Database Develop

Phantom Touchscreen Input

Hi
I've been having trouble with the touchscreen on my MDA Vario III, I'd be grateful from some advice from some of you hardware gurus.
It seems to be detecting phantom touchscreen input, which can prevent it from properly detecting real input. This was evident in the Notes application, if I were to tap around the screen in draw mode it would sometimes draw dots, but often draw a straight or curved line between the last point and the most recent one. I thought something might be pressing on the borders of the screen so I did the thin card round underneath the bezel thing, which if anything made it worse, though that may just be me imagining it.
I sent it off to a local repair firm for a touchscreen replacement, got it back this morning and it seemed to be ok, but not perfect. During the morning, having rerun kaisertweak and installed a couple of cabs, it deteriorated again.
Right now it's cycling round the Alignment Screen, the cross is moving around on its own periodically. If I try tapping the cross it mostly doesn't detect the tap.
So right now, I've got a month old Kaiser, warranty void and insurance not applicable, that I simply can't use!
My question really is, what could the problem be if it isn't the touchscreen/digitizer (they are one unit on the Kaiser aren't they?) and it doesn't appear to be a physical problem with the housing of the screen? Does it imply a mainboard failure?
Does any user configuration at all survive a hard reset? Such as increasing the touchflo sensitivity with Kaiser Tweak?
Thanks
hipster

I did/do have the exact same issue, however on my unit it only happens when using some third party stylii (spelling?)....one old Ipaq 3970 metal stylus, and 2 multifunction pens. Using the onboard stylus (or any other light stylus, like the one from the P3600) I encounter no problems (knock on wood), no matter how hard I poke on the screen....
Unit is over 3 months old - have gotten used to it, just don´t use any heavy/metal stylus.
Your problem, however, seems to be a bit more pronounced.....

Thanks for the reply, michi, though your problem does sound a bit different, if just a change of stylus improves it.
I've tried the stylus from my old Wizard and the arse end of a pen, without success, sadly.
Oddly, I'm starting to think it might be slightly heat related, if I leave the phone off for a while it seems ok, and stops responding to taps more after it's been on for a while. Very strange.
hipster

I knocked up an impression of what I get when tapping in a pattern in the Notes application, image attached.
Reading other posts about perceived performance problems with the Kaiser, I wonder if there are other cases where it seems like it's locked up, but in fact it's just taking an age to figure out what you've just asked it to do, essentially just a problem with the touchscreen, not the whole device. That's definitely one of the symptoms I get....
It's back with the menders now, hopefully, they'll manage to sort it out this time...
Cheers
hipster

Not sure if it could be similar, but I had a Tablet PC which was prone to interference from the power supply. Perhaps this is the case. May the sheilding is not up to snuff? I am by no means an expert, but this might give you another path to explore for problem resolution. Hope it helps.

TyTN II Screen Broken.... sort of

Hi All
Spent awhile searching the forums (and the web) but couldn't find any relevant answers -- so here goes & apologies if it has been up before...
My TyTN2 got rain on the screen a few days ago (about 15-20 drops) and since then the touch part of the screen no longer works. The phone itself works perfectly, the screen displays everything as it should, but no touch.
Could a few raindrops do this?
I have a Hermes/TyTN 'lying around', anyone know if the screens are the same/compatible, was about to start searching for part numbers etc. but thought I'd ask the question anyway.
Any help, answers, pointers or links would be appreciated.
TIA

You could always buy a new touch screen.
I saw one at dealextreme.com for 4.99 , probably not the best quality but you can always give it a try for that price
sku.14919
cnn.cn also has the part , but only in combo with the actual lcd screen.

Thanks RacerII -- will check it out..

