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HOWTO: Replace digitizer

I'm writing this up because someone else might like to benefit from my experiences with doing this repair.
Get your tools together: Multimeter, Torx T5, jeweler's Phillips (size 00), 15w soldering pencil, a bit of flux, some thin (I used 0.38mm 63/57% tin/lead) solder, and a clean place to work. You may want to grab a small ice cube tray or something similar with compartments to toss the screws in so you remember where they go. I highly suggest you get Kapton (3M) tape but you could use cellophane tape or a cut piece of packing tape. I had Kapton on hand so that's what I went with. You also need to either make sure the seller provides the double-stick tape gasket that binds the digitizer to the LCD shield or that you managed to salvage the one that secured the old digitizer. I was lucky and it came off the glass and stayed on the metal.
First of all, I've always had horrible problems with alignment with my Vario. The top of the screen was usually fine but the bottom would start drifting up. Cleaning the crap out of the edges under the bezel with a business card or doing the thumb rub was fine for that particular session but when I would sleep it and put it in my pocket, it was screwed up the next time. Dropping my Vario on the floor has managed to create a triangular dead zone that peaks at 1/2" from the bottom center and degrades towards the bottom left and right corners.
I bought a digitizer on Ebay from a seller in Hong Kong. It arrived about two weeks later and came with a T8 Torx and a case cracking tool. The T8 was thrown aside because it's obviously the wrong tool so I used my T5 and cracked the case. I won't get into disassembly/reassembly because that isn't the object of this and you can google the directions. Suffice it to say, when you reassemble the back half, ensure the volume slider on the case isn't going to snap the tab off of the volume switch on the board like I did the last time I disassembled it.
A note on this particular digitizer - It's NOT a HTC brand part. It's a generic part and doesn't have the glossy top sheet. I paid $20 shipped and for $20 it ain't bad. There is slightly less light transmitted and it's harder to read outdoors in direct sun but no big deal - it hasn't had to be realigned yet.
Now that you've removed the back cover, lifted out the board, unscrewed the LCD slider from the front cover, disassembled the two halves of the LCD slider, removed the screws that secure the top and bottom button pads to the LCD top frame and lifted out the LCD/button assembly and it's sitting in front of you - lets get to work!
First of all, you need to commit to this before you start making irreversible changes. If you've never soldered before, put this thing back together or find someone who has. You don't need a SMT station or the ability to solder 0605 components but since you're soldering on the plastic ribbon carrier, you need to be sure of your skills in order to not trash the LCD ribbon.
Now that you're ready to do this, examine the LCD panel and you will see that the digitizer is attached to the frame of the LCD panel. Use thin blade like a single edged razor to slide between the glass panel and the metal case and start lifting up the glass panel. If you're lucky, it'll want to stick to the metal case. As you lift the glass, poke in some tooth picks or similar to keep the glass from seating again. Start at a corner and work around going SLOWLY. I got to the bottom, rushed, and smashed the old part causing glass dust to go everywhere!. Try to avoid that.
Now that the old panel is off, cut the ribbon cable going from the base of the digitizer to the back of the LCD. Just slice it in half to get the old part out of the way.
At this point, align the new digitizer at the top of the frame first and then gently press it down. Ensure that ONLY the back's protective plastic sheet has been removed to avoid smudges and scratches. Now place the unit face down on something like a mousepad or similar surface.
There is a piece of Kapton tape across the digitizer ribbon and the backlight ribbon. Peel from the side with the digitizer FIRST! I started pulling from the backlight cable side and damn near pulled the backlight ribbon off!
GENTLY GENTLY GENTLY peel the old ribbon cable from the digitizer DOWN and ensure that it isn't ripping the pads away from the LCD cable. There may be a better way to do this but this method worked for me, I grabbed a corner with needle nose pliers and slowly pulled at a 45 degree angle. You want to pull the top which is the side soldered to the ribbon, not the bottom, which you cut earlier.
Plug that soldering pencil in, make sure it's set to 15w.
Now, with my el-cheapo digitizer, the ribbon from the front was slightly misaligned and I had to angle it over to the right. Otherwise if I went straight up it would've been misaligned about 2mm to the left. Ensure you have the traces parallel and directly on top of the existing ones and tape the bottom of the cable so it stays put. Another thing with my digitizer was the end required trimming. This made it easy to position when I had it bent back.
Now that the bottom is aligned and you don't have to mess with it, bend the cable back so that the copper traces are now facing up. The bend should be at the bottom 3rd of the exposed traces on the LCD cable. Make a nice sharp fold on the cable. Swab on a little bit of flux to make things easier to manage. Grab a popsicle stick or similar to push the new ribbon to the LCD ribbon, get the solder ready, and try to keep the heat on very shortly. You should only need 3 seconds of heat to get a decent solder joint because there is almost zero copper to heat up. Ensure the first joint is good by a quick tug of the cable and do the next three. After they are done, test with the meter going across to ensure the joint is good and from one side to each neighbor to make sure you have no shorts. Do the next three and then cut the extra ribbon cable off leaving maybe 1/4". Grab your tape and put a nice big piece across the back of the LCD covering both ribbon cables just like it was.
Now, reassemble your phone, turn it on, align the screen, and you ought to be good to go.
I don't take any responsibility for anything you might do to screw up your phone. These were my steps to fix my phone and they may not work for you and your phone.
As an aside, the new matte screen doesn't accumulate 'face gunk' quite like the old glossy one did. Also, the sensitivity is down a tiny bit and it needs more finger pressure to use Slide2Unlock. The digitizer also gets Newtonian Rings (google it) whereas the OEM one didn't. Also, there is a faint hum from the backlight (?) when it's on now that I didn't notice before.
So far, so good... The alignment on the bottom right corner is about 1.25mm above where the stylus point is but that might just be a problem with the screen itself. The alignment has stayed rock steady since I aligned it yesterday morning.

