Replacing optical drive on Toshiba Satellite A50 or A55 laptop

This illustrated guide explains how you can replace the optical drive (CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, CD-RW, DVD-RW) on a Toshiba Satellite A50 or A55 laptop. Both models are the same, so disassembly steps will be the same too.

UPDATE: The page I was linking to is gone. You can use a guide for Tecra A2 posted at www.irisvista.com/tech/ it’s similar to Satellite M55. I posted drive removal and replacement instructions in the comment 12.
The author says:

Make sure that front panel of new DVD-ROM / DVD-RW (next will be mentioned as DVD-ROM) is approximately similar to old one.

I would say it has to be exactly the same, not just approximately similar. Even though all front panels look the same, they might be different mounting point, so make sure the new drive comes with the front panel.
The author says:

Insert paper clip to emergency hole (F) in order to eject DVD-ROM. Carefully remove DVD-ROM from the notebook.

Yes, you can open the optical drive with a paper clip and then carefully pull if from the laptop, but I don’t think it’s necessary. After you lift up the keyboard, as it shown on the step 5, and remove the screw E securing the optical drive, as it shown on the step 6, you can push the optical drive from the laptop with a screwdriver without opening it with a paper clip.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, take a look at this disassembly guide (step 13). I wrote this guide for a Tecra A2 laptop and it’s similar to Satellite A50/A55.

The best way to find a new replacement optical drive for you laptop is searching by the part number. Usually you can find the part number on the old defective optical drive and it looks something like that: P000417120

If you install a wrong optical drive, you can get IDE error message after the replacement.

Find the part number and google for it. If you have a Toshiba laptop purchased in the United States and cannot locate the part number for your optical drive, leave a comment with the laptop model and laptop part number and I’ll help you to find the part number for you optical drive.

 

 

 

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