them one by one and see if you can get a video.
April 1st, 2006 at 1:52 pm
I read what you wrote about the Satellite M35X-S149 with the white screen. My problem is that when the laptop is started, you can tell that the screen is on, but there’s no image on it. (Pressing on the little tab that turns off the backlight when the cover is closed makes the screen go black.) I hooked up the laptop to an external monitor, and it is workng fine. Any other ides? Thanks.
P.S. Will you email me your answer, or will I have to find this site again? (I found this site by chance.)
April 1st, 2006 at 9:21 pm
Barb,
If the external video is fine I would eliminate the system board as a problem. If I would have to repair your laptop I would try next:
- Reseat the video cable on the system board and on the back of the LCD screen. Last week I fixed two laptops with problem like yours just by reseating the cable.
- Replace the video cable, if reseating doesn’t help.
- Replace the LCD screen.
There is a possibility that the video connector on the system board is bad. It’s very rare but still possible. In this case you have to replace the system board.
April 5th, 2006 at 10:37 am
Thank you for answering. The next question, then, is how do I reseat the video cable?
April 5th, 2006 at 7:45 pm
Hello, my son’s satellite M35X-S149 will freeze/lockup after about 2 -5 minutes after bootup of the laptop. Pressing the Ctrl/Alt/Del does nothing and the only way to get out of it is to turn off the device by pressing the on/off switch. Thank you for your help in advance.
Ernie
April 5th, 2006 at 10:26 pm
Hey Barb,
Here is Toshiba Satellite M35X laptop disassembly guide. You can see the video cable connected to the system board on the step 7, close to the right hinge. Disconnect the cable and connect it back.
The second step is reseating the video cable on the back of the LCD screen. Here is Toshiba Satellite M35X display disassembly guide. On the step 7 you can see the video cable connected to the LCD screen. Remove the connector and put it back.
If reseating the cable doesn’t help, I would try to replace the video cable next.
There are 2 video cables listed for Toshiba Satellite M35X-S149 for WXGA and WXGAHCSV dispalys. Toshiba part number for the first one is: K000015960, the second one: K000034510. The second cable appears to be backward compatible with the first one. And one video cable for XGA display: K000015950.Find it on ebay on via google.
It is also possible that the LCD screen or the system board is causing the problem, but they are much more expensive then the LCD screen video cable.
NOTE: do it on your own risk, if you are not comfortable with computers do not open the laptop.
April 5th, 2006 at 10:43 pm
Hi Ernie,
There is a know issue with improperly grounded top cover assembly for Toshiba Satellite M35X, A70 and A75 laptops. Your laptop will lock up, freeze up or reboot when you touch the speakers. You should be able to replace the top cover at no charge for you in any Toshiba service center.
Beside the top cover assembly it could be anything: failing hard drive, corrupted software, bad memory modules, overheating. It’s hard to troubleshoot without the laptop.
I would try to backup all important data (if you can the laptop running long enough) and after that reload the original factory software from a restore DVD provided by Toshiba. I guess that’s the only thing you can do without replacing the hardware.
April 11th, 2006 at 12:12 pm
Thank you. I’ll see what I can do.
April 20th, 2006 at 12:56 pm
Just wanted to tell you that overall, I did have success with my husband’s laptop. The screen settings appear to have changed a bit, though, and I can’t seem to restore them to what they had been, but no one’s complaining! One more question, though, if you don’t mind. Is the Satellite M35X-S149 inherently slow? It seems to take forever to load things. Is there anything I might be able to do to speed it up? (The hard drive is roughly 83% free, so I don’t think having a lot of stuff on it is the problem–unless my daugter’s i-tunes count.)
Thanks again.
Barb
April 20th, 2006 at 11:06 pm
Barb,
You can backup all important data from the laptop and run a restore DVD. It will load the original factory software and take your laptop back to factory defaults. The hard drive will be reformatted and any data will be erased, so do not forget to backup your stuff. That is the first thing we recommend to our customers when they complain about slow laptop. If restoring OS doesn’t help to speed up the laptop, the next step would be to test the hard drive. By default this laptop is pretty fast and it shouldn’t take a lot of time to start applications.
