[How-to] add a shield to your older generation motion m1400

[Grindboy]

Hi Guys,

[READ THIS FIRST]

Firstly. I am not responsible if whilst following these instructions you damage your tablet. These instructions are for the Motion Computing m1400 and should not be used in reference to any other make or model. As with any online how-to your mileage may vary.

Secondly. Motion Computing will fix this problem for free (minus postage and packaging) if you are currently residing in the USA. If you are in the US there is no reason for you to attempt a fix yourself. If however (like me) you are not in the US you may be charged by a Motion reseller for the fix. I was given an estimate of £140 ($218) for the repair by Box Technologies (The UK reseller). Considering I only bought the tablet for £140 and I'm a student I really couldn't justify this cost.

Ok now that's out of the way.

Older generation M1400 tablets have been known to develop a problem whereby the cursor will jump to the bottom right hand corner of the screen (when in landscape mode). In most cases this only happens when the unit is charging but it can also happen during normal use. The reason for this issue is hardware related and is caused by Electro-Magnetic Interference (EMI) messing with the Wacom digitizer. In more recently manufactured m1400's an extra layer of EMI shielding was added which prevents this problem.

For Windows XP Tablets a software work around is available here the software causes Windows to ignore sudden jumps to the bottom right of the screen. For everyone else instructions for a hardware fix are below.

Step one [disassembly]

1. Find a bowl or use some double folded sticky tape to keep screws from running away.
2. Wear an antistatic wrist band
3. Shutdown your tablet
4. Unplug any connected devices
5. Remove the Battery
6. Remove any PCMCIA cards or the plastic dummy
7. Take out the hard drive being careful of the ribbon cable
8. Take out the RAM
9. Take out the network card taking note of which wire connects to which antenna port
10. Remove the 9 case screws:
11. 
12. Carefully take off the top and bottom black strips. Be sure to avoid damaging the tabs that hold these on.
13. Gently ease the 2 halves apart.
14. You'll notice the top and bottom are connected by 4 (?) ribbon cables. You'll need to disconnect these before you can totally open the case.

Step two [preparation & fitting]

1. Get a piece of paper and make a template of the back of the digitizer. Be sure to mark holes for the wires.
2. Next get some tin foil and attach the template to a large enough sheet with blutac or masking tape (try to avoid cellotape as it'll be a bugger to get off again)
3. Cut the tin foil accordingly.
4. Tin foil is made of aluminium and will conduct electricity. For this reason you'll need to insulate it. The solution that worked best for me was laminating the sheet
5. Once laminated cut it out again!
6. 
7. Now fit the shield being sure to poke through all the cables
8. 
9. Ok, so discussions in this thread has lead us to realize a shield of this type must be grounded.
10. The metal piece above all the ports appears to be a grounding point.
11. All I did to ground my shield was to cut a piece of copper wire from a headphone cable. Strip the two ends then insert one end into the shield between the aluminium and the laminate.
12. Tape the other end to the grounding point.
13. BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU GROUND TO I THINK MY HARD DRIVE DIED RECENTLY BECAUSE I GROUNDED TO THE WRONG POINT
14. The following image is for illustration purposes only. This is the grounding point which killed my hard drive DO NOT USE IT!
15. 
16. You can however clearly see in this image the copper grounding wire.

Step Three [reassembly]

1. Hinge the 2 parts back together reattaching the ribbon cables as you go.
2. Reattach the top and bottom black strips
3. Screw in all 9 case screws
4. Replace the Network card making sure you get the antennae the correct way round
5. Replace the RAM
6. Reattach the hard drive being gentle with the ribbon cable.
7. Screw on the access panels
8. Reinsert your PCMCIA card or plastic dummy
9. Insert the battery
10. Power on.
11. 
12. If tablet doesn't power on; Check battery charge, reseat internal cards, ensure hard drive is connected, reopen case and check all ribbon cables

So far I have not experienced the jumping cursor since this fix. But its only been a few hours. I plan on using the tablet normally for a week and then I'll report back. I would suggest no-one follows these instructions until I have verified that this has fixed the problem.

Feel free to ask questions below and I'll try to answer what I can.

[edit] Interesting, Just had an email back from Box technologies. I asked them why people in the UK were being charged when the motion repair it for free in the US:

Hello Michael,

In response to your email,

I’ve been informed that this type of repair is not preformed for free in the US.

Could you please let me know if you would like to proceed with the repair at the cost detailed below?

Regards,

Leonard

Can someone in the US verify this?

Acknowledgments
idio for doing tonnes of testing and tracking down the component which is causing the problem.
Jaycephus for suggesting grounding the shield and explaining why it is necessary.

[wiggy1]

That's a beautiful repair. Thanks for sharing.

[Grindboy]

Sadly it hasn't worked. I do think it has reduced how often the cursor jumping occurs and the length of time it happens for but it hasn't solved it. I might try adding a few more layers this weekend but it would be greatly appreciated if someone with a factory installed shield could take a photo of it installed so I can get an idea of its size and placement.

Hopefully we can figure out a be all and end all DIY solution for this problem.

[AVService]

So far the Software fix is working for me.
I wish I could determine what is really going on to be sure but since I loaded the filter I have not had a single incident......yet.

Ed

[Grindboy]

Yeh I'm quite temped to try and code a Linux version of the software fix. Although I know nothing about making programs so it could take me a while!

[John Hill]

The repair that is done in the U.S. is to put a shield over the hard drive. This doesn't always fix the problem but is the best solution according to my Motion tech guy.

Here are pictures of the shielding. I don't know what material is used - it is a glossy, grey plastic (like a Mylar).

[wiggy1]

John - Thanks for the pictures. That looks like a thicker anti-static bag that is cut to size. Does it look like a layered piece such that it is plastic-metal-plastic? Can't quite tell from the pictures.

[PaulB]

Wouldn't the shield have to have some way to be grounded?

[John Hill]

@wiggy1 - it does not look layered, it is a really simple kind of plastic film and not very thick

@PaulB - it is just stuck onto the drive - not grounded or anything fancy

[PaulB]

Ah! I remember! Before it failed and was exchanged for a LE1700, my M1400 had this cover. Kind of a sticky, plastic-coated, metal foil.