Related
hello to everybody!
i got my xda trion 2 weeks ago. after one week, it was impossible to bring the stylus into the xda. so i got a new one.
after again one week, the stylus wont come out of the trion.
someone else prob's with the stylus?
greetings
karl
+ 1, probleme like a wizard too
same ting happened with my TyTN today...
+1 with one week old tytn
Same here...
First I couldn't get it out / then I couldn't get it in / then it would simply slide in-and-out freely to the point that only gravity was holding it in place (sorry if this sounds dirty, but this is what happened).
Had to have mine replaced. I've heard this issue has been around since the Wizard...
I really hope I don't have the same problem on TyTn #2!!!
After a few days of having mine suddenly the stylus was becoming enromously difficult to remove. At one point it just wasnt moving so after a forceful tug it pulled out and a tiny transparent square of plastic/rubber fell out with it. Looks like it was in there to keep it in place but i have no idea how to put it back in. Now the stylus removes fine and stays in place too :shock:
I had the same problem.
Could not get the staylus in with my TyTN.
So I did the mistake and pushed it in... a "knack" sound alerted me that something bad happened. Could not get the stylus in still... so I yanked a small rubber plastic piece from the stylus hole on my TyTN. Now I can slide easily the stylus in.
From teh reports I heard my guess is that the rubebr plastic inside the TyTN is used to firmly hold the stylus in. While without this rubebr plastic there is nothing to hold the stylus until you fully place it inside the TyTN.
andmjones said:
After a few days of having mine suddenly the stylus was becoming enromously difficult to remove. At one point it just wasnt moving so after a forceful tug it pulled out and a tiny transparent square of plastic/rubber fell out with it. Looks like it was in there to keep it in place but i have no idea how to put it back in. Now the stylus removes fine and stays in place too :shock:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here TyTN 1 week old.
same here,
think I'll swap mine over for a new one.....
raptorian said:
I had the same problem.
Could not get the staylus in with my TyTN.
So I did the mistake and pushed it in... a "knack" sound alerted me that something bad happened. Could not get the stylus in still... so I yanked a small rubber plastic piece from the stylus hole on my TyTN. Now I can slide easily the stylus in.
From teh reports I heard my guess is that the rubebr plastic inside the TyTN is used to firmly hold the stylus in. While without this rubebr plastic there is nothing to hold the stylus until you fully place it inside the TyTN.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here in 5 days
happend with me after 2 weeks. I've been struggling for a week, and now it's workng again! Don't know how long it will last. I hope it won't brake down, I bought Hermes thrue internetshop. Always sick to return things.
I carry something like this, and only use the tytn stylus in emergencies. I'm hoping this will reduce wear.
Same here - less than 2 weeks.
:shock:
Same here 5 days, luckley I had a replacment on order for BT problems recived that today lets see how this one goes.
me 2
my TYTN's stylus wouldn't stay in the hole.
i sent my tytn to be replaced (due to BT problems and screen alignment)
and i hope i t won't happen again.
when i put the tytn in the box to be sent so the stylus stopped falling :? )
that is odd
My stylus is a little difficult to remove at times, so I had a look down inside the stylus hole and it appears that there are three of those little pink rubber squares protruding from the side and a dark rubber 'socket' at the end to grip the tip when it's fully inserted. The pink squares are obviously there to provide a little more grip along the length of the stylus, but my guess is that even without them the 'socket' at the end would hold the stylus in place. I imagine that over time the pink rubber will either soften up or disintegrate entirely with the friction.
Solution stylus problem
I had the same problem with my stylus, my solution is take a Poster Buddy Brand name Pritt it is so called here in Holland you can place posters and photo's with it on wals, doors etc. looks like white rubber glue, think I see it in the UK with the name Sticky here you can buy it with photostores and bookstores etc. Take a small piece of it turn it between your vingers to a small ball and put it in the stylus hole after that push it to the end with your stylus.
After I do this I have no further problem with the stylus it works great.
Same issue here... the 2nd day I had it a small transparent square rubber went out of the stylus hole. Now i can put it in and out without problems...
Loose/Jammed Stylus
I'm afraid sending device back for replacement/repair for the stylus problem and loose locking keyboard may only be a temporary fix. Having had my device dismantled I can see exactly what the problesms are with both stylus and keyboard.
