I have a B50 keyboard dock that was older so didn't support the new battery saving mode in newer firmwares. I sent it in to Asus for upgrade and just got it back today.
Upon putting my Transformer on it, it asked to update the firmware, I did it.
The battery saving mode works now, but my keyboard dock won't charge!
I plug it in and the light turns on like it's charging, I use a couple battery widgets and it would say it's charging and 2 seconds later it stops.
I unplug the cable and the keyboard dock light blinks like it would if it's out of juice/very low.
My keyboard dock is stuck at 35%. I took the Transformer off and kept the keyboard dock plugged in for about 2-3 hours, put the Transformer back on it and it still says 35%!
So, is it broken? Do I need to call Asus again? sigh.
Have you tried blowing very hard at the connection port on the Dock?
The slightest bit of dust can effect the current required for a charge.
Hahahahahaha.
I've been tearing down the hell out of my TF and dock. I know the hardware inside out.
There is a small switch in the dock that controls the charging ability of the dock battery. It sits right on the side of where the chip that they replaced is at. It is very easy for them to accidently flip the switch, turning off the ability to charge the dock battery.
You can either RMA it or you can just open it up and flip the switch. Your choice.
Personally, I have no idea why the switch exists at all.
goodintentions said:
Hahahahahaha.
I've been tearing down the hell out of my TF and dock. I know the hardware inside out.
There is a small switch in the dock that controls the charging ability of the dock battery. It sits right on the side of where the chip that they replaced is at. It is very easy for them to accidently flip the switch, turning off the ability to charge the dock battery.
You can either RMA it or you can just open it up and flip the switch. Your choice.
Personally, I have no idea why the switch exists at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm Ok, I'm pretty good at taking things apart, know of a guide to take this apart? I'll try and do it myself. Thanks!
First and foremost, doing this and telling asus about it will void your warranty.
Warning: Failure to follow my instructions right down to the letter will result in your in-laws camping out at your place for a month.
(1) Take out anything that's in your full size sdcard slot. Flip your keyboard upside down so that the keys are facing down.
(2) Gently but surely remove the 2 rubber pads that are the closest to the connection between your TF and the dock.
(3) Under there, you will find 2 small screws. Unscrew them. Please don't lose the screws.
(4) Flip the dock over so that the keys face up towards the sky.
(5) Write me a check for $3000 USD.
(6) Use your right hand and hold down the part where the TF makes the connection. Curl your left fingers into a hook, put it under the dock, and pull up. After the left side of the dock is severed, reverse and do the right side.
(7) Now that both left and right sides are off, continue to lift up the top of the dock until the side towards you loses the connection as well. Be careful not to remove too fast. There are wires connected between the 2 parts.
(8) With the connection point between the TF and dock facing away from you, the switch is a tiny black thing on the side of the left board. Look at the following picture.
(9) Flipping it away from you = on. Flipping it towards you = off.
(10) Write me another check for $5000 USD.
(11) Before you close up completely, plug in to make sure it now charges.
(12) Close up and screw in.
Here is a picture of where the switch is.
Thank You! It works!
And yeah, agreed, what a stupid function that switch is for!
You checks' in the mail!
That was fast.
Added by edit.
People, please spread the word if other people have this problem and I'm not here. This isn't the first time I've seen people complain about this.
In order to replace the chipset to allow powersaving mode, they have to work around the area of that switch. I did similar work around that area, too, and found myself keep flipping it back and forth by accident.
I had a similar experience... I just got my dock back from RMA which fixed the battery drain.
However the dock was returned, completely drained and won't charge (the light indicator on dock blinks orange) but my tablet charges fine.
I was just wondering if this is due to the switch preventing the dock charging?
I've heard that once the dock hits below 3%, it won't charge and I'll have to RMA once again...
I've also checked with dual battery widget and it shows (when my charger is plugged in) the tablet at 100% and dock being N/A (even though it also says its still charging as well)
So yeah was wondering if it was due to the switch?
Stephen289 said:
I had a similar experience... I just got my dock back from RMA which fixed the battery drain.
However the dock was returned, completely drained and won't charge (the light indicator on dock blinks orange) but my tablet charges fine.
I was just wondering if this is due to the switch preventing the dock charging?
