Toshiba L500D Black screen (solved)

[sparker1]

A friend asked me to look at their Toshiba Satellite L500D. The machine would show all its lights as if booting normally, hard drive would spin up and CDRom would also initialise. However although all the lights were on there was nobody home and the laptop showed a black screen. I did the following:

1. hooked up external monitor - no change
2. changed Ram - no effect
3. changed processor - no change
4. disconnected all peripheral devices, speakers, usb's etc - no change
5. Reflowed northbridge with heat gun (it's all I've got) and laptop booted up fine.

I see a lot of people on Google have this problem so i thought I would share my experience. Some suggested a Southbridge reflow but that doesn't have much to do with graphics.

Since this is not the dreaded Nvidia chip that has manufacturing defects (8600M) and reflows are temporary with those chips will a heat gun reflow be enough in this instance?

[inflex]

Re: Toshiba L500D Black screen (solved)

Sparker, oddly I just received one doing the same (AMD CPU) up here not far from you.

What was your fix... or are we still pending?

[sparker1]

Re: Toshiba L500D Black screen (solved)

Sparker, oddly I just received one doing the same (AMD CPU) up here not far from you.

What was your fix... or are we still pending?

The fix was a northbridge reflow. It booted straight up after that. I can't do reballs so i hope that's enough.

[ktmmotocross]

Re: Toshiba L500D Black screen (solved)

all 8xxx nvidia grapphics have problem with overheating. try reflow.

[sparker1]

Re: Toshiba L500D Black screen (solved)

all 8xxx nvidia grapphics have problem with overheating. try reflow.

It is already fixed. This laptop didn't have a nvidia graphics chip. Reflows of the 8xxx don't last in my humble experience. With this laptop I did a reflow of the AMD graphics chip and it worked. I don't know for how long. Are reflows better on these chips?

[sparker1]

Re: Toshiba L500D Black screen (solved)

It is already fixed. This laptop didn't have a nvidia graphics chip. Reflows of the 8xxx don't last in my humble experience. With this laptop I did a reflow of the AMD graphics chip and it worked. I don't know for how long. Are reflows better on these chips?

Evidently not.

It came back to me (as a gift) today. I have invested in a reball station etc but so far have had disastrous results in tests. I'll give this one a go as a reball candidate.

[fddizon]

Re: Toshiba L500D Black screen (solved)

use rosin liquid flux no clean with better result

[Th3_uN1Qu3]

Re: Toshiba L500D Black screen (solved)

It came back to me (as a gift) today. I have invested in a reball station etc but so far have had disastrous results in tests.

Which station have you got?

[sparker1]

Re: Toshiba L500D Black screen (solved)

Which station have you got?

I got this one from aliexpress. It is an indirect heat type. I can't figure out how to line the stencil up with the chip as I can't see the chip when the stencil is on. I have to align them of course but there's a bit of freeplay to adjust before locking the station. Then there's the distance between the stencil and the chip so that when I add the balls they just seem to go randomly and don't follow the pattern at all. I guess the distance between the stencil and the chip is too much and more than one ball is able to go down the same stencil hole. It's doing my head in. Maybe direct heat stencils are better.

[Th3_uN1Qu3]

Re: Toshiba L500D Black screen (solved)

I was asking about the equipment you use to unsolder and resolder the chips.

It sounds to me that you are not aligning the chip correctly in the jig. It should have no play. Also, the indirect heat stencils can only be used with an IR station or an oven. You can't solder the balls with a hot air wand, the airflow will move the balls around and they will stick to one another and make a mess.

I use direct heat stencils. They can be a pain in the ass at times, but i've gotten used to them. Also for me it is the only option because i'm using hot air.

[sparker1]

Re: Toshiba L500D Black screen (solved)

The equipment I have to unsolder/resolder chips is a Scottle IR6000. I also have a hot air station that I use as well. I am still learning on the Scottle. If I had my time over I would not buy a manufactured IR machine. People have said in another post you can do just as well by putting the stuff together yourself and now I can see that is true.
Anyway, the freeplay in the reball station is only until the chip is aligned and the bolts tightened. It is the alignment I'm having trouble with. I'll keep playing with it and looking for information until I've got it right.
I have ordered some direct heat stencils and a very cheap direct heat jig. I'll see if that's any easier.
Looks easy on YouTube...sigh.

[Th3_uN1Qu3]

Re: Toshiba L500D Black screen (solved)

The only downside to direct heat stencils is that they tend to stick to the chip after you've soldered the balls in place, and you sometimes end up bending them trying to lift them off.

I avoid this by first letting the chip cool down fully, and then heat it up for a few seconds with my hot air wand set to 250C, so that the stencil feels just a bit hot to the touch. Then it lifts easily without damaging the balls or the stencil.

Some people lift it when it's still warm, but it is difficult to estimate when it's "just warm", and in practice you end up damaging some balls and having to do the whole thing all over again.

[hansie55]

Re: Toshiba L500D Black screen (solved)

The equipment I have to unsolder/resolder chips is a Scottle IR6000. I also have a hot air station that I use as well. I am still learning on the Scottle. If I had my time over I would not buy a manufactured IR machine. People have said in another post you can do just as well by putting the stuff together yourself and now I can see that is true.
Anyway, the freeplay in the reball station is only until the chip is aligned and the bolts tightened. It is the alignment I'm having trouble with. I'll keep playing with it and looking for information until I've got it right.
I have ordered some direct heat stencils and a very cheap direct heat jig. I'll see if that's any easier.
Looks easy on YouTube...sigh.

Followed the thread. I would be interested to put one together myself.
Where can I find the info? Thanks.

[sparker1]

Re: Toshiba L500D Black screen (solved)

Followed the thread. I would be interested to put one together myself.
Where can I find the info? Thanks.

The basic one is the second post in this thread "Yet another BGA machine dream". The links to the controllers for programming and setting the temperature profiles that you would need to buy are there. They are the exact same ones that are in my manufactured Scottle machine. You need a cabinet and from what I see now, from the purchased machine I have, I would use an old VCR or CD/tape player as a cabinet to put the heaters and controllers in and keep things tidy. The information is only basic but there are plenty of home made machines on YouTube and other places.

[sparker1]

Re: Toshiba L500D Black screen (solved)

The only downside to direct heat stencils is that they tend to stick to the chip after you've soldered the balls in place, and you sometimes end up bending them trying to lift them off.

I avoid this by first letting the chip cool down fully, and then heat it up for a few seconds with my hot air wand set to 250C, so that the stencil feels just a bit hot to the touch. Then it lifts easily without damaging the balls or the stencil.

Some people lift it when it's still warm, but it is difficult to estimate when it's "just warm", and in practice you end up damaging some balls and having to do the whole thing all over again.

Your tips have certainly helped me. I am always grateful for your help.

[hansie55]

Re: Toshiba L500D Black screen (solved)

The basic one is the second post in this thread "Yet another BGA machine dream". The links to the controllers for programming and setting the temperature profiles that you would need to buy are there. They are the exact same ones that are in my manufactured Scottle machine. You need a cabinet and from what I see now, from the purchased machine I have, I would use an old VCR or CD/tape player as a cabinet to put the heaters and controllers in and keep things tidy. The information is only basic but there are plenty of home made machines on YouTube and other places.

Thanks for the reply, I 'll ckeck it out.