Has anyone replaced their trackball? - G1 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

My trackball is broken or has dust in it. It doesn't move left unless I push it in while going left, and sometimes clicking it doesn't register.
Has anyone attempted opening the G1 to clean or replace the trackball? I was looking at the Dream pdf and it seems like quite a task.

happyface_0 said:
My trackball is broken or has dust in it. It doesn't move left unless I push it in while going left, and sometimes clicking it doesn't register.
Has anyone attempted opening the G1 to clean or replace the trackball? I was looking at the Dream pdf and it seems like quite a task.
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Click to collapse
Blow the dust out with compressed air, should fix it. Or just spint it vigorously for few minutes. I don't see track ball breaking that fast (it's not BB for crying out loud ). That happened to me few months ago and a little air fixed it.
Good luck

it isnt too bad to open up the phone and clean it, but dont unless absolutely necessary. Lots of connections that can be prone to damage, and some tape that needs to be carefully removed and reused or replaced.

I've tried moving it vigorously many times, which didn't work.
So I used my air compressor and blew air into it, and that didn't work.
Then I tried rubbing alcohol with a q-tip, and that hardly worked.

I have opened my phone, wow!
I have a bronze G1 and the keyboard is not viewable, found someone in hong kong selling them for 5 bucks so i bought the black keyboard pad and replace it. It was a pain and mind you, my background is totally different than most peoples. I have worked as a Electronics Tech for most of my life and have taken EVERYTHING apart as long as i can remember. That thing has some of the smallest connectors and tiniest screws i have ever seen.
Yes it can be done, the hardest part your going to have to deal with is the splitting of the internal case, they sent a small plastic tool with the keypad and without that i would have probably destroyed the phone in the process. If you can find a small plastic or wooden tool to do that part its not to bad and you do not have to go as far as i did.
If however you do not have a background in taking stuff apart and putting it back together again. AVOID doing so!!
Your phone will NOT SURVIVE most likely. First time took me several hours even with the G1 PDF which looks great till you have to rely on it. Only issue i had was i didnt get the camera connector plugged back in so everything using the camera force closed, that was my clue. So i had to open it up a second time, everything works now and love it but it was not the easiest thing i have ever worked on truth be told.

happyface_0 said:
I've tried moving it vigorously many times, which didn't work.
So I used my air compressor and blew air into it, and that didn't work.
Then I tried rubbing alcohol with a q-tip, and that hardly worked.
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Click to collapse
This same worked for my trackball, thanks

Related

Mother of fail: battery cover?

I just realized how difficult it is to open the battery cover after you've inserted the battery. Anyone having trouble with it or am I just a huge failure? I don't want to push and wrench away at it in fear of breaking the thing, what with it being plastic.
grainysand said:
I just realized how difficult it is to open the battery cover after you've inserted the battery. Anyone having trouble with it or am I just a huge failure? I don't want to push and wrench away at it in fear of breaking the thing, what with it being plastic.
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Click to collapse
Try applying pressure nearer to the bottom of the phone and push away from you. You scaredy cat
Yeah, you have to apply pressure at the right place (at the center near the bottom) but it can be really difficult to open sometimes. At first I thought I'd get a spare battery to be able to switch when one is empty, but I can't see myself opening the phone every other day, I'm pretty sure I would break it eventually...
Stea1thmode said:
Try applying pressure nearer to the bottom of the phone and push away from you. You scaredy cat
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Click to collapse
Every time I apply pressure it makes this sound like it's about to break. D: And I keep getting the feeling I'm going to crack the screen. I'll flash damn near anything all day long, but breaking the thing physically scares the daylight out of me.
No success, btw. Either I'm not pressing in the right place or not pressing hard enough. Swear to god I opened the thing multiple times the first day I got it (after the battery was in, no less) since I got the SIM card in the wrong way. Now it's tight as... well, very tight. Plastic isn't supposed to expand, damn it.
grainysand said:
Every time I apply pressure it makes this sound like it's about to break. D: And I keep getting the feeling I'm going to crack the screen. I'll flash damn near anything all day long, but breaking the thing physically scares the daylight out of me.
No success, btw. Either I'm not pressing in the right place or not pressing hard enough. Swear to god I opened the thing multiple times the first day I got it (after the battery was in, no less) since I got the SIM card in the wrong way. Now it's tight as... well, very tight. Plastic isn't supposed to expand, damn it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the trick is to handle the phone at its sides, that way you wont risk breaking your screen. So apply preesure at the sides of the battery door and push with both thumbs.
Here's how to do it properly.
Hold the phone, using both hands, between index fingers and thumbs, so that the thumbs are just above the silver (engraveable) strip in the back. Bring the thumbs in toward the center line of the phone.
Angle your index fingers a bit, so that the pressure is applied not at the screen but the edges of the device. Curl the index fingers so that the upper half of the fingers are pointing toward your body and are positioned alongside the edges of the device.
Now, with your thumbs, push in and up. It helps if fingertips are nice and dry
I get the very same feeling of just how fragile it seems to be when trying to pop the cover off
This is not a problem I've ever had. It just slides off; what the heck are you people trying to do to your poor battery covers? ^_^
danguyf said:
This is not a problem I've ever had. It just slides off; what the heck are you people trying to do to your poor battery covers? ^_^
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Harry, it's only a problem for the original poster
Guess I'm just a clumsy ****. It kind of moved a little bit when I tried what you guys said, but otherwise unless I'm willing to go at it with my nails, I should probably ask someone else to do it.
On the other hand, no dust under my screen! The tightness of the battery cover might as well be why.
I find sticking your fingernail in the little slot where the speaker is and dragging back from there helps. I also get the feeling im going to crack the screen when im pressing hard on the phone, its scary stuff!
Try this, hold your phone in your left hand facing down with your index finger and thumb just on the sides of the phone just above the capacitive buttons. Then place the ball of your right palm on the back of the cover and push up while applying a little force, it should open pretty easily.
nDrg said:
Try this, hold your phone in your left hand facing down with your index finger and thumb just on the sides of the phone just above the capacitive buttons. Then place the ball of your right palm on the back of the cover and push up while applying a little force, it should open pretty easily.
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Click to collapse
YES. This did the trick fantastically. It seems so simple now, I've no idea how I kept doing it wrong.
? You've read P 18 of the user guide ?? Nice wee diagrams... they work for me...
http://www.google.com/googlephone/nexusone-userguide.pdf
(In other words, RTFM ?? - no offence intended ...)
Cheers!
Lodger
I rarely, if ever, read manuals. But it's not as if I had trouble removing the battery cover the first day (especially since I had to do it several times as my SIM card was inserted the wrong way in).

Crap in my trackball - any ideas?

