Official P300/P305 UPDATES AND PROBLEMS

New BIOS released updates from V2.50 to V3.00 , also updates Athoros chipset BIOS if you have one.

I just flashed mine to V3.00 , what it does is anybody's guess , as i cannot find a fix list.

Was hoping it would stop the fan coming on so often!

The P300 the speakers are immense , also you can read and write dvd`s at full 8x no rip-lock.

Great screen LG/Philips although it`s a bit bright for me, I have it set on level 1

Any other P300/P305 owner`s love to hear from you.

 

Ive had my P305 for about 2 months and so far i have no probems except the speakers on mine dont get quite as loud as i would like althought hey were boasted to be the best

 

Hi I just got a P305D-S8995E a couple of days ago and noticed it has a space for a second hard drive, anyone know where I can buy a caddy so i can install a second drive?
Thanks in advance!

 

No problem with the speakers on my P300 , I am over the moon with mine.

Double check your audio setting and even re-install the audio drivers.

 

I just had a look at the caddy for hdd2 on my p300 , but their are no part numbers on it.

I managed to find one but $40 part number A000035520 , see link below.

http://www.excelcomputerinc.com/html/details.asp?ref=654&category=caddys

 

Thank you for the quick reply. I didn't see my specific model number there but from what i saw it should work. Is there another place to get the screws?
Thanks again

 

Do you need the screws to hold the hdd to the caddy and or the hdd mounting screw as well.

 

I will need both.
thanks

 

maybe a local computer shop or ebay , see example below.

http://shop.ebay.co.uk/items/?_nkw=...1313&_odkw=toshiba+hdd++p305+screws&_osacat=0

 

Thanks once again

 

Hi, I have a PSPCCE P300 - 1c9 and i recently also flashed my bios to the version 3.0, i don't know if it's changed anything to how it cools my laptop but i have noticed a considerable change in temperate when I play games on the laptop, before it wasnt really an issue.

Has anyone else noticed anything remotely like it with the new bios?

And is there any way i can get hold of the old v2.5?

Many thanks

 

I think 40$ without screws is a lot to pay, just to be certain if the caddy will fit, below is the disassemble of a P305-P300 ITEL motherboard , have a look at the hdd bays and see if they match yours, because your uses an AMD motherboad and things could possibly be different.

http://www.irisvista.com/tech/laptops/Toshiba-Satellite-P305/take-apart-notebook-1.htm

 

I have exactly the same model and i have not had any problems with v3.0

What kind of temps are you getting?

 

The hardware control program said it was around 60degrees ish on idle and it shot upto 85 on full load, was a bit concerned about it getting a tad toasty.

 

mine is around 30-36c on idle , make certain you dont have any background programs using your cpu with taskmanger it should be 0-5% cpu usage.

 

Is there a better program to use to check the temperature, i had heard that the hardware control program can give wrong temperature readings.

 

I am using v1.13 , if you are using an older version you can download v1.13 from here

But check your cpu usage with task manager.

 

Background program usage is fine during idleishness, that hardware monitor program is giving me Core 0 = 43degrees and Core 1 45 degrees, but THRM says 52degrees.

 

The THRM is the nothbridge temp and it sits under the GPU card, my THRM is about 40c at idle.

Is your fan working correctly, have you checked for dust blockages.

you can see how the cooling system is setup here

 

Would it be an idea to take the laptop apart and check to see if the fans are all okay?

 

If your notebook is still in warranty , I would not open it up, you should be able to see if the fan is working without opening it.

I would use the recovery partition, to be 100% certain it`s not a software problem, but make certain you backup all needed files before doing this.

 

I had this problem as well on the new A355 Toshiba I purchased. The Audio setting you need to check is the automatic loudness level, it's in the Realtek utility. Un-check that and you should be fine.

The easiest way to bring up the utility is to plug in a set of headphones and the menu comes up. Look for something that refers to auto loudness boost. Un-check it and the audio level will increase.

 

I think the P305 uses the conextant audio the same as my P300, and their is not automatic loudness level in the conextant control panel.

But there is a simmilar option in the Vista Audio playback properties, under enhancements it` called loudness equalization.

 

Okay, after doing the recovery its still overheating and joy the right hand side of my keyboard stopped working. The numpad specifically - checked the connection and that was fine.

So rang up toshiba and explained it to them and they are going to have a look at it, i made a few minor changes to the front cover (not the screen) because i take it to university with me, like added two minor bumps to identify it as mine, hope they dont turn round and said it caused it lol cause i did that the day i got it. Bleh

I've had the laptop since december 08.

 

Hi again I have a question I am curently running win vista x64 home premium and am using almost 40 gigs of space on my hard drive I own a P305D-S8995E was thinking about putting win xp home 32 bit on it but can't find all the drivers. Anyone know where i could get them? My other Toshiba is a A215-S7462 and I changed it to xp home and I only use about 10 gigs of space on the hard drive and it has alot more programs loaded on it, it came with win vista home premium 32 bit installed also.
Thanks in advance.

