HomeI have a Toshiba A105-s2716 satellite. At first the screen would start flashing. The screen went black and sometimes gray horizontal lines would appear. It would then turn black and go back to normal. After a week now, the screen will stay black after ten minutes of using my laptop. It works fine with a external monitor, many people tell me that its a hardware issue. My warranty expired so I’m trying to figure out the problem before I have it fixed. I need to fixed my laptop ASAP because i need for college.
I’ve seen this problem with Satellite A105 laptops before and I believe the culprit is the the motherboard. Even though the external video works fine, it’s still a problem with the motherboard. I think there could be something wrong with the video chip or with the video cable connector. Unfortunately both the video chip and the video cable connector are soldered on the motherboard. It means the whole motherboard must be replaced in order to fix the problem.
Update:
Please read comment 44 posted by Andy:
I tried to replace the whole LCD panel, but it didn’t help. I was going to buy a new laptop, so I just wanted to mess around with the old one. First thing I did – I upgraded BIOS to most current version. I did it just to see how BIOS upgrade works, and it fixed the problem!
It’s possible that Toshiba fixed this problem with the latest BIOS release. I tried updating the BIOS before but it didn’t help, apparently the BIOS version with the fix wasn’t available back then.
I will try it as soon as I have to repair Satellite A105 with a problem like that.
Static electricity can kill your laptop. I recommend wearing an anti-static wrist strap while working with internal parts of your laptop.
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December 23rd, 2007 at 5:43 pm
Hi, I have a Toshiba Satellite A105-S4384. It has been trouble since I bought it, with 2 motherboard replacements already – it was purchased brand new this time last year. Now, when I boot it up, the screen has green pixels where there should be black (not all, just some). Everthing can still be seen, except with a green hue. If I tap the case at the rear of the LCD, the screen reverts to the correct coloring. And, conversely, a touch to the case when the screen looks good can cause the green coloring to return. Would this be the video cable?
December 20th, 2007 at 1:11 am
Hi,
I have a Toshiba A 105 S2617 and I had similar problems(the original post’s problems) with my laptop in march of this year. Toshiba was a royal pain and I ended up sending it in to be diagnosed and repaired (a pricey ordeal). They replaced the motherboard and told me that it was only guaranteed to work for something like 6 months. Earlier today, I was working on my laptop and the screen turned to a somewhat static-y black and white problem (unlike the horizontal lines to gradual complete black that i had before). After this pattern, I shut the laptop off. Now, when I try to restart the computer, the fans will start up for about a second and then stop and it will not turn on. None of the lights are on unless the Power is plugged in. Will I need to get the motherboard replaced again? Is it even worth the money replacing it this often or would I be better off just buying a new laptop? Any advice would be a godsend.
Thanks,
Katie
December 17th, 2007 at 6:29 am
I also have a Toshiba A-105 S2716 where the screen goes gray with horizontal white lines. It stays gray even when moving the screen back and forth. I noticed that the screen looked OK when rebooting into safe mode. This showed that the video driver and chip were probably OK. Then after half an hour, it went gray again.
I noticed that the laptop was getting a bit warm and I wondered if this was a heat problem. I put a small fan on each side of the laptop and it has been running normal for 24 hours without going gray.
I suspect the CPU or case fans are not working. What do you think?
Thanks.
December 12th, 2007 at 12:11 am
Allen,
Gray screen with white HORIZONTAL lines but video on the external screen always works fine, right?
I don’t want to be wrong, but from my experience with Satellites A105, most likely this is a problem with the motherboard.
Just in case you can try reconnecting the video cable on the motherboard, it’s not difficult. This connection is located under the keyboard bezel, on the left side.
December 11th, 2007 at 5:43 pm
Toshiba A105-S361. The laptop boots and runs for a while then goes gray with the white lines. If I Function+F5 through the modes, I can get the screen back. Does this sound to you like loose connections or motherboard? Thnaks in advance.
December 7th, 2007 at 11:10 am
somefurther info, My screen does have an image that can be seen when shining a flashlight on it so problem is a backlight. The backlight does come on when first starting but then goes out. I have a model m-105 toshiba satellite and have heard that maybe a pin needs to be dislodged but find none near hinges, does my model have its pin located in the latch area instead? thanx
December 7th, 2007 at 9:39 am
sorta the same problem here, my lcd works at start (can see toshiba screen then goes blank. works fine with external crt monitor. at one point I tried to do a dual screen to show both the lcd and crt at same time, this worked and a screen came up on both saying would reset in 15 secs if didn’t click okay, I clicked okay and both went black, rebooted and was able to get crt back but lcd still refuses to show anything but toshiba logo then goes black, then is grey with white mouse then back to black again.
