This email I received from one guy last evening. He had a problem with DC jack on his Toshiba Satellite 1900 laptop and fixed the problem by resoldering the DC jack on the system board. The problem is very similar to Toshiba Satellite M30X, M35X, A70 and A75 power jack issue.
I finally got around to using the guide you provided to try to solve the problem on my Satellite 1900.
The power plug kept not making contact somehow and ultimately it would shut down.
You would see in the Toshiba Power Management Utility in the Battery Power Meter, the charge bar would show “Online Discharging”, which doesn’t logically make any sense anyway.
If you wiggled the plug at the back of the laptop it might make a connection but could fail at any time with no warning if you weren’t paying close attention to the red/green charge light on the front edge of the laptop and discharge the battery.
I took it apart and discovered that the barrel power socket on the back of the unit that is soldered in to the motherboard had over the course of time worked the centre post contact loose and pulled away from the solder.
There is no real anchor for the socket to the motherboard or anywhere else on the case plastic. The solder on the motherboard that holds the socket in place is very weak, there is not much there at all.
Over the course of normal use, and being a laptop people trip over the power cord from time to time adding to the stress of the almost non-existent solder.
All I did was to re-solder the damaged connection, and I beefed up all of the other three solder points on the motherboard as well to try to strengthen the contacts against failure in the future.
I have provided a picture that if you look very closely at the base of the pin as it goes through the circuit board there is a slight gap between the pin and the solder it used to be attached to.
I search all over the internet and the only resolution I could find for this problem was to have the motherboard replaced. It appears that is not the case. I repaired it 6 hours ago and it hasn’t failed since.
If you find this article useful, please consider making a donation to the author. Thank you!
February 25th, 2006 at 5:43 pm
I’m the originator of this article and I’ll just add that this was absolutely the solution to the problem. The original post indicates sucess after 6 hours, it’s now been 20 days since the repair and no re-occurance of the problem.
Seems from other models with the same problem, Toshiba has been too skimpy with the solder at the assembly line.
February 25th, 2006 at 6:07 pm
Thank you gizwiz1 for a nice write up and for updating us.
March 1st, 2006 at 9:47 am
I have the exact same problem with a Satellite M35X-S149. The power source said ‘online discharging’ even though the ac adaptor was in. Eventually it died. It will restart and then shut off. However, I am not a computer person. How can I get this repaired without paying a ton to have it shipped somewhere? The instructions just to disassemble the laptop look frightening let along soldering anything!!! Help!!
March 1st, 2006 at 11:06 am
Hi Melissa,
It is possible that the AC adapter is bad itself and does not provide power to the laptop. You can test your AC adapter in any local computer repair shop. But most likely you have a bad DC jack on the system board and it should be replaced. Test the AC adapter first.
You also can try this. If your laptop just went out of warranty, you can call to Toshiba and try to request an exception. It is very possible that you can get an exception on this model and repair it for free.
March 3rd, 2006 at 3:55 am
Thank you for the advice, I’m having the same trouble with my A75-S229 I wiggle the plug in the back and it works, but any sudden movement messes it up. The warranty just expired about a couple of months back I’m going to call Toshiba to see if they can make an exception. If not I guess I’ll have to do it myself. Theese tips really helped me a lot, But any advice other than to be verry carefull during disassembling?
March 3rd, 2006 at 8:24 am
I hope you will get an exception from Toshiba. If you decide to take your Satellite A75 laptop apart yourself , do not hurry. Here are some more tips. Do not pull the keyboard and the touchpad cables from the system board before you unlock the connectors. The connector has 2 parts. One part is permanently attached to the system board, let’s call it a base. Second part is a moving part, I call it a lock. The cable stays in place because it gets jammed between the base and the lock. To open the connector slightly (about 1-2 mm, not more) move the lock away from the base and pull the cable. If ZIF connector is damaged, the entire system board has to be replaced. If your laptop does not fall apart, check one more time if you removed all needed screws. Memorize location for all screws you remove, you can use a sticky paper to mark it with different colors. It is pretty easy to take apart Toshiba Satellite A75.
March 9th, 2006 at 4:43 pm
I have a A75-S206 and having the same trouble. These tips are really handy. However, I have never taken apart a labtop computers before.
My warranty just expired also. Does any body know of a good place to get this fix? Some of the places I’ve been to said I may have to replace my system board. I hoping this works instead.
March 9th, 2006 at 5:02 pm
Hi Shelly,
If your DC jack is bad, it is not necessary to replace the entire system board. In most cases re-soldering the DC jack will fix the problem. Most companies replace the system board because they do not want to take a responsibility. It is much easier just to buy a new (I mean refurbished) system board from Toshiba and replace it. You can search on http://www.craigslist.org for somebody who is offering laptop repair services.