For the stylus there is a small block of clear plastic designed to create a friction lock to stop it falling out. There is luckily another small plastic spring lock at the far end so if the stylus is fully in it should click in and not drop out even without the plastic block. The problem is that the plastic block is not held firmly in its slot and as it gets loose creates far too much friction against the stylus which can then drag it right out.
The loose keyboards are due to the metal runners (that you see on back of keyboard partially springing apart (breaking tiny micro welds) at the ends where they lock (or not!) open and closed. These runners if they have sprung open like this will never lock firmly again unless you perform a bit of DIY.
I have performed small operations to fix both these problems and my Keyboard now locks very firmly both open and closed. The stylus issue is dealt with internally with a felt runner at a specific location. BEWARE of course performing these operations will invalidate your warranty. I can be much more specific for anyone who wishes to contact me directly particularly with the keyboard issue which requires quite a chore in dismantling the device - though I can now perform this in half an hour start to finish (Not something I'm proud of with a new device, but I had to workout just how to do the fixes!! )
Actually otherwise I think TYTN is great - superb in fact which is why I did not send it back for repair - couldn't bear to be without it!.
PS Finger around the screen method works every time for me forget all that align screen caper.
Mike
@mikechannon: Do you have high quality pictures of disassembled device where we can see the chipset references? we need to gather information on the hardware used inside the Hermes...
Hi,
The speaker on the outside of my universal (the onw you hold against your ear with when the screen is on the inside) is broken.
That started as something like a bad contact (if I pressed the phone against my ear it would work, otherwise not). Now it is not working at all.
The speaker on the LCD side is working fine.
The advice I want:
I took a look at the service manual PDF I got and disassembling the phone to reach that speaker is a lot of work. I do have experience with diassembling electronic devices and even do some soldering, etc. However, my doubt is this: I have a phone which does work, but the way I like to use it to make calls does not work.
Question 1
Is it worth the trouble to diasassemble the whole device just to check if it is indeed a bad contact due to i.e. dirt? Or will I actually risk breaking something off, which will render the complete phone useless? Looking at the service manual, one needs to use a plastic tool to actually open the phone. How easy do the hinges break off?
Question 2
Has anyone had a similar problem? Was it easy to fix?
Thank you!
Cheers,
vma
you dont need to disassemble the whole phone just disassemble the screen . It isnt that hard to do, just remove all the screws from the screen . The screen casing is difficult to budge at first but once you have freed part of it open, the rest follows quite easily.
Hi,
Meanwhile I couldn't resist and opened it...
...and I found the guilty part.
It seems that the outside speaker is actually attached to the case and uses a contact connection to the PCB. This connection is made by to metal plates, which are tiny and folded. They will compensate the varying pressure made on the case (i.e. when you press it) and I guess with time they tend to break at the fold.
This happend to one of the two contacts. First I tried to fix it, but the truth is that it is so small that it is quite impossible to do anything about it. I considered soldering a small wire, but that would require to solder the other end to the pin on the PCB, which then would mean, I could no longer use a regular replacement speaker, if this one had any other fault (unless I could clean the contact again, but trying that, I could break something else, also).
This means: now I am not able to use the outside speaker anymore...
Question: where can I purchase a replacement one? Would anyone sell me one from a broken Universal (for a symbolic price - anything over 10 Euro is too much, as I would prefer to just buy a another second hand Universal)?
And as I was figuring this out, I used the occation to fix that loose stylus!
1) Open the underside case (4 screws, then open the case all around with some thin plastic).
2) Roll a little bit of celotape and place it between the case and the pin that fixes the stylus in position.
3) Try it out until it is OK.
4) Close the case and that's it!
Cheers,
vma
Hi buddy, in fact I did have the same problem that you're having some months ago, my uni fell and since then the problem just got worst, until some day a couple months ago I opened it and fix it.
It's just like you say, the little golden plated contacts wore off, then the little speaker's metal plates just were too high to make any contact against the pcb, it's really simple, just pull the plates gently away from the little speaker, do clean both sides of the contacts (pcb and speaker's plates), i did this with a little xacto knife (be very gentle), and that's it! It worked just fine.
The problem is that in my case one of the metal plates broke off.
I tried to fix that, but it is to small for me to achive anything.
Cheers,
vma
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....
I'm hoping somebody with some knowledge of the HD2's innards can help me...
My vibration stopped working on my HD2. I found the plastic LED flash cover to be 'pushed in' (with the help of a couple xda threads I dug up). Others said it was an easy fix: Open the case and push that piece of plastic back into place.
