Toshiba Satellite M35X, A70 or A75 locks up, freezes up or reboots when you touch the laptop speakers
If you own a Toshiba Satellite M35X, A70 or A75 laptop then you can experience the following problem. You laptop might lock up, freeze up or even reboot by itself when you touch the palm rest around the speakers area. It happens because of a static electricity discharge when your touch the laptop speakers. In some cases you will not even fill that discharge. The problem occurs because of improperly grounded top cover assembly. To fix the problem, it is necessary to install a new modified top cover assembly. If you laptop was made before January 2005 then most likely you have unmodified top cover. For example, I made some pictures from a Toshiba Satellite A75 top cover assembly. The top cover for Toshiba Satellite M35X is almost identical.
On these pictures you see unmodified top cover assembly for Toshiba Satellite A75. The foil runs from the speaker and from the touchpad to the metal chassis.
On these pictures you see a modified top cover assembly. The foil runs from the speaker and the touchpad, touches the metal chassis and ends on a screw stud.
On this picture I remove the metal bracket, so you can see where the foil tape is connected.
I think it is possible to make this modification yourself. All you need is to find a foil and run it as it shown on the pictures. I have never done it myself, so not sure about the result. 
Here are some other problems found in these models.
Power jack issues: Toshiba Satellite M35X and Satellite A75 power jack and battery charge problem
Overheating: Why my Toshiba laptop suddenly shuts down by itself without warning?
Entry Filed under: Toshiba Laptop Problems
109 Responses to “Toshiba Satellite M35X, A70 or A75 locks up, freezes up or reboots when you touch the laptop speakers”
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Pages: « 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 [3] 2 1 » Show All
October 22nd, 2006 at 8:32 am
A75 -S206 - Toshiba.
My Laptop freezes about 2-3 times a day and then is ok for days and then it happens again. Screen shows ok but everything is frozen. It has happened many times, even while I am way from machine so I doubt that its about static in my case.
Memory tests ok, and so does hard drive on diagnostics.
I am thinking of trying a new process and or hard drive to troubleshoot. Any suggestions?
October 20th, 2006 at 10:16 am
Ozzyyz,
If you can attach wires, I think that would be OK but I would go with a foil fix.
Imagine this. You used a wire instead of foil. What if the wire gets loose and touches the system board? You might get a short and damage the board.
BTW, you can find a support bulletin for Satellite A70/A75 and M30X/M35X laptop on their website here. Here’s a quote from the support bulletin:
It looks like you can replace the top cover at no charge. I would call Toshiba customer service and ask them about it.
October 19th, 2006 at 5:31 pm
I was wondering about those reboots and freezes as soon i place my hands on the cover to start typing or to use the touch pad.
I though about a short or something like that but reading this topic
made the things very clear. Looking at the pictures and the date on the stickers on my A75-259 (2004) i can see i got a “improperly grounded top cover assembly”.
Right now got the A75 dismantled (fixing the power jack issue) but i was thinking of using wires instead of foil to fix the issue.
Shall be that ok?
Thank in advance.
October 9th, 2006 at 12:20 pm
I have a Toshiba M35x that will not boot up, the power light comes on but thats it. I have done the modifacation on the cover, can anyone tell me what the problem was with these m35x’s so I dont have to spend hours hunting it down, thank you guy’s
October 8th, 2006 at 3:36 pm
Yolanda,
When a laptop experiences intermittent blues screen errors, it’s hard to troubleshoot and find the problem right away.
Does the laptop work fine in Safe Mode? (Press F8 on startup and choose Safe Mode). If you get BSOD error while working normally, but the computer worst fine in the safe mode, then you might have software related problem and re-imaging the drive will fix it.
Run Memtest 86+ to test the memory module and Hitachi drive fitness test to test the hard drive. You’ll find a link to these utilities in the right pane of the site.
If you have 2 memory modules installed remove them one by one and test the laptop only with one module installed.
Remove the wireless card and run the laptop without it. Sometimes a failing wireless card can cause all kind of different failures, including BSOD errors.
October 7th, 2006 at 2:32 pm
My Toshiba M35X-S149 has been freezing up, but not after you touch it. It says “A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damge to your computerer. KERNEL-DATA-INPAGE-ERROR” it also states “Check that all hardware and software have been properly installed”. Then “A process of thread crcial to system operation has unexpectedly exzited or been termintated”. Then “Tech info: STOP OX 000000F4 (OX00000003, OX88F1FDAO, GX88F1FF14, O804F9F881). This was in August. I called the geeksquad, who finally told me the Operating system needed to be replaced. I left the computer to go to work, came back at night and it started up beautifully. It worked for about five weeks, and yesterday the same problem began again. AFter i leave it off long enough, it will start and stay on long enough for me to transfer off most of the stuff I really need. is this laptop doomed? What could be the issue? Any thougts, great. Thank, Yolanda
September 18th, 2006 at 9:41 pm
Amier,
Make sure that the AC adapter is working properly and outputs required voltage. Try removing the battery and start the laptop on the AC power without the battery installed. If the adapter and the battery are fine, then I guess you have a problem with the system board.
September 18th, 2006 at 3:20 am
I happen to come across your website, this is really good where everybody get to share their knowledge on the web. i have a problem with my toshiba too, the laptop can charge the battery and even shop ac power on the LED light but not able to ON even on battery. both AC and battery will show availability but once I press the switch on it will dissapear. what should I do, please reply. this laptop is no more under warranty.
August 27th, 2006 at 4:59 pm
dear
while working with my a70 laptop i noticed that the touch pad on the left makes a kinda tick sound but the right one is fine i was woundering how i can fix that issue.
August 26th, 2006 at 9:49 pm
Xb,
I think Toshiba will cover this fix even if your laptop is not under warranty anymore. Read this support bulletin. It says:
If it covers only laptops under warranty, why would the mention that there will be no charge? I think if you call them and explain your situation, they will fix it for free.