April 21st, 2006 at 12:39 pm
Thanks so much.
May 1st, 2006 at 4:36 pm
I have the M30x/M35x Satellite. My lcd screen just went blank, using the FN and F5 keys and an external monitor I’m able to keep working. I called Toshiba and they say my warrenty is out, I then called a auth ser shop in Charlotte, NC. They say since I am able to see the very faint icons on the black screen that it sounds like the FL inverter is most likely bad. Can this be fixed by a layman, I am pretty good at soldering. Also, after this happened I had the external monitor running and pluged my DSL jack in and the LCD screen came back on and ran the rest of the day until I went into hibernate. The next day while on the external monitor I unpluged the DSL jack and the external monitor went off and I had to reboot to get it back up, also the LCD screen did not start working again like the last time. It I can fix the FL inverter how much would this cost. Thanks for your help. I read your posts on the DC jack, I had already had this problem and Toshiba fix it.
James
May 1st, 2006 at 7:06 pm
I reattached both ends of the vidio cable, the monitor is still black with the icons able to be seen very faint. After taking the screen down I’ve seen that the FL inverter is easy to replace. Is there a way to trouble shoot the fl inverter to make sure it is the problem based on the symptoms? Or, do you think it could be the LCD screen itself, based on the sysptoms? I found the FL inverter on the net for 76.00 and some change, but I would like to hear what you think before I order anything. Thanks in advance for your help.
James
May 1st, 2006 at 10:46 pm
James,
Here is my guide for taking apart Toshiba Satellite M35X display assembly . You can buy a new FL inverter board on ebay for $40-$50. You can find a part number for your FL inverter on the FL inverter itself. It will look something like this K000019440 though it might be a different part number.
Yep, it looks like a new FL inverter board will fix the problem, I mean most likely.
Once in a while, I get a laptop with symptoms like yours and the backlight on the LCD screen is bad itself and the LCD screen itself has to be replaced. But it’s very rare. I think you have very good chances to fix the problem by replacing the FL inverter board.
May 2nd, 2006 at 1:59 pm
Thanks, I’m gratful for your help. The take down instructions for the monitor were a great help. Would you happen to know a website I could purchase an FL Inverter from, in the price range you mentioned? The best I have done so far is 76.00.
My laptop is an m35/s149 and the part number is k000018860.
Thanks again
James
May 2nd, 2006 at 6:47 pm
James,
If you search on eBay for the above mentioned part number, you can find the FL inverter for $45-$50. About $30 cheaper then your current offer.
May 2nd, 2006 at 8:43 pm
I just recently bought a m35x laptop on ebay as it stated that everything powered up but the monitor didnt work. I had parts from another m35x that had a busted adapter pin, perfect fix right?>.. take the motherboard out of the working ebay bought machine and put it into the other one…. well it didnt work.. the system i bought off of ebay shows a power and battery led and the processor fan runs for a few seconds on startup but nothing comes up on screen, I have even swapped a working lcd and wiring but still nothing. Any suggestions or did i just waste 250.00?
May 2nd, 2006 at 9:01 pm
ok i found the problem, after thinking about it, i bypassed the lcd and plugged it into a standard drt monitor and bingo! it worked.. now my question is.. i know one monitor works so it has to be the plug-in on the board.. how do i go about fixing it.. or can i without purchasing a whole nother motherboard?
May 2nd, 2006 at 9:11 pm
Paul,
If the external video works fine, then most likely the system board itself is OK. You having a problem with a video output on the LCD screen, right? There are 3 parts involved: LCD screen, FL inverter board, video cable.
When you have a problem with FL inverter, then usually you can see a faint image on the LCD screen. Do you see anything? Does the LCD screen change color just a little bit when you turn on the laptop? Try to replace the FL inverter board. If the screen is completely dark, then you have to check the LCD screen and the video cable. I would go with the video cable first. Also check the video connector on the system board. If it has bent pins try to straighten them.
