Satellite A660 - diagnostic to control HD spin-up/down

I got my Satellite A660 back from the shop. They replaced the HD due to a high Reallocated Sector Count in a S.M.A.R.T. report, and they also replace the mobo because of BSODs and NVIDIA display driver stoppages.
Ever since getting it back, I've been trying to track down the source of a vibration felt at the touch pad (finger actually tingles). When I reported it to Tech Support, they asked me to send it into their depot, which I will do, but I was wondering if there was some kind of testing I could do before their box arrives. Since I don't have another machine, it would sure help to be able to figure out the cause without sending it in (but I don't want to take the computer apart).
However, if nothing can be done about it even if I find out a likely cause, it might speed things up if I provide them information on the things that seem to cause the vibration. In order to possibly avoid sending it in, I asked whether such vibrations were necessarily harmful (I was thinking specifically about long term consequences on the HD). They thought it might. So send it in I will.
The vibration isn't correlated with the fan-on times. At least not the one that whirs every few seconds and causes hot air to come out of the vent. I am assuming that there is only one fan, based on a technician's information. I was wondering if it might be correlated with the spin-up of the HD. Is there a diagnostic app that lets the user control whether the disk spins?

Hi
The notebook switched off automatically because of the high temperature this is kind of notebooks self-protection feature. The notebook powers off to avoid some hardware damage.
> What sits underneath the trackpad?
I assume the CPU and cooling modules can be found there
> The only change that I have done recently is used Soluto to disable some programs at startup (including some Toshiba ones). So I suspect I have disabled some software that somehow controls things in this regard. Is that plausible?
I dont think this could cause such issue the cooling modules are controlled by BIOS.
Even if the Toshiba tools would not be installed, the notebooks temperature should not goes up to an critical level
So I think there must be other reason for this issue.
It could be possible that your cooling modules are not clean and dust prevent the air from circulation it could be also possible that cooling vents are clogged. I recommend cleaning the cooling fans with an compressed air spray
This helps to remove the dust

Similar Messages

My Satellite A660-11M is getting hot, and shut down

Hello !
(sorry for my english)
I have problem with my computer.
When I'm playing computer games or when I save movie created in Sony Vegas or Windows Movie Maker, my Toshiba is getting hot, and shut down.
I don't know the reason.
I saw that, wnen CPU is 50% of use (saving movie in Movie Maker) the computer will shut down about 5 min from start to save.
I bought this computer in UK in august. I did't format it for 7 months.
What can I do ?
Maybe open and clean the fan ?
Will I lost my warranty, when I only open it and clen ?

Barrie :
I usually use my computer on knees, but wneh I put in on desk the effect it that same...
cooling vents free, not blocked.
C3PO:
I use original drivers from nvidia.com I download the latest and install.
When I used my computer 5 months ago, I did't get this problem.
notebook was getting hot about 3 months ago ?
first. When I played game "Mafia2". about 30 minutes playing and computer shutdown.
Now when I'm playing Call of Duty Black Ops or doing something when CPU use is 50% it getting hot next shutdown.

Satellite A660 DVD/CD-ROM drive does not detect discs

Hi there,
I have a Toshiba Satellite A660 with a MAT****A BD-CMB UJ141ES DVD/CD-ROM drive. It is about 18 months old and recently I have noticed that it does not recognise any CDs/DVDs. It makes a couple of noises once inserted but then stops spinning and nothing happens or changes in My Computer view.
Please note there seems to be no apparent problems with the drive:
- It is present in My Computer
- The device is working properly in device manager
Things I have already tried:
- Run Microsoft FixIt and CD-ROM/DVD Troubleshooter - both said it could not recognise media
- Deleted upper filter in the registry as per many suggestions (no lower filter present)
- Updated driver
I don't know what else to do. Please help as this is frustrating for a relatively new notebook which never is moved from my desk (don't expect many damaged parts).
Cheers