Looking for advice from someone that's worked inside the g1.. Is the trackball a sealed unit? Mine's getting clogged up with crap and won't move in certain directions sometimes.. I want to take it a apart and clean it but as far as I can see from the service manual, the trackball is a sealed unit. Is there any way to to unclog it?
Also, a couple of the keys on my keyboard are getting a bit flakey.. spacebar works intermittently and so does delete. How much effort is it to get behind the keys and give the board a wipe? It seems like to get that far I'll have to reduce my g1 to a pile of components.. is that really the only way?
$10 gets you a whole new trackball, in any color you like!
http://www.blackberrytrackball.com/
(yes, rim phone trackballs are the same.)
Also please note that just because they are sold as single units and the service manual refers to them as single units does NOT mean that you can't take them apart. Judging by the pictures, they should come apart quite easily.
goldenarmZ said:
Looking for advice from someone that's worked inside the g1.. Is the trackball a sealed unit? Mine's getting clogged up with crap and won't move in certain directions sometimes.. I want to take it a apart and clean it but as far as I can see from the service manual, the trackball is a sealed unit. Is there any way to to unclog it?
Also, a couple of the keys on my keyboard are getting a bit flakey.. spacebar works intermittently and so does delete. How much effort is it to get behind the keys and give the board a wipe? It seems like to get that far I'll have to reduce my g1 to a pile of components.. is that really the only way?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Trackball is fixed very very easily. If you have alcohol prep pads, those work the best, you can also use rubbing alcohol and q-tips.
Prep pads:
Turn phone off
Unfold prep pad
Place on trackball
Rub the hell out it, very vigorously in all directions.
Repeat a few times
Let phone sit for a few minutes to ensure alcohol has evaporated
Power on and test
Alcohol + Q-Tips:
Wash hands
Dip Q-Tip in alcohol
Dab a good amount onto the trackball
Rub trackball vigorously in all directions
Repeat a few times
Let phone sit for a few minutes to ensure alcohol has evaporated
Power on and test
As for the keyboard, I really hope someone has a fix for that cause my spacebar has been screwy and this is my second G1. I never type with dirty paws so I don't know what gives...
lbcoder said:
$10 gets you a whole new trackball, in any color you like!
http://www.blackberrytrackball.com/
(yes, rim phone trackballs are the same.)
Also please note that just because they are sold as single units and the service manual refers to them as single units does NOT mean that you can't take them apart. Judging by the pictures, they should come apart quite easily.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the link, thats the best close-up picture I've seen. I'll try taking it apart and keep that in reserve for when I break it.
r4d14n7 said:
Trackball is fixed very very easily. If you have alcohol prep pads, those work the best, you can also use rubbing alcohol and q-tips.
Prep pads:
Turn phone off
Unfold prep pad
Place on trackball
Rub the hell out it, very vigorously in all directions.
Repeat a few times
Let phone sit for a few minutes to ensure alcohol has evaporated
Power on and test
Alcohol + Q-Tips:
Wash hands
Dip Q-Tip in alcohol
Dab a good amount onto the trackball
Rub trackball vigorously in all directions
Repeat a few times
Let phone sit for a few minutes to ensure alcohol has evaporated
Power on and test
As for the keyboard, I really hope someone has a fix for that cause my spacebar has been screwy and this is my second G1. I never type with dirty paws so I don't know what gives...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've got some alcohol wipes somewhere.. I'll give that a blast before I go to the screwdrivers, thanks.
I think the spacebar thing is possibly pocket fluff or corrosion on the contact board.. I've not seen the g1's keyboard internals but the conductive paint they use on full size boards is prone to evaporating into thin air after a while. I've seen some unbelievably corroded ones. Fixing it is a delicate job but I've done it on a few laptops.

Compressed air and screen dust

Has anyone tried taking a can of compressed air to the back of the Nexus One in order to try to clear dust away from the screen? I just want it off the center of the LCD screen, don't need to get it out as long as it's not that visible.
What about partially disassembling the phone (like taking out everything that doesn't require you to disconnect flex cables) and then blowing it with the air?
I managed to drop my phone a couple times and that seemed to have caused dust to get under the screen, but I don't want to take it apart completely until I've exhausted all other options. Returning it is also not an option in my geographic location.
Fancy meeting you here
How would the air get into the screen from the back? Isn't it supposed to be sealed?
I wonder if you could move the dust under the screen with static electricity. Get one of those plastic rods like they use for demonstrations in chemistry class and charge it up. Then drag it across the screen over the dust. Just be careful not to discharge the rod onto the metal body of the phone...
Even if you did attempt this...
It would probably leave an unremovable sticky film. That's one of the reasons they tell you not to use it to blow off camera sensors, lenses, and CCDs (you're supposed to use a blower bulb). The compressed air isn't just pure clean air, it's got a bunch of bull**** in it. Not to mention it could quickfreeze the OLED parts and ruin the screen permanently. I would NOT try it. In fact, if you clean the back (battery, SD, SIM area) make sure you hold a piece of CLEAN 100% cotton (best if it's from a t-shirt) over the camera sensor or it will blow off the IR filter. Hope this helps.
I have done it twice. I posted pictures up on here on a different thread the first time around, which was probably 3 months ago. Send me a pm if you want the pictures. It wasn't horrible to do, but I don't know that I'd recommend it unless you're already experienced in these type of exercises. I didn't have any adverse side affects to the screen.
Here's the before and after.. I have pictures of the dis-assembly as well.
Oh yeah, I also found that a can of compressed air wasn't strong enough. I used an actual compressor set at 60-80ish psi I think.
@enisoc lol...
The teardowns online haven't said that there was anything sealing the screen and the front cover, but the cellphone shops here that I've asked have said that they would apply a sealant if I paid them to take the phone apart for me.
It looks like I can't get to the dust with anything short of a complete teardown :-(. I took the canned air to the back of the phone and it didn't do anything, but I also didn't disassemble the battery tray (no torx screwdriver).
@dhendrix11 if you took the phone apart, why did you still have to use a compressor? Couldn't you then just take something and wipe the dust off?
hgcrpd said:
@enisoc lol...
The teardowns online haven't said that there was anything sealing the screen and the front cover, but the cellphone shops here that I've asked have said that they would apply a sealant if I paid them to take the phone apart for me.
It looks like I can't get to the dust with anything short of a complete teardown :-(. I took the canned air to the back of the phone and it didn't do anything, but I also didn't disassemble the battery tray (no torx screwdriver).
@dhendrix11 if you took the phone apart, why did you still have to use a compressor? Couldn't you then just take something and wipe the dust off?
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Click to collapse
I used a combination of compressed air and a microfiber cloth. I found that it was impossible to find an absolutely clean spot on the cloth, so it basically just put dust back on the phone. I mostly used the cloth to wipe off smudges when I accidentally touched the back side of the lens/touchpanel, and relied on the compressed air to remove the dust. Also, I didn't detach the lens from the phone frame, so it's hard to get into the corners (where most of the dust is) with a cloth.
The second time around I had a lot less dust and tried cleaning it without fully removing the LCD. If you take the phone apart, you'll understand why you might want to leave the LCD attached and simply lean it back from the lens. However, in the end, I didn't find that to be effective, so I took the LCD out both times. I've got a small amount of dust back in there again, but may 5-10% of what I had the first time, and I really haven't noticed it at all, even out in the bright sun, which was the environment that I typically found it most offensive.
As long as you have patience, it's certainly a do-able task. The main reason I did it myself is because it was early on before anyone was reporting confirmed success of getting HTC to fix the issue free of charge with an unlocked bootloader. I didn't want to chance getting billed for it so it was a nice little project instead. Now that many people have proven that HTC will honor hardware defects regardless of unlocked bootloader, I'd go the replacement route if there's not some other reason keeping you from it.
dhendrix11 said:
I have pictures of the dis-assembly as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please could you post? Thanks
GyTe said:
Please could you post? Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Disassembly 1
Disassembly 2
Full breakdown and then put back together
Hi dhendrix11 thanks for the pictures... I've saved everything on my pc.
Cheers
well, I ended up taking my phone apart too, using the iFixit guide and the Youtube video. Actually not as painful as I expected it to be, but for some reason I did not have a rubber microphone channel under the bottom mainboard, and I didn't have a screw at the top left of the top mainboard.
I also didn't take the screen out completely, just pulled it up a bit and used tweezers and a cloth to wipe everything off.
Now I have a like-new screen!