I opened up the case to correct it. But after putting it back together not only does vibrate not work, but the volume keys, speakers (both earpiece and speakerphone), flash, notification led, and camera all don't work.
I obviously screwed something up, but I have no clue what it could have been. I was very careful. One thing I'll note is that when I pulled the case apart, the plastic volume rocker went flying. When putting the phone back together I got it back into place so that I THOUGHT it should work (it was seated properly and felt "clicky" for up/down movements.
But clearly wasn't just the volume rocker that was affected. It doesn't seem that I pulled anything else loose or anything like that...
But no luck, all that I listed above is non functional, and what I'm left with is a glorified 3.5 in tablet
Any ideas?? Thanks in advance!!!
Snapped a couple quick pics which may help:
http://i50.tinypic.com/mmsa36.jpg
http://i47.tinypic.com/sl1kdx.jpg
Unfortunately when comparing these to other pictures of the inside of the HD2 that I found online, I fail to see any differences, or anything I could have inadvertently screwed up.
Most likely you screwed up(or disconnected from motherboard) somehow your main flexboard, but your picture are not usable for this, you should take off your motherboard+main flexboard from chassis to have a full view!
You probobly just disconnected a small cable. I have no idea of the HD2 innards but did multiple repairs of small stuffs and the flat cables hold in place by a plastic clicker pull out easily - just reopen and check them all, you should be fine.
Thanks for the input! I figured it's something like that, just one small cable. But I didn't even take off the board at all... The pictures show the full extent of the disassembly... Do we still think it's necessary to disassemble it further?
I checked all visible connections, but yeah, maybe I somehow yanked out something that is NOT visible. I'll try to check again today... In the meantime, any more ideas from anyone else? Thanks!
For al that to be not responding I would assume main-flex damaged or as mention before maybe connection to mainboard got moved during pulling cover !
Volume button can be troublesome, sometimes the little plastic caps come off but if it felt clicky should be good in that respect.
also be very carefull of thin spring metal legs that contact antenna pads on back cover, one near screw above & right of vibro motor looks a to be a bit flat. They bend easily & break easily too ...
Have u tried starting up the phone without the backing? I had this issue when I painted my housing the led cover was stopping the motor from spinning but if i took out the backing it works. So I just trimmed the led cover and now it works.
Mister B said:
For al that to be not responding I would assume main-flex damaged or as mention before maybe connection to mainboard got moved during pulling cover !
Volume button can be troublesome, sometimes the little plastic caps come off but if it felt clicky should be good in that respect.
also be very carefull of thin spring metal legs that contact antenna pads on back cover, one near screw above & right of vibro motor looks a to be a bit flat. They bend easily & break easily too ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm nooby with regard to this stuff; I only attempted the repair since I read in a couple other threads about multiple self-proclaimed non-super-tech savvy people were able to open it up and move the plastic LED cover for an easy fix.
So what exactly am I looking for with regard to the main-flex? Where is it? I thought I wouldn't really see that unless I removed the board which I haven't done... is it still possible I knocked it loose or damaged it? I didn't think that would be possible since I ONLY removed the back cover (though it does take a slightly uncomfortable amount of force to do so, so I guess anything can happen...).
If not the main flex cable, is there anything else specific to look at which may be disconnected? It seems to be all the stuff at the top of the phone that fails to work (camera, speakers, vibration, flash, volume keys). While the stuff on the bottom (other hardware buttons, charging jack, headphone jack, etc).
THanks!
I have given up. After being stumped briefly how to hard reset the device without the volume keys working (I have Android installed), I was able to do it via ADB from the Android dev kit.
To ebay I go...
im not sure if this is a widespread issue most most of us. as we are all using SHIELD for different forms of entertainment. but i have noticed that with running just about any game designed for digital input, the D-pad is almost useless.
let me explain:
when playing say, Super Mario World. 90% of the time you're always holding "right" on the D-pad because thats the direction of game play. but for some reason you have to REALLY try to only push on the right input of the D-pad. reason being the sensitivity of the D-pad is so strong the if you ever so slightly start to push "down" even in this slightest, Mario will duck and stop running... its sooo f&%$*ng annoying!
this problem is not limited to this game alone, obviously. but to test to see if i was over reacting i popped in the SNES cart in my SNES console (along with many other titles) and had no issues whatsoever with controls on my SNES controller.
