Yup, PM your address details and I'll stick it in the post on Monday. The socket is all one piece.

I'll have to eventually fix my microusb port, as it has stopped working on me.

There are lots of guides about what to do once you have opened the device up and are working with the port itself, but is anyone able to provide more details on how to get the microSD PCB off to make the usb port more accessible? It's attached by a thermal pad by the looks of it. Should it just be cut off, and will I have to replace it afterwards?

I'm lucky enough for now that I have an external charger and two batteries, so I can do everything wirelessly using proftpd, sd cards, and ssh, but one day I'll have to plug it in again and I should be prepared.

It's a shame that there still isn't any comparable phone to the n900 after all these years. I'd like to upgrade, but there's nothing to upgrade to.

Wedge it off carefully with a very thin knife starting on easily accessible corners while pulling whole piece. It does require some force but be gentle and take some time... If you are lucky it should still be reusable. Just don't do it too often.

Fixing the port itself is another challenge and I wouldn't attempt it without soldering iron with needle like tip. Good luck!

It's not thermal pad, it's plain two-side adhesive foam. You may unstick it by applying some force, and re-stick again. If if tear somewhere and/or doesn't want to stick again, you may want to glue it by whatever (paper glue, cyanoacryline, nutella anything you have at hand), just to regain stability of secondary board, as it's helpful during re-assembly.

After re-assembly it doesn't matter, as case is holding everything where it should be.

/Estel

Hello there,
my usb finally fup. It had a strong connection, but the resident killer feline (see attachment) was stronger.
Unfortunately solder pads 2 and 4 are gone (aka data1 and id)
I've read alot of pages regarding reattachment, it was mentioned grounding id may interfere usb host mode. But where is the alternate solder point for id?
Help greatly appreciated

Considering current state of usbmode (or any foreseeable usb hostmode thing), you may safely ignore that warnings. It doesn't like anything will ever use that ID pin, and even if, there would be ways to force "detected" state manually

/Estel

// Edit

Cute cat!

Thanks for your reply. So i will ignore the id...

Her luck

As soldering such tiny parts with big tools seems very difficult i decided to try my skills on a defect n900 i bought a while ago for cheap. Because every solder pad was gone, i decided to use a big usb cable.
Its pinout:
1 VBUS Red +5 V
2 D− White Data −
3 D+ Green Data +
4 GND Black Ground

For soldering I used this pic as reference:



In the attachment you can see the result. Unfortunately it didnt worked first, i found out the fuse was blown too. I had nothing similar lurking around so i placed a diode in its place.
After plugging in the device started to charge, even both drives showed up, but were not accessible. This is likely due to the n900 itself is not showing the dialogue to select connection type.
I dont know whats causing this, hope someone has an idea of what to check next.. /:

* (gentle) push *
USB data functionality still not working. The original pads (or rather the place where they have been) looks very scratched. So i tested that the data lines were not accidentally shortened to ground. They arent.
I have no more ideas, so i hope someone may have a clue. (as stated, drives show up, but are not accessible, on the n900 the connection type dialogue does not show up...)
help

Maybe you unsolderd/damaged a capacitor

or the problem is caused by a cold solder joint?!

It is difficult to solder such tiny parts with big tools - I made this experience by soldering my computer graphic card, too. You need a micro soldering iron.

You may be right. But i was very careful and it looked ok in the magnifier afterwards. Checked the connection with a multimeter too. I think it was already f...up by the previous owner... maybe..
When i have time i will check the connection with the pads on the back of the phone...

Even though estel stated that the id-pin is not read i am under the impression that the fact id is not grounded the mass storage mode is not working. I would like to test it but i dont know if there is an alternative point for it!?
And it would be great if someone who did already this type of surgery could check the photo, maybe i inverted the data lines?? (even its unlikely, checked it a 1000 times)
What i find odd is that its recognised partly. I would guess if one of the data pins is not connected nothing will be recognised.
no more ideas atm,.. /:

Edit: I think the diode is fried. dont know why. When i hook it to a charger the device still pretends to charge. But drives are not showing anymore. (Edit: Cables got loose because of provisoric state) Thanks Estel for console code, will test it if situation changes.