C7xx Power Button

[koan]

I had to crack open my C750 last night because the external power button had broken.

Inside, the switch was in good condition but the power button had broken. It seems that the power button is part of a larger piece of plastic that goes deeper inside the hinge. The button must be in the correct orientation in order to push on the switch.  The larger piece joins the smaller piece by the tiniest thread of plastic, probably less than 2 mm in diameter so it is no surprise that it eventually broke.

I have tried to glue the tiny part of the button that is supposed to push against the switch to the actual switch itself. It was very difficult to get a small enough blob of glue on the right place. I'm not expecting this to be a robust solution.

I'm thinking that the only way to solve this is to try to make a very small guide to glue in position. Has anyone made a nice power switch mod or solved this problem in a neat way ?

(P.S. I can use the Home button for power on and Suspend from the menu for power off as long as my Z has booted)

[gojira]

(P.S. I can use the Home button for power on and Suspend from the menu for power off as long as my Z has booted)

when the same thing happened to my 860 (before the sd latch broke and before the nand failed completely...) I used the application buttons to resume and held calendar to suspend (via keyhelper)

[koan]

when the same thing happened to my 860 (before the sd latch broke and before the nand failed completely...) I used the application buttons to resume and held calendar to suspend (via keyhelper)

Thanks. On the first reading I thought your post didn't help at all but I think making a keyboard shortcut for turning off is useful. I'm just worried that the keyboard is not as durable as the power switch.

Back to my power button, I must have used too much glue because the button won't move now. So much for "I'll only need to do this once".  I'm now thinking of trying to find some cheap gel-type protector case that has a rubber bubble I can cut out and stick in the right position.

By the way, anyone reading this thread out of curiosity - it's AMAZING how much crap accumulates in the stylus well; and I thought I kept mine clean...

[koan]

It seems I chose the wrong glue for the power button: now it won't work at all.

I can still press Home/Power On to start up. Is this hard wired ? I guess it's in the ROM.

I would really like to modify it - every time I power up I switch tabs. It's starting to get annoying.

[Otaku]

I can still press Home/Power On to start up. Is this hard wired ? I guess it's in the ROM.
I would really like to modify it - every time I power up I switch tabs. It's starting to get annoying.

I have the same problem. My workaround for now was to install KeyHelper, which allows you to map Shfift+HOME to be an application switcher like ALT-TAB does on your desktop PC. So even though I return to the home screen and switch tabs when I power on with "Home", I can return to the last active application by pressing "Shift+Home" immediately afterwards. This reduces the annoyance slightly.

I also wish there was a good way to fix the power button. I've cracked open the Z case many times and placed the broken button back in a position where it sort of works for a few weeks, but then eventually it falls out of place again.

[the_oak]

I am not sure if I am picturing this right, but if the switch has a tiny plastic "pin" protruding perpendicular from the larger plastic button, can you drill the button, and replace the pin with a cut off metal straight pin (or sewing pin)?

[ntw1103]

I had the same thing happen to my c860. My fix was some packing peanut. I cut tiny bits of foam from the peanut, and placed it surrounding the button. it took me about 10 minutes to get it lined up and back together without foam falling out of place. I did that about a month ago, and I haven't had a problem since.  I don't know how long the foam will last, but hopefully once it wears out it is just a matter of adding more to fix it.