Had a similar issue with the touch screen dying after an os crash the other night n thought it was dead. Did a hard reset and reflashed and everything worked just fine. Try the hard reset and reflash first before you think about any repair options

@kaalgoosy
Thanks for the reply -- did a hard reset as you suggested, no change -- about to try a reflash -- currently using L26's B1 ROM, have dl'd B4 and will give that a whirl -- only problem seems to be I have to bypass the Welcome/Screen Alignment section (no touchscreen!) and Activesync seems to be lacking/missing/not working -- so can only try the SD method -- just reading up on that now

ROM update made no difference (wasn't holding my breath anyway...)
Looks like a screen replacement, after looking at the potential difficulties separating the digitiser from the LCD, decided a straight LCD replacement is my best option -- have found a place that will supply it (London UK) for £30 + p&p -- anyone know of a better (read cheaper) supplier?
Intending to use Mike Channon's guide to replace it myself...

no few drops of rain wont cause that damage...
most new PDAs and new gadgets in general including cams, portable ps... etc has a elements of water resistant+shock resistant and even an anti-magnetic field absorbtion (or something like) to reduce interference with other devices...
blackfoot said:
My TyTN2 got rain on the screen a few days ago (about 15-20 drops) and since then the touch part of the screen no longer works. The phone itself works perfectly, the screen displays everything as it should, but no touch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
there must be another reason cuz first sign of water damage will be blurry display..
blackfoot said:
the screen displays everything as it should, but no touch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
get your phone inspected by a professional technician especially if under warranty (dont tell them it was affected by rain drops.. they wont know) it might not be a very fair thing to say but again who said life is fair

blackfoot said:
ROM update made no difference (wasn't holding my breath anyway...)
Looks like a screen replacement, after looking at the potential difficulties separating the digitiser from the LCD, decided a straight LCD replacement is my best option -- have found a place that will supply it (London UK) for £30 + p&p -- anyone know of a better (read cheaper) supplier?
Intending to use Mike Channon's guide to replace it myself...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you got a web address for the London supplier? I think my screen may be on the way out.
Good luck with the replacement.

@jahrami -- was using the Kaiser's camera to take some photos for my daughter, it started raining while I was taking the last couple. 15-20 drops or so (as I said). Dabbed this off with kitchen roll, put the phone away. Got home a little later, tried to use the phone, no touch -- played around, soft reset etc etc, but nothing.
The rain is the only thing that has happened to it -- the display is perfect, phone itself works perfectly, have hard-reset, reflashed ROM, still no touch control... and while in theory I agree with you that a few drops of rain _shouldn't_ cause this sort of damage, it seems it has. Checked the water damage strip behind the battery, it's white, assume this goes pink/blue or WHY when exposed to real amounts of water.
Sadly, warranty is out (by 1 month) & the local phone shops want £40 to strip it and look... £32 for a screen? I'll do it myself -- if it doesn't fix it, back to the Eten M700...
@ach2 -- tried to put a complete & direct link to the item, message box wouldn't accept it (very long url). This company sells on ebay too, slightly cheaper (27.99 +p&p) and under various other site names, feedback is positive and screens are new. Can't comment on the company personally, unless you wait for a week. Thanks for the good wishes, will probably need them.
http://www.sparepartsformobiles.com search for Kaiser LCD replacement.

OP:
Before you buy anything for 27 quid: Note that there are 2 elements to that screen, as was mentioned (but maybe not quite clear) in post 2. There is the actual screen, which is a liquid crystal screen with thin film transistors with a glass plate on top, but on top of that is a digitizer. The digitizer is literally 2 sheets of slightly conductive plastic put together to assess where the stylus (or your finger) is currently touching it.
The digitizer shouldn't cost you more than about 5-10 quid. The full screen is going to cost you about 30 quid. You definitely don't need a new screen.
I've replaced 2 digitizers and 1 full screen on my HTC magician (I'm very good at smashing it into things) and after I broke it again, I bought a used HTC tilt cause I felt that an upgrade was in order. I ordered the digitizers for the magician and the screens from a generic eBay store in Hong Kong, it arrived the US (Boston) after about 2 weeks, I would expect Old Blighty to be similar.
Greetings from "New" England.
lncdoc

One more suggestion for you: have you considered using a virtual mouse cursor program? Maybe VirtuaMouse One-Hand?
Of course it won't actually "fix" your screen, but at least you'll be able to tap around your PPC until you fix the touch panel itself.

