The buttons on the side of the cover are part of the flex circuit in the front cover assembly, and they are connected to the radio via a flexible conductive rubber "zebra strip" located on the LCD display/keyboard circuit inside the radio.
For this connection to be solid, the screws holding the housing on need to be properly torqued. You need a T6 Torx driver.
If the screws are loose you will lose the PTT and side button functions.
Carefully inspect the housing around the metal attachment ring located below the accessory connector. There is often a crack in the housing at this point. If it is cracked there, the housing should be replaced but more importantly it almost always means that the eight screws holding the housing on the radio need to be carefully retorqued.
If you only see six screws on the back of the radio, it's because the last two are hidden under the cover on the back of the radio above the battery compartment. It can be popped off by gently prying at it around the battery retention lug in the radio's frame.
