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I've been using my Touch Diamond for a couple of days now, and just read about the lens protector that apparently needs to be removed in order to take decent pictures.
Now I find, that it is impossible for me to remove the back cover!! I tried all sort of ways of pressing and sliding, but now I'm afraid to damage the device by using too much force...
Have any of you guys have similar problems?
Does have something to do with the heat build-up from the battery the expands the plastic cover?
Clean the back side so you have friction, and push UP. Should work. Just did it
pedmond said:
Clean the back side so you have friction, and push UP. Should work. Just did it
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That worked! You are GOLD, thanks.
Or you could throw it really hard towards the floor. Should also work...
I'm sorry, I couldn't resist
this has to be one of toughest problems ever to be resolved here!
a hammer would have helped...
I find taking the stylus out and pushing from that corner the easiest way. Its a bit of a pain to get off if you have greasy hands!!
this sounds disgusting. it sounds like his phone is submersed in oil and he needs to wash it to remove the cover =\
i also heard if you rub the diamond against your head several times then place it against a wall...it will stick..like a balloon.
now you try =\
Dude, WTF, you're a puss. You couldnt get the back cover on the phone open?
Clicky-clicky!
As you know by now, I managed to get the back cover off (...), but now I'm anoyed by a clicky-clicky unstability on the back - along the right side just above where it says "HTC innovation". It seems there too much room (or something) just under that spot.
Anyone else experiencing this?
zyborg said:
As you know by now, I managed to get the back cover off (...), but now I'm anoyed by a clicky-clicky unstability on the back - along the right side just above where it says "HTC innovation". It seems there too much room (or something) just under that spot.
Anyone else experiencing this?
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My Diamond has a very solid feel, so I'm afraid I can't help you there. Just to make sure: are you certain the back cover is well inserted?
Trust me, I have (tried to make sure that it's properly inserted). I'm now considering sticking some aluminum foil in there - as this should also act as a heat sink (I'm also experiencing intense heat from the processor when WiFi is turned on for more than 5 minutes).
Maybe then the foil will also fill out that extra space, I don't know.
In general, I think that the back cover is VERY poor quality and really needs to be redone/redesigned. The diamond shapes on the back is a mess, as the device rocks back and forth when you have it on a completely flat surface (like a table) and operate the screen/buttons. It should be made with a completely flush back and a more sturdy plastic material (thicker, at least). Don't you think?
zyborg said:
Trust me, I have (tried to make sure that it's properly inserted). I'm now considering sticking some aluminum foil in there - as this should also act as a heat sink (I'm also experiencing intense heat from the processor when WiFi is turned on for more than 5 minutes).
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Probably a bad idea. Sure aluminium might transfer heat well, but it also transfers electricity very well.
If yours is asloose as you say there's the risk of it moving and making Sony-style exploding battery fireworks.
What if the foil just sits in the bottom part and doesn't come into contact with the battery? Does that still present a risk?
mr_Ray said:
Probably a bad idea. Sure aluminium might transfer heat well, but it also transfers electricity very well.
If yours is asloose as you say there's the risk of it moving and making Sony-style exploding battery fireworks.
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zyborg said:
What if the foil just sits in the bottom part and doesn't come into contact with the battery? Does that still present a risk?
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I don't have a Diamond yet to answer that properly. It was just a general warning about putting metal foil in electronics. If you can see ANY way for it to move from where you put it to any other component or connector - don't do it. And that includes small parts of foil that may flake off from rubbing when the case moves (which is exactly what you're trying to stop, soit's potentially an issue).
I'd not risk it myself, but you probably wouldn't die. Probably. Much.
By the way, I tested the aluminum foil, and it worked well to remove the clicky-clicky sensation/sound, but I quickly removed it again after reading the warning above.
Can anyone suggest an alternative material to fill the gap?
zyborg said:
As you know by now, I managed to get the back cover off (...), but now I'm anoyed by a clicky-clicky unstability on the back - along the right side just above where it says "HTC innovation". It seems there too much room (or something) just under that spot.
Anyone else experiencing this?
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Yes on two different Diamonds, poor design, or design flaw.
Clicky-clicky has gone bye-bye!
I found another solution:
Cut a business card (not too thick) in half and place it over the battery on the inside of the back cover. Slide the back cover back on. No more clicky-clicky!
Today i spent what seemed like an hour attempting to remove the battery cover on my touch pro and FINALLY did it! I wonder why HTC made it so difficult. To fix the creaking problem, i just put some strips of tape on my battery cover and that stopped the problem
hi folks. i managed to replace my galaxy note front glass with a new one i got from ebay for 19$ and i want to make a step by step guide on how it can be done.
i did it using common tools and a s load of pacience and attention.
the tools i used are: heat gun with hi and low settings, exacto knife set,small phillips and flat screwdrivers, goo gone, and optional a screen protector.
first take the phone apart as it's describet in countless of threads and youtube videos. you should end up with the screen assembly shown in the first picture.
now we have to separate the glassscreen from the frame it sits on. for this we fire up the heat gun.
a few words about using the heat gun.
