Database Users

Is my vibration motor dead / disconnected?

Hi everyone,
My Hermes does not vibrate anymore, there are two possible reasons as I see it:
1. I dropped my phone on monday, the battery cover came off and the battery fell out, the phone seemed to be fine after I put them back (most likely)
2. I upgraded from radio 1.18 to 1.27 (unlikely)
Those are the only two recent events which have happened to my phone, and as I doubt the radio has anything to do with the vibrator motor I assumed that when I dropped it, the motor broke off its contacts or something.
Things I have tried:
1. Upgrade to AKU 3.3 (previously running SA 1.35)
2. Downgrade radio to 1.18 again (no luck, back on 1.27 now)
3. Hard reset
4. Soft reset
5. BL 1.01, 1.04
6. Various combinations of all of the above
I have come to the conclusion it must be a hardware issue. I've looked at pictures of the inside of the Hermes but nothing is obviously the motor - could anyone point it out to me on an image? I'd like to have a look at it and if it has broken off its contacts, solder it back on, or buy a new one and install it if it is broken.
Also, are there any programs that can test the vibration definitively? It doesn't vibrate when I am rung or texted, even though the setting is to vibrate, and it doesn't vibrate when I toggle vibrate mode from the Comm manager.
Many thanks

unfortunately your not the first to suffer this problem:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=293004
i know that's not really of much help, in terms of fixing the issue. but i think it proves that it is some kind of hardware fault that many of us are experiencing. i've had this problem for a while now, and yeh, its very annoying, but I dont trust t-mobile enough to give it back to them to get it fixed because other than that everything else works fine, and in my experience if i get it repaired its bound to come back with even more problems

Thanks for your reply, I had read that thread but unfortunately for me I bought this phone off eBay (for £245 after O2 wanted £260 to replace my Wizard...) so I have no warrantee.
I am an electronic engineer so I'm not afraid to get inside either, if it is an obvious and easy-to-fix fault (wire needs resoldering or something) I will let everyone know.
Don't suppose anyone can point to a picture showing the motor could they?

Oliy said:
Thanks for your reply, I had read that thread but unfortunately for me I bought this phone off eBay (for £245 after O2 wanted £260 to replace my Wizard...) so I have no warrantee.
I am an electronic engineer so I'm not afraid to get inside either, if it is an obvious and easy-to-fix fault (wire needs resoldering or something) I will let everyone know.
Don't suppose anyone can point to a picture showing the motor could they?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The motor is on the back cover and contacts the mother board via spring contacts. It is possible that a sharp knock could flatten these contacts and stop connection to the board. This would be an easy fix - bend contacts back to original position and all you need is to take back cover off!!
Mike

I have fixed it - I opened up the case (just took off the back cover - this voids your warrantee) and it is located at the bottom. It has two spring loaded pins which contact the main board, and one appeared to be bent slightly out of shape. After bending it back I reassembled and everything works again!
Thanks for your reply Mike, I had actually just got back from my mate-with-the-T6-screwdriver's house where I fixed it when I read your post!
Thanks all

A hard knock can bend the Vibrate Motor's copper spring contacts enough to make them lose contact with the board. In other cases contact may be poor due to some oxidisation on the contacts.
For those who are not worried about their warranty, giving those contacts a tweak back into shape would not be a daunting task. 4 screws on the back cover, remove sim card AND Micro Card and with a bit of patience ease off back cover. That's all the dismantling needed .
Do remember to line up the little macro toggle arm on the camera with its catch on the cover when putting back together. First time I did this I forgot, got everything all screwed back and then discovered the camera macro arm was not lined up with the switch on the casing. So i would check the macro switch is working before finally putting screws back in.
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Some people are able to get the motor to re-establish contact with the m/board by giving the device a few sharp taps on the bottom edge. This can work provided the spring contacts are not excessively bent. Worth a try especially for those with a warranty for whom opening up would be warranty voiding.
Cheers
Mike

Ahh...so that's why my Dopod838Pro is not vibrating at times...I knew it had something to do with the amount of times I dropped the phone...(lol) well, I will try this solution and get back to you guys.
Thanks for the info Mike.

