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I was cleaning out my laptop, when the ribbon connecting the screen to the motherboard came loose, When reconnecting it, I bent 2 of the pins on the connector on the motherboard (doh!).

Everything still works fine except obviously the screen (I'm using an external monitor).

What options have I? Seems to me, I can either try to bend the pin back straight (risking snapping it off entirely, and I don't know how I'd GET it perfectly straight), or replace the motherboard (bah!).

Do I have any other options than replacing my motherboard?

I don't think I do, but I wanted to ask to be safe before I go trying to bend pins back. Any tips on how to straighten them?

Presumably I can't claim on my warranty after this.

I'm not sure what the connector type is actually called, the best picture I can find is this:

enter image description here

This is a Samsung r560 laptop.

Edit: Two of them have entirely snapped off now, with 3 other bent ones.

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2 Answers

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You shouldn't have to get the pins perfectly straight. If you can get them straight enough there might be enough leeway in the socket to gently force it over the bent pins which will straighten them some more.

As to how to get them more or less straight - use the finest pliers you have or a pair of tweezers.

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I agree and would add that bend the pins a little at a time in stages. When you bend metal it gets hot and could break. (Kind of like if you twisted a paperclip 180 degrees all at once quickly vice bending it a little beyond it's bounce back point.) In the past (with HD connectors) I would bend the pins back slowly enough to get the connector on those pins, then I used the ribbon plug to align those pins with the rest, slowly. Fixing pins is a slow and patient art. For the HD connector I used a knife because I could use the tip of the blade at the base of the pin and leverage the whole pin. – Scott McClenning Jan 26 '10 at 5:11
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Make sure to do the bending in a warm place. Cold metal is brittle and more likely to snap.

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