May 3rd, 2006 at 7:37 am
Nope, the monitor works fine, i connected it to a diffirent laptop and the screen popped on no problem. I connected an external crt to the laptop and it works, so the problem lies in the internal video connection on the board. If i trace the circuits and resoleder the connection might that get it to work? Thats the only thing i can think of other than replacing the motherboard that i just spent 250 dollars on.
May 3rd, 2006 at 8:44 pm
Sorry man,
I think the system board is bad. I’m not sure if you can resolder video connector at home, the pins are too tiny. We never repair system boards on the component level, if it is bad we send it for repair to Toshiba.
May 6th, 2006 at 1:32 pm
Thanks for you help, my fl inverter came in this morning, it took aboiut 5 minutes to put it in and everything worked fine. The total cost was 48.00 in the door from Ebay. Thanks again.
James
May 11th, 2006 at 2:35 pm
Hi, my FL inverter might have a problem, but I can’t determine if it’s loose or not. I press the rubber BL switch and the screen flickers for a moment, but then it goes dim again. I opened the M35X-S149 and looked at the hinge, and it’s by the side of the wire. Where is it suppose to be?
May 11th, 2006 at 11:32 pm
Hi David,
I would try to replace the FL inverter board, most likely it’s causing the problem.
Sorry man, I didn’t understand this part of your question.
May 12th, 2006 at 4:03 am
Hi again, ignore that question about the hinge, didn’t really know what it did. Anyway, my FL inverter’s protective casing seems to be foggy/waxy/melted-like, is it suppose to be this way, or is that why my FL inverter went bad?
May 20th, 2006 at 6:42 am
I have a Dell Inspiron 9100 notebook with a dead LCD, however, it has an audible post and boot to Windows XP. External monitor hook up did not work.
Some history: This notebook initially had a problem of no charge on the AC adpater due to loose wiring, then ultimately a dead battery. The adapter is now repaired, but the display is black. Could this be the Inverter? Any suggestions please? Thank you!
May 21st, 2006 at 11:01 pm
Sherry,
Turn off the laptop and connect the external monitor. Now you can turn it on. Still no video on the external monitor? It is possible that you have to press a certain key configuration to make your laptop to output on the external screen. Try to find this configuration. For Toshiba it would be Fn+F5 keys.
A failed FL inverter board will not affect an external video output.
September 24th, 2006 at 1:33 pm
I’m a student who needs help ASAP, please! My Toshiba Satellite M35X-S149 decided to stop working. I knew there was already a problem with the way it was charging, but I thought it was the adapter and was planning on ordering a new one. But just recently, I was using the laptop when the screen went black. I turned it off and tried restarting. The blue light around the power button turns on and the other lights indicating that the laptop is on are green. The fan turns on but then everything gets quiet and the screen never changes from black. What, other than the power jack, needs to be repaired/replaced? Thanks.
-Ana
September 24th, 2006 at 1:36 pm
Oh, and I already tried attaching it to an external monitor. That didn’t do much. That screen appeared black as well.
Thanks
September 24th, 2006 at 10:52 pm
Ana Maria,
It also could be a bad memory stick. Try reseating the memory, move it from the slot A to the slot B. You can easily access memory slots from the bottom of the laptop.
October 29th, 2006 at 3:19 pm
Hi,
My Toshiba Satellite M35X-S149 seems to have died. I tried to see if the problem was with the display by connecting the notebook to an external monitor and hitting Fn and F5 together - with NO LUCK.
When I turn on the notebook, it turns of and the fan starts to work and then it gets quiet. I am guessing that it is turning off.
I had un-assembled the notebook to fix the problem I had with the power plug not working. I soldered the plug as described in one of the posts I found on the web. The notebook worked after the fix and I was able to use it for a big portion of a day. I turned off the computer and put it away. Then when I tried to use it, is when I got the black screen.