then even to run more "tests" to see if i was going crazy i had my brother (also a "old school" gamer) try out my his favorite game Contra. for test purity i never mentioned my thoughts on the D-pad to him, but after 3min of playing he looked at me a said "is there any way you can adjust the sensitivity of the D-pad? on this thing?"
i even had my Mom try out her fav, Tetris and her thoughts were similar... input errors....
so i ether have a unit that has some sort of defect and im completely alone here on this forum? or maybe there are a few more of you out there with this same problem.
well i might just maybe have a solution...
here is the PCB for the shield:
here is the PCB of a SNES controller: (my favorite controller )
here is the mod im planing:
so for clarification, the RED is where i plan to paint over or shave down the conductive contact materal on the PCB. this should in theory make the contact area act more like the D-pad us old school gamers are familiar with. so instead of the contacts kind of "weaving" its more like the 1/2 circles contact patch seen on the button side of the PCB.
i feel this may be a pretty easy mod for most of us and there is already a handy teardown via ifixit:
http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Nvidia+Shield+Teardown/16212/1
thought?
suggestions?
Sounds interesting.
I'd suggest starting with something non-permanent like cutting a piece of tape to size and using that first to make sure it does what you expect.
Also take a look at the d-pad contacts and make sure that those are large enough to still complete the circuit.
I don't actually own a shield but had the same issue with the xbox 360 controller and fighting games. Let us know if it actually works.
masterfud said:
Sounds interesting.
I'd suggest starting with something non-permanent like cutting a piece of tape to size and using that first to make sure it does what you expect.
Also take a look at the d-pad contacts and make sure that those are large enough to still complete the circuit.
I don't actually own a shield but had the same issue with the xbox 360 controller and fighting games. Let us know if it actually works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
good points. the D-pad does move (or skate?) from side to side about 1/8-1/4" inside the housing. so id need to make sure the D-pad contact pad will still hit both sides of the PCB contacts at the furthest positions to complete the circuit.
i was thinking the paint might be better for the short term test, as tape might "smudge" out of the way during a heated game like streetfighter?
if the idea works id prob scrape away the unwanted conductive material (the lines marked in red) with a hobby knife for a more durable and permanent solution.
only thing im worried about is the pressure needed for circuit closing will change from having the contacts painted (raised up surface) vs taking down the unwanted material (lowered surface) when referenced to the actual contact material we are actually trying to hit. not sure if that is easy to explain without pictures.
Don't do it. Electronics hobbyist here.
Those buttons are a digital 0 or 1. No sensitivity there. The rubber mat underneath the keys simply contacts against both sets of PCB contacts to connect them. No resistance or capacitance readings occur, its either connected or not connected. Shaving the contacts probably wont change that very much. You want to inhibit the contact between PCB and rubber mat from occuring without increased force which your proposed hack wont do to a great extent.
The problem would be purely mechanical in nature, ie the exact way the buttons being mounted perhaps allowing for unintended wobble and as a result perhaps if you shift your thumb forwards and back a bit the rubber mats for the up and down arrows may well come into contact.
A better solution would be to adjust the height between the PCB and the rubber mat, not a simple task. Perhaps the underside of the buttons have some sort of plastic nub which if filed down a tiny amount might work and require a harder press to force the mat down, not sure. Not reversible though.
Or a very thing piece of sponge with 4 holes cut aligning with the PCB contact area (but ever so slightly smaller) would cause a greater force to be required on the buttons while still allowing the buttons to contact. I would sketch what I mean but my skills with drawing on a PC are non existent and I have neither a scanner or camera right now.
I would actually lean towards experimenting with the sponge method, actually inspired by me working my way through a tin of biscuits while playing Xbox one morning and getting crumbs in the controller, started to require alot more force on the A button to get it to work. Open the controller and biscuit crumbs were everywhere preventing the buttons moving properly. Sponge should have the same effect but reversibly and cheaply. Namely, take a kitchen sponge and cut it up a bit, 2mm thick sections perhaps. Kitchen sponges are cheap anyway, pretty sure I saw a 10 pack in a £1 store once, experiment to your hearts desire.
---------- Post added at 07:43 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:39 PM ----------
Come to think of it. If you put paint on the area in between the contacts then that may work.
Your not going to be able to reliably fix this without altering the feel of the buttons sadly. I think they should have gone for tactile switches on the DPad, they are generally perfect for this.