i will agree with such a temporarily fix, use a combination of virtual mouse
and voice commander and hotkeys shortcuts to navigate through your phone
look for second hand screen, there must be some around dude
EGMine said:
One more suggestion for you: have you considered using a virtual mouse cursor program? Maybe VirtuaMouse One-Hand?
Of course it won't actually "fix" your screen, but at least you'll be able to tap around your PPC until you fix the touch panel itself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

blackfoot said:
Looks like a screen replacement, after looking at the potential difficulties separating the digitiser from the LCD, decided a straight LCD replacement is my best option
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@incdoc -- Greetings to you too, cousin -- yes I do realise the screen has a separate digitiser (see quote above from earlier post), and in fact, the same supplier has digitisers for £8 but after reading about the difficulties of separating the digitiser from the LCD thought I would save time, effort and money by replacing the LCD in its entirety. I can always play with the older one afterwards, and if I successfully split them will get a touch screen and keep the thing as a spare, which seems like a good idea, as there are now several more posts regarding the same or similar issues to mine, just within the last few days.
Are you suggesting that separation _isn't_ difficult?
@EGMine -- have to say that I haven't heard of VirtuaMouse One-Hand, will look it up -- thanks for the suggestion.

Jahrami -- thanks for the suggestion, about to check VirtuaMouse and completely forgot about Voice Commander, just changed my ROM to L26's B4, (after fault developed) so haven't set the phone up, yet -- but definitely will set up some voice tags.
Big thank you (for telling me something I should have thought of myself -- age really is a bummer!)
Edit** Dl'd trial of VirtuaMouse, good idea -- hard work! Combination of Voice Tags and scroll wheel much better. Eten M700 back in cupboard. ;-))

Dammit, dammit and dammit!
In the interest of rounding things off -- thought I'd post this to (almost) end my (little) epic.
Bought a replacement screen from the source listed above, £32, web price was lower with free shipping, but phoned the order through to get a quicker delivery. Arrived the next day, exactly as ordered. (Bravo!) No tools included, but I have some anyway.
Used Mike Channons guide to replacement (no mention of the sticky keyboard hinge 'finisher' anywhere BTW), all went as planned. Total time to replace about 1hr 15mins. (Not rushing)
Screen kicked in, onto alignment and yippee! -- touch working again!
Knew I shouldn't have had that celebratory cup of tea! -- put SIM in, followed by SD card, phone no longer recognises the SIM. Bu**er!
Stripped the phone again (impressed myself, took less than 10 minutes), checked to see if the SIM ribbon had popped off -- seemed ok, but popped it and reseated it anyway. Reassembled the phone, popped in the SIM -- Bu**er again.
Stripped the phone again (4 minutes -- not bad eh?), checked the SIM connection to the keypad PCB and 2 of the contacts in the socket look slightly mangled.
At this point now I'm wishing I'd gone for the £70 repair option, it's 20 to 1 in the morning (12:40 am to you), the eyes are a little fuzzy and I (once again) have a TyTNII 'kit' in front of me.
Oh well, there's always tomorrow -- now where did I put my Eten M700?
EDIT** Forgot to add a request, if anyone has a TyTNII in bits and wants to sell the keypad PCB, leave info or PM. Thanks.
EDIT 2** Oh well, seems like I _have_ kiboshed the SIM socket on the keypad PCB -- so hoping someone has one (keypad PCB or TyTNII) lying around will sell for bits?

Screen Problems - Possible ribbon cable loose?

Ok guys, need some help here....
Got a HTC TyTN II.... Worked great for like 8-10 months, then started having issues with the screen.
Sometimes when brining it out of sleep, the colors are all jagged, and the screen is out of sync and staticky (kind of when you have a VGA monitor and you half pull the cable out of the connector)...
So I'm assuming its a problem with the ribbon cable coming loose (if thats how its connected).
Another thing too, the memory card slot doesn't work anymore. This just re-inserts the fact the ribbon cable or whatever for the front of the device is loose.
Does ANYONE know how to fix this? Unfortunately I tried to rip the phone appart myself and voided the warranty...
Anyone else have these problems?
Sometimes the screen works, sometimes I have to put it back to sleep, wait 5 minutes, and wiggle the front. hit the power button and it works. This has happened across 3 firmware updates so it's hardware for sure....

