[ltp] Trackpoint dead on the mainboard?

[Stefan Monnier]

> I just replaced for the second time the right display hinge of my 14"
> tallscreen T61 (seems to be a weak spot in this machine), which involved
> disconnecting the keyboard.
>
> After putting things back into place and closing the machine, I now see
> that while the keyboard itself works fine, the trackpoint (and its
> 3 mouse buttons) doesn't work any more.

For those of you which want to know, here's the rest of the story:

Since the symptoms seemed to suggest a problem on the mainboard, and
since I hadn't really done anything to the mainboard, I decided
optimistically that it was maybe just a bit of dust/something that got
stuck at the wrong place in the connector.

So I opened the machine, disconnected the keyboard, and cleaned it out
thoroughly with one of those pressurized air bottles.
Then I reconnected the keyboard and booted up, and:

    ¡¡Still no trackpoint!!!

Then I decided that if it wasn't the connector maybe I had accidentally
messed something nearby, so I re-opened, re-disconnected the keyboard,
then stared from as close as my presbyopia allows at the connector and
anything nearby.  I didn't notice anything funny, tho.

So I finally resigned myself to having to use the small touchpad (and
an emulation of the middle mouse-button) or carry an external mouse, and
closed it all up.  And there it was

    ¡¡The trackpoint was working again!!

No idea why, but ... happy enough (tho wondering whether the problem
will re-appear next time I have to disconnect the keyboard for some other
maintenance).


        Stefan