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An ethernet cable is stuck in the laptop. The laptop is a Lenovo G50 and its Ethernet port is compact and sort of expands when you push the cable in. The cable is thinner and narrower than most, but the actual terminal seems to be standard. This has never happened before. I've tried really hard to get it out but it won't move. This is a silly problem. It's a "Cat 6 flat cable". Here is a picture of it stuck in the laptop (laptop is being held upside down): stuck cable

Here is the picture of the other end of the cable:

other end of cable

I got it out :) but it looks completely fine. I'm not sure if I should try using it again:

unplugged unplugged

Celeritas
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2 Answers2

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There are 2 forces at play here, the spring of the RJ-45 locking clip, and the spring of the expanding section of your laptops ethernet jack. Unfortunately, in a market trying to make thinner laptops, useless designs such as this are fairly common.

My experience is that in addition to attempting to unspring the jack, you also need to provide a force to counter the spring in the hinged locking mechanism. in my experience with this style of hinge, I have had luck lifting a corner of the hinged section while depressing the retaining clip and pulling, although often some amount of rotation is needed to properly disengage.

Additionally, it is not uncommon for the retaining clip to hinge in a less than useful way, requiring pressure to be applied flush to the edge of the port and occasionally to push the jack further into the port to disengage the hinged protection piece.

An aside, all of my laptops that have had this design, I use a USB to ethernet adapter as the connection is more reliable, and it is a lot easier to remove.

Aaron Ladd
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I've had this happen before and like a previous contributor mentioned, it happens when the spring action of the clip has lost flex and/or when it partially breaks.

In my case I took a small set of needle nose pliers and while pushing the connector in (like you are trying to insert it), I grabbed the release with the pliers and pulled the clip down and out (toward you).

It's critical that you start by pushing the connector toward the front of the laptop before pulling on the clip with the pliers. Use the pliers on the clip to remove the plug by pulling it down and toward yourself.

William Howard
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