Question Laptop touch pad - damaged ribbon cable?

[neuropathy]

I have a Toshiba laptop (Satellite L355D) and the touchpad isnt working. Its built into the upper part of the laptops case, so theres no replacing the pad. It appears the ribbon cable is damaged, but I cant be sure if its damaged enough that this could be the issue. The pins on the ribbon cable are bent and some are slightly touching each other. No matter how I try to seat the cable in the socket, the touchpad wont work, including the buttons, which are separate from the pad.

See the image here for reference:

https://imgur.com/a/1ttWjNV

View: https://imgur.com/a/1ttWjNV


If I were to replace the cable, it looks like this is a 12-pin ribbon flex cable, so Im assuming Id just make sure the replacement cable is long enough? Are there other factors to account for?

Thank you for all the help

 

[jojesa]

It looks like the ribbon was force into the slot when it was in the closed position. None of the pins appear to be broken and each one could be glued back into place very carefully.
Otherwise, you might need to replace the whole palmrest which is available from Amazon and eBay at very low cost.

Toshiba laptops have a touchpad key that disable and enable the touchpad...it could be located right above the touchpar or a function key ( F5 or F9).

 

[neuropathy]

One of the pins looks like it’s a bit short, like it was broken at the end. I think the clip only grabs right at the end of the cable, but I’m not sure.

I found a few replacement palm rests like you said that are pretty cheap and I’m using a mouse in the meantime. Thanks for the suggestions. I’ll see if I’m up for buying a palmrest for this computer.

I’m wondering if it’s even more economical to just get a generic 12-pin flat ribbon cable and cut it to size for this laptop or get one that’s just right. What do you think?

I tried the F5/F9 options and I didn’t manage to get the touchbar working, then I cut the cable, stripped back the insulation to the wire and it’s just a millimeter too short to be fastened in the retainer, so now I need a cable or replacement palmrest. I’d really like to fix the issue for a buck with a replacement cable, but suppliers of cables need to know pitch (.5mm or 1.0mm) and direction (reverse or forward). I dont know how Id know which direction I need. The pitch appears to be .5mm since the entire cable is just over .5cm wide and its a 12-pin (10 x .5mm pins = .5cm). Any ideas?

https://imgur.com/a/52Ydjuy

View: https://imgur.com/a/52Ydjuy

 

[neuropathy]

Looks like there are 15cm cables on eBay for $1. I might try that first and if it still fails, I’ll try the palmrest replacement. The touchpad buttons were pretty beaten up - they have a weak and poorly designed bracing system underneath that was cracking and I had to stick a few things back together with epoxy to get it to hold. It might be best to replace the entire top cover anyway ($9). Then there’s the CMOS underneath the motherboard and the 6-cell battery, another $15-$20.

 

[jojesa]

Just replacing the ribbon might require some precise work, it will be a lot easier to replace the palmrest.