Feb
10

How to remove BIOS password from Toshiba laptops

Toshiba Laptop BIOS Removal ToolYou can use this plug to remove or clear the BIOS password from older Toshiba laptops. I tested the plug and it successfully cleared the BIOS password from Toshiba Satellite 1415, Satellite 1800 and Satellite Pro 6100. Using the plug you should be able to remove a BIOS password from most Pentium III Toshiba laptops and from some Pentium IV laptops. To make a password removal tool you need a DB25 plug from a parallel printer cable (cable with a plug that you can take apart), a solder gun and 30-40 minutes of your time. Read the rest of this entry »

 

192 Comments »

 

Feb
8

Toshiba Satellite 1415 notebook runs very slow

I spent about 4 hours trying to repair this laptop. The customer brought in Toshiba Satellite 1415 notebook with the following problem: Laptop runs very slow, sometimes locks up. When playing DVD movie, the video output is choppy and freezes up. He reloaded Windows XP from a restore CD but it didn’t help.

We see these kinds of laptops every day and this one didn’t look scary from the beginning. As I always do, I started the laptop waiting for the problem to occur. The laptop booted to Windows fine but much slower than an average unit. During the boot process I was listening for an unusual sound from the hard drive. It was a little bit loud; but nothing critical like a grinding sound. Read the rest of this entry »

 

27 Comments »

 

Feb
6

Toshiba Satellite 1900. Laptop loses power and shuts down without warning.

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 center 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.

Satellite 1900 power jack repair

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.

 

97 Comments »

 

Feb
4

How to take apart and repair Toshiba laptops yourself

The following laptop step-by-step disassembly manuals I have created myself. You can use them if you have a Toshiba laptop and want to repair or upgrade it yourself. You shouldn’t disassemble your laptop if you have no experience with computers because you can easily damage it. Also, you shouldn’t open it if the laptop is still under warranty. I’m still developing new laptop teardown guides and my goal is to add new guides every week. If you do not see a manual for your model, most likely I will add it later. Stay tuned.

Toshiba Satellite disassembly guides and manuals:

Toshiba Tecra series disassembly guides and manuals:

Toshiba Portege series disassembly guides and manuals:

Toshiba Qosmio disassembly guides:

I’m still working on creating new disassembly guides. For more information please visit my Toshiba laptop disassembly site.

 

410 Comments »

 

Feb
3

My Toshiba Satellite A85-S107 will not boot

The customer brought his Toshiba Satellite A85-S107 and complained that the laptop will not boot. First of all, I tried to start the laptop with a known good AC adapter, to make sure that the customers AC adapter is not a problem. The laptop didn’t start and there were no LED activity, the unit was “dead”. The good AC adapter wasn’t able to start the laptop. I started removing the laptop components one by one trying to eliminate the problem. I removed the battery, the memory module, the wireless card, the DVD drive and it didn’t fix the problem. I had just very few parts left: the system board, the CPU and the switch board. I remove the keyboard to check the power switch board and found that the switch board cable wasn’t properly connected to the system board, it was half way out. I reseated the cable on the system board and the laptop started properly.

BTW, the system board has 2 memory slots and by default the memory stick is located in the slot hidden under the keyboard. BUT, it is not enough to remove the keyboard if you want to replace the original memory module. After you remove the keyboard, you still will not be able to remove the memory because it is hidden under the top cover. To replace the original memory stick in Toshiba Satellite A85 you have to remove the entire top cover!!! It sucks!

Here’s a disassembly guide that shows how to replace a memory module on Toshiba Satellite A85.

 

81 Comments »

 

Jan
31

Dell laptop service manuals. How to remove and replace parts in Dell laptops.

If you want to take apart a Dell laptop you can find very clear step-by-step laptop service manuals on Dell website. Here is the link where you can view or download service manuals for the below listed laptops. You can search Dell database by a service tag located on the bottom of your laptop or by the product model. Dell has changed the website, and now it’s even easier to find a manual you need, just click on Manuals link and select your system. Dell offers laptop service manuals in many languages in HTML and PDF formats.

You’ll find a lot of spare parts for Dell laptops here.

 

You will find service manuals for the following Dell Inspiron, XPS and Latitude laptops.