I dis-assembled the notebook again and checked the asembly again. I bought some good silver compound paste and applied it to the CPU and the GPU, after cleaning them from the previous application. I didn’t do this the first time when I had re-assembled the notbook PC, since from a visual inspection it seemed that the previous application on the CPU and GPU looked OK.
What could be wrong? How do you suggest that I trouble shoot the unit?
Thanks for your advice.
October 30th, 2006 at 2:38 pm
I stumbled onto this site but am I glad I did! My situation is a doozy though…
Symptoms:
Similar to Ana Maria. Press the power button and the blue ring around the button comes on and the fan whirs for about 12 seconds. I am not fortunate enough to get the other green lights to come on though. Buttons on the keyboard like the caps lock and the cd/dvd drive do not work.
Sometimes (about 40% of time), after about 1-5 mins, the laptop decides to come on (and sometimes also because I frantically press the cd/dvd drive). When on, everything works fine until the screen just goes black. Just recently, i’ve noticed that it especially does this when i begin to move the laptop from off of my lap, but it will do it even if i stay perfectly still.
I’ve read and tried everything on your website. I reseated the memory stick from slot A to slot B: Turns on, then the screen goes black.
I’ve followed your 12 step plan to remove the LCD screen, the display video cable and the FL inverter. I then connected the laptop to an external monitor. It worked well for a second, turned off, I felt hard drive activity, turned back on and then the screen went black again.
What do you suggest I do now?
Thanks in advance for all your help.
October 30th, 2006 at 9:27 pm
Ted,
When you power up the laptop and the fan turns on but nothing appears on the screen, there could be a problem with the RAM. Make sure that the memory module is seated properly, reseat it or replace with a test memory stick.
October 30th, 2006 at 10:45 pm
Kenny,
Here’s what I usually do if I have to troubleshoot and repair a laptop with symptoms like yours. I minimize the system as much as I can and test the laptop after each removed part. I minimize the laptop until I get just three major parts left: system board, CPU with the cooling module and memory (usually I assemble it on my bench, outside the laptop base). After that I connect an external monitor and see if I can get a stable video output on the external screen. If it still experience the same issue as before, then apparently one of the three parts: system board, CPU or RAM is bad.
Before you decide to jump in, it would be a good idea to test the laptop with another RAM because you can swap it without going inside the laptop.
I don’t know how comfortable you are taking the laptop apart. If you are not, take it to a repair shop or you can make the problem worse.
November 8th, 2006 at 8:16 am
Greetings,
I do repair work on most manufacturer’s laptops and recently had an m35x-s149 come in with the following symptoms: when plugged in (or from battery) the blue light would come on, fans would start, etc. for a few moments, then the fans would quiet down and although the blue light remained, nothing was working. No external video. Quite by accident I found another piece to the puzzle in that when first turned on, if you remove the power supply plug from the socket on the laptop slowly, suddenly the hard drive engages and everything works as it should. Almost as if the socket has a micro switch incorporated in it that tells the system to boot or not. Also, the Toshiba power management won’t load on this machine. Every time I try to load it, the system blue screens. Finally, task bar indicates the machine to be plugged in even when that’s not the case.
So, that’s really confusing! If anyone can add to these symptoms, or if removing the ac plug from the socket while booting works, please respond. I love a good mystery.
Thanks,
Jim
January 1st, 2007 at 7:01 am
I’am trying to restore the operating system to a Toshiba A75, when I put in the restore DVD it starts the process but stops and gives an error of “Output A:\GHOST.ERR” and gives Yes or No choices. It will then come back with an error message of cannot open Ghost.err. It continues to do this until it pops up with the message. ” The image file is corrupt”. I believe the DVD drive is bad. I have a usb DVD drive is it possible to use the external DVD drive to restore the operating system?
