Laptop switches off when moved after being dropped

flicks

Hi all. I have an old Toshiba Satellite laptop which I still really love as it runs good old Windows 8 and it's still pretty nippy for it's age.

I was recently looking at some photos I'd taken with my SD card in the front slot and I dropped the laptop. It landed on the SD card which got slammed hard into the slot. I managed to remove it but the SD card reader slot itself is badly damaged.

Since this happened the laptop switches itself off almost every time it is moved. When this happens the only way to restart it is to remove the battery and power lead, hold the power button down for around 10 seconds and then put everything back together again.

I have disabled the card reader from within device manager but it has made no difference. This morning it wouldn't switch on at all initially but after half inserting an SD card in the slot and giving it a wiggle it came back to life.

Would you suggest the damage may well be to another component or do you reckon a new card reader may do the trick?

Many thanks for your thoughts.

AndyPix

You have likely damaged a track on the motherboard, or something is shorting in the card reader circuitry.
Im not sure if the card reader is actually part of the motherboard on those or if it can be replaced.


You will either need to open it up to have a look, or take it to a good side street pc shop to get a quote for repair.
Dont, I repeat DO NOT take it to PC world

psychic_teabag

If the card reader is removable, I'd definitely suggest removing it and seeing if that helps.

You don't give a specific model number, but a quick look for a service manual for a toshiba satellite laptop suggests it's just a module you can remove from underneath.

grumpycrab

flicks wrote: »

the laptop switches itself off almost every time it is moved.

May seem like a strange thing to try but does it switch off with battery removed (but with power chord still connected.)

System

Probably broken the motherboard if the SD card reader is hard soldered to it or connects via an edge connector instead of being a sub-board connected via a cable. As has been said there will be a broken track with a connection that is "made good" by shoving the SD card in and wiggling about.

Beyond economical repair most likely.

flicks

Thanks for those quick replies.

Andypix, I wouldn't dream of going anywhere near PC World but there's a few people locally who might be willing to have a look at it. Don't want to spend too much money flogging a potentially dead Horse though.

psychic teabag, sorry about the lack of model number but it's on a label underneath and I daren't lift it up while it's running. Will need to switch it off soon so will post model number later.

Thanks Grumpycrab. Yes it switches off in all scenarios.

Tarambor, yes I suspect the problem may run deeper than the card reader itself. Looks like I may have to bite the bullet and go over to a new Windows 10 laptop for Christmas.

Thanks again

John_Gray

flicks wrote: »

Looks like I may have to bite the bullet and go over to a new Windows 10 laptop for Christmas.

Get a recent second-hand Windows 10 laptop at 30%-50% of the new price...

And watch your current laptop for signs of smoke!

flicks

Psychic teabag the model number is C855-29L

Neil_Jones

Looks like the C855-29L has an onboard card reader. eBay item 222251720276, $85 = £64, that's a third of the cost of a smaller brand new laptop if that is the right board for it.

That being said the symptoms you've posted suggest that the contact pins inside the card reader are bent and shorting out on the board which would explain why you were able to get it going again by half-inserting an SD card which breaks the contact and gets the laptop going again. This is also why disabling the device in Device Manager doesn't solve the issue as all that means is Windows can't use it, not that the device itself is disabled.

It may be repairable if you (or somebody) can get the board out, get the cover off and physically disable the card reader that way by breaking all the pins but in the worse case scenario the laptop would probably be scrap unfortunately.

flicks

Hi Neil. Thanks for that. You could well be right as by shining a light into the slot I can see the pins are all twisted and broken.

I feel it's time for a new laptop as the new reader is quite pricey and I have no knowledge so I would need to pay somebody to sort it for me. Probably uneconomical for an old machine.

Thanks again.