Database Users

How I Fixed My Speaker Problem (Walkthrough with photos)

Disclaimer: This procedure voids the warranty and you can potentially damage your device.
This guide is for informative purposes only. Perform this procedure at your own risk.
This procedure was performed on an MDA2 (aka XDA2, Qtek2020, I-Mate2, etc).
Original Problem: The speaker stopped working.
Note: There seems to be a similar problem but it requires a totally different approach to fix it and it's out of the scope of this procedure. The problem on my device was somewhat different since when the speaker didn't work, the microphone was still functional. So the problem resides on the speaker connector, not the headphone jack.
Note2: English is not my first language, so please excuse any language errors you may encounter.
Let me start by saying that I have a big passion for gadgets and technology, so I was not going to let go on the opportunity to learn and inspect the guts of my brand new MDA2. You may ask yourself, why in the world don't you send it for repairs if it's a brand new device? Well, the answer is very simple, I bought this device over the Internet and I simply lost hope of being helped by the guys at the place I bought it from, they simply never answered or returned my calls and emails. I grew desperate and tired of using the headphones ALL THE TIME, even for alarms and reminders! and as I said before, I was driven by passion and thirst of knowledge and curiosity so I decided to fix it myself (even with the risk of damaging the device in the process). Let me add that I have some basic knowledge in electronics, and by no means this is my first device I fix. I have some experience. (I have fixed some damaged digitizers on a HP Jornada 568 PocketPC and Compaq iPAQ 3630 Pocket PC, fixed a volume slider on a SE T68i Phone and a SE P800 Smartphone to name a few).
Let me tell you that the MDA2 has been by far the easiest to fix. It's very well designed in terms of components and component placement, and the quality of the materials (plastics and electronics) is exceptional. But this is not a hardware review, so I'll start the walkthrough right now...
This is my victim... i mean... MDA2...
These are the tools required to complete the operation:
Torx #6 tool
Very small Phillips screwdriver (+)
Very small flat screwdriver (-)
Credit Card or similar card
A steady hand
Then I removed the SD Card and Stylus.
Proceed to remove the screws, there are two TORX#6 and four small Phillips (+). Be sure to put them on a safe place, they are very small screws and you don't want to loose them.
There are a couple of hidden Torx#6 screws under that black antenna cover, so we need to remove it. The plastic used in this part is not as dense as the rest of the casing (yes, the casing it's made of plastic!), so we need to be very careful not to break it, so apply very little force.
Start by using the flat screwdriver and insert it in the Stylus silo and use it as a lever (as shown), you will hear a "click" when the lock snaps. You will need flexible hands and dexterity since at this point you will also need to insert the flat screwdriver on the side square hole to release this side of the cover. (see next picture).
Here you can see the two squared-shaped holes where you need to insert the flat screwdriver to release the locks. Be very careful since there are some electronic components just below the square holes and do not apply excessive force to release the locks. Remember, the plastic is very thin on this part.
Now the other side, here you need to also use the flat screwdriver as a lever to release the lock on this side. Be very careful, since you will apply some force on the volume slider.
Now with the bottom part of the black cover released, you will notice there are some more locks to release on the top (just on the edge of the SD slot. DO NOT TRY TO REMOVE THE COVER YET!
One more time we need the flat screwdriver as a lever. Insert the flat screwdriver (as shown) but not too deep. Apply very small force in the direction of the arrow and the edge will snap off releasing the cover.
The black cover is now free.
These are the two hidden Torx#6 screws. Proceed to remove them to release the antenna.
The antenna has been removed.
So far so good, now the toughest part of the whole procedure, opening the MDA2 case. You need to be very patient, do not rush since the finish on the case is very easy to scratch and dent. Proceed with the small flat screwdriver and you need to start from the bottom of the MDA2, In my case as soon as I removed all the screws I noticed a small gap on the bottom so I started from that point, but if you don't see the gap, you can start from the headphone jack hole. Please be gentle and don't try to rush.
At this point you can use a credit card to help release the locks that are located all around the case, this way you won't scratch or dent the case. Start counter-clockwise, that is to the left of the headphone jack towards the Stylus silo. Once you manage to release all the locks on that side of the case, just lift it very slowly and the opposite side will snap off very easily. However, be very careful on that side (where the buttons and volume slider is) since in that particular place the plastic is more fragile because of the holes needed for those controls.
Once the MDA2 has been opened in half you can see the three small black Phillips screws (+) (see picture). Proceed to remove them. Please avoid any contact with the electronic components, since at this point any static charge can damage your precious gadget. And also make sure you don't drop the screws or touch the components with the screwdriver, since the MDA2 it's still very alive. See that coin-shaped thing on the opposite side of the screws? That's a LiPo Battery, and it's keeping your data from being erased. By the way, don't try to beat the 20 minute retention time of the battery, you have made a backup right? So go slowly...
Ok. So far so good... This is the speaker, well, actually that's the speaker encased in a small black boxy thing with two gold plated connectors. (see next Pic for a close up).
As you can see, the two gold plated connectors on the speaker container match the two spring connectors on the mother board.
Ok, here we need to be very, very careful. I pulled both springs as shown on the picture above to give them a little more pressure when assembled again and I also cleaned the gold plated connectors on the speaker container. Make sure you apply only the necessary force to pull the springs since they could be disoldered if too much force is applied. Use common sense.
We're almost done!
Now proceed to put everything back together. Remember to put back all the screws in their correct positions and do not apply excessive force or you will damage the thread and make things worse that they where in the first place. Proceed to close the casing by doing the opposite. Start by placing the case on the buttons and volume slider side first then the opposite side.
You may notice that the camera lens will not allow the case to go all the way, but if you do it slowly it will budge.
Proceed with the rest of the assembly in reverse order.
That's it... You can proceed to test the speaker.
My MDA2 has been working flawlessly ever since!!! :wink:
I hope this procedure was helpful.
Best regards,
Rayan