January 29th, 2007 at 4:30 am
my display card give spots on the start up and doesnt work well it happened first when i was playing fifa and the picture went down i thought its will be ok and i restarted the laptop and played again and nothing happend but after several times of this happining the spots came without me playing the game and after the it now refuse 2 give any picture at all
the card is 128 mb
the ram is 512 ddram
the processor 1.72 centrino
and here the picture just before it stoped completely
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p219/tarek2002eg/NewBitmapImage.jpg
one thing more happened when left for a whole day and then open it the next day it worked well but after 15 minutes the screen went dark again
April 5th, 2007 at 3:51 am
I have a Toshiba Satellite P25 which has developed a video problem. The background images and some icon backgrounds have an iridescent green flickering haze through them. The majority of screens look fine with occasional horizontal green pixels appearing in various places like the header bar and the footer bar.
I have run CheckIt Diagnostic utility on the video and system and get no error reports. Says everything is working fine.
I did have a problem booting up and on start-up I get a solid green color background (normally black) at the Windows logo screen (WinXP Pro). The system seemed to lock up after selecting the User and the wallpaper image loaded. I started the computer in VGA mode and it boots up fine and can run all programs but green color infiltrates most graphics images.
Thanks for any help.
April 5th, 2007 at 4:02 am
I checked the output to an external monitor and the display works fine. Is it likely that I need a new screen?
April 8th, 2007 at 9:43 pm
JBS,
I would try replacing the video cable first, it may be your problem. The video cable for a Toshiba Satellite P25 notebook is not expensive and you can find a spare one here for $20-30. If replacing the video cable doesn’t help, most likely you have a bad LCD screen.
April 17th, 2007 at 3:59 am
I have a Toshiba Satellite Pro 400CS laptop. My friend tryed to upgrade it and deleted some file off of the hard drive. he did not get it upgraded. Now when i turn it on it does nonthing but come to a screen that says invalad system disk replace a push a key. If you know of anything to help please let me know. I use this lapyop for typing. Thanks for any help
April 22nd, 2007 at 3:50 pm
Robbie Powell,
Probably your friend deleted some system files. You’ll have to use recovery CDs to reload the operating system back to factory defaults. Find this recovery CD (or CDs), install the first one into the CD-Rom and boot the laptop from this CD (Press F12 for the boot menu and select CD-Rom). Follow the wizard.
NOTE: reloading the operating system from a recovery CD will erase everything from the hard drive. You’ll loose all personal data. So run the restore only if you have nothing to loose on the hard drive.
May 8th, 2007 at 11:57 am
Robbie Powell,
Sounds like your mate has made things worse. See if you have a recovery cd with your laptop, if you do boot of it and re-load your system backup. If not you will need to re-install windows again!
October 3rd, 2007 at 7:39 am
I’m running across an error with Dell Latitude D520 and D610 laptops. It is intermittent… There are multiple laptops in our work environment which have the same symptoms. When the user closes the lid and leaves it for a short period of time and reopens it the screen will flicker but not return. The laptop is running because you can hear the applications and their sound bits. The power settings are set to do nothing when the lid is closed. Flicking the lid switch repeatedly can sometimes bring it back but not always. I have seen it, but can not duplicate the error in a controlled environment. I have hooked an external monitor up and everything works as it should on both displays.
It’s a mystery that Dell has been unhelpful in resolving. It is also widely posted, but the resolutions have been unhelpful as well.
October 3rd, 2007 at 7:49 am
Julie,
I’ve covered some laptop related video issues in this post: How to troubleshoot and fix laptop video problems
I think you’ll find answer in this post. In short, it looks like you might have a problem with the LCD screen inverter board, this is a power supply for the backlight lamp.I would try replacing the inverter board firts. If the problem is still there after inverter replacemnt, it could be related to a failing backligth lamp.
October 10th, 2007 at 1:48 pm
I’ve been through the posts on several web sites and I haven’t yet encountered a problem similar to mine. I had turned my Toshiba Satellite A105 over to plug in an ethernet cable. When I turned it back over the screen waqs all blue with a few vertical and horizontal lines. I brought it to a local repair shop and was told that I needed to replace the display. As this is very costly, I decided to open the display and see what I could do.