Raider digitizer glass shattered, anyone know the proper way to install a new one?

Yes, I already broke my phone. Go ahead, grin and chuckle..now that you've gotten it out of your system, anyone want to offer a little guidance? Never disassembled a newer cellphone before. New glass is ordered and has been shipped, just waiting for it to arrive. I'm hoping the process is fairly simple. I do have a specialized set of screwdrivers with all the hard-to-find bits, so that's not a problem ..it even has the tiny blackberry bit.. but from what I can see HTC uses standard micro Philips screws. Yay for standard formats!
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using xda premium
If this phone is anything like hd2 you're gunna want the flat pry tools they sell (search hd2 screen replacement tools). Their not needed but a nice handy thingy to have, other wise you might crack your LCD from flexing it too much.
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using XDA App
I wont grin and chuckle too much, I broke my Atrix after 4 days.
The Vivid screen seems very fragile. 2 of my coworkers have broken theirs within a few weeks of having them. Small drops from waist distance. Its too bad because I have seen the current Samsung models dropped from 6 feet face first and survive
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using xda premium
Yeah, I've cracked mine as well. If you google HTC raider teardown on YouTube.. There's a vid.... Butttt, it's not in English and it's a teardown not a screen replacement tutorial.
It seems as thought HTC has been using reeeeally thin glass in their devices.
Whered you get the glass? It'd be very thoughtful of you to do a tutorial as you do it. I really want to replacement mine but if you remove one on the screws by the battery it voids your warranty
Send it to HTC then? You get a 1 year warranty when you buy the phone.
Honestly, I think Corning had another incident of releasing faulty glass. I've dropped mine numerous times, from pretty high up and I don't have a single scratch on my phone.
travisxcore said:
Send it to HTC then? You get a 1 year warranty when you buy the phone.
Honestly, I think Corning had another incident of releasing faulty glass. I've dropped mine numerous times, from pretty high up and I don't have a single scratch on my phone.
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Click to collapse
How much is it for them to fix it?
I have no idea. Shoot them an email (not Support Inquiry, youre gonna wanna send it to Repair Inquiry) and they should be able to tell you. Make sure you fill out the S/N box out now, or their just gonna send you an email back asking for it.
travisxcore said:
I have no idea. Shoot them an email (not Support Inquiry, youre gonna wanna send it to Repair Inquiry) and they should be able to tell you. Make sure you fill out the S/N box out now, or their just gonna send you an email back asking for it.
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Click to collapse
I'll do that right now. Thanks alot
(sorry to hijack the thread lol)
They use a double sided tape that hopefully comes with your replacement screen , I tried to replace a water damaged screen and it really wasn't a fun process
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using xda premium
It didn't fall very far..
Yeah when mine fell I had it in a shirt pocket, bent over to pick something up and it slid out, fell about a foot and a half..directly onto the search button corner on ceramic tile. Crunch. I ordered a new panel from tmart.com .. I got a confirmation email back on the 4th saying its been shipped via usps.. should be here soon. I hope it comes with everything I need - cost me about $50.00 with the shipping and everything. I paid the extra 3 bucks for insurance lol..
bproulx said:
Yeah when mine fell I had it in a shirt pocket, bent over to pick something up and it slid out, fell about a foot and a half..directly onto the search button corner on ceramic tile. Crunch. I ordered a new panel from tmart.com .. I got a confirmation email back on the 4th saying its been shipped via usps.. should be here soon. I hope it comes with everything I need - cost me about $50.00 with the shipping and everything. I paid the extra 3 bucks for insurance lol..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, how was the installation process? And did it come with the adhesive? I'm going to buy it from that site as well
And then it was fixed..! FTW!
Ok sorry for the delay getting back to you guys.. been frantically waiting for the screen to clear US customs (ugh) and arrive, which it finally did today. I was able to get my hands on it at about 3 this afternoon, but I wasn't able to actually look at it until about an hour ago..
So.. I open the package, big grin on my face..and the first thing I notice is that the glass is AT&T branded. Funny, considering I'm in Canada and using Rogers..but hey a digitizer by any other name...and all that. So! I open the bag that my "tools" came in.. There are 2 blue plastic tools, one a prying tool and one looked a lot like a guitar pick. Cool. There are also 2 screwdrivers included, and I'm momentarily excited, until I realize they're just tiny torqx bits. The Raider uses TINY philips head screws, so those were useless. I put them into my tiny tool set..for later consideration.
Back to the screen. Looks like it the real deal, so I watch half of the teardown vid on youtube.. As mentioned in an earlier post it isn't an english-language vid so aside from seeing the locations of the screws and the methods of levering off the internal components, there's no exchange of information going on. I would like to mention however that the video kind of glazes over the locations and removal processes for some sensitive connections, so having only experienced laptop repairs personally.. I was in fairly uncomfortable and unfamiliar territory - but I was determined.
I tried several ways at getting the phone down to its base components, and finally succeeded in locating the panel's ribbon connector interface on one of the phone's circuit boards. I had to remove the back of the phone, pull the batt, sim and sd, and pull the 4 main screws that lock the housing down onto the phone.. From there its a matter of levering off the black plastic shell and whats underneath is a whole lot of tech in a very tight space. There were 3 or 4 wires I had to disconnect, about 15 tiny screws in 3 different lengths, and then when all was said and done I had to pry the busted panel off using the supplied blue lever tool (pretty handy, actually.) and then lift the lcd away from the metal housing enough to slide the old connector out and the new one through.. This was a very tricky process - I drink way too much coffee to hold completely steady for long..lol.. Finally got it all through, but by this time I had smudged the inside of both glass surfaces pretty badly and it took some serious mechanical dexterity to hold the surfaces and wipe them down without wrecking any of the flapping, loose circuit boards, screens, etc.. it was a frightening experience.. I won't lie.. I definitely feared the worst possible outcome given my limited experience.
So.. the panel's ribbon cable is inserted, the white clip back down securing it.. I manage after several attempts to remember how to put the puzzle all back together, and after about 45 minutes of messing with it I had a visually complete phone again. I hit power, and miracle of miracles the HTC logo flashes on the screen.. I'm hopeful..
The phone boots up, looks great (aside from a few smudges I missed on the inside..grr) so I start touching the screen and here's where we have the first problem..lol.. its recognizing that I'm touching the screen..but not really accurately.. it seems to be that there are dead areas.. So now I'm thinking I broke something..lol..
Smoke break.
Took it all apart again, forgot to clean the smudges, removed and re-seated all the connections, and about 15 minutes later I had it back together again. I booted it up and waited.
Success!! It sees where I'm touching accurately now - I think the ribbon must have moved while I was putting it back together, I was shifting things a lot as I was trying to figure it all out, so I must have stressed the cable enough to move it slightly in the slot.. that, or I didn't have it all the way in / straight the first time I did it. Either way, it works fine now. I was successful on the 2nd attempt, and now the only difference is that this glass feels..rougher? less smooth? not sure how to describe it.. it feels different, anyway.. and the at&t logo of course. Aside from that, you'd never know it was in pieces an hour ago..lol.
