Want to disassemble Toshiba Satellite L305 5919

I was given this dead Toshiba Satellite L305 5919 laptop. I was told
the prior owner probably ruined the mobo by trying to short out the
pins to bypass what he figured was the BIOS password. The screen lit
up just fine before he did that, but would not boot up because it said
it required a password before it would do anything.

He read some helps on Google which suggested he short out two pins on
the exposed mobo behind the memory modules. He said when he did that,
neither the screen nor the power up indicator leds would light up any
more. Clearly he must have hit the wrong pins.

I thought I might try to dismantle the laptop and replace its mobo,
figuring he shorted it out. But I have not done this before. So, I
tried to find a guide via Google to do this, but cannot find anything
except this one video that lacks any audio:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Y5ljZlblzs

If I can't find a guide to take this thing apart, I think I should
pass. But I thought I would ask if anyone knows of a guide -
preferably video.

Or perhaps you guys will tell me i shud just forget it.

Thank You

Peter

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tv2GP6Yau1E
(with audio and verbal instructions)

On 28/09/16 20:15, wrote:
I was given this dead Toshiba Satellite L305 5919 laptop. I was told
the prior owner probably ruined the mobo by trying to short out the
pins to bypass what he figured was the BIOS password. The screen lit
up just fine before he did that, but would not boot up because it said
it required a password before it would do anything.

He read some helps on Google which suggested he short out two pins on
the exposed mobo behind the memory modules. He said when he did that,
neither the screen nor the power up indicator leds would light up any
more. Clearly he must have hit the wrong pins.

I thought I might try to dismantle the laptop and replace its mobo,
figuring he shorted it out. But I have not done this before. So, I
tried to find a guide via Google to do this, but cannot find anything
except this one video that lacks any audio:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Y5ljZlblzs

Plays audio here, though probably not a commentary.


If I can't find a guide to take this thing apart, I think I should
pass. But I thought I would ask if anyone knows of a guide -
preferably video.

Or perhaps you guys will tell me i shud just forget it.


Will you also need a guide in reverse to help put it back together? Just
watch that video and others closely - ye don't need a 14yr old kid hand
holding you.

Find another scrap laptop or other small electronics item, some screw
drivers, a quiet undisturbed place, a digital camera to take snaps, and
practice. Read up about anti static precautions and how to handle bare
hard disks. Experience how to snap apart casings without destroying them.

Also googling will often find a service manual and other things. I just
typed "toshiba service manual L305" and found this.

pdfstream.manualsonline.com/0/0a95c65e-8a2a-4f4b-b232-813e1b83857b.pdf

If it is a dead motherboard and you can find another then it's worth a
go, if only for the experience. Which is where everybody starts.

--
Adrian C

On Wed, 28 Sep 2016 15:40:29 -0500, VanguardLH wrote:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tv2GP6Yau1E
(with audio and verbal instructions)

I missed that.

Thanks

Peter

wrote:
I was given this dead Toshiba Satellite L305 5919 laptop. I was told
the prior owner probably ruined the mobo by trying to short out the
pins to bypass what he figured was the BIOS password. The screen lit
up just fine before he did that, but would not boot up because it said
it required a password before it would do anything.

He read some helps on Google which suggested he short out two pins on
the exposed mobo behind the memory modules. He said when he did that,
neither the screen nor the power up indicator leds would light up any
more. Clearly he must have hit the wrong pins.

I thought I might try to dismantle the laptop and replace its mobo,
figuring he shorted it out. But I have not done this before. So, I
tried to find a guide via Google to do this, but cannot find anything
except this one video that lacks any audio:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Y5ljZlblzs

If I can't find a guide to take this thing apart, I think I should
pass. But I thought I would ask if anyone knows of a guide -
preferably video.

Or perhaps you guys will tell me i shud just forget it.

Thank You

Peter

A safer way to reset a legacy BIOS storage, would be
to pull the Main battery pack, as well as removing
the CMOS coin cell. It's a "thing" wrapped in a shrink
wrap tube, with a twisted pair wire that plugs into
two pins on the motherboard. With no CMOS power, the
password should reset. Just leave the unit sitting
over night, for residual power to drain. No need
to short pins, if there is no legend in white letter
next to a pin header claiming it's a CLRCMOS or similar.

Business laptops use a 2KB EEPROM to store the password,
and the manufacturer Tech Support will tell you to
"send it back to the factory to be reset". Those
do not respond to the "power removal" or "CMOS reset shorting
pin" methods. For a business laptop, it's going to be
a damn nuisance to fix.

