Hardware Analysis - Toshiba Satellite Shutdown

Re: Toshiba Satellite Shutdown

Alan Lynn — 2008-08-01T15:43:15-05:00

I have a theory that the fan speed isn't being regulated properly anymore. When the processor gets hotter, I don't think the fan spins faster. If this is true, is there a fix or workaround I could use without having to replace anything expensive?

Also. is the A15-S129 supposed to report its fan speed? I installed the program SpeedFan and it didn't find any fan data.

Re: Toshiba Satellite Shutdown

Peeter Siitan — 2008-07-31T15:30:44-05:00

its all familiar to me... I had also the problem... at a point, where nothing helped me
cleaning the heatsink, changing thermal paste etc. i gave up my toshiba 1905 long ago..
for you I'd like to say, that i think, the problem is in the motherboard, you can still try
to change everything, I did, I even took apart all the laptop (2 hours) to remove the motherboard, to change the fan on the motherboard. tried also changing processors (worked
for a while.. pentium 4 - to pentium 4 mobile) then same stuff.

So in the long run I think your instrument is dead, if you dont want to pay million to buy
a new motherboard. Just my stomach feeling, maby im wrong

Re: Toshiba Satellite Shutdown

Alan Lynn — 2008-07-31T05:44:33-05:00

I've had a Toshiba Satellite A15-S129 for a little over 4 years. It recently developed an overheating problem, which is causing involuntary shutdowns. Pretty much overnight it went from no overheating problems to overheating very easily. I tried cleaning the dust out of the heatsink, but didn't get a significant improvement. I removed the old thermal grease and applied some RadioShack "silicone-base heat sink compound". It didn't seem to make any difference. I also had no luck with a 2 fan cooling pad.

I don't know what could cause an overheating problem so suddenly. I was using my computer for plenty of processor intensive purposes before without problem, but now I can barely even use the internet. Has anyone had a similar problem or think they might know a solution?

Re: Toshiba Satellite Shutdown

peter de villiers — 2008-07-25T01:58:31-05:00

I have also experienced this with a Satellite over the past few years, and am now shcoked to find it a general problem with this model of Toshiba Laptop.

Has Toshiba ever addressed this problem. It appears to be a basic design defect, and I though there were standard remedies for epedemic failure??

Re: Toshiba Satellite Shutdown

funkyfriedfish — 2008-05-18T07:49:35-05:00

2004 to 2008 wow what a lengthy thread. As an owner of a toaster a75-s209, *cough* I mean Toshiba, I felt compelled to reply with my experiences.

As mentioned in this thread my machine has suffered from all of these problems. Not all at the same time mind you but after 3+ years of ownership and daily moderate to heavy use it's seen it all without as much as a day of downtime. Before you say anything I'm not special and I don't have a special machine I just refuse to ship my machine back for repairs which ultimately end up with Toshiba sending me back a machine with my HDD restored to "factory". I mean who really wants all that trouble anyway?

This site was a terrific help in tearing down my machine the first time. Have a look, the step by step instructions are great. http://www.laptopka.com/2006/03/18/taking-apart-notebook/comment-page-11/

PROBLEM: Static discharge through the metal speaker covers causes machine to lock up or become non-responsive.
SOLUTION: Ground speaker grills and mouse pad. I did this simply with some plumbers foil tape used for household metal ducting which can be found in home improvement or hardware stores. Cut the tape and adhere it to the underside of the top case to create new bridges from each of the metal speaker grills and double mouse button frame. When you examine your underside of the case top you'll see that speaker grills are only grounded on one of each of the metal tabs holding the speaker grills in place. I created a new grounding point to one of the other tabs leaving Toshiba's grounding in place and the same goes for the mouse frame. Before you adhere the foil tape make sure you scrape the metal areas you'll be grounding to so you remove any paints or coatings and you have bare metal to foil contact for best results. You can see some ideas and fixes not to mention what I'm talking about here: http://www.laptoprepair101.com/laptop/2006/04/06/satellite-m35...s-reboots/
RESULT: Since my fix I haven't had the machine lock up or freeze due to static discharge. 100% fixed.