I opend the LCD and started to wiggle the wires and cables. When I moved the video cable near the base, the top 2/3 of my display returned to normal, with the bottom 1/3 appearing as blurred color streaks. I then disconnected and reconnected the video cable plug and there was no change. I also reseated both inverter plugs, also with no change.
When the computer is left on and unattended long enough for the power saver to kick in, the screen reverts to all black with color streaks from top to bottom. To get the good 2/3 back I need to turn off my computer, restart it, then it goes to the blue screen with lines. At this point, I disconnect and reconnect the video cable to the LCD and the good 2/3 returns.
What’s going on???
Help!!!!
October 13th, 2007 at 8:33 pm
James D,
You move the video cable and it affects the video on the screen. Maybe the video cable is bad and there are shorted wires inside the harness? Probably I would try replacing the cable first.
November 27th, 2007 at 2:49 am
Hello
I have a Toshiba m30x-144 with video error like when is on in about 10 minutes extrange lines appears vertically i put termic paste in the processor and the video integrated processor too, i resolded some capacitors and resistenses but the problem still appears, i tried with an external monitor and occours the same, you say in some forum that reemplazing the system board will fix the problem but do you know any trick to resoldering o replacing some transistor o anything that you can tellme.
Thanks for your time.
Eduardo.
November 27th, 2007 at 11:33 pm
Eduardo,
Sorry, cannot help you. I do not work on component level. Probably you’ll have to replace the motherboard. I’m not sure if you can fix it at home.
December 15th, 2007 at 11:58 pm
Just fixed three M35 M35X in a row with the same problem, guys. I couldnt find anything online that gave me ANY CLUE. Video card is bad, right? Wrong. PASS IT ON TO OTHER BLOGS PLEASE, I will get it started here.
Heres the fix to the no video issue:
This requires access to the cpu and heatsink, remove the keyboard and palmrest to access the motherboard, I think you have to remove the screen too. Remove the heatsink and cpu. Reseat the cpu, heres the kicker, press firmly on the center of the cpu while turning the locking screw. Pressing the cpu hard, allows the locking mechinism to get a good bite. Turn the locking screw hard into the end of the turn. Hook up the heatsink and set it back on top of the cpu. Press down on the heatsink over the cpu, fairly strong pressure.
Now test the motherboard, use just cpu, heatsink, memory, power button board and cable and external monitor, you can use your screen instead by just hooking up the cable to motherboard, leave the screen laying flat on the table. Now push the power button with one hand and the other is still applying pressure to the heatsink, no you dont need to screw it down yet. Keep reseating the cpu with varying degrees of pressure if you dont get it go the first time.
The trick will be to get it all assembled with the same results.
There seems to be a problem with the cpu seating correctly, it must come loose and the laptops exhibit the symtoms of no video. It might even be neccessary to insert a wafer thin piece of copper or something in between the cpu and heatsink if the heatsink doesnt apply enough pressure to cpu to keep it seated deep enough to run the computer.
Am I a genius or what, lol. I am not, but I am sure surprised no one else has posted this info over the years.
Hope this helps someone with this frustrating problem with the M35 M35x and many more models.
Hope this helps someone.
December 30th, 2007 at 11:04 pm
I have a Toshiba satellite M35X-S149. I just replaced the power jack again. When I got it back together it would not boot up. When I turn the power on the power light comes on in the front and on the power button. The fan runs for about 5 seconds then stops. Nothing else no video. The DVD/CD drive will respond if a CD is put into the drive. I have tried reseating the memory and moving it to another slot. I have reseated the CPU, and video cables. I have tried hooking a external monitor still nothing. I removed the jack and checked it for continuity. nothing wrong with the jack. It was working fine before the jack was replaced. Now it is DEAD. Is there something that I am over looking. Please Help!!
February 20th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
I had the same problem with my Toshiba satellite last week and I took it in for repairs AGAIN…….
The technician which I know, told me the hard drive is gone and I need an other one BUT, since there have been (and I HAD) all kind of problems with this model, he said that it’s not worth spending over $ 400 to fix it again because it will not last ( exactly one year before, everything was replaced in it including the hard drive), too many problems are going to arise again in the near future. So I had to buy an other laptop.