Dell Inspiron 1000
Dell Inspiron 1100
Dell Inspiron 1150
Dell Inspiron 1200
Dell Inspiron 1300
Dell Inspiron 2000
Dell Inspiron 2100
Dell Inspiron 2200
Dell Inspiron 2500
Dell Inspiron 2600
Dell Inspiron 2650
Dell Inspiron 3000
Dell Inspiron 300m
Dell Inspiron 3200
Dell Inspiron 3500
Dell Inspiron 3700
Dell Inspiron 3800
Dell Inspiron 4000
Dell Inspiron 4100
Dell Inspiron 4150
Dell Inspiron 5000
Dell Inspiron 5000e
Dell Inspiron 500m
Dell Inspiron 5100
Dell Inspiron 510m

Dell Inspiron 5150
Dell Inspiron 5160
Dell Inspiron 6000
Dell Inspiron 600m
Dell Inspiron 630m
Dell Inspiron 7000
Dell Inspiron 700m
Dell Inspiron 710m
Dell Inspiron 7500
Dell Inspiron 8000
Dell Inspiron 8100
Dell Inspiron 8200
Dell Inspiron 8500
Dell Inspiron 8600
Dell Inspiron 9100
Dell Inspiron 9200
Dell Inspiron 9300
Dell Inspiron 9400
Dell Inspiron E1705
Dell Inspiron B120
Dell Inspiron B130
Dell XPS/Inspiron M140
Dell XPS/Inspiron M170
Dell XPS/Inspiron XPS

Dell Latitude 100L
Dell Latitude 110L
Dell Latitude C400
Dell Latitude C500
Dell Latitude C510
Dell Latitude C540
Dell Latitude C600
Dell Latitude C610
Dell Latitude C640
Dell Latitude C800
Dell Latitude C810
Dell Latitude C840
Dell Latitude D400
Dell Latitude D410

Dell Latitude D500
Dell Latitude D505
Dell Latitude D510
Dell Latitude D600
Dell Latitude D610
Dell Latitude D800
Dell Latitude D810
Dell Latitude L400
Dell Latitude V700
Dell Latitude V710
Dell Latitude V740
Dell Latitude X200
Dell Latitude X300

 

454 Comments »

 

Jan
28

Toshiba Satellite M35X and Satellite A75 power jack and battery charge problem

A bad connection between DC-IN power jack on the system board and the system board is a very common problem with Toshiba Satellite M35X and Toshiba Satellite A70/A75 notebooks. If your laptop is out of warranty, then you can fix the problem by resoldering DC-IN jack on the system board. If it’s still under warranty, it would be fixed at no charge to you.

Problem symptoms:

  1. Laptop randomly shuts down without any warning.
  2. Power LED and battery charge LED start flickering when you wiggle the power cord or the AC adapter tip on the back or your laptop.
  3. The battery will not get charged.
  4. When you plug AC adapter, the laptop appears to be dead and there is no LED activity at all (DC-IN jack on the system board is broken).

To fix the problem, you have to take your laptop apart, remove the system board to resoleder or replace the DC-IN jack. Toshiba Satellite M35X and Toshiba Satellite A70/A75 disassembly guides will help you to remove the system board. Take a closer look at the power jack on the system board with a magnifying glass. In most cases you get the power problem because of a bad connection between the DC jack and the system board, you’ll see a crack between the DC jack connector and the system board.

Here is an example of Toshiba Satellite M35X power jack. The crack occurs between the DC jack pin and the system board.

Toshiba Satellite M35X DC in jack

Resolder Satellite M35X DC jack on the system board

In some cases the connection is good, but the DC jack is bad itself. You can find a new DC jack for Toshiba Satellite M35X and Toshiba Satellite A70/A75 laptops here. Search for DC jack M35X or DC jack A75.

How to resolder laptop power jack yourself.

UPDATE:

Sometimes, after you replace the jack, you can see that the system board doesn’t get power at all. The battery will not charge and the power LED will not light when you plug in the AC adapter. So, here’s a possible explanation.
When a connection between the positive pin and the motherboard breaks (cracks), the power jack gets loose. You can feel it when you plug in the adapter plug. A loose power jack can damage the trace inside the hole in the system board. Take a look at the picture.