-my gun had 2 settings: low and high. during all this process i used it on low.
-don't put the gun directly and/or close to the thinn plastic wires that hold the two connectors.
- dont hold the gun in the same place more than 3 seconds, instead swipe the gun around the spot and the screen like u would do with a paint brush when painting.
- dont hold the gun too close, that is closer than 3 inch
-concentrate on the spot u working at but try to heat up the whole screen assembly, as it has to give away from all the points kind of at the same time, and not just the point u working at.
- dont overheat the screen as this will damage the amoled. thats how i got the two yellow spots on my screen. first one by accident and second one intentionaly to see if indeed the overheating is what caused it.
A very good rule for this is dont heat the phone more than you can bear to touch it cause afterall you have to hold the phone while working on it...
the way i did it is :
-i heated up the whole screen assembly, back and front, for a minute or two
- than i started to stick the tip of the exacto knife between the glass and the metal edge that sorrounds it. i started from the upper right corner, the side where the front camera is. see photo 2.
the goal is to unstick the glass from the frame. in photo 3 the frame and the screen is shown without the upper glass. this photo was taken after i finished everything, thats why the screen can be seen inside the frame. but i posted it to show the black sticky tape that its used to hold the glass to the frame. i think is the same kind of sticky tape thats used in all the touchphones including iphone to hold the front glass to the rest of the phone. in photo 4 i unsticked some of the tape to show it better. this tape is the main thing that holds the the glass to the frame. the other thing that hold the screen to the frame is some sticky glue on the back of the screen. but this is much softer and thiner glue. this is the reason why i say to heat up the whole screen assemby including the backside, to make it easyer to unstuck the glass and scren thats glued to it.
- once you get a bit of a foothold in the upper corner between and the glassand the frame you continue the folowing procedure again and again until the glass and screen detaches from the frame:
-every 2 minutes or so , when i feel the asemby cooled down, i'd heat up the whole assembly for 5 seconds or so, than concentrate on the spot i worked on for another 5 seconds, than move/push the exacto knife a bit. dont force it. after a while youl get a feel of it. if the exacto knife happend to be out, i would heat up the blade after heating up everything else, and than put the blade in.
prevent the freed parts from sticking back to the frame by using the rest of the exacto knife blades as shims.
once it detaches it should look like photo 5- the glass glued to the screen.
- now we have to detach or unglue the glass from the screen.
procedure is the same: start somewhere, heat, put knife in, etc... i used a second knife as shim folowing the first knife, and after avery couple moves i would get the knife out and wipe off the epoxy glue. heat the blade and put it back in.
when finished you should have something like photo 6 and 7: free screen covered in glue epoxy residue.
- now we have to get rid of the glue residue. i took the bulk of it usinga flat exacto knife blades like the one in photo 8 and 10. just warm the place a bit with the air gun and scrape it off with the blade. to clean what was left i used a bit of goo gone on a pice of cloth or napkin photo 9.
cleaned screen can be seen in photo 11 - sadly out of focus.
if u are like me and r impatient to test the screen you can just connect with just the side connector like in photo 12 and 13. the upper connector is for the s pen digitizer. side connector is for the screen and touch digitizer.
now all that's left is to put the phone back together except leave the new glass for last.
-first thing is to put the screen(without the glass) back on the frame. try to center it just right, so that ther's a little bit of space between the sides of the screen and the frame.
at this point all that will hold the screen to the frameis the thin layer of glue on the back of the screen. after centering and lowering the screen in the frame procede to put the phone back together folowing in reverse order the same steps used to disasambe it. when finished you should end up with the whole functioning phone except the front glass -as seen in photo 14.
now you can chose to trim and put a screen protector on the scree so as to fill the empty space between the screen and the glass - the space where the glue was, or you can just leave it empty. you can put a screen protector anytime after by removing the glass. which should be much easier to remove now that its held in place only by the blach sticky tape on the edges. just use some suction cap to remove it, starting at an age, and remove it like fliping a page. see photo 16. i used the note for 2 weeks without the screen protector in the empty space and it worked without a problem onlt thing was that when i pushed hard the glass would touch the screen and leave a bit of dirt in that place. thats why i decided to put the screen protector to fill the void. in photo 15 i raised the screen protector to make it visible in the photo.