March 10th, 2006 at 1:20 pm
Thank you for the excellent research and information. I currently have the Satellite M35X-S149. The DC adapter actually broke off from being wiggled so much. This is the second time this has happened with this laptop. Toshiba replaced the motherboard once already but I’m 3 months over my 1 year warranty and they will not replace it for free this time around. I have no experience with soldering but I’m willing to give this a shot. I have disassembled the laptop and I’m ready to solder. Do you have any recommendations in regards to what kind of solder gun and or solder I should use on this motherboard. It seems as though Radio Shack has a plethora of guns and solder. Thank you, Rob
March 10th, 2006 at 1:36 pm
Hey Rob,
If you do not plan to use the solder gun a lot, then buy something simple, not expensive with a small tip. Also I would use a flux filled solder instead of a regular solder. In our shop we use “Weller” solder guns. I do not solder a lot myself so I usually borrow this stuff from other technicians.
March 11th, 2006 at 9:37 am
I have a compaq evo n1000c notebook that is in need of repair. The problem is that it will not hold power. I haveto wiggle the ac adapter to the dc jack. If I let it go the computer will cut off. I guess that I will have to replace the dc jack. In all of your above hints you only mention Toshiba. Do the same rules apply to any laptop or just Toshiba.
Thanks in advance.
March 11th, 2006 at 9:47 am
Hi Lee,
This fix is not only for Toshiba laptops. You can have a similar problem on any laptop model, if the DC jack is a part of the system board. Yesterday I fixed it on Compaq Evo N610c. Make sure that it is actually the DC jack problem and your AC adapter plug is good.
March 12th, 2006 at 3:52 pm
I just fixed my M35x-S149, unfortunately before I noticed this tip….I had the same sysmtoms described, and used the very helpful disassembly tips to get the system board out. I did not observe the +Volt post to have loosened from the system board but maybe I missed it. In any case my soulution was to epoxy a phoenix-type 2-pin connector on to the back of the unit and to solder a new +V wire to that post on the old connector and a -V wire onto a handy ground pad on the system board. Maybe heating up the post to solder to it was enough to fix it. It seems to be working fine now using my new connector system (which also comes out parallel to the system case rather than perpendicular so I’m hoping there will be less stress on the connector.) Good luck to all and thanks for the disassembly advice.
March 14th, 2006 at 6:31 am
Hi, I have a Dell Latitude L400 laptop. However, it failed to start up. I plug in the AC adapter into it. I switched on the switch, the power LED blinks on and then off. After which I press the ‘Start’ button, but it fails to startup. I cannot even see any displays on the screen.
Could someone please help me? Thanks.
March 14th, 2006 at 6:25 pm
Hello,
I have a Toshiba Satellite M35X-S149, that locks-up after about 2-3 minutes after boot-up. Everything freezes and the ctrl-atl-del does nothing. What can be the problem? Thanks
Ernie Alvarez
March 15th, 2006 at 1:12 pm
Hi Ernie,
Does you laptop lock up after you touch it? There is an issue with improperly grounded top cover. In this case the top cover should be replaced. Toshiba should replace it even if your laptop is not under warranty anymore. Just call to Toshiba.
You can find more information about the top cover issue on their website or just follow the link:
Satellite A70/A75 and M30X/M35X may lock up or reboot when touched
March 20th, 2006 at 9:15 pm
Hello There,
Do you guys know were to buy used M35X-S149 other than ebay.
I need motherboard.
Thank you,
Al,
March 30th, 2006 at 6:41 am
I have the same problen with my Toshia M35x-s149 losing power and or not charging the battery. It is 15 months old and obviously out of warranty. I am not a computer repair person could i get the pewer connect solder at some place like CompUSA or are there authorized Toshiba repair companies that could do the work?
March 30th, 2006 at 12:49 pm
Hey Roger,
If you take you computer to the place like CompUSA or Toshiba ASP, they most likely will offer you to replace the system board. Before you pay any money ask up front if they can re-solder the DC jack. If they cannot I would look for a small local laptop repair shop.
March 30th, 2006 at 10:11 pm
Hello Guys,
I have M35X-S149 laptop, but I also have a problem.
My Motherboard had a DC Jack problem and I took it to my friend to resolder DC Jack.
It was working for few months and DC Jack start giving me same problems again.
I took it off and cleaned it. After I solder it again it started to give me much more problems. Now I’m getting power, but LCD won’t turn on.
If I apply pressure with my finger on DC connector that plugs into the dc jack it will start, but soonest I release finger LCD turns off.
