How to fix your Touchsmart TX2 with just three letters?


Reviewing the options that I have open to get a permanent repair of the TX2 which developed an issue with booting. A couple of options short of reflowing the solder on the BGA  had been tried but each only seemed to last a short time. The next stage was scheduling the disassembly of the unit to facilitate the repair but when I was checking my notes from previous work – I realised that I had not tried one of the options reported as working – a three fingered (or palm if you need more pressure) approach.

So what magical , hidden combination of keys would allow the TX2 to reboot correctly with the display issue ? J, K and L – thats what. By placing three fingers on those keys and applying firm but not heavy pressure  – the unit booted first time and allowed me to update and copy off information prior to the permanent repair. I could have caddied the drive of course but in this way I was able to get a better result from the applications on the machine.

The general opinion is that the pressure allows the BGA to be reconnected – how permanent a fix this might be is unknown but even a temporary fix in this case is useful.