if you are like me and worry that somehow the glass might fall off the phone you can always get a hard plastic case for the phone, like the one in the pics. it's made of 2 parts. one goes on the back one on the front and they snap togeter around the phone. this will hold the glass in place no matter what while it will also protect the phone.the case is in photos 17 and 18. i got this one of ebay for 8$ and free shipping.
the last thing to be done is:
for some reaseon the touch screen became much more sensitive after removing the glue so you need to lover the touch sensitivity. for this get the touchscreentune app from the market. it works with galaxy note and galaxy s2. put the sensitivity from the recomended 25 to 50.
the best thing about this procedure is that i dont have to worry about the f ing glass anymore. if it brakes again i'l just order another one and in under 2 minutes i can replace it. all i have to do is get the phone case off, put a suction cap on , , remove the old glass , and put the new glass. that's it.
because it takes 4 to 8 hours i would recommend the process to be done in 3-4 sessions as people would get tired after 2 hours of work and tend to lose focus, attention, patience and start to push to get it faster done, and that's when bad stuff happens like yellow spot burn on the screen or small scratches. another thing about scratches, even if u manage to scrach the screen dont worry to much as the scratches are almost invisible when the screen turns on. youl see what i mean ....
i do have one question: WHY DID SAMSUNG DECIDE TO GLUE THE SCREEN TO THE GLASS INSTEAD OF HAVING THEM SEPARATE LIKE ALL THE OTHER TOUCHPHONES?
I do the same for Galaxy S. I removed broken pieces of glass from device using guitar pick and carefully glued a new glass on each side. 9$ (free delivery) on ebay.
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anonymous572 said:
I do the same for Galaxy S. I removed broken pieces of glass from device using guitar pick and carefully glued a new glass on each side. 9$ (free delivery) on ebay.
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what kind of glue did you use? where did u get the glue from? how did u do it?
i didnt glue the glass back to the screen. i just put the glass on the frame. to fill the void where the glue was i trimed a regular screen protector and put it inbetween the glass and the screen. but it works same without it.
Very interesting, I didn't think it was possible because the glass is glued to the SAMOLED panel. I'm very glad that I am wrong.
As much as I hate to think about it, a guide like that would probably come in handy for many of us at some point.
*knocks on wood*
pboesboes said:
Very interesting, I didn't think it was possible because the glass is glued to the SAMOLED panel. I'm very glad that I am wrong.
As much as I hate to think about it, a guide like that would probably come in handy for many of us at some point.
*knocks on wood*
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Nothing is impossible with the right tool and know-how . The glue could probably be uncured with a heat gun, just like ipad. The challenge is not damage the panel and make sure it is dust free after put back the replacement.
It is said impossible because of the difficulty involved. If you can't manage to install a screen protector with perfect alignment and zero dust spike, this task is not for you.
@drevilatwork Thank you for writing this step by step guide!
I dropped my phone last night and it landed face down, cracking the glass.
I'm so upset, but I don't think I have the skills or the tools to do this job myself. I am relieved to learn that the glass can be replaced, but do you know whether the Samsung agents are likely to be able to do this?
they probably wont do it. but you can try showing this thread to some technician or phone repair shop and they might do it for you. they also might charge you a lot to the point where it might be more convenient to just buy a new 260$ screen.
looks scary dude
all im going to say is good luck separating the 2 screens without breaking the lcd or scratching the crap out of it ... this is a 90% epic fail method but thumbs up to the few that may succeed or dont mind their screen looking like its been belt sanded...
Its worth a try, since screen replacement costs 230 euros.
kawgirlval69 said:
all im going to say is good luck separating the 2 screens without breaking the lcd or scratching the crap out of it ... this is a 90% epic fail method but thumbs up to the few that may succeed or dont mind their screen looking like its been belt sanded...
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actually .. the funny thing is that even if u manage to screch the screen and / or leave dirt behind it doesn't show while the phone is on. it might show when is off but not when is on. i was suprised about that too. and secondly, having to do it again knowing what i know now i would do it without leaving a mark. and in the end is certenly worth a shot before ordering the 260$ screen assembly. the special thing that it requires is pacience and attention.
Why different prices for all the same lenses in this shop ?
drevilatwork said:
actually .. the funny thing is that even if u manage to screch the screen and / or leave dirt behind it doesn't show while the phone is on. it might show when is off but not when is on. i was suprised about that too. and secondly, having to do it again knowing what i know now i would do it without leaving a mark. and in the end is certenly worth a shot before ordering the 260$ screen assembly. the special thing that it requires is pacience and attention.
