# Tale of a "broken" trackball

**URL:** <https://forum.clockworkpi.com/t/tale-of-a-broken-trackball/12896>\
**Category:** uConsole\
**Tags:** hardware\
**Created:** [April 1, 2024, 6:55pm UTC](https://forum.clockworkpi.com/t/tale-of-a-broken-trackball/12896 "2024-04-01T18:55:03Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![propsman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@propsman](https://forum.clockworkpi.com/u/propsman)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2024, 6:55pm UTC](https://forum.clockworkpi.com/t/tale-of-a-broken-trackball/12896/1 "2024-04-01T18:55:03Z")

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Finally, it’s here, after assembly and excitedly powering up the device I was met with disappointment and a bit of confusion. Everything appears fine until I attempt to move to cursor left, then nothing. My thumb franticly moves left and for a brief moment the cursor follows then nothing. That was the first and last time the trackball would move my cursor left. So I began to troubleshoot.

Things I tried that didn’t work;  
\*Rotate the trackball part 180 degrees on the PCB.  
Nothing changed.

\*Thoroughly clean the trackballs mechanical bits.  
Nothing changed.

\*Observed /dev/input/by-id/usb-ClockworkPI\_uConsole\_20230713-event-mouse  
No update when rolling left carefully.

\*Update keyboard firmware.  
No change.

At this point I decided to take the device apart and have a close look at the PCB and its components.  
\*First I connected the keyboard to my pc using the USB connection.  
The problem persisted there too.

\*I use my phones macro mode to have a close look at the pins of the sensor responsible for reporting the movement in question.

 ![leftedLeg](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/uploads/clockworkpi/original/2X/2/22cd0235debafcb1d57202d2d71db73e051b8505.jpeg)

```
      I see what looks like a connection outside of the solder.

```

\*Next I turned on my soldering iron, applied flux and attempted to reflow the parts connections.

After reassembling the device the trackball was fully functional. SUCCESS!  
I hope this will be helpful to anyone experiencing trackball issues.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Wolfgang\_Black](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/forum.clockworkpi.com/wolfgang_black/32/9191_2.png) [@Wolfgang\_Black](https://forum.clockworkpi.com/u/Wolfgang_Black)\
**Post date:** [April 2, 2024, 5:15pm UTC](https://forum.clockworkpi.com/t/tale-of-a-broken-trackball/12896/2 "2024-04-02T17:15:08Z")

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Nice job!  
How do you like your uConsole?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![propsman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@propsman](https://forum.clockworkpi.com/u/propsman)\
**Post date:** [April 4, 2024, 6:01am UTC](https://forum.clockworkpi.com/t/tale-of-a-broken-trackball/12896/3 "2024-04-04T06:01:52Z")

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Overall I am enjoying the uConsole. I’m a student who bought the device to practice C development while riding the bus. So far it has worked for that purpose. The metal case gives it a rugged feel. However I do want for something protecting the screen from my greasy mitts.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Wolfgang\_Black](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/forum.clockworkpi.com/wolfgang_black/32/9191_2.png) [@Wolfgang\_Black](https://forum.clockworkpi.com/u/Wolfgang_Black)\
**Post date:** [April 9, 2024, 8:04pm UTC](https://forum.clockworkpi.com/t/tale-of-a-broken-trackball/12896/4 "2024-04-09T20:04:17Z")

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That’s great!  
Can’t hurt to program on the bus.  
I thought I saw some posts on screen protectors which I will likely get when I get my device.