I have an A75-S231 Toshiba Satellite laptop that needs repair. I know the USB Ports are damaged and need replaced. I can do the repair myself, but need the Parts. I've tried finding parts online but everyone wants me to send the Laptop to them for repair, but the cost is unreal. Can anyone tell me where I can purchase replacement parts? There is a single port on the right side and a dual port on the back that needs replacement. Or am I totally screwed?
Please...Can anyone help?
snipped-for-privacy@spam.invalid (harrisod) hath wroth:
You're not totally screwed but we need some help identifying the maker and model number of the USB connector. Toshiblah laptops use a variety of USB form factors. A closeup photo of the inside of the laptop showing the specific connector would be a big help. Meanwhile, dig through the USB connectors at Mouser, Digikey, and other vendors and see if anything looks familiar. They're cheap enough that you can buy an assortment if you're not sure of the exact replacement part.
Something like this perhaps?
-- Jeff Liebermann jeffl@comix.santa-cruz.ca.us 150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558
I'm intrigued- how on earth has someone managed to damage *all three* USB ports on the laptop, one of which is a completely seperate connector?! We're talking physical damage to the sockets, right?
If they look OK but just don't work then the odds of the actual sockets being the problem are extremely small- it's more likely to be a bad USB controller IC, power failure to the ports (ie fuse open circuit) or some other issue like drivers.
Dave
Be positive that you have a hardware component failure and not a corrupted driver with your Windows O/S .. which is a very common problem.
Component level repair is possible on motherboards - but can be tie consuming. It will require not only the proper surface mount component - but soldering workstation - and small tools (microscope or magnifier likely required, depending on layout).
g. beat
Get a USB pcmcia adapter.
Jeff,
Have ordered the USB Ports. Thanks for the great Web sites for ordering the USB parts.
For those wondering how the USB ports got broken, its becasue the Laptop is used by several users and they all like to use pocket drives. It appears that the pocket drives get bumped when moving the laptop around. I've instructed them to never move or carry the laptop with the pocket drives plugged in, anymore. We'll see how long the next ports last.
Thanks again!
snipped-for-privacy@spam.invalid (harrisod) hath wroth:
Good luck. Taking apart laptops and replacing USB connectors is no fun. Here's a very similar A75-S213 Toshiba laptop that I disassembled for repair:
Most of the broken USB connectors I see are from wireless USB mice. People tend to forget that the receiver is stuck in the back of the laptop. They then shove the laptop into the carrying bag and bang it around a bit. Instead of the cheap mouse receiver destroying itself, the USB connector peels itself off the motherboard. Trying to get users to remove peripherals before morphing into a road warrior is difficult.
Also, be careful with laptop bags that have enough room for the power supply in the same compartment as the laptop. Such bags are an open invitation to throwing the laptop into the bag with the DC power connector still attached. Instant broken connector, every time. Eventually, the industry will figure out that magnetically retained connectors is the way to go, as in the new Apple MacBook Pro.
-- Jeff Liebermann jeffl@comix.santa-cruz.ca.us 150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558
What is also no fun is de-soldering and soldering on those huge ground planes that mothobords have. I usually use my gas powered iorn for this, but even with that I have to turn it way up to get it hot enough to melt the solder in a reasonable time.
- Mike
Oh so I guee that it is all surface mount.. Thats not as bad as through hole with a huge ground plane then I guess. I can't believe they don't use a through hole connector for the USB ports.. They should know that the usb ports are going to take abuse.
- Mike
Sorry I'm still asleep and that didn't make any sense... Here is what I meant to say
So I guess that means that they use SMT USB ports.. You'd think that they would use through hole to help avoid people ripping the connector off the board. One good thing about that is it will probably be easier than trying to solder to a huge motherboard ground plane with a regular through hole connector but then again I could be wrong about that, especially if they have a huge ground plane on the smt USB port.
- Mike
"Michael Kennedy" hath wroth:
Well, you might be right. My memory isn't prefect and I've seen both types. The surface mount variety relies on the metal shield to provide mechanical strength. I don't think the thru hole USB connector pins provide much additional strength.
Looking at my photograph of the A75-S213 insides at:
Even with a through hole connector, the leverage of a USB memory or mouse dongle is going to destroy the connector. They could bolt the connector to the motherboard, as they do sometimes with parallel and serial connectors, and still sustain damage. I've seen fatally cracked motherboards on parallel connectors.
Dealing with the huge ground planes is a problem but not impossible. I use an 850F 1/4" chisel point on a Weller solder station to get it hot. No need to use a gas torch. The idea is to use a very hot iron and work VERY quickly to minimize the heat affected area. To preserve the motherboard, I sometimes destroy the broken connector with a pair of cutters, and then extract one lead at a time. If necessary, I use my Pace vacuum desoldering station to suck the solder out of the holes.
-- Jeff Liebermann jeffl@comix.santa-cruz.ca.us 150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558
Not always by any stretch.
They often do! I can't speak for bang up to date models, but thru-hole USB ports certainly exist in some laptops.
Dave
Well I don't use a torch but I use a gas iorn for ground planes. It is great because there is virturally no heat up time and it is completely portable. :) I usually use it when I'm working on larger comopnents and thouse pesky ground planes..
- Mike
I guess I just don't think "peel" when I see cracked solder joints on standard through hole compnents.. I'd probably say ripped out or cracked solder joints.
- Mike
This web site might help out.
Tony
The Best one I saw was an almost new laptop that had the centre contact support broken out of one of the USB connectors somehow. Then the owner accidentally plugged the power supply plug into the broken USB connector while blindly reaching around the back, yes it was a good fit! Much smoke poured forth and the Laptop played dead however after a reset it worked fine, minus one port of course.. to the relief of the overseas travelling owner!
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