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as i said good luck with it and hope you make some money doing it..... ive successfully done the same thing myself but other than it will never look good like a factory screen (not even close), the amount of time it takes to make it look anywhere near acceptable (not like a 10 dollar repair) is big and that makes the repair not really worthwhile doing it for anyone but yourself and even then who spends 700-800 dollars on something and does a repair that makes it look cheap... then theres the whole ordeal of the membrane youre taking the adhesive off of along with the HUGE chance of damaging it.. it is placed with precision and adhered for a reason along with being dust and scratch free... this is a repair that just wont last because things will start functioning improperly for multiple reasons...
im not knocking you or anyone who tries this..im just trying to emphasize the dangers, downfalls and the probability of it being a legit solid repair. also the resale value when the next greatest thing comes along... just beware....
Hmmmm
Well chaps I hate to disagree here, but after speaking to the technical bods at Samsung it appears that the OLED is NOT glued to the glass, but the glass is laminated and bonded in, much like a car windscreen. My screen got broken the other day and I have read the 2 posts on XDA regarding this. Now if you go and have a look at the pics of the other post
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1487716
you can clearly see the OLED, although broken, seperated from the glass with no sign of any glue. The reason it broke is that upon heating the glass you will melt the glue, which will then stick to the edges of the OLED and if you pry it at the wrong place/time/too hard/whatever you will break the OLED as it is glued to the bezel itself. So when my glass arrives I am going to attempt to remove the glass using fishing line and pulling it between the glass and the bezel and OLED to release it, the same way as I used to remove car windscreens, and post the results here. I have also been told that the reason for the sticky "epoxy" mess that you encountered in this postis from melting the plastic on the back of the glass (which is the lamination!) by using too much heat.....I mean come on, a heat gun is a bit excessive!! Prying the screen out a bit at a time might work, but will surely end in tears, where as cutting the cold adhesive with a fine nylon cable, which wont scratch the OLED, might just work. I'll keep you posted on my results.
Just throwing an idea out there: maybe the adhesive would be easier to defeat when it's really cold, rather than really hot. I know a lot of adhesives become quite brittle when you put them in the freezer, superglue and epoxy for example. And the electronics/plastics of the display could be relatively fine with the low temps.
pboesboes said:
Just throwing an idea out there: maybe the adhesive would be easier to defeat when it's really cold, rather than really hot. I know a lot of adhesives become quite brittle when you put them in the freezer, superglue and epoxy for example. And the electronics/plastics of the display could be relatively fine with the low temps.
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this is not one of them...i can guarantee this 100%
learn how a digitizer is made then you might see the light, and not just the light of white trash repair and failure...
ive explained it in great detail many times... and btw just because im a girl doesnt mean what im saying is wrong... 20+ years in the industry gives me sort of a clue as to what im saying..
im trying to help people avoid a long drawn out disaster and to waste $20(which is NOT gorilla glass) plus all of the other things they buy to try to make this a success which will never happen...
and fyi freezers, superglue and epoxys are big no no's...they are not used by any factory so there is another myth busted... they will just add to the destruction... 100% guarantee
kawgirlval69 said:
this is not one of them...i can guarantee this 100%
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What do you mean? One of what?
learn how a digitizer is made then you might see the light, and not just the light of white trash repair and failure...
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I know how a digitizer is made.
ive explained it in great detail many times... and btw just because im a girl doesnt mean what im saying is wrong... 20+ years in the industry gives me sort of a clue as to what im saying..
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I had no idea you were a girl and I don't see why that matters. Experience is the industry is of course relevant, if your particular field in the industry was related to repairs. But I don't know if it is?
im trying to help people avoid a long drawn out disaster and to waste $20(which is NOT gorilla glass) plus all of the other things they buy to try to make this a success which will never happen...
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The glass on the Note is Gorilla glass: http://www.corninggorillaglass.com/products-with-gorilla/full-products-list
and fyi freezers, superglue and epoxys are big no no's...they are not used by any factory so there is another myth busted... they will just add to the destruction... 100% guarantee
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I didn't say factories use superglue or epoxy, or freezers for that matter. But the fact that factories don't use them doesn't mean it can't work for DIY repairs. Low temperature brittleness isn't exclusive to epoxy or superglue. Many, many glues (and other materials) have that property.
pboesboes said:
What do you mean? One of what?
I know how a digitizer is made.
I had no idea you were a girl and I don't see why that matters. Experience is the industry is of course relevant, if your particular field in the industry was related to repairs. But I don't know if it is?
The glass on the Note is Gorilla glass: http://www.corninggorillaglass.com/products-with-gorilla/full-products-list
I didn't say factories use superglue or epoxy, or freezers for that matter. But the fact that factories don't use them doesn't mean it can't work for DIY repairs. Low temperature brittleness isn't exclusive to epoxy or superglue. Many, many glues (and other materials) have that property.