It is the DPad skate which I believe is causing this.
less permanent if you want to try it is white glue spread with a toothpick. you can wipe that off carefully with a bit of alcohol or water.
SixSixSevenSeven said:
Don't do it. Electronics hobbyist here.
Those buttons are a digital 0 or 1. No sensitivity there. The rubber mat underneath the keys simply contacts against both sets of PCB contacts to connect them. No resistance or capacitance readings occur, its either connected or not connected. Shaving the contacts probably wont change that very much. You want to inhibit the contact between PCB and rubber mat from occuring without increased force which your proposed hack wont do to a great extent.
The problem would be purely mechanical in nature, ie the exact way the buttons being mounted perhaps allowing for unintended wobble and as a result perhaps if you shift your thumb forwards and back a bit the rubber mats for the up and down arrows may well come into contact.
A better solution would be to adjust the height between the PCB and the rubber mat, not a simple task. Perhaps the underside of the buttons have some sort of plastic nub which if filed down a tiny amount might work and require a harder press to force the mat down, not sure. Not reversible though.
Or a very thing piece of sponge with 4 holes cut aligning with the PCB contact area (but ever so slightly smaller) would cause a greater force to be required on the buttons while still allowing the buttons to contact. I would sketch what I mean but my skills with drawing on a PC are non existent and I have neither a scanner or camera right now.
I would actually lean towards experimenting with the sponge method, actually inspired by me working my way through a tin of biscuits while playing Xbox one morning and getting crumbs in the controller, started to require alot more force on the A button to get it to work. Open the controller and biscuit crumbs were everywhere preventing the buttons moving properly. Sponge should have the same effect but reversibly and cheaply. Namely, take a kitchen sponge and cut it up a bit, 2mm thick sections perhaps. Kitchen sponges are cheap anyway, pretty sure I saw a 10 pack in a £1 store once, experiment to your hearts desire.
---------- Post added at 07:43 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:39 PM ----------
Come to think of it. If you put paint on the area in between the contacts then that may work.
Your not going to be able to reliably fix this without altering the feel of the buttons sadly. I think they should have gone for tactile switches on the DPad, they are generally perfect for this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thank you as well.
i am aware this is a "on / off" situation. but the weaving of the PCB contact material makes for a very light press to be needed for circut closing. (my sensitivity problem)
the "sponge method" is also something i thought about. i wanted to source some other D-pads from other controllers to try this but im not sure how a modded one would hold up to button mashing in the long run. so it would basically have to be almost identical dimensions to work.
ive been trying to source SHILED parts to experiment with. but the guy i was speaking with has family obligations tying him up right now. so...
i do really like the feel of the controller. they did a awesome job. but i just wish the PCB contact layout was identical to the NES/SNES controllers. as in with the a, b, x, y buttons being the more sensitive (weaved) contacts and the D-pad being the less sensitive 1/2 circle style once.
i wish i was just being picky here but i just flat out cant play any retro games in the current state. 15 years of muscle memory just doesn't go away.
SixSixSevenSeven said:
It is the DPad skate which I believe is causing this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i agree. its a lot of movement...
i can center the D-pad and game play is much better for a few seconds till it moves again. in fairness, every D-pad (SNES, SEGA, Etc) does skate a little (except for PSX). the SHIELD is by far the one with the most movement.
for ppl not understanding what we mean by the D-pad "skate" here is a very crappy rez vid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYj5-L02fiI&feature=youtu.be&noredirect=1
s0me guy said:
i agree. its a lot of movement...
i can center the D-pad and game play is much better for a few seconds till it moves again. in fairness, every D-pad (SNES, SEGA, Etc) does skate a little (except for PSX). the SHIELD is by far the one with the most movement.
for ppl not understanding what we mean by the D-pad "skate" here is a very crappy rez vid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYj5-L02fiI&feature=youtu.be&noredirect=1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My PSP has quite a bit of DPad skate. But the centre point of the Dpad does seem to stay centred, it just seems to rotate on the spot if you know what I mean. It skates but it remains perfectly usable.
to stop the skate we could find (make?) rubber grommets to fit around the mounting holes for the screwdowns (yellow circles are the tips). they would act as sleeves or bumpers keeping the plastic D-pad assembly centered.
i have no idea where i would even look for a part like this... McMaster? lol
http://www.mcmaster.com/#rubber-bumper-spacers/=o6yfz8
That centre nub between the 4 screws. They should have made that larger or the hole in the rubber piece smaller so that they match size better. I reckon that the cause of the skate is that nub.
just realized i should probably stop brainstorming using the images from ifixit as a reference.
they could have quite possibly used a different pre production unit and it might be nothing like the final public retail units. i know there were a few different revisions along the way (D-pad included).
guess ill have to try to find time to tear this down over the weekend. i've been hesitating up until this point mostly because our 1mth old baby requires a lot of attention ( who would have thought? ).
id just hate to have this thing half taken apart get sidetracked and forget were i was... lol
i can easily see this mod taking up an entire saturday to get 100% working without a newborn.
oh yeah, this D-pad is really really ****ty...
delete..