Laptop Power Jack

As you see, the positive pin goes through the hole in the system board and you solder it on the top side. Right? What if the trace between the top side and the bottom side is broken somewhere inside the hole? I’ve seen it before a few times. In this case everything looks nice and clean on the top side. When you plug in the AC adapter, you get normal voltage readings between “+” and “-“ pins on the top side, but the power DOESN’T go to the motherboard at all, because there is no connection between the top and bottom sides. Test with a multimeter if there is a connection between the top and the bottom.
If the trace inside the hole is broken you still can fix it. You can run a wire to connect the top and the bottom sides. Be careful not to short something on the board.

Update:

Here’s another solution to fix the power jack problem, it shows how to relocate the power jack outside the laptop base. Check it out here: Toshiba Satellite A75 failed power jack workaround.

When you repair a loose power jack, it’s a good idea to check the jack on both sides of the motherboard. When you remove the top cover from a Toshiba Satellite A70/A75 laptop you can see only points where the jack is soldered to the motherboard as it shown on the second picture in this post, but you cannot see the jack itself as it shown on the first picture.
Removing the motherboard from Satellite A70/A75 laptop is a good idea because the jack itself might has a broken “+” pin, as it shown on the picture below. If the “+” broke off the base, you’ll have to replace the jack.
Power jack has a broken pin

UPDATE:

Today I received another well written and well documented guide about fixing Toshiba Satellite M35X power connector issue. This guide was submitted by Stephen Macuch. Thank you Stephen for great pictures and detailed instructions.

 

736 Comments »

 

Jan
27

Acer Laptop Service Manuals and FRU Documentation

If you are looking for Acer laptop service manuals, here they are.

I found these manuals published on one of the Russian sites.

You’ll find service manuals and FRU documentation for the following laptops:

Acer Aspire 1610 Series [ 4.5 Mb ]
Acer Aspire 3680 / 5570 / 5580 [ 4.6 Mb ]
Acer Aspire 4930 / 4930G Series [ 4.8 Mb ]
Acer Aspire 5050 / 3050 Series [ 11.7 Mb ]
Acer Aspire 5110 / 5100 / 3100 [ 7.0 Mb ]
Acer Aspire 5520 / 5220 Series [ 3.5 Mb ]
Acer Aspire 5530 / 5530G Series [ 7.4 Mb ]
Acer Aspire 5680 / 5630 / 3690 / Acer TravelMate 4280 / 4230 / 2490 [ 7.7 Mb ]
Acer Aspire 5710 / 5710G / 5310 / 5310G [ 3.2 Mb ]
Acer Aspire 5720 / 5720G [ 3.4 Mb ]
Acer Aspire 5920G [ 4.0 Mb ]
Acer Aspire 5930 / 5930Z / 5730Z Series [ 28.6 Mb ]
Acer Aspire 6920 [ 18.9 Mb ]
Acer Aspire 6930 / 6930G [ 8.8 Mb ]
Acer Aspire 6935 Series [ 23.2 Mb ]
Acer Aspire 7520 / 7220 Series [ 3.7 Mb ]
Acer Aspire 7720 / 7720G [ 3.4 Mb ]
Acer Aspire 7730 / 7730G [ 7.1 Mb ]
Acer Aspire 9420 / 9410 / 7110 / Acer TravelMate 5620 / 5610 / 5110 [ 9.1 Mb ]
Acer Aspire 9920 [ 6.6 Mb ]
Acer Ferrari 3000SG [ 3.4 Mb ]
Acer Ferrari 4000 [ 4.7 Mb ]
Acer TravelMate 2410 [ 2.7 Mb ]
Acer TravelMate 4070 / 4080 [ 3.9 Mb ]
Acer TravelMate 4210 / 4270 / 4670 / Acer Aspire 5620 / 5670 [ 6.2 Mb ]
Acer TravelMate 4220 / 2480 / Acer Aspire 5600 [ 20.7 Mb ]
Acer TravelMate 540 Series [ 7.0 Mb ]
Acer TravelMate 5720 / 5320 / Acer Extensa 5620 / 5220 [ 29.3 Mb ]
Acer TravelMate 5730 / Acer Extensa 5630 Series [ 23.4 Mb ]
Acer TravelMate 5710 / 5310 / Acer Extensa 5610 / 5210 [ 29.1 Mb ]
Acer TravelMate 7720 / 7320 [ 37.7 Mb ]
Acer Travelmate 7730 / 7730g [ 8.3 Mb ]
Acer TravelMate 8100 [ 4.5 Mb ]
Acer TravelMate 240 / 250 [ 5.1 Mb ]
Acer Aspire 4720 / 4720G / 4720Z / 4320 [ 3.1 Mb ]
Схема на Acer Aspire 4720Z (Z01)-E3C [ 0.9 Mb ]
Acer Aspire 4745 [ 10.6 Mb ]
Acer Aspire 8935G [ 10.5 Mb ]
Acer Aspire 5110 / 5100 / 3100 / TravelMate 5510 / 5210 / Extens 5410 / 5010 [ 14.0 Mb ]
Acer Aspire 9300 / 7000 / Acer TravelMate 7510 [ 9.7 Mb ]
Acer Aspire 6530 [ 3.8 Mb ]
Acer Aspire 4520 / 4220 / 4520G / 4220G [ 9.1 Mb ]
Acer Aspire 5738G / 5738ZG / 5738Z / 5738 / 5338 / 5536 / 5536G / 5236 [ 19.4 Mb ]
Acer Aspire 2930 [ 10.4 Mb ]
Acer TravelMate 420 [ 8.9 Mb ]
Acer TravelMate 6492 [ 4.4 Mb ]
Acer TravelMate 3000 [ 4.7 Mb ]
Acer Aspire 4920 / 4920G [ 4.8 Mb ]
Acer TravelMate 4530 [ 6.8 Mb ]
Acer Aspire 4715z / 4315 [ 26 Mb ]
Acer TravelMate 2480 / 3260 / 3270 [ 4.7 Mb ]
Acer TravelMate 4720 / 4320 [ 14.0 Mb ]
Acer Aspire 5935 / 5935G [ 8.4 Mb ]
Acer Aspire 8930 [ 18.6 Mb ]
Acer Aspire 8920 [ 15.5 Mb ]
Acer Aspire 3810T / 3810TZ [ 13.5 Mb ]
Acer Aspire 5810T / 5810TG / 5810TZ / 5410T [ 34.5 Mb ]
Acer Aspire 5737Z [ 7.2 Mb ]
Acer Aspire 1710 [ 4.6 Mb ]
Acer Aspire 2920 / 2920Z / 2420 [ 16.9 Mb ]
Acer Ferrari 5000 [ 17.5 Mb ]
Acer Aspire One [ 5.5 Mb ]

