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How to replace Nexus Digitizier/Glass

So last week I cracked the glass on my poor Nexus. It took a horrible drop. Well I can't afford another Nexus and I can imagine having any other phone so I figured I'd repair this one. Read up alot on it and watched a video on Youtube. Ordered all the parts I needed I tackled it today.
Well I decided to do a How-To for any other Nexus owner with broken screens.
New digitizer - $40
Torx screwdriver -$5
Philips screwdriver -$5
Plastic tools - Free
Total - $50
Sure beats the $125 some online sites charge.
I would like to thank ifixit and slickromeo.
1. Gather all your tools and replacement glass (known as a digitizer).
Note: Needed tools are a Philips #00, a Torx T4, and a plastic pry tool (Mine was included with the new screen)
2. Set up a clean comfortable area to work in. You may be here for awhile and you're going to want to reduce the amount of dust that could potentially get on the new glass.
Note: I used a folded over microfiber towel to keep the area clean and also add some padding to the hard counter top to prevent even more damage while working with the phone.
3. Power phone off and remove battery cover, battery, SIM card, and Micro SD card. Set aside in a safe place.
4.Our first obstacle is going to be the antennae cover at the bottom of the phone. There are three plastic clips holding it in place (Circled in red). Use a combination of the pry tool, a guitar pick, butter knife, and any other instrument you need to shove in there. It is a pain in the ass... the video I watched online made it seem like it was going to be alot harder than it was, but if you work from left to right, or right to left, and get the outside one unclipped the other two come off pretty easy. Once you get it off set it aside with the battery cover and other things.
Note: Be careful not to break these tiny, fragile clips as they are the only things holding this cover in place.
5. Scream profanities and wipe the sweat off your brow from the previous step. I know it was frustrating and nerve racking trying not to break your precious Nexus.
6. Ok good job now to start the real deconstruction. I'm going to start with the battery tray and then move down to the antennae. There are three screws holding the tray down, but before we start on those there is this tiny ridiculous little "VOID" sticker covering up one of them. I wasn't able to remove it intake, partly because I don't really care about my warranty, but I'm sure with alot of patience and tweezers one could take it off intake and put it back. But screw that just get it off to get to the screw underneath.
7. Now two of these screws is a Torx and the third is a Philips (All in green). Remove them and put them somewhere very safe.
Note: I have four plastic cups set up to place my screws into. These are going into the first one.
8.Next you need to remove the battery tray. There are seven tabs (yellow circles) around it that you need to release using your plastic pry tool. Once those are released gently pull away form the bottom of the phone to remove the tray. Set the tray aside.
9. Now for the antennae cover. There are two more screws to remove, a Torx and a Philips (Orange circles). These screws are going in the second bowl. After the screws are out, gently lift up on the bottom of that cover and it should remove easily. Be very careful not to damage the circuit board during removal.
10. Next to come out is the logic board. there are two more very tiny screws to remove (White circles). Into the third bowl with those. Next you need to disconnect three connections (purple circles). Then carefully go around the perimeter of it with your pry tool and VERY CAREFULLY remove all the little tabs holding it in place. Then simply push up form the bottom of the logic board and slide it out. Set it somewhere very safe.
11. Now onto the actual case of the Nexus. Remove the six Philips screws, 1 at the top and 5 at the bottom . Again there are a series of little clips, five of em, around the perimeter that need to be undone and then the case very easily separates from the screen. Set the case aside.
12. Very simply pry the LCD screen away form the glass digitizer. There it is... the broken glass.
13. Now take your pry tool and from the back of the glass (not the side you would touch if you were using the phone) wedge it between the frame and the glass to separate to adhesive. Once the pry tool is in you can just slide it around the edge of the glass to separate the whole thing. TA-DA your broken glass is forever gone.
Note: The glass is broken and very sharp. Take extreme caution not to cut yourself.
14. Now we just have to put the whole thing back together. Start with the new glass/digitizer. Peel off the plastic protector to expose the adhesive and very carefully put it in place.
15. Wrap the connector that is part of the digitizer around and secure it in place with its adhesive.
16. Take the whole screen assembly and slide it back into the case. Push to secure the clips then replace the six screws that you removed.
17. Slide the logic board carefully back into place. You may have to hold down/more out of the way a few of the connectors. Take it a little at a time and see where it is getting caught up. You got this far don't lose your patience.
18. Snap the back antennae cover back in and replace its screws.
19. Slide the battery tray into place and replace its screws.
20. Snap the gray antennae cover back on.
21. Replace Micro SD card, battery, and battery cover.
22. Enjoy the beauty of your Nexus without a broken screen.
23. Place Nexus in Otterbox Defender case so this never happens again.
I have pictures that document each step but need to be approved by a moderator before it lets me post em... sorry guys

Hey, awesome job on fixing your screen. I would love to see them, my Nexus just went through the same thing 30 min ago. I had it on my lap, and upon stepping out of the car, SMACK, is all I heard. It landed face down and this is the aftermath. It's much worse than it looks in the picture.

