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I smashed the dongle for my wireless keyboard. Can I salvage the keyboard for any useful purpose? I've tried contacting the manufacturer, but they have not responded. I am located in Thailand, and the manufacturer is a Thai company (MD Tech if anyone is interested).

If all else fails, I can try giving the manufacturer a call. I previously tried email and Facebook contact, but a phone call will require my Thai language skills to be on point.

edit: To clarify a couple points.

  1. The smashed dongle was unfortunately discarded. Actually come to think of it, it may still be in my trash can. I'll rummage around.

  2. By "useful purpose" I meant either as a functioning computer keyboard, or some other computer related function unbeknownst to me. If all ell fails I know I can use it to hold a window open. But I'm looking for IT-related uses for now.

edit 2: I managed to retrieve the dongle pieces. Here are the images (so sorry for the poor quality--it was the best I could do). Also, I unfortunately have no soldering equipment or skills. But I have a friend who does.

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  • smashed how badly? It might be fixable, depending on your soldering skills.
    – Journeyman Geek
    Aug 17, 2016 at 12:35

1 Answer 1

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Try soldering up the unit if you can, it's your best bet.

One point: You CANNOT replace the dongle. The manufacturer could, but they wouldn't. Even if they spoke English.

Why?

Wireless keyboards are designed to use specific frequencies and sometimes encryption. This is an important security feature. Imagine someone sitting on the next bench knowing what you are typing, you or getting what the other is typing on your screen. For this purpose, every keyboard and its dongle are paired and are unique. Thus the dongle cannot be replaced.

Two reasons why even the manufacturer wouldn't replace the dongle:

1) Imagine I am a seller and I create an invoice for my own product, sell it to myself, and then tell the manufacturer that the dongle is broken. Now imagine the manufacturer sells me back the dongle and now I have TWO dongles for one keyboard. Now I sell you the keyboard. The result: I can send keys to your computer when you are not watching, even from a floor above. Fraud.

2) Why would he? No one ever repairs accidentally damaged products.

So what to do?

Your best bet would be to take out the keys and try to sell them. Some people with missing keys might buy, but chances are slim. Or you could try repairing a junk keyboard using its keys. But otherwise, just sell it on weight.

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