Second problem I have is that laptop wont run on battery. I can charge battery but laptop doe not run on it.
I think that some of the traces on motherboard are broken and I want to know if there is way to fix it.
I simply do not have money to buy new motherboard.
Please help if anybody knows how.
Thnaks,
March 30th, 2006 at 11:33 pm
Hey Almir,
Check if the system board is seated properly. I guess it is possible that you jammed a cable somehow and now some contacts are shortened until you apply the pressure on the board and disconnect them. It is also possible that you put a wrong screw into a wrong location; it also might cause a short. I would try to remove the display and the top cover and try to boot the laptop with an external monitor. If you still have the same problem you can go dipper inside and check if the laptop is assembled correctly. If you get video on the external monitor, start to assemble the computer back adding parts one by one. Try to boot after each added part.
About the battery problem. Check if you re-soldered the jack correctly. May be you accidentally connected traces that shouldn’t be connected? That is just a guess.
April 25th, 2006 at 9:05 am
HI,
I have a toshiba M35X-S109 laptop and it is 15 months old and it is out of warranty. recently I had a problem with DC power jack and the battery would not charge and I had to apply pressure to the dc jack only then the battery would charge. due to this the suddenly the laptop stopped and it would not boot or show any display. I sent it to best buy for repair and they said I need to replace the system board(mother board) can anyone help me in this as I do not know how to repair it. or is there any place that I can get this repaired.
April 26th, 2006 at 5:49 am
Joju,
I think it would be possible to repair your laptop if you resolder or replace the power jack on the main board. You can get it fix in any local laptop repair shop. Also, you can find a laptop repair company who offer this service on the Internet and ship it in. I cannot offer a particular company but if you do your research on Google, you will find it. Search for something like “repair laptop power jack”.
April 30th, 2006 at 6:49 am
does anyone know what toshiba charges to repair this power jack problem, either for replacing or resoldering?
April 30th, 2006 at 9:11 am
Alex,
When you take your laptop with a bad power jack to a Toshiba Repair Center, they will replace the entire system board. So, you are going to pay an exchange price for the system board; they will take your old board for the repair and install you already repaired board. Also you will have to pay for labor.
You can take your laptop to a local laptop repair shop. Most likely they will offer you to replace the power jack; it would by much cheaper, then replacing the board.
May 1st, 2006 at 3:22 pm
any ideas what a new system board or power jack would cost?
May 1st, 2006 at 3:27 pm
What laptop do you have? Give me the name and the model number from the bottom and I’ll look it up. For example: Toshiba Satellite A70-S249 PSA70U-00L00F
May 1st, 2006 at 10:03 pm
Well I have arrived with the same problem as the rest of you. I bought a M35X-S149, my first mistake. Let me say that I think toshiba robbed us all. What a LEMON. My LCD backlight inverter burnt out at 3 months, and now at 12 months and 2 weeks my laptop won’t charge. I called toshiba and they WILL NOT SEND ME A #041011, nor will anyone who will repair the board for $150-$200. The spring in the audio out jack that holds a plug snug is shot, all output is crackling and worthless.
Talk about pissed. Oh yea I almost forgot, the recall too. The idiots forgot to install proper shielding for the motherboard causing freezing and reboots; of course toshiba never notified me about the problem. Anyway my anger is causing me to loose my focus.
The author is 95% correct, resolder the circled points in the picture and you should be back in business. Although if the jack itself has problems like mine did, all resoldering the jack will do is PISS YOU OFF. The way that the jack is designed provides a poor connection. There is only one tiny piece of metal that makes contact to the outer negative part of the plug.
The rest of the story is here.
May 2nd, 2006 at 12:03 am
[...] Toshiba Satellite 1900. Laptop loses power and shuts down without warning. [...]
May 3rd, 2006 at 10:55 am
Hello, I just did this FIX and it works great. Had some trouble gettin the soder to hold to the connecting point, not sure even if it will hold for long, but the comp is working fine now. The only thing is my Power Management program isnt working anymore. The batt is charging and everything but the only prg that is managing the power is the defult windows one.
Anyone elts get this problem?
May 3rd, 2006 at 8:51 pm
Robert,
Try to uninstall the Toshiba power management software. After that you can download it again from Toshiba website and install. It might help.
May 9th, 2006 at 4:37 pm
I had the exact same problem with my toshiba satellite pro A10 and there were actually 3 thnigs to do: first of all, have your laptop cleaned for dust as it cumulates and clogs the fan. That was my major problem #1. Also, I had a new adapter and then a new battery. Toshiba batteries don’t seem to last very long through time. I did all of the above while still under extended warranty and it has been more than 1 year since without any problems. Start with a simple cleanup and it may solve your problem.
