Hardware Broken Wii DVD drive ribbon cable retaining flap

[pelago]

Hi. I have a Wii which has got a broken "retaining flap" on the connector on the DVD drive where the data ribbon cable is plugged in. To be clear, I mean the flap being manipulated in these two photos from https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Repairing+Nintendo+Wii+Drive+Board+Fuses/4029 step 22:

and

I've seen suggestions before of putting some paper or card in place and taping it down, but I'm having trouble getting that to work consistently and for long periods.

Does anyone know if it's possible to replace the flap? Has anyone had any luck getting one (from some other piece of electronics) to fit, or are there lots of different variants and you need to get the exact same one? The ribbon cable in question is 17.5mm wide.

 

[nerubii]

if it's only broken on one side, still usable.. just a bit more challenging to lock it in place.

 

[pelago]

The flap has completely broken off, and is in fact missing now!

I've been searching online and there doesn't seem to be a reliable source of replacement flaps in general, apart from other Wii drives. All advice I've found is to stick a piece of plastic in there to wedge it, which isn't working for me.

To be honest, the drive has other issues with noise and not reading all discs anyway, so I think I'll just scrap it.

 

[GreyWolf]

Check on eBay. I saw at least 2-3 listings for replacement DVD ribbon cables.

 

[pelago]

Unfortunately the bit I need is not part of the cable - it's on the drive board. See the below photo and compare to the ifixit pics above. I'm missing the brown bit that the ifixit guy is flipping up with his fingernail, and which keeps the cable in place.

 

[GreyWolf]

Oh, gosh, I'm sorry. I've broken those before on other hardware and they're a beast to deal with. You might need to just replace the drive assembly unless you can find something with the same clip and transplant it.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

The flap has completely broken off, and is in fact missing now!

I've been searching online and there doesn't seem to be a reliable source of replacement flaps in general, apart from other Wii drives. All advice I've found is to stick a piece of plastic in there to wedge it, which isn't working for me.

To be honest, the drive has other issues with noise and not reading all discs anyway, so I think I'll just scrap it.

You might be able to get it working by somehow keeping the cable under pressure and then gluing it in place with hot glue. It will be a hell of a lot more reliable than tape at least, tape tends to not hold forever or keep things under pressure whereas hot glue should hold as long as you don't peel it off.

 

[GreyWolf]

You could probably jam a piece of a playing card between the cable and the top of the connector, too. Just cut it so it's the same width as the cable.

 

[nerubii]

The flap has completely broken off, and is in fact missing now!

I've been searching online and there doesn't seem to be a reliable source of replacement flaps in general, apart from other Wii drives. All advice I've found is to stick a piece of plastic in there to wedge it, which isn't working for me.

To be honest, the drive has other issues with noise and not reading all discs anyway, so I think I'll just scrap it.

is the drive soldered with modchip? and you tried reading burned disc? wiikey2?

ok just saw the photo. but were you trying to read a burned disc when you mentioned the noise and stuff?

 

[pelago]

You could probably jam a piece of a playing card between the cable and the top of the connector, too. Just cut it so it's the same width as the cable.

Yeah I've been trying that, but it's harder than you might think. The connector is so rigid and precision engineered that you have to get the exact right thickness, to a fraction of a millimetre. Too thin and it will fall out, too thick and you can't jam it in at all. I guess that's why they have the fold down flap, which pushes down and clicks in place!

were you trying to read a burned disc when you mentioned the noise and stuff?

No, the noise is with originals too, and is when the disc is spinning. If you google or youtube for it, it's quite common, and there are various fixes mentioned, including bending bits of metal, but they haven't worked for me.

The drive is on its way to the electronics recycling bin as I type.