The laptop in question, seems to be a Home unit, and not
a Business unit. That's a good thing. Business laptops
can have all sorts of maintenance headaches, and I would
not buy a used or refurbished business one, myself.

http://cdgenp01.csd.toshiba.com/cont...L305-S5919.pdf

Replacing a motherboard isn't difficult, it's just tedious.
A hard part, is getting your spudger underneath the
keyboard fascia at the top, so you can gain access to
the screws. Most other bits just require a selection
of small screwdrivers (Jewelers, Torx, Security Torx
or whatever). Some of the connectors are squashy, and
if they don't seem to fit back in the holes, you
examine them with a magnifying glass first, rather
than "hitting them harder to make them fit".

Use a work table which is light in color. Have enough
room on the table, so the 40 screws can be arranged
in a meaningful pattern. Take frequent digital camera
photos as you work, and refer to them if you get lost
in the mess. And examine the screws carefully, as
sometimes when it looks like you're removing a set
of six identical screws, it turns out five of the
screws are the same length, and the sixth is a "shorty".
Requiring you to put them back in the correct holes.

Have a magnifying glass handy. A halogen lamp for illumination
while you work, is a bonus. You must have good lighting,
so you won't make mistakes.

*******

My favorite reassembly story, is a poster who couldn't
get a DIMM he purchased, to fit a memory socket.
So, he proceeded to use a hacksaw, and cut a slot into
the DIMM, to match the key in the slot. Of course, this
was a disaster. As long as you're not one of "those" people,
you'll be fine :-) An irrational solution... is usually
the wrong solution :-)

And if the unit is dead, you have nothing to lose but
the replacement cost of the motherboard. It's not
like the owner is going to get a better deal on
repair at a repair shop. If a shop charges "$99 to
look at it" and hundreds of dollars for the motherboard,
you should be able to do a bit better using a motherboard
off Ebay and a little patience.

As long as you've prepared the owner for the possible
outcomes, I'd give it a shot. If you scratch up a
keyboard strip while removing it, well, that's life.
Some of them now, are dead easy to remove. Some of
the older ones were a bitch.

You'll need some thermal paste for the heatsink
replacement operation. And maybe some isopropyl to
remove the old thermal interface material. If
phase change material was used, the one of those
I had to do, I just scraped it off with a metal
tool. It might have been easier, if I heated
up the sink a bit first, rather than scratching
it off cold.

The only kind of thermal paste I don't personally
recommend, is the bright white zinc paste used for
power transistors. I find that stuff runs out of
the joint you apply it to. Something like
Arctic Ceramique is good enough. There are some
other materials, that are dough-like, and more
trouble than they're worth (hard to apply). Read the
reviews on Newegg, before you purchase a tube of something.
They only differ a couple of degrees in performance,
so just get something which is thick enough, it
won't squirt out of the joint when compressed.

As for Ebay, it's hard to say what kind of shape
the motherboard will be in. Whether it actually
worked when shipped, or was damaged by the owner.
So that's a risk. If it happened to have a working
processor included, and the seller hadn't removed
the heatsink assembly, you could save yourself
a lot of time in that case. As most of the
replacement work will be "screwdriver work".

Paul

On Wed, 28 Sep 2016 18:53:25 -0400, Paul
wrote:

wrote:
I was given this dead Toshiba Satellite L305 5919 laptop. I was told
the prior owner probably ruined the mobo by trying to short out the
pins to bypass what he figured was the BIOS password. The screen lit
up just fine before he did that, but would not boot up because it said
it required a password before it would do anything.

He read some helps on Google which suggested he short out two pins on
the exposed mobo behind the memory modules. He said when he did that,
neither the screen nor the power up indicator leds would light up any
more. Clearly he must have hit the wrong pins.

I thought I might try to dismantle the laptop and replace its mobo,
figuring he shorted it out. But I have not done this before. So, I
tried to find a guide via Google to do this, but cannot find anything
except this one video that lacks any audio:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Y5ljZlblzs

If I can't find a guide to take this thing apart, I think I should
pass. But I thought I would ask if anyone knows of a guide -
preferably video.

Or perhaps you guys will tell me i shud just forget it.

Thank You

Peter

A safer way to reset a legacy BIOS storage, would be
to pull the Main battery pack, as well as removing
the CMOS coin cell. It's a "thing" wrapped in a shrink
wrap tube, with a twisted pair wire that plugs into
two pins on the motherboard. With no CMOS power, the
password should reset. Just leave the unit sitting
over night, for residual power to drain. No need
to short pins, if there is no legend in white letter
next to a pin header claiming it's a CLRCMOS or similar.

Business laptops use a 2KB EEPROM to store the password,
and the manufacturer Tech Support will tell you to
"send it back to the factory to be reset". Those
do not respond to the "power removal" or "CMOS reset shorting
pin" methods. For a business laptop, it's going to be
a damn nuisance to fix.