November 22nd, 2007 at 7:32 pm
I wonder if JAMES# 14 & #16 could fix his problem. Mine is exactly the same. I did every step Mr. Laptop Tech mentioned to do it: with a monitor aside Fn+F5 I have checked the video cable at both ends (motherboard and LCD) and I still can not get the image clear and in place. It flicks around. When I am about to close the screen, bang, there is a position that the image comes back but fades away again.
Do you think if I change the video cable could work ? Or if I change the LCD Inverter could also work? Does these 2 components get demage up to the point to replace the current ones by new parts ? JAMES, I would also like to hear from you.
Thanks and regards to all.
Scarpa
November 19th, 2007 at 4:05 am
I have a Toshiba Satellite M70. When I plug my computer on the AC my screen turn dark! After I use an external monitor (which works fine) I can re-activate my monitor on batterie only. As soon as I plus my AC again, it goes dark again! Any idea?
regards,
Mike B
November 12th, 2007 at 6:09 pm
Dan-O Says:
October 10th, 2007 at 5:14 pm
Man, you are all AWESOME! I had a dead Satellite A105-S1712 screen. No nothing. I turned it on one day, all gray screen. Turned it off, then on, nothing after that from the monitor. External CRT was fine. SAW Dee’s #10 post, then INNOVA #12 reply suggesting the video cable was out. Once I got to the cable plug, I thought “it’s taped, it didnt fall out”. I gently pulled away the black tape, reseated the plug…AND BANG…the screen turned on when powering up. AWESOME – you saved my mucho time and money!—yes! It’s working! 100% – Bravo!
October 14th, 2007 at 9:29 pm
Mike,
So, the lines go away when you move the screen, right? I would check connection between the video cable and the motherboard and try reseating the cable. It could be just loose connection.
October 14th, 2007 at 7:41 am
I have same symtoms as James described above..(my lines flickering are horizontal though) but slight movement of the screen clears it momentarily.. but flickering is still there! I read that possibly could be a faulty inverter (or one going bad) and/or the backlight assembly. any thoughts on this by any one in the know????? TIA
October 10th, 2007 at 5:14 pm
Man, you are all AWESOME! I had a dead Satellite A105-S1712 screen. No nothing. I turned it on one day, all gray screen. Turned it off, then on, nothing after that from the monitor. External CRT was fine. SAW Dee’s #10 post, then INNOVA #12 reply suggesting the video cable was out. Once I got to the cable plug, I thought “it’s taped, it didnt fall out”. I gently pulled away the black tape, reseated the plug…AND BANG…the screen turned on when powering up. AWESOME – you saved my mucho time and money!
October 2nd, 2007 at 4:51 pm
JAMES,
Test your laptop with an external screen. Using Fn+F5 keys set video output on both internal and external screen and wait until it fails again. If video on the internal screen fails but video on the external monitor is fine, most likely there is nothing wrong with the motherboard.
It’s possible that you have loose connection between video cable and screen. Just in case, you can open up the display assembly and reconnect the video cable on the back of the LCD screen.
October 2nd, 2007 at 3:45 pm
Hi Laptop Tech,
Not exactly. My lines are vertical and I can still see part of the image on the screen. I move the screen on its hinge (more tha once) and it come back. After a while (for now), it works fine.
If it is a “bad screen,” is that the motherboard issue you mention above? Should I just use it until it dies and then fix it?
Thanks!
October 1st, 2007 at 9:17 pm
JAMES,
Does it look like example 1 or 7 in this post? If yes, probably you have a bad screen.
October 1st, 2007 at 4:43 pm
I have a A105 with a somewhat different problem. The LCD fades out (sort of looks like an etch a sketch) first gray, purplish, and then I get vertical lines of different colors. If I move the LCD, as if to close it, it comes back but soon after it fades again. It started yesterday by just flickering and I accidently bumped it and it cleared up..lines started today.
September 27th, 2007 at 7:49 pm
Hey INNOVA,
Thank you for your input.
I agree, if the display has no image (and no horizontal lines) but the backlight turns on, it’s likely that you have a loose connection between the video cable and the LCD screen. Reconnect the video cable and after that secure the connection with an extra piece of sticky tape.
September 27th, 2007 at 5:34 pm
Dee, I am Toshiba certified and have fixed thousands of Toshiba laptops.
It sounds like your lcd cable has fallen out of the back of the screen. Pop off the rubber stickers, unscrew the screen screws and, with your fingers and from the inside-out pull off the bezel. Plug in the lcd cable and secure it with tape at multiple points on the cable. Reassemble and I’m 90 percent sure you will get internal video.
-INNOVA
August 28th, 2007 at 2:53 pm
I will try all of those things, thank you SO much for your help!
August 28th, 2007 at 2:53 pm
I’m having the same problem with my laptop, same model (s2716) and the screen does not show anything. However, the light of the screen does go on, and it does work fine with an external monitor.
I’ve heard there could be a problem with a broken video connector to the screen? Where would I find this cable?
