Hardware repair guide suggestion/comment thread

[frozenlead]

This thread is here for anyone who reads the hardware repair sticky at the top of the forum - if you've a question, comment, or suggestion on a procedure or how the sticky can be improved, please put them right here!

The sticky is located here:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/53660-35-notebook-disassembly-hardware-repair-guide

 

[foreone]

ok thanks.

images on screen are all mixed up. for example some of the toshiba boot logo is up right some of it is in the bottom and rest of it is eveywhere on the screen . and its like looking on a broken 90's arcade system. white, gray points everywhere also a lot of vibration and blinking. same thing happens when connecting an external monitor.

do you know a place where i can buy this card online then?

thank you again.

 

[frozenlead]

http://www.mxm-upgrade.com/
is the only place I know if, but it will only help you if your GPU is in an MXM slot.

You need to find out if your GPU is integrated into your motherboard (which it likely is). In that case, you'll have to replace the board.

 

[aneblanc]

I have an Toshiba Satellite A100. The fan was working almost all the time recently. I thought the fan or the heat sink were dirty. I vacuumed the slits on the fan and on the heat sink. The fan now doesn't start anymore.

My questions are:
what happens if I run the machine without the fan?
How do I replace the fan if necessary?
Where do I get a replacement fan for this machine?
Is it worthwhile fixing or should I get a new laptop?
The laptop is 4 years old I think.
They cost about 500$, same as 4 years ago.

Thanks

 

[aneblanc]

Hi again,

The laptop had been working for half an hour and the CPU was really getting hot.
I just put a vacuum cleaner on the heat sink outlet and kickstarted the fan.
Now it seems to work again! It goes on and off on its own. I hope that will last...

 

[frozenlead]

The fan should turn on and off during use. It doesn't need to cool the machine all the time.

Instead of using a vacuum, next time consider using an air compressor. Vacuums can make lots of static which can KO computer parts.

 

[krvjn]

First of all, thanks heaps for the awesome guide! Proved to be very helpful, i.e. this time I didn't have to guess if I was doing the right thing, I was able to look it up and proceed with caution if some parts didn't come off that easily.

Here's my tiny problem: I am working on a laptop just like the one shown on the pics. I need to replace the CMOS battery. Found it, no problem. I just don't know how to make it come out of that "metal thingy" gripping it. It seems so fragile and carefully pulling it doesn't work for me. I noticed you can lift it upwards a bit (kinda like the RAM) but that's it.

Can you help? Thanks in advance, very much appreciated! 😍

 

[Nocturnal Lunacy]

The repair sticky is totally awesome. wish I would've seen that the first time I tore apart a laptop lol. Now I'm pretty much a pro at tearing laptops apart because I fix em. Well at least try, most are unfixable once you have to tear em apart. I still have a few mishaps with cracks and breaks but laptops are made very poorly anyway.
But I have a question, on the number 4 pic it shows the vga harness cable. I need to know what wires are for what that was on a Sony Vaio PCG 9L1L LCD monitor. Not the whole harness, the white connector that connects to the motherboard. The pinout for that connector would be awesome.
Thank you and good job on this sticky.

 

[frozenlead]

But I have a question, on the number 4 pic it shows the vga harness cable. I need to know what wires are for what that was on a Sony Vaio PCG 9L1L LCD monitor. Not the whole harness, the white connector that connects to the motherboard. The pinout for that connector would be awesome.
Thank you and good job on this sticky.

That picture doesn't show any VGA cable. The white cable is for the touchpad. As for an individual pinout, I have no idea. They're all different. You'd have to talk to an engineer or someone high up to get access to that kind of data.

 

[deli10]

not sure if i am posting in the right section but i have an issue with my laptop
Toshiba p205d-s7806. water spills and the user kept it plugged and tried to boot it up a couple of times.. i am not sure what is dead now but after a week of keeping it to dry, it powers up when connected and i hear it boot but no screen, not even when connected to external screen... any advice???

 

[varzeas]

Hello everyone,

I am brand new to this forum and to forums in general so please excuse any gaffes of etiquette etc. and correct any thing I may say or do that goes astray of the general do's and don'ts.

I have an HP dv7-3165dx that the integrated graphics went out on. The rest is fine. I would like to know if I can replace the motherboard with one where I can use a discrete graphics card or do I have to stick with a replacement of the exact kind. I am willing to buy a new laptop but am a strong believer in fixing it if it makes sense.....ie. financially.

Thanks,

Tim

 

[Se7ven]

There should be a second part to the disassemble. That is, on how to troubleshoot some fixable problems. For me, I would like to know how to troubleshoot a laptop not powering on. With the disassembled laptop before oneself are there a series of processes one should follow? What are these processes? What tools are required?

(If there are any laptop hardware gurus here, perhaps they can give me a helping hand. Go to:

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/82457-35-possible-acer-power-motherboard-module

for further details that include the service manual of the laptop and photographs.)

 

[Crony]

frozenlead, any chance you have documentation for different laptop 'lid functions'? I have an ASUS K-model that will not sleep when closed, but it will otherwise, wondering if it is a hardware issue. Unfortunately, I am unable to find any service manuals or documentation that would help me determine where a indicator that the lid has been closed would be. Do you know of anything like that, where the placement through different brands and models would be?

 

[coshadow]

hy guys .. does someone how i can acces my bios on an samsung ? it haded wind 8 and i wanna instal wind7, but after i've made some changes in bios when it restarted said to press f2 for setup (which does nothing just restarts the computer) and press f4 for recovery... i've done that too but after the recovery ends it enters on the same screen ... and windows doesnt boot... i have the same screen which says all boot options are tried and to press f4 for recover with factory image or any other key for next boot loop iteration ...and if i do de recovery again i have the same result ... how can i enter bios now ? please help...

 

[Assquatch]

-deleted

 

[orlbuckeye]

This thread is here for anyone who reads the hardware repair sticky at the top of the forum - if you've a question, comment, or suggestion on a procedure or how the sticky can be improved, please put them right here!

The sticky is located here:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/53660-35-notebook-disassembly-hardware-repair-guide

I think it's best to get the manual for your specific compute it you own a laptop.