What's your experience of taking apart the M7? - One (M7) Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I recently had the unfortunate occurence where my phone no longer charges and therefore I need to get the charging port replaced. I went to my local repair shop and paid £25 for them to replace it. I'll find out later today whether they've been able to do it or not.
That got me to thinking about how easy it might be to teardown the M7. I proceeded to watch the following video and saw that it doesn't seem like too much hassle and maybe I'd have been better off doing it myself.
Have any of you been in the unfortunate situation where you've needed to take apart your M7 and decided to do it yourself. If so, how did it go and did you manage to mess anything up by deciding to do it yourself instead of getting a professional to do it?

KidCarter93 said:
I recently had the unfortunate occurence where my phone no longer charges and therefore I need to get the charging port replaced. I went to my local repair shop and paid £25 for them to replace it. I'll find out later today whether they've been able to do it or not.
That got me to thinking about how easy it might be to teardown the M7. I proceeded to watch the following video and saw that it doesn't seem like too much hassle and maybe I'd have been better off doing it myself.
Have any of you been in the unfortunate situation where you've needed to take apart your M7 and decided to do it yourself. If so, how did it go and did you manage to mess anything up by deciding to do it yourself instead of getting a professional to do it?
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Click to collapse
I have never done it, but from my observations here on the forums a few have successfully changed battery's while many others ended up with unreadable screens / broken antennas / broken usb ports / stuck in bootloader bootloop. I have disassembled lots of phones / PSP / Laptops / Ipods / iPhones and i would be pretty reluctant to try an M7.

KidCarter93 said:
I recently had the unfortunate occurence where my phone no longer charges and therefore I need to get the charging port replaced. I went to my local repair shop and paid £25 for them to replace it. I'll find out later today whether they've been able to do it or not.
That got me to thinking about how easy it might be to teardown the M7. I proceeded to watch the following video and saw that it doesn't seem like too much hassle and maybe I'd have been better off doing it myself.
Have any of you been in the unfortunate situation where you've needed to take apart your M7 and decided to do it yourself. If so, how did it go and did you manage to mess anything up by deciding to do it yourself instead of getting a professional to do it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I never opened my M7 but I did on my One X to fix it many times, should be very similar. The hardest part is to remove the back cover for the first time without damaging it, looks like its even harder to do on the M7, its very fragile around the volume keys. Once its opened, if you take your time and use the right tools, its not that hard, but you never know what can happen. I did manage to break the tiny power button flex cable on my One X even if it was the 4th time I was opening it, and Im not a newbie with this kind of stuff (I'm an avionic technician). Just to say even a person with high electronic skills and good dexterity can easily break these tiny components...
---------- Post added at 08:37 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:31 AM ----------
And would also recommend wearing an anti-static wrist strap to prevent any damage to the chips caused by electrostatic discharge.

