Minipac, Oscar Vortex connection problem

[traig]

I am trying to connect the Minipac to the components in my control panel using the Minipac wiring harness. I am having trouble with the connection to the Vortex spinner. The piece from the harness is a beige, four-pin female connector and the connector on the spinner's board is a four-pin male.

The two simply won't connect. On the female piece from the harness, there are two small plastic nubs on one side of the four sockets that prevent seating it, and the other side is simply too thick. Either way, I can't connect them. I know based on the wire colors and the fact that there are two other connectors for the trackball(s) that I am trying to connect the right things.

Has anyone else run into this?

[medvet]

I just finished my panel this week and ran into the same problem. I ended up shaving the two long nubs on the one side off and then it fit perfectly into the connector on the Vortex and was still snug enough to hold. I'm guessing maybe Oscar changed their plug and the minipac hasn't caught up or vs versa. Anyways - works like a charm just watch your fingers trimming!!!

[traig]

Thanks medvet. I whittled off the little nubs and she fit nicely. I can't test it quite yet because I have another issue...

This one's with the trackball, a Happ 3" one. The two trackball connectors off the harness are four-pin female with semi-transparent plastic. I can't seem to figure out how these connect to the trackball. There are a few places on the trackball boards where there are white connectors: one is connected to another part of the trackball via ribbon cable. The other two: one is the USB/PS2 cable, the other is what the three wires come off of for the button connectors (a bunch of quick-disconnects).

Where do the trackball connectors from the harness get plugged in? If they're supposed to get connected to the male 4 and 5 prong leads that the USB/PS2 and button cables come off of by default, then the female connectors on the harness are simply too wide (and both are only 4 pin).

I'm worried that Andy sent me the wrong harness, but I don't have an Ultimarc trackball so I have nothing to compare to.

[traig]

I'm stunned at how much I keep finding out I don't know about this stuff. I thought I'd researched everything to death...

I think the problem I am having with connecting the trackball to the minipac isn't a problem at all. It looks like because I have the USB/PS2 trackball, it isn't supposed to go to the minipac at all because it doesn't need to. The connectors from the minipac's harness are supposed to go to a trackball that has two 4-pin molex connectors that go to (usually) an AMOA harness. (?)  

I guess if I had bought the Golden Tee 3" ball I'd need to run the minipac's connectors to the trackball, but because it's a USB ball, I can (and am supposed to) bypass the minipac altogether. I just assumed everything went through the minipac. Whoops...

I think I'll be all set now. I trimmed some of the plastic off the connector that goes to the spinner, and now I know to plug the trackball straight into the system. We'll see if it all works.