Laying of Hands on Connector for Flexible Cable [COLUG]

[Andrew J. Barr]

Here's what's new:

- Jiggling the flex cable, for the keyboard at least, while pressing the 
power button will power on the machine. Neither the keyboard or the 
touchpad work, but via a USB keyboard+mouse combo I have managed to 
install Debian/PPC and otherwise confirm that the machine basically 
works other than these problems.

Jim wrote:
> "Andrew J. Barr" wrote:
> 
>> ... both connectors are missing the [locking] pieces. 
> 
> It is odd to lose the locking pieces for ZIF/LIF connectors. 
> That _both_ are missing such a piece is part of what makes 
> me wonder that the connectors are not ZIF/LIF connectors. 

I have confirmation that this picture:

http://www.colug.net/~jep/images/closeups/5.html

that you sent is the kind of connector we have.

Also, I found one of the broken pieces from the connectors. It's a small 
brown piece of plastic that appears to slide into the slot above the 
cable. It slides into the keyboard connector (but doesn't do anything), 
but not the touchpad connector.

>> Jim wrote:
> 
>>> The above picture hints that you might not have a ZIF(/LIF) 
>>> connector, but a connector that requires much force. 
>> I was told it was a ZIF connector, but this could be wrong. 
> 
> Whether or not it is a ZIF connector (or LIF connector), 
> does seem to be an issue. I don't know whether or not the 
> connector is a ZIF/LIF connector. What led the person 
> who told you that it was a ZIF connector, to conclude that 
> the connector was a ZIF connector? 
> 
>> What are the 
>> implications for repair with these different types of connectors?
> 
> _If_ the connectors are not ZIF of LIF connectors, the implications 
> for repair are that the problem has been lack of understanding, 
> that nothing was broken, and that the problem could be
> easily solved by just pushing the cables into the connectors, 
> albeit gently and firmly in such a way as to not buckle, crimp, 
>  or fold the frail flexible cables. 

The cables should work ok...the touchpad cable shows no signs of any 
problems and the keyboard connector works...as evidenced by the fact 
that the machine can be powered on with some effort.

> However, right now, the antecedent has not been confirmed, 
> so I'm avoiding any conclusions until I've laid my hands on 
> the hardware in question. Next geek lunch is Monday. 

I am out of class at 12:18 PM. I can come straight there, is there any 
time that I should be there?

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