Would I do this again? ..I hope I don't have to. Its not impossible, but man, if you're going to try this BE SUPER CAREFUL!! lol..
edit: and no - it didn't come with the double sided tape, but it seems to be staying without having to replace it.. it wasn't too hard to remove it from the panel, but getting it back on straight took some finesse.. lol.. it comes apart easier now when you're tryingn to disassemble it..but seems to be holding together fine on its own.
travisxcore said:
Send it to HTC then? You get a 1 year warranty when you buy the phone.
Honestly, I think Corning had another incident of releasing faulty glass. I've dropped mine numerous times, from pretty high up and I don't have a single scratch on my phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Corning makes the glass on the Raider/Vivid?
I would suspect it to be more sturdy if its corning, my SGS has been without a screen protector and still does not have any scratches. Yes i know SGS is Gorilla Glass and this is not but i would think it would be stronger.
@ bproulx
You should take it apart again and make a tutorial . I hope i never have to go though what you did. Knock on wood.
lol..might take it apart again..
So..I have smudges on the inside of the glass. Stupid sweaty fingers. Now I'm tempted to pull it apart again ..but not far enough to make a tutorial lol.. besides.. I'm glad I didn't have a camera on me - you guys woulda had a good laugh at me breaking into a sweat trying to pry loose the glass panel the first time..lol. I know it was already broken but (a) I was trying not to cut myself on it and (b) I was also trying not to break the lcd underneath. Which I believe also has smudges on it. Oi.. I guess I'll have to get in there and clean it. Probably not tonight tho. I'm just glad the thing still works - I was scared I was going to bust something. There are a LOT of little things in there. For the record the CPU looks neat. Its smaller than a sim card, a little bigger than a micro sd. Pretty impressive.
bproulx said:
So..I have smudges on the inside of the glass. Stupid sweaty fingers. Now I'm tempted to pull it apart again ..but not far enough to make a tutorial lol.. besides.. I'm glad I didn't have a camera on me - you guys woulda had a good laugh at me breaking into a sweat trying to pry loose the glass panel the first time..lol. I know it was already broken but (a) I was trying not to cut myself on it and (b) I was also trying not to break the lcd underneath. Which I believe also has smudges on it. Oi.. I guess I'll have to get in there and clean it. Probably not tonight tho. I'm just glad the thing still works - I was scared I was going to bust something. There are a LOT of little things in there. For the record the CPU looks neat. Its smaller than a sim card, a little bigger than a micro sd. Pretty impressive.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've taken apart laptops (MacBooks at all) and successfully reassembled them so I think I'm up to the job. I'm reaaaally thankful that it says AT&T at the top and not HTC like the pic shows (since I'm on att).. Another question though, did you successfully get the "void" plastic piece back over the screw? Because, I want to keep this phone as "under warranty" as possible
Getting better at taking it apart..lol..
Chism87 said:
I've taken apart laptops (MacBooks at all) and successfully reassembled them so I think I'm up to the job. I'm reaaaally thankful that it says AT&T at the top and not HTC like the pic shows (since I'm on att).. Another question though, did you successfully get the "void" plastic piece back over the screw? Because, I want to keep this phone as "under warranty" as possible
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, the little void sticker on mine was less like a sticker and more like... glue, with paint on it.. lol.. it just flaked apart when I tried to lift it.. but I wasn't concerned with preserving it. Maybe if u use an x-acto or something like that you can lift it intact..? Let me know how you do.
I started getting some random touch input glitches yesterday, and today they got worse.. then my son spilled hot coffee on me and I dropped my phone on the carpet where it of course popped apart..lol..and then when I booted it back up I had some *major* touch glitches.. it was seeing input higher up than the actual contact point, and just acting real buggy..the phone was lagging.. so I took it apart again, completely.. took my sweet time reassembling it this time - I even got out the micro-fibre cloth and cleaned all the glass, and voila.. this time - its like new. I can already tell its put together right this time, which tells me something wasn't quite right before - I'm guessing I didn't get the ribbon cable seated properly before.. there are a lot of tiny, offset contacts on the end of that little cable. Anyway, I guess the moral of the story is screw warranties, and the more times you disassemble your phone the better you get at it.. lol.. it wasn't anywhere near as intimidating this time around. Felt kinda easy, actually. I think I just psyched myself into thinking it would be hard to do the first time around.
I do miss my original glass tho.. I'm thinking about contacting HTC and ordering an oem panel lol.. this one feels.. grippy. The HTC one felt smooth as silk.. I dunno this one kinda feels more like window glass. Meh.. better than a broken ghetto phone. At least now I can whip it out in public without hanging my head in shame and peeking around to see who's looking at my ugly screen. I never even tried HTC directly..I just googled the part and went with the one with good reviews..
OMFG...FML..
Sooo.. I got angry at my Raider today.. started doing the weird touch input glitches again after a battery pull, got frustrated and slammed my phone down on the table in anger...and.... smash. Brand new panel is now ten times as shattered as the old one was. AND...now the phone won't even light up. AND..it looks like I may have cracked the actual LCD this time.. just a small crack at the very bottom - wouldn't even be visible with the shell on the phone.. but.. I'm not very optimistic. I get absolutely nothing on my screen when I boot the phone, all I get is one haptic "bump" and thats it. Nada.
Sooo... looks like I need a new phone. Again.
Lame.
There goes $600.00
....sigh.
Anyone wanna donate an old android device to a guy who's now really really sad and has no phone? LOL.. why did I give away my legend????
Not giving up my phone!! LOL!
Ok so I decided to try my luck at replacing the LCD as well as the busted digitizer that I just re-broke..lol.. back to tmart, and ordered both. I really wish I could have found the whole assembly pre-built, but the only company I found selling both as a single unit had a minimum order of 5 pcs. Out of my price range for repairs, although with my track record maybe it wouldn't have been a bad idea? lol.. anyway, I just bought both parts from tmart and am still waiting for one of them to show up. The good news is I was able to replace the LCD already. It really is just held in there with tape. Like.. there's nothing really holding it all together..you'd think with all those screws and tabs they could have come up with a better way?? Ah well. I have a display again, but until I can get the digitizer and install it I'm without input.. so I can just watch the phone boot and then sit on my lock screen. Or boot into recovery mode and use the vol and power buttons to mess about.. But why..lol. I'll just wait.
I'm just happy that nothing else seems to be affected. I had my alarm going off still with no screen, so that tipped me off that everything else should still be ok. I won't know for 100% certain til I complete the repair, but it looks promising. I picked up a used HTC Magic (ugh) from kijiji for $80 and it came with 3 batteries, 3 chargers, 3 usb cables, 3 leather cases, and a bunch of other crap in threes. Just so I'm not completely without a phone in the meantime. Overall not bad for $80 but man is this phone slow. I installed a custom rom **THANKS XDA!!** on it and it improved the performance and look of the OS a little, but it lags a lot even overclocked when just typing a text.. I can't wait to get my phone back!!
Aside from the screens, this phone is pretty tough. I slammed that sucker down pretty hard that day.. Cmon HTC - why didn't you give us gorilla glass on a $600 LTE phone!?!?!?!? I wish I could find an aftermarket panel that was made from gorilla glass. That would totally rock!
Yeah, i really wish they would've put gorilla glass on it. I used to have the atrix and ive dropped it on tile floor at least 3 times... Nothing. Keys in the same pocket as phone.. No scratches at all.
I didn't want to try my luck, so I just got a replacement vivid

