Hi, I bought an ipod with a broken menu button. Well i thoght I'd just have
to resolder or buy a new switch.. I resoldered the switch with no luck and
then I checked it with an ohm meter and it checked good. Now here is the
Weird part, I was inspecting the board under my desk lamp with it powered on
and the switch started working, well sort of.

If you shine light on part of the board it closes the circut like you pushed
the button down!!!??? There is not an optical sensor that i can see
anywhere near there, and it is away from the switch that doesn't work. It
has some smt resistors in the area and some holes that appear to go all the
way through to a chip on the other side.

So my question is what the heck is going on??? I've never seen anything like
this before. It is not supposed to be light activated..

I'll put some picures up on my web server when I find my digital camera
charger.

- Mike

Some of the newer products are using IR interuption for the switching.
They use an IR emitter, and receiver on the circuit board.

This is all surface mount technology. You will have to have access to
the proper parts, service information, and the proper tools to do this
type of service work.

Maybe the local rep for the manufacture can have it serviced for you at
a reasonable price. Or, the person who you bought it from, found that
it was not feasible to have it serviced.

Jerry G.
======

Well I had thought about "rigging" it by wiring a switch and a lightbulb
in... A small flashlight bulb works just fine.(a mini-mag light bulb) The
swithc appears to be a standard smt momantary push switch. The only thing IR
on the board that I see is the sensor for the wheel. I can cover that up and
it on the other side of the board. It doesn't do anything when you shine
light on it.

The unusual thing is I have another Ipod and it doesn't do anything when you
shine light on the mainboard. It is the same model and all..

-Mike
"Jerry G." wrote in message
ups.com...
Some of the newer products are using IR interuption for the switching.
They use an IR emitter, and receiver on the circuit board.

This is all surface mount technology. You will have to have access to
the proper parts, service information, and the proper tools to do this
type of service work.

Maybe the local rep for the manufacture can have it serviced for you at
a reasonable price. Or, the person who you bought it from, found that
it was not feasible to have it serviced.

Jerry G.
======

You were right about the IR. I used a remote control to do the same thing as
the light. So if I cant work anything else out I'll mount a IR diode inside
wired in to the swithch. I don't understand why this works though. I don't
see ant type of IR devices on the board.


"Jerry G." wrote in message
ups.com...
Some of the newer products are using IR interuption for the switching.
They use an IR emitter, and receiver on the circuit board.

This is all surface mount technology. You will have to have access to
the proper parts, service information, and the proper tools to do this
type of service work.

Maybe the local rep for the manufacture can have it serviced for you at
a reasonable price. Or, the person who you bought it from, found that
it was not feasible to have it serviced.

Jerry G.
======

This is because you are not able to recognize the IR components visually.
Obviously they are there, or it would not respond to the light!!!

--

JANA
_____


"Michael Kennedy" wrote in message
...
You were right about the IR. I used a remote control to do the same thing as
the light. So if I cant work anything else out I'll mount a IR diode inside
wired in to the swithch. I don't understand why this works though. I don't
see ant type of IR devices on the board.


"Jerry G." wrote in message
ups.com...
Some of the newer products are using IR interuption for the switching.
They use an IR emitter, and receiver on the circuit board.

This is all surface mount technology. You will have to have access to
the proper parts, service information, and the proper tools to do this
type of service work.

Maybe the local rep for the manufacture can have it serviced for you at
a reasonable price. Or, the person who you bought it from, found that
it was not feasible to have it serviced.

Jerry G.
======

Well the unusual thing is the fact it doesn't work on my working ipod. It is
very likely there is some sort of ir device there. I just cant figure out
why it would have infra red devices on the board to start with. It uses
standard switches not infra red for the push buttons.

Anyway I don't know what or why its messed up but I'm taking the original
switch and wiring it to an IR diode over the spot where it causes it to
work.

- Mike
"JANA" wrote in message
...
This is because you are not able to recognize the IR components visually.
Obviously they are there, or it would not respond to the light!!!

--

JANA
_____


"Michael Kennedy" wrote in message
...
You were right about the IR. I used a remote control to do the same thing
as
the light. So if I cant work anything else out I'll mount a IR diode
inside
wired in to the swithch. I don't understand why this works though. I don't
see ant type of IR devices on the board.


"Jerry G." wrote in message
ups.com...
Some of the newer products are using IR interuption for the switching.
They use an IR emitter, and receiver on the circuit board.

This is all surface mount technology. You will have to have access to
the proper parts, service information, and the proper tools to do this
type of service work.

Maybe the local rep for the manufacture can have it serviced for you at
a reasonable price. Or, the person who you bought it from, found that
it was not feasible to have it serviced.

Jerry G.
======

That's what I thought to start with to start with also. But I found that it
could be activated with an IR diode. I have isolated the spot. It is a
testpoint that leads to a chip on the other side. The testpoint is a small
hole.

I don't know what or why it works, but I wired an IR diode in and volia. The
button is functioning how it should, except you can't do a master reset with
it.

My theory on why it is working is that there is a crack in the chip on the
other side. But since I know nothing about how chips work I don't know if
that is a possible cause.

- Mike

"Not me" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 8 Jul 2005 02:19:48 -0400, "Michael Kennedy"
wrote:

Hi, I bought an ipod with a broken menu button. Well i thoght I'd just
have
to resolder or buy a new switch.. I resoldered the switch with no luck and
then I checked it with an ohm meter and it checked good. Now here is the
Weird part, I was inspecting the board under my desk lamp with it powered
on
and the switch started working, well sort of.

If you shine light on part of the board it closes the circut like you
pushed
the button down!!!??? There is not an optical sensor that i can see
anywhere near there, and it is away from the switch that doesn't work. It
has some smt resistors in the area and some holes that appear to go all
the
way through to a chip on the other side.

So my question is what the heck is going on??? I've never seen anything
like
this before. It is not supposed to be light activated..

I'll put some picures up on my web server when I find my digital camera
charger.

- Mike


How close are you getting with the light? Could you be causing some
sort of thermal effect?