August 28th, 2007 at 2:49 pm
Tanya,
Here’s what you can try.
Start the laptop with the external monitor and try switching video signal from the external monitor to the internal LCD screen, maybe it somehow got stuck in the external mode. Press and hold down the Fn key and at the same time press on the F5 key. You should see a screen menu on the desktop. Press on the F5 (holding down Fn) until only the internal screen is highlighted. See if it help.
Also, try setting the screen resolution to minimum settings (800×600) and switch from external to internal after that.
It’s also possible that the video cable got disconnected from the motherboard and the LCD screen doesn’t get any signal from the motherboard/video card. Reseating the video cable connector on the motherboard might help to fix this problem. Toshiba laptop disassembly guides.
If the above mentioned methods do not help, probably you have a hardware related issue.
It might be:
1. Bad video cable
2. Bad LCD screen
3. Bad motherboard
Unfortunately I cannot tell you with part is failing without testing the laptop with known good parts.
August 28th, 2007 at 2:36 pm
The screen does nothing at all, there are no lines, no lights, no gray-ness, nothing.
August 28th, 2007 at 2:34 pm
Tanya,
Yes, if you experience the same problem as I mentioned in the post above – gray screen with some white horizontal lines, then most likely it’s a problem with video on the motherboard. But if your screen is completely dark then it might be a different problem.
Can you see anything on the screen, maybe a very faint image? Does the screen change color when you turn on the laptop? Does the backlight light up when you turn on the laptop?
August 28th, 2007 at 1:58 pm
I have a Satellite A105, and I bought it as a re-firb and therefore it no longer is under warranty. Its screen doesn’t work, one day it just decided not to turn on. I can use the computer if I hook it up to an external, and I know you said that it’s probably the video chip on the motherboard, but that’s a really expensive fix. Do you know of a way to make sure that’s what’s wrong with it before I buy a new motherboard, could it simply be a loose wire somewhere??
Thanks for your help.
Tanya
August 3rd, 2007 at 1:16 pm
no the base on the motherboard is fine, it is the part the u take out of the base so you can remove the ribbon wire that broke, the hook part. all i need is the little tab that pushes into the base.i have tried to push the one tab back into the base but it does not stay in. it is missing that hook to hold it in place. and the other 2 i have lost. do u know what they are called or where i would be able to find anymore of them? i have 3 connectors broke. the one for the power button, the mouse sensor, and the mouse buttons. the big thick keyboard one is still in working order. Thanks soooo much for all your help so far.
August 3rd, 2007 at 8:39 am
Alex,
Most likely you will not be able to find this tab in stores, unless somebody sells it separately on eBay, but it’s very unlikely.
Did you break just the hook on the tab or the connector base (plastic part connected to the motherboard) is broken too?
If you broke just the hook on one side of the tab, you still can make it work. Place the tab inside the connector the way it should be but do not lock it yet. Insert the ribbon cable inside the connector all the way down. Now gently press on the tab so it slides inside the connector. If the connector base is not damaged, the tab will stay inside and the ribbon cable will be jammed between the base and the tab. It might work.
If you accidentally broke the connector base, then you’ll have to replace the whole motherboard.
By the way, witch connector is broken? Take a look at the step 16 on this disassembly guide for Satellite A105.
August 3rd, 2007 at 4:13 am
Hello. I recently was going to clean the inside of my toshiba A105 and when i took it apart, i needed to take out the ribbon wire from the connectors (sorry dont know the real name). When i went to pull the little tab out of the connector the little hook on the one side broke off. Is there any place i can buy some of those tabs new? i tried to tape the ribbon wire back in but that didnt work. i have been told i need to replace the WHOLE motherboard in order to get another tab???? that just doesn’t make sense. any and all info would be soo helpful!!! thanks in advance!
August 2nd, 2007 at 9:06 pm
Tee,
Here’s what you can try. Remove the hard drive and start the laptop. Do you still hear the same loud continues beep? If it’s still there, I thing your problem is not related to the hard drive.
If the beep is gone, try booting the laptop from a live Linux CD (still without the hard drive). If the laptop works fine with Linux CD, probably the memory is OK.
It’s hard to guess what is wrong because I cannot hear the beep. Do is sound like a stuck key? Maybe the keyboard key got stuck (contacts are shorted) and it somehow preventing the laptop from booting. In this case try disconnecting the keyboard from the motherboard and start the laptop when the keyboard is unplugged. See if the beep is still there.
August 1st, 2007 at 1:37 am
When i turn on my Sony Laptop, upon booting, a loud continues beep sounds and an error message is displayed on the screen which reads “Operating system not found”. When i try loading a new operating system, its wont be accepted. I did not delete the operating system either. What could be the problem? I suspect the memory is faulty or maybe the hard drive is faulty. Please Advise.