kovar@biostat.harvard.edu (David C. Kovar) (09/18/90)
The two little rubber rollers inside of the trackball on my MacPortable
are rather deformed by now, for some reason. I've tried purchasing them
from Apple dealers around Boston and was told that I had to buy a whole
new trackball. Get real, guys. I also tried a few other parts suppliers
in the area. No dice. Does anyone have any idea where I can buy just
those two little rollers? Thanks very much....
-David
--
-David C. Kovar
Consultant ARPA: kovar@popvax.harvard.edu
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"It is easier to get forgiveness than permission."laird@slum.MV.COM (Laird Heal) (09/22/90)
In article <4203@husc6.harvard.edu>, kovar@biostat.harvard.edu (David C. Kovar) writes: > > The two little rubber rollers inside of the trackball on my MacPortable >are rather deformed by now, for some reason. I noticed this problem too. My diagnosis (care to wager?) is that the rollers are very soft and tacky, almost viscous, and when the trackball roll vertically the stationary horizontal roller twists, while when the motion is horizontal the vertical roller is stationary, and twists with consequent deformity. The problem is exacerbated by the positioning of the rollers on the X-Y-axes. > I've tried purchasing them >from Apple dealers around Boston and was told that I had to buy a whole >new trackball. Get real, guys. I also tried a few other parts suppliers >in the area. No dice. Does anyone have any idea where I can buy just >those two little rollers? Thanks very much.... My solution was to open the trackball up and pull each roller off, then carefully excise the nub. An X-Acto knife might seem best, but I did it with my fingernails and a small screwdriver. Nice and smooth now. I did, I hate to admit, drop one of the rollers into the bottom of the case, on a Saturday night, too, so out came the mouse! and on Monday I called my dealer's service department who gave me directions on how to remove the keyboard fascia: The outer two pads on the front of the Portable come off, revealing two slots to pry. Use two or three small screwdrivers on each side, one at a time. Bend a plastic tab toward the back of the Portable carefully, because it is going to break; mine has had its motherboard replaced two times and one of the tabs was indeed half-broken already! Each side of the fascia will loosen and it will come up nicely. I took advantage of the chance to switch my trackball to the left; it is a wash whether it is more useful on the right or the left, but I tried. -- Laird Heal laird@slum.MV.COM The world is my office. (Salem, NH) +1 603 898 1406 <-----I charge for opinions, though.