All red crosses instead of pictures...

And then the pictures came
Nice walkthrough you've made !

thanks for the very good explanation!
Illustrated by pictures is always great!
Thanks

Thanks, this is my way of saying "Thank you" to this marvelous community! 8)
P.S.- If you don't see the images, please try again later, since those images are hosted on my webserver and sometimes I need to reboot it... sorry...
Best regards,
Rayan

Just a little bump since I've noticed that many people want to open their beloved devices and I thought my walkthrough might help...
MODS: Any chance to make it a "Post it?" :wink:
Best regards,
Rayan

Excellent post, cheers, and if English is your second langauge then I'd never have known it! There are plenty of people for whom it is their first langauge who can't write as well as you!

Wow. Your documentation is better than what comes with the XDA itself! And your English is better than most people in the US. Great service to the XDA community.

Excellent work, man!

Thanks guys!
I'm glad you liked it!
If anyone has questions about the procedure, please don't hessitate to ask!
Best regards,
Rayan

Great! Somethings in life are free, for opening your XDA II there's Mastercard!!!
hahahahaha

pictures are gone? or is it just me?
did anyone kept a copy?

Sooooo sorry guys... I switched to a new hosting company and recreated my website but forgot to restore those images... I will take them back online ASAP!

waiting for the pics to comeonline again!
please do it asap!
thanks

any luck putting the pictures back online ?

Hello folks!
Sorry for the loooong delay, but as you can see, the pics are back!!!
If you have any questions about the procedure, don't hesitate to ask.
Best regards,
Rayan

Can someone help me?
I had the same problem myself, except that i've done all the stuff you said and i still have the problem... I can hear the phone ringing, but no sound comes from the device (Alarms, appontments, Media Player, etc). When i answer the calls i can't hear any sound from the people who is calling me... Can someone help me?
:shock:

Gents,
Slightly off topic, so please bear with me.
My M1000 has had a problem ever since I got it. The camera seems out of focus as soon as I try to make pictures past say 1,5 meters. Would the serrated ring around the camera lens perhaps be used to focus the device?
Thanks!
Stefan out

I tried to move the serrated lens just to play with it and see if I could get better focus and remember that it was really hard as if it was glued or something.
However, I didn't apply much force but seems like it's meant to be some sort of focus adjustmet, specially because it looks very close to the lens in my webcam when disasembled.
Should you give it a try, let us know...