Man, that sucks. I know that feeling.
I'll try to put the pictures up to help you out. Or at least a link to my photobucket.
Sent from my Nexus One using Tapatalk

thanks! I just cracked mine yesterday after the phone fell out of my pocket onto a concrete floor. Ouch. I'm giving this a whirl.

Nice, I'll keep this in mind for the day I accidentally break my n1.
I just wish we could somehow jury-rig the Incredible digitizer to our phones =/

I just recently converted to the n1, bought the phone for cheap off craigslists, but notice burn in on the screen, will changing the digitizier also fix the burn in?

Thank you so much for taking the time to do this write up. I just dropped my phone and smashed the screen on concrete 30 mins ago. All is working but the glass is cracked. I've ordered a new Digitizer/Glass from ebay for £30, I just hope it comes by tomorrow.

you can post picture after 5 posts so it should be good now you have 8 posts

I've just completed the work of replacing the broken glass.
I used your guide throughout, it's a shame you haven't been able to post the pictures as it definitely would have helped. I managed to google some dismantling pictures to help with your talk through as it was hard going some times.
Many thanks again.

Another useful tip: run an air purifier aimed at your work station to minimize the risk of getting dust in the glass.

blueboymj: Any chance you can edit your original post and add your pictures so others can use them? I searched quite a lot for a specific procedure to change the digitizer on my poor N1; This was the best, most accurate guide I found. I've done digitizers on a few iPhones (sorry for the profanity) using the ifixit guides, but alas, the ifixit guides were better for them than they are for the N1.
On a side note: The end cap that gives people so much trouble fell off of my N1 in the initial drop. I pushed it back on, and continued using the phone even though the glass was shattered. Removing it the first time was not so hard, I think it was not back on as well as it should have been. Removing it the second time (another story) was much harder. There are two little plastic "bars" on the end cap (step 4 above) that fit into small grooves on the "antenna cover". (step 7) I think the trick may be to possibly pinch the edges of the end cap, while sliding it toward the bottom of the phone. I looked at it after it was open, to see why it was so hard to remove, and realized I had been inadvertently helping it hold itself closed while trying to pry it open. Maybe one of the videos addresses this; I did not watch them.
Thank you to the OP and the responders for this post!

So where exactly did u order the new digitizier and parts from?
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App

This thread should be added to the N1 wiki. Thanks for the instructions.

DrewOntheMYT said:
I just recently converted to the n1, bought the phone for cheap off craigslists, but notice burn in on the screen, will changing the digitizier also fix the burn in?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Burn in? Like shadowing on the LCD? Nope.
Thats the LCD, and is completely different than the digitizer. The digitizer is just a clear plastic/glass layer that goes OVER the lcd to detect touch.

I had the digitizer and a new case and was going to have a local phone store replace this for me. However, they just gave me some BS story about how you cannot replace the digitizer without also replacing the LCD screen, which I did not provide.
So I've been without a phone (since they have it) for no reason and have to drive out of my way to retrieve it.
Hey crappy phone store, if you're too scared to do the job just say so, don't try to make up a bunch of manure and say it can't be done.
Anyway, I just ordered the required tools that I don't have and am going to give this a whirl.
OP, if you can't post your pics, can you email them to me?

does it fix the multitouch problem?

[Q] display problems - mechanically loose display

A few month ago i got the Nexus S and was realy happy (still am) with it. A few days ago i noticed the top part of my display (actually the glass which is the front part of the phone) was raised a bit. Compared to the rim the display is raised by ~0.2-0.3mm. If i press the display if sticks back but the adhesive between the glass and the rim only holds for a few minutes and then the sceen comes off again.
I took the phone appart (yeah, warranty gone but i couldn't help it... ) and replaced the adhesive (actually there are 2 adhesive films - one part on the phone's rim and the other part on the glass) the adhesive seemed pretty strong - similar to the new one i've used. Now as strange as it sound the new adhesive didn't help a lot as the issue still remains. As i've seen i'm the only one having this issue, or am i not?!?!! Anyways i'd like to hear Your suggestions on fixing this.

