Last night my replacement for my 2011 15" MBP arrived. 2hr after I began using it, the hard drive died. I figured out how to open it by disconnecting random screws until I could pull the top case off. I pulled the top case off without unhooking the trackpad cable. The lock for the cable went flying. At that time I thought I could just put it back in. I just replaced the HDD with another 80GB that had OS X and Debian preinstalled. I also popped off some jumpers and jumped others with conductive paint to overclock it from 1.33GHz to 1.5GHz. I then rammed the trackpad cable into the connector. The cable was not fully in the connector, the contacts still sticked out. When I push the power button, with the power cable attached, it does nothing. I get no response at all. How do I properly reconnect a trackpad cable? I don't want to keep using this POS dell-with-an-apple-logo.
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Reconnect trackpad ribbon cable on PowerBook G4 17"
- Thread starter PPCOverclock
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I wouldn't believe that a disconnected trackpad would keep the system from booting, It might have something to do with the jumpers you messed with. As far as putting the system back together I would suggest ifixit. It will have step by step instructions with pictures. Hope this helps.
iFixit and other repair sites with clear instructions on how to open computers exist for a reason. I'm pretty sure they have complete instructions for 17" PowerBook G4s and 2011 15" MBPs, whichever one it is you actually have the problem with.
The trackpad cable is also the power button cable.
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I looked at iFixit but I couldn't understand it. This is the 17" PowerBook. Please, anyone help me
How on earth can you not understand how to turn a screw?
And I'm not being funny but stating you don't have a clue what you're on about & mentioning you don't even know how to take the top case off, then going straight ahead, taking the laptop completely apart & then trying to overclock it!
I'm with Intell here - absolutely stinks of rabidz.
It's very clear. If you were using iFixit, how could you miss this?
Step 5
- This is a diagram of the trackpad ribbon clamp connector you will disconnect in the next step.
- 1) With your fingernails, grasp the locking bar on either side slide it a small amount (about 1/16" or 2 mm) towards the battery.
- 2) After disengaging the locking bar, slide the cable out of the connector.
Full instructions to remove the top case.
If you have ripped out the trackpad cable then it's possible you need an entirely new cable. You may need even a new top case if you have damaged the hardware around where the cable is secured.
Top cases run about $80-150 on eBay. Not sure how much a new trackpad cable is.
If it's merely a matter of fitting the cable back in to the connector you have to make sure those little tabs are pulled out. It's a ZIF socket. Push the cable back in then push the tabs back in. Essentially the reverse of the step above.
BTW, if you do have a PowerBook G4 17", going on about a 2011 15" MBP really confuses the issue. Unless you meant that the PowerBook was your replacement for the MBP? If so, you did not indicate that.
AH. OK!
The key to this is keeping the ribbon pushed in. The best I could suggest is trying Scotch tape. If you can work it so that you tape it down and have the end still pushed in to the connector it should work.