is there a way to power an ipaq 3630 without the power adapter but with a different battery? like a cel battery? how is the power conector to the ipaq and battery?

wizard inside pictures here / keyboard replacement

Hi,
As my wizard dropped in the water it got completely soaked.
I disassembled it to let it dry, see photos attached, put it together again and presto, almost everything works!!!
Just four keys of the keyboard do not work anymore, and as it all happened a week ago now I do not think this will be fixed.
Does anyone know if they do not work because of the water or because of the impact (the Wizard smashed on the street first)?
Has anybody ever fixed a faulty keypad?
Can anybody tell me where I can get a replacement keypad?
Let me know if you need instructions how to disassemble your wizard.
many thanks!
manhattan.

I have no answer to your question, but it is nice to see the inside of the wizard one time.

A couple of other people were asking about disassembly in other posts - so the instructions would probably be handy.

Hi,
I would love some complete instructions on dissasembly as I am about to take mine apart for painting and a hardware mod.
As far as the keyboard goes, you would be surpised how long they retain water, i doubt its a hardware problem, keyboard are pretty much solid state with only a tiny membrane for contacts. However it is this membrane that is most likely to be your problem, the contacts are very close together and covered in a film that can be verry attractive to water as it has rubber over it. So in essence I am saying I bet it is still wet in there, just a few droplets of condensation would do it.
Options, take it a apart and check and leave in a very warm dry place for a day, or II place whole wizard on a warm heater (not hot) for a while and see if that gets it.
T

Hi,
I also want to know the details of disassembly the wizard.

I think you had better post the instructions o disassembly here as I'm sure there are quite a few people who wuld like to know, me included.

Just a thought by looking at the picture (brave btw!)
Would it be possible to replace the 2,5mm headphone jack by an 3,5mm one and drill out a new hole for the larger connector?
Would be neat if you weren't so dependable on those stupid converters. Not a pretty sight anyway.

Thanks for sharing the photos.

I took mine apart some time ago to fix the stylist problem and when I put it back together some of the keys wouldnt work. The back light wouldnt work either. I found the problem was the little snap that secures the flat cable form the keyboard to the main board. There is a really small clasp that clicks down on the flat cable after you insert it into the connector. Once I took it back apart and snapped it, everything was normal again.
I plan on taking mine apart to change the keyboard form the English/arabic to just English, (anyone know where I can buy the keyboard/keys?) so any instructions you have will be appreciated.
Thanks

The stylii in the picture look like BA stylii.
Do I get 10 points?

will post instructions
OK guys I will put together the instructions and upload them here. I just have absolutely no time now so I hope you can wait a day or two....
Thanks for the comments. I am aware of the little lock that secures the mini flatcable that connects the keypad to the motherboard. I assume that is not the problem as I snapped it securely back in place.
I will try the heater suggestion, I suppose you mean to put the wizard in an oven set at let's say 50 degrees celsius?
The styluses in the photo are from my Qtek 2020. As the Wizard smashed I lost its stylus.... :-(
Sorry the photos do not show the display half of the wizard disassembled... I realised too late that others would benefit from pictures...
Cheers
Manhattan

I dont think I would put it in an oven. I would think that just inside a vehicle sitting in direct sunlight for a few hours would probably do, unless you are in a really cold climate. You may also try some electrical contact cleaner then get some additional heat to it after it evaportates. There is probably something that has trapped some moisture somewhere. Just for info, I dropped my Jamin the other night about 4 feet directly onto a tile floor. It bounced a couple times, ejected the SD card, and reset. But it is working fine. However, I had a bud that dropped his 2 day old Sony Ericsson P900 into water and dried it off immediatly and let it air dry. It worked, but he had problems ever since. It would drop calls and restart all the time. So there may not be a complete fix for it.
Good luck

Hey guys, someone posted the HTC Service manual for the Wizard!
In this manual you see pictures how to disassemble the phone!
It's realy the best manual to use for opening your mobile friend....
Good Luck
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=43836

I've successfully fixed my girlfriends crappy creative keyboard once after water damage using a pencil. Depending how the keyboard is made, most of the time there will be really thin conductive tracks literally printed on the substrate. The water isn't particularly nice to these tracks and I found that in some parts there was noticale oxidation/corrosion. By very lightly scratching of the affeted paint and then going over it with a graphite pencil this did the trick.
Just an idea, personally I probably wouldn't do it to my vario but then again I'm still in the honeymoon phase with it.
Good luck

