[ltp] T440p touchpad replacement failed :(

/dev/rob0 linux-thinkpad@linux-thinkpad.org
Sun, 28 Aug 2016 09:18:08 -0500


On Sun, Aug 28, 2016 at 03:46:05AM +0200, gregor herrmann wrote:
> On Sat, 27 Aug 2016 10:03:00 -0500, /dev/rob0 wrote:
> 
> > I also removed the hard drive according to instruction on 
> > Youtube,
> 
> YouTube? (IBM/)Lenovo provide excellent maintenance manuals which 
> explain in great depth and with detailed pictures each required 
> step for replacing parts. I can only recommend downloading and 
> using those manuals.

Good point, and yes I did, but I found it less than adequate and 
certainly not encouraging.  Those drawings are hard to follow 
sometimes.

For example, removal of the keyboard shows the rubber cover of the 
ribbon cable connectors, but does not mention it's stuck on there; 
and nothing about how to deal with that.  The video guide was 
reassuring, and showed it in a way I could see it better.

Furthermore, I found the instructions for keyboard bezel removal to 
be removing too much.  Lenovo said to remove the wireless LAN card, 
the WAN card, the memory, the coin-cell battery, and the fan.  I
didn't need to do those.  And the keyboard did not need to be 
disconnected; I could have saved a half hour of grief and removed the 
bezel assembly around the still-connected keyboard.

Sadly, that's the kind of documentation manufacturers of all kinds of 
things offer.  More important than engineers' review is the lawyers' 
review, and in many cases IME the lawyers add false and misleading 
information in the interest of protecting the company from possible 
liability.

As free software users we have had to learn to take authoritative 
statements from hardware manufacturers with some skepticism.  How 
many times have you read, "This device only works in Windows," and 
found that to be completely false?

That said, I concede your point about the value of consulting 
Lenovo's maintenance manual.
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