I've heard that once the dock hits below 3%, it won't charge and I'll have to RMA once again...
I've also checked with dual battery widget and it shows (when my charger is plugged in) the tablet at 100% and dock being N/A (even though it also says its still charging as well)
So yeah was wondering if it was due to the switch?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It probably is the switch.
Goes to show us asus is hiring some really cheap technicians to do the job. I'm ot even an electronic technician. What I do has nothing to do with electronics at all. And by now I know the dock inside and outside intimately.
The least they could do is spend an etra micro second to check the switch before they close it up and send it back to you.
One question. How hard is it to remove the top cover of the dock... I'm trying to but it doesnt seem to budge
Stephen289 said:
One question. How hard is it to remove the top cover of the dock... I'm trying to but it doesnt seem to budge
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It was hard until I read goodintentions' directions in his post
"(6) Use your right hand and hold down the part where the TF makes the connection. Curl your left fingers into a hook, put it under the dock, and pull up. After the left side of the dock is severed, reverse and do the right side."
nxt said:
It was hard until I read goodintentions' directions in his post
"(6) Use your right hand and hold down the part where the TF makes the connection. Curl your left fingers into a hook, put it under the dock, and pull up. After the left side of the dock is severed, reverse and do the right side."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, that part is kind of confusing, do i dig my fingers between the gap? Because pulling it up from "under" the dock doesn't make too much sense
Stephen289 said:
Yeah, that part is kind of confusing, do i dig my fingers between the gap? Because pulling it up from "under" the dock doesn't make too much sense
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah put it just underneath the metal side lip/gap and just pull hard.
I RMA'd it second time... when I got it back, the dock was fully charged, plugged the dock into the Transformer and it showed the correct percentages, however as soon as I plugged the charger in, I suddenly get the N/A dock on my dual battery widget and the LED notification light on my dock is solid orange... guess I'll have to try open up the dock myself and see what is wrong with it...
Here is a video I made showing you how to open up the dock.
thank you so much!
This didn't work for me. My battery is stuck at 89% and will not charge or discharge for that matter.
works like a charm!
My dock was recently RMA-ed (battery was completely dead) and upon return it shows 19% charge but will not be charged. flipping the black switch completely solved it!
Cheques are in the mail.
hey guys just wanted to let you know my dock batery sussenly stopped working this morning and flipping this switch off and on again solved my problem so thanks guys
Related
Anyone else having a problem with the dock not charging? I have to jiggle it to get the charge light on and then it goes off a few hours later.
I have the similar problem now where it won't charge my Nexus One anymore... Do you send it for warranty claim?
Call HTC on 888-216-4736, they will tell you to purchase a replacement unit and give you an RMA on the old one.
Im having this same issue as well. For something that cost this much....
gkaugustine said:
Im having this same issue as well. For something that cost this much....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had this issue, only once. I first noticed it shortly after my phone took a (not even that far of one) fall to a hard floor. Immediately after that I had all I could do to get it to charge on the dock. Couple hours later I was looking at the back of my phone and noticed the lower dark piece (that says HTC, directly below the lighter colored band where you could have it engraved) had popped out ever so slightly (right where the 2 different colored pieces come together). I put a little pressure on it and it literally snapped back into place (it was BARELY even visible but was clearly the cause of my issue). Soon as I did that my dock was charging my phone flawlessly again (in fact, I was TRYING to get it in the dock and not charge and failed over and over.). YMMV.
I know this was originally an older post, but if this helps you or anyone else then all the better!
Along the same lines gIMpSTa ... I did not get my N1 factory engraved. Instead I printed my own label and stuck it on the engraving panel. This label (.25" x 2") was as thin as a piece of paper. It was enough tilt the N1 forward ever so slightly, messing up proper seating in the cradle and prevent charging. So a trap for young players.
I was just wondering if anyone used the nexus one docking station and liked it? I've read some reviews going both ways.
after reading about burn in I was also wondering if anyone had any similar problems....
I would hate to use it as a clock over night and have 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Burned into my screen x.x
if youre afraid of burn in.. all you have to do is touch the power button and it turns the screen and backlight off... besides, the clock app defaults to a screensaver anyway... i've had mine since it came out and its nice to not have to plug it in at night... just drop and charge
That is good.. That means if I need to know I can just tap it to turn it on or off...
