On Tue, 6 Nov 2001, Carl Wilhelm Soderstrom wrote:

> on my z50 (which I bought used), the power socket doesn't seem to be
> connected very well to the rest of the machine. if I just plug it in, the
> charging light won't come on. to get external power working, I need to
> actually apply downward pressure to the power plug, which pulls downward on
> that socket. it seems to be getting worse, requiring more pressure to work
> as time goes on.

i have heard of this problem before (saw it in some posts on other z50
forums)... 

> anyone ever seen this before, and know how to take one of these apart so I
> can solder on the socket? (at least I'm guessing that's the way to fix it).

you can still get IBM's official Z50 hardware maintenance manual (PDF)
through IBM's site... it has complete disassembly/troubleshooting
instructions... IIRC, IBM posits that it supports discontinued hardware
for seven years... how true this is, i don't know, but i think we've got a
couple to go yet...

> I tried taking it apart once, and couldn't figure out (trivially at least)
> how to get more than the keyboard off. the motherboard is all sealed up
> inside the main case it seems.

don't break it! here's a link to a copy of the hardware/repair manual:

ftp://ftp.pc.ibm.com/pub/pccbbs/mobiles/37l2095.pdf

here's a link to much tech info about the unit (including .jpgs of an
opened unit):

http://www.eecg.toronto.edu/~lemieux/z50/
 
hope this helps...

regards,

billy ball

> Carl Soderstrom
> -- 
> Network Engineer
> Real-Time Enterprises
> (952) 943-8700
>