Toshiba constant freezing on boot

jimbob212

Honorable
Sep 27, 2013
8
0
10,510
Hi

I have a Toshiba C660-1LD which is continously freezing while booting up.

The laptop use to get very hot and freeze occasionally once or twice a day so i decided to open it up to replace the thermal paste (have applied thermal paste before on laptops without a problem). Since then the freezing is constant every time i boot.

The problem is:

I boot the laptop. After approx 1 minute the fan turns up slightly, not a lot by any means and everything freezes. This happens no matter what im doing, whether trying to load the OS or in the BIOS menu.

If i leave the laptop alone for a few hours and try boot it generally freezes after one minute. If i reboot it freezes after around 30 seconds. If i reboot again it results in a black screen. Im guessing the reboots are having more significant effects each time due to not allowing the laptop time to cool down in between, as opposed to me leaving the laptop for a few hours and coming back to it and it generally running a small bit longer, not certain though.

One thing i've noticed is the heatsink does not seem to sit flush on a few components around the processor. There's a gap between 0.5 - 1mm between them and the heatsink. I plan to apply some thermal pads to bridge the gaps tomorrow when i have them but i'm not sure whether this is the problem. Other than that im pretty much at a loss as to what can be the cause.

Hoping someone has some idea

Have attached some pics of the gap with the 4 grey components and the heatsink


Please view the pictures below if you think you can help.

Pictures in order show:

1> Gap between heatsink and components
2> Another picture of the gap
3> Components which are not sitting flush against the heatsink
4> Picture shows the component on the far left not pictured in pic 3 which also doesnt sit flush against the heatsink
5> Heatsink and motherboard.










 

jimbob212

Honorable
Sep 27, 2013
8
0
10,510
I don't believe there is a gap for the cpu but that would make sense. The thermal paste on the cpu does spread on to the heatsink and this is visible when i remove the heatsink to check. Please let me know if you have any other ideas. And yes all is connected fine.
 
Some cpu are not totally flat.only the edge are flat but the center are curve inside.i use to have an acer with some gaps on the components.i just apply thermal pad as i believe those gaps are mean for thermal pads.it always overheated and when i got the chance i reapply thermal paste and pad on the component as well.never had a problem since.it might be the cause of your problem since you need to let the laptop cool for awhile.
 


Copper shims works as well.that is what i use on my acer for the cpu.just make sure its smooth and apply paste on the shims.
 


i recall back if its overheating problem the laptop would run and the cpu will shut itself down after a few min of idling.have u tried running with 1 stick ram?also try booting it up.then when it shut itself down remove the battery open up your laptop and feel if the heatsink is warm or cold.it could be cpu or heatsink problem.
 

jimbob212

Honorable
Sep 27, 2013
8
0
10,510
I managed to load and use the OS earlier for a few minutes (approx 5 max) before it froze again. During the time it was on the fan frequently kept speeding up from its normal operation in short bursts.

The laptop only has one stick of 4gb RAM installed. I have tried a compatible 2gb stick while the 4gb was removed to test however this never changed anything as the freezing occurs just the same. I also have ran Windows memory diagnostic tool on the 4gb before when the freezing was only occasional, not consistent as it is now. The RAM does not seem to be the issue.

Also i should mention i have tried replacing the heatsink which never changed anything.

The heatsink is warm after the laptop freezes and is shutdown, although I'll double check tomorrow.

I'm hoping the thermal pads i try tomorrow on the components which have a gap against the heatsink will help.

I'll update tomorrow either way. Thank you for your help.
 

jimbob212

Honorable
Sep 27, 2013
8
0
10,510
No luck, have tried applying thermal pads to the components which had a gap however laptop still froze. disassembled and cleaned thermal paste on cpu and gpu and applied thermal pads instead incase the paste was not forming a connection to the heatsink however the laptop still froze within 2 minutes.

I did manage to enter speedfan during this time and the temps seemed ok, although fluctuated quite a lot. The cpu was between 47-52 degrees and gpu was similar. HD was approx 28.

Plan to clean the board down with isopropyl monday as i noticed a faint small patch or 2 of thermal paste (arctic silver) in areas around the motherboard. Barely noticeable.

Other than this stumped, maybe a faulty capacitor? Please let me know if you have any ideas
 


Might be caps.might be cpu.its very hard.to.pin.point fault on a laptop compare to.desktop which is fairly easy.also there seems.to be.thermal.paste.around.the mobo as u said.it might cause a short on the mobo