One option would be to heat the glass with a hair dryer or heat gun to warm up the adhesive and then use a clamp or something to provide pressure and reattach both sides.
You might want to separate the display from the motherboard before you do this as I'm not sure how well the motherboard reacts to that amount of heat.
Note that the glass is actually adhered to the digitizer (sensor pad) which is adhered to the display frame. I'm not sure which adhesive is loose in your case but you want to make sure they all fit together in the end.

[Q] Scratched screen- How do I replace it?

The screen on my Rogers HTC Raider is scratched. It is deep enough that I cannot remove by applying polisher. Screen still works but I rather replace the screen as the scratch is visible.
Where can I purchase the screen and replace it myself?

http://www.tmart.com/Replacement-LCD-Display-Screen-for-HTC-G19-Raider-4G_p137438.html
http://www.repairsuniverse.com/htc-vivid-screen-replacements-repair-parts.html

..
Thank you.

tap the thanks button
and good luck

A little advice - I've already replaced the screen on my Raider
Hi, glad someone else is attempting this. I had never replaced a screen in a phone before trying this so for me it was a little hair raising the first time I took it apart. On the back of the phone under the battery cover are 5 screws you need to remove, and one little plastic cover. Under the cover is the connector from the mainboard. Its just a little pop out connection, gently lever it loose before removing the shell to avoid hurting the ribbon.
Once you get this far, flip the phone face-up, and *from the bottom*, gently lever the sides and bottom of the plastic shell away from the screen. Its relatively easy.
Continue working along the edges toward the top until the plastic shell pops free, after that put it face-down again and remove the screws holding the battery holder to the rest of the phone. Pull it up and out to the left to remove it, being careful not to bend the battery contacts as they stay with the rest of the phone. Keep the screws with it, trust me - its easier to remember what goes where this way.
Once you have the battery holder off, put it aside and remove the screws holding the mainboard(s) to the shell. Also you will find three wires with little cup contacts at the ends, gently detach these as well, and when the screws and wires are off, carefully remove the boards. Look closely at the plastic tabs holding them in and you'll see how they come out. When taking them out of the phone you'll need to lift them like you were opening a book - ie. folding them to the right. Underneath are two sockets with ribbon cable connections, one should already be detached - the other can be popped off at this point. If you skipped detaching it at the beginning, now's the time to remove both.
This should leave you with two free boards attached in the middle by a black ribbon. Put them aside and what you have left in your hand is the metal shell, LCD, and digitizer.
NOW..the crappy news. This wonderful, beautiful, powerful, ESPENSIVE phone, is held together by black double-sided tape. Yep. Tape. AND you'll need some more before installing the new digitizer. I ordered mine from tmart as well and it not only comes with the wrong screwdrivers (btw you need a #1 philips bit - VERY tiny!!) but it doesn't come with any adhesive to mount the screen to.
Your new screen should also come with some prying tools, and they are quite handy. The guitar pick one didn't do much but the lever is very handy. You'll need to gently pry the digitizer away from the LCD with this tool being careful not to put too much pressure on the lcd or it might snap. Its only a few mm thick. GO SLOW.. you should have no problems. I've done it a few times now - I'm kinda rough on my toys.
Once you have the part un-taped, its still got the ribbon cable going back behind the lcd. Its connected to a small, thin socket on ther board. You lift a small white lever (remove the tape and save it - reapply it to the new connection) and slide the cable out. You'll need to use your lever again and pry up the lcd enough to slide the ribbon out from behind it. This can be tricky. Again, go slow, be real cautious..the tape is pretty strong. Once you have the panel out completely its just a matter of reversing the process. If you're real careful when removing the original panel, you might be able to reuse the double-sided tape thats in there.. I wasn't so lucky. Mine was covered in glass shards, as I mashed my screen pretty good.
Hope this helps!! I had a rough time the first time, but now its easy for me. I like taking it apart lol..
Let me know how you do! Good luck!
Brian

[Q] Replacing digitizer

I've cracked the outer layer of glass on my optimus x2 which I assume is just the digitizer (I'm new to all this smartphone jazz but i've had alot of experience with building computers and such and i can follow instructions) and i'm guessing the cheapest way to repair this thing is to do it myself. I emailed LG asking about what they can do with it and they were asking for £20 just to look at the damn thing so i can't imagine actually doing any work on it would be cheap.
(can't post links but it was just some cheap generic one from amazon for £30)
I'm guessing something like this would do the job but I also need some special adhesive to get the LCD to stick to the digitizer am i right? I'm worried that it will not be as responsive or i'll do it wrong and i only recently dished out £250 for this so i'd like to try and do this right. I've watched a couple of videos on youtube which have helped a bit but none went right through the process so if anyone with any experience doing this could tell me about it i'd be very grateful.

