Hey guys,
My Hermes has a white line down the left side of the screen(bottom side when you slid the keyboard out), it is just a huge white "bar" type thing, for example of how big, everything past the time on the top bar is gone(so my task manager and the "ok" button on programs or the "x" button on programs is unreachable. I have asked for help before, and no one seems to know any fixes. I have flashed different ROMs, no help. It used to be only when I slid the phone up to reveal the keyboard, but now it is stuck there.
So basically, I guess I'm going to get a new phone...any suggestions? I don't think I can wait for the Touch Pro, is there anything comparable?
And I know ATT will give you cheap phones if your current is broken, how can I make it so that I didn't void the warranty or whatever and can get a cheaper upgrade? (Like do I need to only downgrade my ROM or what else?)
Thanks everyone!!!
SPL too... as well as radio rom...
Personally I'd get a replacement LCD. The Hermes may be old but I believe its still one of the top 10 phones...Or get a cheap "broken" phone off ebay for spare parts... Its gotta be cheaper than re-signing a contract for any length of time.
Cheers...
Related
I just won a slightly used unlocked 8525 on EBay. Since I won't have a warranty, it seems like a good idea to verify that the device is in full working order as quickly as possible.
Do any of you have tips on what you would do to fully (or almost fully) exersice an 8525?
Theres no menu like the nokias have to see if its ever been serviced but theres a few things i do when looking at pocket pc's although i've never purchased a used one because i haven't found one's which look that sound.
First thing i would do is look at its physical state. Scratches etc. which will show if it's been dropped or handled roughly.
Second i'd take off the batter cover and look at the screws to show if they've every been removed. You can tell this by either seeing small scratches on them. Also the I-Mate Jasjam screws are black so you can tell easily if a screws been in them.
Then i'd remove the battery and the sim card(if inserted) and see if theres a little felt/paper square. This should be white and changes color (to purple i believe) if it ever got wet or moist. Inspect the little bit of the circuit board thats visible under where the sim would go for imperfections.
Now I'd go back to physicl aspects. Look at the screen, if it has a screen protector thats marked up, remove it and inspect the LCD and see if itself has scratches, if there are scratches and they are small i'd suggest the pocketpctechs screen protector which covers up blemishes.
Press the bottons on the front and sides and see if they feel well (are they hard to press, do they got stuck etc.) Slide the device open a couple of times and see if its locks into place or not and if its rough/smooth to open/close.
When its open i'd go and press each button on the keyboard and see if any of them stick and look for things as you would with the other buttons.
Then turn on the device and test all the buttons, and the keyboard on a new notepad. See if the screen is aligned by opening a new note and draw a line from one corner to the opposite corner, make sure the line is under the pen. Align the screen and keep in mind when you did it and cross your fingers and hope it stays aligned. If it does have the SA issue, go to the wiki for a fix.
I guess thats all i can think of right now... hope it helps you in deciding whether you want to keep the device or not. Oh yah, also check if the memory slot works and inspect the Mini-Usb port, and the stylus silo (haven't heard of it becoming loose on the hermes yet)
Good luck and hopefully you got no problems with it and its a sound device. Enjoy it and welcome to the Xda-Devs!
Thanks fone_fanatic! Looks like some great advice that will help me make a checklist.
Having come from a Palm T3 + a Sony Ericsson T637, I'm long overdue for an upgrade and really excited about converging devices with the 8525.
dont forget to make a phone call bring your sim, sometimes people forget the obvious
WooHoo!
It tests out great. There were only two problems
1)a slight creaking in the top left corner - really more an annoyance than anything else
2)The phone was sold as unlocked but prompted me for the unlock code which the prevous owner did not know. This problem was easily overcome with the unlock solution posted on the Wiki.
Thanks for the testing tips as they help me feel far more secure in my purchase!
Now I just need to get used to the PocketPC OS (seems a little complicated coming from PalmOS). After I get the feel of the OS figured out, I will start trying to write some apps.
Hi creaking top left corner is actually fairly normal. The screw will be tight but it's not in the corner (see battery compartment). The screw passess through camera board and holds it slightly proud. If it really bugs you, you can remove back (a warranty voiding activity) a place a piece of papervas padding to take up slack - otherwise not a big issue.
Glad it's working fine
The voyage of discovery and frustration begins - enjoy
Mike
Enjoy your device. They really are the best PPC around.
I think this information might be useful for lots of people.
The question is: What problems should we look for when wanting to buy a second hand hermes, and how to look for them?
Everyone who's had problems with herms or knows about them should give an oppinion.thanks
Watch out for:
High frequent tone, ONLY when the display is on. Very annoying.
