Thinkpads Forum

Had a laptop with a broken USB port (the plastic bit in the middle of the port got clean broken off) and figured that it'd be a good exercise to find a new replacement part for that port and get some excuse to try out this new solder station I got

Trouble with that though is, after a few hours of going through Digikey, I can't quite seem to find the type of USB port connector that was used on the board. Typical USB ports sit nicely (and level) on a PCB, whereas these require a cutout underneath the port just so it will sit recessed on the board (perhaps in order for it to have a lower profile). Great for a thinner laptop, but sucks when you are trying to describe it to various electronic store assistants.

Various ideas that I've thought up include...

• dremeling off part of the plastic that's at the back of a standard USB port just so it'll be able to sit in recessed
• buying a machine with a dead board on fleabay and cannibalising it for the ports
• buying a dead older machine with a board that happens to have that same #*@! port
• go around the house opening up various USB hubs to see if they have this same port...
• Sigh... it just can't be SO hard right?

Incidentally I've discovered that the HP Elitebook 2530p uses the same port. Don't ask how I managed to figure that out... but next up on the list I'll probably see if the X6 Ultrabase has that same port as well!

Have anyone ever come across a place where these are sold? Darned, if I actually *can* buy these things I'll buy a whole bunch just to make sure that I'll never have to go through this whole trouble of looking for them ever again.

PCMCIA USB adapter is really the best way to go.

Neil wrote:PCMCIA USB adapter is really the best way to go.

Ahh... It never occurred to me to pull one of those apart!

I don't think he meant to pull it apart - he just meant for you to use it . The easiest way to fix it is probably to get a dead board (spill damage...) for cheap, and just take the parts off it - anything else would be too much trouble IMHO, and if you have to modify the board in any way, you may compromise the structural integrety of it.

Good luck

What about either taking a picture of the USB port for the store assistants or looking for a number on the part itself?

force wrote:What about either taking a picture of the USB port for the store assistants or looking for a number on the part itself?

It seems like pretty much most places only have one of a couple types of USB ports, so it isn't too hard to just drop by an electronics store, ask to see the type of connectors they have (and leave disappointed). I will probably get it desoldered when I have some time over the weekend and photograph it for posterity

Don't have my X60 with me at the moment but does it look something like this: http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/42589 ... image.html

rkawakami wrote:Don't have my X60 with me at the moment but does it look something like this: http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/42589 ... image.html

No, it is actually rather unique in the sense that there is a hole underneath the connector so it would sit much lower than usual.

What kind of soldering station? You need a pretty good setup to replace that sort of piece. You need a preheater, at a minimum.

Just tried to desolder one from a cracked x60s mobo: http://img849.imageshack.us/img849/7594 ... nector.jpg
Well, far away from perfect, but still usable. PM me if you are interested in it.

tcone wrote:Just tried to desolder one from a cracked x60s mobo: http://img849.imageshack.us/img849/7594 ... nector.jpg
Well, far away from perfect, but still usable. PM me if you are interested in it.

I'm keen The image URL is broken though. How did it come out? Any chance that I can get 2 from you just in case that one and only gets fubared during shipping or something?

The URL still works for me, here is another one with the same picture: http://www.abload.de/img/x60usbconnectorij2q.jpg
The connector looks okay, but the "black plastic spacers" between those four pins were a little burnt. Send me your address via pm and i will try to desolder another one for you.