May 11th, 2006 at 8:49 am
i have a A65-s126 that just shuts down after 5 seconds of being turned i have three green lights that come on one beside the cap lock the other 2 come on under the f10 and f11,the one big fan comes on under the laptop but shuts down when the laptop shuts down.
the motherboard was already repl under the toshiba warrenty one time already for the power power plug connection on the motherboard since it is out of warrenty know any help would be appreciated thanks.
May 11th, 2006 at 11:25 pm
Silverarrows,
It is hard to say for now witch module is failing. Try to do a basic troubleshooting. Remove the battery, the hard drive, the wireless card, the DVD drive and the memory module from the slot on the bottom (if you have any). Try to boot the laptop after each removed device and see if you can get a stable video on the screen. It would be also a good idea to test the AC adapter if it has a proper voltage output, do it first. If you can boot the laptop and get video, then most likely the last removed device is failing. If your laptop still reboots, then you might have more serious problem.
Here is Toshiba Satellite A65 laptop disassembly guide. Use it to locate and remove devices I mentioned above.
May 15th, 2006 at 11:52 pm
My M30 Sattelite was having an issue where it says “online, discharging” What does this mean? This isnt a continuous problem, and only seems to happen occaisionally. What does this mean?If the battery discharges all the way when it says “online, discharging” will I still have power via the AC?
May 31st, 2006 at 7:44 am
Sir, I have Toshiba Satellite M35X-S109. With power Adapter it’s working very nice, but on battery it’s not give power on.
i purchase new battery but still same problem. it’s charging good.
Pls. help me out
May 31st, 2006 at 1:21 pm
Muhammad,
Check what version of BIOS you have. The latest version for your laptop would be v1.90 and there is an updated related to the battery charging in v1.30 Try it first and see if it helps.
In Toshiba Satellite M35X the battery connects directly to the system board. It’s possible that the battery doesn’t make a good contact. Press on the battery and try to turn on the laptop. If the laptop starts, the contact on the system board could be bad or dirty.
Test the AC adapter with a millimeter, may be it doesn’t provide required output and the battery doesn’t get charged.
June 9th, 2006 at 10:48 am
Thank you very much. My gf’s laptop started having this issue and I suspected it was the connection.
It was exactly as you had pointed out.
I wonder if there’s a way to “fix” this by (a) epoxying the dc jack to the board and (b) connecting the proper connections with ~16 AWG wires. That way undo stress will only weaken the mechanical function, not the connections…
Any thoughts?
June 9th, 2006 at 10:50 am
Ahh
undo –> undue
Serves me right for trying to use that word
June 9th, 2006 at 11:13 pm
Hey Axiak,
I wouldn’t epoxy the power jack to the board. This problem might occur again even after you re-solder the jack. It would be much harder to do a good job if you have old epoxy all around the connector.
You can reduce the stress if you move the power jack outside the laptop. Doesn’t look very good, but actually that’s not a bad idea. Here’s an example of relocating Toshiba Satellite A75 power jack.
June 14th, 2006 at 9:49 am
I know nothing about computers other than how to turn it on shop and send emails. My computer wasn’t charging when plugged in and in order to get it to charge I had to wiggle the jack until I could get the light on the front to come on and then wrap the cord around the screen. Finally, the power jack fell into the computer. I took the laptop to Best Buy where I bought it and unbeknowst to me, I still had a warranty. I had it shipped off and got a call today saying that it was considered physical damage and that it would cost me $385.00 to get it fixed. How ridiculous!
June 15th, 2006 at 5:03 pm
Hey Ashley,
What brand is that? Is it still under the manufacturer warranty or under Best Buy warranty? I think it’s not right that they quoted to you $385. We’ve seen a lot of Toshiba laptops with damage like yours and always repair it under warranty. If the laptop still is under the manufacturer warranty, try to ship it to a different authorized repair center.
June 28th, 2006 at 6:42 pm
i have Toshiba Laptop hardrive 80g but ican’t use full this harddive. Can read 10g. How can i use full this harddrive? thanks
August 11th, 2006 at 6:10 am
I have a motherboard with a damaged socket and I have the replacement – but I can’t remove the old socket.
I have used a solvering iron on the solder of the anchor points of the heatsink/socket surround but it won’t cxome free – is it better to cut this off and then remove the pins that go through the board separately?
August 17th, 2006 at 6:43 pm
Its not just the power jack that is loose, there is more to it, and not as easy to fix as you think. I managed to fix one m35x but the next one didn’t work because its almost imposible to fix, you have one shot if you dont get it then its f-up… Toshiba and I know the real solution. So again, its not just the jack…. If you replace the jack and the problem still occures, let me know.