PROBLEM: Horrible tinny sounding speakers.
SOLUTION: While I had my case top off repairing the static discharge problem I went ahead and secured some sound baffle behind the speakers. With the speakers re-installed in the top case take some stretch bandage (the stretchy stuff that sticks to itself). I used some stuff that was about 2 inches wide and cut two pieces, one for each speaker, that made a nice square about 2 inches by 2 inches which covered the back (on top of the magnet) nicely. I secured it using some painters masking tape cut into quarter inch strips much like is found inside the case already.
RESULT: I now have much cleaner sounding not as tinny and definitely no rattles. This fix was a nice bonus I thought of while I was repairing the static issue. 80% better sound.

PROBLEM: Power / Charging plug gets hot from overheating causing the soldering to form cold joints and intermittent or total power loss. You'll notice this happening when you can wiggle your power cable and the charge / power lights on the front of the notebook go off and on.
SOLUTION: Tear down the machine and locate the power connector. Remove old solder, clean board and contact areas, and re-solder with high quality (high heat) solder. Be sure you flux and tin neatly and in small amounts to keep factory looking joint connections.
RESULT: Power connector now functions as it should and battery charges. Since this fix I haven't had any problems. 50% solution see below for overheating which is the cause of why this happens. See more about this problem here: http://www.laptoprepair101.com/laptop/2006/01/28/toshiba-satel...k-problem/

PROBLEM: Overheating caused by clogged and dirty heatsinks.
SOLUTION: Keep the heatsinks clean by using compressed air regularly and if needed tear down the machine to physically clean the heatsinks.
RESULT: With the heatsinks clean your machine will run cooler and as regular maintenance it's always a good idea. 25% solution see below for more. You can get an idea of what these heatsinks can look like if not maintained here: http://www.laptoprepair101.com/laptop/2006/01/04/toshiba-lapto...erheating/

PROBLEM: Overheating in general.
SOLUTION: It wasn't until I got frustrated with the heat issue that I figured I needed to look at the connection between the heatsink and the CPU. When I finally took the heatsinks off the CPU I was amazed at the condition and quality of the thermal paste. Use clean q-tips and isopropyl alcohol to remove old thermal paste. Use moist not really wet q-tips and work it into the thermal paste to get it to release. Make sure to clean both the heatsink and CPU. Use a high quality thermal paste like Arctic Silver when reapplying. Use a small pea sized dot of thermal paste in the center of the CPU and four smaller dots on the corners so when it's compressed between the heatsink and CPU it creates as much thermal area for heat transfer as possible BUT do not use so much that the thermal paste oozes out causing a messy cleanup of thermal paste from the CPU socket or board. Remember think small it doesn't take a lot of thermal paste (small pea sized dot) to make the best connection and in this case more isn't better.
RESULT: After replacing the horrible thermal paste my machine came with from the factory my CPU runs incredibly cooler therefore it takes less to keep the machine cool and as a result my power connector doesn't heat solder itself apart. 25% fix to power connector problem and I'll swear to 75% fix to my overheating along with the above heatsinks.

PROBLEM: Cooling fans noisy.
SOLUTION: Keep the fans lubricated with a 5-in-1 or sewing machine oil. These oils don't attract dirt and can be applied in very small amounts. While your machine is apart for heatsink cleaning it's a good idea to maintenance your fans. Removing the fans from the board are just four screws and two molex power connectors to release the fans. Once removed you can see the sticker looking covers over the center bearing. Carefully remove the sticker so it can be reinstalled and best is to just lift a corner and peel back half way to allow access to the center bearing. Using a small applicator like a needle place a very small dot (dew drop size, VERY SMALL AMOUNT) on the center bearing directly. Spin the fan manually and work the lubricant into the bearing. Be VERY careful that you don't get any lubricant on the plastic surrounding the bearing or the sticker cover will not adhere back to the plastic. This can cause any excess oil to leak which could short something out if it's alot or worse it can allow dust to enter the bearing point mixing with the lubricant and frying a fan.
RESULT: I'm a firm believer in keeping fans lubricated as maintenance items. Taking just a few minutes every couple months can save lots of money in costly repairs.

Well anyway I hope this helps someone keep or get your machine running.

Good luck!

Re: Toshiba Satellite Shutdown

Tai Nguyen — 2008-04-08T03:01:33-05:00

My solution: Leaf Blower

I have a Toshiba A75-S125. It shuts down 2 minutes after I started Disk Defragmenter or Disk Cleanup. Compressed air can did not get much dust out of the laptop. I decided to use my leaf blower and it worked great!