I am actually almost considering buying two.. one for my desk so I can set it next to my comp and one for my bed stand lol...
But, being able to turn it off may prove useful if I find the light bright.. seeing as I have trouble sleeping at night with any light in the room.
I love my dock. get it!
Snow_fox said:
That is good.. That means if I need to know I can just tap it to turn it on or off...
I am actually almost considering buying two.. one for my desk so I can set it next to my comp and one for my bed stand lol...
But, being able to turn it off may prove useful if I find the light bright.. seeing as I have trouble sleeping at night with any light in the room.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually it wont be the clock light that you find bright. It is really dim and as mentioned above, moves around like a screen saver.
What you will find bright and you cannot turn off with the default OS2.1 is the white illumination for the 4 buttons at the bottom. The buttons stay backlit and some people find them annoying. Apparently with rooted phones there are ways to dim them.
Buy a third one to put in your car. Thats where mine lives.
^^ Fixed in Froyo.
Lol.. I was considering rooting anyway to get the black notification bar instead of the white.
I was so set on getting an n1 until I read about burn in.. its amazing it isn't more noted across the web..
Snow_fox said:
Lol.. I was considering rooting anyway to get the black notification bar instead of the white.
I was so set on getting an n1 until I read about burn in.. its amazing it isn't more noted across the web..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Probably because it's a non-issue.
That could be true. I suppose it really is up to the buyer... I wouldn't expect your average cell phone user to care as much.. However, people spending 529$ on the phone I suppose I view slightly differently.
With the dock is it possible to still use a case? I was reading one case is suppose to be 1 mm thick.. but, sometimes that is too thick sometimes its managable.. any idea if it would work?
I'm getting paid Monday, I have to pay off a ticket and my phone bill. Hopefully I'll have a little left over so I can splurge and by myself something nice.. Like the dock.
Doesn't it have a 3.5mm output on the back? So you can sync via Bluetooth to the dock and play your music through speakers plugged in? I may by a cheap little 2.1 surround sound system to plug in to it...
Nexus one dock
I got the nexus dock a week ago and love that dam thing. I really didnt need it but it looks cool on my desk. I have it hooked up to my surround sound so I stream music to the dock. I nice add on if your a nexus one owner.
yeah its a 3.5 mm.
Apparently Seidio also offers a dock...
I am wondering if it would ruin the seidio innocase II taking the phone in and out of the case everyday.. I've read some review saying its impossible to take out.. others it isn't any problem at all.. I would hate to spend 20-30$ and tear up the case taking the n1 in and out for use on the dock.
Just got my dock today, and loving it so far! The music streaming is great, I can leave my phone around my room, and leave the music on
Only thing is if I am using it while its sitting there, it will sometimes pop out, as the lip holding the phone in place isn't that big..
But loving it!
I have the google dock and the Seidio dock. Love the goog dock, hate the Seidio dock. It's difficult to set the phone in or take it out of the Seidio dock. It charges via usb from a computer but does not connect (no file transfer, etc) and is cheaply constructed. I don't use it anymore.
N1 stock w/FroYo
I saw the seidio one.. and judging from the pics i've seen.. the seidio just doesn't look as elegant....
The only reason why I was considering it was because I may be able to charge the n1 with a case on.. so scratch that.
Pissed at my dock
Anyone else have pin contacts issues with the dock?
I hate mine. I have to re-seat my N1 on the dock 2-3 times till the pins match up and connect properly (Yes I wait about 5 seconds to make sure, and look at the charging light).
Then when it's connected just fine and goes to the Clock screen, I would get an email that vibrates and it would disconnect from the dock and I have to jiggle it and re-seat it again!
I hate it! The pins look fine and I'm not using any case.
nxt said:
Anyone else have pin contacts issues with the dock?
I hate mine. I have to re-seat my N1 on the dock 2-3 times till the pins match up and connect properly (Yes I wait about 5 seconds to make sure, and look at the charging light).
Then when it's connected just fine and goes to the Clock screen, I would get an email that vibrates and it would disconnect from the dock and I have to jiggle it and re-seat it again!