As I said: clean the laser lens
If you open the CD/DVD drive you will see the small laser lens.
Use cotton wool tip and alcohol
> Or at least provide a link?
Dont know any

'A problem with the cooling system' error message on Satellite A660

Hi all,
Hope I can get some help here. I've had about 5 HP laptops after all of them had problems and faults. I got sick of them and therefore got a refund and bought a high spec A660-1FH.
The A660 has been a great laptop for two days until yesterday when I started getting a warning message saying 'A problem with the cooling system has been detected. Please turn off the computer immediately, and return it for service'.
The cpu fan works fine as you can here it spinning and the temperature of the i5-460m processor is around 40 degrees for both cores - which seems normal to me. I've noted that it happens only when running on battery and if you switch from eco utility to power saver mode. Its fine when running on the 'balanced' power setting. The fan is louder before when this message appears.
As its under 28 days my retailer swapped it for a brand new one straight away. Got the new one home, and the same message appears again. Has anyone else experienced this. As two laptops have had this, I'm wondering if this is normal for the A660 series laptop or if there is really a hardware issue?!
I have tried to upgrade eco utility and the bios of the laptop but both are the latest versions. Can anyone help or share if they experience a similar issue with their laptop?
Thanks

In front of me I have Satellite A660-13Q (PSAW3E) and I have it about 6 weeks now. It runs almost 10 hours daily and until now I didnt notice such message or anything else that can be suspect for hardware functionality.
I really dont know why this happen on your notebook and dont think there is anything you can do about it.
I would exchange it again. What you can also try is to contact nearest Toshiba service. Make a call, explain the situation and ask if they can help you with this.

Satellite A660 - Will not boot up and HDD boot fail

Hi,
firstly thanks for your time.
Model: Satellite A660 (PSAW3A-07U00R)
The problem started yesterday, the computer was going slow as an application closed, so I held the off button untill the pc turned off. When I restarded the laptop it went to a screen saying: Start windows normally or repair Windows (recomended)
When started normally it just hangs at a blank screen, the repair Windows recommends a system restore to earlier point which didnt work. As it just hangs again. I tried pressing F8 and starting in safe mode but again it just hangs. Then after a few times trying safe mode and another system restore the computer then hangs when I press F8. After this the computer goes past the Toshiba logo screen with F2 and F12 options (which both still work), and then it comes up boot failed then goes blank and comes with boot failed bootfailed with some numbers and letters, then it goes to a small box titled boot menu with 4 options.These are
HDD/SSD Toshiba MK6465GSX
CD/DVD MAT****ABD-CMB UJ141ES
FDD
LAN
If I press ESC it goes through the bootfailed loop and ends up at same screen, if I press enter on "HDD/SSD Toshiba MK6465GSX" then it quickly comes back to screen and at the bottom it says [HDD/SSD Toshiba MK6465GSX] is failed.
I dont understand why it got worse over time. Can anyone think of why this has happend and more importantly how can I get my pc working again? Note: holding 0 then starting does nothing for me atm
regards, Matthew

