[robbyaube]

Hi,

My daughter bought a 16GB playbook second hand for her birthday and she hasn't had it a week and broke the micro usb port on it (inserted the charger upside down). I feel so bad for her as she was so excited to have it.
I am going to try and find a rapid charger so she can at least use it but will need to repair the micro usb port eventually to connect it to my pc, is there anyone that has experience with having repaired this port? I can't find any reference to this online nor can I find anywhere to buy the port, would this port be a standard micro usb that I could rip off another device??
Thanks for any help you can provide!!

[Sith_Apprentice]

Unfortunately I have not found any instructions on this either. You can however buy a new board by purchasing one with a cracked screen and swapping it out. I am going to rebuild one as a hobby, got a cracked screen one on ebay for $50 shipped.

[robbyaube]

wow that's not bad at all... will take a look for one as well. thanks for the tip!

[robbyaube]

If I can find out that the port is identical on other blackberry devices i may just grab a damaged BB phone and swap out the port itself... let me know if you've found anything on that port...
thanks!

[m_warden1]

unfortunatly there is very few company's out there that will repair the playbook. mine broke also (have has my playbook since they first came out) got a rapid charger and worked with that for about 4 months until i finally got tired of not being able to connect directly to my computer.

I was transfering over wifi using the file:\\000.000.000.000 (<your playbooks ip address) in the "run command" of windows to transfer everything on and off of my playbook. getsthe job done fine just slower than the cable. (just make sure you turn on wifi sharing on the playbook before you try or nothing will happen.

anyways i called Rim support and it is out for repair right now. im past the 1 year warranty period but so far everyone I spoke to said they would not charge me for this so give them a call and see what they say.

p.s. i would recommend the rappid charger even if you do get it fixed as you cannot connect it the wrong way.

[robbyaube]

I will definietely get that charger regardless, that will avoid her plugging it in the wrong way, she's only 9 and would never have thought about that i guess...

I'll try to contact RIM to see what they say.

[FF22]

I guess you've looked at the inside of the port but some folks have found it only needs to be realigned as the internal connector gets bent out of position. Good luck.

And has been suggested, wifi transfer (and even sideloading of Bar/Android files) is great for wireless methods.

[Chaddface]

Looking at my functioning USB port, the plastic piece with the contacts inside the port should be towards the bottom of the port. There is very little gap between plastic and metal of the port. You may be able to push it back down.

The PB uses a micro ab port which is why so many ports get damaged accidentally. The BlackBerry logo should be on the top or screen side when plugging.


Tell your daughter that plenty of adults have done the same thing.

[dablessing]

unfortunatly there is very few company's out there that will repair the playbook. mine broke also (have has my playbook since they first came out) got a rapid charger and worked with that for about 4 months until i finally got tired of not being able to connect directly to my computer.

I was transfering over wifi using the file:\\000.000.000.000 (<your playbooks ip address) in the "run command" of windows to transfer everything on and off of my playbook. getsthe job done fine just slower than the cable. (just make sure you turn on wifi sharing on the playbook before you try or nothing will happen.

anyways i called Rim support and it is out for repair right now. im past the 1 year warranty period but so far everyone I spoke to said they would not charge me for this so give them a call and see what they say.

p.s. i would recommend the rappid charger even if you do get it fixed as you cannot connect it the wrong way.

Very similiar to my story last night. My cameras seem to have hit the can as they only pull up a green screen when opened. Bought my Playbook about 4 days after it came out. Past my 1 year warranty, but they confirmed for me they would repair it as if it was under warranty for free. I'm very happy for this!

[Gooseberry Falls]

I thought that the PB microUSB was different. I couldn't really tell the orientation like my other devices (e.g. the angled edges). Finally did figure out the BB logo upside tip. Usually USB logo is up too for most devices but not always. Almost a design quirk and maybe ask RIM about repair. They are pretty lenient on the 90 day support if it was never activated.

[Anonymous9286410]

...Tell your daughter that plenty of adults have done the same thing.

indeed, my kids one is still allright but one of my staff
used a non PB cable and messed it up.

basically its a cheap repair. needs mini soldering though.
many technicians in second hand stores selling mobiles
and notebooks do that themselves or can establish
contacts to people who can.
had mine done in a Nokia shop by a Turkish guy for 20 quid
because my eyesight is not as it should be.

so, if warrantee is void and/or your are not clumsy
disassemble the PB, get the motherboard out,
buy the USB socket and ask yourself through.

Damian

[Branta]

My daughter bought a 16GB playbook second hand for her birthday and she hasn't had it a week and broke the micro usb port on it (inserted the charger upside down). I feel so bad for her as she was so excited to have it.

I'm not buying the cause of damage. A micro-USB is a tough beast with a shaped metal shell. It would need more pressure than a normal user would ever dare to apply to force the connector in the wrong way. That suggests it was either already damaged, or maybe the real fault is that the solder connections to PCB have broken.

Unfortunately it was bought "used" and RIM warranty probably did not transfer from the original buyer.

[Sith_Apprentice]

Also bear in mind this is not the same port as on your BlackBerry (it is designed for USB host support) so if you do replace the port make sure you get the correct one.

[JLH1245]

Got same problem, my daughter plugged it wrongly so had one of the usb metal pin detached.had my playbook open thru a local cellphone repair shop but it seems the usb port is bundled together with hdmi and magnetic port in a plastic assembly so difficult to replace. Just decided to use rapid charger then and there no really difference.