It does sound like a piece of hardware is loose. The fact that your mem card is not working further suggests this. I took apart my Tilt yesterday to replace the screen which no longer responded to touch, although it still worked with hardkeys. As part of the process I noticed the mem card slot was integral to the screen components. In other words, the screen and attached component, including the mem card slot is loose. For video as to how to pull apart your phone, go here. I have never done this before and this video worked beautifully. Also, search the forums for the HTC Service Manual and go through this page by page, step by step matching it against this video (if yo have dual screens even better) and you will come out fine. I did!
http://www.fonlogix.us/Video-Instructions_ep_34.html
You can buy replacement screens and the tools from the same website. Otherwise try eBay, which is what I did. Definitely get yourself a strong pry tool. The one I bought from eBay disintegrated in the first couple of minutes. Luckily there was just enough of tip of the pry tool for me to use brute force to pry open the case without damaging the phone.

thnx bud, ill be posting my results.

URGENT - Help with Replace

Hi . I'm going to replace my vox for TyTn 2 (!) . I need to know , what I need to check if i want to avoid sending phone to services (I think Construction , some problems like bad joystick ... ) ?

i purchased my kaiser brand new in may 2008...so you will probably get better advice from those that have gotten refurbished or second hand units.
anyway, heres a list of items you might want to check (based on my own observations as well as based on the readings/reports of various issues i've read about here on the forum):
1. hardware keys should work 100%. some users buying off ebay, for example, report that the phone works and the FRONT buttons work but the slide out keyboard is shot. just an example, it could be the other way around. but the point is to check and make sure each and every button works.
2. usb connector should work 100%. best way to check is to see if the phone can establish an activesync connection (with a known working cable) and if the orange charging LED lights up. next, hook up a wired headset (that is known to work correctly) to see if the pins for the audio signals are functioning on the usb connector. long press the button on the wired headset to see if the device starts to dial the last number dialed.
3. look out for "dead pixels". there should be NONE. because the kaiser has a relatively low resolution screen with less pixel density, i don't think it is acceptable for there to be ANY dead pixel at all because even one can become an eye sore. a quick way to check is to bring up an all-black screen and see if all the pixels are black. next, bring up an all-white screen and see if all pixels have turned white. also remember that sometimes dead pixels come and go. i've had TWO dead pixels during my ownership of the kaiser. one went away as soon as i flicked the device from the side and it never came back. another one lasted for a week and had me quite worried because it happened after my warranty period was over. i tried "dead pixel 'sweepers'" and maybe they helped because that particular dead pixel also eventually went away after a week and never reappeared.
4. scratches on the camera lens. note that the kaiser has a plastic lens "cover" on the back cover of the device. this part is known to get easily scratched and i don't think it is reasonable to be anal about this part. HOWEVER, if you take the back cover OFF, then the actual camera lens underneath the back cover should be spotless. check BOTH cameras to see if they work and can capture decent images (test the main camera with the back cover OFF to get better results).
5. the slide mechanism should be relatively "solid". look for distortions on the image displayed on the screen as you slide. ensure that the sim remains detectable when the keyboard is slid out. ensure that the front buttons work when the keyboard is slid out. ensure that the microsd card slot continues to work when the keyboard is slid out. all of the above mentioned items are connected to the main motherboard via "ribbon cables" (hidden underneath the sliding mechanism) and sliding out the keyboard can cause faulty ribbon cables to act up. look out for that!
6. make sure the status/notification LEDs work. read the WIKI/manual for information about the normal/expected behavior of the LEDs.
7. the earpiece should work. the loudspeaker should work. the microphone should work.
8. the touch screen should work! try out bubblebreaker so that you can check the responsiveness of the screen across its entire surface. recalibrate the screen if you have to. remember, the kaiser's touch screen can occasionally be a bit fussy if a screen protector is present.
9. look for obvious scratches/damage to the screen and body. try to see if the damage really matters to you (as an eyesore) or to the device (can it affect the device's normal functioning?).
10. check the water exposure stickers under the battery to make sure they have not turned a pinkish color. if they are pink, there is a chance that the device was exposed to some amount (or a lot of) water in the past. while you're at it, check the battery contacts for corrosion (might cause power issues later) and check the battery compartment for any signs that a previous battery may have leaked (extremely unlikely). who knows, maybe the owner had it properly serviced after the water exposure so no harm in asking. if properly serviced at the right time after water exposure, there have been many success stories here on the forum of the device continuing its normal functioning.
ummm thats about it from my side, hope this helps!