Adam
August 17th, 2006 at 6:58 pm
Hi Welly,
Sorry for a late response. I missed your comment. What Toshiba model you have? I think that upgrading BIOS can help.
August 17th, 2006 at 7:06 pm
Pewit,
What socket you are trying to replace? Is it power jack?
To remove old solder I usually use a solder sucker. Search Google images for “solder sucker” and you’ll see how it looks like. First you heat up the old solder and after that you remove it with the solder sucker.
August 17th, 2006 at 7:09 pm
Hey RollCam,
May be you can share you knowledge with us? I would love to know the real solution for this problem. I’ve tried to find this solution on your blog without any luck. Can you share?
August 24th, 2006 at 4:05 am
Haai. I have a big problem with my Satelite 1900-703.
When i’m charging the battery, the leds on the front works normal. When i’m starting the laptop, after 10 seconds he shut down and all the leds are blinking (on/off).
I checked the powercharger and he gives the normal volts. I checked it with a other battery (new) and i have the same problems.
Conclusion: He don,t charged the battery’s and i can not work with the ac/dc apdator.
I have contact Toshiba (Netherlands) and thay say that it is a hardware problem (maybe motherboard) and they cant help me.
I NEED ONLY 30 MINUTES POWER !!! To save my photo,s and documents for backup !!!
Do you know a answer for me !!!
Thanks for reply
GreetZ from Holland
August 30th, 2006 at 6:08 am
I have a M35X-S149 Toshiba Laptop I replaced the DC Jack. Works fine but no charging. I know that RC1 has come off the board. What is RC1 for? and also what could I do to fix the charging issue.
Thanks
August 31st, 2006 at 12:10 am
Peter,
If you want to back up your hard drive, you can use an external USB enclosure. You can buy a laptop hard drive USB enclosure in any local computer store for $10-20. After that you have to remove the hard drive from the laptop, install it inside the enclosure and connect it to any working computer via USB interface. The hard drive should be detected automatically and you can transfer all needed data. Here’s another way to connect a laptop hard drive to a desktop computer.
August 31st, 2006 at 12:12 am
Sorry Ed,
I have no idea what RC1 is and how it can affect the battery charging.
September 26th, 2006 at 10:27 am
Thank you for your information. My toshiba is up again¡¡¡
October 17th, 2006 at 7:21 pm
HI
I HAVE REPLASED THE DC- JACK ON MY TOSHIBA LAPTOP M35X-S309 BUT ITS NOT WORKING AT ALL IS ANYONE KNOW WHAT TO DO ?
October 19th, 2006 at 11:53 am
Hi
Have a Satellite Pro 6100 that won’t start up at all. The power LED flashes orange as follows s-l-s-s-s-s-s-l (s=short, l=long). Anyone know about this particular problem? Is the power jack problem also a known one on the 6100 does anyone know?
Cheers
October 20th, 2006 at 9:45 am
Cos,
Your LED error s-l-s-s-s-s-s-l in binary system would be 01000001. To find out what it means, you’ll have to right it backwards and translate it into hex. It would be 10000010 or 83 in hex. Unfortunately there is no 100% remedy against this error. Toshiba recommends replacing the power supply board first, if it doesn’t help replace the system board and finally the CPU.
When we have to repair Satellite Pro 6100 that has a similar problem, we usually replace two parts: the system board and the power board. We believe that the problem occurs because of a faulty connection between the power board and the system board. I would try reseating the power board first, in some cases it helps.
Here’s a disassembly guide for Toshiba Satellite Pro 6100 laptop. The power board is pictured on the step 16.
The power jack failure is not a known issue on this model. Fortunately, the power jack is located on a pigtail and not permanently soldered to the system board. If it fails, you can purchase a new jack and just plug it into the system board.
BTW, I believe that Toshiba will fix Satellite Pro 6100 (sold in USA) for free even though the laptop is not under warranty anymore. In your case I would call Toshiba customer service and ask them about it. You have nothing to loose.
October 22nd, 2006 at 6:43 am
I had the same symptoms as you describe on my Acer Aspire 1400. About 6 months ago, it fell over with the AC adapter plugged in and from then on, the battery wouldn’t charge correctly and I would get unexpected shutdowns.
After reading this article, I pulled the entire thing apart and found that one of the pins on the DC Jack was disconnected and not attached to the motherboard. A little drop of solder, a fixed connection and it has been on for about 4 hours now. The battery is charging and I think it might be fixed.
Thanks for a great article and a very helpful site.
November 7th, 2006 at 4:55 am
Hi! I had the same problem with my satellite 1900. I disassembled the it as shownhere Toshiba Satellite 1900 disassembly
and replaced the power connector.
