A bad connection between DC-IN power jack on the system board and the system board is a very common problem with Toshiba Satellite M35X and Toshiba Satellite A70/A75 notebooks. If your laptop is out of warranty, then you can fix the problem by resoldering DC-IN jack on the system board. If it’s still under warranty, it would be fixed at no charge to you.
Problem symptoms:
- Laptop randomly shuts down without any warning.
- Power LED and battery charge LED start flickering when you wiggle the power cord or the AC adapter tip on the back or your laptop.
- The battery will not get charged.
- When you plug AC adapter, the laptop appears to be dead and there is no LED activity at all (DC-IN jack on the system board is broken).
To fix the problem, you have to take your laptop apart, remove the system board to resoleder or replace the DC-IN jack. Toshiba Satellite M35X and Toshiba Satellite A70/A75 disassembly guides will help you to remove the system board. Take a closer look at the power jack on the system board with a magnifying glass. In most cases you get the power problem because of a bad connection between the DC jack and the system board, you’ll see a crack between the DC jack connector and the system board.
Here is an example of Toshiba Satellite M35X power jack. The crack occurs between the DC jack pin and the system board.
In some cases the connection is good, but the DC jack is bad itself. You can find a new DC jack for Toshiba Satellite M35X and Toshiba Satellite A70/A75 laptops here. Search for DC jack M35X or DC jack A75.
How to resolder laptop power jack yourself.
UPDATE:
Sometimes, after you replace the jack, you can see that the system board doesn’t get power at all. The battery will not charge and the power LED will not light when you plug in the AC adapter. So, here’s a possible explanation.
When a connection between the positive pin and the motherboard breaks (cracks), the power jack gets loose. You can feel it when you plug in the adapter plug. A loose power jack can damage the trace inside the hole in the system board. Take a look at the picture.
As you see, the positive pin goes through the hole in the system board and you solder it on the top side. Right? What if the trace between the top side and the bottom side is broken somewhere inside the hole? I’ve seen it before a few times. In this case everything looks nice and clean on the top side. When you plug in the AC adapter, you get normal voltage readings between “+” and “-“ pins on the top side, but the power DOESN’T go to the motherboard at all, because there is no connection between the top and bottom sides. Test with a multimeter if there is a connection between the top and the bottom.
If the trace inside the hole is broken you still can fix it. You can run a wire to connect the top and the bottom sides. Be careful not to short something on the board.
Update:
Here’s another solution to fix the power jack problem, it shows how to relocate the power jack outside the laptop base. Check it out here: Toshiba Satellite A75 failed power jack workaround.
When you repair a loose power jack, it’s a good idea to check the jack on both sides of the motherboard. When you remove the top cover from a Toshiba Satellite A70/A75 laptop you can see only points where the jack is soldered to the motherboard as it shown on the second picture in this post, but you cannot see the jack itself as it shown on the first picture.
Removing the motherboard from Satellite A70/A75 laptop is a good idea because the jack itself might has a broken “+” pin, as it shown on the picture below. If the “+” broke off the base, you’ll have to replace the jack.
UPDATE:
Today I received another well written and well documented guide about fixing Toshiba Satellite M35X power connector issue. This guide was submitted by Stephen Macuch. Thank you Stephen for great pictures and detailed instructions.
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March 24th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
Not a repair question, but you folks seem to know everything, so I figure it’s worth asking.
I have a Toshiba A75-S206. I’d like to make it my desktop machine (my current one is old and slow, and about to die). However, I want to still be able to use it as a laptop, and I’d rather not have to unplug all the peripherals one by one every time I want to use it outside.
My question: is there a docking station or port replicator that works with this model? I couldn’t find anything on Toshiba’s website, which can’t be a good sign, but then again they wouldn’t be telling me about some generic one that’s compatible. Can anyone help me?
