Harmon Kardon Sound Sticks - USB cable
Background: Three years ago I picked up a set of the 2000-era Harmon Kardon Sound Sticks with subwoofer for $35 “as is”, to go with my G4 Cube - just like I’d seen and loved at the iShop in Darwin all those years ago.
They were cheap because the owner couldn’t verify if they were working or not. Turned out - not. The male end of the USB cable was badly rusted, and the other end connects directly to the logic board in the woofer - not something you can simply disconnect and replace with a new cable.
Cleaning the rusted connector made no difference, so I cut the rusted end off, and then cut one of my similarly clear USB cables, and twisted the matching coloured wires together as a make-shift test (and - because I wanted to have an “all clear” cable). This worked well - both the sticks and woofer sounded clear even at high volume, although there was a noticeable hum…
To make the connection permanent, I watched a few vids on YouTube, as my soldering skills were as rusty as the plug. I saw that heat-shrink was the way to go for this kind of mid-cable connection, so picked some up off eBay for a couple dollars, and… … …3 years later (today!), soldered all 4 wires, shrink wrapping them individually, wrapped some foil around them as the shield was not meeting (improvised that for better or worse…) and then another heat-shrink over the entire “repair”. Looks like crap, but so long as it works, right? 
Hooked it up to the Cube, and selected my test song - Dumb Things by Paul Kelly. (Appropriate?) Got about 3 seconds into the song, with the music thumping nicely! - And then it started squawking like a dying modem?!
Tried squeezing the repair section of the cable, and the Cube shut down! Thankfully it’s ok - but presumably I’ve got a short.
So, ROUND ONE goes to the Sticks.
I’m going to cut the top layer of heat-shrink off, to see if I can spot the issue. If not - I’ll start over, as this has kind of become a “big deal” for me; having put it off for so long over concern that I’ll fuck it up, or that it wont look as good as I want it to look - instead of just doing it and being able to enjoy my Cube that I was so excited about when I bought it 6 odd years ago.
If I still can’t get it working with the “cable to cable” repair - I’ll take what will probably be an easier option, and buy a male USB connector to solder the wires onto. I couldn’t find a “nice” looking one when I looked - which was why I wanted to try the cable-to-cable repair - cos it would look nicer. But it’s not like this Cube is going in a Museum.
If I still can’t get a win - I’ll open the Woofer, and check out the connection on the logic board. There wires go into a white plug - can’t tell how the wires are secured, but maybe it’s just a “pinch close” mechanism… and I can use another clear USB cable.
Then… comes the hum. From what I’ve read, it sounds like it’s a problem with the power brick shorting somewhere, or dry capacitors. Looking at the board inside (cos the power brick is clear!), seems like reasonably simple de-solder and re-solder to replace the caps… Not something I’ve done since high school, but - I’ll have a go.
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I just cut off the outer heat-shrink. The power (red) wire’s heat shrink had split, and so would have shorted against the shield/foil. Too much heat when I did the last layer of heat-shrink, I’m guessing… wire is a lil blackened, and the Cube can no longer “see” the speakers even with the shield removed.
I’m going to buy a male connector, re-cut the existing cable to get a fresh start, and hope everything’s OK…
Buggered 1 screw - which I’d noticed wasn’t sitting flush when I opened the case… when then closing it back up, obviously gave it a bit too much pressure trying to see if it would go flush… So if I ever need access to the machine’s insides again, it’ll be off to my father in law’s to use his workshop.
Voila! The button works again! No need to press it like you’re doing CPR.