My phone has been to the shop for 3 times. Now I have got a new phone!
But I miss my HTC......
i had that one too, on the day i bought the 2nd hand tytn. changed the radio and rom and it went away. then the battery started heating, but i don't know if it heated before too
1). turn device on if you can.
2) sceen alignment and whitescreen - some people have the whitescreen problem, to see if it could be in yours(one type anyway) run your finger down to the bottom right at the side lcd screen (not on the screen, the casing) til you are about 2/3 of the way down from the top. lightly increase pressure and see if it starts going white. Please note this is a specific type of whitescreen which can be fixed BUT will have the warranty voided to do so. Try running a screen alignment (ask if FTouch flo is on the phone & active as this will stop this working and require a soft reset to fix)
2). test the buttons usually the bottom buttons ie. hotkeys, answer/hangup. but dont forget to check out the slideout keyboard too.
3). check to see if the battery gets hot or if there are any "hot spots" on the case. this indicates problems too. there may be a short somewhere on the hermes that is draining power REALLY quickly or may be affecting if power gets to where its needed.
4). soft reset and check if "no GSM" flashes up in the loading stage as this shows its a brick with a corrupted radio rom. this may be fixable but for me personally it would be bought only for parts (and would have to be cheap).
This is what I'd do as it is fairly quick BUT ths works only if you can see the device before you buy it otherwise you may be in for a nasty surprise.
Hope this helps...
hostedrage said:
The question is: What problems should we look for when wanting to buy a second hand hermes, and how to look for them?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While it's not exactly a problem, it could be a warning that problems may happen in the future.
Check the stickers under the battery, make sure the VOID sticker is intact and the (at least mine had one) reflective sticker is also intact.
Check the model and IMEI listed on the sticker, then compare it to the model and IMEI listed under the Identity tab in Device Information (Start -> Settings -> System -> Identity tab). This could give away someone trying to sell a HERM100 model as a new HERM200 (and asking a higher price), or a phone that may have been dropped and damaged. Also check the call duration tab if it's being sold as 'low use' (true, this can be cleared, but it's not exactly a couple of taps to do it).
At the very least, this could save the buyer some dosh and expose the seller as the potentially slimy person they are.
White screen mda vario 2
Hi,
I have purchased a mda vario 2, last november, with only 3 months waranty, now I`m having problems.
I have had my screen going white, some times if I go into landscape mode or turn the light on and off by means of pressing the power buton quickly the screen comes back, then the screen sometimes goes all blurry.
Now the phone wont come back on at all, all I get is this white screen, the screen lights up but just a white screen, nothing else.
So I bought a new screen from E-Bay and I connected it up to my phone but I get the same, the screen lights up, same old white screen.
Nothing else, If anyone knows what this problem is I would be very grateful.
It was a shop I brought the screen from off of E-Bay, I asked prior to purchasing this screen if it would be compatible with my phone and they told me that it was.
Many Thanks for any help, ideas what this could be.
Roy2008,
Not nice of you to hijack someone else's thread.
Anyway, read the following thread for information: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=321163
li-ion have a limited number of hours before it dies i would check batt time of cause thats kinda problematic to test
I appologize if I hijacked someone else`s thread.
As I am new to this site I thought that you just use it like you do in a chat room.
I guess I was wrong, I`ll try to figure out how you use this site without annoying anyone.
My Appologies.
Anyways, Thankyou for your help, and for the hijacking part.
thinking of buying a hermes
I've been reading through out the forums because I am seriously thinking of buying this phone, a second-hand because I can't afford a brand new one. I'm a bit worried about the Whitescreen and D-pad failures thread, it seems it's the usual or maybe common problem of this model. So I have some questions before I do get this model.
-How would I know if the phone has been opened for repairs?
because I read here that you need to open the phone to fix the whitescreen prob.
-Do I look for one that has FTouch flo to check the screen alignment?
is there any other way to do this just in case the phone doesn't have one installed.
-How long does the battery last if you only use it for texting, wifi and making short calls? Also about the battery heating up, does it mean while it's idle? Is it sometimes normal for batteries to heat/warm up?
-ultramag69
sceen alignment and whitescreen - some people have the whitescreen problem, to see if it could be in yours(one type anyway) run your finger down to the bottom right at the side lcd screen (not on the screen, the casing) til you are about 2/3 of the way down from the top. lightly increase pressure and see if it starts going white. Please note this is a specific type of whitescreen which can be fixed BUT will have the warranty voided to do so
Are there other more ways to check if symptoms of whitescreen is present? I'd really like to be thorough because I'm pretty sure the ones that I can afford would not have any warranty anymore.