The laptop in question, seems to be a Home unit, and not
a Business unit. That's a good thing. Business laptops
can have all sorts of maintenance headaches, and I would
not buy a used or refurbished business one, myself.

http://cdgenp01.csd.toshiba.com/cont...L305-S5919.pdf

Replacing a motherboard isn't difficult, it's just tedious.
A hard part, is getting your spudger underneath the
keyboard fascia at the top, so you can gain access to
the screws. Most other bits just require a selection
of small screwdrivers (Jewelers, Torx, Security Torx
or whatever). Some of the connectors are squashy, and
if they don't seem to fit back in the holes, you
examine them with a magnifying glass first, rather
than "hitting them harder to make them fit".

Use a work table which is light in color. Have enough
room on the table, so the 40 screws can be arranged
in a meaningful pattern. Take frequent digital camera
photos as you work, and refer to them if you get lost
in the mess. And examine the screws carefully, as
sometimes when it looks like you're removing a set
of six identical screws, it turns out five of the
screws are the same length, and the sixth is a "shorty".
Requiring you to put them back in the correct holes.

Have a magnifying glass handy. A halogen lamp for illumination
while you work, is a bonus. You must have good lighting,
so you won't make mistakes.

*******

My favorite reassembly story, is a poster who couldn't
get a DIMM he purchased, to fit a memory socket.
So, he proceeded to use a hacksaw, and cut a slot into
the DIMM, to match the key in the slot. Of course, this
was a disaster. As long as you're not one of "those" people,
you'll be fine :-) An irrational solution... is usually
the wrong solution :-)

And if the unit is dead, you have nothing to lose but
the replacement cost of the motherboard. It's not
like the owner is going to get a better deal on
repair at a repair shop. If a shop charges "$99 to
look at it" and hundreds of dollars for the motherboard,
you should be able to do a bit better using a motherboard
off Ebay and a little patience.

As long as you've prepared the owner for the possible
outcomes, I'd give it a shot. If you scratch up a
keyboard strip while removing it, well, that's life.
Some of them now, are dead easy to remove. Some of
the older ones were a bitch.

You'll need some thermal paste for the heatsink
replacement operation. And maybe some isopropyl to
remove the old thermal interface material. If
phase change material was used, the one of those
I had to do, I just scraped it off with a metal
tool. It might have been easier, if I heated
up the sink a bit first, rather than scratching
it off cold.

The only kind of thermal paste I don't personally
recommend, is the bright white zinc paste used for
power transistors. I find that stuff runs out of
the joint you apply it to. Something like
Arctic Ceramique is good enough. There are some
other materials, that are dough-like, and more
trouble than they're worth (hard to apply). Read the
reviews on Newegg, before you purchase a tube of something.
They only differ a couple of degrees in performance,
so just get something which is thick enough, it
won't squirt out of the joint when compressed.

As for Ebay, it's hard to say what kind of shape
the motherboard will be in. Whether it actually
worked when shipped, or was damaged by the owner.
So that's a risk. If it happened to have a working
processor included, and the seller hadn't removed
the heatsink assembly, you could save yourself
a lot of time in that case. As most of the
replacement work will be "screwdriver work".

Paul


Thanx for the advice. I may not be able to reasonably buy a
replacement mobo for this Satellite L305-S919 anyway. For some
reason, this AM i can't find any of what yesterday looked to be
compatible mobos on Ebay for about $40. I was willing to spend that
just to see what kind of trouble i cud get into,

So it looks like I'll just toss the thing. Too bad, because otherwise
it looks pretty good - just hung up on the so-called BIOS password
thing. Before my buddy killed it with his careless screwdriver
anyway.

:(

Peter

On Thu, 29 Sep 2016 05:38:37 -0400, wrote:

On Wed, 28 Sep 2016 18:53:25 -0400, Paul
wrote:

wrote:
I was given this dead Toshiba Satellite L305 5919 laptop. I was told
the prior owner probably ruined the mobo by trying to short out the
pins to bypass what he figured was the BIOS password. The screen lit
up just fine before he did that, but would not boot up because it said
it required a password before it would do anything.

He read some helps on Google which suggested he short out two pins on
the exposed mobo behind the memory modules. He said when he did that,
neither the screen nor the power up indicator leds would light up any
more. Clearly he must have hit the wrong pins.

I thought I might try to dismantle the laptop and replace its mobo,
figuring he shorted it out. But I have not done this before. So, I
tried to find a guide via Google to do this, but cannot find anything
except this one video that lacks any audio:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Y5ljZlblzs

If I can't find a guide to take this thing apart, I think I should
pass. But I thought I would ask if anyone knows of a guide -
preferably video.

Or perhaps you guys will tell me i shud just forget it.