I fix phones for a living for many stores and have many phones that have water damage
what you dont do is charge it.. it will burn out the board
what you do is let it dry out, use the service manual and let it dry out in parts
then get white spirit and a toothbrush... dip it in and clean the contacts for yourk eys
once done, again let it try and then see how it goes. thats what i do, although we have a machine that sends out sonic pulses but the above method works too especially when im lazy

HTC Wizard Disassembly
hi guys. a lot of confusion over this simple matter. I don't know where the PDF file everyone's talking about is, most links didnt work, but here's some pics. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK! hahahahaha!
http://www.pdagold.com/articles/detail.asp?a=274

Hi,
I have a O2 xda model
IPL 1.01
SPL 2.21
GSM 01.12.10
OS 1.5.4.2
there is problem in formating the phone.
Even after a hard reset the Os wont boot,
it says that "formating is failed".
there is a prolem in the flash memory of the phone.
please help me with the assembly and disassembly process so that i can fix it.
Any one?

S100 Loses Signal

Hi, I hope someone can help me.
I dropped my phone a couple of months ago and now I'm experiencing a problem. It appears to work fine for hours then suddenly starts losing signal strength to the point where it goes altogether. I can start a call with 5 bars and be cut off with no signal in a minute even though I've not moved. It will nearly always lose the signal when I'm on the phone but takes longer when just in other use. All remaining elements of the phone work fine. Please can someone suggest what it could be as it is getting me down...thanks

I'm sure it's a hardware problem.

have got the same problem.Did you already find the problem.In the beginning the signal just dropped but know i even cannot find any service at all.
gr

I've had some luck by raising all the contacts under the sim card but the signal still comes and goes when I use the phone ??

Snap!
I droppped my phone the other day and it is doing exactly the same thing. Mine is a Qtek S110. I used to 'lurk' on this forum ages ago.. but [email protected] BACK to seek help! If and when I get my phone fixed I WILL post and let you know what it is, if I havent already found the solution here!

I think it definately has something to do with the SIM holder, whenever the signal decays and vanishes, if I take out the sim and put it back in it comes back straight away. if I just take out the battery and replace it doesn't

ok.. next time i lose signal I will do that. maybe even run some isopropyl alcohol over the contacts to make sure they are clean.
I will keep you posted in my findings!
(oh.. i tried a makeshift external aerial last night to see if I could see if it was an internal aerial fault. It didnt make any difference, so either my homemade job was [email protected] or it isnt an aerial problem, I'm yet to find out!!)
Cheers!

oh poooop..
that unfortunately didnt work for me.. Oh well. i even tried cleaning the contacts and making sure the 'sprung' contacts were connecting with the Sim correctly.
I actually lost signal until it came back 15 mins later.. hmmmmmmm!!!

Can anyone advise where I can look on the circuit board to see if there is any damage. I am capable of doing this and making a basic repair !!

I had a look at the mda strip down guide on here, but I could see any reference to the aerial or anything. I think I'll have to send off for repair! Doh!

I emailed HPC and they wouldn't take mine back as apparently it was not sold in the UK.

I think I'll give xdarepairs.co.uk a go. a mate of mine said they were good n' quick.

merceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

no wurries!

the unit that sorunded in red (in the Attached picture) is connected to the main board with tiny connector, and this connector is a male to female connector. the male is solderd to the main board and the female to the unit. my guess is that one of the connector parts (the male or the female) was disconnect from its soldering, and you need to resold it. but it is just my guess based on my experience.

I was taking a look at the mda-jam.pdf guide to removing the case and it suggests that the aerial contact on the board you have pictured is with the front panel.
Can anyone confirm if indeed, the aerial for the phone is the metal casing? That would suggest that the dents in the front of mine could have affected that very contact.