Please understand, is not just me having so many problems with this laptop, but everyone. It is a bad Toshiba product. There is also a class action suit going on, reason for which they gave an other year of warranty, which expired Nov. 2007.
Do not buy this product, save your money !
February 27th, 2008 at 9:17 am
Hi, I lost my recovery CD to my Toshiba Satellite M35X-S149 while moving. My computer has been slow loading things up lately. Is there anything I can do to make it faster? Or any place where I can obtain another recovery CD for it?
Thanks, Amanda
April 25th, 2008 at 11:33 pm
my toshiba m35 x have problem about lcd screen no show up and power on off botton can’t be turn off. please help me thankss
April 26th, 2008 at 10:13 pm
ibnu,
Can you turn off the laptop if you press and hold down the power button for about 5 seconds? Did you test the laptop with an external monitor? Can you get video on the external monitor?
July 6th, 2008 at 8:38 pm
Please give me a solution
I found this laptop on the road. Laptop HP compaq nx5000 pc notebook - XP window.
When I on this Laptop the window is asking password But I forgot the password. But I forgot the password. How to open the screen.
When I press the f10 One Key symbol is comming. what to do.
July 27th, 2008 at 11:11 am
Toshiba Satellite M35X-S149
The fan goes on than off, 3 green lights stay on, but no video. I connected laptop to external moitor but no response. Since I have two identical laptop i use this one to change the batteries. The other laptop power adapter is broken, but works.
Should I disassemble this laptop? Is it the mother board?
July 27th, 2008 at 11:15 am
katleen,
Could be memory problem. Try reconnecting the memory module, move it into the empty slot. Try replacing memory with another known good module.
August 30th, 2008 at 7:16 pm
I HAD A PROBLEM WITH MY TOSHIBA M35X LAPTOP.
JUST ONE DAY, I LOST VIIDEO, SCREEN WOULD BE LIT.
THANKS TO YOUR INFORMATION, I FOUND THE LOOSE CONNECTION BEHIND THE LCD PANEL.
ALOHA,
LARRY
September 19th, 2008 at 7:37 am
I have a Toshiba Satellite M35x-109S, recently I have had problems where I would turn on the computer and I would have a blank screen, then video would come back eventually, but it would have lines going in and out. Sort of like when you tried to adjust a tv with the display overlapping in lines. After rebooting several times, I would finally get a picture, then after a while it looked like the picture would go again. Lines again. It is hard to explain what is happening on the screen. Once it looked like reddish brown flames towards the bottom of the screen.
September 20th, 2008 at 10:15 am
Darlene,
First of all, you’ll have to test your laptop with an external monitor.
Connect the monitor to the laptop using VGA port on the side. Turn on the laptop. If video appears only on the internal screen, use Fn+F5 keys to switch video from internal to external mode.
Find out if your laptop works fine with the external monitor or you still have the same problem with video even on the external screen. Let me know.
October 13th, 2008 at 7:40 am
well im having the same problem but instead of a blank white screen, i have just nothing at all. the monitor doesnt turn on so i connected it to an external screen display thingy and it still didnt work. any suggestions? im thinking it is the cd screen itself and i’ll have to replace it but i want to be sure before i buy a new screen for this laptop.
October 13th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
b-rad-on,
If you have no external video, most likely this problem is not related to the LCD screen as you mentioned. Could be bad memory or bad motherboard.
When you have a problem with the laptop LCD screen, it still should work fine with an external monitor.
October 23rd, 2008 at 9:09 pm
Toshiba TE2000
Nothing happens when the power button is pressed…
October 23rd, 2008 at 9:11 pm
http://i38.tinypic.com/v4mm40.jpg
November 28th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
I have a toshiba satelite A55 the screen is black but I can see the picture in the back i am buy a inverter board but i can’ solve the problem whit that but if i am connect a external monitor yes work’s fine any solution please?/