Why don't Laptop manufacturers provide mobo manuals

exampasser

I recently purchased a Toshiba a505-s6980 laptop. I really like it but I've been having an issue with the realtek onboard HD audio causing popping noises. I contacted realtek and they wanted the model number of the realtek audio chip. If Toshiba had provided a motherboard manual I could have simply looked it up.
I looked at Toshiba’s web site and looked up the so-called 'detailed product specifications' which does not even list the brand name of the on-board audio. I then call up Toshiba tech-support and go thought their annoying automated machine to finally get a real person on the line. The tech support person had absolutely no idea.
The moral of the story is that my ongoing problem could have been resolved if Toshiba simply provided a motherboard manual it would be saving me a lot of trouble.

Any1 else have any similar experiences?

laidbackfreak

yep all the time back when I did pc support, the joys of popping the lid off to get a look underneath always used to put a smile on my face

tiersten

You could have just looked at what is currently installed. If it is running Windows then look in Device Manager. If the device isn't correctly detected then find the PID/VID for it and then look it up based on that.

You don't get manuals for the internal components on a laptop because you're not expected to actually change anything at that level. The most you'll do is add extra RAM, change addon cards and possibly upgrade the HD.

exampasser

If it was a desktop I would have simply removed the side cover and my problem would be solved. I just don't want to risk something going wrong buy having to to take the entire thing apart.

exampasser

tiersten wrote: »

You could have just looked at what is currently installed. If it is running Windows then look in Device Manager. If the device isn't correctly detected then find the PID/VID for it and then look it up based on that.

I did look in device manager. Unfortunately it listed the brand name of the device but not the specific model number that I need.

tiersten

exampasser wrote: »

I did look in device manager. Unfortunately it listed the brand name of the device but not the specific model number that I need.

Ah. I'm surprised that Realtek actually helped you in that case. Part manufacturers tend to offload the support to the overall manufacturer and refuse to support these versions. Like nVidia don't offer driver support for all mobile chipsets because some are sold cheaper to Sony/HP etc... who do the support themselves.

Hyper-Me

Cracking open a laptop can be nerve racking but most of the newish ones arent generally too bad.

Well unless its an Apple. Good luck with that.

exampasser

I installed the latest realtek driver and was still having the popping problem. I just turned my laptop on tonight and the problem has gone away . I guess it just needed another reboot. Go figure.

tiersten

Hyper-Me wrote: »

Well unless its an Apple. Good luck with that.

Yeah. Apple are the only computer manufacturer I know of that has a sharpened putty knife listed as an official tool and also have instructions on how to make your own one in the service manuals.

tiersten

exampasser wrote: »

I installed the latest realtek driver and was still having the popping problem. I just turned my laptop on tonight and the problem has gone away . I guess it just needed another reboot. Go figure.

Do you have dedicated volume keys on the laptop? Check that they still work. Also check that the relevant inputs and outputs all work.

exampasser

tiersten wrote: »

Do you have dedicated volume keys on the laptop? Check that they still work. Also check that the relevant inputs and outputs all work.

Thanks for the concern. My dedicated volume keys still work. All of the outputs seem to work. I'll check my imputs and my mic.

On I side note I love free internet(using someone's wifi hotspot, don't know where exactly it's comming from though).

exampasser

Hey guys I found out the problem. When I unplug the ac adapter from the laptop the popping noise happens. I read in other fourms that the onboard sound card can go to sleep to save on power.

exampasser

I have completly found out how to fix the popping noise. On the realtek audio manager there is something called power management. I disabled it and the popping goes away. Apparently the power management shuts down the audio channel when on battery mode and makes a popping sound when it has to wake up to play a sound.

Essendon

Thanks for letting us know the fix.

exampasser

No problem. I'll have to test it out for a while to see if it causes any significant increase in battery drain.