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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: huha on Mon, 20 April 2009, 18:17:47

Title: Unicomp Endurapro Pointing stick problems (+ fix)
Post by: huha on Mon, 20 April 2009, 18:17:47

I've been having some trouble with my Endurapro lately. To be precise, the pointing stick stopped working, which was somewhat unnerving; I live in Germany and shipping the keyboard here cost a small fortune to begin with, so I wasn't particularily inclined to send it back, get it repaired (although it's still under warranty) and pay shipping to Germany again (which would be so stupidly expensive I could as well just buy a new one without paying considerably more). The buttons would work just fine, but the stick wouldn't react to being pushed around, so I emailed Unicomp.
They suggested to plug in (I have the PS/2 version) an external mouse and see if it works; if it would, the stick module should be the problem. Of course it worked, so it really was the stick (and not the electronics).

I removed some keys to see if the module could be removed to either ship it back or buy a new one, which would have been my suggestion to Unicomp, but doing so, I noticed the different cable colours. The cable running anlong the F keys is green, the cable emerging from the stick module is white. I removed some more keys and saw the connection point.
Now it gets interesting: It seems both cables are just glued together; I reckon they moved during transportation and got misaligned, so I pressed my finger on the joint and slid to realign the cables. And guess what? Now it works again.

If anyone else experiences strange problems with non-functional sticks, something as easy as this could be the solution. Here's a closeup of the offending connection:

(http://geekhack.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=2315&stc=1&d=1240269343)


I e-mailed Unicomp to ask what they'd recommend fixing the problem permanently. I'm not that inclined to realign the cables after transporting the keyboard (which I do a lot).

-huha

Title: Unicomp Endurapro Pointing stick problems (+ fix)
Post by: keyb_gr on Tue, 21 April 2009, 05:07:01

Hmm... you could try slapping some Tesa* on it. My universal weapon ;) I'd wait for what Unicomp have to say though...

*) classic clear adhesive tape

Title: Unicomp Endurapro Pointing stick problems (+ fix)
Post by: huha on Tue, 21 April 2009, 11:55:25

That's what Unicomp recommend, too. They are now heat sealing the connection, so this shouldn't be a problem with newer models.

-huha