On 2010-12-23 Kat wrote:
> The black plastic bit in one of my USB ports broke off. The metal
> contacts are in there, undamaged. The laptop thinks the port is
Be very careful. If the wrong 2 pins touch (easy without the
protective plastic bit) you will almost certainly fry the motherboard
(completely). I've seen a dozen desktops blown up by USB wiring &
breakage.
> It's tempting to try to fix it myself. Is this possible? Any advice?
Adam's correct, a new USB port could probably be obtained. I would get
it from digikey. Repairs like this only seem to have a 60-70% success
rate because sometimes you can't get the exact same USB port and the
trickiness of the soldering. I do this sort of stuff all the time so
if you get stuck I could possibly help.
> I think the laptop is still on warranty, but I don't know how much of
> a PITA that would be.
They may not honor this as a warranty problem as they can point to
physical damage, unless you have the ADP type warranty (that cost
hundreds $$ extra). Certainly worth a try as opening this case will
void whatever other warranty you have.