The ff. are the things I think I should do to make sure the phone is in good condition:
Make a call
Send SMS
Try wifi
Use the camera
Check all keys/buttons on the front, sides and dpad if all working
Bluetooth
Try a memory card
Pls. advice me if I've forgotten anything else.
I'm actually choosing between Hermes and HTC Elf, I'm leaning more to the Hermes because of the Dpad and it's slightly cheaper than the Elf.
Thanks in advance!
Also check the external speaker, I have four that I tweak, and two had loose speaker connections(made a good deal for me). It's an easy fix, I got the tool at radio shack. BTW these units are out of warranty.
Ok I'll add that.
Anything else?
Essentially a good indication of a possible whitescreen issue is the buttons on the front not working.
To check to see if its been opened look under battery as jdc said, theres a small white sticker over a screw on the right hand side thats says Void if removed, If can see a screw under the flash LED, then its been opened.
Cheers...
First, I would like to say ello!!!
Anyway ^.^ I recently aquired a Cingular branded HTC 8125, and was wondering if anyone had a good disassembly guide(or even a bad one really) for it. The one I got has a few.... bugs. Some of which I should be able to fix... Some of which... Well ^.^'
Actually isnt the first PDA type device I've opened up... I even have the nessary tools within reach atm ^.^'' Just always nicer to know where the delicate ribon cables, or randomly held together by plastic tabs/glue spots are when going into something like this...
Anyway. Oi!
check out the service manual available from the wiki it gots the disassembaly guide its preety straight forward nothing hard to it just make sure u dont lose the screws and dont break the tabs.
Thanks, didn't notice it there.
Just a note that should probably go up somewhere, the Cingular 8125 has a slight variance to its disassembly when you get to removing the main PCB, it has a sqrew holding it down near the middle of the board that the version of the wizard that document was for lacks.
Other than that very educational. And got rid of the horrible screen corruption when the face plate buttons are pressed. Completely. ^.^' Stupid loose ribbon cables.
When I got my 8525 about a year ago I immediately put schaps on it. About 6 months ago I gave starbase 64 a shot and I dont know if it was coincidence (probably was) or what, but ever since then my screen gets a little off. What I mean by that is, when I first calibrate it it's dead on. After about 2 minutes it gets off. Like I touch the screen and it's at least a good 1/4" off.
Is it my digitizer going out or is it the rom's going kiddy whompus with my device?
Mate, mine did the same thing. The digitizer is going.
Download remote screen alignment (quick search will get the app), it installs on the PC so that you can use the PC to record the screen alignment settings and then, if you do a hard reset or flash a new rom and can't get past the alignment the PC will get you to the today screen. Hardware keys will allow most functions, though its a *****, but either replace the LCD (digitizer attached) or put the cash towards a new Device. Leys face it, the Hermes is no longer supported and a lot of the chefs are leavin for new devices. Soon it will only be us diehards, too poor to upgrade or too stubborn, left on the forums...
Cheers...
ultramag69 said:
Mate, mine did the same thing. The digitizer is going.
Download remote screen alignment (quick search will get the app), it installs on the PC so that you can use the PC to record the screen alignment settings and then, if you do a hard reset or flash a new rom and can't get past the alignment the PC will get you to the today screen. Hardware keys will allow most functions, though its a *****, but either replace the LCD (digitizer attached) or put the cash towards a new Device. Leys face it, the Hermes is no longer supported and a lot of the chefs are leavin for new devices. Soon it will only be us diehards, too poor to upgrade or too stubborn, left on the forums...
Cheers...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
BAH! I had a feeling that was the case. If the snow would fall I'd be making a few hundred a night plowing and I could get a new one.... Maybe I'll give my plan to someone and throw my blackberry in on the deal and get a new htc with a plan.
Well, if you are pretty handy with a screwdriver the digitizers arent too hard to replace and run pretty cheap on eBay. I just did a new LCD and Digitizer on my 8525 about 2 weeks ago and I think it ran me a whole $25 shipping and all. Just an idea if you are kinda attached to that one.
ultramag69 said:
Mate, mine did the same thing. The digitizer is going.
Download remote screen alignment (quick search will get the app), it installs on the PC so that you can use the PC to record the screen alignment settings and then, if you do a hard reset or flash a new rom and can't get past the alignment the PC will get you to the today screen. Hardware keys will allow most functions, though its a *****, but either replace the LCD (digitizer attached) or put the cash towards a new Device. Leys face it, the Hermes is no longer supported and a lot of the chefs are leavin for new devices. Soon it will only be us diehards, too poor to upgrade or too stubborn, left on the forums...