MUCH BETTER! :victory:
now to fix the skate issue!
wow... it feels much better? so you DID it. nice! :good::laugh:
I want to try in once, too
david419kr said:
wow... it feels much better? so you DID it. nice! :good::laugh:
I want to try in once, too
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yea now its much more like the other D-pads im used to. (NES, SNES, N64, PSx, PS2, Gameboy, NDSlite)
i swapped the button diaphragms also. as the A B X Y button side Diaphragm has a small hold in the middle of it and it tends to minimise the "skate" issue.
BEFORE
AFTER
BEFORE
AFTER
all in all id say these mods made the D-Pad 100x better, but its still not perfect. i still make input errors all the time. but its nowhere near as bad as it was. the main issue thats still present is that the D-pad is acting like a rocker more than a switch. so when you press dead center on the "right" arrow on the D-pad the diaphragm on the "right" contact is pressed down 100% and the "up" & "down" contacts are pressed 75% down (almost touching but not making contact). but... it you ever so slightly press off of dead center on any arrow the contacts next to the one you're pressing end up touching. then your input becomes a 45deg. input instead of a 90deg one.
i honestly don't know how to fix this without designing a different bottom half of the D-pad assembly. my current idea is to take a D-pad from a Donor SNES controller (its dimensions are pretty close on the bottom side), grind off the "arrow pad" and attach the remaining bottom portion to the SHIELD's "arrow pad". since the SNES bottom part has more of a Dome shape than a flat one like the SHIELD it will have more bias to the direction your inputting and less Bias to the directions on either side of that direction.
descriptive pic coming soon
my main issues is right now everything i do is a MAJOR commitment because i have no access to Extra SHILED parts. if i mess up... well thats it... so...
hopefully the guy i was talking to about getting extra parts will get back to me soon. i also was talking with a guy who has a 3D printer that may be able to print the modded D-pad for us after its complete. :fingers-crossed:
also i might add that i used 2000grit sand paper to rough up the surfaces on the D-pad & buttons. the glossy-ness of them got very slippery after a few minutes of gaming as the finger oils build up.
they have WAY MORE grip now and the matte finish is much more appealing over the Gloss finish. :victory:
this has been already kind of talked about in a few other threads with users complaining of "screws falling out" but i would also would like to stress to anyone disassembling their SHIELD to be very very VERY careful with the threads. it seems about half my screws were slightly over tightened from the factory and i have some slight stripping going on.
the build up of plastic dust on the one screw in this pic is not something you want to see. as the less plastic there is in the threads, means the less "meat" the screw can grab on to. in-turn that means the less torque can be applied to fasten the 2 parts which can lead to movement and then internal ware... i may have to find slightly bigger screws then drill and tap all the holes...
Makes you wonder how this got past QA testing. I also have the same problem with a newly purchased Shield and it makes emulators difficult to use (unless you map stuff to the analog stick)
georaldc said:
Makes you wonder how this got past QA testing. I also have the same problem with a newly purchased Shield and it makes emulators difficult to use (unless you map stuff to the analog stick)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
emulators were probably not something they were heavily focused on and all the testers probably were more worried about "feel" than function. IMO if you are able to think about the controller during game play, its not made right.
i hate to sound like a whiny brat or something here but if i wanted a sub par experience i would have stuck a $40 Moga controller on my Galaxy S3 or somthing. i mean isn't the point of SHIELD to be a premium product for a Niche market? and isnt the controllers function the most important part of the "function" of SHIELD? sure nice screens and speakers are great and a part of the experience... but what does it matter if you cant play the the thing. you may as well use a GameKlip and android Phone.
its like driving a highend sports car on all season tires. all kinds of awesome engineering and power thats just frustrating to drive cuz you cant keep the thing on the road.