Would still like an answer to my previous post.. but I think I may have fixed my phone temporarily.
Using the above information I got a flat bladed blunt instrument (in this case a normal dinner knife) and carefully placed it into the empty sd card slot. Using the diagram from the case removal guide I applied pressure with the knife to the area where the 'aerial connector' rests against the front bezel, inside, whilst at the same time pushing on the front outer casing with my thumb in the same position.
The thought process being, that it may have worked loose.
Sure enough I have noticed a vast improvement in signal yesterday and today. I am going to keep an eye on the phone today when I go out to see if the signal stays up!
YAY!

Okay.. latest update.
The signal did drop out a little bit throughout the day, So I have taken it upon my self to put my electronic training to good use.
Using the (now much read) case removal manual I carefully .. and I MEAN carefully took my phone to pieces.
I was convinced that the reason my signal kept dropping out was either that something had worked loose or that there were some contacts that needed cleaning or reseating.. as I was able to get a signal by squeezing the case at the top.
So.. Here's what I did (In reverse order)
Page 9 straightened and cleaned the 3 contacts on the RHS plastic plate with isopropyl alcohol. Also cleaned the corresponding contact points on the main PCB with alcohol and dried with a lintless bud.
Page 10 3 contact points, top right and top edge left are the contact points I refer to above. Also cleaned the 2 sprung contacts at the bottom of the PCB RHS page 10
Page 16 cleaned sprung 'Aerial Output' contact with alcohol.. also pushed connector outwards to make a betterr contact. Also cleaned 'contact to the antenna' area and dried thorughly with a lintless bud. Any other contacts I could see were cleaned and dried too.
Whilst putting the phone back together I was very careful not to touch any components. Battery contacts and Sim contacts were also cleaned.
One thing to note in the manula is that it it possible to unclip the connector for the camera prior to removing the plate in page 8. However, it is probably best to follow the guide, if you are unfamiliar with the type of connectors used. They can break easily.
My phone booted correctly and is currently on charge.. I am checking functionality at this very moment and can see that the signal is good and all other parts / hardware functions appear to be good. watch this space! It COULD be one fixed phone!!
I can't remember who on this forum wrote the mda-jam.pdf manual, but I would like to publicly thank you as you have helped fix my phone!

I hope its worked !!! Let me know !

OK!
Well so far I have noticed a dramatic improvement on how the phone was. I am sitting here with full signal, whereas on Saturday I had between 2-3 bars.
I lost a little signal earlier today but as soon as I held the phone up, the siganl came back. So, it's not perfect, but the phone is useable now.
As long as it lasts for the rest of my contract, I'll be happy!!
Dood.

Tips for buying a used universal

Hello! could people please share tips and things to remember when buying a used universal? I mean what are the things that you should do to check or find tell tale signs of defect, hardware, the firmware the os, I have already done a search in the forums and already know some, but there might be things that I have missed, so help would be very nice, I will be meeting the seller so I get to inspect the device up close so it would be nice to armed with the info how to inspect the device from how to check the bootload etc.
Thanks for the help and I hope that this helps others too

The Universal can be bought cheap at german eBay. Look for MDA PRO. You should be able to purchase one for around or less than 100 Euro.
Preferably look for the following signs:
1) Unmodded. Many users got the Universal within a contract from the operator, but did not use it much, because it is too big for them. Such Universals are normally in good condition. When advertised that it ships with an OS different than WM5, you know that the owner has been flashing it. I personally don't like that, because that means it belonged to a power user and must be more worn out.
2) Warranty stickers. Make sure the hinges have the warranty stickers inside. If they are missing, the device has been opened. You don't want to purchase one that has been opened.
3) Screen. Screen should be without scratches and should have had always a screen protector.
4) Speaker. The external speaker which is used for calls can break, as it is fitted with some kind of pogo pins. Make sure it is working.
If you get to test the device first, do as this:
- do a call (bring your SIM card)
- check WLAN and Bluetooth (bring a headphone and try it somewhere with WLAN activity)
- bring a SD card and see if it is read
- check for bad pixels
- play a song
- take a picture
- try the keyboard and touch screen
- try all the buttons
If everything works, that is the best you can check it for.
Of course it could break the next day, but it shouldn't.
Cheers,
vma

Great guide vma!
I´ll just add:
Take special care on the swivel piece (The one that gives Uni it´s great and unbeatable form factor: PDA - Micro Lap top)

take care of another thing when i bouted my universal after i used it for about 1 week the phone was hangs soo much the reason was in the memory crd .....so you must try a memory crd and play a small video on it about 10 minutes

