A5000 - diving in at the deep end!

[stephen_usher]

Good news. Another machine fixed!

[mrbombermillzy]

@rubber_jonnie I sincerely hope that's the end of your A5000 troubles now.

[rubber_jonnie]

@rubber_jonnie I sincerely hope that's the end of your A5000 troubles now.

Me too!

[rubber_jonnie]

Good news. Another machine fixed!

Fingers crossed!

[rubber_jonnie]

On a positive note, she started up first thing with no problem, so I'm thinking "Stick a fork in me, I'm done"

[rubber_jonnie]

On a positive note, she started up first thing with no problem, so I'm thinking "Stick a fork in me, I'm done"

Also powered up perfectly this morning too, the HDD spins up just after the floppy seek, so timing is nice. Pretty happy with the result

[rubber_jonnie]

It's been a while for the A5000, and it is now running a treat, so I thought I'd circle back to the problems with the mouse.

I decided to try scuffing up the 22mm ball bearing and after removing the silicone tube from the x/y rollers, it works reasonably well on a surface like a pad of paper, but it is really horrible and scratchy and generally unpleasant to use.

So I had a hunt on eBay and found a similarly shaped Logitech mouse, working bar the right mouse button.

PXL_20230225_133458358.jpg (337.46 KiB) Viewed 1338 times

It wasn't that expensive so I ordered it and it came next day.

It was pretty grubby, so I pulled it apart for a clean and a review:

PXL_20230225_133726693.jpg (308.79 KiB) Viewed 1338 times

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PXL_20230225_140145189.jpg (156.1 KiB) Viewed 1338 times

You can see in this last picture the rather strange 'suspension' system for the PCB. There are 2 springs on posts at the back, and the PCB is free to pivot on the 2 posts at the front, something I've not seen in a mouse before.

Once I got the worst of the dirt off, I reassembled and tested, and sure enough, no right button. Disassembled again and tested the microswitches and buzzed out the traces to the cable connection, all fine, though I did hit the switches with some Electrolube just for good measure and re-flowed the offending switch.

So cable I thought, and got ready to buzz it out from end to end. That's when I found the problem, can you see what's wrong? Faulty one is on the right.

PXL_20230225_150557137.jpg (171.56 KiB) Viewed 1338 times

Yep, that's a missing pin.

So I now have to either find a new plug, another mouse of the same type that is dead but has a good cable (The cables are different between the two mice I have, so I can't swap) or make a composite cable out of the two.

I'm not keen on this last option, as if I do ever get a proper replacement ball for the original mouse, it would mean I have no cable for it.

Time to get my thinking cap on.

EDIT: Looking at eBay it seems that there are quite a few 9 pin mini din video cables, and it occurs to me I may have some, so time for a look in my big box o' cables

EDIT 2: New plug now ordered from eBay

[alexh]

In the short term you could try and replace the pin in the broken connector. I know it's a moulded connector but if you start at the strain relief very gently with Stanley knife, run along one side the plastic should separate leaving the metal shield, the wires with the pins and a black circle of plastic with the pins. Swap out the pin, resolder, glue it back together.

Worst case you make a mistake it won't go back together and you're ready to fit the new connector.

[rubber_jonnie]

In the short term you could try and replace the pin in the broken connector. I know it's a moulded connector but if you start at the strain relief very gently with Stanley knife, run along one side the plastic should separate leaving the metal shield, the wires with the pins and a black circle of plastic with the pins. Swap out the pin, resolder, glue it back together.

Worst case you make a mistake it won't go back together and you're ready to fit the new connector.

The thought had crossed my mind, the main problem is finding a suitable pin.

Annoyingly, I was looking to see if I already had a suitable cable and I pulled out the PSU for my Behringer 2CH mixer, and noticed a pin broken off in that too!! Luckily that's a 3 pin mini did, so a bit easier to replace.

[alexh]

The thought had crossed my mind, the main problem is finding a suitable pin.

Pin 4? It should still work with Pin 4 missing.