November 12th, 2006 at 10:18 am
I have a similar (but opposite) variation of the problem on my evo n610c. My laptop works fine on the battery, but as soon as I plug AC cord in, the LCD goes very very dim, while the rest of the laptop is still running??? The battery charges fine. I need to reboot the laptop on battery power after the charge is complete to get it working again. Any ideas?
November 13th, 2006 at 11:55 pm
Thomas,
Did you check the power saver utility settings? You can find this utility in the control panel but I don’t know the exact name for this utility on Compaq laptops. You can use this utility to set up the screen brightness for different power modes. For example you can set the screen brightness to be 100% when the laptop runs from the AC adapter and 60% when it runs on the battery power. May be the screen brightness is set to minimum for AC power and maximum for the battery. That would explain why the screen becomes dim when you plug the AC adapter.
December 17th, 2006 at 9:08 pm
My Satellite Pro 6000 is failing to power on. The power on light blinks amber as SL SSL SSL – hex 92 I believe. It will power on when I sit it on an ice pack and will work for approx 25 minutes before lock-up or freezing with a multicolor screen. I guessing the cold helps a contact to me made that fails as soon as the temp drops a bit. The heat sink assembly has been cleaned and new paste applied. A friend soldered the 20 pin power connector and this made no difference. Can you provide insight for resolution? Thanks
December 19th, 2006 at 2:40 pm
I have exactly the same problem with my Toshiba Satellite M35X. I searched online for months with no answer until I saw your post today. Thanks.I initially thought it maybe the adapter, wire or the inserting pin but was not sure. Please tell me how hard is it to open the laptop and any precautions to be taken. Although I have done soldering I am not expert, please tell if soldering is easy. Also if you have high resolution clear picture please mail me. Thanks a lot
December 19th, 2006 at 11:39 pm
James,
Just recently Toshiba issued a 12 months warranty extension for Toshiba Satellite M30X, M35X, A70 and A75X laptops. You might be able to fix the laptop for free even though it’s not under warranty anymore. Read Jaime’s comment #26 here.
January 10th, 2007 at 12:38 am
I don’t have Toshiba, I have some random brand laptop (my first mistake). I know this is my problem because I took my laptop apart and the solder connections were bad. The bad part was… I don’t know which wire goes where. Is there any way that I can tell so that I can solder them back to charge the laptop again? I tried just holding the wires doing different connections, FRUSTRATING and not good because I might have short circuit the whole thing.
My point is, is there any way I can tell which is positive and which is negative? My solder connections look almost exactly like the picture provided here but they have wires coming from the solder points (3 to be exact). Any help or insight would be appreciated.
January 16th, 2007 at 8:52 am
I am having problems with my systemax: Model is unsure. Laptop. When I have it pluggin in the A/C and am using the laptop at the same time after about 5-10 minutes the thing shuts down by its self. I have done the following by myself to figure out whats wrong: Opened the bottom hatch of the laptop and blew all around incase dust was hidden around the edges and took out what looked like the heat sink “attached to blower” and blew at that.
didn’t appear to be any visible dust, dirt, scratches. I am desperately trying to figure out an answer to this so that I can leave my computer on charge while in use so i don’t have to worry about draining the battery. If you have any answers to this than please send me an e-mail. I’m getting sick of important unsaved data being erased because the thing overheats and shuts down.
January 18th, 2007 at 12:30 am
Chris Egbert,
May be the cooling fan is not working? Can you hear fan spinning when you turn on the laptop? It’s also possible that thermal grease dried out and you have to apply new grease on the CPU.
January 22nd, 2007 at 1:41 pm
Helllo
I have a Toshiba P30 and it seems the dc jack harness is bad. I called Toshiba and they said I’m out of luck cause I’m out of warranty. The laptop is ony 18 months old and cost a good penny too. So Toshiba referred me to a repair shop that said it may cost anywhere from $100 to $300 or up depending if the dc jack harness is soldered to the motherboard if it was I would need a new motherboard.
My husband is a mechanic, but we’re both nervous about taking this laptop apart. Any suggestions??
Thanks,
Michele
January 24th, 2007 at 11:29 pm
Michele,
Here’s a disassembly guide I’ve created for taking apart Satellite P30/P35 notebooks. It might help you a lot. In order to replace the power jack (not harness) it is necessary to remove the motherboard. In most cases it’s not necessary to replace the power jack, you just have to resolder the original one.
You’ll need some soldering skills. Here’s how I usually do it.
- Unsolder the power jack from the motherboard.
- Clean up the jack contacts and soldering pads on the motherboard. Apply new coat of solder on the jack contacts and soldering pads
- Install the jack and solder it.