Thank You

Peter

A safer way to reset a legacy BIOS storage, would be
to pull the Main battery pack, as well as removing
the CMOS coin cell. It's a "thing" wrapped in a shrink
wrap tube, with a twisted pair wire that plugs into
two pins on the motherboard. With no CMOS power, the
password should reset. Just leave the unit sitting
over night, for residual power to drain. No need
to short pins, if there is no legend in white letter
next to a pin header claiming it's a CLRCMOS or similar.

Business laptops use a 2KB EEPROM to store the password,
and the manufacturer Tech Support will tell you to
"send it back to the factory to be reset". Those
do not respond to the "power removal" or "CMOS reset shorting
pin" methods. For a business laptop, it's going to be
a damn nuisance to fix.

The laptop in question, seems to be a Home unit, and not
a Business unit. That's a good thing. Business laptops
can have all sorts of maintenance headaches, and I would
not buy a used or refurbished business one, myself.

http://cdgenp01.csd.toshiba.com/cont...L305-S5919.pdf

Replacing a motherboard isn't difficult, it's just tedious.
A hard part, is getting your spudger underneath the
keyboard fascia at the top, so you can gain access to
the screws. Most other bits just require a selection
of small screwdrivers (Jewelers, Torx, Security Torx
or whatever). Some of the connectors are squashy, and
if they don't seem to fit back in the holes, you
examine them with a magnifying glass first, rather
than "hitting them harder to make them fit".

Use a work table which is light in color. Have enough
room on the table, so the 40 screws can be arranged
in a meaningful pattern. Take frequent digital camera
photos as you work, and refer to them if you get lost
in the mess. And examine the screws carefully, as
sometimes when it looks like you're removing a set
of six identical screws, it turns out five of the
screws are the same length, and the sixth is a "shorty".
Requiring you to put them back in the correct holes.

Have a magnifying glass handy. A halogen lamp for illumination
while you work, is a bonus. You must have good lighting,
so you won't make mistakes.

*******

My favorite reassembly story, is a poster who couldn't
get a DIMM he purchased, to fit a memory socket.
So, he proceeded to use a hacksaw, and cut a slot into
the DIMM, to match the key in the slot. Of course, this
was a disaster. As long as you're not one of "those" people,
you'll be fine :-) An irrational solution... is usually
the wrong solution :-)

And if the unit is dead, you have nothing to lose but
the replacement cost of the motherboard. It's not
like the owner is going to get a better deal on
repair at a repair shop. If a shop charges "$99 to
look at it" and hundreds of dollars for the motherboard,
you should be able to do a bit better using a motherboard
off Ebay and a little patience.

As long as you've prepared the owner for the possible
outcomes, I'd give it a shot. If you scratch up a
keyboard strip while removing it, well, that's life.
Some of them now, are dead easy to remove. Some of
the older ones were a bitch.

You'll need some thermal paste for the heatsink
replacement operation. And maybe some isopropyl to
remove the old thermal interface material. If
phase change material was used, the one of those
I had to do, I just scraped it off with a metal
tool. It might have been easier, if I heated
up the sink a bit first, rather than scratching
it off cold.

The only kind of thermal paste I don't personally
recommend, is the bright white zinc paste used for
power transistors. I find that stuff runs out of
the joint you apply it to. Something like
Arctic Ceramique is good enough. There are some
other materials, that are dough-like, and more
trouble than they're worth (hard to apply). Read the
reviews on Newegg, before you purchase a tube of something.
They only differ a couple of degrees in performance,
so just get something which is thick enough, it
won't squirt out of the joint when compressed.

As for Ebay, it's hard to say what kind of shape
the motherboard will be in. Whether it actually
worked when shipped, or was damaged by the owner.
So that's a risk. If it happened to have a working
processor included, and the seller hadn't removed
the heatsink assembly, you could save yourself
a lot of time in that case. As most of the
replacement work will be "screwdriver work".

Paul


Thanx for the advice. I may not be able to reasonably buy a
replacement mobo for this Satellite L305-S919 anyway. For some
reason, this AM i can't find any of what yesterday looked to be
compatible mobos on Ebay for about $40. I was willing to spend that
just to see what kind of trouble i cud get into,

So it looks like I'll just toss the thing. Too bad, because otherwise
it looks pretty good - just hung up on the so-called BIOS password
thing. Before my buddy killed it with his careless screwdriver
anyway.

:(

Peter

I got another cup of java and searched again - found a couple of URLs,
like:
http://www.ecrater.com/p/22040283/to...300-l305-intel

that cud be compatible. $37!

Without dismantling the laptop, I can't compare the mobos of course.
I just might do that. - Nothing to lose except my sanity.

