MB Touchpad cable torn

[nerdbert]

There is a flat cable connecting the touchpad and the logic board. A part of it is viewable when taking out the battery (see pictures at the end of this post). I've torn 2 lanes on the left side while replacing hard-drives and now the Macbook doesn't boot anymore. Needless to say I'm not very happy about it...

Is there some way to replace this cable (and where could I possibly get it). If it's not possible I might be forced to replace the entire upper case. I heard Apple charges 500€ for it. So any help with this is highly appreciated.

 

[digitalpencil]

Unlucky, ribbon cable's are a bitch.. they work great but tear like TP. I imagine you can find a replacement on eBay. I just looked on powerbookmedic and they only have one for an old iBook which won't work. Failing this, you're unfortunately looking at a new lid which are around $150 for a 13"

 

[nerdbert]

Failing this, you're unfortunately looking at a new lid which are around $150 for a 13"

That's one of my fears coming true. However, I just took a look at ebay.de and there are several available for less than €20. The only drawback is that most of them feature a foreign keyboard layout, which is fine to me, since the keys are supposed to be replaceable.
Replacing the upper case seems the way to go, but there's one question left open: Are all MBs compatible regarding keyboard and touchpad? I know that there are some differences in design on the back. But if the connectors are the same I wouldn't really care...

 

[vansouza]

try here

http://www.ifixit.com/

 

[nerdbert]

http://www.ifixit.com/

Thanks, I already did. They don't have them in stock right now and when they had it was only for the white MB. Plus I'm on a different continent...

 

[nerdbert]

Just in case someone has a similar problem: I just bought an upper case on ebay for €1.50. The layout is kind of strange (mostly US, but qwertz). It shouldn't be a problem because I can replace the keys from my broken upper case.

If that doesn't work out I still have plan B: I found a little shop in Berlin, which sells new upper cases for around €80. They charge €15 for replacing it. Sounds fair to me. Their name is betterworx btw