Weird problem with buttons on screen part.

Hi!
I got a weird problem. Seems like the buttons on the screen part have some problems.
When I press some of the button on Universal screen don't work but instead
the up button keep pressed, not phisically but logical.
It's annoyning because I must reset it to back a normal function.
I opened the screen part I checked and made some pression all over the conecctions, without the
back case worked ok, but when I put the back case on the screen the problem returns.
Please any ideas, solutions.
Thanx again, greeting from Chile

I have the same problem. If I rotate the screen around a bit the buttons work fine, but if the screen is on straight the buttons sometimes just keep on going.
I thought it's a faulty cable between the main body and the screen part, but seeing how it works for you maybe it's a connector problem? I bought a new cable and will see if it helps. Mine has a screen color issue too (screens is blueish).

patrickl said:
I have the same problem. If I rotate the screen around a bit the buttons work fine, but if the screen is on straight the buttons sometimes just keep on going.
I thought it's a faulty cable between the main body and the screen part, but seeing how it works for you maybe it's a connector problem? I bought a new cable and will see if it helps. Mine has a screen color issue too (screens is blueish).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried to identify what the problem is, but I didn't find anything. I tried pressing the conecctor to the buttons parts , I cleaned the pins, pulled the flex cable, and nothing ....sometimes it worked and sometimes not. Whatever I will to exchange or replace with another.

Grilloman said:
I tried to identify what the problem is, but I didn't find anything. I tried pressing the conecctor to the buttons parts , I cleaned the pins, pulled the flex cable, and nothing ....sometimes it worked and sometimes not. Whatever I will to exchange or replace with another.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like a cable break too. I think with mine it went wrong when I turned the screen too far. Somehow the rotation was not blocked anymore and I think it got twisted too tight and the wires in the flex cable were damaged. Wiggling the screen would help sometimes, but the problem deteriorated over time.
I finally received the new flex cable I ordered. I paid 44 GBP (66 EUR) for the flex cable to a company in Hong Kong. I think they are raising the prices of these cables, because I thought I saw them for 30 to 40 euro earlier.
Installing this new flex cable indeed got rid of the problem with the buttons and the problem with the blue color of the screen. Both problems rendered the PDA practically useless and now it's working again.
Unfortunately I somehow managed to break the camera. It says "failed to initialize" when I start the camera software I looked it up and people claim it could be caused by dropping the PDA, but I guess completely taking it apart and putting it back together might cause the problem too
To replace the cable I needed to take the PDA completely apart:
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:edit: Wow I checked ebay and the only flex cable seller i could find asks $119 for it. They are really becoming more and more expensive or perhaps I just didn't search properly.
:edit2: The store where I bought it still has some for sale for 39GBP

Help: "O" "P" "L" "Enter" Keys not working anymore.

Help: "O" "P" "L" "Enter" Keys not working anymore.
After getting a white screen, I did the fix of placing a small plastic by the black square chip, and assembled again, not a problem with the white screen anymore.
But I just had another problem, after assembling the phone back again, some keys on the keyboard stopped working: "O" "P" "L" and "Enter", and the key on top of the "I", looks like a softkey, but the other one works fine.
All of the rest of the keys work fine, but those 5 keys don't.
I checked for any dirt or something obstructing the keyboard chip, and the rubber, but nothing seemed bad.
I alo tried putting 3 sheets of paper cut in the size of the chip, but that didn't help.
I do use the keyboard, does any1 have an idea of why this is happening?