Related

Broke Tilt in half

So one of my friends at work had an att tilt. However his son dropped it out of his pants pocket and the screen popped off. Screen is still in one piece however completly seperated from the tilt mechanism and the ribbon cable is missing. So I told him instead of throwing it away (cause att does not offer insurance) to give it to me and I'd see what I can do (Gonna unlock it and use it as an upgrade for my wing ).
I've read some of the hardware manuals and can already see I'll need parts to fix it. But I have no ideas what ones. Or if it's even worth it to fix. I mean its basically a free tilt minus any repair costs. Any help?
wshader said:
So one of my friends at work had an att tilt. However his son dropped it out of his pants pocket and the screen popped off. Screen is still in one piece however completly seperated from the tilt mechanism and the ribbon cable is missing. So I told him instead of throwing it away (cause att does not offer insurance) to give it to me and I'd see what I can do (Gonna unlock it and use it as an upgrade for my wing ).
I've read some of the hardware manuals and can already see I'll need parts to fix it. But I have no ideas what ones. Or if it's even worth it to fix. I mean its basically a free tilt minus any repair costs. Any help?
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Check thi site, there is a manual how to dismantle kaiser. Could be helpful:
http://michael-channon.spaces.live....smantling+%2f+Disassembling+Guides+HTC%2fETEN
Thank you, however thats actually the repair manual I looked at. However while looking for parts I have yet to find the ribbon cable that connects to the display.
This is basically what I have except the ribbon cable is missing. And alot of steps missing to get it this way.
wshader said:
Thank you, however thats actually the repair manual I looked at. However while looking for parts I have yet to find the ribbon cable that connects to the display.
This is basically what I have except the ribbon cable is missing.
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OMG, that had to hurt.
Yeah, kid was playing basketball and fell out of his pocket. I guess the kid has broke 4 phones this month... curve, tilt, 2 pantec duos. Told my friend to get him a $20 go-phone now lol. And use the savings to get me a tilt
I dont know what kind of damage besides the physical the drop may have caused. Phone was not on at the time so that may have helped it (I hope)
wshader said:
Yeah, and I dont know what kind of damage besides the physical the drop may have caused. Phone was not on at the time so that may have helped it (I hope)
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I hope u repair it. Wish u luck.
Without actually looking at it, its hard to say what exactly you need. But you for sure need a new flex cable. Unfortunately that is the hardest part to find. At least here in the US. I usually buy broken phones from people who don't want to pay for a repair. Then I use the parts from them. You can get a new housing easily enough if you need it but the flex cable will be your biggest hurdle.
I suggest trying to find one broken on ebay and using the 2 you have to make one working phone. Even a broken Tilt can run for $200 on ebay though.
Anyone notice that case has already been replaced at some stage as it has a camera hole (not standard for Tilts) a keyboard without the white part and no logo. Perhaps the replacement was weaker than the original one. If the O/P searches the forum here for LCD Screen replacements there's loads of links to different companies supplying parts for Kaiser variants. I have no experience using any of them though so cant suggest which ones are best.
@Planet Neo
Yeah I was thinking that but was hoping it wouldn't come to that. Would suck to spend $200 for parts just to find the motherboard is broke or something to that effect. Was hoping someone knew of a place to buy a new cable or had one to sell. Also was hoping someone with some experience could let me know if they think I'd need a new tilt assembly.
@Flying Kiwi
Lol, I used a picture from kaiser disassembly guide to show what i was referring to. It has the standard tilt case. I'll be taking pictures of what I have as soon as I have the phone in my possession.
Okay I assume that its going to be very hard to get the ribbon and you're going to need housing. I believe that it will be the same as making a new tilt, because the screen is as good as dead without the ribbon so all you could do is get new housing and a new screen and it should rack up about $150-200. Which in my opinion is much easier and faster and better than frustrating on getting a ribbon.
Just my 2 cents.
Kraize
Planetneo said:
Without actually looking at it, its hard to say what exactly you need. But you for sure need a new flex cable. Unfortunately that is the hardest part to find. At least here in the US. I usually buy broken phones from people who don't want to pay for a repair. Then I use the parts from them. You can get a new housing easily enough if you need it but the flex cable will be your biggest hurdle.
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I'm sure you'll think I'm busting your balls / stalking you but hard to find? Hell no! Expensive, maybe ( $100) but hard to find? I think not. Good job you're not charging people for you expert advice else they'd be wanting refunds....how long did you say you'd been doing this for?
http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&_trksid=m37&satitle=tytn+flex&category0=
You need a TYTN II flex. There are many other suppliers and if you go direct they may be a bit cheaper. google is your friend....
To check the board - connect to a windoze computer with a mini USB cable and power up or press the soft reset button to boot it - it should ident and install then try to sync. It should boot fine even with no LCD if it's OK assuming the battery still holds some charge.
A full housing will run you about $60. Some sellers have just front panels for about $40 though I'm unsure if these have the pivot.
M.S
Mysterious Stranger said:
I'm sure you'll think I'm busting your balls / stalking you but hard to find? Hell no! Expensive, maybe ( $100) but hard to find? I think not. Good job you're not charging people for you expert advice else they'd be wanting refunds....how long did you say you'd been doing this for?
http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&_trksid=m37&satitle=tytn+flex&category0=
You need a TYTN II flex. There are many other suppliers and if you go direct they may be a bit cheaper. google is your friend....
To check the board - connect to a windoze computer with a mini USB cable and power up or press the soft reset button to boot it - it should ident and install then try to sync. It should boot fine even with no LCD if it's OK assuming the battery still holds some charge.
A full housing will run you about $60. Some sellers have just front panels for about $40 though I'm unsure if these have the pivot.
M.S
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Click to collapse
Man, MS you really need to get off my nuts. It's getting creepy. I said in my post hard to find at least in the US. And the link you gave was for a seller in China. One more word of advice for the OP, Make sure this part actually works for the AT&T Tilt variant. I had a customer buy a Flex cable for the HTC Herald thinking it would work for the T-Mobile Wing but due to the modified button layout of the Wing it did not fit correctly. Much like this person HERE experienced.
Planetneo said:
Man, MS you really need to get off my nuts. It's getting creepy. I said in my post hard to find at least in the US. And the link you gave was for a seller in China. One more word of advice for the OP, Make sure this part actually works for the AT&T Tilt variant. I had a customer buy a Flex cable for the HTC Herald thinking it would work for the T-Mobile Wing but due to the modified button layout of the Wing it did not fit correctly. Much like this person HERE experienced.
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These things are made in Shenzhen so where you think the parts come from?
Stop talking &*%(* and I'll stop correcting your posts Instead of saying something is a fact say it's your opinion. It's not a 'rare' part - and they ship WORLDWIDE. It's not as if he'll get one from a local mom and pop store - it's gonna be mail order wherever you get it from and looking at the seller's feedback is a good judge - all my parts come from China - so why pay a middleman such as yourself extra $ just so it has a US stamp on the package?
Someone needs to act as quality control on your posts and it looks like it's gonna have to be me if you keep posting [email protected]
M.S