its not that hard. everything just peels off when heated with a hair drier.
the digitzer should come with sticky strips which go around the outside of the lcd and stick to the out side of the digitizer.
Also try to get a digitizer with a frame already on it. otherwise youll have a little bit of a hard time trying to remove the glass from the frame, then gluing in the new one with adhesive.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K77Xepb6yd8
Just follow this guide exactly, you should be fine man

Supupa said:
its not that hard. everything just peels off when heated with a hair drier.
the digitzer should come with sticky strips which go around the outside of the lcd and stick to the out side of the digitizer.
Also try to get a digitizer with a frame already on it. otherwise youll have a little bit of a hard time trying to remove the glass from the frame, then gluing in the new one with adhesive.
Just follow this guide exactly, you should be fine man
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply, that's a lot of help Could you recommend any retailer that sells these? I can't work out if any of the ones i'm looking at come with the sticky strips. Would I also not need any adhesive if it comes with the frame? I'm not sure I trust myself too much with doing that either.....

I recently replaced my digitizer. I ordered a digitizer already in housing off ebay, shipped from Hong Kong. I would strongly recommend buying it with housing, as it's often difficult to completely make sure that dust does not get between the digitizer and the screen when you're using adhesive tape.
When disassemblying the o2x, I found the adhesive sticking the LCD to the digitizer frame was too strong for the LCD to come off just like that (be careful, it's quite fragile). I heated the LCD a bit using a hair dryer, to make it come of easier. This has the added effect that enough adhesive may stick to the LCD, so you don't need to replace it when placing it in the new frame.
I only added a couple of adhesive strips to the top and bottom of the new frame before mouting the LCD. That was pretty stupid, cause the extra 0.1mm between the digitizer and the LCD means that when tilting the phone ~60 degrees to the sides, I can see the backlights at the sides of the screen. Surprisingly this doesn't seem to add any noticeable backlight bleeding though, so it's not a problem at all. However, I'd suggest to try and see if the LCD sticks to the frame with the old adhesive, before using adhesive strips. And if using adhesive strips, make sure you remove all the old adhesive from the LCD, and use adhesive strips all around the frame.
The only minor things to look out for are:
- Be very careful with the LCD! It takes very little flexing before getting dead stripes/areas.
- Careful with the plastic at the USB port - it's a bit difficult to get to fit, and it's quite thin, so I figure it will break easily.
- At the top of the phone, where the digitizer (or LCD, I don't remember) cable is mounted, there's a little grey rubber-thingy - it suddenly fell off my phone, and it took embarrassingly long to figure out where and how it fits
- The small backup battery (?) in the upper left corner of the phone is glued to the frame. I used a small flat-headed screw driver to release it from the frame. Don't try and remove it by yanking the flex cable.
But all in all, replacing the digitizer with a new one (already in a frame) was a quick and easy operation.
Edit: I bought this digitizer: ebay. co. uk/itm/T-Mobile-LG-P990-Optimus-2X-Replacement-Touch-Screen-Digitizer-Frame-ZVLT338-/160656180054?pt=UK_Replacement_Parts_Tools&hash=item2567dac356 and some cheap 2mm adhesive strips like ebay. co .uk/itm/3M-Sticker-tape-Adhesive-cellphone-touch-screen-LCD-2mm-HTC-Samsung-Sony-/200710386131?pt=UK_Mobiles_Accessories_RL&hash=item2ebb4571d3#ht_1099wt_1165

Why didn't I think of this before.. been cracks in my display for almost a half year now.
Local repair company said it takes two weeks to fix.. I had no plans to go two weeks without my phone
Just ordered one

p990 mother board
dear friend
sorry for my eanglish i write from italy.
i need your help but before i have to explane my problems:
i've a lg optimus x2 (p990) with water demage.....
i cleaned the mother board with success..now the phone turn on and fix the phone net and it can recognize the battery charge.
but unfortunately WI-FI,BLUETOOTH AND MIC(the people who call me can't hear me) DON'T WORK, THE GPS I DON'T KNOW BECAUSE I HOPE TO RESTORE THE WII-FI AND INSTAL GOOGLE MAPS.
i'm sure that wi-fi problems come from the mother board because i have an other same device so i made a test using the good one but the mic problems persisted
my question is ,do you know wich parts i have to check and clean again?
do you know where the wii-fi component are located in the mother board?
thanks for your attention
a friend
marco zavatta