Usually complete failure of certain keys is down to one of two causes
1.
The ribbon cable is damaged - (think it unlikely unless it was cut or severely bent)
2.
The ribbon cable connector is not seated properly or needs cleaning or is damaged:
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Worth re-seating that a few times just to be sure - and it only needs the back casing to be removed (maybe you've tried that already?)
Mike

Could be buildup of corrosion between the keys and the Keypad. Visit Mikes site in his sig at bottom of his post to find the illustrations and instructions on what to do but make sure you test Mikes suggestion first. Cleaning the keyboard contacts is a more intensive job then just reseating the connector...
Cheers...

Yeah I was going to try to remove the white sticker as he posted on some other threads, but trying to remove the sticker seems hard and scary.
But, it seems very strange, that this happened after fixing the white screen issue with the small piece of plasti card.

The card shouldn't affect it as the keyboard is in the bottom half of the Hermes and the screen is on the slideout section. The thing that could have been hurt is the ribbon cable that attaches onto the mainboard Or the connections at the back of the LCD.
So saying though, I have found strange effects from mainboard problems messing with the LCD (my flywheel pcb broke and caused no backlight on LCD). But I wouldn't htink it would work the other way as it would be the mainboard where problems would originate, not be the byproduct.
Cheers...

Yeah, the card should not be a problem as I thought.
I have another hermes, which had the white screen, but at the time, I did not know how to fix it. The problem is that, I had issues with mine because it did not charge or power up anymore, I think the problem was the use of different chargers not made for the Hermes.
But anyways, I'll try to switch the keyboard from the old one into this and see if the problem lies with the keyboard, or cable. I'll try this tomorrow, and let you know guys about this.

I always find its easier, if you have the parts, to replace... Its when you have no choice you have the hard time..
Cheers...

Wow.
I just tried changing the keyboard from the old device into this one, same problem with the same keys... Then i said, ok, it must be the cable, so switched cables, and the same issue still :|.
I just had reset the device and it's still not working.
This has to be something else..

Possibly motherboard... You could try replacing the other MB, that is if it still works, other wise the connector may need to be cleaned - both on the MB and on the ribbon.. Use only isopropyl alcohol (surgical spirits) and a cotton bud. Never use Metho as it leaves a residue.
If that doesn't work then it must be the MB as you've tried changing the keyboard and ribbon. Little else to cause the problem.
Personally I'd try the mainboard as its fairly easy and doesn't require that much more effort than what you've already done. Remember though that you will have ALL the old data on the other phone. Old OS, settings and contacts...
Cheers...

[Q] Wildfire Screen Issues....HELP!!!

I have a weird problem with my Wildfire's screen after I did an OTA upgrade to Froyo.
First, the top of the screen stopped working. The taskbar wouldn't work and I the top wasn't responding. All of a sudden, after approximately a month or so, it started working again.
It worked fine for a few weeks and then the right side of the screen has a problem. All of a sudden it started automatically hitting the spot on the screen where the letter "P" would appear on the keyboard. When I was trying to type out a message, the letter "P" would get hit on its own over and over again. When the keyboard was not open, it would still happen.
I felt it might be a virus, so I did a hard reset. This still didn't stop. So I switched off my phone and kept it in a desk for 48 hours. When I switched it on again, this problem stopped, but the right side of my phone was not responsive (approximately 4 milimeters of it).
I can see that this is clearly not a hardware problem and has something to do with the firmware/OS. I'm not too sure what to do. I've tried flashing new ROMs on to my phone, but it remains the same way.
Incidently, when I tried flashing "TheNextSense" ROM on to my phone, the phone started hitting the portion of the screen where the "P" key would appear. When I switched back to CM7, it stopped, but the right side was unresponsive.
Is this something to do with the memory? Or is this a known issue with upgrades/certain ROMs?
Any help will be appreciated. This is driving me crazy

why do you think its not a harware problem ?
for me it sounds like it is one. (temperature or short circuit problem)

