Toshiba 5105-s501 satellite and mini-pci problems

scuba264 · 12-21-2007, 08:16 AM

Hi all...my first post on this forum.

I have an old 5105-s501 Toshiba laptop that didn't have an internal wifi card but was wifi ready. I added an atheros wifi card I ordered from ebay but had problems with the system freezing up (which seems to have been quite a problem for alot of people from posts all over the internet I've seen).

Most suggestions were to get new drivers, but it seems to me that it's a physical problem, as when it freezes I can push or hit(depending on how mad I am) below the keyboard and the pc will unfreeze again. I think the problem is a poor connection in with the card.

I'm wondering what exactly are these contacts on a mini-pci card I have circled? I noticed some movement that would allow contact to stop possibly on these points. If that happened, could it cause a loss of connection and make the system freeze?

I bent some pieces slightly and went from losing wifi/freezing up every 20 minutes to a fine connection for a few weeks until I packed up the laptop and moved it a lot. Now I'm having issues a bit more frequently.

Maybe I could solder those points to the holders and be ok for good?

Sorry for the long post, but I wanna give all details I can...thanks for any help!

**TheMatt** · 12-21-2007, 12:21 PM

Hi, and welcome to TSF,

All the interface contacts are on the pins at the bottom. The only other connections are those two at the top right which are for the antenna. The Mini PCI spec does not call for any type of contact at the latching notches there. Have you tried simply re-seating the card?

scuba264 · 12-21-2007, 12:42 PM

Yes, I've reseated the card many times. If those gold contacts by the clips are nothing then I have no idea what is happening. Unless it's an issue of the card moving and somehow the pins aren't making a good connection for a second somehow.

It's just that EVERY time it freezes I can push/hit the stupid thing and it will unfreeze. I also have little to no problems when I leave the cover to the panel off. I'm tempted to try soldering those contacts to the clips for 1)if they are some kind of ground or something(apparently not but it'll put my mind to rest) and 2)maybe it will just help keep the damn card steady and prevent whatever has been happening from happening.

**TheMatt** · 12-21-2007, 01:59 PM

Remember that if you do solder it will be difficult to undo it if it doesn't fix it (unless you have one of those "solder suckers") and with all the tightly packed surface mount components on the motherboard you risk creating a short with stray solder.

Are you sure its not the other way around and you are creating a short with the gold contacts? Try insulating them on the other side so they can't make contact with the motherboard by using electrical tape or another non-conductive material. See what happens.

scuba264 · 12-23-2007, 03:44 PM

well I just soldered those two points to the clips and I'm online right now so it at least didn't break the damn thing. Time will tell if this fixes my problem or not...

BTW, I have solder wick laying around somewhere so it won't be bad to get the card out later if I still have problems.

**TheMatt** · 12-24-2007, 10:20 AM

Thats good to hear. Post back in a little bit if you think this may have fixed it.

scuba264 · 01-17-2008, 12:45 PM

Finally fixed my laptop/wifi. Hopefully some old toshiba owners find this thread if they have the issue with their laptop freezing/screen going multi-colored and pixellated.

I read all over the internet for over a month and found TONS of posts on various sites about this issue with the atheros wifi card causing these problems with peoples laptops. Everyone's fix suggestions was always to update the drivers, but this doesn't work because it's definitely a physical problem. I had found that when I would bang on the laptop it would unfreeze, clearly that has nothing to do with an outdated driver.

I tried a million different methods to make this work, but finally figured out a way(as ghetto as it is) to make the damn thing work. The card doesn't seat right in the slot, and I found that the card needed to be wedged up a little to make a solid connection. I cut a piece of speaker wire(probably like 10 or 12 gauge) about 1 1/2 inches long. Put in the card as usual, then wedge the wire underneath the card. Don't force it but shove it under enough so that it's snug and the card won't go back down. This helps keep the card in solid contact with the top terminals(where I think the problem is). Since this fix, I've moved the laptop hundreds of miles, in and out of my car and all through my house and it's worked perfectly for a month+.

Heres a quick picture of my fix (sorry, it's as ghetto as the fix

)

I hope someone with the problem finds this, because I've never seen a proper fix anywhere for it yet!

**TheMatt** · 01-18-2008, 12:07 PM

Thats really good news. I think the mini PCIe spec needs to maybe be adjusted a little to add a support bracket or something as a necessary attachment on the motherboard.

scuba264 · 01-18-2008, 12:17 PM

yeah, I agree. There are the usual clips that are supposed to hold it in place on either side(didn't put them in my amazing graphic), but they just don't seem to do the job.