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i mean exactly what i wrote... as per your idea... this wasnt one that would work... my god man do i have to spell everything out for you???
obviously you dont know how a digitizer is made or you wouldnt have spouted the crap you have... bottom line
the girl part..well some dont think women know anything..its a culture thing.. but as for you not knowing if my particular field in the industry was related to repairs my god ive only said it multiple times in multiple posts... but since you dont like to read i'll say it again..20+ years board level factory trained.. motorola, audiovox, nokia, samsung... and this is a samsung forum so i think i have my tech qualifications covered here... again READING IS GOOD... work on that...
again you just dont read or have horrible comprehension because i never said the notes screen wasnt gorilla glass i said the $19 one wasnt... seriously every time you type something you dig yourself a deeper hole...
your superglue and epoxy blather just shows you dont have a clue and dont read... really they dont have any place in the screen/lcd part of diy.. its just trouble looking for a place to happen... now if the plastic housing needs repaired maybe but still not a top ten choice... if you had a clue you would know the proper adhesive to use... and its easily found... you are just too much...
seriously...just give it a rest... i wasnt bashing on you and have said it ive also said all im trying to do is help people not make a bad decision... and THIS IS A BAD DECISION...
you want me to play nice (which i really am..most other forums here would have totally lowered the boom on you for spouting crap... ive been really nice.. to keep it that way just go post somewhere where you can be productive... here youre not... im sure you have some great ideas but nothing you have said in this thread is remotely good.. sorry but it is what it is...
beep beep
kawgirlval69 said:
i mean exactly what i wrote... as per your idea... this wasnt one that would work... my god man do i have to spell everything out for you???
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The sentence made no sense considering what it was replying to. Not my fault you were unclear/ambiguous.
obviously you dont know how a digitizer is made or you wouldnt have spouted the crap you have... bottom line
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Ok?
the girl part..well some dont think women know anything..its a culture thing.. but as for you not knowing if my particular field in the industry was related to repairs my god ive only said it multiple times in multiple posts... but since you dont like to read i'll say it again..20+ years board level factory trained.. motorola, audiovox, nokia, samsung... and this is a samsung forum so i think i have my tech qualifications covered here... again READING IS GOOD... work on that...
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Reading is very good, but you can't assume everyone in a public forum has read every single post of yours and remembers every detail. What isn't helping is the lack of proper punctuation and formatting which make your posts unpleasant to read.
again you just dont read or have horrible comprehension because i never said the notes screen wasnt gorilla glass i said the $19 one wasnt... seriously every time you type something you dig yourself a deeper hole...
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Replacement screens are generally OEM parts.
It might appear I'm in a hole, but that's only because I live in Holland and am below sea level. I assure you I haven't done any digging.
your superglue and epoxy blather just shows you dont have a clue and dont read... really they dont have any place in the screen/lcd part of diy.. its just trouble looking for a place to happen... now if the plastic housing needs repaired maybe but still not a top ten choice... if you had a clue you would know the proper adhesive to use... and its easily found... you are just too much...
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I wasn't suggesting to use superglue or epoxy, read it again.
seriously...just give it a rest... i wasnt bashing on you and have said it ive also said all im trying to do is help people not make a bad decision... and THIS IS A BAD DECISION
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I get that, and appreciate your concern. However, you should understand that some people like to try things even when the chance of success is not very high. You seem to be one of us in that regard (you attempted repairs yourself too, right?), so I don't see why it upsets you so much.
you want me to play nice (which i really am..most other forums here would have totally lowered the boom on you for spouting crap... ive been really nice.. to keep it that way just go post somewhere where you can be productive... here youre not... im sure you have some great ideas but nothing you have said in this thread is remotely good.. sorry but it is what it is...
beep beep
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I don't care if you play nice or not. I appreciate honesty. Now for some honesty in return: you're not helping in this thread.
All you do is say people's ideas are stupid without giving arguments that aren't arguments from authority. And I would very much appreciate it if you would stop misrepresenting my posts (intentional or not).
I am the proud owner of a new I9000, the b*&tard love child of 2 ebay purchases. Just wondering whether the leftover entrails are worth keeping. Specifically:
- broken USB port. I have a replacement part and looks easy enough to de/solder. Anyone tried??
- vol down button. Looks a nightmare to try to replace. Anyone tried??
- chip in screen. Not worried about it being perfect but its too deep to polish out and when you put a screen protector on it a bubble appears. Any ideas?
- chrome bezel. WOWOW didn't Samsung make it a separate element easy to replace...?? Has anyone done these successfully (first time, every time), or is there any way to make it look good? Other than hiding with a case which I have already done!
Thank you for all, any, or even no help.