I hate it! The pins look fine and I'm not using any case.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
Mine doesn't really sit in their well. I can't really use it in the dock. So pressing the screen for alarm buttons etc keeps disconnecting it so it would go back to the home screen then back to the clock dock. GAHHH
I don't know if it's the dock or the back of the phone but there's nothing I can do about it because I am in the UK.
nxt said:
Anyone else have pin contacts issues with the dock?
I hate mine. I have to re-seat my N1 on the dock 2-3 times till the pins match up and connect properly (Yes I wait about 5 seconds to make sure, and look at the charging light).
Then when it's connected just fine and goes to the Clock screen, I would get an email that vibrates and it would disconnect from the dock and I have to jiggle it and re-seat it again!
I hate it! The pins look fine and I'm not using any case.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have to reseat mine almost every time I dock, but I have a BSE, so I'm ok with it.
And I also occasionally have an annoying buzzing from the wires that I've been unable to get rid of (I'm sure I'll pinpoint it eventually and fix it).
Even with those two things, I think the dock rocks!!
no problems with my htc dock
i love the b/t audio ,i have it hooked up to my pc speakers
I use my desktop dock every evening and love it.
I've gone back and forth between automatically opening the Clock app and Gentle Alarm to finally (I think) settle on the Clock app. I just trust the screen saver a little more.
As has already been mentioned, the illuminated buttons are annoying (fixed in froyo)
If the option to disable trackball notifications when docked was present, I would be very happy
After all the excitement of my TF arriving I fired it up to find that the touch screen has issues. Say you are in landscape mode, about an inch from the top there a half inch wide strip that runs all the way across the screen that will not respond to a finger touch. I either have to have it docked and use the mouse to do anything in that area or turn it to portrait to change the orientation so what I want to touch is not in that area. That same area of the screen is dead in portrait mode too.
Also, it won't charge through the USB ports. I was in on the TD sales so a return is not possible. I'll wait till more are available, buy another from a different local vender then do a swap and a return.
when connected to your PC,it won't charge through the USB port unless you turn the screen off
iAndroidFan said:
when connected to your PC,it won't charge through the USB port unless you turn the screen off
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I left it sit with the screen off for over an hour and the battery level dropped. I also tried it completely powered down and the battery level didn't change.
garyhesq said:
After all the excitement of my TF arriving I fired it up to find that the touch screen has issues. Say you are in landscape mode, about an inch from the top there a half inch wide strip that runs all the way across the screen that will not respond to a finger touch. I either have to have it docked and use the mouse to do anything in that area or turn it to portrait to change the orientation so what I want to touch is not in that area. That same area of the screen is dead in portrait mode too.
Also, it won't charge through the USB ports. I was in on the TD sales so a return is not possible. I'll wait till more are available, buy another from a different local vender then do a swap and a return.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
had you installed any apps at all before this happened?
garyhesq said:
Also, it won't charge through the USB ports.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wasn't that by design? I seem to remember hearing that the power supplied via USB is so little that you can't charge there, but have to use the a special cable?
dcmtnbkr said:
had you installed any apps at all before this happened?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It was like that outa the box. The first thing I tried to do was drag a few icons to the removal area. As soon as I slid it up the screen and hit that area I couldn't drag it any farther. It was like I took my finger off the screen. It took me a while figure out what was going on.
Kermode said:
Wasn't that by design? I seem to remember hearing that the power supplied via USB is so little that you can't charge there, but have to use the a special cable?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm... Now that you mention it I think I read that somewhere too...... Time to do more research.
The problem I have right now is I am leaving for camp this afternoon and I have no electric there yet. So I guess I better have it fully charged before I leave. It's going to be tough getting a whole weekend out of a new new toy.
One more thing, I left my wall charger at home so I borrowed a coworkers Thunderbolt wall charger to see if I could top it off before I left for the weekend. It won't charge it either. So something must be pretty special about the TF's wall charger.