Notes:
- have someone hold your laptop, else it�ll be blown away.
- turn on the blower for 10 seconds to let all the dust come out first (you don't want them get inside your laptop anyway).
- block your laptop fans so that they won�t spin (I used a small electric wire)

Re: Toshiba Satellite Shutdown

Philip Alter — 2008-03-08T03:32:58-05:00

I have an M45-S165 with Celeron M processor. Mine started shutting down last July (2007) 1-1/2 years after I bought it. There is no set time nor activity that makes it shut down. I have seen it shutdown within 6 hours of being turned on and I've seen it last as long as 6 days without the shutdown. It is under warranty but that does not help and Toshiba does not respond. One of their authorized service centers said straight out "we cannot just sit and watch it waiting to see it shut down. If you can't force it to shutdown by doing some process/task, then we cannot fix it".

I spent $200 on fans, heat sink and cleanings. I bought a chill pad for the laptop to sit on. And still it shuts down.

I have given up trying to resolve this and since the laptop is really secondary to my desktop PC, I have no plans to replace it.

By the way, do a web search on "Toshiba Laptop Sudden Shutdown" and there are thousands of hits. Then replace "tobshiba" in the search with any other brand (i.e., HP or IBM or even MAC) and guess what - this is not limited to Toshiba.

I had an IBM thinkpad for 4 years and never had to turn it off or had it shutdown. Maybe I was lucky that it lasted 4 years. I am not happy with Toshiba, and won't ever buy any of their products - not because my laptop shuts down; but because they don't respond and their warranty service centers won't help.

Re: Toshiba Satellite Shutdown

Laptop Willie — 2008-03-03T18:58:02-05:00

Daryl,
One thing a lot of people forget is that a notebook, like a car, requires maintenance. One of the requirements is that the CPU heat-exchanger needs cleaning from time to time. If this is not done, it is possible to damage the motherboard. Warping is a common problem with overheating the motherboard. This in turn will cause the BGA type chips to come loose from the board. This is most common with the newer video chips. This is not just a requirement of Toshiba, but most ALL notebooks. The cleaning you did with the vacuum should be carried out every so often. I suggest about every 6 months. Keep it clean and dry and it should last a while.

Re: Toshiba Satellite Shutdown

Daryl Wilson — 2008-03-03T05:41:49-05:00

I am running Win XP Pro Media Center SP2 on a Toshiba Satellite A105-S4324 which has Intel Centrino Duo 1.6GHz dual processor and 160GB HDD with 4GB RAM. I have had problems with this crappy machine since I purchased it. Toshiba's service center only seems to have foreign telephone operators to assist (they speak very little English and can only barely read a preprinted list of supposed fix-alls), and when you do finally get referred to a technician who may speak English, he is unable to actually diagnose the problem any further than I could, telling me to take it in to a local shop or send it to an authorized repair facility (my cost). Toshiba even had my computer preregistered by about 6 months, making my one-year warranty expire 6 months too early. I finally got that problem corrected (took a month) and was able to get warranty repair work done at a local Toshiba authorized service center. Different problem occurred though - they completely wiped out my hard drive, told me that my repair disk was unreadable, but they could order a new one at my cost of $40. And the original problem still existed (was unable to boot up my computer and could not access wireless, Win XP said I did not have a wireless card even though it came with it built-in and I physically opened up the back panel to see it plain as day). I called up the service center and retrieved my computer as-is and ended up repairing the problems myself over a period of a few days, but computer still only recognizes 3GB of RAM rather than the installed 4GB, even after updating the BIOS. Still have no solution for this and Toshiba, again, is unable to tell me how to correct this problem. Go figure, right? Idiots!!! Now, my computer has been randomly shutting down without any kind of notice whatsoever. I tried Safe Boot with Win XP, but it fails even that. I was unable to run McAfee Anti-Virus or hard drive backup for my data (necessary before I ever send it in for service again), but it keeps shutting off. The fan has been running constantly, even if I turn it on after several days of it being off, unused. I've even tried putting a cold compress under the computer to see if that would make the computer cool down and not run the fan constantly, but to no avail. Finally, after reading about the random, sudden shut down happening with older Toshiba laptops, I decided on using an air can and blowing loose whatever might be in the vents and fan, then I used a household vacuum to suck out whatever might also be lodged in there. And, to top that all off, I placed the laptop outside in the cold, snow-covered porch to get really cold before bringing it back inside and plugging it in and attempting to use the computer again. Guess what??? It seems to be working again without shutting down immediately upon booting up into Win XP. I'm trying a processor-intensive media transcoding of VOB files to AVI DivX just to be sure it is working alright, but so far...all seems to be going well again, for how long who knows though. I tell everyone to stay far, far away from Toshiba's computers. Myself, I will NEVER, EVER buy another Toshiba computer. They used to be a good company with quality products, but in the past few years they have REALLY gone downhill.

