Finishing the Job: Installing a USB Keyboard into an OLPC XO Laptop, Phase II

Step 2 Cut the Cord

The only way we're going to get rid of that ugly usb cable hanging out the back of your XO laptop is to run it through the conduits in the XO's hinge. And the only way we're going to get the USB cable through those conduits is to cut its head off. It always makes me cringe to take a system from a working state to a non-working state, so if you're like me that way: don't worry, it will be okay! Have a lollipop.

Cut the cable at least 5 inches from the end, so you can fold the it over and put both ends next to each other. Let's call this piece of cable "Stumpy." We're not going to throw Stumpy away just yet; he can teach us some things about USB cables and give us some practice handling these wires before we start modifying the end of the cable that will actually be part of the machine.

Now, take the part of the keyboard cable that's still attached to the keyboard (and by extension, your XO), and carefully thread it through the side of the hinge. Pull the cable all the way through, then feed it up through the top of the hinge into the head of your XO. If the cable gets stuck, needle-nose pliers will really help. Don't worry about damaging the very end of the cable; we're going to cut a lot of that off.

There's a nice heat shield covering most of the motherboard that provides a great place to run the keyboard cable. Just lay the cord along the bottom of the heat shield, pull it through the support at the left edge. To make it around the corner, I had to unscrew one of the heat shield supports (as shown in the third photo).