[Arm-netbook] EOMA68-A20 2.7.4 pre-production prototypes received and working

[Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton]

On Sun, Jun 18, 2017 at 11:57 PM, Andrew Bolin
<fivepointpalmexplodingheart at gmail.com> wrote:

> Can you enlarge the solder mask for these pads, thus providing enough
> solder to both fill the via and make the connection?
>
> This is the standard recommendation when using thermal pads / thermal vias.

 indeed.  this was the recommendation of mike, at the factory.  there
is however veery little room to do that.

 buut... *deep breath*... a closer examination of the 10 samples shows
that the DC3 connector is more complex than i initially thought.  the
4 through-hole ground connectors on the metal case are not just simple
through-hole pins: the two back ones have an additional lip which i
did not anticipate being there.

 looking at the datasheet this "lip" is supposed to be in direct
contact with the board (not down a hole or over the edge of the PCB or
anything) but that does not explain why the outer set of pins are in
contact with the PCB but the inner set are not.

 the only thing that i can think of is: either the connector was
damaged during (as part of) its installation with a heat-gun, or it
was already damaged and the outer pins bent downwards.

 i'll have to inspect the samples i have here more closely.

l.