Toshiba satellite USB Ports Broken Need help

[harrisod]

I have an A75-S231 Toshiba Satellite laptop that needs repair.
know the USB Ports are damaged and need replaced. I can do th
repair myself, but need the Parts. I've tried finding parts onlin
but everyone wants me to send the Laptop to them for repair, but th
cost is unreal. Can anyone tell me where I can purchase replacemen
parts? There is a single port on the right side and a dual port o
the back that needs replacement. Or am I totally screwed

Please...Can anyone help

 

[Jeff Liebermann]

[email protected] (harrisod) hath wroth:

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?

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?
http://www.keyelco.com/dynamicnav/search_keywords.asp
http://www.keyelco.com/products/prod47.asp

 

[Dave D]

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?

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

 

[g. beat]

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?

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

 

[[email protected]]

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?

Get a USB pcmcia adapter.

 

[harrisod]

Jeff

Have ordered the USB Ports. Thanks for the great Web sites fo
ordering the USB parts.

For those wondering how the USB ports got broken, its becasue th
Laptop is used by several users and they all like to use pocke
drives. It appears that the pocket drives get bumped when moving th
laptop around. I've instructed them to never move or carry the lapto
with the pocket drives plugged in, anymore. We'll see how long th
next ports last

Thanks again

 

[Jeff Liebermann]

[email protected] (harrisod) hath wroth:

Have ordered the USB Ports. Thanks for the great Web sites for
ordering the USB parts.

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:
http://802.11junk.com/jeffl/pics/A75-S213/
Incidentally, this particular laptop did a splendid job of overheating
and shutting down, even after two wasted trips back to Toshiba under
warranty.

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.

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.

 

[Michael Kennedy]

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

 

[Michael Kennedy]

USB connector peels itself off the motherboard.

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

 

[Michael Kennedy]

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

 

[Jeff Liebermann]

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.

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:
http://802.11junk.com/jeffl/pics/A75-S213/slides/A75-S213-02.html
the USB connector on the right side appears to be through hole. The
rear USB connectors appear to be a single assembly, also through hole.

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.

 

[Dave D]

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..

Not always by any stretch.

You'd think that they would use through hole to help avoid people ripping
the connector off the board.

They often do! I can't speak for bang up to date models, but thru-hole USB
ports certainly exist in some laptops.

Dave

 

[Michael Kennedy]

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

 

[Michael Kennedy]

USB connector peels itself off the motherboard.

Not always by any stretch.

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

 

[Tony Marsillo]

This web site might help out.

http://www.irisvista.com/tech/laptops/ToshibaA75/satA75_1.htm

Tony

 

[R]

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

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!