Damaged USB ports on laptop

tomsutton529

replacing the actual socket is possbile and the spare ports can be bought for a few quid from places like RS, Maplin or farnell.

It also takes some one who is good at soldering and has a decent, clean iron..

the service guide for your laptop will be floating around the web somewhere for free its just a matter of trawling a few sites, this wont tell you how to do the job but it will tell you how to get the Motherboard out to repair the sockets.

I think there are 8 or 6 solder points per socket (4 data and 2 or 4 to anchor it to the board). its a job ive done before and i dont like doing but its saved me and friend a fortune.

Acer (who might not even do it) or your local laptop shop will charge you a fortune as its quite a delicate job and they wont guarantee the work.

closed

The slot usually has a filler piece of plastic inserted.

Lil306

For the price of messing it up it's not worth it, the laptop is really old and for £5 they can get a 4-port hub

If it was a spare it would be worth trying to repair, but it is a VERY delicate procedure and if it fails you run the risk of shorting out your Mobo

freakyogre

tomsutton529 wrote: »

replacing the actual socket is possbile and the spare ports can be bought for a few quid from places like RS, Maplin or farnell.

It also takes some one who is good at soldering and has a decent, clean iron..

the service guide for your laptop will be floating around the web somewhere for free its just a matter of trawling a few sites, this wont tell you how to do the job but it will tell you how to get the Motherboard out to repair the sockets.

I think there are 8 or 6 solder points per socket (4 data and 2 or 4 to anchor it to the board). its a job ive done before and i dont like doing but its saved me and friend a fortune.

Acer (who might not even do it) or your local laptop shop will charge you a fortune as its quite a delicate job and they wont guarantee the work.

I don't think i'll risk taking it apart to be honest, sounds fa too complicated.

closed wrote: »

The slot usually has a filler piece of plastic inserted.

There is something, but I can't get the cover off...doh. If I could, is the usb card similar to the usb hub posted by Lil306?

Lil306 wrote: »

For the price of messing it up it's not worth it, the laptop is really old and for £5 they can get a 4-port hub

If it was a spare it would be worth trying to repair, but it is a VERY delicate procedure and if it fails you run the risk of shorting out your Mobo

I have to agree, I wouldn't do it and although it is old (thanks for that ) i'd be p'd off if it went wrong as apart from this, it is working fine.

Lil306

freakyogre wrote: »

There is something, but I can't get the cover off...doh. If I could, is the usb card similar to the usb hub posted by Lil306?

If the slot is what I'm thinking they are referring to a PCMCIA slot. It doesn't look anything like USB, what it looks like is a rectangular slot about 2" long and 3-4mm high, you can insert a card into it which has a variety of connections (i.e USB, Firewire, Network), they're quite robust and make good alternatives.

Sometimes they covers are on Hinges which go in as you push the card, and sometimes the plastic covers have a small square which you push in this then "Ejects" the plastic. Most PCMCIA slots are on the left hand side of the laptop

In this link, this is the piece of plastic that "ejects" and if you look at the front left there is a slot where it was from you can just make out the small button which you push

http://www.notebookcheck.net/typo3temp/pics/e913a5279b.jpg

freakyogre wrote: »

I have to agree, I wouldn't do it and although it is old (thanks for that ) i'd be p'd off if it went wrong as apart from this, it is working fine.

Heh, not to worry, I've got a Compaq N610C and it's a beast. Going strong and robust as hell. Just wish the battery life was better

mickamike404

For your info you can get 4 port hubs in
the Poundshop,or Poundland
nip in n have a look.

---

davb

The Cardbus/PC Card/PCMCIA cards are like this
They usually have a blanking card in the slot which is removed py pressing the little button as the side so that it pops out partly, then pushing it in to eject the card.

freakyogre

Lil306 wrote: »

If the slot is what I'm thinking they are referring to a PCMCIA slot. It doesn't look anything like USB, what it looks like is a rectangular slot about 2" long and 3-4mm high, you can insert a card into it which has a variety of connections (i.e USB, Firewire, Network), they're quite robust and make good alternatives.

Sometimes they covers are on Hinges which go in as you push the card, and sometimes the plastic covers have a small square which you push in this then "Ejects" the plastic. Most PCMCIA slots are on the left hand side of the laptop

In this link, this is the piece of plastic that "ejects" and if you look at the front left there is a slot where it was from you can just make out the small button which you push

http://www.notebookcheck.net/typo3temp/pics/e913a5279b.jpg



Heh, not to worry, I've got a Compaq N610C and it's a beast. Going strong and robust as hell. Just wish the battery life was better

Hmm, possibly. I have a slot on the right of mine, but it just seems to be a hole to no where (I can't see anything inside - although it's about 3" across, so perhaps not). There also a little push button next to it, but it just seems to eject a small piece of plastic about an inch long that doesn't seem to be anything. Just tried to find a picture as I appreciate my description is pretty rubbish but can't find anything of the side of it online.

The only other thing I have is what shows on the very front of the laptop in this picture (mines a TravelMate 4060/4062, but looks pretty much the same as this) - http://www.twcomputers.co.uk/acatalog/AcerAspire3000.jpg (just next to the power lights) but I think that's too big to be anything (that's what I can't get the cover off). I wish I understood all this more, sadly we didn't do much in IT at school other than 'build' spreadsheets and databases (i'd rather have built a PC instead!)

closed

You take the plastic out, and insert a pcmcia or pci express card, with usb ports on.

Lil306

freakyogre wrote: »

Hmm, possibly. I have a slot on the right of mine, but it just seems to be a hole to no where (I can't see anything inside - although it's about 3" across, so perhaps not). There also a little push button next to it, but it just seems to eject a small piece of plastic about an inch long that doesn't seem to be anything. Just tried to find a picture as I appreciate my description is pretty rubbish but can't find anything of the side of it online.

The only other thing I have is what shows on the very front of the laptop in this picture (mines a TravelMate 4060/4062, but looks pretty much the same as this) - http://www.twcomputers.co.uk/acatalog/AcerAspire3000.jpg (just next to the power lights) but I think that's too big to be anything (that's what I can't get the cover off). I wish I understood all this more, sadly we didn't do much in IT at school other than 'build' spreadsheets and databases (i'd rather have built a PC instead!)

That's it, you press the button and eject the plastic. You then fit a PCMCIA USB card, it's hot-swappable which means you can take it out whilst the laptop is still on. It's good as it means you can have multiple generic cards