I'm flying out next week for work and taking the laptop with me. A few thousand miles of bumping around will be a sure test of how well this is working, but I'm confident this is a good cheap fix, although not pretty haha.

12-21-2007, 08:16 AM	#1 (permalink)
scuba264 Registered User Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 5 OS: winxp sp2	Toshiba 5105-s501 satellite and mini-pci problems Hi all...my first post on this forum. I have an old 5105-s501 Toshiba laptop that didn't have an internal wifi card but was wifi ready. I added an atheros wifi card I ordered from ebay but had problems with the system freezing up (which seems to have been quite a problem for alot of people from posts all over the internet I've seen). Most suggestions were to get new drivers, but it seems to me that it's a physical problem, as when it freezes I can push or hit(depending on how mad I am) below the keyboard and the pc will unfreeze again. I think the problem is a poor connection in with the card. I'm wondering what exactly are these contacts on a mini-pci card I have circled? I noticed some movement that would allow contact to stop possibly on these points. If that happened, could it cause a loss of connection and make the system freeze? I bent some pieces slightly and went from losing wifi/freezing up every 20 minutes to a fine connection for a few weeks until I packed up the laptop and moved it a lot. Now I'm having issues a bit more frequently. Maybe I could solder those points to the holders and be ok for good? Sorry for the long post, but I wanna give all details I can...thanks for any help!

12-21-2007, 12:21 PM	#2 (permalink)
TheMatt TSF Enthusiast Join Date: May 2006 Location: Boston Posts: 13,702 OS: Win 3.1, 98, NT 4.0, XP Debian 4.0, Kubuntu 6.06 My System Blog Entries: 3	Re: Toshiba 5105-s501 satellite and mini-pci problems Hi, and welcome to TSF, All the interface contacts are on the pins at the bottom. The only other connections are those two at the top right which are for the antenna. The Mini PCI spec does not call for any type of contact at the latching notches there. Have you tried simply re-seating the card? __________________ - Matt M - KB1OSC - Folding@Home 85015 [url="http://www.techsupportforum.com/hardware-support/"] If TSF has helped you, please consider donating. If I have stopped responding to a thread, feel free to send me a PM with a link to the thread. It is advisable to subscribe to threads so you will receive updates when replies are posted. You can subscribe to threads from the "Thread Tools" Menu. »Memtest86 »Prime95 »UBCD »SpeedFan »NHC Personal »Everest »Sandra »PC Wizard »RivaTuner »ATi Tool Click here for Useful Articles and Guides

12-21-2007, 12:42 PM	#3 (permalink)
scuba264 Registered User Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 5 OS: winxp sp2	Re: Toshiba 5105-s501 satellite and mini-pci problems Yes, I've reseated the card many times. If those gold contacts by the clips are nothing then I have no idea what is happening. Unless it's an issue of the card moving and somehow the pins aren't making a good connection for a second somehow. It's just that EVERY time it freezes I can push/hit the stupid thing and it will unfreeze. I also have little to no problems when I leave the cover to the panel off. I'm tempted to try soldering those contacts to the clips for 1)if they are some kind of ground or something(apparently not but it'll put my mind to rest) and 2)maybe it will just help keep the damn card steady and prevent whatever has been happening from happening.

12-21-2007, 01:59 PM	#4 (permalink)
TheMatt TSF Enthusiast Join Date: May 2006 Location: Boston Posts: 13,702 OS: Win 3.1, 98, NT 4.0, XP Debian 4.0, Kubuntu 6.06 My System Blog Entries: 3	Re: Toshiba 5105-s501 satellite and mini-pci problems Remember that if you do solder it will be difficult to undo it if it doesn't fix it (unless you have one of those "solder suckers") and with all the tightly packed surface mount components on the motherboard you risk creating a short with stray solder. Are you sure its not the other way around and you are creating a short with the gold contacts? Try insulating them on the other side so they can't make contact with the motherboard by using electrical tape or another non-conductive material. See what happens. __________________ - Matt M - KB1OSC - Folding@Home 85015 [url="http://www.techsupportforum.com/hardware-support/"] If TSF has helped you, please consider donating. If I have stopped responding to a thread, feel free to send me a PM with a link to the thread. It is advisable to subscribe to threads so you will receive updates when replies are posted. You can subscribe to threads from the "Thread Tools" Menu. »Memtest86 »Prime95 »UBCD »SpeedFan »NHC Personal »Everest »Sandra »PC Wizard »RivaTuner »ATi Tool Click here for Useful Articles and Guides

12-23-2007, 03:44 PM	#5 (permalink)
scuba264 Registered User Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 5 OS: winxp sp2	Re: Toshiba 5105-s501 satellite and mini-pci problems well I just soldered those two points to the clips and I'm online right now so it at least didn't break the damn thing. Time will tell if this fixes my problem or not... BTW, I have solder wick laying around somewhere so it won't be bad to get the card out later if I still have problems.