[A] Power/resetting problems - should I return my "new" phone?

Post-end edit and TL;DR for others having the sort of problems I was:
The power button will, if held in (or stuck engaged) for 10 seconds, reset the phone. Unconditionally. If your phone starts randomly resetting after the power button is pressed (or after you press it, the shutdown menu appears, then the phone resets), your power button is sticky and needs to be replaced. Save yourself some frustration and stop using the button to sleep/wake your phone. Pop the keyboard slider open half an inch to wake it up, use a widget or one of CM and SlimKat's many shortcuts to put it to sleep. Unless you're still on stock JB, in which case quit being on stock JB you square you're probably limited to widgets.
---
Bought a D4 off ebay. According to the seller, there's nothing wrong with it, aside from "the power button occasionally does not work".
And until this afternoon, not even that. The phone was working flawlessly. So, I sat down and flashed it so I could transfer my PagePlus account over, which also seemed to be successful; 1x and 3g signals, nice and strong. And even after that, it was fine for a bit.
Then, I go to put the phone to sleep...and it wouldn't. The power switch problem that the seller described rearing its ugly head, seemingly. So I kept trying, and every few button presses, the shutdown menu came up, rather than the device sleeping. Seemed like a sticky button, easy enough to fix.
And then...the phone reset itself. And now, when it's woken with the button, there's a decent chance that it resets itself within 10 seconds of leaving the lock screen; assuming it even wakes up with the button, which seems to be rather hit-and-miss. Putting the phone to sleep with the button is equally fidgety, but doesn't seem to be able to reset it.
I'd already planned on replacing the button, if necessary; I'm not at all afraid of opening the phone up. What concerns me is the self-resetting, which as I understand the Droid 4 is only supposed to do if the power button and volume- buttons are held; I haven't so much as touched the volume buttons since this started.
Should I send it back for a refund, or is the self-reset behavior a symptom of a stuck/failing power button, and likely to go away if I open it up and replace it?
My power button did same thing a year ago.
The power button is two parts external and internal
I took it apart and pulled the external part off, it just pulls straight off.
Now need a pen or something to press button, but normally use a widget to turn screen off and use an volume button app to turn screen on
There are replacement power buttons on eBay but never got around to it.
Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk
sd_shadow said:
My power button did same thing a year ago.
The power button is two parts external and internal
I took it apart and pulled the external part off, it just pulls straight off.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So wait. Despite how loose/flimsy it feels, it's actually the external plastic bit getting stuck/hung up? I figured it was the actual button being gunked up (poor-quality grease or somesuch) and sticking.
And, is the phone supposed to reboot if only the power button is "held", then? That's what I'm primarily worried about; whether the power button is responsible for the reboots, or it started at the same time by coincidence and something else is actually wrong.
With mine the exterior part was sticking and causing reboots, yours may be different
Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk
Hmm, seems to be different indeed. Out of curiosity, I very carefully slipped a screwdriver in above the plastic button to open a small gap, and clicked the actual hardware button with a small paperclip...nothing. Holding it long enough seems to eventually make contact and put the phone to sleep, clicking it repeatedly sometimes causes the shutdown menu to come up (and shortly thereafter a reboot)...
Very strange behavior. Think I have some electrical contact cleaner around here somewhere, maybe I can squirt some of that down into the button...failing that, I guess I can live with it, hoping it's just the button itself and not something wonky with the board logic, and eventually change the button for something a bit higher quality...
Septfox said:
Hmm, seems to be different indeed. Out of curiosity, I very carefully slipped a screwdriver in above the plastic button to open a small gap, and clicked the actual hardware button with a small paperclip...nothing. Holding it long enough seems to eventually make contact and put the phone to sleep, clicking it repeatedly sometimes causes the shutdown menu to come up (and shortly thereafter a reboot)...
Very strange behavior. Think I have some electrical contact cleaner around here somewhere, maybe I can squirt some of that down into the button...failing that, I guess I can live with it, hoping it's just the button itself and not something wonky with the board logic, and eventually change the button for something a bit higher quality...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This happened to my old SE XPERIA X2, the switch wore off. In this case I got the switch replaced under warranty claim.
Generally all the faulty micro switches I opened had somehow faulty flat spring inside. If it is the case, it won't click soundly when pressed. Then you need to replace the whole switch (or the spring if you can find the same), no cleaning can help.
I can't imagine any valid SW situation leading to reboot because of pressing only the power switch - unless you installed some utility to do it, which I doubt. Maybe the Vol Down button is faulty/sticky too?
I'd try to clean the insides first (if the cleaner gets inside the switches, even better), and if that doesn't help, get inside and check these two switches yourself. You can't get a refund then though
LuH said:
Generally all the faulty micro switches I opened had somehow faulty flat spring inside. If it is the case, it won't click soundly when pressed. Then you need to replace the whole switch (or the spring if you can find the same), no cleaning can help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine makes a clicking sound and seems to return after being pressed. However, comparing it to the volume buttons (which look to be the same switch going by the teardown pictures I've seen), it does sound and feel slightly less "crisp".
LuH said:
I can't imagine any valid SW situation leading to reboot because of pressing only the power switch - unless you installed some utility to do it, which I doubt. Maybe the Vol Down button is faulty/sticky too?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea, completely stock, since I was flashing the phone over to PP before doing anything else.
I was kind of hoping someone on stock or modified stock would come in and test it for me; hold the button down for a good 10-20 seconds, see what happens. It's not supposed to happen, but I've read elsewhere online that it's one of the symptoms of a sticky button.
Curiously, the Volume- key seems to be working perfectly, sounds and feels like I would expect.
LuH said:
I'd try to clean the insides first (if the cleaner gets inside the switches, even better), and if that doesn't help, get inside and check these two switches yourself. You can't get a refund then though
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually have some "QR Electrical Cleaner" here that I obtained from Walmart a while back...unfortunately someone lost the nozzle, so I can't get a concentrated blast down around the switch stem :\
Wedging the plastic external button aside and spraying it in the general direction of the top of the switch doesn't seem to have done anything, unfortunately. I think these switches are probably semi-sealed unless in the pressed position, which is going to make things interesting...
And yes, you're right, doing anything further would technically void the warranty. Thinking about it, though, I actually did get a pretty good deal; the phone is obviously a return from a customer who found the problem early on, as it's basically new in condition with a completely unscratched screen. Even if I can't get the button working right, the phone wakes up with the keyboard, and a notification widget puts it to sleep...and if the button isn't used to wake it, it doesn't seem to stick (or at least register as it), so the phone continues working properly. So, a mostly-perfect phone, for all of $27.50, with the potential to be perfect.
Once my screen protector gets here and I'm not afraid of scratching the glass up, I think I'll open it and see what I can find out. It should be easy enough to short the contacts at the rear of the switch and see that the board is working properly; if so, then I can go hunting for a compatible switch. I can't seem to find any direct replacements, unfortunately.
Which reminds me, any guesses as to why there are three poles on the switch rather than two?