[WilliamJH]

This just happened to me on my Playbook after having charging issues. I think the port on the Playbook is a poor design and/or of poor manufacture. The shape of the mini-usb cable and the shape of the port are not the same which makes it very easy to get the cable inserted upside down. I have a pair of 3D glasses that has the same mini-usb port and it is the exact same shape as the cable. The port 'shape' on the glasses 'looks' the same as the cable. Not so with my Playbook - the Playbook port is a 4 sided box but the cable is a six sided box with 2 of the sides angled. I see no such angle on the Playbook port on my device and I have examined it with a magnifier.

Does everyone's look like this?

I called Blackberry and was told they would fix it at no charge even if out of warranty. So if any others have this issue, I would call them first. This should be recalled or something.

[ssbtech]

Every time I plug in my PlayBook I feel like I'm going to break the port. There's plenty of space for a bigger, more durable port. No need for microscopic, flimsy ports.

[jamieriddles]

Sourcing the connectors themselves is no problem as they are standard. Any USB Micro-AB (or even Micro-B) will fit the board:
10Pcs Micro USB Type-AB Female 5Pin SMT Socket Connector | eBay

It does require some surface-mount soldering experience however.

ALSO:
Some one correct me if I'm wrong here but as far as I know,(at least in terms of PC connectivity), you can do anything that you would normally do through the usb port through the Wi-Fi sharing feature.
This includes transferring files and even sideloading apps all wirelessly. The only downside is that its slightly slower vs the hardwired USB connection.

Maybe you will be OK after all with only that rapid charger.

[robbyaube]

Thanks everyone for the many replies, as I can see we're not the only ones in the same boat... I left it plugged in overnight anyway and my wife tried it with no success the next day, she prayed about it as she also felt bad for our daughter. In the afternoon our other girl comes to her and had something "Important" to tell her, to their surprise it was alive again...

Not sure what did or did not happen but all i know it's now working again. Hopefully it won't go bad again, we will invest in the rapid charger for her soon but in the mean time she won't be plugging it in herself.

As a side note, I was trying to contact RIM for some help in at least determining the port type I would need to buy and they only offered pay phone support which i didn't call. I tried the email support which auto-responded they couldn't help me. I sent a complaint email to every RIM contact email address I could find and this morning I received a response from the helpdesk to contact them with the provided incident number. I will contact them anyways to see what our options are should the port fail again.

[FF22]

Robbyaube:

Maybe you want to share the email address that got a reply???

[TOphotog]

I've said it before: take your PB charger cord, lay it down with the BB logo facing up, and dab it with some bright red or glitter nail polish on the logo. No more hunting to see which side is up. I do this with all my USB cords. Sure saves on repairs, and nail polish is easy enough to scrape off if you want to sell the unit with the cord.

[Gooseberry Falls]

Thanks everyone for the many replies, as I can see we're not the only ones in the same boat... I left it plugged in overnight anyway and my wife tried it with no success the next day, she prayed about it as she also felt bad for our daughter. In the afternoon our other girl comes to her and had something "Important" to tell her, to their surprise it was alive again...

Not sure what did or did not happen but all i know it's now working again. Hopefully it won't go bad again, we will invest in the rapid charger for her soon but in the mean time she won't be plugging it in herself.

Not quite sure. Did you get the USB charger working again? If not, definitely get the rapid charger ASAP. If the PB gets discharged too much there is a lot of trouble to bring it back to life. The charging is software driven. Always make sure you get the lightning bolt on the battery icon for it to charge. There are a lot of posts that get the red led, yellow led flashing problem and you have to stack charge or debrick it. You don't want to get in that situation. I've always charged it at 30-40% and haven't had any problems.

Keep pestering RIM support. Just like every company you probably get some bad and good support people. There are always some that want to go the extra mile for you.

[michjarv]

I'm on my second go around with a bad usb port. after the first time sending my PlayBook to RMA, I went out and got me the rapid charger(with magnetic tip) just in case the issue came back again. And I'm glad I did because about a month or two after I got my device back from RMA, the usb port went out again. I did not worry too much about it after second time because I got me the rapid charger. I was not able to back anything through DM and all my data transfer and side loading was done wirelessly.

Then two days ago I was having issues with my PB with the .688 upgrade, so I decided to backup all my files and performed a security wipe, in the middle of setup from wipe my wireless connection dropped (one of issues I found when upgrading to .688) and I did not noticed it did......when I got to work and attempted to get connection back but it was not working, went in to vicious cycle.......now to fix this I needed to connect to desktop manager but usb port was not working.....called RIM again and now I'm waiting for them to ship me the box to send my PB to RMA again to fix the USB port.

man what a bummer......I wonder if they are going to just give me a new PlayBook considering this is the second time that my usb port has gone bad, that would be sweet if that would happen. funny thing is the tech never gave me an option, I have read that some folks got options to either get PB fixed or a new one, the newer models have a better fitting usb port then the original ones (which I purchased in May of year PB came out).........

[doonboy1]

I had the same issue last week. Called BB and they sent the box on Friday. Shipped to them yesterday. Warranty was up in Sept. Hopefully, they will replace rather than fix it. Seems like it is fairly common issue.

[kretch]

I put a red dot of paint on the up side of the connector so in dim light I know the correct way to put it in.

[DC506]

I put a red dot of paint on the up side of the connector so in dim light I know the correct way to put it in.

What a great and simple idea!!! Thanks!