H.
ihartley said:
Thank you for all, any, or even no help.
H.
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look at manuals and guides in My Android collections for your answers
If you're handy with a soldering iron and have a good one (not one of those fire-starting ones that plugs straight into the wall with a handle like five inches away from the tip) then the micro USB and button shouldn't be too tricky to replace. The button isn't that terribly important anyway depending on how you use your phone.
As far as the screen chip, I'd be tempted to use one of the screen protector methods using alcohol, perhaps the alcohol would fill the gap and stay there? Probably wouldn't work, but it might be worth a try.
I replaced the chrome bezel with a cheap, crappy gold one from china (and a gold battery cover) and it's totally pimp. The bezel is actually the very last piece in the phone though. You have to take EVERYTHING apart to get it out, it's a huge pain. I ended up slipping with a knife while I was doing it and cutting the vibrator off so I spent a few weeks waiting for the replacement touch button/vibrator/microphone board to come in.
OK, I have found the issue that causes the touchscreen ghost touches, unresponsive touchscreen, etc. This guide is short and simple, and is provided with NO WARRANTY, TO BE FOLLOWED AT YOUR OWN RISK. This guide requires that you open your device WHICH VOIDS THE WARRANTY. Those of us with the original grouper/WiFi/2012 version are well outside our warranties, so that really doesn't matter now.
To explain, our devices use (to my knowledge) an actively driven capacitive touchscreen sensor. It has been narrowed down that a significant number of devices suffer from a grounding issue where the voltage potentials between the case and screen will cause a number of touchscreen issues when the device is electrically insulated from the person touching the screen. There are many YouTube videos and guides on how to diagnose if your touchscreen has this issue; I will not detail those here. To be simple, if you set your device on an insulated surface like a wood table and touch the screen with ONE HAND while not touching the device with your other hand, the touchscreen will go ape**** on you.
For those of us suffering these issues, it can ruin the entire experience of the tablet. I have deduced through a logical process the location and cause of this issue, which I will detail in the guide below.
The nexus 7 uses a filmed metal back, which is mechanically grounded to the motherboard via two "blind" gold spring contacts on the motherboard which touch the filmed metal backing of the case back. I call these "blind" contacts because there is no corresponding electrical contact for them to sit upon, simply the material of the case itself is what they contact when the case is closed.
What you will do by following this guide, is physically break these tabs off the motherboard, thereby breaking the circuit of the faulty ground point. The reasons this is successful in resolving the touchscreen issue appear to be twofold; first the ground points wear off the filmed metal of the back QUICKLY due to flexion of the plastic case back and therefore end up forming a SECOND capacitor on the device case back. This causes electrical potential to build between the plastic case back and the device itself, causing unreliable reading and operation of the capacitive touchscreen. Second, the intermittent ground connection causes unreliable grounding of this capacitive potential, which is worse than no ground at all in the respect of a capacitive coupling of the case back and the device.
These issues could not and cannot be resolved by a firmware flash, because it is a physical problem. Asus could not resolve the issue completely, because even if all components involved are replaced the issue will arise again due to the way the device is constructed. It was simply a poor design.
So, to get to the meat and potatoes of the fix;
1.) Pop the back off your nexus 7. Locate and REMOVE THE BATTERY CONNECTOR to prevent any possibility of a short while you follow the rest of the guide.
2.) Locate the two blind gold spring pins on the bottom right corner as circled in red on my attached picture. Note how they do not have any corresponding connection on the case back as the WiFi GPS Bluetooth and NFC antennas do. This is because these points were meant to found the case back to prevent exactly the issues we are seeing. However due to poor design they have become the CAUSE of the issue.
3.) Most simple step: break BOTH connectors completely off the board by gently bending them back and forth until they snap cleanly off the board. There is no chance of trace damage when doing this - the solder is MUCH stronger than the super thin spring connectors and they will easily break cleanly at the solder joint. If you do not break BOTH off, the touchscreen will get WORSE because you have simply enhanced the ability of the case back to form a capacitive coupling with the case back. So break both, or do not bother.
4.) Replace the battery connector and case back, ensuring you do NOT damage any of the other fragile gold spring connections, if you do you will lose some of your antennas and these connectors are a pain in the ass to replace.
I have attached a picture that shows the two points that need broken off the board circled in RED.
That's it, you're done. Reboot the device and enjoy a touchscreen that actually ****ing works. You're welcome.
Again this guide is provided at your own risk, I am not responsible for anyone who breaks the wrong connector despite my detailed guide, and I am not responsible for any other damage your fat fingers might cause while dicking around inside a sensitive electronic device.
I understand if some are too squeamish to attempt this guide, but I respectfully request that those afraid to attempt do not bother ****ting up the thread with useless posts. Constructive comments are always welcomed.