January 29th, 2007 at 5:03 pm
How do you take the back off of a sony vaio.
I have took all of the screws out of the back & it does not come apart.
I need to replace the power connector.
February 4th, 2007 at 11:28 pm
Edward,
Apparently it’s not enough just removing screws from the bottom. I think the next step would be lifting up the keyboard, remove all screws and disconnect all cables under the keyboard. After that you can disconnect and remove the display assembly. Finally, split the notebook case and remove the motherboard. Repair the jack.
February 6th, 2007 at 7:34 pm
I also have an toshiba satellite m35x-s149. the dc jack fell off, I re soldered it (took me 9 hours) and i broke off again. the battery problems some of you are hving can be the battery itself, try plugging it in after removing the battery and using it without the battery. i am also looking for a new motherboard, but i could buy this same laptop on ebay for ~$200, so i don’t want retail price like everyone has offered me ($400+). let me know if you know of a good place. also, i don;t know the model number or anything about the motherboard, so i can’t just search for it. do any of you know it?
March 25th, 2007 at 3:07 pm
hi,great site,full of excellent information.
i have resoldered a brand new dc socket onto the motherboardof a toshiba a75 satelite as a favour to a friend,which was a bit awkard to remove but it came out in the end,i simlpy cut the socket in half with some small cable cutters and then de-soldered it,anyway upon re-assembly i found it very hard indeed to relocate some of the ribbon cable connections,there was hardly any room whatsoever to replug them in when re-assembling the 2 halfs,is there an easy way to re-assemble the 2 halfs without thinking upon re-assembly is it connected or not?because when i plugged in ihnto the dc adaptor it didnt even boot up,black screen,just a power led was on and it overheated within 2 minutes and then shut down,the dc socket replacement was a success but now the laptop doesnt even boot up,i would greatly appreciate any advice,have i not connected up a ribbon cable properley?these are REALLY HARD to reconnect,theres no room to work in.bad design or am i just overlooking something??
March 31st, 2007 at 7:27 am
i need to know that the ground wire where go .please tell me where i can put ground wire in toshiba satellite m35x-s109 laptop
April 2nd, 2007 at 8:20 pm
mahesh,
are you asking about the ground wire on the video harness? You don’t have to connect it to anything, just put the ground wire alone with the harness and forget about it.
April 22nd, 2007 at 11:57 pm
I sold a customer a used laptop (bad idea – I learned – used – saved them money and cost me many hours and dollars.) They told me whenever the system was touched it dies – trid new battery – was DOA, the original is juiceless. Its a Toshiba 1005 S157 – checked all over the net for the sudden shutdown and the fan was pretty clean, but the TIM (grease) was gone and there was some discoloration on the heatsink, so I hoped that was it – nope – looked – found this page, wiggled the connector and sure thing – this was it. As you said, beefed up the connection and also soldered one lead for the HD bay to help drive grounding. Thank you. My wife will also be grateful because I can rejoin the family after the hours hovering over this fine machine.
May 24th, 2007 at 8:46 am
I have a Toshiba M35X-S109 and the system will not boot up. When I turn on the machine, the blue power button goes on and I hear the fan for about 5 seconds…that’s it. Nothing on the screen nor any response from the keyboard. Anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks much
May 24th, 2007 at 9:06 pm
Mike,
Could be a memory related issue. It’s possible you have a faulty memory stick. If you have two RAM modules installed, remove them one by one and test the laptop with each module separately.
BTW, if you purchased this laptop in the United Sates you can get a free repair. Toshiba extended warranty for this model. Call them and ask for a shipping box or take your laptop to a local authorized repair center.
May 26th, 2007 at 9:37 pm
CJ2600,
I called Toshiba and sure enough my computer is under warranty. Looks like Toshiba has a settlement for this particular model. Thank you soo much, you’ve saved me lots of time, headaches and money! May the Lord bless you abundantly. I have something here I would like to share with you that changed my life: http://www.amazingfacts.org/it.....essons.asp
Mike
July 11th, 2007 at 2:23 pm
Hi there! Your site has been so helpful to me! I have a Toshiba Satellite M35X-S111 – had it about 2 years – and the other day it just blacked out on me. The power light stays lit (blue) but the screen is black and nothing works. When I power it on the blue power light comes on and the fan runs for a few seconds but then goes back to black. Occassionally it will actually turn on but only to go black again within anywhere from 2-45 minutes. I just thought my computer was done for and I was really depressed about all the photos I lost – until I found your site!! I did buy my computer in the US from a Best Buy but I’m not 100% sure if I sent in the warranty card – do you happen to know – if I didn’t send in the warranty card back then would I still be eligible for the settlement warranty they are offering through 11/7/07? Thanks again for all of your help! I hope I can take it in and get it repaired and get all of my pictures back!