Edit: nevermind, looking at pictures it seems that the two "outer" pins attach to the common pad on the board, while the center pin is attached to the appropriate circuitry.
Septfox said:
Mine makes a clicking sound and seems to return after being pressed. However, comparing it to the volume buttons (which look to be the same switch going by the teardown pictures I've seen), it does sound and feel slightly less "crisp".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like a swan's song...
Septfox said:
Yea, completely stock, since I was flashing the phone over to PP before doing anything else.
I was kind of hoping someone on stock or modified stock would come in and test it for me; hold the button down for a good 10-20 seconds, see what happens. It's not supposed to happen, but I've read elsewhere online that it's one of the symptoms of a sticky button.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Luckily I just fastbooted mine Completely stock 188, only rooted and with SS installed - which should make no difference. To my complete surprise, while holding the power down, it shows the Power menu after 2 secs and forcibly reboots after 10 seconds. So I guess your only problem is the power button :good:
Septfox said:
And yes, you're right, doing anything further would technically void the warranty. Thinking about it, though, I actually did get a pretty good deal; the phone is obviously a return from a customer who found the problem early on, as it's basically new in condition with a completely unscratched screen. Even if I can't get the button working right, the phone wakes up with the keyboard, and a notification widget puts it to sleep...and if the button isn't used to wake it, it doesn't seem to stick (or at least register as it), so the phone continues working properly. So, a mostly-perfect phone, for all of $27.50, with the potential to be perfect.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great catch If you find another, let me know
Septfox said:
Once my screen protector gets here and I'm not afraid of scratching the glass up, I think I'll open it and see what I can find out. It should be easy enough to short the contacts at the rear of the switch and see that the board is working properly; if so, then I can go hunting for a compatible switch. I can't seem to find any direct replacements, unfortunately.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually bought one two years ago while buying mine D4 to have the whole package stuffed with all imaginable replacement parts sent from the US - postage to Europe was about 1/3 of the whole price. I never used any of the replacement parts yet, guess I got lucky I don't have it on me now though...
Septfox said:
Which reminds me, any guesses as to why there are three poles on the switch rather than two?
Edit: nevermind, looking at pictures it seems that the two "outer" pins attach to the common pad on the board, while the center pin is attached to the appropriate circuitry.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My guess is in some other devices the switch may switch between two circuits, not just break/connect the circuit. I think most of the switches I saw had the unnecessary third leg. Also it may help it hold tighter to the PCB.
LuH said:
Luckily I just fastbooted mine Completely stock 188, only rooted and with SS installed - which should make no difference. To my complete surprise, while holding the power down, it shows the Power menu after 2 secs and forcibly reboots after 10 seconds. So I guess your only problem is the power button :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome, thank you! Now I don't have to strip it down until I have a new switch in hand...though I'm still tempted to, just for fun. Strange that the phone can be rebooted by only holding the power button, though.
LuH said:
Great catch If you find another, let me know
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Certainly. FYI, the seller I got it it from is named "soonersoft" if you want to use ebay's Follow Seller thing, by the looks of their listings they seem to mainly do business in items returned under warranty for damage/defects.
LuH said:
I actually bought one two years ago while buying mine D4 to have the whole package stuffed with all imaginable replacement parts sent from the US - postage to Europe was about 1/3 of the whole price. I never used any of the replacement parts yet, guess I got lucky I don't have it on me now though...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been thinking about it, and even if I could find a 1:1 replacement, it might be better to just replace it with an entirely different, more common switch. Having looked it up, power switch failures aren't incredibly frequent, but they are enough that I would rather have a more reliable (or at least, cheaper to replace), more standard design. Ebay is full of cheap bulk lots of microswitches, just gotta find one small enough.
LuH said:
My guess is in some other devices the switch may switch between two circuits, not just break/connect the circuit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea, maybe. I just had the thought that it might alternatively be a dual-stage switch (e.g. as are used for cameras), with one of the stages disabled or defective to the extent that it could only be sold as a single-stage switch. Such would be a good way to get rid of components that would otherwise be garbage.
Whichever it is, it seems to me that such a small switch with so many moving parts inside, in a location and with a role that it sees a lot of use and abuse, is just asking for trouble...that the problem isn't more widespread is a testament to the quality of the switch manufacturer's design and assembly, I guess.
Regardless, it looks like only a dual-pole switch is actually needed, so that considerably widens the range of possibilities.
Thanks for the assistance, it has been invaluable. Now I can continue loading up and enjoying my phone without worrying that it's going to suddenly drop dead...well, more than the usual worrying, anyway
Septfox said:
Awesome, thank you! Now I don't have to strip it down until I have a new switch in hand...though I'm still tempted to, just for fun. Strange that the phone can be rebooted by only holding the power button, though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know your feelings, even though I waited for a first issue to rationalize opening it up, which was only this summer, after almost two years. I'm still a student and the phone was ****load of money for me. Now that they are so cheap (and I don't see any potential replacement on the market as QWERTY devices vaporized) I'm not that cautious.
BTW most breakdown instructions or videos specify you'll only need T5 screwdriver but if you want to disassemble the display part as well, which you will need to, you'll need T3 as well (T4 still kinda fits to the screws, but it's T3). When you slide the diplay (or keyboard, depending on your point of view) out, you can see the small screws next to the outer rim.
Also, the phone heavily relies on adhesive - be sure to have plenty and be aware that after first opening the see-through plastic piece with rear camera, flash LED, hole for opening the back door and with two screws underneath will never look the same, you'll be lucky to have it somehow stick with most parts looking OK. I never saw anywhere replacement for this printed adhesive, the "HD 720p" sign gets semi-destroyed when opening it...
Septfox said:
Certainly. FYI, the seller I got it it from is named "soonersoft" if you want to use ebay's Follow Seller thing, by the looks of their listings they seem to mainly do business in items returned under warranty for damage/defects.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks
Septfox said:
I've been thinking about it, and even if I could find a 1:1 replacement, it might be better to just replace it with an entirely different, more common switch. Having looked it up, power switch failures aren't incredibly frequent, but they are enough that I would rather have a more reliable (or at least, cheaper to replace), more standard design. Ebay is full of cheap bulk lots of microswitches, just gotta find one small enough.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Or you can do it the hardcore and noticeable way I used to fix out old home LCD monitor's faulty power switch - solder wires to the PCB, take it out the hole left after the switch plastic and solder to them a switch of your choosing that will hang outside the phone... You can tell people that it's an antenna that helps with bad reception in your area
Septfox said:
Yea, maybe. I just had the thought that it might alternatively be a dual-stage switch (e.g. as are used for cameras), with one of the stages disabled or defective to the extent that it could only be sold as a single-stage switch. Such would be a good way to get rid of components that would otherwise be garbage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not likely IMO. This was marketed as luxurious device, I don't think they'd do it. Also the new switch isn't as expensive I guess, especially compared to all the advanced electronics inside.