The most important thing everyone forgot to mention is USB port. When looking for a device, see if the port moves in any way or wiggles in its opening. See if the device synchronises with AS, charges etc.
The fact the device had been flashed or opened wouldn't play a huge part for me if everything else works well and the body is in sound condition, e.g. the hinge is not loose, the screen rotates and closes properly, all keys are present and work, keyboard backlight works with and without sensor etc.
Speakers don't just break, as post No2 claims (POGO PINS??), but it is good to check that phone is capable of making/receiving calls, you can hear the other party and the other party can hear you, can play music and earphone plug is in working condition/attached properly
Not reading SD or SIM card is a biggie, dim screen, lost touch sensitivity, scratched or damaged digitizer, worn out buttons - all obvious signs. You can open the back, remove the battery and SIM card and check for a small white blotting paper sticker covering the small mainboard pins under the SIM card, any change in color towards pink - do not buy.

@enigma1nz:
Shame on me, I did indeed forget the USB port!!! You should of course check both: charging and Active Sync connection. A broken USB connector is a mayor issue and hard to solder without proper equipment.
Regarding the speaker: I am speaking out of experience, as one faild on me. The speaker is like a small button and it has two contact plates. They are not pogo pins, but act like them. The speaker will be pressed by the case against two contact points on the PCB. What happens is that apparently some car-holders do too much pressure on the sides of the Universal casing, causing the speaker contacts to bend back and forth everytime the phone is placed or removed from the holder. After a few months the contact gets worse and worse until one of both plates brake off. Because they are so tiny, it is impossible to repair the speaker - believe me, I have tried. I ended up buying a new speaker cell at eBay.
Cheers,
vma

vma said:
@enigma1nz:
Shame on me, I did indeed forget the USB port!!! You should of course check both: charging and Active Sync connection. A broken USB connector is a mayor issue and hard to solder without proper equipment.
Regarding the speaker: I am speaking out of experience, as one faild on me. The speaker is like a small button and it has two contact plates. They are not pogo pins, but act like them. The speaker will be pressed by the case against two contact points on the PCB. What happens is that apparently some car-holders do too much pressure on the sides of the Universal casing, causing the speaker contacts to bend back and forth everytime the phone is placed or removed from the holder. After a few months the contact gets worse and worse until one of both plates brake off. Because they are so tiny, it is impossible to repair the speaker - believe me, I have tried. I ended up buying a new speaker cell at eBay.
Cheers,
vma
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And believe me, I repair devices for a living. Thanks for the run-through, although I could give you the same. It happened to you, doesn't mean it happens often or it is a fault in design. I could give you a list of design faults in quite a few models of expensive cellphones on the market today, the mentioned speakers are not one of them.

I appreciate, the help people! any more inputs? I am happy that all the previous posts were, about how to inspect the device upfront and some other useful tips what to check other inputs will be highly appreciated

Battery can be also considered. Some are sold with good batery some with dead battery. It is not so expensive, but costs something. In general if battery shows less than 50% and devidce still works (even under load) that is a good sign.
Also as for the touch screen - the best test is to open note taker and try to paint something. The painted line must exactly follow the stylus movement if it jumps somewhere, then the touch sensitive layer is bad. I bouht such UNI on eBay (was described as perfect working order), had to replace the digitizer myself.
I do prefer buying not working UNI's on Ebay with good display. Once I bought not booting one - mtty job fixed that. Other time I bouht one where the display was still off - the flex cable popped out from connector. Etc....

