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
If you find this article useful, please consider making a donation to the author. Thank you!
August 5th, 2008 at 11:35 am
Thanks for the reply about the wireless (message 212). I did look at the right side switch but there is no actual switch but something like a cap. I didn’t think to remove this cap but will see if it is removable.
August 1st, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Hi my Toshiba A65 has bad onboard ram,
so I removed the 8-chips onboard but I don’t know
what is the metal finger? and where is it located?
can someone please tell me.
July 29th, 2008 at 10:18 pm
TAIWO,
Witch LED light is blinking? Is it blinking orange? Is it power LED?
July 29th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
Jake Bloomfield,
Did you try removing the new RAM and starting the laptop with default memory?
Just in case. Unplug the power adapter, remove the battery, wait for 1-2 minutes. Try turning it on.
July 28th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
I knew that the onboard memory was defective, so I thought about replacing the motherboard. Thanks goodness that I stumbled upon posting 19, 23 and 110. I decided to remove the onboard memory per blog 110 (using a sharp knife). At first the PC would not boot up and a continuous beep for about 30 seconds the power off. Then I decided to re-do everything all over again, this time I decided to clean up the soldering real good using a de-soldering bit. Afterward reassembled the laptop. I was able to power up.and Laptop running okay. Currently using 1 GB memory. PC is faster and working better than before. Thanks to posting 19, 23 and 110.
Total time taken was about 6 hours, amount spent was $19.95 (de-soldering tool) + $49.00 (1 GB of RAM).
July 28th, 2008 at 10:17 am
I am having a problem with my toshiba a60-si591st laptop
When I start it up all I get is a Check System message,then press f1 key
after pressing the f1 key – it says
enter date and when I do it just stops there
Any help on this?
Thanks
July 28th, 2008 at 8:46 am
hello, thanks for your assistance concerning the advice you have been rendering on this sites
But i have a problem with my laptop, the problem is that: it power used to blink without switching it on, and also it didn’t produce any signal whenever it been switch on.
kindly help me out
thanks for your cooperation
July 27th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
Hi @ All,
I am trying to repair a A60 for my brothers friend.
He said that he tried upgrading the RAM. He then turned it on, and then nothing comes on the screen.
It powers up, LED ring around the power button comes on and the green power LED on the front of the laptop turns on. Nothing else happens, the Hard doesn’t spin up alot, or the CD/DVD drive.
I’ve tried reseating the RAM, and did the guide above to get rid of the unwanted dust. If anyone has a possible solution to this problem, can you please reply to this or contact me on:
bloomerz_uk @ hotmail . co . uk
Thanks in Advance,
Jake
July 24th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
Arvin Parmar,
Apparently, the motherboard is “Wi-Fi ready” but the laptop itself is not.
You have to have Wi-Fi antenna cables for the internal wireless card. These cable should be installed inside the display panel, under the LCD screen. I posted laptop disassembly instructions at http://www.irisvista.com
Search for the antenna cables using this part numbers: V000040500 or V000043010
Also, there has to be a Wi-Fi switch on the right side of the laptop. It’s possible that on your laptop the switch is covered because the laptop is not “Wi-Fi ready”. Before you purchase Wi-Fi cables and Wi-Fi card, make sure you have this switch and it has to be turned on.
July 24th, 2008 at 3:58 am
I have a Toshiba a65 laptop which does not have a wireless card in it although there is a slot to place one. However I don’t see any antenna wires anywhere. I haven’t opened the whole thing but is it possible there are no antenna wires and placing a wireless card would do me no good. Model number for the laptop is PSA60u-01w015.