 

Are these any good.

link will not work, but if you enter your model details, forget the short model number you should find 60 xp drivers/software.

http://uk.computers.toshiba-europe.com/innovation/download_drivers_bios.jsp?service=UK

 

Wow Thanks again I think I got everything I need, you are fantastic!!!
Thanks again!!

 

Hi again
All the win xp drivers work great , to bad the US toshiba site doesn't offer the same thing lol!! Thanks again for all the help down from 42 gig to 13 gig on my hard drive running win xp home and loving it!!

 

A new BIOS has been released 3.40-WIN for my P300-1C9 , I flashed it and everything went fine.

Not certain what has changed?

 

Have a look here:

http://www.sparepartswarehouse.com/Toshiba,Laptop,Part,A000035520.aspx

It looks like it may be the same part, but for only $5. I also am trying to figure out how to install an additional hard drive onto my satellite P305. It looks like I'll also need a new hdd cover, as the one I have now has little prongs sticking out that would prevent a secondary hard drive from fitting.

 

I have googled the part numbers from your link , and the photo`s i have see look compatible to my HDD2 caddy so go for it for only 5$

I dont know what you mean about your hdd cover with prongs on it.

 

There's no pic that i can see and its $13.95 shipping not sure if it will even work.

 

Your link gives you two part numbers "Compatible Part Numbers: A0000355 20, A000035520 "

If you google the part numbers , you get the link below that looks like my HDD2 CADDY, apart from the big hole in the middle , where mine is solid, but that will not affect how it works.

http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=https://www.laptopking.com/caddys/620447.jpg&imgrefurl=https://www.excelcomputerinc.com/html/product.asp%3FintProdID%3D654%26intcatalogID%3D%255Bcaddys%255D%26intcatalogref%3D620447&usg=__tJFdyEJTMM3FuaZC8kz9XvcI3iM=&h=567&w=720&sz=60&hl=en&start=1&tbnid=zqzVUP2ePCXbRM:&tbnh=110&tbnw=140&prev=/images%3Fq%3DA000035520%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DG

 

A new display driver has been released today, but here`s the catch it`s only v8.563.12

EDIT : download link is dead, also says it`s for the "Mobility Radeon HD 43xx/45xx/46xx"

 

Hi I got my new hd2 caddy today and it fits perfectly in its spot ( the $5.00 caddy) put now it looks like I will have to find a new hard drive cover there are 5 post in the center of my current cover. four of them make the shape of a square and 1 is in the center. Kinda weird guess I will have to see what I can find. I have a couple of pics but don't know how to add them here.

 

Hi again been looking around for a secondary hard drive cover and no luck so far just wondering if I cut these prongs off flush if that would work?
Thanks!

 

My 2nd driver bay cover see part number, or mod the one you have if possible.

EDIT : part number does not give an results for me.

 

Just finished modifying my secondary hard drive cover installed the caddy and reinstalled the modified cover it fits now just one more question I see on yours that the inside is completely insulated. Was just wondering if I should tape a piece of tin foil or something else over the uninsultated part of mine.
Thanks!

 

The foil insulation is just to reduce the Notebooks RF emissions, I think mine has clear plastic over the foil to electrically insulate it, I would not bother, but it`s up to you.

 

Okay thank you very much, think I will just leave it the way it is now.

 

So are you going to have 2 x 500gb hdd`s ?

 

Only if I can find a good deal on them LOL!

 

Lonewolf, I was wondering if you could give me an update on the progress you've made with adding a second hard drive to your laptop. You bought the $5 caddy, and then did you cut those prongs off of the hdd2 cover? Is the new hard drive stable (ie doesn't shake around at all)?

I've been considering putting an additional hard drive in my P305 for a while, but I've been hesitant as I haven't heard of any others doing the same (until I found this thread).

 

I did cut the prongs off and did alittle extra trimming around where the prongs were to make it fit flush with the caddy installed. I haven't installed a second hard drive yet cause all I have on hand is a 4200 rpm spare that I keep copies of programs I have on it, I want to get at least another 5400 rpm drive before I install the second drive, maybe a couple of 7200 rpm drives. But the caddy and cover both fit well now.

 

Hey I noticed that there is a item in my cmos that says USB Sleep and Charge when is it used if ever?
Thanxs

 

Allows you to charge usb, mp3 player and mobile phone ect, when in sleep mode.

 

Thanks just never seen it before so I was curious!

 

Okay now what is the difference between mode 1 and mode 2 in the usb sleep and charge?

 

"mode 1" is used for old peripheals usb..."mode 2" is for newest usb peripheals like usb 2 etcetc.

 

Okay thanks again see you can teach an old dog new things lol!!!