I’ve got two 8GB Fuzes: my original one which recently begun to have an issue, and a second one I bought used for parts/thinking-I-can-fix-it.
Here’s the issue with my original:
Okay, to preface, I did scour the forum for answers, and I read the Disassembly sticky post on anythingbutipod (more on that in a sec), but my search keywords didn’t yield viable results (or I’m just retarded, which might very well be the case).
Anyway, I’m having the common issue with my headphone jack: the internal contact is worn/loose/something wherein I lose the left audio channel and have to jiggle the cable (for all devices I plug into it) to restore it.
So, I want to open it up and check it out. BUT I tend to use more brute force than necessary when working on small things, so I’m super-paranoid about damaging/bricking my Fuze. I need to know exactly what tool(s) would be best for this work, and what points along the outside of the Fuze are the best targets for applying force to pop the securing clips. Safety is my #1 concern. My current enfeebled attempts to get it to open with a jeweler’s flathead screwdriver (same size I use for my glasses) haven’t done much.
A second thought I had was thus: what kind of material can I insert into the jack to bridge the connection between plug and jack? Would a thin wrap of heavy-duty aluminum foil maintain the appropriate conductivity for me to not have to jiggle the cable plug?
And this is the problem with my second one:
So thinking that maybe I could scavenge parts from another player to correct the problem, I bought a cheap used one off eBay. The only problem with this one is that it won’t connect to a computer, because somehow the previous owner broke off a corner of the pin connections board (pins all look ok). Without that last pin as part of the board, my PC can’t mount it.
How can I reforge this connection so the player will be recognized and mountable?
Any/all advice welcome (except for telling me to just go buy a new one).
Cheers,