U Trak got fried - anyone ever replaced the opto boards?

[PocketDeucesNJ]

Hey all.  I recently had a power surge or something that fried my power strip, my PC motherboard, my IPAC and my U Trak trackball.  (Yes, it was a very nasty surprise.)  I replaced the USB interface card on the U Trak, but it's not responding on my PC - Windows sees a mouse device, but the ball doesn't do anything.  Andy at Ultimarc offered to sell me the two "opto boards" inside the U Trak so I don't have to replace the whole unit.  Has anyone replaced these before?  I'd like to know how difficult of a replacement it is, if I'm gonna do that instead of replacing the whole trackball.

[Game_Dr]

I do not know what your skill level is so I can not make a recommendation for you but I think there is an oversight here.
the track ball is connected via USB and that means there is more involved than just the opto boards, if the opto bards are even bad. I would be surprised if the interface board between the USB and the opto units is not fried and depending on that price would be a deal killer on repair. It could be just the interface board or the interface plus the optics in the worst case scenario.

[yotsuya]

Uh... he mentioned he replaced the interface board.

Go for the optics. It’s not rocket science.

[PocketDeucesNJ]

Thanks for the help guys!  It turned out that my opto boards were fine - I tested them individually with my Arduino breadboard and found that they are working.  The USB pins have changed in the last 10 years or so, so I just need to rig my wires so that they connect to the right pins.