All you people looking here on this dead thread.....
Toshiba A660 laptops are renowned for having hard drive fails and boot up problems after grinding to a halt.
My solution (after losing 3 hard drives [and a terabyte of family treasured times]) is the following.
Use MALWAREBYTES (free download and use for 28 days)
Scan and fix. Mine found over 300 trojans that 2013 Norton 360 could not find.
Re-boot into safe mode.
SCAN again.
Re-boot and empty the malwarebytes repair files it retains...
Run Norton/McAfee (whichever you have) and you should still have no issues.
Make a back-up repair disc. Ooooops......no you cant...........at least my laptop can`t.
I don`t know why.....
Tell me tosh..... why does windows x64 refuse to allow me to make a system boot disc (even though the laptop is all driver updated and Windows updated)?
Uninstall MalwareBytes when Norton/McAfee tells you there will be a conflict between the two programs.
It tells you to re-boot after uninstalling it.
Then when it re-boots you get a black screen. You cannot even get to bios. You think ytour laptop is turned into a brick frisbee. You pull out the battery in frustration after five minutes.
You replace and re-boot....but again you get no bios or boot up.... you think its destroyed the Bios or graphics somehow....youo can hear the hard-drive but you have no clue whats going on..
Around this time you shake the laptop in frustration.....
Calm down.
Switch on and leave FIFTEEN MINUTES....Ten of which will be a Black nothing screen with maybe a single white underscore line in the top left corner.LEAVE IT ALONE.
Make a sunday dinner for ten people....When you go back to the computer it will be up and running.
When you re-boot again, it will be dead black for five minutes...then boots up... you still think it has a problem... LEAVE IT.
When you reboot again it should work perfect (assuming you have not been overheating it by using it on a cushion on your lap and overheating the insides [use a laptop fan tray]) if you have not shaken your hard drive or caused scrambled damage by pulling the power fifty times like some people do.
I have lost three hard drives and thousands of Gigabytes of treasured family memories discovering the secret the hard way.
Enjoy.
Buy a different brand next time.
ALL Windows system files should be on a SWITCHED (to update) version of Windows.
Spinning drives should be for Data only.

Connecting Satellite A660-13Q to LED TV

Hi, I have an laptop Toshiba Satellite A660-13Q and want to connect to an Led TV. What cable should I use and where to connect? Vga to Hdmi or Hdmi to Hdmi?
I tried with a VGA to HDMI cable, and pressing FN + F5 does not leave the image on the tv.
The laptop recognizes the TV control panel Nvidia.
Thanks.

What you have are two devices that belong to newest technology and to connect notebook to TV you must use best offered possibility and it is definitely HDMI to HDMI connection.
Buy high quality cable, connect both devices, enable certain port on TV and use FN+F5 key combination on your notebook to switch between LCD and TV.
Several different modes will be offered and choose the mode you prefer.

Headphones usage on Satellite A660-BT2G22 -sound plays out of the speakers

When I plug headphones into my Satellite A660-BT2G22 Laptop the sound plays out of the speakers and the headphones.
There has to be a way for me to make the sound play only through the headphones and I would really love that because I am going off to college soon and will have a roommate and I will want to listen to my own music and stuff and not force him to hear my stuff all the time.
Please help?

This notebook model is not known to me but check control panel and option for some audio manager there. On notebooks with Realtek sound card there is Realtek HD Audio manager.
Check all options there, especially small folder symbol placed at the right top side. When you click on it connector settings window will be open. Enable auto popup dialog.
Now, every time when headphones will be connected you can choose headphone as only device you want to use.
Please check it out.

Satellite A660-11M on Windows 7 - Toshiba Power Saver does not work

I have a Satellite A660-11M and I work on Windows 7 Ultimate
The problem is that I have download all drivers and updates but the toshiba power saver does not work its installed with no error and TPSLaunch (green icon) does not open when I click on it and no icon I found in the control panel for the program afterIi install all the Value Added Package!

Toshiba Power Saver is only for XP installations, you can't install the XP Drivers (and most Vista Drivers) in Windows 7.
Make sure all your drivers are for the A660, and make sure they are for Windows 7.

Satellite A660-11M - How to enable WiFi?

Hi. I have a Satellite A660-11M with key features
-Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (pre-installed, Toshiba-HDD recovery)
-Intel Core i7-720QM Processor
Wifi:
Compliancy : Wi-Fi
Network Support : 802.11b/g/n
Manufacturer : Broadcom
Wireless Technology : Wireless LAN
Manufacturer : Broadcom
Wireless Technology : Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
It has been working fine but after the children were using the machine and shut it down I cannot see the Router using the wifi.
I tried the hardware switch on the media strip between the keyboard and the screen and none of the buttons respond; I suspect this may be the issue.
Fn F8 brings up the wifi fn display but clicking on it will not enable it. Trouble shooting informs me to "Turn on Wireless Capability" but as stated above, the media strip appears to be inactive. I can connect normally using the cable to the router.
I tried a System Restore but that didn't help.
So although I have a sinking feeling I am missing something obvious, any thoughts before I start reloading wifi driver and resetting BIOS? If that is the recommended approach, what driver controls the media strip
Many thanks for any help.

Thanks for all your assistance... Got it sorted:
For anyone else with this model, *it was a hardware fault.*
You need to undo one of the screws on the underside of the laptop (I undid them all 8o() and gently lift up the keyboard fascia from the top (directly above the function buttons). Under here you will find a small ribbon cable from the media panel to the motherboard... this had come undone.
Reconnected, rebooted, job's a good'un.
Genuinely impressed with how supportive this forum is... in Arnie's immortal words: I'll be back!
SD

Satellite A660 - cannot perform chkdsk

I have a satellite a660 laptop..
My first question is about the win7 scan disk
I chose to do a disk check.. and win7 tells me that in the next startup it will be running.
When the computer restart, it shows the chkdsk countdown (if i want to cancel) but when the contdown ends.. its stuck and dont scan..
I need to restart again..
Any help ?
My next question:
As far as i know ; the mouse pad is multi touch.. (enlarge pictures and rotate images)
Well , only the enlarge function is working.
I cant flip any pictures.. i try to use picasa software and also tried to flip the image in the built in image viewer of win 7..
Any help?
thanks :)

> I chose to do a disk check.. and win7 tells me that in the next startup it will be running.
> When the computer restart, it shows the chkdsk countdown (if i want to cancel) but when the contdown ends.. its stuck and dont scan..
> I need to restart again..
> Any help ?
Try to scan the notebook using the CCleaner. It free tool which cleans the registry and the HDD.
>As far as i know ; the mouse pad is multi touch.. (enlarge pictures and rotate images)
>Well , only the enlarge function is working.
>I cant flip any pictures.. i try to use picasa software and also tried to flip the image in the built in image viewer of win 7..
Im not quite sure about the touchpad functionality because there are different A660 with different hardware components and different properties.
If the touchpad supports mentioned function then you should check if it would be already enabled on the system.
For that you have to go to control panel -> mouse -> Device settings tab -> settings (maybe propeties).
Anyway, there you should find all options which are supported by touchpad software.

Satellite A660 - Touchpad not working

I have a Satellite A660-16Z and the touchpad doesn't work at all even if it is enabled with F9.
I must use an external usb mouse.
I tried several times to unistall and reinstall the touchpad driver got from toshiba site without success.
In the beginning,after purchase,I remember the touchpad was working but I used an external mouse anyway.
From that time I upgraded the bios to 2.00 plus W7 upgrades and service pack 1.
Any idea appreciated.

Hi
Does the touchpad work if the USB mouse is disconnected?
As far as I know there is a option which disables the touchpad automatically if the USB mouse has been connected.
You can find this option in: control panel -> mouse -> Pointing device
Check this.

Satellite A660-11M - Power Saver does not work

I have a Satellite A660-11M and I work on Windows 7 Ultimate
The problem is that I have download all drivers and updates but the toshiba power saver does not work its installed with no error and TPSLaunch (green icon) does not open when I click on it and no icon I found in the control panel for the program afterIi install all the Value Added Package!

Hi buddy,
Wait a moment, please.
Im a little bit confused about your posting First you write about Power Saver and then about green icon Which one you mean exactly and whats the problem?
If you mean Eco mode you have to install Eco Utility from official Toshiba website.

Satellite A660 - USB 2.0 ports are non responsive

My Satellite A660 Series Laptop is one month old and has been working fine until now. However, I powered on the machine and all three USB 2.0 Ports are non responsive. I've Shut-Down and Restarted the computer - no change.
In (Windows 7 - 16 Bit OS) Control Panel - Manage Devices - it says that all USB 2.0 Ports are recognised and working. In reality, NO device in any of the three (3) USB2.0 Ports are actually being recognised or working at all - there is no response. Interestingly, the one (1) eSATA/USB combo port is working and responding properly.
Can anyone help?
Should i just send it backto the shop? Yes it is still under warranty.

Hey,
> Should i just send it backto the shop?
No, I think its just a USB driver problem.
In your case I would reinstall the chipset driver from official Toshiba website. Even you have the newest version, try reinstalling it because it contains the USB drivers and maybe its something wrong with it.
After chipset driver installation test it again. If it doesnt work remove all USB ports from device manager and restart your notebook. The USB ports will be reinstalled automatically.
What BIOS version you have installed?

Satellite A660-149 - Tosh utility disappeared!

Would someone pl. help me trace the following utility which I've had till recently on my brand new Satellite A660-149 but now it's gone (maybe through some fault of mine).
It took the form of a rectangle that would hide at the edge of the screen and would (inconveniently, most of the time) pop out whenever the cursor hit its outline. One of its 3 buttons caused a box to appear where you could select one of various pre-set options for the display according to ambient lighting, one of these options being user defined.
I found this utility most useful for quickly changing the display adjustments whenever I had to move my laptop around.
I hardly had time to look into what this utility was called and where it was residing, before I lost it without trace.
A prize to anyone who helps me rediscover it ?!

How kind not having given up on me, Xardas! :)
I'm having the same results as you, with Flash Cards. As a novice I haven't looked into these things properly yet, but it seems to me the tool I'm after isn't related to Flash Cards. The closest I could maybe describe it is: a control for ambient light. BTW I don't seem to have a functioning Ambient Light Sensor, i.e. the button next to the Power button (numbered 13 in the Manual) - it must've been disabled for my model. The Manual says: *The Ambient Light Sensor automotically adjusts picture & contrast etc etc. By utilizing up to 8 different contrast settings, you will see the best picture possible in any room environment.* Well, I wonder: the utility I'm after with its (as far as I remember) 8+ lighting presets, must've been a kind of compensation/replacement for the missing automatic Ambient Light Sensor. As I said, it took the form of a (maybe) 4cm x 1cm rectangle hiding at the edge of the screen.

Satellite A660-10X - Freezes many times

Hello
A few months ago I bought Satellite A660-10x. On original installed system it freezed one time (I used laptop maybe one hour) but I thought it was some accident or maybe something was configured improperly. Then I installed clear system (Windows 7 Home Premium) from Microsoft disc and installed only necessary drivers but the problem occurred again. At the first moment I thought that it happen only when I don't click or move mouse for above 1 minute but at the moment the problem also appears when I click or write something. I use this laptop very rarely but as you can imagine it's very annoying and it makes that I cannot trust this laptop and data on it. Maybe you know what can cause the problem or maybe some new drivers were published to remove this issue?
I read that not only I have the same problem.
Best regards

Hi machanic12,
> The amount of bloatware included with the Toshiba Recovery Image is astonishing.
What bloatware you mean? Do you think that any drivers or important software like Value Added Package is bloatware? Thats wrong!
As you can see in other postings here in forum I use Satellite A660 for 3 months now with preinstalled Windows 7 from Toshiba. Never did a new installation as yet because the factory settings work perfect.
Ok, if you dont like McAfee security software or trial software of Office for example you can simply remove it in control panel > Add/Remove programs. I did the same, just for information.
But the most installed software is necessary and really nice, like Eco Utility. It helps me to save a lot of energy and battery power. Furthermore ConfigFree is also nice WiFi tool that I always use and other Toshiba Utilites like PC Health Monitor are nice to check the fan activity, temperatures, etc.
I must say I dont have any performance problems. Windows starts pretty fast, no problems with Photoshop or VMware. Also my games run well.
Otherwise I agree with your posting running a Memtest and update BIOS version. Latest version (1.80-WIN) I have installed and no problems. :)

Satellite A660 - diagnostic to control HD spin-up/down

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