For all “happy” Toshiba Satellite M35X laptop owners.
I just received a very interesting comment for one of my posts. I think that this comment would be very useful for many Toshiba Satellite M35X laptop users and deserves to be published as a standalone post. The comment was submitted by user Hack.
In the following article the author mentions the picture posted here: Toshiba Satellite 1900. Laptop loses power and shuts down without warning.
Here it is:
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.
Don’t be fooled by looking at the jack from the outside. All of those daisy petals that look like they hug the outside of the plug don’t do anything electrically; they just attempt to hold in the plug in place against a tiny contact at the bottom of the jack in between the daisy petals. The power connection was gradually getting harder and harder to get the orange light to stay lit so it would charge. That was my jack slowly wearing out or quickly wearing out. It took about a month or two. Then finally the jack was noticeably loose, that was the day that the solder point on the positive connection broke loose. It didn’t break loose from the board; the metal pin broke loose inside the solder itself. The craptop would no longer show any lights at all except the blinking orange light of rage. Someone please call Toshiba and tell them to USE FLUX!In the photo, the two solder points on the left and the right hold the outer shielding over the jack and hold it in place. At no point does the outer shielding make contact with the inside of the jack, even though on the board they are all connected. The top center solder point is the negative connection, and the bottom center is the positive. That tip is for those who want to do what I did to fix my craptop.
A new Motherboard is $250 F That
I soldered the wires from an adapt plug [part #64-026] from Radio Shack directly to the board, and then the male version [part #273-1742] to the freshly beheaded power cord. Make sure to only cut the end off, just the plug. If you attempt this you will need some solder wick and at least a 25w iron to pull the jack from the board. Use a 15w iron to solder the new wires in place. Make sure you don’t plug the wires in backwards. The + on the male must line up with the “tip” stamped on the female side, that is the only point of caution. Don’t leave your fixed craptop alone in the presence of useful idiots.
I would just recommend going with the pig tail method for the simple fact that the jack itself is cheap and will stretch and stretch until your craptop no longer charges. So really, who wants to take their laptop apart 2x. The first time my laptop wouldn’t charge unless I slightly pulled it to one side or the other I took the board out only to find only the solder points on the board were solid. The temp fix for that was to make a tiny L shape with a paper clip, crimp it flat, then get it inside the jack and bend out the daisy petals a little bit so it holds the plug in a little better. That fix lasted for a month, the second time 3 weeks, and it wasn’t worth a third attempt, because at this point the wiggle made it obvious that the jack was now loose on the board.
If you want some solid laptop advice, buy a HP/Compaq I Image laptops and desktops in a 3,000+ workstation environment day in and day out. All the machines are HP. I can’t speak for the new models, but the N610c is a nice. I have seen at least 200 of them after 3 years of abuse in the field, and not a single one with a power problem.
Related posts:
Toshiba Satellite M35X, A70 or A75 locks up, freezes up or reboots when you touch the laptop speakers.
Toshiba Satellite 1900. Laptop loses power and shuts down without warning.
Toshiba Satellite M35X and Satellite A75 power jack and battery charge problem.
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July 17th, 2006 at 12:04 pm
I Too am frustrated with my Toshiba Laptop M35X!! This was a Christams Gift bought on 12-21-04., Shy of being 19 months old and used very seldom. It is now on the way for repair # THREE. First the back light went out while under a one year warantee and Less than 7 months old, then the same problem with the power jack not charging came three months later. I went to a computer service center who sold me a new battery pack for $168.00, thinking that would correct the problem which became worse. Spent $118.00 for shipping to an authorized service center and for diagnostic fee to find out that it was my lucky day. I’m not under warantee but I get a new system board at no charge. Received it back and now it locks up and shuts down. NO ONE TOLED me or INFORMED me that this was a call back and in a class action lawsuit. How dumb do I feel??? I find out by filing a complaint at Toshiba customer relations. Very dissatified with my first laptop purchase. I too feel like it is a lemon.
July 10th, 2006 at 10:50 am
Kate,
It might be the system board problem. Apparently, your laptop is still under Toshiba warranty, so ship it to them for repair or take it to an authorize service repair center.