Re: Toshiba Satellite Shutdown

Daryl Wilson — 2008-03-03T05:36:55-05:00

Re: Toshiba Satellite Shutdown

Michael Evenson — 2007-09-06T18:33:09-05:00

For a long list of toshiba service manuals try this-

http://www.csd.toshiba.com/cgi-bin/tais/su/su_sc_modSel.jsp?mo...dgngdgmn.0

EASY FREE FIX Overheaing Laptop

Don Barnett — 2007-07-30T16:15:21-05:00

Toshiba A-65 series, 2 years old, overheating after 10 minutes or so.
I used a shop vac to suck dirt and dust and hairballs out from the botton and rear vents.
Hasn't overheated since.

Re: Toshiba Satellite Shutdown

Roberto Stasi — 2007-07-26T21:22:16-05:00

I am trying to provide solutions for this problem of the shut down. I have solved the reset of my shut down problems myself. At toshiba they fixed decently the problem with the shut down due to static. I have had all of the problems realated to shut down for my A70 laptop.
Here is the solutions:
You will see on this site the solutions for the fan problem. The easiest solution is to blow compressed air from the back of the liquid cooler grid. However I fixed mine in a better way. Since it takes a ridiculous amount of dust to start to have shut down problems and since I did notice that one fan does not start correclty to cool the CPU until is too late than I have bridged the two fans into one connector as described in this site. It works. Never had a shut down since due to overheating.
The next problem is the power jack. Someone said that they put somebody at Toshiba to research the issue. It's not true. If it's true than that persons is doing nothing at all. Being tired of having the same problem with my power jack being broken a second time I decided to open again the laptop and analyze the issue on my own. I did not like the idea of an external tail jack wich is not professional and ugly. So upon opening up the laptop and trying to unsolder the contacts of the power jack to have it checked or replaced somehow I did notice where the problem actually is. The toshiba personnel had just redone the soldering points without inspecting the source of the problem. In fact if you remove the led completely from the solder points of the jack you will notice that there is a factory problem with the motherboard. Basically the computer building the board forgot to clean the green coating from the solder points of the power jack thus the lead has nowhere to hold on to but inside the hole of the motherboard where the contact are located. Basically the contacts is weak for that simple reason. You must remove all of the lead. Pick a piece of TV cable and remove the wiremesh shield of that cable. You will use that to litterally such the lead from the soldering point. Put the wiremesh on the solder point to clean up and heat it up with the solder gun. Immerge the wiremesh in soldering paste if you have some for better results. This way all of the lead will stick to the wiremesh and you will be able to see the contact on the motherboard. I have personally used one of those lead suckers to do the job before using the wiremesh. Once you have the contact visible on the motherboard you have to scratch all of the green coating with a screwdriver or something else until you see the copper below. Redo the soldering and that connector will never brake any longer.
So many problems to the customers for so little research. hoy, hoy! Bad job for the thosiba man at the research department. He is in troubles this time.

Re: Toshiba Satellite Shutdown

Q Tran — 2007-07-26T03:06:02-05:00

Hello, I am new to the group and yes my A70 overheats and shuts down all the time. I have had it serviced before under warranty but the problem persists (out of warranty now). I found this website http://www.irisvist a.com/tech/ laptops/ToshibaA 75/satA75_ 1.htm
with a step-by-step guide to disassembling the A70. Just wondering how others found this guide? Do I have to follow all the steps? (is it necsarry to remove everything like the harddrive... etc. if all I want to do is clean out the fan and heatsink?) Just want to know what is the minimal dismantling I need to do to get to fan and heatsink? I am a bit nervous resorting to opening up the notebook and don't want to permanently wreck it.

thanks

Re: Toshiba Satellite Shutdown

Dave Pen — 2007-07-03T10:39:32-05:00

Hi Guys,

I also had a problem with my Toshiba Laptop shutting down. I discovered that on the underside the air intake was getting blocked by loose papers being sucked up over the air inlet. As well as removing the papers i also raised the back of the laptop by wedging something about an inch high under the back edge. This has allowed a better airflow and has so far prevented any further shutdowns. I know we should not have to go to such lengths but if it solved the problem for me it may work for you.