Toshiba Satellite A60 and A65 problems
Let’s talk about problems typical for Toshiba Satellite A60 and A65 notebooks. Do you own one of these laptops? Is it working fine for you?
Here are some typical issues I’ve notices with this model.
1. First of all - overheating
Does your laptop shuts down without any reason when you ran CPU intensive programs? If yes, then most likely it happens because the laptop overheats. It happens because overtime the heatsink gets clogged with dust. A layer of dust collects between the cooling fan and the heat sink (dashed line on the picture) and heat produces by the processor gets trapped inside the laptop. As a result of that, the processor overheats and the laptop shuts down.
There are two different way to clean the heat sink and fan in these models:
- Buy a can of compressed air or find an air compressor and blow off the heat sink through the air intakes on the bottom of the laptop.
- Remove the keyboard (steps 5-9) and you’ll get an access to the cooling fan. Blow off dust from the fan and the heat sink.
In some cases the laptop overheats because of defective cooling fan. The fan should start working as soon as you power up the laptop. If the fan will not star, most likely it’s bad and must be replaced. You can find a new heat sink cooling fan for Satellite A60 and A65 notebooks by the following part number: V000042110.
2. Defective onboard memory
Here’s another common problem - bad onboard memory. This memory is integrated into the motherboard and if it goes bad you’ll have to replace the entire motherboard.
If your laptop starts with some weird characters or lines of dots on the screen, most likely you have a faulty onboard memory. If you test the laptop with an external monitor, you’ll see the same defective video on the external monitor too. You can test the onboard memory with Memtest86+ utility. Remove any external RAM modules and run the memory test. If the onboard memory fails, you’ll have to replace the motherboard.
The integrated memory module is located close by the memory extension slot, under the foil.
UPDATE: If you have bad memory, you should read comment 93 submitted by Daniel on September 28th, 2007.
3. Last but not least - power jack issue.
With Satellite A60 and A65 notebooks this problem is not as common as with Satellite M30X, M35X, A70 and A75, but it’s still a problem. Overtime, the power jack might get loose and the positive pin stops making a good contact with the motherboard anymore. As a result, the laptop switches to the battery power even though the power adapter is still plugged in. Usually you can temporally fix the problem by adjusting the power adapter plug on the back of the laptop, but after some time the problem reappears.
In this case you’ll have to disassemble the laptop, remove the motherboard and resolder the power jack. I’m buying new power jacks here.
Do you experience the same problems or you have another issue with your Satellite A60 or A65 notebook? Please share your experience.
Instructions for replacing laptop power jack yourself
Entry Filed under: Toshiba Laptop Problems
227 Responses to “Toshiba Satellite A60 and A65 problems”
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Pages: [23] 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 … 1 » Show All
August 18th, 2008 at 10:06 pm
For me it was pretty easy. Inspecting the memory chips closely, I noticed one of the chips on the end of the row had a hairline crack running thru it. Memtest implied that chip was bad because it was failing at the MSB above 258M. After removing the row of chips the laptop was functional again - minus 256M of RAM, which I promptly made up by installing a PNY 256 DDR PC2700 module (STAPLES has it on clearance for $4.50). So based on my experience, it appears that the high side memory modules are located on the side of the board that has the DIMM memory slot.
August 18th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
NBTLA,
Thanks for your advice. I think some people will have the same question I want to ask.
How did you figure out witch memory bank is witch? For example, as you said, I’m getting errors around 300MB. On witch side of the motherboard this memory bank is located?
August 18th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
For those who have system boards that come with 512M of memory do not have to remove all the chips. The memory is organized in two banks, one 265M 4 chip set on one side and the second 256M section on the other side, and by running memtest you can figure out which bank to remove. Mine showed errors around 300M, and by removing the bad section I still had 256M of working RAM.
August 15th, 2008 at 9:49 pm
Jane,
There is no replacement the power plug because it’s a part of the adapter.
Basically you have two options:
1. Replace the whole adapter.
1. Cut off the old broken power plug and replace it with a generic one that you can buy in Radio Shack (if you have one in Panama). Or you can buy one from these guys: http://www.computekinc.us/TheEndConnectors.htm just call and ask witch one you need.
August 15th, 2008 at 8:02 pm
Thank you CJ. I found the top immediately by following your link.
Do you know anything about the other part — I believe it is called a head? It’s the very end of the power supply cord that plugs into the computer. The top of it is black plastic, only a couple of millimeters, but it is broken and therefore the plug won’t fit in. I’m wondering if there is such a thing as a replacement for this part? I’ve never seen power supply parts sold individually. It looks as though you have to buy the whole thing. I don’t want to do this as the power supply itself works just fine. It is only the connector that has a problem.
Many thanks,
Jane
August 14th, 2008 at 9:34 pm
Jane,
Take a look here. You’ll see different covers for a Satellite A60 and A65 laptop. You can find any cover you need.
August 13th, 2008 at 10:08 am
Hi:
I have 2 slightly different problems with a Toshiba A65-S1068. The insides all work fine but someone dropped or stepped on the computer and broke the top of the case (not the inside, just the outside) and the plug that goes into the computer (we suspect family dog).
I’ve looked for a replacement case top but am confused by the terminology the various parts sites use. When I describe the problem with the top, they respond by describing terms that make no sense to me. In one case, I had a price of $9 and in another $132. Some people “seem” to refer to the bezel as incorporating the top and others do not. They also seem to call the top the bottom ! I’m having a hard time calling these folks as I live in Panama and our phone is currently out.
The second problem is with the plug into the computer. It was damaged, too. The black ring around the top has a small piece missing so when I plug it in it wiggles and won’t connect. I’ve been through the business of ordering a new power supply and, as this is a back up computer, don’t want to spend that kind of money on it. Can you suggest any kind of repair or are you aware of anyone who sells these plug components? I haven’t been able to find them.
Many thanks,
Jane