12-24-2007, 10:20 AM	#6 (permalink)
TheMatt TSF Enthusiast Join Date: May 2006 Location: Boston Posts: 13,702 OS: Win 3.1, 98, NT 4.0, XP Debian 4.0, Kubuntu 6.06 My System Blog Entries: 3	Re: Toshiba 5105-s501 satellite and mini-pci problems Thats good to hear. Post back in a little bit if you think this may have fixed it. __________________ - Matt M - KB1OSC - Folding@Home 85015 [url="http://www.techsupportforum.com/hardware-support/"] If TSF has helped you, please consider donating. If I have stopped responding to a thread, feel free to send me a PM with a link to the thread. It is advisable to subscribe to threads so you will receive updates when replies are posted. You can subscribe to threads from the "Thread Tools" Menu. »Memtest86 »Prime95 »UBCD »SpeedFan »NHC Personal »Everest »Sandra »PC Wizard »RivaTuner »ATi Tool Click here for Useful Articles and Guides

01-17-2008, 12:45 PM	#7 (permalink)
scuba264 Registered User Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 5 OS: winxp sp2	Re: Toshiba 5105-s501 satellite and mini-pci problems Finally fixed my laptop/wifi. Hopefully some old toshiba owners find this thread if they have the issue with their laptop freezing/screen going multi-colored and pixellated. I read all over the internet for over a month and found TONS of posts on various sites about this issue with the atheros wifi card causing these problems with peoples laptops. Everyone's fix suggestions was always to update the drivers, but this doesn't work because it's definitely a physical problem. I had found that when I would bang on the laptop it would unfreeze, clearly that has nothing to do with an outdated driver. I tried a million different methods to make this work, but finally figured out a way(as ghetto as it is) to make the damn thing work. The card doesn't seat right in the slot, and I found that the card needed to be wedged up a little to make a solid connection. I cut a piece of speaker wire(probably like 10 or 12 gauge) about 1 1/2 inches long. Put in the card as usual, then wedge the wire underneath the card. Don't force it but shove it under enough so that it's snug and the card won't go back down. This helps keep the card in solid contact with the top terminals(where I think the problem is). Since this fix, I've moved the laptop hundreds of miles, in and out of my car and all through my house and it's worked perfectly for a month+. Heres a quick picture of my fix (sorry, it's as ghetto as the fix) I hope someone with the problem finds this, because I've never seen a proper fix anywhere for it yet!

01-18-2008, 12:07 PM	#8 (permalink)
TheMatt TSF Enthusiast Join Date: May 2006 Location: Boston Posts: 13,702 OS: Win 3.1, 98, NT 4.0, XP Debian 4.0, Kubuntu 6.06 My System Blog Entries: 3	Re: Toshiba 5105-s501 satellite and mini-pci problems Thats really good news. I think the mini PCIe spec needs to maybe be adjusted a little to add a support bracket or something as a necessary attachment on the motherboard. __________________ - Matt M - KB1OSC - Folding@Home 85015 [url="http://www.techsupportforum.com/hardware-support/"] If TSF has helped you, please consider donating. If I have stopped responding to a thread, feel free to send me a PM with a link to the thread. It is advisable to subscribe to threads so you will receive updates when replies are posted. You can subscribe to threads from the "Thread Tools" Menu. »Memtest86 »Prime95 »UBCD »SpeedFan »NHC Personal »Everest »Sandra »PC Wizard »RivaTuner »ATi Tool Click here for Useful Articles and Guides

01-18-2008, 12:17 PM	#9 (permalink)
scuba264 Registered User Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 5 OS: winxp sp2	Re: Toshiba 5105-s501 satellite and mini-pci problems yeah, I agree. There are the usual clips that are supposed to hold it in place on either side(didn't put them in my amazing graphic), but they just don't seem to do the job. I'm flying out next week for work and taking the laptop with me. A few thousand miles of bumping around will be a sure test of how well this is working, but I'm confident this is a good cheap fix, although not pretty haha.