Septfox said:
Whichever it is, it seems to me that such a small switch with so many moving parts inside, in a location and with a role that it sees a lot of use and abuse, is just asking for trouble...that the problem isn't more widespread is a testament to the quality of the switch manufacturer's design and assembly, I guess.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup, I never understood how microswitches, especially those used in mouses, could take so much...
Septfox said:
Regardless, it looks like only a dual-pole switch is actually needed, so that considerably widens the range of possibilities.
Thanks for the assistance, it has been invaluable. Now I can continue loading up and enjoying my phone without worrying that it's going to suddenly drop dead...well, more than the usual worrying, anyway
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm glad I helped Enjoy your "brand new" slider
LuH said:
BTW most breakdown instructions or videos specify you'll only need T5 screwdriver but if you want to disassemble the display part as well, which you will need to, you'll need T3 as well (T4 still kinda fits to the screws, but it's T3).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good to know. As it turns out, I don't have anything below a T6 or 7, so no adventures in disassembly for me today.
LuH said:
Also, the phone heavily relies on adhesive - be sure to have plenty and be aware that after first opening the see-through plastic piece with rear camera, flash LED, hole for opening the back door and with two screws underneath will never look the same, you'll be lucky to have it somehow stick with most parts looking OK. I never saw anywhere replacement for this printed adhesive, the "HD 720p" sign gets semi-destroyed when opening it...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fond memories of stripping my Ally down to the digitizer come back to me; everything simply snaps or bolts together and there's nary a drop of glue to be seen :<
I wonder if I can eyeball pictures of a removed plastic bit and use a straightblade bit to simply "drill" through mine to the screws...will have to keep it in mind when I evenetually open it up.
Any suggestions on what kind of glue to get? All I have around are hot glue and Gorilla Glue, neither of which strike me as particularly appropriate for this sort of thing.
LuH said:
Or you can do it the hardcore and noticeable way I used to fix out old home LCD monitor's faulty power switch - solder wires to the PCB, take it out the hole left after the switch plastic and solder to them a switch of your choosing that will hang outside the phone... You can tell people that it's an antenna that helps with bad reception in your area
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The sad thing is, I would have actually done this with my first flip-phone. Heck, my current computer is a collection of loosely-assembled parts kind of haphazardly spread out on a nearby endtable, so I can say I would definitely do this to a phone ; \
LuH said:
Not likely IMO. This was marketed as luxurious device, I don't think they'd do it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, a luxurious device with a Pentile TFT display, non-removable battery, entirely plastic casing and no dedicated camera button :v
There's no denying that it's a nice phone, but I see a lot of cut corners; what's another one that the majority of users will be fortunate enough to never notice?
Septfox said:
Fond memories of stripping my Ally down to the digitizer come back to me; everything simply snaps or bolts together and there's nary a drop of glue to be seen :<
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I too hate this adhesive hell
Septfox said:
I wonder if I can eyeball pictures of a removed plastic bit and use a straightblade bit to simply "drill" through mine to the screws...will have to keep it in mind when I eventually open it up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was thinking the same. Don't know what straightblade is, but I wouldn't recommend any blade - the plastic is pretty thick. My plan would be to really cautiously drill it by an actual power drill. There's a bit of space between screws and the plastic piece, so I think it's safe to drill.
Septfox said:
Any suggestions on what kind of glue to get? All I have around are hot glue and Gorilla Glue, neither of which strike me as particularly appropriate for this sort of thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Double-sided adhesive tape I bought cheap 3mm wide one off eBay, works like charm. Also I thought they say it's 3M as in 3 meters long, but actually got a 3M branded one, possibly 3 meters long
Septfox said:
The sad thing is, I would have actually done this with my first flip-phone. Heck, my current computer is a collection of loosely-assembled parts kind of haphazardly spread out on a nearby endtable, so I can say I would definitely do this to a phone ; \
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't see how it's a bad thing The phone would look badass
Septfox said:
Yes, a luxurious device with a Pentile TFT display, non-removable battery, entirely plastic casing and no dedicated camera button :v
There's no denying that it's a nice phone, but I see a lot of cut corners; what's another one that the majority of users will be fortunate enough to never notice?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True...
LuH said:
I was thinking the same. Don't know what straightblade is, but I wouldn't recommend any blade - the plastic is pretty thick.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, what I was referring to was a flat-edge screwdriver bit, in the same style as one of these for example. A small, sharp one makes a surprisingly good boring tool once you get it started.
LuH said:
Double-sided adhesive tape I bought cheap 3mm wide one off eBay, works like charm. Also I thought they say it's 3M as in 3 meters long, but actually got a 3M branded one, possibly 3 meters long
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, double-sided tape. I probably would have gone for rubber cement or somesuch, but this is a much better idea...far less messy.
LuH said:
I don't see how it's a bad thing The phone would look badass
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And cats everywhere would instantly be huge fans of it.
Septfox said:
Sorry, what I was referring to was a flat-edge screwdriver bit, in the same style as one of these for example. A small, sharp one makes a surprisingly good boring tool once you get it started.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's an interesting idea
Septfox said:
Ah, double-sided tape. I probably would have gone for rubber cement or somesuch, but this is a much better idea...far less messy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried it and turns out while it works great for the main body (the first frame that probably wouldn't even need it in the first place), the tape I bought is a disaster for the digitizer. Since there is a pressure contact for the ear speaker being pressed by the adhesive connection only, it gets pressed away all the time. I got to re-assemble it with new tape every like two or three weeks, which is unbearable. Any alternative idea? I don't think we have rubber cement here - tried to google it and it seems it's used only in the US. I don't want to use any solution that's too permanent though - the time may come when I shatter the glass and need to replace it.
Also the display screws may actually be T4 - it seems my T3 and T4 screwdrivers are a tad more thick than they are supposed to be, compared to my brother's bit more expensive set.
LuH said:
I tried it and turns out while it works great for the main body (the first frame that probably wouldn't even need it in the first place), the tape I bought is a disaster for the digitizer. Since there is a pressure contact for the ear speaker being pressed by the adhesive connection only, it gets pressed away all the time. I got to re-assemble it with new tape every like two or three weeks, which is unbearable. Any alternative idea? I don't think we have rubber cement here - tried to google it and it seems it's used only in the US. I don't want to use any solution that's too permanent though - the time may come when I shatter the glass and need to replace it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm.
I haven't taken mine apart yet - waiting on soldering wick so I can replace the power button with minimal mess - and wasn't planning on stripping it down that far anyway, so all I have to look at is the teardown guide. It looks to me like you could:
Press in the screen glass at the top to where it's supposed to be (to align the speaker with the frame as best as possible)