Thanks

Peter

On Thu, 29 Sep 2016 05:53:04 -0400, wrote:

On Thu, 29 Sep 2016 05:38:37 -0400, wrote:

On Wed, 28 Sep 2016 18:53:25 -0400, Paul
wrote:

wrote:
I was given this dead Toshiba Satellite L305 5919 laptop. I was told
the prior owner probably ruined the mobo by trying to short out the
pins to bypass what he figured was the BIOS password. The screen lit
up just fine before he did that, but would not boot up because it said
it required a password before it would do anything.

He read some helps on Google which suggested he short out two pins on
the exposed mobo behind the memory modules. He said when he did that,
neither the screen nor the power up indicator leds would light up any
more. Clearly he must have hit the wrong pins.

I thought I might try to dismantle the laptop and replace its mobo,
figuring he shorted it out. But I have not done this before. So, I
tried to find a guide via Google to do this, but cannot find anything
except this one video that lacks any audio:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Y5ljZlblzs

If I can't find a guide to take this thing apart, I think I should
pass. But I thought I would ask if anyone knows of a guide -
preferably video.

Or perhaps you guys will tell me i shud just forget it.

Thank You

Peter

A safer way to reset a legacy BIOS storage, would be
to pull the Main battery pack, as well as removing
the CMOS coin cell. It's a "thing" wrapped in a shrink
wrap tube, with a twisted pair wire that plugs into
two pins on the motherboard. With no CMOS power, the
password should reset. Just leave the unit sitting
over night, for residual power to drain. No need
to short pins, if there is no legend in white letter
next to a pin header claiming it's a CLRCMOS or similar.

Business laptops use a 2KB EEPROM to store the password,
and the manufacturer Tech Support will tell you to
"send it back to the factory to be reset". Those
do not respond to the "power removal" or "CMOS reset shorting
pin" methods. For a business laptop, it's going to be
a damn nuisance to fix.

The laptop in question, seems to be a Home unit, and not
a Business unit. That's a good thing. Business laptops
can have all sorts of maintenance headaches, and I would
not buy a used or refurbished business one, myself.

http://cdgenp01.csd.toshiba.com/cont...L305-S5919.pdf

Replacing a motherboard isn't difficult, it's just tedious.
A hard part, is getting your spudger underneath the
keyboard fascia at the top, so you can gain access to
the screws. Most other bits just require a selection
of small screwdrivers (Jewelers, Torx, Security Torx
or whatever). Some of the connectors are squashy, and
if they don't seem to fit back in the holes, you
examine them with a magnifying glass first, rather
than "hitting them harder to make them fit".

Use a work table which is light in color. Have enough
room on the table, so the 40 screws can be arranged
in a meaningful pattern. Take frequent digital camera
photos as you work, and refer to them if you get lost
in the mess. And examine the screws carefully, as
sometimes when it looks like you're removing a set
of six identical screws, it turns out five of the
screws are the same length, and the sixth is a "shorty".
Requiring you to put them back in the correct holes.

Have a magnifying glass handy. A halogen lamp for illumination
while you work, is a bonus. You must have good lighting,
so you won't make mistakes.

*******

My favorite reassembly story, is a poster who couldn't
get a DIMM he purchased, to fit a memory socket.
So, he proceeded to use a hacksaw, and cut a slot into
the DIMM, to match the key in the slot. Of course, this
was a disaster. As long as you're not one of "those" people,
you'll be fine :-) An irrational solution... is usually
the wrong solution :-)

And if the unit is dead, you have nothing to lose but
the replacement cost of the motherboard. It's not
like the owner is going to get a better deal on
repair at a repair shop. If a shop charges "$99 to
look at it" and hundreds of dollars for the motherboard,
you should be able to do a bit better using a motherboard
off Ebay and a little patience.

As long as you've prepared the owner for the possible
outcomes, I'd give it a shot. If you scratch up a
keyboard strip while removing it, well, that's life.
Some of them now, are dead easy to remove. Some of
the older ones were a bitch.

You'll need some thermal paste for the heatsink
replacement operation. And maybe some isopropyl to
remove the old thermal interface material. If
phase change material was used, the one of those
I had to do, I just scraped it off with a metal
tool. It might have been easier, if I heated
up the sink a bit first, rather than scratching
it off cold.

The only kind of thermal paste I don't personally
recommend, is the bright white zinc paste used for
power transistors. I find that stuff runs out of
the joint you apply it to. Something like
Arctic Ceramique is good enough. There are some
other materials, that are dough-like, and more
trouble than they're worth (hard to apply). Read the
reviews on Newegg, before you purchase a tube of something.
They only differ a couple of degrees in performance,
so just get something which is thick enough, it
won't squirt out of the joint when compressed.