Sceen has Inverted colors

MOds feel free to move if in the wrong section
**I also have searched this problem before creating a new thread
I recently dropped my phone(thats in a hard plastic protective case) approx 2 feet onto the ground. I picked my phone up pissed at my clumsiness and i noticed the phone was still working perfectly fine but everything that is supposed to appear dark is now light and vice versa. Im kinda low on funds right now but i was wondering are there any alternatives other then a screen replacement
Just checking in I have tried a few things any input would be appreciated...I think im going to go to cingular
I will post up pics to show what the phone looks like to help others who may experience this problem
It could be false economy attempting a repair yourself
NcAlien said:
Just checking in I have tried a few things any input would be appreciated...I think im going to go to cingular
I will post up pics to show what the phone looks like to help others who may experience this problem
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Click to collapse
I wouldn't go buying a replacement screen off the bat, it may simply be something like the flex cable has come slightly ajar. A good repair centre that know their stuff will correctly diagnose it, only replacing whats required (possibly saving you money from buying parts that aren't needed).
Thanks now my next issue...lol is finding a reputable repair shop
I have been to two places thus far and one person looked at my phone and simply said thats going to be $140 to repair before taking it apart or any diagnostics and another place wasnt even familiar with my phone so the search continues
And thanks for the help

Need Parts for Nexus One

I cracked my screen so I decided to order a new one and fix it myself, while in the process I accidentally tore the top flex circuit board and now I can't find spare parts other than screens anywhere. Does anyone know where I can get some or have one that is broken I am willing to pay ...
Hate when **** like that happens. . . try to fix something and something doesn't go right.
Not sure where you can get the parts you're looking for, but wanted to give props to you for taking the initiative to try and fix it yourself. Alot of people will be like "that's what you get for not just sending it back to HTC and having them fix it." How're you going to appreciate the intricacies of something if you don't take the occasional risk like this?
Hope you find what you're looking for.
Ps. Have you looked at http://www.monoprice.com/home/index.asp to see if there's anything you could repurpose to work?
Ha yea, I am definitely a DIY-er. Unfortunately this is a risk I knew I was taking heading into it, wasn't too worried though because I have fixed a lot of cell phones in the past, just got a little too careless with prying open with a flat head screw driver, it slipped and cut right into the flex circuit board. Should have been a little more careful haha. New screen looks great though! Now only if I could get it to power on! Of course HTC tells me it will cost up to $300 to send it to them to fix it.
http://www.lunacommerce.com/154-nexus-one
http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/android/thread?tid=7921c16b7b46096e&hl=en
Not sure exactly, but is this what you are looking for? http://cnn.cn/shop/google-nexus-digitizer-p-8252.html
Yea I tried that number and also that lunacommerce site is located in China, no prices on their website, no way to purchase anything other than contacting them first (which I have tried to no avail...). You would think some online store somewhere would have started selling spare refurbished parts. Whatever, guess I will have to pay HTC to fix it, kinda sucky.
If you find somewhere that can help you, please post back. I just had a similar experience, replaced the digitizer and the display wouldn't work afterwards. Figured I had damaged the AMOLED, so purchased another. Problem still persisted.
I've decided that I must have damaged the AMOLED connector on the logic board.
The upside is I can still use the phone when connected to a PC and using Android Screen Monitor.
So now I've ordered another Nexus One, I find it hard to get by without my daily Android.... it became an expensive drop of the phone.
Kman Gymrat said:
Not sure exactly, but is this what you are looking for? http://cnn.cn/shop/google-nexus-digitizer-p-8252.html
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Click to collapse
No that is what I replaced in the first place. I am looking for the Logic Board. I will keep searching and update this thread if I ever figure it out. Going on 3 days without a phone and only being able to use Google Voice via my computer is starting to drive me insane!

