[Troggie]

I'm one of those Tour owners that got a FRU Bold. All was great with the new BB except for a small nick in the soft touch plastic on the back and the crooked trackpad. I can't do anything about the nick except order a new housing part, but the is something I could do about the trackpad.

Taking apart the Bold is exactly like the Tour. The most difficult part is removing the Blackberry branded ear-piece part. Once that's off, it's just a matter of removing the T6 screws and gently separating the housing.

There are no screws on the inside that you need to remove, but there are some cable connections that need to be popped off. Tweezers or a fingernail will do the trick.

Now, getting to the actual trackpad...

The trackpad is in a little square plastic housing. There's a hole in the top that lets the pad through and 2 of the bottom edges snap on to the main board. If you undo the snaps and remove the housing, you'll see right away what the problem is.

The left side is raised because the tension of the cable ribbon attached to the trackpad pushes that side up and is fed through an opening in the board on the right side. It's basically like a lever where the right edge of the trackpad is the fulcrum.

To counteract the lever, RIM placed a small piece of foam in the bottom right corner of the where the trackpad sits. It's a very low density foam and obviously doesn't do the trick. Thinking back to the business card trackball fix for the Tour, I used the same idea to fix the trackpad.

I cut 2 squares from an index card that would fit within the housing and under the trackpad. This made the trackpad level, but was also too high because it caused the button to always be pressed. I took out one of the squares and it worked perfectly! The trackpad is level, still floats a little, and the button can be pressed. Put everything back together and you're done!

The trackpad now sits just the slightest bit raised above the menu and back buttons and is easily distinguishable by touch.

[steveg_nh]

I am so afraid to take it apart, but want it fixed. You didn't take any pictures did you?

[mikeplus1]

That's fascinating, got pics?

[pcgizmo#IM]

Nice work, excellent post!

[RegE]

You should have created a Youtube video! How secure is the earpiece cover now that you removed and replaced it? Is it still held in place with shoddy two-sided tape?

Wish I had the guts to try it!

[andino]

Man can't wait to get mine now. I was thinking about just repositioning the ribbon so that it was out of the way but I guess this works as well.

[John Yester]

Told ya it was a cable issue

[tspderek]

we definitely need pics and a guide for this. i had a feeling this was coming.

[schmidtj]

Glad you fixed it. You have more nerve than I do.
Personally I don't have the guts to rip apart my Bold for such an insignificant (to me) issue.

[Troggie]

Sorry about not having any pics. I wasn't really thinking about a walk-through at the time. It's really very easy, though.

Like I said, the hardest part is the earpiece. It still has those 2 flimsy plastic tabs (like on the Tour), so you have to push the standby and mute buttons in while pulling up on the gap. I almost broke one of the tabs off, but it was hanging there enough that a little dab of superglue fixed it.

I'd take it apart again to take pics, but the breaking the earpiece worries me. I think with proper tools it would be much easier.

I'll take some pics when I get home late tonight so you all can at least see the finished product.

[steveg_nh]

Is repositioning the cable the better long term solution? Could the card fix wiggle out over time?

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Bobby950]

Thanks Troggie!!!

I only noticed the track pad after reading about it in the forums. It still didn't bother me that much but you made it sound so easy so I gave it a shot. And took a few pics. Sorry, no before pics but I'd say the right side was .5-.8mm lower than the left. Not much but definitely noticeable.

I used to take it apart. Be gentle and don't force it too much or you'll break something. In the video, the Tour has 1 antenna. The Bold has 2 (wifi). The connectors are on either side of the circuit board.

Once you get to the back of the trackpad, there's 3 clips that hold the bezel on the circuit board. I unclipped the side with one clip and it swiveled off. I arrowed the clips in this pic.



Once you get the bezel off, you flip it over and the trackpad comes off. I put 2 layers of scotch tape, cut to size. I had 4 layers but it was too thick. That's how minute the adjustment needs to be. Once you get the tape on, put everything back together.



And now you have a perfectly aligned trackpad.

[mikeplus1]

Oh man, that seems a little high on the right now! LOL, just kidding! Good job on the photos, I will have to study them more in detail after watching the video.

[steveg_nh]

Scoth tape? Hmmm...I need to look at these pics fullscreen to appreciate them fully, but that looks great!

[Troggie]

Really nice pics Bobby950!

steveg_nh,
The little piece of business card that I used isn't going to work it's way out from underneath the trackpad because the housing/bezel that attaches to the board covers all of the sides.

Bobby's solution with the tape is probably the better/easier way to go, though, because it took a lot of finesse getting all of those little parts lined up correctly.

[steveg_nh]

Oh now I get it. Until I saw the pics I didn't realize the piece of biz card was inside a contained area. Agree though that the tape is likely easier.

Question too - does this not only solve the lopsided issuie but also the overall alignment wheb looking down on it from the top? Mine is twisted down towards the right (clockwise) a bit.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[mikeplus1]

Wonder how a piece (or two) of electrical tape would work instead of scotch tape?

[tspderek]

what tools are needed for disassembly?

[Bobby950]

what tools are needed for disassembly?

Torx T-6 or T-7, plastic blade, scissors (I used a leatherman squirt).

[chriscoleman]

I think it's sad that RIM can't get their production in order. I was one that received a 9650 to replace a faulty 9630. It's to the point now, where I am going to a different manufacture. One that can produce their products correctly.
I love my berry, but with the screwed up storm, then the screwed up tour, now the screwed up bold.... I'm done.
I'll be sporting the new "X" when it's released, and the bold will be up for sale. I'll post it in the marketplace when the "X" gets here....

So RIM, if you're reading these post by chance, I'm one of the many customers you'll be losing because your manufacturing process sucks!! Maybe two years from now, you'll decide to produce a quality device, and I'll be back... Until then, thanks for the frustration!!!

[mvm549]

What did you do about the little white paper covering one of the screws on the back?

[mikeplus1]

What did you do about the little white paper covering one of the screws on the back?

SSSHHHH, that might void the warranty?

[Troggie]

What really puzzled me was why they used such a flimsy piece of foam in there to bring up the right side. They should have used some higher density foam around the whole outside edge, leaving a hollow spot in the middle for the button.

[RegE]

Is it true that the earpiece cover is held in place with the two tabs as well as glue / tape? If so, how did you re-secure the cover? Does the integrity of the cover appear to be the same? ...no creaks or shifting?

[Troggie]

SSSHHHH, that might void the warranty?

If they would have given me a product that didn't need to be fixed then I wouldn't have opened it.

A hobby knife gets under the little white dot easy enough. Just be careful because it tears easily.