As for Ebay, it's hard to say what kind of shape
the motherboard will be in. Whether it actually
worked when shipped, or was damaged by the owner.
So that's a risk. If it happened to have a working
processor included, and the seller hadn't removed
the heatsink assembly, you could save yourself
a lot of time in that case. As most of the
replacement work will be "screwdriver work".

Paul


Thanx for the advice. I may not be able to reasonably buy a
replacement mobo for this Satellite L305-S919 anyway. For some
reason, this AM i can't find any of what yesterday looked to be
compatible mobos on Ebay for about $40. I was willing to spend that
just to see what kind of trouble i cud get into,

So it looks like I'll just toss the thing. Too bad, because otherwise
it looks pretty good - just hung up on the so-called BIOS password
thing. Before my buddy killed it with his careless screwdriver
anyway.

:(

Peter

I got another cup of java and searched again - found a couple of URLs,
like:
http://www.ecrater.com/p/22040283/to...300-l305-intel

that cud be compatible. $37!

Without dismantling the laptop, I can't compare the mobos of course.
I just might do that. - Nothing to lose except my sanity.

Thanks

Peter

I wonder how likely it is that the mobo was shorted out when the wrong
pins were crossed as opposed to something else. $37 is still a lot of
money to spend only to find out something else was shorted. I just
assumed that a mobo replacement will fix it. Maybe I shud just toss
the laptop. Gotta think on this.
Thanks

Peter

wrote:
On Thu, 29 Sep 2016 05:53:04 -0400, wrote:

On Thu, 29 Sep 2016 05:38:37 -0400, wrote:

On Wed, 28 Sep 2016 18:53:25 -0400, Paul
wrote:

wrote:
I was given this dead Toshiba Satellite L305 5919 laptop. I was told
the prior owner probably ruined the mobo by trying to short out the
pins to bypass what he figured was the BIOS password. The screen lit
up just fine before he did that, but would not boot up because it said
it required a password before it would do anything.

He read some helps on Google which suggested he short out two pins on
the exposed mobo behind the memory modules. He said when he did that,
neither the screen nor the power up indicator leds would light up any
more. Clearly he must have hit the wrong pins.

I thought I might try to dismantle the laptop and replace its mobo,
figuring he shorted it out. But I have not done this before. So, I
tried to find a guide via Google to do this, but cannot find anything
except this one video that lacks any audio:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Y5ljZlblzs

If I can't find a guide to take this thing apart, I think I should
pass. But I thought I would ask if anyone knows of a guide -
preferably video.

Or perhaps you guys will tell me i shud just forget it.

Thank You

Peter
A safer way to reset a legacy BIOS storage, would be
to pull the Main battery pack, as well as removing
the CMOS coin cell. It's a "thing" wrapped in a shrink
wrap tube, with a twisted pair wire that plugs into
two pins on the motherboard. With no CMOS power, the
password should reset. Just leave the unit sitting
over night, for residual power to drain. No need
to short pins, if there is no legend in white letter
next to a pin header claiming it's a CLRCMOS or similar.

Business laptops use a 2KB EEPROM to store the password,
and the manufacturer Tech Support will tell you to
"send it back to the factory to be reset". Those
do not respond to the "power removal" or "CMOS reset shorting
pin" methods. For a business laptop, it's going to be
a damn nuisance to fix.

The laptop in question, seems to be a Home unit, and not
a Business unit. That's a good thing. Business laptops
can have all sorts of maintenance headaches, and I would
not buy a used or refurbished business one, myself.

http://cdgenp01.csd.toshiba.com/cont...L305-S5919.pdf

Replacing a motherboard isn't difficult, it's just tedious.
A hard part, is getting your spudger underneath the
keyboard fascia at the top, so you can gain access to
the screws. Most other bits just require a selection
of small screwdrivers (Jewelers, Torx, Security Torx
or whatever). Some of the connectors are squashy, and
if they don't seem to fit back in the holes, you
examine them with a magnifying glass first, rather
than "hitting them harder to make them fit".

Use a work table which is light in color. Have enough
room on the table, so the 40 screws can be arranged
in a meaningful pattern. Take frequent digital camera
photos as you work, and refer to them if you get lost
in the mess. And examine the screws carefully, as
sometimes when it looks like you're removing a set
of six identical screws, it turns out five of the
screws are the same length, and the sixth is a "shorty".
Requiring you to put them back in the correct holes.

Have a magnifying glass handy. A halogen lamp for illumination
while you work, is a bonus. You must have good lighting,
so you won't make mistakes.

