Laptop help! Toshiba Satellite 1005-S157

[deevergote]

This is my mom's old laptop. She spilled a martini on the keyboard, and now it won't respond. Rather than throw it out, she gave it to me to mess with.

Now, I can assemble a PC easily enough. I know enough to install parts and get an OS running on a bare hard drive... but my expertise stops there. I'm not a total computer noob, but close to it!


Anyway, I'm wondering if there's a way to fix this thing. I can't even figure out how to get it apart! I took out all the screws, but it's still held tight, I'm afraid to pull too hard for fear of cracking the case.

It boots up fine (I replaced the XP Home with 2000 Professional... I like it better). It gets to the "hit ctrl+alt+del to enter password" screen, and they keyboard won't respond. I'm not sure if that means the keyboard itself is shot, or if it fried something on the motherboard where it's connected.


Anyway, the keyboard, at least those keys (as I can't use any others, really) don't work. Does anyone have any suggestions?

[ACC0RD22]

I spilled ramen on my old dell, and had to send it back to get the mother board replaced. It wouldnt even boot up.

[deevergote]

I keep thinking that if I just take this thing apart and clean it, it might be alright... or if it's just the keyboard that's shot, i found one that's good for parts in NJ for like $10!

I can't even figure out how to get it apart. I took all the screws out, but the cover won't come apart. There's something still holding it tight in the middle.

[sandman61377]

Keyboards shot. Liquid on th MB would've shorted out more than just one thing like the keyboard connection.
See if you can get into the bios screen, that'll be checking at least one more key. And if you can, and the keyboard seems to work fine there then something else is wrong and its probably not worth messing around with. Hey, how did you install a different OS' without a working keyboard?
ANyway, there's usually plastic clips or something like that in laptops that hold them together in addition to the screws. Take a small flatheat screwdriver and go around the seam in the case and see if you can find where the clips are. Also, there may be other screws to be found, say, if there are small removable panels one the bottom for access to the ram or hd. You may have to also take off those covers and maybe even take out the ram or hd themselves to find all the screws.

*edit* Oops, missed that part about it being held tight in the middle. I guess you can ignore about the plastic clips. Its probably underneath a cover.

[sandman61377]

Link to acrobat file with a illustration of the underside on last page:
http://www.csd.toshiba.com/cgi-bin/t...ceghdgngdgnj.0
Open up the "expansion memory slot cover" and see if there's any screws in there. That's my best guess without the thing sitting in front of me.

[doylna]

Catch me on AIM.

I've taken my thinkpad apart several times, and taken an HP and Compaq apart recently.

Generally, there are 4 screws on the bottom of the notebook, and then you push or pull on the keyboard towards the LCD, and the end of the keyboard opposite the LCD will pop up.

[deevergote]

Well, I found the screws... I pulled off the plastic piece that showed the idiot lights (battery, power on, charging, etc) and there were a few... including the keyboard screws. 4 screws and that thing came out. Looks fine, and doesn't appear to be able to be damaged by liquid, unfortunately. It also has holes in the bottom.

Anyway, I have it in pieces on my dining room table. I think I might try to clean what I can get to and put it back together, fire it up again, and hope it did something. If not, I'll tear it down some more. I haven't gotten to the motherboard yet!

Latops are such a pain... I'm about to just buy a new one! Anyone care to sell me a laptop? Can I consider my good looks acceptable currency?

[deevergote]

Ok, back together. Man do I hate ribbons! Getting that keyboard plugged back in was a pain in the butt!


Anyway, no luck. F2 and F8 don't work to get into setup or bios. ctrl+alt+delete won't work. Enter DOES work (it brings up a screen explaining ctrl+alt+delete ). So far, Enter is the only key that seems to work. I want to figure out if it's the keyboard itself or the motherboard that's shot. If it's the keyboard, easy (cheap) fix. If it's the motherboard... I'll just find another computer. This one is decent, but I can get better, probably for less than it would cost to fix this one.

Unfortunately, I put ALL the screws back in (if I left them out too long, I'd forget where they go!) Now I'll have to undo it all again.

I also ordered a cheap USB keyboard from ebay... some little flexible thing. Only $10 shipped, so we'll see if that works. If that at least gets me into the computer, I may be able to see if it's worth saving. I might even just use it like that!

[sackingz123]

if the motherboard was bad, it wouldnt even boot. the screen just be pitch dark. nuthin

[deevergote]

Yeah, that's what I figured as well. Could it be possible that part of the board is fried? Just the part that registers SOME of the keyboard strokes?

Damn ebay... the cheap parts laptop has gone over $50 shipped... possibly not worth it now. There are plenty of parts for this model, but no keyboards! I can buy the hinge for the damn thing, but no keyboard!

[doylna]

if the motherboard was bad, it wouldnt even boot. the screen just be pitch dark. nuthin

exactly. deev you're looking at a cheap fix in terms of a free laptop.

[doylna]

Yeah, that's what I figured as well. Could it be possible that part of the board is fried? Just the part that registers SOME of the keyboard strokes?

Damn ebay... the cheap parts laptop has gone over $50 shipped... possibly not worth it now. There are plenty of parts for this model, but no keyboards! I can buy the hinge for the damn thing, but no keyboard!

do you know the part number of the keyboard? if so google for the PN, you may find one on another website. also, most laptop by the same manufacturer use the same parts, so another laptop from that era may use the same keyboard and you could buy that one cheaply.

[TheNextAZN]

http://www.priorityelectronics.com/t...00816640-2.htm
$99.99

edit: here's a possible cheaper one.. http://www.sparepartswarehouse.com/T...=sh&cat=140868

[sandman61377]

Yeah, that's what I figured as well. Could it be possible that part of the board is fried? Just the part that registers SOME of the keyboard strokes?

I suppose its POSSIBLE but very unlikely. You may have to use that usb keyboard until you can get your hands on a cheap parts system.
Hey, maybe you'll be able to get your emulators to run better so you can use a controller for your nes games now. Or had you already figured out that problem?

[deevergote]

Nah, never did figure that out. Stupid p166 was way too slow for it anyway! I've been using that one to read books lately (and even that's horribly slow!)

I do have an old Dell that the ex did a number on in the closet... time to see if it has the same keyboard! It IS from the same time period, somewhat.. 1-2 years apart. I believe Dell DID use Toshiba parts for many things as well...


Go figure. 3 laptops in my possession, I desperately need one... and not a single one works well enough for my purposes!