Thanks for all the advice people! now, please welcome me to the HTC universal family, (well actually, I have a Dopod 900 but what the heck all are the same right?) your inputs had been essential, for me to get my new baby without any hitches I hope that nothing manifests after the one week assurance the seller gave me
Special thanks to enigma1nz for all the patience and help provided to me I asked her a lot of questions in the pm's but she answered in full detail
Now I have my own device so I will be flashing away, I hope without any problems. Again my thanks to the community hopefully there are more inputs for others who are thinking of buying their 2nd hand universal via meet ups

Excellent news! Congratulations!!! And welcome to the Uni family, of course. As you can see, we are one friendly bunch, all help and support will always be available. Have fun

Damn, I was hoping to do a very good Marlon Brando Godfather impersonation with 'Welcome to the family'

LOL
You started in the right direction!

to midnightsights : welcome

orb3000 said:
LOL
You started in the right direction!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, sweetie, the right direction would be an Orb3000 impersonation and 'Welcome to the forums', but I was worried, being Orb2000, hehe, that I simply won't be able to compete with a more updated version

enigma1nz said:
No, sweetie, the right direction would be an Orb3000 impersonation and 'Welcome to the forums', but I was worried, being Orb2000, hehe, that I simply won't be able to compete with a more updated version
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL.........

enigma1nz said:
No, sweetie, the right direction would be an Orb3000 impersonation and 'Welcome to the forums', but I was worried, being Orb2000, hehe, that I simply won't be able to compete with a more updated version
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks dear, you´re nice
you´ll be Orb4000!!!
Cheers and have a nice weekend,

replacing G1 speaker

Hey guys,
The earpiece speaker on my G1 has developed a fault, the fault being it doesn't appear to work, how easy is it to source a replacement for it and how easy is the repair itself? is there any guides as to how to do it around? (i looked but i couldn't find anything).
I've tried flashing the rom and doing a hard reset but its still faulty.
The loud speakers working fine though so atm all my calls have to be done on the handsfree kit or via loudspeaker which can get annoying.
any help is much appreciated
regards
Streather

Are you using a ROM where sound works?
What ROM are you using?

Tried it with cynagen and the stock tmob one, same results.

Same problem
I'm using CyanogenMod 4.2.5. I dropped the phone about a foot (it fell out of my shirt pocket as I was tying my shoe!), and the earpiece stopped working. Everything else (speaker phone, etc.) works fine.
I've seen a number of similar cases in other forums, so I'm thinking that this is a weak point. I'll attempt disassembly and see if the speaker contacts got moved or something simple. Fortunately, replacement receivers/earpiece/speakers are available over the net.
Meanwhile, I'd love to learn of others' experience with this. The tech manual makes it look like you have to just about completely disassemble the phone to get at the earpiece, even though you can easily access 3 screws on the back of the lcd. Is there a shorter route to the receiver than a complete disassembly?
[update] I found some good info (including a technical manual) by Googling "g1 phone disassembly". And searching for "g1 speaker" on eBay gave some decent looking results.
[update 2] I disassembled my phone, took out the receiver, cleaned its contacts, replaced it, and and reassembled everything. That was a pretty serious chore, and it demonstrated that a nearly complete disassembly is required to access the receiver (yes, including all the stuff at the opposite end of the phone). I don't know how to test the receiver without being in cell range, which my house is not. But at least nearly everything else still works, except the camera--I need to tear back into the phone and make sure I fully seated the FPC. I think finding a replacement receiver will be a challenge--most of what turned up on eBay is actually the main speaker on the back of the phone, and I have yet to find a vendor that sells receivers.

Sadly, you will almost have to tear down the whole unit to get to it. It's not extremly diffucult, but you will need to be steady and gentle. Good luck.

Success!
I haven't seen many report back after tearing apart their phones to address issues with a bad receiver, so here goes. My simple-minded approach of opening it up, cleaning the receiver contacts with a pencil eraser, and ensuring good alignment before reassembling WORKED. I did not have to buy a new receiver.
Now if I can just get my camera to work again (I think I didn't get the cable well seated).
[update]: camera works! Seating that FPC took some nimble fingers--I got it on the 3rd attempt. I hope this proves useful to others who, like me, do not have the warranty option for various reasons.

I dropped my phone once, by accident, same thing happened. The speaker you use to put your ear up to when making a phone call doesn't work, but the speaker phone speaker works as does a bluetooth headset. Called HTC lied said that it just stopped working out of no where, they said its covered under warranty. Luckily the phone is under warranty until March and will be replaced.