*******

My favorite reassembly story, is a poster who couldn't
get a DIMM he purchased, to fit a memory socket.
So, he proceeded to use a hacksaw, and cut a slot into
the DIMM, to match the key in the slot. Of course, this
was a disaster. As long as you're not one of "those" people,
you'll be fine :-) An irrational solution... is usually
the wrong solution :-)

And if the unit is dead, you have nothing to lose but
the replacement cost of the motherboard. It's not
like the owner is going to get a better deal on
repair at a repair shop. If a shop charges "$99 to
look at it" and hundreds of dollars for the motherboard,
you should be able to do a bit better using a motherboard
off Ebay and a little patience.

As long as you've prepared the owner for the possible
outcomes, I'd give it a shot. If you scratch up a
keyboard strip while removing it, well, that's life.
Some of them now, are dead easy to remove. Some of
the older ones were a bitch.

You'll need some thermal paste for the heatsink
replacement operation. And maybe some isopropyl to
remove the old thermal interface material. If
phase change material was used, the one of those
I had to do, I just scraped it off with a metal
tool. It might have been easier, if I heated
up the sink a bit first, rather than scratching
it off cold.

The only kind of thermal paste I don't personally
recommend, is the bright white zinc paste used for
power transistors. I find that stuff runs out of
the joint you apply it to. Something like
Arctic Ceramique is good enough. There are some
other materials, that are dough-like, and more
trouble than they're worth (hard to apply). Read the
reviews on Newegg, before you purchase a tube of something.
They only differ a couple of degrees in performance,
so just get something which is thick enough, it
won't squirt out of the joint when compressed.

As for Ebay, it's hard to say what kind of shape
the motherboard will be in. Whether it actually
worked when shipped, or was damaged by the owner.
So that's a risk. If it happened to have a working
processor included, and the seller hadn't removed
the heatsink assembly, you could save yourself
a lot of time in that case. As most of the
replacement work will be "screwdriver work".

Paul

Thanx for the advice. I may not be able to reasonably buy a
replacement mobo for this Satellite L305-S919 anyway. For some
reason, this AM i can't find any of what yesterday looked to be
compatible mobos on Ebay for about $40. I was willing to spend that
just to see what kind of trouble i cud get into,

So it looks like I'll just toss the thing. Too bad, because otherwise
it looks pretty good - just hung up on the so-called BIOS password
thing. Before my buddy killed it with his careless screwdriver
anyway.

:(

Peter
I got another cup of java and searched again - found a couple of URLs,
like:
http://www.ecrater.com/p/22040283/to...300-l305-intel

that cud be compatible. $37!

Without dismantling the laptop, I can't compare the mobos of course.
I just might do that. - Nothing to lose except my sanity.

Thanks

Peter

I wonder how likely it is that the mobo was shorted out when the wrong
pins were crossed as opposed to something else. $37 is still a lot of
money to spend only to find out something else was shorted. I just
assumed that a mobo replacement will fix it. Maybe I shud just toss
the laptop. Gotta think on this.
Thanks

Peter

Um, think positive thoughts ?

Examine the motherboard, near the two-pin interface, and
see if there is a legend in white letters. What do the letters
hint at, in terms of function ?

Paul

On Thu, 29 Sep 2016 13:17:51 -0400, Paul
wrote:

wrote:
On Thu, 29 Sep 2016 05:53:04 -0400, wrote:

On Thu, 29 Sep 2016 05:38:37 -0400, wrote:

On Wed, 28 Sep 2016 18:53:25 -0400, Paul
wrote:

wrote:
I was given this dead Toshiba Satellite L305 5919 laptop. I was told
the prior owner probably ruined the mobo by trying to short out the
pins to bypass what he figured was the BIOS password. The screen lit
up just fine before he did that, but would not boot up because it said
it required a password before it would do anything.

He read some helps on Google which suggested he short out two pins on
the exposed mobo behind the memory modules. He said when he did that,
neither the screen nor the power up indicator leds would light up any
more. Clearly he must have hit the wrong pins.

I thought I might try to dismantle the laptop and replace its mobo,
figuring he shorted it out. But I have not done this before. So, I
tried to find a guide via Google to do this, but cannot find anything
except this one video that lacks any audio:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Y5ljZlblzs

If I can't find a guide to take this thing apart, I think I should
pass. But I thought I would ask if anyone knows of a guide -
preferably video.

Or perhaps you guys will tell me i shud just forget it.

Thank You

Peter
A safer way to reset a legacy BIOS storage, would be
to pull the Main battery pack, as well as removing
the CMOS coin cell. It's a "thing" wrapped in a shrink
wrap tube, with a twisted pair wire that plugs into
two pins on the motherboard. With no CMOS power, the
password should reset. Just leave the unit sitting
over night, for residual power to drain. No need
to short pins, if there is no legend in white letter
next to a pin header claiming it's a CLRCMOS or similar.