IANAHRM (I Am Not An HTC Repair Man) but I think the touch screen connector has just slightly worn loose, perhaps due to temperatures. It sits on the right side of the main board (left side of the phone itself). I know the Wildfire can survive quite a motion shock so that shouldn't be it (I hope).
Nandroid backup and restore jobs heat up my phone quite a bit, did this occur on your device as well while you were installing roms? That might explain the change in behaviour.
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henkdv said:
IANAHRM (I Am Not An HTC Repair Man) but I think the touch screen connector has just slightly worn loose, perhaps due to temperatures. It sits on the right side of the main board (left side of the phone itself). I know the Wildfire can survive quite a motion shock so that shouldn't be it (I hope).
Nandroid backup and restore jobs heat up my phone quite a bit, did this occur on your device as well while you were installing roms? That might explain the change in behaviour.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope. It's never heated up till now. This happened all of a sudden, and it gets worse with upgrades. It's like, for some reason, the phone isn't able to function properly with any ROM other than the stock ROM. I'm going to try to put back eclair on it today and see whether it works. Will keep you posted.

stavro said:
why do you think its not a harware problem ?
for me it sounds like it is one. (temperature or short circuit problem)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because it doesn't always occur. It kind of gets fixed on its own after a few days. It's like my phone has a ghost in it

I put back the stock Froyo ROM and now the problem is 50% better - much of the portion of the screen that was dead earlier is now responding. But the rest still isn't. Any ideas? :-(

[HELP] OnePlus 5 - weird LCD problem

Greetings dear people of this forum!
Few days ago my phone's display started behaving in a very weird way (could be a minor drop down).
When I press the power button to draw the pattern, the whole screen is full of disturbed horizontal lines (pic_1).
If I apply some pressure on the screen's bottom right corner (pic_1 - red dot) it gets back to normal and doesn't even flickering at all (pic_2).
Howerver as soon as the display goes off because of the turn off time, too close to the face when making a call or just switch it off with the power botton, the problem reaccures.
I am very sure it is hardware related, because on the screenshots there is nothing like that and it is persist in the boot sequence. In my opinion this is some kind of faulty connection, I have already take the phone apart to catch any loose connector, but nothing changed after that.
I feel like I have to buy a new screen, but I hope I can repair it somehow, because it can works very well after my acupuncture therapy.
I have bought the phone second-hand, and I know there was a screen replacement, so its not the original one.
pic_1:
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pic_2:
Do you guys have any suggestion?
Thank You in advance!

Grabps said:
Greetings dear people of this forum!
Few days ago my phone's display started behaving in a very weird way (could be a minor drop down).
When I press the power button to draw the pattern, the whole screen is full of disturbed horizontal lines (pic_1).
If I apply some pressure on the screen's bottom right corner (pic_1 - red dot) it gets back to normal and doesn't even flickering at all (pic_2).
Howerver as soon as the display goes off because of the turn off time, too close to the face when making a call or just switch it off with the power botton, the problem reaccures.
I am very sure it is hardware related, because on the screenshots there is nothing like that and it is persist in the boot sequence. In my opinion this is some kind of faulty connection, I have already take the phone apart to catch any loose connector, but nothing changed after that.
I feel like I have to buy a new screen, but I hope I can repair it somehow, because it can works very well after my acupuncture therapy.
I have bought the phone second-hand, and I know there was a screen replacement, so its not the original one.
pic_1:
pic_2:
Do you guys have any suggestion?
Thank You in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could also be any gaps or something that can cause the lines(display gets pressure from wrong installation).

2 options basically. Loose connector or faulty LCD.
I don't think it's software related.
If you can give it back, then you should. If not, then you can either try to fix it by yourself by replacing the LCD assembly (with the touch digitiser).

daviddosa said:
2 options basically. Loose connector or faulty LCD.
I don't think it's software related.
If you can give it back, then you should. If not, then you can either try to fix it by yourself by replacing the LCD assembly (with the touch digitiser).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, You were right, as I thought too. The reason behind the problem was the LCD.
I have replaced it and now it works like a charm.
Thanks the response!