I have an older Acer Travelmate 7??? (maybe 7100) laptop rebranded as a Unisys
Aquanta EN/M. It's a nice little unit - 266Mhz pentium and a surprisingly
attractive 12" screen.

My wife managed to break a key off, and it appears that the failure was the
underside of the key where there's supposed to be a part that grips the two
"hoops" that project upward from the keyboard. I found what appeared to be
the correct replacement keyboard on eBay.

The old keyboard attaches with two ribbon cables, which to my surprise are
unterminated. They are attached via keyed pressure latches to wherever it is
they happen to go on the motherboard.

When I took the old keyboard out, I discovered that the new keyboard, despite
having the identical part number, had the two ribbon cables somewhat shorter
than the original, and there was simply no way that the new keyboard could be
used. The cables just won't reach when the keyboard is in the installed
position, by a good inch. So I sadly went to put back the old keyboard by
reattaching the two ribbon cables.

I can't do it. I've tried for several hours, dozens of times, and clearly I
don't understand what sort of magic is involved. I push the two cables as far
as possible into their respective slots, and push in the latches. Boot up,
and no keyboard functionality.

Does this problem make sense to anyone, such that some advice can be given?

If I can't get this working myself, it almost seems a shame to pay big bucks
to a repair facility for an older unit, but it is otherwise working
beautifully. Are there any recommended repair services for Acer units,
ideally that could obtain the correct keyboard in the bargain?

Anyway, I'd welcome any words of wisdom

Art
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