Business laptops use a 2KB EEPROM to store the password,
and the manufacturer Tech Support will tell you to
"send it back to the factory to be reset". Those
do not respond to the "power removal" or "CMOS reset shorting
pin" methods. For a business laptop, it's going to be
a damn nuisance to fix.

The laptop in question, seems to be a Home unit, and not
a Business unit. That's a good thing. Business laptops
can have all sorts of maintenance headaches, and I would
not buy a used or refurbished business one, myself.

http://cdgenp01.csd.toshiba.com/cont...L305-S5919.pdf

Replacing a motherboard isn't difficult, it's just tedious.
A hard part, is getting your spudger underneath the
keyboard fascia at the top, so you can gain access to
the screws. Most other bits just require a selection
of small screwdrivers (Jewelers, Torx, Security Torx
or whatever). Some of the connectors are squashy, and
if they don't seem to fit back in the holes, you
examine them with a magnifying glass first, rather
than "hitting them harder to make them fit".

Use a work table which is light in color. Have enough
room on the table, so the 40 screws can be arranged
in a meaningful pattern. Take frequent digital camera
photos as you work, and refer to them if you get lost
in the mess. And examine the screws carefully, as
sometimes when it looks like you're removing a set
of six identical screws, it turns out five of the
screws are the same length, and the sixth is a "shorty".
Requiring you to put them back in the correct holes.

Have a magnifying glass handy. A halogen lamp for illumination
while you work, is a bonus. You must have good lighting,
so you won't make mistakes.

*******

My favorite reassembly story, is a poster who couldn't
get a DIMM he purchased, to fit a memory socket.
So, he proceeded to use a hacksaw, and cut a slot into
the DIMM, to match the key in the slot. Of course, this
was a disaster. As long as you're not one of "those" people,
you'll be fine :-) An irrational solution... is usually
the wrong solution :-)

And if the unit is dead, you have nothing to lose but
the replacement cost of the motherboard. It's not
like the owner is going to get a better deal on
repair at a repair shop. If a shop charges "$99 to
look at it" and hundreds of dollars for the motherboard,
you should be able to do a bit better using a motherboard
off Ebay and a little patience.

As long as you've prepared the owner for the possible
outcomes, I'd give it a shot. If you scratch up a
keyboard strip while removing it, well, that's life.
Some of them now, are dead easy to remove. Some of
the older ones were a bitch.

You'll need some thermal paste for the heatsink
replacement operation. And maybe some isopropyl to
remove the old thermal interface material. If
phase change material was used, the one of those
I had to do, I just scraped it off with a metal
tool. It might have been easier, if I heated
up the sink a bit first, rather than scratching
it off cold.

The only kind of thermal paste I don't personally
recommend, is the bright white zinc paste used for
power transistors. I find that stuff runs out of
the joint you apply it to. Something like
Arctic Ceramique is good enough. There are some
other materials, that are dough-like, and more
trouble than they're worth (hard to apply). Read the
reviews on Newegg, before you purchase a tube of something.
They only differ a couple of degrees in performance,
so just get something which is thick enough, it
won't squirt out of the joint when compressed.

As for Ebay, it's hard to say what kind of shape
the motherboard will be in. Whether it actually
worked when shipped, or was damaged by the owner.
So that's a risk. If it happened to have a working
processor included, and the seller hadn't removed
the heatsink assembly, you could save yourself
a lot of time in that case. As most of the
replacement work will be "screwdriver work".

Paul

Thanx for the advice. I may not be able to reasonably buy a
replacement mobo for this Satellite L305-S919 anyway. For some
reason, this AM i can't find any of what yesterday looked to be
compatible mobos on Ebay for about $40. I was willing to spend that
just to see what kind of trouble i cud get into,

So it looks like I'll just toss the thing. Too bad, because otherwise
it looks pretty good - just hung up on the so-called BIOS password
thing. Before my buddy killed it with his careless screwdriver
anyway.

:(

Peter
I got another cup of java and searched again - found a couple of URLs,
like:
http://www.ecrater.com/p/22040283/to...300-l305-intel

that cud be compatible. $37!

Without dismantling the laptop, I can't compare the mobos of course.
I just might do that. - Nothing to lose except my sanity.

Thanks

Peter

I wonder how likely it is that the mobo was shorted out when the wrong
pins were crossed as opposed to something else. $37 is still a lot of
money to spend only to find out something else was shorted. I just
assumed that a mobo replacement will fix it. Maybe I shud just toss
the laptop. Gotta think on this.
Thanks

Peter

Um, think positive thoughts ?

Examine the motherboard, near the two-pin interface, and
see if there is a legend in white letters. What do the letters
hint at, in terms of function ?

Paul

I will, after I get the mobo out.
Peter