I ran into the same problem. I was having intermittent problems with the earpiece. Yesterday I was able to take out the battery and put it in and it started working again. Today that didn't help either. I saw this thread and I thought that I'd try blowing really hard on the earpiece to see if that helps. It seems to be working again! I hope it continues to work.

dirtprof said:
Now if I can just get my camera to work again (I think I didn't get the cable well seated).
[update]: camera works! Seating that FPC took some nimble fingers--I got it on the 3rd attempt. I hope this proves useful to others who, like me, do not have the warranty option for various reasons.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you post details on how to do this?
My camera stopped working too.

I personally found it easier when disassembling the phone to carefully lift the entire camera and IMEI sticker as a whole unit and remove it as part of the motherboard. That way you dont need to mess with that hard to reach connector. So from where you are at, lift the board back out, reattach the camera assembly, and reassemble as a unit. I think you will find it is MUCH easier

Seat the camera FPC fully
RueTheDay said:
Can you post details on how to do this?
My camera stopped working too.
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Click to collapse
I had to lift the motherboard up and away from the hook that held it down in order for the FPC clip to open fully. Then I inserted the FPC *fully* before closing the FPC clip (my failures resulted from not being able to fully seat the FPC because the FPC clip could not fully open as long as the motherboard was in place). Then the trick was to get the motherboard back under its hook without accidentally pulling the FPC back out again. What I did was to press it gently straight down, using my fingernail to ease it past the hook.
Good luck!

bump...
Yeah looks like all there is on Ebay for speakers is the back one, the one for the receiver earpiece looks like it has two wire connections at each end while the one for the back speaker has them right next to eachother.
So if anybody had this problem, it is very odd and might have to do with the spring connection maybe.
Still I had this problem before and it fixed itself randomly, but this problem came out of nowhere because 12 hours earlier I had dropped my phone on its back and it continued to work fine. Than on my way driving randomly it would not work and I barely set it down in my car.
Once again hopefully somebody has found a part for this because ebay only has back speaker parts.
Best bet is to blow on it and massage it or tap it until it works, damn this sucks because it is basically the very last step to get to after dissambling your phone. So much work to get to such a common problem for many people.
I almost wanted to try to shortcut it and undo the two screws on the screen section to move it around to make connection. Now I am the deusche bag with the bluetooth in his ear all the time.

I almost wanted to try to shortcut it and undo the two screws on the screen section to move it around to make connection.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That was what I tried at first. It didn't gain me access to the speaker.
Taking the phone apart is a pain. You really need nimble fingers and faith that you're not breaking the phone when you're levering apart the *very* tightly held together plastic parts. HTC did not make this thing with servicing it in mind. Just be sure to have the right tools (including light and a good magnifying glass if you're over 40) and patience.

Removing the 3 screws that are accessible without disassembling the entire phone will get you in there if you are VERY careful. Unfortunately the one I tried this on did not work differently with a known-good speaker in it. You can delicately dig out the old speaker with a knife (Xacto) and drop the new one in. Takes patients, but not nearly as hard as disassembling the entire phone (been there, done that x10)
I have at least one spare speaker. Maybe more, gotta check my stockpile!

Hey,
My phone got dropped in a rum & coke on Saturday, so i soaked it in 90% rubbing alcohol and let it dry in a rice bath. after 4 days in the rice, it looked dry, so i turned it on. IT WORKS! The screen looks a little trippy (the pattern is even changing throughout the day) but the touch and accelerometer work great. The only real problem is the speakers sound like crap. the receiver is so quiet that it sound like they're wispering, and the back speaker is all crackely.
I found a replacement receiver speaker, but as i haven't taken it apart yet, i was hoping one of you could tell me if this looks correct.
http://www.tvc-mall.com/details/Replacement-Speaker-Earpiece-Receiver-for-HTC-G1-HTCO-G1/photos.htm
If so, i guess i'll order both speakers and attempt to replace them.

That looks about right. Bear in mind, of course, that those pictures are greatly magnified. If you haven't taken apart a G1 yet, you're in for a bit of nerve-wracking prying. Just go slowly and be patient. Getting all the way to the receiver speaker means taking the phone most of the way apart.

Thanks!
I have taken apart a phone before, the Dash (excalibur). I had to replace the screen, it involved removing almost every component.
I think i'll go ahead and order it, and cross my fingers. right now the phone isn't much more then a tiny computer, since i can't hear anyone and i don't have a Bluetooth.