I've spent much of the weekend rebuilding Jill's MacBook Pro laptop. The episode started a month ago when she spilled her drink all over her keyboard. Afterward, all she could type were numbers, as all the letters were replaced by commas (,). I told her she probably needed a new keyboard. And I told her I could replace it using a variety of youtube videos. The gesture was sincere, but then I discovered that newer Mac laptops utilize an uni-body construction. This meant that the keyboard was not going to be very easy to replace. Actually, it's about the hardest thing you can replace on the Mac (all parts attach to the upper case). I had to order a replacement upper case for the computer and then transfer every part from the old upper case to the new upper case. An added bonus to a new upper case is that it included a new track pad - which is good, since Jill's old one worked only about half the time.
If you're a pro, it takes about an hour to install a new upper case. Not being a pro, it took me about 4. I had to watch videos over and over again and also reference service manuals and other documentation. Anyway, after 4 hours, I managed to move all the parts over and attach the display housing (with the screen) to the new upper case. I pressed the power button on the laptop, and it booted up. And then the screen started to get very bright. And then the track pad stopped working. Quickly, I shut the computer down. And then I went about removing every part I just installed and then installed it all back again. And this time it did only take an hour (I guess I'm a pro now). Well, the computer booted up again, and this time the screen stayed stable. So I started up Microsoft Word and started typing. "q", "w", "e", and "r" all typed fine. However, "t" did not work. In all, about a dozen keys were still acting up. I reasoned that maybe I had mis-seated the keyboard cable or the connector was dirty, so I went about removing the logic board and cleaning the contacts with compressed air. That seemed to help, as only 6 keys were acting up now. Emboldened, I opened up the computer again and cleaned the contacts with isopropyl alchohol (91%), and then I sprayed the keyboard connector with compressed air for an extra long time. Expecting success, I reassembled the unit and turned on the power. And this time nothing. As in nothing happened. It wouldn't boot. I tried plugging in the power cord. I tried holding down the power button for a really long time. I tried pressing random buttons. Nothing.
I feared that I had bricked Jill's computer, so I called and gave her the bad news. She told me to put the Mac aside and not worry about it for now. I told her I would, but I also tried re-seating the connector one more time. Luckily, the computer booted up. The keyboard still had a number of bad keys. But I put it aside as Jill suggested. So that's how I spent my weekend thus far.
On a more successful note, Dustin and I helped at Bikes for Kids earlier in the week (along with a small team from Dell). Bikes for Kids will give out 750 Trek bikes to kids this year. It's a pretty cool charity. Since Dustin and I have more advanced bike skills, we were tasked with setting up the brakes and shifters on the mountain bikes. In 3 hours, we each finished about 12 bikes. Not bad.
Oh, and one more unsuccessful note, Mollie and I went out to dinner at Afin Thursday night. They are in the space that used to be Korea Garden (across from the Yellow Rose). The cuisine was Japanese tapas (think Mikado). The remodeled interior looks good. Unfortunately, the food did not match the decor. And the music was this horrible Lady Gaga beat that droned on and on. And on...
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