dropped tytn

i dropped my tytn the otherday now the slide out keyboard wont work,or lite up, does this mean some things come off in side and i need to dissmantle it?,

Be an idea to check... Do a search for the HTC Hermes service guide and you will find out what you need to do to take apart. You should only need to remove the back cover to see if the connector has come out. Should be on the left hand side about 1/3 of the way up from the bottom next to the bottom protective plate on the Main board. Push connector in(sorry, don't have photo's). If it clips back in the that was the problem, if it still won't work then other problem.
Be careful of the battery catch and camera switch when replacing the back cover...

Has anyone opened up their HD2??

Hey anyone already opened up their HD2? I need to open mine since my back button got stuck while my baby girl tried to press too hard on it. Now the back button feels like it's not presing at all compared to the other buttons.
i also have a spare housing that I am thinking of putting in.
Anyone can point me to the right direction?
Thanks

i've had the back off mine.
first search youtube for leo disassembly and you'll find an htc disassembly video: "leo Ds" (and another "leo As" for reassembly). they are somewhat daunting, but do not despair!
mine came back from a htc warranty service with a fingerprint on the inside of the lens glass and i couldn't be bothered sending it back again for cleaning so i did it myself. cracking the case isn't all that easy, or wasn't for me.
after you remove the 4 screws (get the void sticker and moisture indicator out with a pin), you still have to unclip the back from the chassis. WHY do electronics manufacturers design them like that??! in the video the tech uses a plastic hooked tool which i do not possess so i had to rely on my fingernails -- which i nearly pulled out! i tried for a good 15 minutes before it finally separated (with me sweating all the way that i was going to damage the LCD with the force i was having to apply). but it all finished happily in the end.
good luck with yours!

Not sure if it's worth it.
1st things 1st, watch the video on youtube..
.
Assuming u broke the keypad (just like me, but mine is right in the middle) at about the 6th minute of the disassembly video, they'll show u where u'd be replacing the keypad.
Removing the 'lcm and follow the indicator' isnt as simple as it look. you'd find the glue to be really tough. Putting it in an oven, sure, it'd be hot to the touch, and let it cool down a bit it'd be hard again. Hairdryer? Still too hot. Gloves?u'll lose touch sesitivity. So what i did was use a small blade/box cutter and cut which ever visible glue... and assembling, i had to replace all the double sided tape with some cheap ones...weak ones. Could be a good thing.. or a bad thing. Good, cos i know i dont have to wrestle with some really tough glue..in case i ruined my lcd again.... bad.. cos its..not that secure, i rmember that i nearly ripped it open unintentionally!
Neway replacing my digitizer+lcd took about 3 hours...had a couple of breaks, and spent 15 mins looking for the proximity sensor or was it the ambient light sense 'lense'..very tiny things those things are. So be careful...cos i eventually lost it..grrr
Anyway, Best of luck.. .now to find a replacement keypad that cost less than 5usd..hehe