All above mentioned manuals are available here.

 

369 Comments »

 

Jan
24

Toshiba Satellite A70 laptop has no video on LCD screen, backlight works fine

The customer complained that his Toshiba Satellite A70 laptop doesn’t have video on LCD but the screen lights up when he turns on the laptop.

Laptop diagnostics and repair:

The laptop started without any video on the LCD screen, but the backlight lighted the screen. When you have a problem like this, always try to connect the laptop to an external monitor. If the external video is fine, then most likely the system board or the video board in the laptop are fine and the problem is somewhere between the LCD screen and the system board. I connected the laptop to an external monitor and got a normal video output. To find the problem, I opened up the laptop display assembly and found that the video cable on the back of the LCD screen was half way out. After I reseated the display video cable, the laptop started with the internal video.

Read more:
How to troubleshoot and fix laptop video problems
Laptop has bad video on the LCD screen. What is wrong?

 

41 Comments »

 

Jan
20

How to test a laptop or a desktop computer memory modules

A lot of laptop and desktop computer problems are caused by a failed memory or a failing memory module. As a laptop repair technician I test memory modules every time I get a laptop for repair. I have tried many different memory testing utilities but finally I stopped on Memtest 86+. So far it is one of the best free memory test utilities and I use it everyday. You can find this utility on the Memtest 86+ homepage.

To test your memory modules you have to do next:

  1. download Memtest 86+.

Choose Download – Pre-Compiled Bootable ISO (.zip) if you want to burn it on CD. Choose Download – Pre-Compiled package for Floppy (DOS – Win) if you want to place the utility on a floppy disk. I usually use CD because most computers have a CD drive and it’s much faster to start the test from a CD disc.

  1. Change the boot order on your computer to boot from a floppy drive or from a CD/DVD drive.
  2. Insert the floppy disk or the CD disc with Memtest 86+ into the computer.
  3. Start the computer.

If you did everything right, you computer will start from the floppy or the CD and the memory testing utility will start automatically.

Read the rest of this entry »

 

108 Comments »