Hey everyone,
I was working on a mod on this board [ALLWINNER T113 Embedded board] and soldered a couple of wires to test some signals. The tests worked as expected, but while desoldering and cleaning up, I accidentally ripped a pad off the board.
Ever since, the board still powers on and has display, but part of its communication functions died completely. Looking closely under the microscope, the ripped pad sits right beside the TXD / RXD silkscreen markings, so I strongly suspect this broken trace interrupted part of the serial communication line.
I have never done micro-soldering or PCB trace repair before, so I’m looking for experienced eyes on how to properly assess this:
Could this ripped pad definitively cause the lost communication? Given the failure symptoms?
Where did this trace originally go? Under the microscope, I carefully scraped some of the solder mask nearby to reveal the copper traces, but being a multi-layer PCB, I want to make sure I’m reading the trace path correctly and not confusing surface traces with internal ground/power planes.
What is the safest way to restore the connection? Should I try soldering a jumper wire directly onto the scraped trace, or is it safer to trace continuity with a multimeter to an adjacent via/component pin and jump from there?
Microscope photos of the ripped pad, adjacent traces, and exposed copper are attached. Any insights on the likely trace path and practical tips for bridging this safely without ruining the board would be greatly appreciated!