Yeah, I just didn't expect there to be several layers of it.
white gunk for each connector
glue blobs everywhere
an additional general coating over everything - only really visible in places where this coating is broken for some reason, like around a screw I didn't touch (you can see it a little in the first picture top right of my previos post) or near one of the connectors where the coating was probably pulled while plugging the connector in? no idea
there's a weird rfid chip? antenna? on the back panel (there was a pic of it
here). It just happens to be located right above the serial port header. Not sure what it's there for, a wireless serial port would be something else
but the location is probably coincidence...
Anyhow I'll probably have to solder it in the end. Haven't had time to play with it since taking it apart