If this works for you as it did for me (I.E. perfectly) please hit the THANKS button!
I'm also currently unemployed, so if I've helped you and you are better off than I am then donations to my google wallet account are HUGELY APPRECIATED!
Once confirmed, I would ask that the mods sticky this thread.
Post reserved for future use.
And the dumb ****s at Asus tech dept. of course couldn't figure this out. Never again will I give Asus a dollar for anything.
ChristianJay said:
And the dumb ****s at Asus tech dept. of course couldn't figure this out. Never again will I give Asus a dollar for anything.
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Even if they knew exactly what to do the company is not going to allow them to "damage" devices in order to fix them. That's how Asus would see it, as damage. It is against the original, albeit flawed, design.
fwayfarer said:
Even if they knew exactly what to do the company is not going to allow them to "damage" devices in order to fix them. That's how Asus would see it, as damage. It is against the original, albeit flawed, design.
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They don't do **** to fix anything, I sent them one, a 2012 N7 and they did absolutely nothing to remedy it, re-flashed the O/s or some such crap. I came up with a partial fix myself.
Just out of curiosity, have you done my fix and can you post confirmation so we can get the mods to sticky this thread?
As much as I'd love to get everyone's old n7 for dirt cheap when they think its "broken", I'd also like to see us snub Asus with our own permanent real fix as opposed to their bs runaround they pull until the warranty is up.
So please do confirm if possible.
fwayfarer said:
Just out of curiosity, have you done my fix and can you post confirmation so we can get the mods to sticky this thread?
As much as I'd love to get everyone's old n7 for dirt cheap when they think its "broken", I'd also like to see us snub Asus with our own permanent real fix as opposed to their bs runaround they pull until the warranty is up.
So please do confirm if possible.
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Hi, Just replaced a broken screen few days on it with a new one and got lots of ghost touches and non responsive spots.
So I tried your suggestion and it works for me , I took a less destructive approach and just put some tiny pieces of duct tape on the back cover where the connectors touch it instead of breaking them off.
My new screen is in place and working properly :good: .
Thanks.
yefet2000 said:
Hi, Just replaced a broken screen few days on it with a new one and got lots of ghost touches and non responsive spots.
So I tried your suggestion and it works for me , I took a less destructive approach and just put some tiny pieces of duct tape on the back cover where the connectors touch it instead of breaking them off.
My new screen is in place and working properly :good: .
Thanks.
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Mods please make this a sticky thread at your convenience, I believe this info will help a large number of N7 users, and it seems like according to the user above that it works when done in a non destructive way as well.
I ve had the same problem with my touch screen, it only happened when i connected the back cover of the nexus( i had a screen change)... so before i try to break the 2 pins i ve just put some electric isolation tape (plastic) and touch works like a charm.... thanks!!!
Be careful what kind of tape you use, some tape could make it worse.
You're welcome.
If anyone else has succeeded using this method or using tape, please post your results. I'm going to assume it hasn't harmed anyone or I'd have heard about it already.
Will attempt this tomorrow and confirm back. Using tape method.
Carried out the tape option, along with other additional fixes. Wipe cache, turn off animations, limit background processes to 3 and others. Seems to be working for me perfectly now.
fwayfarer said:
To explain, our devices use (to my knowledge) an actively driven capacitive touchscreen sensor. It has been narrowed down that a significant number of devices suffer from a grounding issue where the voltage potentials between the case and screen will cause a number of touchscreen issues when the device is electrically insulated from the person touching the screen. There are many YouTube videos and guides on how to diagnose if your touchscreen has this issue; I will not detail those here.
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Can someone please refer me to a YouTube video that shows how to diagnose if the touchscreen has this issue? Thanks.
It's so simple to type into google search "nexus 7 2012 touch screen problem video" you'll need to do it yourself.
Sorry.
Brilliant!
Finally I can now use my Nexus 7. At first I thought the erratic touches were due to the oil on the screen but upon replacing the screen protector, the erratic touches are still present.
Tried taping the contacts with a tape (A simple electrical tape would do), and much to my surprise, the device is usable now.
Also working for me, i just broke the pins. Much better now!
Gesendet von meinem Nexus 7 mit Tapatalk
Tested the tape/isolator option (less hardcode) in my "bad" N7 (the other works flawlessly and they were both bough day 1, maybe different revisions, not gonna open that one incase!), and the ghosting hits and touchscreen ignore problems seem to be completely gone.
Thanks a lot!!