Get some sort of thin material to fill in/bridge the gap between the sides of the speaker and the frame
Inject a small amount of superglue into the gaps between frame/material/speaker
Finding something to bridge the gaps shouldn't be too difficult, anything will work (the superglue will just soak and make it rock hard anyway), it's only there so there's not enough of a gap for the superglue to shrink and void as it dries.
Just don't use enough glue that it works its way down to the glass, or it'll be a pain to detach later.
Like so (blue: spacer/shim, red: glue):
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Alternatively, gluing the speaker directly to the board it interfaces with (using a small shim between them to make room for the contacts)...but the positioning might be trickier to get right.
'course, these both have the problem of being rather permanent...and while I haven't read that there are widespread problems with the ear speaker going out, it does seem to occasionally happen. I just don't really know of any adhesives that are both strong enough to hold without eventually coming apart, and weak enough to be somewhat easily removed if needed : \
LuH said:
Also the display screws may actually be T4 - it seems my T3 and T4 screwdrivers are a tad more thick than they are supposed to be, compared to my brother's bit more expensive set.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bought a cheap set off ebay that includes T3-T6, so I should be good to go for when I eventually get around to opening the whole thing up (it is certain to happen at some point, if for no other reason than curiosity). At the moment I'm just enjoying customizing SlimKat and playing with the phone; it's so much more able in every way than the old LG I came from, it's ridiculous. Curiosity can, in this case, wait a while~
Septfox said:
It looks to me like you could:
Press in the screen glass at the top to where it's supposed to be (to align the speaker with the frame as best as possible)
Get some sort of thin material to fill in/bridge the gap between the sides of the speaker and the frame
Inject a small amount of superglue into the gaps between frame/material/speaker
Finding something to bridge the gaps shouldn't be too difficult, anything will work (the superglue will just soak and make it rock hard anyway), it's only there so there's not enough of a gap for the superglue to shrink and void as it dries.
Just don't use enough glue that it works its way down to the glass, or it'll be a pain to detach later.
Like so (blue: spacer/shim, red: glue):
[picture shown in above post]
Alternatively, gluing the speaker directly to the board it interfaces with (using a small shim between them to make room for the contacts)...but the positioning might be trickier to get right.
'course, these both have the problem of being rather permanent...and while I haven't read that there are widespread problems with the ear speaker going out, it does seem to occasionally happen. I just don't really know of any adhesives that are both strong enough to hold without eventually coming apart, and weak enough to be somewhat easily removed if needed : \
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Well, I think when I bought the phone in summer 2012 I was like "cool, the only known issue is not showing up in my unit", and almost two years later when earpiece problems started, I was like "****, it finally caught me"...
The idea of hard-fixing the earpiece is nice, I actually thought of it before. I'd love it to be fixed to the PCB, thinking of some non-sticky insulation to be put between the earpiece and the digitizer. It's holding really tight on the digitizer though. I'll see what I can do when I open it up next time - I fixed it this Saturday, so I think it should hold itself somehow at least till the weekend
I was thinking of soldering it to PCB, but was quite scared of messing it up. Super glue is interesting alternative idea But I'm a bit afraid that it will tear the PCB's top layer apart when being pushed away continuously by the pressure contacts. I'll probably first try gluing it to the frame as you indicated in the picture and see then Hope I'll get to send pictures here, although it's a hard thing to do with a phone (my only camera) taken apart...
LuH said:
The idea of hard-fixing the earpiece is nice, I actually thought of it before. I'd love it to be fixed to the PCB, thinking of some non-sticky insulation to be put between the earpiece and the digitizer.
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Paper~
alternatively, thinner and clear, plastic/saran wrap. Stick it down in there, then simply tear the little bit out that covers the speaker hole (or probably easier and cleaner, take a craft knife to it).
LuH said:
I was thinking of soldering it to PCB, but was quite scared of messing it up. Super glue is interesting alternative idea But I'm a bit afraid that it will tear the PCB's top layer apart when being pushed away continuously by the pressure contacts.
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That's a good point, PCB pads aren't strong at all (found that out while pulling a replacement switch off another phone, which is why I'm waiting on wick; don't want to tear my traces up).
I'd like to propose a combination alternative, then
Get some of your double-sided tape, stick a small strip to where the speaker sits on the PCB, try not to get stuck to it
Find a pair of lengths of small-gauge wire, an inch apiece should be enough
On each side, solder one wire to the copper interface pads
Using a small pair of wire snips, snip off the sprung sections of the contacts on the earpiece speaker, leaving enough to solder to
Solder the other ends of the wires to the remainder of the contacts on the speaker
Carefully align the speaker with the PCB, and stick it to the double-sided tape
Finally, tuck the wires out of the way so they don't get pinched and severed when the front assembly is bolted back on
The double-sided tape should be under little to no strain, so it ought to be fine for this task. The digitizer won't be receiving spring pressure from the speaker anymore, so it should stay put. Everything should be oK.
The only potential problems I can think of are that the lack of a seal between digitizer and speaker might reduce the earpiece volume somewhat, and the extra sound movement in the top of the phone casing might have some interesting interactions with the second mic up top.
Of course, this is only if you decide to add something to insulate/destick the digitizer, which actually might not be necessary without the glass being sprung outwards all the time.
It's completely reversible regardless (just need a new speaker and clean up the solder and tape on the PCB), so...might be a better alternative than just straight gluing everything together.
So after all I came up with an alternative solution: since I succeeded on fastening the digitizer with two layers of adhesive tape so well it still holds together for over two months now, I just needed to make the contacts hold so I don't lose the earpiece sound when they don't. The contact for pressure pins is actually not on display's PCB, but on a T-shaped strip of metal, attached to the display, so I just bent the arms in and it works like charm since
Heh, two layers.
Glad to hear you got it worked out. Now I know what to do in the (hopefully unlikely) event that I ever have this issue.
For my end of things, my adventures in power button repair have unfortunately met a disappointing end; the power button completely quit working for normal functions shortly after my last post. The tools I ordered came in, I opened up the phone and tried shorting the leads on the button, to make sure it was indeed the button that was bad. Nothing, nada, no response. I then performed some exploratory surgery on the button (as I have a suitable replacement sitting here), and found it to be of a somewhat simple, rugged design (typical metal-dome design, center pops down to make contact, sides/pins 1 and 3 are common). No manufacturing faults evident.
Working theory is that somewhere in the circuit that it completes, there is a defect. A component that overheated each time the button was used until the point of complete failure, perhaps. Curiously, the button (or rather the pads, no more button at this point) can still be used in combination with Volume - to reset the device. It just...won't respond to normal short/longpresses. I'd imagine there's another trace that splits off before the defective component, leading to the Volume - button and creating a sort of hardware AND condition that triggers a reboot.
Don't know. Don't have the knowledge, nor the equipment, to really diagnose it properly, let alone affect repairs. Guess I'm stuck with popping the keyboard open to wake it until the glorious day that the Droid 5 comes around~

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