July 10th, 2006 at 3:31 am
I purchased the M30X/M35X 111 in February 2005. I used it only at my summer camp, maybe around 20 tmes. The other day I had it on at home to check on something and then shut it down. About an hour later I heard this ear piercing alarm sound. Well, the computer will not do anything now. I can’t get it to even turn on. The alarm and fan and the power light in the front are the only thing that comes on. I have to take the battery out in order to stop the alarms sound. It is not the adapter as it was checked.
Does anyone know what the problem could be? HELP!!!
July 1st, 2006 at 7:36 pm
Well let me begin, I brought my Toshiba Satellite M35x-S111 18 months ago. In between that time I had to wiggle,unplug/replug the power jack to get the charge light to come on. I never thought anything of it. Then it happen, one day I turned it on and it ran strictly on battery power even after I plugged the power cord. The computer charge light won’t come and it beeped until it shut off. I took it back to Best Buy(where I have a two year warranty), they told me I need an new hard drive. Well they replaced it for free and it worked for two/three weeks and now the same problems are happening again. I plug it in and no charge light comes on and the puter shuts off after beeping. So I went on line to find out why this is happening and found this site. I’ll be off to Best Buy with my new found info,thanks. Sincerely,
Derrick
May 30th, 2006 at 11:08 pm
Ho-made,
I’ve never heard that swapping CPUs would cause system board damage. If the CPU installed is not recognized by the BIOS, the worst scenario – laptop will not boot. You mentioned that you damaged the top half of the socket. I guess it might be your problem. If you are sure that the damage is not critical, then check if the CPU is seated correctly and actually LOCKED. The laptop will not boot if the CPU is unlocked or not seated properly. Do not buy the keyboard until you can boot the laptop.
May 30th, 2006 at 9:58 am
OMG!! I’m also having problems with my M35X!! It will not charge at all.. and now I’m stuck using the home computer !! the bad part…I was thinking that the problem was the adapter..sooo…. .I had just ordered a new adapter in hope that it will work.. Now that I have read all the comments.. I’m assuming it will not work at all..awwwhh crap!! I’m SO MADDDDDDDDD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
May 29th, 2006 at 11:21 am
in my quest to gain more power from an older Toshiba 1675CDS, i removed the Cel 550 cpu to install an 850 (both mobile cpu’s). Well the 850 didn’t boot so i decided to re-install the Cel 550 and now it won’t boot either. I did do some damage to the top half of the socket and it’s hard to get the cpu locked in, but i think it is locked in. Would swapping the cpu’s do irreversible damage to the m’board? would clearing the cmos help? do I scrap the laptop? It also needs a keyboard, but i found a replacement on ebay. help please so i know whether or not to purchase the replacement keyboard or not.
May 23rd, 2006 at 11:15 pm
[...] About 3 weeks ago I received a comment from a user who described his experience with Toshiba Satellite M35X. Today I got one more for Toshiba Satellite A75. Even though these are completely different models, they have very similar problems: laptop heatsink gets clogged and the laptop overheats, improperly grounded top cover causes the laptop to freeze up and reboot, badly designed DC jack causes the power failure. May be your experience is more positive? [...]
May 14th, 2006 at 9:11 pm
What a piece of junk! I am so frustrated with Toshiba it is insane! Not only my M35X — their customer service alone will make never want to buy one of their products.
I don’t understand how a company like this can stay in business! Thank god they don’t just make laptops… I don’t think they would have lasted this long if they did!
I am refusing to purchase a new motherboard for this laptop and have ordered an HP instead. Does anyone know where, or if there is a market for, a used laptop with a bad board? I’m thinking it might be able to be sold for parts? I don’t know… I just want it out of my house!
May 9th, 2006 at 10:17 pm
Lara,
Usually the fan turns on more often then before because the heatsink is clogged. May be it’s a time to clean up the heatsink in your laptop. Here is a fast solution. When the fan spins, a heat from the CPU is coming out from an opening on the right side of your laptop. Buy a can of compressed air and blow inside the opening on the side. It will help you to clean up the heatsink.
If the fan is making a grinding sound when it spins, then the fan must be replaced.