March 21st, 2008 at 6:58 pm
Aleh Mamonka,
This sounds like a problem with the motherboard. In a Toshiba Satellite M65 the battery plugs directly into the connector on the motherboard, there is no other boards between the battery and the motherboard. If replacing the battery didn’t fix the problem, there must be something wrong with the motherboard. Apparently, there is a problem with the battery charging circuit (integrated into the motherboard), witch means you’ll have to replace the whole motherboard or use it as is.
Here’s another idea. It’s possible that the power adapter is faulty and is not providing enough power for charging the battery. That’s would be a good idea to test the laptop with another known good power adapter. This is just a guess and most likely I’m wrong. Try to find another working adapter (without buying it) and test the laptop, just to make sure the problem is not related to the adapter.
March 21st, 2008 at 7:50 am
Good aftenoon.
Could anybody advise me about my problem?
My laptop’s nearly 2 years old,it’s Toshiba Satellite M65 S9092.
Laptop randomly started shut down without any warning and few days ago it appears to be dead.Now,i could’not start it any more even when plug AC adapter is off(battery in).
But,when i plug in the AC adapter on,Power LED and battery charge LED start flickering and ckliking.Some one told me my battery is gone.I took off the battery and computer works perfectly just with plug AC adapter on(no battery in).
I bought new battery and was disappointed to see the same result after puting it in:Power LED and battery charge LED start flickering and ckliking and i can’t start laptop on.
So,i still working when the plug AC adapter is on without battery .
Does any body have any ideas??
Thanks.
March 20th, 2008 at 3:37 am
thanks c/2600. i’ve find the service manual for my toshiba. don’t think that it help me so, but it can help me to do other try.
i need ( if exist) a software that tell me the cause of protection state.
the last solution is to put an object under the MB to keep it in the right position. isn’ t en excellent solution, but can it be a try!
sorry once again for my english.
March 19th, 2008 at 10:05 pm
Peps,
Unfortunately, you cannot fix it at home, at least I don’t know how to do that. You’ll have to replace the motherboard.
March 19th, 2008 at 5:02 pm
I have a Toshiba Satellite A70 and had the DC jack come unsoldered from the motherboard. The disassembly guides are awesome. The solder popped off the positive (back) pin of the jack, so I just cleaned it up and added some more solder. We’ll see how long it lasts. I have learned to use preventative measures including keeping my laptop off my girlfriend’s lap (to avoid stressing the DC power connection and me). Thanks for this posting!
March 18th, 2008 at 6:01 am
i’ve tried with the vga port and is the same thing. is enough a little pressure on the corner (near the fan) in any direction for allow the laptop to boot. i’m sure that is a little problem, but is very hard to find!
March 18th, 2008 at 5:40 am
hi c/2600 and thanks for the answer. i think that you are right!
i’ve tried to press on the MB in the corner instead to press the jack and is boot the toshiba logo anyhow.
i think also that is the MB damaged (some trace break or some component unsoldered. Yes, but which one!? ) because i have to press on the motherboard in order to boot the laptop, else the laptop seem to go in the protection state.
now i’ll try with the VGA port, but i think that is the same.
if the problem is the MB ought to trash it? is there any solution?
thanks!!
March 16th, 2008 at 7:40 pm
Randy,
Did you test your laptops with an external monitor? Did you test the power supply?
As I mentioned in my previous comment, all you need is main board, CPU and memory. With these three part you should be able to boot the laptop to the Toshiba logo. If the laptop gets power and power LED lights up, but nothing appears on the screen (internal or external), check the memory first. Try installing another working module. If it doesn’t help, probably you have dead main board.
March 16th, 2008 at 7:35 pm
Peps,
I don’t think that this problem is related to the power jack.
You can try assembling the notebook outside the case. All you need is motherboard, CPU with heatsink, memory and power switch board. Assemble this system on your desk, plug in an external monitor into the VGA port, connect the power adapter and turn it on.
Does it boot to the Toshiba logo on the external monitor? If you have to press on the motherboard in order to boot the laptop, apparently there is a problem with the motherboard.
I have a Toshiba Satellite M35X laptop with a similar problem under my bench. It boots only if I apply some pressure on the motherboard. In my case it’s a problem with the motherboard.