Faulty aftermarket digitizers

Hey guys. I have an HTC vivid. I dropped it and the screen cracked, but the phone worked perfectly (LCD is perfect). To fix it, I first bought a replacement digitizer from gounlock.com (SST Trading). This part had a dead zone, basically a horizonal bar 1/3 up from the bottom of the screen. I took the phone apart repeatedly and I'm 100% sure everything was installed correctly. I never contacted the company about the replacement since so much time had passed by when I finally installed the part. Next, I found people who had ordered from repairuniverse.com with good stories, so I ordered the digitizer from them. Instead of risking it, I paid a local repair shop to do the install, and there was zero response from the touch screen, even though it boots correctly. The shop reinstalled the part 3 times, still nothing. The seller gave me some line how the professional installer damaged the ribbon cable and I should order another part. To me, this is a bs excuse, because I've found plenty of threads about cheapo ebay digitizers not working or partially working in various HTC phones. They told me they test their parts, but im sure this doesn't involve actually installing on a real phone to make sure it actually works/is designed correctly, just that it might not have a manufacturing defect.
So, where can I order this part and not have problems? Unfortunately I don't have the original screen anymore to compare part numbers, although these things all seem to be low quality china knock-offs, hence why they frequently don't work.
Thanks for whatever advice you can give me =) It's been a very frustrating experience dumping money into this old phone to fix a relatively simple problem.
well, I probably threw more money down the drain ordering a third digitizer. At least this one only costs 10 bucks. If this one doesn't work I'm just going to sell the phone on ebay and someone else can try to fix it.

3 failed Xperia systemboard repair attempts failed and what should I do. :(

So my latest of stupid fails entailed the attempt repair of my water damaged E6533 (this was because I decided to take it into a sensory deprivation tank. Which included pounds of epsom salts ouch). I actually took amazing care of this phone and it was in perfect condition and I was excited to use these forums to flash to my hearts content. ANYWAYS I tried drying the board as this happened in August and I left it powered off for approx 1 week in the sun, with more salts. At this point I was nearly sick to my stomach because of my stupid move for one of my most prized possessions. But somehow I kept going, I attempted to boot the phone again but alas no go, I had really fudged this this as salt is more conductive regardless of IP68 this is extreme salt I am such a [email protected]$$ I didn't want to admit it until now. But in hinds site it worked for the 2 hours I was in the salt water. Then for 10 minutes after. I then noticed it triggering touches all over the screen. Disregarding my own advice to everyone else I know I did the stupid thing at this point. I tried to turn it on even though it just shut itself off. It did and shut off again during bootup. I gulped as this birthday gift from a friend was turning out to be a "worst case scenario" type of ordeal. Next I kept going like a troubled child again and again I tried. Because in my mind I couldn't imagine how anything could have migrated into the phone. But it was to late ........
BECAUSE if anyone knows how these XPERIA repairs tend to pan out during display damage, you get the picture. Sorry to be so cryptic but for those of you who havn't had the misfortune or need to repair a broken display (*I assume the most broken physical feature of this phone but also any electronic device for that matter.) you may not be aware that the phone has fuse on the mainboard which during display malfunction clearly blows. Replacement of this fuse requires 1) a schematic 2) advanced soldiering knowledge and techneque 3) time 4) bravery ... so on . As it is quite small and actually requires prescission soldiering equipment (here's my fail, failure to use and therefore aquire the proper tool for the job). Yes my dumba$$ory didn't stop at epsom pools of waterdamage but a soldiering technique regardless how good shouldn't have been attempted here. Although I did manage to bridge the fuse to see that YES INDEED the screen came back when bridged and it continued booting. Something prevented me from getting my soldier bridge to actually stay attached so eventually I broke an adjasent resistor. WELL good luck fixing that !!?
But for me I have seen this before. With my Z2 last year. I loved that phone but despite the love Mei case it smashed on the pavement. Screen replacement resulted in fuse replacement. WHICH in turn resulted in a SUCCESS followed by failure short after.
Another friends Xperia Z, same thing : LCD - > FUSE -> in this case I tried AliBaba'ing the board. Which was the ONLY place I could source one '.' With the new board the GPU seemed to have damaged video memory as the screen was getting serious interferance and shaking everywhere. Putting the original board in the same position resulted in no backlight but no shaky image. DOA part ...
SO ALAS
I HAVE a graveyard of Z , Z2 , Z3+ dual and extra parts ... Each time I try Xperia I get hella burned trying my luck fixing a phone I would love to be loving right now. If only I could only figure out a way to fix the lot I would in a heart beat. But most places online seem to be more pricy than the original or unreasonable. <shrug.> :crying::silly:
Buy another phone, this one isn't worth it, believe me, stop wasting money effort and time.
Best advice I can give you
nosiobadx said:
Buy another phone, this one isn't worth it, believe me, stop wasting money effort and time.
Best advice I can give you
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Perhaps your right but seeing as I am on a students income. I would love to fix resell a couple. Is there a place that I can go ?
futiless said:
Perhaps your right but seeing as I am on a students income. I would love to fix resell a couple. Is there a place that I can go ?
Well there are Sony shops where you can take them but it'll cost a fortune and most of the time they doesn't have the parts so, maybe you should sell them as repairing parts on the Internet and get a little juice of them
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