TYVM ... i have this phone ... I'm really exited . I'm going to do Hard SPL tomorrow ... I want some good rom ... so what is fast ... and have that D3D driver ??

congratulations!
i answered your original question because it was a bit of a unique question.
but your second question about "which ROM is good and fast" cannot be answered by anyone except for YOURSELF. go ahead and explore the Kaiser ROM Development Section. read about some of the ROMs that seem to interest you. try out a few of them and see what you like and dislike. good luck!

OK ... can you tell me ... what does thet D3D driver ??? and why 101 MB ram and D3D not working together ???
And one more thing ... i try ANYTHING but i cannot set up android and run it .... And also I don't know how to make that default.txt
And can you explain me this ??? : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qL8uq4FtduY

didoop said:
OK ... can you tell me ... what does thet D3D driver ??? and why 101 MB ram and D3D not working together ???
And one more thing ... i try ANYTHING but i cannot set up android and run it .... And also I don't know how to make that default.txt
And can you explain me this ??? : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qL8uq4FtduY
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How about you do some searching and explain it yourself or post in threads related to your topic.
ASCIIker isn't your personal guide through this site.

How to fix ghost touches or phantom touches in nexus 7 2012

Many users including me have faced this issue,the tablet screen automatically starts showing surface touches without any human intervention!!!!
so if you are looking for a fix to this issue you are on the right thread :victory:
Here are few things that worked for me and probably will work for you too
1.lock your tablet and open it again (ie make the display go to sleep for a while)
2.Reboot your device
these were the basic steps that might help but still if you get phantom touches refer further ;
This is the most important step that helped me and many users
*Go to settings>developer options>force GPU rendering (force use GPU for 2d drawings) click on it and enable it.
reebot your device
I cannot guarantee that doing the above procedure will fix all your touchscreen issues but as far as phantom touches are concerned it might help

to force GPU rendering is IMHO useless because all system apps and most play store apps use 2D GPU rendering already. This option is only there for developers who want to test their apps with 2D GPU rendering.

KRAKEN® said:
Many users including me have faced this issue,the tablet screen automatically starts showing surface touches without any human intervention!!!!
so if you are looking for a fix to this issue you are on the right thread :victory:
Here are few things that worked for me and probably will work for you too
1.lock your tablet and open it again (ie make the display go to sleep for a while)
2.Reboot your device
these were the basic steps that might help but still if you get phantom touches refer further ;
This is the most important step that helped me and many users
*Go to settings>developer options>force GPU rendering (force use GPU for 2d drawings) click on it and enable it.
reebot your device
I cannot guarantee that doing the above procedure will fix all your touchscreen issues but as far as phantom touches are concerned it might help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yep thats what i did if i got it
but the GPU rendering i did not try

USBhost said:
yep thats what i did if i got it
but the GPU rendering i did not try
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't give the reasons how 2d rendering works but it worked for me and I have searching for other possible reasons for phantom touches here is another possible reason
1.open your back panel, look at the right side,there is a black piece of foam tape on the cable attached to the touchscreen. when touching this tape or slightly pushing
down on this part of the device touch input starts to go crazy. I have noticed this also happens when the cover is closed and
you push down on the spot where the tape is.
So this probably means the ribbon cable gets flexed too much or maybe shorts when pressure is put on the back of the
tablet.
Put a little piece of plastic right under where ribbon cable comes up from the screen
and you are done
WARNING: Be careful or you might screw up,I will not be responsible if you spoil your Nexus