Although the problem seems different from mine, it does show ASUS has some quality control problem with the touch screen no TF. See this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1068569
garyhesq said:
After all the excitement of my TF arriving I fired it up to find that the touch screen has issues. Say you are in landscape mode, about an inch from the top there a half inch wide strip that runs all the way across the screen that will not respond to a finger touch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had exactly this with my first TF, except it was a 1/2" wide strip about 1" up from the dock connector. Factory reset and unplugging from the charger had no effect. Asus was willing to do an RMA but I returned it to Newegg instead and hunted for another one.
garyhesq said:
After all the excitement of my TF arriving I fired it up to find that the touch screen has issues. Say you are in landscape mode, about an inch from the top there a half inch wide strip that runs all the way across the screen that will not respond to a finger touch. I either have to have it docked and use the mouse to do anything in that area or turn it to portrait to change the orientation so what I want to touch is not in that area. That same area of the screen is dead in portrait mode too.
Also, it won't charge through the USB ports. I was in on the TD sales so a return is not possible. I'll wait till more are available, buy another from a different local vender then do a swap and a return.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ever charged a laptop with a USB cable? Use the provided charger
atxer said:
Ever charged a laptop with a USB cable? Use the provided charger
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I left it at home thinking I could charge VIA USB. I won't be back to the house till Monday.
pokey9000 said:
I had exactly this with my first TF, except it was a 1/2" wide strip about 1" up from the dock connector. Factory reset and unplugging from the charger had no effect. Asus was willing to do an RMA but I returned it to Newegg instead and hunted for another one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, after reading all the new posts this morning from a lot new purchasers I guess I am not the lone ranger with some issues. I guess that is to be expected for us early adopters. I'll get this unit switched out when they become more available and I'll just deal with the screen problem till then.
I love the TF. The screen is beautiful, seems very responsive in the area that it works and is extremely fast. When it's hooked up to my Bolt using 4G it surfs amazingly quick. I can deal with a bug or two for a while.
I've got the same thing but about a third of the way from the bottom of the screen. It doesn't respond to touch when I lay the tablet down, but when I hold it in my hand it will respond better but still not great. Strange.
garyhesq said:
I left it sit with the screen off for over an hour and the battery level dropped. I also tried it completely powered down and the battery level didn't change.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
then use the charger they gave you
So I have a dock with the won't-charge problem and I was wondering if that small switch that controlls charging inside the dock coud have been flicked without ever opening up the case. B4 I open up my dock to see, I don't want to be stuck with a dock that I can't RMA. RMAing is my last option, If I could just open it up and fix the problem, then that would be awesome. Has anyone had a random transformer dock won't charge out of the blue that was fixed by opening up the dock? I know how to do it, I just want to know it this "switch" can be triggered by a small tap or hit on the side of the dock by accident.
Thanks
oh, and when the dock is plugged into either the wall or the transformer, the little red light on the side is ALWAYS on, it is even on for a moment or two after disconnecting. It even remained red while my transformer had 0% charge on it (and was off) which is a bit disconcerting... anyway, thanks in advance
oh, but other then that, the dock works perfectly!
If your dock have not be opened up and modded, I can't see how it could have moved on its own. It's possible, but I don't know.
There's no way they can know you've opened it up, though. Just follow my instructions on how to properly open it up and they wouldn't be able to tell the difference.
O happy day- got a keyboard dock. Happiness was short lived; after allowing the dock to charge overnight, I was unable to get either of my tf300's to work with it. The tablets will recognize it as a charging device (you can see the 2 battery icons on the status bar) but that's it- no track pad or keyboard functions. I haven't tried to see if usb is active, though. I've attempted the troubleshooting steps I've seen online, like cold booting a tablet while connected to the dock, all to no avail...
Anyhow, obviously there's no warranty in play here, so I was curious if anyone had any know-how on servicing the dock? I read on Tom's Hardware that the dock needs to be glued somehow after disassembly, so i'd like to consider that "last resort", but if that is what it's going to take, that's okay. Anybody have any suggestions?
monogwai said:
O happy day- got a keyboard dock. Happiness was short lived; after allowing the dock to charge overnight, I was unable to get either of my tf300's to work with it. The tablets will recognize it as a charging device (you can see the 2 battery icons on the status bar) but that's it- no track pad or keyboard functions. I haven't tried to see if usb is active, though. I've attempted the troubleshooting steps I've seen online, like cold booting a tablet while connected to the dock, all to no avail...