Sorry for bringing up this old thread, but I have to ask, are all Optimus 2X digitizers the same? Don't some have different connectors or anything? Can I order any Optimus 2X digitizer for my P990? I was thinking of this digitizer, will it work?: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Digitizer-F...7BUA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1364833172&sr=8-1

I had to replace mine recently, I read there are cheap ones where they only recognize 2 fingers instead of 5 like the genuine LG part. I ordered my digitizer from Ebay for around 18 british pound, I followed a few videos on Youtube with the disassembly, it's actually not that hard.
Keep in mind though that not all digitizers might come with glue attached or come with plastic tools, so keep a small bottle of glue and some plastic tools (credit card style plastic, knife) ready. One video recommends buying foam pads to glue around the digitizer, I didn't find that necessary, I just glued my new digitizer back onto the frame without problems. I accidentally made some glue residue onto the inside of mine, so make sure that you work very carefully

I have done this twice. It is not too hard and a lot cheaper. I follow this guide: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Po8hBaZt__o.
Do yourself a favour and buy a digitizer with bezel (which is a frame). The first I bought was ****ty Hong Kong digitizer, the second one good Polish(?): http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/m.html?_nkw=p990&_sacat=0&_odkw=&_osacat=0&_armrs=1&_ssn=digitaloutlet.pl
The hardest part is not to get dust between digitizer and lcd screen - you could consider wearing gloves...
The second hardest part is not to bend bezel around usb inlet.
Good luck!

So there's no connector difference?

kaspar737 said:
So there's no connector difference?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The connector should fit any p990. If you are in doubt email the seller.

oneearleft said:
The connector should fit any p990. If you are in doubt email the seller.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry for coming back to this rather old thread, but I have recently replaced the digitizer on my LG P990, bought on ebay shipped from Hongkong, following the video guide cited above. However the digitizer now works erratically with upper 1/4 not responding to touch, and sometimes the whole thing does not work, so I am unable to unlock the phone at all. The only thing that worried me during replacement was the thin layer of plastic film on the inner side, which teared off when removing protective layer (the film was extremely thin and fragile)-would this be the problem? Or the digitizer itself is of low quality?
Any suggestions appreciated.

Display Replacement

Hey guys,
unluckily my Display (not the glass) got broken so I have to replace it and also ordered it already. After watching a few teardowns I have two questions:
Do I have to remove the back or can I just warm up the adhesive and take the screen off?
Can I use glue to replace it or do I have to use tape and can I use normal nail polish remover to remove the adhesive residue?
Sincerely

unins000 said:
Hey guys,
unluckily my Display (not the glass) got broken so I have to replace it and also ordered it already. After watching a few teardowns I have two questions:
Do I have to remove the back or can I just warm up the adhesive and take the screen off?
Can I use glue to replace it or do I have to use tape and can I use normal nail polish remover to remove the adhesive residue?
Sincerely
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can go through the front, but it definitely would be more risky since all components will still be connected.
I would personally not use glue. Glue is meant to support more rigid materials and the components in the phone are quite fragile. Though you could use very thin electronic glue. Not sure how well that would work.
Regarding the nail polish remover, I would not use that unless the content of water is <10%. You want at least 90% alcohol content for cleaning the adhesive. Your best bet is IPA (isopropyl alcohol). It will clean better and will not risk water damage to any components inside the phone.

So you say I have to do it from the back?
What is the risky part of going through the front?
Because of glue: Can I use any double sided tape I want?

So now I opened the ROG Phone 2 through the back and made the following experiences. And for all those who are wondering the same:
In my opinion you can't go through the front because the display is connected with a flex cable through the middle frame (which is indepentend from the display so the display comes without a middle frame where the components are assembled in like in many other smartphones) to the motherboard. Though there is a cut out in the middle frame for it but the motherboard blocks it so far that only the cable itself can go through and not the connecting port. Maybe you can disconnect the display but not connect the new one without disassembling the motherboard from the middle frame. And that's only possible with going through the back and loose the screws. In additon, especially after a fall, there can be more components be broken as just the display. In this case you can connect the new display and check all the functions before glue it together back again.
Because of the glue:
There is a glue available in two colors called B-7000 and T-7000. One of them is black and the other one is transparent depending on the color of your smartphone. These glues are especially made for smartphones. If you watch the Display replacement videos for the ROG Phone 2 you can see that they are using this type of glue and not double sided tape since it has to be 1 mm or narrower to be able to glue the display with the middle frame again.
For the back you can use double sided tape.