Sony SR29VN knackered usb port

scrumpymonkey

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Hi,

I've got a sony viao sr29vn which is about 2 years old. One of the USB ports has been damaged, not sure how, but it is unusable. As this laptop only has 2 usb ports, I'm kind of in a difficult situation as I use quite a lot for dongles and other ancils.
I've done a bit of searching and I believe that the only way to repair the USB port is to replace the Motherboard. I'm full time mature student with a family and this is not the sort of thing I need at the moment as I have 2 years left of my degree. So can any of you helpful individuals advise me as to;

a. Do I have to replace the motherboard?
b. If so, can I do it myself, where do I source the replacement motherboard and how do I do it?
c. If I don't have to replace the motherboard, how else can I repair the USB port?

Cheers :D
 
Laptop motherboards are laptop specific so unless it's been rebadged from a big manufacturer any motherboard will ultimately have to come from sony (although you may find people on ebay selling them from bulk lots or reconditioned ones).

You should be able to do it yourself, they don't typically involve any tiny soldering or similar but you may well have to fit ribbon cables and you'll have to reapply heatsinks. Basically, it'll take time and effort and be tricky at points but no specialist skills are required.

As to whether it needs replacing, you'd have to find out what the problem is first. Open up the laptop and take a look, if the USB port is obviously damaged or has parted company with the motherboard then it'll be a much simpler job of just replacing it and/or resoldering it to the connectors on the board.
 

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