KRAKEN® said:
I can't give the reasons how 2d rendering works but it worked for me and I have searching for other possible reasons for phantom touches here is another possible reason
1.open your back panel, look at the right side,there is a black piece of foam tape on the cable attached to the touchscreen. when touching this tape or slightly pushing
down on this part of the device touch input starts to go crazy. I have noticed this also happens when the cover is closed and
you push down on the spot where the tape is.
So this probably means the ribbon cable gets flexed too much or maybe shorts when pressure is put on the back of the
tablet.
Put a little piece of plastic right under where ribbon cable comes up from the screen
and you are done
WARNING: Be careful or you might screw up,I will not be responsible if you spoil your Nexus
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't worry I soldered to the bord of my tablet 3+ times
But I don't seem to get phantom touches anymore
Well once evey 2 months or so. I'm fine

Theoretically it dosent help because its a hardware problem.I have ever met that probelm and fortunately my tablet was in warranty that time then i sunk help to ASUS.I witnessed how they solve the probelm:They cable-flashed a screen aligning rom into it and callibrated.Then they flashed the stock rom and everything is Okay now.youd better call the supporting center.

AqCwW said:
Theoretically it dosent help because its a hardware problem.I have ever met that probelm and fortunately my tablet was in warranty that time then i sunk help to ASUS.I witnessed how they solve the probelm:They cable-flashed a screen aligning rom into it and callibrated.Then they flashed the stock rom and everything is Okay now.youd better call the supporting center.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are many possible reasons to have phantom touches on screen let me explain
Capacitance has little to do with conductivity and virtually no electrons actually cross the
capacitance gap (think insulator). It is a measure of a change in the electromagnetic field around
the anode and cathode...causing a change in the difference of pressure between negative and
positive electrons on those competing surfaces separated by an insulator (or ambient charge).
By bringing something capable of either holding a static charge, conducting electricity or otherwise
affecting the measured capacitance (electromagnetic field) near it, the capacitance changes and this
is how it determines where the screen is being touched. It doesn't have to actually contact (or
conduct) which is why you can place a thin cloth or piece of paper over the screen and still activate
it.
Don't believe me? Try it. Put a piece of printer paper over the screen and then try to select an app.
Don't be too shocked when it loads. Another test , even more revealing to prove it... Put your phone
in a zip-lock bag (the plastic bag doesn't conduct electricity), and zip it closed. Then watch in
amazement as the phone's touch screen works perfectly inside the bag. If this weren't true, then
screen protectors wouldn't work unless they conducted electricity.
Moisture, grease, dirt...even dust changes the capacitance and can create an unstable reading such
that it can detect "ghost" touches, or real touches can be distorted fooling the digitizer into thinking
it has more than one press going on (this is a multi-touch screen digitizer), or that the actual press
is somewhere else on the screen.
Voltage fluctuations and "dirty power" such as produced by lower quality wall adapters can also
cause similar results. There are plenty of threads on the subject.
In your case, it was obviously hardware, but just because you identified and resolved your issues
regarding hardware, doesn't mean anyone else who offers an alternative potential cause is a "weirdo". By making blanket statements like that one, you effectively rule out all but your own
hypothesis, and then you make yourself look like the "know-it-all weirdo".

My device and solution
Like stated problems may come in different forms and solutions may vary depending on the issue. However after reading a lot of different forums I decided to fix the issue myself.
The problems were a lot of "phantom touches" and not responsive to touches at all. Only a lock up and open or reboot helped until I found out what caused it for me.
I have Nexus 7 2012 model and my problems were temporarily solved. I traced the problem to the touch screen connector (the one with 2 separate heads). So every time when you press on the case from the left side with your left hand roughly in the middle, the problems started. I opened the case and wiggled the cable to verify. Then I applied an extra screw to the one possible hole next to the cable to firm up the casing and so it doesn't bend inward towards the cable and cause the connection issue. Helped for some time. I have to find a more permanent solution. The linked video will show you the location on the cable and how to open your nexus 7 2012. Only do it if your WARRANTY IS NOT APPLICABLE AND WITH YOUR OWN RISK!!! Otherwise use the generic warranty routes and follow those. I shall not take any responsibility for your bricking your device. [Well I'm new and can't post the link to the tube video, but you can search it with the title "How to Fix Nexus 7 Touch Screen Problems" by Tampatec]