Thanks so much for the fix, it's a new tablet now. I confirm this works by using isolator tape over the pins. Very easy fix, took me 2 mins to do it... would have liked to know about it sooner
Thanks, I already had managed to solve partially the problem placing an aluminium foil into the tablet (risky and complicated so didn't posted), but this is easier and WiFi reception is better too. Anyway it is not perfect yet, same problem than my solution: try crossing axis vertically or horizontally (only one hand, tablet on a table) and weird things happen like no touch detected, very fast touchs, etc... I will post here if I figure out something else.
I've noticed lastely that my pen sensitivity is different in the middle of the screen compared to the corners. I have to press down the pen harder to actually write something, while on the corners I can write normally.,
This was not always the case, the problem appeared just recently. The pen has bad sensitivity in the middle regardless if I try to write or just scroll on a webpage with it.
Restarting the phone didn't help.
I have a custom rom which I have not upgraded for months now (I'm waiting on Oreo roms).
The digitizer seems to work fine when I use my fingers.
I have uploaded a screenshot testing the pen. The corners are where I gently just swiped with the pen. As you can see there's nothing in the middle.
Could this be software (rom) issue, digitizer losing response or the pen itself? Any ideas?
Nebell said:
I've noticed lastely that my pen sensitivity is different in the middle of the screen compared to the corners. I have to press down the pen harder to actually write something, while on the corners I can write normally.,
This was not always the case, the problem appeared just recently. The pen has bad sensitivity in the middle regardless if I try to write or just scroll on a webpage with it.
Restarting the phone didn't help.
I have a custom rom which I have not upgraded for months now (I'm waiting on Oreo roms).
The digitizer seems to work fine when I use my fingers.
I have uploaded a screenshot testing the pen. The corners are where I gently just swiped with the pen. As you can see there's nothing in the middle.
Could this be software (rom) issue, digitizer losing response or the pen itself? Any ideas?
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None of the above. The pen has its own sensor behind the screen. It got damaged somehow. Time for a warranty replacement.
do you have a case on the phone? any magnetic closure will cause exactly this
WaxysDargle said:
do you have a case on the phone? any magnetic closure will cause exactly this
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Correct, I suspected it and removed the case and it solved the problem.
I recently bought https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Zim...lloy-Metal-Cover-for-Samsung/32828780058.html
It's a fantastic case in every way, except that it makes Spen go crazy.
Will it cause any permanent damage or am I safe to continue using it?
Gizmoe said:
None of the above. The pen has its own sensor behind the screen. It got damaged somehow. Time for a warranty replacement.
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It was the magnet messing around, the problem disappeared when I removed the case. Good thing I don't need to RMA this, I have 2-step verification for everything haha.
Nebell said:
It was the magnet messing around, the problem disappeared when I removed the case. Good thing I don't need to RMA this, I have 2-step verification for everything haha.
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Glad it was easy!:good: I'm surprised a case would be made that interferes with the pen coils. That's annoying. Good thing it didn't permanently damage it. Having to RMA would have been lame. What case did you buy, I'm just curious.
Nebell said:
Correct, I suspected it and removed the case and it solved the problem.
I recently bought https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Zim...lloy-Metal-Cover-for-Samsung/32828780058.html
It's a fantastic case in every way, except that it makes Spen go crazy.
Will it cause any permanent damage or am I safe to continue using it?
It was the magnet messing around, the problem disappeared when I removed the case. Good thing I don't need to RMA this, I have 2-step verification for everything haha.
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Click to collapse
I think it can damage over time. I remember similar reports on the Note 4 forum, but maybe something changed since then too.
It's a mystery to me, how some people still don't know that magnets and phones don't go along ?
Sent from my Galaxy Note8 using XDA Labs
Gizmoe said:
Glad it was easy!:good: I'm surprised a case would be made that interferes with the pen coils. That's annoying. Good thing it didn't permanently damage it. Having to RMA would have been lame. What case did you buy, I'm just curious.
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I posted a link in my reply above yours
Dejan Sathanas said:
It's a mystery to me, how some people still don't know that magnets and phones don't go along ?
Sent from my Galaxy Note8 using XDA Labs
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The phone works fine, it's only the Spen which is not working well.
Besides, there are already magnets in phone speakers.
sefrcoko said:
I think it can damage over time. I remember similar reports on the Note 4 forum, but maybe something changed since then too.
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I've read that magnets won't damage the phone, unless it's a really strong magnet like a MRI scanner. I won't be coming near any of those anytime soon.
The only thing that would be temporarily affected is the compass, which I don't use, and Spen in this case, which I use rarely.
Nebell said:
I posted a link in my reply above yours
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Doh! Just breezed right over that. That's a pretty crazy case.
just about every folding case on amazon has a magnet in it that will affect the spen usage.
just a warning to everyone.
Yep even a small magnet for the latch causes mine to curve away.
Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk