Replace CMOS Battery Toshiba Satellite

I need to replace the CMOS battery in a Toshiba Satellite 2415-S205 & not sure the best way to go about it.
Every time the battery goes dead I have to reset the time & date.

Thanks for your help

Add a reply

Register or log in to remove.

Toshiba is on of the few companies that actually post good directions online how to dis assemble their Laptops. There is a ton of screws. You have to take the HDD and DVD rom out if the battery is on top of the Mobo. It can be real tricky putting it back together. Buy yourself a $10.00 model car and if you put it together go ahead and do the toshiba. If you dont have the patience or skill on the model take the Toshiba to a shop.

Reply to roadrunner197069

Legal preface: This is how I, personally was able to get it done, easily.

I just did one of these (2400-S201) to see if I could give them a second life, and to see if it was all that bad
...Its not.
Keep in mind, this laptop is older, but very much worth resurrecting.

1. Remove the battery (side latch release) and hard drive. The only screw that holds it down is marked F-4 on the cover. (look for the panel with the 2" circle, that is the HD)
Use the white pull tab to move it left then upwards. It should move with little effort. Be careful not to loose the screw from the HD panel.

2.Remove all screws annotated F6 from the bottom bezel with a Pt. 2 screwdriver. (from my count there was less that a 15 )
Depending on the screwdriver, there are times where you might have to push the screwdriver down a bit to get in contact with the thread. Just be careful not to strip the threading.

3.Remove the "B25" screw located near the heat sink-fan vent. Somewhat carefully take your hand, and lift the bottom bezel up enought to disconnect (about 1-2 inches from surface) the battery with your index and midde finger. Look at they way the battery is run, and seated in the plasic clips.
With the bottom semi-open, plug in the replacement battery, and re-seat it in underneath the white ribbon cable, and clips on the housing per the original.

4. Replace all screws (less than a ton).

5. Re-seat the hard drive, by sliding it in first with the metal tab under the plastic housing, to the left, then puling it to the right. Replace the panel with the one, shorter, F-4 screw. Reseat the battery.

6. Return your model car with reciept. If a reciept cannot be found, use it for store credit.

If you wish to test the battery, simply unplug it and remove the battery for 30 minutes. Then power it on with only the A/C adapter. If no CMOS screen appears, you are good to go.

This seems a little complex, but it really isn't I did one after a few barley pops in about 15 minutes.

Please feel free to give a shout out if anyone finds this helpful.

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by Anonymous on 04-07-2009 at 07:45:12 AM

Reply to Anonymous

Anonymous wrote :

Legal preface: This is how I, personally was able to get it done, easily.

I just did one of these (2400-S201) to see if I could give them a second life, and to see if it was all that bad
...Its not.
Keep in mind, this laptop is older, but very much worth resurrecting.

1. Remove the battery (side latch release) and hard drive. The only screw that holds it down is marked F-4 on the cover. (look for the panel with the 2" circle, that is the HD)
Use the white pull tab to move it left then upwards. It should move with little effort. Be careful not to loose the screw from the HD panel.

2.Remove all screws annotated F6 from the bottom bezel with a Pt. 2 screwdriver. (from my count there was less that a 15 )
Depending on the screwdriver, there are times where you might have to push the screwdriver down a bit to get in contact with the thread. Just be careful not to strip the threading.

3.Remove the "B25" screw located near the heat sink-fan vent. Somewhat carefully take your hand, and lift the bottom bezel up enought to disconnect (about 1-2 inches from surface) the battery with your index and midde finger. Look at they way the battery is run, and seated in the plasic clips.
With the bottom semi-open, plug in the replacement battery, and re-seat it in underneath the white ribbon cable, and clips on the housing per the original.

4. Replace all screws (less than a ton).

5. Re-seat the hard drive, by sliding it in first with the metal tab under the plastic housing, to the left, then puling it to the right. Replace the panel with the one, shorter, F-4 screw. Reseat the battery.

6. Return your model car with reciept. If a reciept cannot be found, use it for store credit.

If you wish to test the battery, simply unplug it and remove the battery for 30 minutes. Then power it on with only the A/C adapter. If no CMOS screen appears, you are good to go.

This seems a little complex, but it really isn't I did one after a few barley pops in about 15 minutes.

Please feel free to give a shout out if anyone finds this helpful.

Thank you so very much for giving such precise instructions. You are a prince; gave me ammo when taking the laptop to the experts. Merci beaucoup and mille grazie.

Reply to debrusky

O.K., now where is the cmos battery on a Toshiba Satellite A205-S5823? And is it possible to bypass a BIOS password or is there a viable backdoor? I am working on one of these for a friend. I power it up and I get a password request.

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to dasamman

dasamman wrote :

O.K., now where is the cmos battery on a Toshiba Satellite A205-S5823? And is it possible to bypass a BIOS password or is there a viable backdoor? I am working on one of these for a friend. I power it up and I get a password request.

sure you are.... anyway, take the plate off the RAM bay. Remove the two sticks of RAM. In one of the corners of the bay on the motherboard you will notice two solder points with XXX right by them. Take a flat head screwdriver (one that is made of metal) and rest it on the two points so that it is touching them at the same time. While doing this turn the computer on. This should short the BIOS and and reset the password.

P.S. dont try to remove the CMOS battery as it will do absolutely nothing

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to ccalxr

ccalxr wrote :

sure you are.... anyway, take the plate off the RAM bay. Remove the two sticks of RAM. .....

What's the significance of removing the RAM when the two solder points (in which you describe) look to be fully accessible? I'm just curious before I go putting sharp pointy things inside the laptop ...

Reply to Anonymous

Removing the Ram is just an old, well-known method... BUT less known is that many computers, especially older ones, especially laptops, keep the information in Cmos Ram for >20min (observed at my Scenic Mobile). So a short-circuit or a foreseen short is a faster, more reliable method.

But to keeps settings, including the date-time, just replace the battery not too slowly.

I also read that salts deposed by finger sweat can cut the life expectancy of a Cmos battery from years to a few months. Perfectly credible to me. So wear gloves, and wipe the battery before inserting it. It doesn't cost anything at least.

Older laptops do have backdoor passwords, like Awkward for an Award Bios. Lists exist on the Web.

By clearing the Cmos Ram, you clear the password and the date-time, and all other settings as well, so don't forget to put them back. At the very least, load the default settings. It can make the difference between a working computer and a seemingly broken one.

Reply to Pointertovoid

Become a fan

Forum Motherboards & Memory : General Motherboard - Replace CMOS Battery Toshiba Satellite