dsx2b said:
1st things 1st, watch the video on youtube..
spent 15 mins looking for the proximity sensor or was it the ambient light sense 'lense'..very tiny things those things are. So be careful...cos i eventually lost it..grrr5usd..hehe
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
a good tip here is to work with the phone in a large tupperware box so that if something drops out it can't go anywhere.
note to the OP: i've read several posts where people damaged the ribbon cable connecting the bottom buttons to the mainboard so be careful. it looks very delicate.

Having just opened mine up several times recently I can offer a couple of tips.
1. Unscrew the four screws - they are T5 torx size.
2. Use thin stiff plastic pieces (I found the plastic case that nails are sold in to be the right stiffness and thickness). Cut some up and push them between the case and the phone works so that they hold each of the locking tabs out in turn. I used five or six bits to do this. Three on the vol control side, two at the top and one on the top area of the other side.
3. Then pushing out at the top where the battery would sit while prying with finger nails outward on the long vol control side you can work each of the locking tabs out so the plastic bits hold them unlocked. Do this along that side, across the top and down the other side working each one a little bit as you go and repeat.
4. This should allow the top edge to come out allowing you to lift is out and "up" so that the button end slides out.
This worked very well for me..several times.
The display is held to the electronics portion by double sided tape and yes it is very strong. But you can soften the adhesion significantly using a heat gun. But you must be careful to heat the whole area to avoid thermal differences cracking the screen. The heat will loosen the tapes grip allowing you to pry the screen away from the electronics side.
Note that the screen is made up of the LCD covered by the glued on digitizer and they are connected with a single ribbon cable on the lower right hand side (I think from memory). This means the screen has to lift off with a hinge action. Lifting along the opposite long edge to the ribbon cable, rather than lift from the top or bottom.
Hope this helps.

Hi, I tried to open mine and followeed the video, be careful as the video makes it look much easier than what it really is, I ended up ruining my device, just take your time and do it slowly.

Thanks guys! Gonna try it over the weekend. Worst case is that I break my case or put some cosmetic damage. I have a spare case though hehe.
The problem about the key is the back button feels stuck.... the other buttons are snappy and have a tactile sort of feel, where as the back button doesn't have the same feel. looks like it was pressed to hard and never popped back up...
just annoying when i've been very careful with the phone.

ok looks like i wouldn't have to open my phone.... i tried to but then there's a warranty void sticker, so I just called tmobile and explained about the back key being stuck.... and they're sending me a replacement.
i'm gonna lose my invisible shield full body though... but better than risking breaking my phone....

[Q] Broken LCD screen :(

Hey im panicing so bad rite now. I just broke my htc's LCD screen ! Mad sad from this disaster . Dont got much money so can someone please tell me whats the cheapest or best way to replace or fix it ? I really need help because im freaking out!