July 11th, 2007 at 9:35 pm
Kristy,
You don’t have to send in the warranty card. Your laptop will be eligible for repair without any card. Just call Toshiba, order a shipping box or take it to a local authorized repair center.
July 19th, 2007 at 11:41 am
does any one have a Toshiba Satellite 1900-303 guide.
I want to dismantle the laptop and solder the DC jack. I just cannot work on it now.
Any help appreciated.
July 21st, 2007 at 1:45 pm
Ravi,
I haven’t created a disassembly guide for this model yet. You can find disassembly guides for other Toshiba laptops on http://www.irisvista.com. Disassembly steps will be the same for most Toshiba laptops. I hope it helps.
August 6th, 2007 at 1:46 am
A useless faulty designed laptop M35X-S149
The power problem erupted just in 14 months of purchase. It seems Toshiba is paying more attention on looks rather than performance
December 11th, 2007 at 7:24 am
I’ve got this problem with my Toshiba Satellite Pro L10. I’ve purchased a new jack and I’m trying to open the laptop up but I’ve hit a stumbling block. Basically I’ve taken out all the retaining screws in the base of the laptop, but I can’t remove the base from the rest of the laptop (keyboard/screen) to get at the motherboard.
I can prise the laptop apart on each of the 4 corners, and it feels like it is coming apart. But it feels like the keyboard is fixed to the base somehow and therefore stopping me prising the casing off.
Do I need to remove the keyboard to dissasemble the laptop?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks.
December 13th, 2007 at 12:55 am
Please send me driver for this model: toshiba satellite 1900-203
ethernet and display
many thanks
February 7th, 2008 at 2:04 am
hello sir
how to find out the mother board bios battery in Toshiba satellite 1900 laptop plz tell me .
i remove all parts on the laptop but i did’t fid out the bios battery
how i can do it
plz tell me sir
February 7th, 2008 at 9:58 am
Srinu,
You can download the service manual for your laptop here.
Take a look at the page 9 (modem board removal) on the top right image.
The BIOS battery is in the lower left corner on the motherboard. It looks like a 5 cent coin.
February 27th, 2008 at 10:26 am
oning my toshiba pro sattelit 6100 will show green lit wen connected to Ac it will show green lit but on pressing the power button it will show amber color my battry is dead what should i do
May 14th, 2008 at 1:58 am
please i need help with my toshiba satellite 1900, it just would not start. Don’t know what to do. If anyone has a service manual please loan me. thanks
May 19th, 2008 at 11:19 am
sara,
What do you mean it will not start? Do you have any lights when you plug it the AC adapter? Any noises coming from the laptop when you turn on the power button? Any light or image on the LCD screen?
By the way, here’s FRU documentation for a Satellite 1900 series laptop.
May 23rd, 2008 at 2:11 am
I would like some help with a Laptop at work. I have been trying to work on it for a while now with no results. the problem I have with this Toshiba satellite Pro is that it goes off without the main power connection. I have tried replacing the Battery with a new one and still no change .could there be a problem with the actual power supply system in the Machine?please help.
September 1st, 2008 at 2:14 am
my toshiba laptop is any reson & alrats shuting down can u provide me any solution for this problem
.
January 26th, 2009 at 1:29 am
Hi, I would like some help with my A200 Toshiba Laptop: it goes off suddenly. Without the main power connection, WITH the main power connection, with the battery in (battery + main power) or not (without the main power), battery only the same problem: it goes off suddenly!
I have good care of my laptop but in one day I didn’t insert well the plug for main power (only half). The LED for recharging was on… the wire and the plug get quite hot (very hot I say).
When the smell “notify” me I knew something was wrong and I correct the problem.
Everything was fine then, the cable get colder and the laptop worked fine.
Till last week, when I plugged in the power for recharge… in 3 seconds the laptop was off and now, from time to time is going off. Sometimes seconds from the start, other times minutes, or… doesn’t stop at all (till my restart).
What’s wrong and… can I repair it myself?
please send me an e-mail… cristi.radio_AT_yahoo.com
January 26th, 2009 at 8:41 pm
Cristi,
Sounds like a serious hardware related issue. Most likely there is a problem with the motherboard and it has to be replaced.
August 12th, 2009 at 12:51 pm
Great Fix, Thanks! Was thinking of tossing the laptop and did a quick google search which brought me here. Dusted off the old solder gun and just heated those 4 points and applied new solder, boom fixed! Also added some hot glue to help hold it into place so it doesn’t happen again.