Anyhow, obviously there's no warranty in play here, so I was curious if anyone had any know-how on servicing the dock? I read on Tom's Hardware that the dock needs to be glued somehow after disassembly, so i'd like to consider that "last resort", but if that is what it's going to take, that's okay. Anybody have any suggestions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, here's a status update... I've gone ahead and opened the dock, and nothing really looked out of place, so I went ahead and reattached the various cables and screwed the sucker back together. I now have the keyboard working. The trackpad, however, still is not working. I took it apart a second time and verified that the cables for the trackpad were plugged all the way in (where the black line on the ribbon cables are flush with the connectors on the boards), and still no go. Anybody have any experience with a non-functional trackpad?
monogwai said:
Well, here's a status update... I've gone ahead and opened the dock, and nothing really looked out of place, so I went ahead and reattached the various cables and screwed the sucker back together. I now have the keyboard working. The trackpad, however, still is not working. I took it apart a second time and verified that the cables for the trackpad were plugged all the way in (where the black line on the ribbon cables are flush with the connectors on the boards), and still no go. Anybody have any experience with a non-functional trackpad?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh, wow! It didn't even take me an hour to break it again. Went and re-read threads on various forums, and people were having some luck with cold booting while docked. So I did, and yet again the keyboard ceased functioning. Despite having not even moved while reading/rebooting, I opened the dock once more. Of course, nothing appears to have changed, so I don't even know what to do at this point. The vendor has refunded my money, so at least I'm not out anything; it'd be really nice if I could somehow restore function, though.
I can get a replacement keypad/trackpad off eBay, but I'm concerned that my problem may be where the cables attach to the main board. Of course it could also be the ribbon cables themselves. Anyone know somewhere to get new cables at a reasonable price?
I've got the keyboard working again. Seems like once I plug it in to charge, the keyboard stops working and i have to go play with the cables to remedy that. that's only when charging with the tablet attached. haven't tried seeing what happens if i undock, then charge, then redock.
kinda surprised nobody's had any input... <shrugs>. and in regards to something i had said before, it seems i was a bit mistaken: i can order a replacement keypad, but not the trackpad. i'm wondering if i might need a new main board for this instead, though. would like to hear something out of someone who's replaced a board in the dock before i pull the trigger on one. anyone? anyone? Bueller?
new update:
had to set the dock to charge, and naturally, the keyboard didn't work. so i went and took it apart again. this time, though, I plugged the tablet in to the base prior to screwing everything back. I detached the cables from the mainboard, reseated, and checked-- no change. so I detached the mainboard cables again, and proceeded to reseat the cabling where the touchpad is. snapped the tablet back into place; lo and behold, I got a little circle on screen... hey! the trackpad's working!!! Excitedly, I screwed the screws under the trackpad button, and replaced the button, and proceeded to close the tablet so I could flip the dock over and replace the other screws/feet. Opened everything back up and unlocked the tablet and.............. <price is right tuba noise here> no trackpad. total freaking bummer.
I'm guessing now that maybe there's some kind of short somewhere. When I get to my destination this evening (or perhaps tomorrow, to be honest), I will further explore this new development. It's interesting at the very least. I do know the pad isn't totally dead in the water.
it's odd... charging causes the keyboard to stop functioning, and screws apparently cause the pad to stop functioning. very odd.
i've sat down and dismantled the entire thing. i decided to unplug the battery from the system board for a while thinking there might be some kind of situation where that could be helpful. let it sit probably 2 hours while i worked on something else. now i've reassembled, snapped it back together (but no screws yet), and the trackpad is working. has been working for the last hour, give or take. dock is down to 38% charge, so i'm trepidatious (is that even a word? lol) about which step to take next -- seeing what happens when i screw this thing back together, or try and see what happens when i attempt to charge it. i'll have to make some sort of decision, so once that happens, i'll post yet another update. hopefully a solve.
Problems with a dock? unplug that battery for a while!
I've rounded the last corner i think. i've got the charger plugged in to the dock as i sit here and type; trackpad still works too. all that's left is trying to screw it back together, so i'm gonna call this tenatively solved. because if i just can't have screws for some strange reason, i suppose i'm fine with that.
Still working... How does one go about marking something 'solved'? Ask a mod...?