The repair choices
There are basically two choices. Doing it yourself or having it repaired.
In either case the most straight forward is to replace the screen and digitizer as one unit. I expect you can still see things on the screen yet its cracked from one corner. Its the digitizer on the top that usually suffers but its hard to replace by itself. There is a YouTube video showing how to do this (search on Replace Touch Screen on HTC HD2 on YouTube).
If you are game to do it yourself (an electronics tech would be able to do it fairly well, though it is still fairly difficult) then you can buy a complete screen and digitizer off ebay (around $100). Getting the unit out of the case is tricky as its held in with 4xT5 Torx screws (easy bit) and lock notches around the case (tricky part). I found thin stiff plastic bits slotted in between the module and the case works well at releasing the locking notches. Then press out at the top of the battery area, while pulling the top edge of the plastic case out and down with your finger nails. One side at a time. Don't forget to remove the SIM card and SD card as these will hold the module in place if not removed.
The double sided tapes used to hold the screen in place are a problem, but warming them up with a carefully applied heat gun does release them. I would add that there is no need to unscrew any of the electronics boards as the screen can be replaced without doing this. Releasing the screen ribbon cable connector is done by flipping up the black locking section on the ribbon socket. Slide in the new cable, lock it down, then curl it around as you slide it backward under the metal case so that the curl in the cable occurs in that small space under the metal rather than being folded over sharply, which can fracture the ribbon cable "wires" rendering the screen dead.
Press the screen back down onto the tape (hopefully the tape has remained slick enough as its all that holds the screen in place). Be careful to align the edges and top and bottom correctly, otherwise your buttons won't work and the screen will not sit in the case properly. You can test the buttons as you align to feel for the slight click. Be sure to test all four as alignment left to right is just as critical for full function as up and down. You should also watch to be sure the light sensor little plastic bit (its a small clear cube of plastic) doesn't fall out and disappear while you are doing the screen swap and it stays in place during reassembly.
Then press it home into the plastic case. I remove the volume button (if it hasn't fallen out already) as it tends to push the volume button pads out of alignment (they are only held in with yellow tape (be careful not to loose them). Then with it all snapped in place pull out at the volume button section and slot the button back in place. Orientation is fairly obvious with the button points lower down and the joining bar going behind the case plastic to lock it in place (all with the screen facing upward). You may find the volume button only works if you press down on the screen slightly. This movement will be taken up when you screw the 4 torx screws back in.
Finish by powering up (with fingers crossed) and test. Hopefully all working.
Alternatively, if thats put you off doing it yourself, get it repaired by a service agent (around $300). Then it comes back all done with a small warranty. Most of the phone providers will be able to direct you to a good independent service agent.

[Q] Removing Nexus 4 back cover?

I'm currently trying to gain access to my Nexus 4's drained battery.
Unfortunately, I seem to be having trouble removing the back panel. I removed the sim tray, unscrewed the two screws, and am trying to pry off the back panel.
So far I've used a cheap plastic separator, my nails, a nail file, a knife, a credit card, and a flat head screw driver. But I just cannot budge the thing even a little. Is there some other thing I should try? Some other method? I'm really stuck here on getting this thing off.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZDAIgwbXk4
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

Yes I keep trying it just as he is, but I cannot get it to budge with any of the tools listed above. I've worked on it for about 5 hours now.

Daeolt said:
Yes I keep trying it just as he is, but I cannot get it to budge with any of the tools listed above. I've worked on it for about 5 hours now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What I did was I started just to the side of the USB connector, and stuck a guitar pick in between the back and the bezel, and slid the pick underneath the cover and slid to the side. Then I did the same just to the side of the volume, and slid down. Once you get near the corner, you really have to push down and work hard to keep the pick under the cover. Once you get that side, you can lift the cover a little, and that makes it easier to slide the pick on the bottom side to the right. Get the bottom free and stick in the pick on the right side near the bottom corner after lifting the bottom a little bit, and slide up toward the power. Get that side loose, then stick the pick near the headphone jack and slide the top. You should now be able to pop off the cover, I didn't have to get the pick under the bottom right corner.

lopezk38 said:
What I did was I started just to the side of the USB connector, and stuck a guitar pick in between the back and the bezel, and slid the pick underneath the cover and slid to the side. Then I did the same just to the side of the volume, and slid down. Once you get near the corner, you really have to push down and work hard to keep the pick under the cover. Once you get that side, you can lift the cover a little, and that makes it easier to slide the pick on the bottom side to the right. Get the bottom free and stick in the pick on the right side near the bottom corner after lifting the bottom a little bit, and slide up toward the power. Get that side loose, then stick the pick near the headphone jack and slide the top. You should now be able to pop off the cover, I didn't have to get the pick under the bottom right corner.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll buy a guitar pick tomorrow and give it a shot, thanks!
EDIT:
It worked! Plastic knives would bend and break too easily, real knives would slip and shave off a hair of the plastic edge (luckly it's really hard to tell, but I didn't want to risk anything else), credit cards got too close to being permanently bent... etc etc.
Went to a guitar shop where they gave me 3 free guitar picks (shout out to Jim's Music) and after about an hours worth of work (maybe 30-40 minutes of solid work, with the rest being resting my hands/referring to images and videos) I finally got the back off no problem. No damages. Now to just get the battery off...