Comments on: I had shut down problem with CPU intensive uses. Disassembled, cleaned, reassembled the laptop but it’s even worse now.

By: Laptop Freak

Laptop Freak — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 19:54:17 +0000

coby,

Where do I find thermal grease to reapply what I ended up brushing off during the repair of the DC jack?

You can buy it in a local computer store or buy it online. I believe even RadioShack has it.

Another question, if it is the lack of thermal grease that is my problem, should the heating coil still be getting very hot, because it is?

It depends on the laptop model. Some laptops run hotter, some cooler, but you shouldn’t run it without thermal grease, you may damage the processor.

And even though I have the fan plugged in it has not been running at all.

Again, it depends on the model you have. On some laptops (Satellite A75 for example) both fans should start as soon as you turn it on. On other laptops the cooling fan starts only when the CPU is very hot. Make sure that your cooling fan cable is plugged in.

By: cody

cody — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 15:28:22 +0000

I have a similar shutdown problem, which seems to be overheating. Where do I find thermal grease to reapply what I ended up brushing off during the repair of the DC jack? Another question, if it is the lack of thermal grease that is my problem, should the heating coil still be getting very hot, because it is? And even though I have the fan plugged in it has not been running at all. Before this repair I did not have any problems with spontaneous shutdown. Now it shuts down normally within about 5 minutes. Thanks

By: Mark Johnson

Mark Johnson — Thu, 29 May 2008 14:52:01 +0000

Our Toshiba M35X shuts itself down now, too. A couple weeks ago there were a few times when it shut itself down after hours of use. Now it shuts itself down within a few seconds, long before it has a chance to boot up. We’ve had the laptop for three years, and it always felt pretty hot. Following the instructions here and on linked sites, I tried booting with & without the battery. Same result–shuts itself down after just a few seconds (I hear that fan loudly during those brief seconds). Tried it on just the battery–same result.

I also tried incrementally removing the hard drive and memory, thinking maybe it would at least boot to a black screen and give an error message about the missing components. But no, it still shut itself down in a few seconds.

Finally, last weekend I disassembled the unit carefully, cleaning out the dust, removed the fan & cleaned it. Carefully removed the old thermal “grease” (which was hard now, like caulk or spackle–is that normal?). Put down new thermal grease for the video chip and CPU, then reassembled everything. Same result–powers itself off after a few seconds. Arg!

At that point, I went online and ordered a new laptop. Is there anything else I can try, or is this Toshiba a lost cause? Thanks for the help.

By: jon

jon — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 17:47:05 +0000

Hi LF,
I recently replaced my hard drive in my Toshiba Dynabook V8. The old hard drive was faulty; it kept making loud noises and laptop would shut off. I used the recovery cd for the new hard drive and everything is working much better…but only for an hour. For some reason, after an hour, the laptop would just shut off (as if it lost power). It’s not an overheating issue and the fan is working. Could a faulty memory be the cause of this kind of problem? Thanks in advance for your help.

By: Laptop Freak

Laptop Freak — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 04:22:01 +0000

Terry Andren,
You are right, Toshiba Satellite A45 has two fans. You’ll find a disassembly guide for Satellite A45 on (www.irisvista.com). One fan you can see on the step 20. Another one – the heat sink fan is located under the motherboard. In order to replace the heat sink fan you’ll have to remove the motherboard.

By: terry andren

terry andren — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 16:02:35 +0000

I have a Toshiba Satellite A45-S130 & need to replace cooling fan. Is there more than one cooling fan on this unit? Also, how do I remove cooling fan? Lots of screws to remove!

By: Laptop Freak

Laptop Freak — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 03:37:42 +0000

Robbie Nicosia,
If the laptop shuts down only when it’s running on the battery power but not on AC power, it’s not a heat related issue (some people forget plug the fan during the laptop assembly). The same problem appears with a brand new battery, so it’s not a battery fault.
Looks like you have something wrong with the system board, I cannot think of something else.
Check out this post, you might qualify for a free repair from Toshiba. Let me know how it goes.

By: Robbie Nicosia

Robbie Nicosia — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 17:52:32 +0000

I have a Toshiba Sattelite A75 laptop and am experiencing a similar problem to the fellow above where the unit simply shuts off at start up. The key difference is that with mine it only shuts down if I’m running on battery power, if plugged in it will run indefinitly with no problems. I too had an overheating problem due to dust build-up at the heat sink and have rectified that problem with positive results. Two key points:
1. The “shutting down” problem pre-existed my disassembling and cleaning the computer, and
2. The battery is brand new (I replaced it when I first noticed this problem suspecting either a failing or failed battery.
Any ideas? I’m beginning to get very frustrated:(
Thanks!

By: Laptop Freak

Laptop Freak — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 03:08:18 +0000

Cattivo,

All the info in these pages is great but unfortunately to my current needs they do a little “voila, the thing is disconnected” without showing how to remove these jacks.

Because these guides were created for people who has some experience with taking apart laptops. Just kidding.
Are you disassembling a Toshiba laptop? What is your model? Witch cable you are trying to disconnect? You mentioned the white and black cables and I can assume you are talking about the wireless card antenna cables. If yes, then grab the small round connector with your fingers and unsnap it from the wireless card. I cannot give you a better explanation, you have to feel it.

By: cattivo

cattivo — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 23:15:51 +0000

Hi, can anyone explain in detail how to remove these tiny jacks in the motherboard? the ZIF are explained, but what about the other ones? These are either white (most) or black. They do not want to ‘unplug’ so there is a trick somewhere. They look very easy to damage so I have ruled out using plastic explosive on them, lol.
ALl the info in these pages is great but unfortunately to my current needs they do a litle “voila, the thing is disconnected” without showing how to remove these jacks.
It would be a great addition to this excellent resource, me thinks.
Thanks!