Cheers...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is this what you mean? Or is this it?
I found that app after a few frantic searches (I wasn't able to align after my first flash lol) and it's brilliant. However, I found a better way was just to place a file named welcome.not (create a new text document and rename it welcome.not) in the root dir of the microsd. That bypasses the whole welcome thing when you reflash.
Definately the LCD and digitizer combo. Its a MAJOR pain in the acher to try and attach the digitiser to the LCD, you have to first remove the old one. Mongrel job. Easier to just replace the LCD and digitiser as one unit.
Ok thanks
Hi all,
Looks like my Sprint Vogue is flaking out on me. The touchscreen is suddenly and without warning not working at all. Everything else works (all other buttons, activesync, all functions). I'd like to do a hard reset before giving up on it, but I'd really like to sync my contacts/messages/photos/etc before doing that. So here's the problem- I use Dashwire to sync, and I'm unable to hit the "SYNC NOW" button!
Any ideas on how to switch to and activate the bottom left and bottom right menu buttons without being able to touch them? For example, the Inbox and Menu buttons on the Mail app screen, or Album/Slideshow on the Photos and Videos screen? If I can get to those I'll be able to activate the sync. Any help would be great!
Thanks,
Bogus
There is a application called "MyMobiler" which allows you to control your phone over ip/usb/bluetooth. If i remember correctly launching the installer on your pc while your phone is connected to activesynch will install it without having to press anything.
Awesome, thank you. That did exactly what I needed it to!
Once it finishes sync'ing I'll give the reset a shot and see if the screen is really borked or not.
No problem glad i could help. If the touchscreen refuses to work you might wanna try replacing it. The part is called a digitzer and they go for 15-20 dollars online. I bought one and it wasn't difficult at all to replace.
Yeah, that's the plan. Hard reset didn't fix the problem, so I'm guessing that part is busted. Between this site and PPCG I found the guide for taking apart the phone, so it's looking like I'll be doing some minor surgery in a few days.
bogus83 said:
Yeah, that's the plan. Hard reset didn't fix the problem, so I'm guessing that part is busted. Between this site and PPCG I found the guide for taking apart the phone, so it's looking like I'll be doing some minor surgery in a few days.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How would the touch screen instantly not work?
maybe someone let it fall and put it back to normal like nothing happened
and i know what u mean.I dont wanna give up my vogue. EVER,
but im 15...by the time im 30, i wont remember what vogue is.LOL.
Actually, it seems to have developed a very small air bubble in the very upper left corner. I'm pretty sure that's causing the digitizer to think there's constant pressure in that area, evidenced by the "Start" menu occasionally activating when I turn on the phone. I ordered a new digitizer anyway- the set of torx screwdrivers I'd need to open the case cost the same as a new digitizer and the screwdriver I need. I don't really understand how the air bubble formed (or even what it is contained in), but one way or another I'll resolve the problem next week.
And I just turned 26- I'm sure by the time I'm 30 I'll be sporting a Touch Pro 4 running Windows Mobile 8.5
Well, the digitizer and tools came much faster than I'd anticipated (I won the auction on eBay on Friday, paid same day, and got it in the mail today, shipped from CA to NY!). So I dove right in. It was a straightforward affair- remove the four torx screws from the back under the cover, remove the speaker, pry open the front from the mainboard, disconnect the keypad circuit board from the mainboard and the digitizer from the keypad board, push out the old digitizer, swap in the new one and hook it all back up.
Not for the faint of heart to be sure, but for someone who likes to tinker it was a lot of fun. Took maybe 15 minutes because prying the case from the mainboard was difficult. More accurately, the top plastic case is extremely thin and fragile- if you do this you'll almost definitely crack it in at least one place. If not, you'll crack it pushing the digitizer out from behind. But I'm not that worried about cosmetics, I got my Vogue second-hand off-contract, refurbished, so it wasn't exactly mint to begin with.
On the plus side, the repair worked like a charm! I tested every touch feature I could think of and as many areas of the screen as I could, it actually seemed to respond better than when I initially got the phone. The odd part is I could still see the air bubble in the old screen, and couldn't flatten it out even by squeezing on both sides of it. I wish I knew how it formed so I could prevent it from happening again, but I'll just have to be careful.
So to anyone considering this project:
If you're worried about damaging the casing and have insurance or a warranty or something like that, take it to the phone company to get it repaired.
For anyone else, the $15 bucks for the screen and three tools is a lot cheaper than buying a new phone. Plus you get the geek cred for repairing your own phone.