So I has some free time and the shift was laying around...
Anyway let's get down to business.
The first part of the guide will cover the basic disassembly tips you maybe need in order to open up the casing and maybe upgrade something.
You will need a T6 screwdriver. That's all..but if you want to disassemble the display you will also need a T5.
1 Start by removing the battery, stylus, any card, sim or whatever is attached onto your device.
2 The shift's screws location is shown here.
3 You will need to remove the 3 rubber caps in order to expose the upper screws. First I thought the middle one is a connector to an external antenna. Nope, it's a screw hole.
4 After you're done with the screws you will need to remove the keyboard in order to have acces to another screw underneath it. I've found out that removing the keyboard is a bit tricky. There are no screws holding it, you simply must pull it off. Carefull not to bend it too much and begin with the upper part.
5. Underneath the keyboard you will have to remove this screw and the ribbon like cable that connects the keyboard. In order to do this, pull upwards the white blocker (shown with the green arrow) then pull off the ribbon cable (red arrow).
6. Next comes the first ugly part. You should remove the back cover on your shift in order to expose it's motherboard. Begin by placing your fingernail on the right bottom corner (or the left - you choose) and go along all the cassing in order to separate the 2 pieces of casing. You may hear a lot of ugly noises, cracks and so on... it's pretty normal, just don't abuse the casing too much. By the way, keep the shift in "laptop" mode while you do this.
7. After you remove the back cover you should see something like this.
Carefull with the hard disk. There aren't any screws fixing it to the motherboard. It's simply ...placed there, the back cover will fix it back to it's position. Don't tilt the device or the hard disk may fall and could damage the connector cable (orange ribbon). Around the hard drive you may see a black rubber insertion that protects it from certain shocks.
I've heard some of you guys asking about the dimensions inside and the possibility to replace this hard drive with another one, more thicker. THERE IS SPACE INSIDE TO DO THAT.
The silver corner and the whole sides of the rubber casing is about 2-3 mm thick in the upper portion and just about the same underneath the hard disk. It's kind of soft thus you may insert a larger hard drive without problems.
(Someone asked about a 2.5 drive replacement into the shift -- NO way dude)
8 Next you will need to remove the aluminium radiator and the fan.
You have to remove the following screws:
Note that the far right screw is somewhere deeper and you may need to move the hard-drive a little to get acces to it.
9 After you remove the aluminium heatsync you should see something like this. If you want to remove the motherboard from the chassis you should also remove the marked screw.
You may remove the ram board but carefull. It seems pretty stuck in there you will need to use some force. Here's a photo with mine removed. The metallic piece in the lower part of the picture is the card reader's casing. The card reader is made by Panasonic.
In order to remove the card reader first unscrew it (it's the last screw i was talking about 2 pictures ago). There is a ribbon connecting it to the mainboard.
here is the card reader removed:
and here is it's ribbon connector:
Here is the GPS antenna. YEP it is here. I've seen simillar antennas on bluetooth GPS mouses. This one is properly connected and seems to be powered. HTC had some GPS in mind when it designed the Shift.
10 In order to continue the disassembly you must remove 2 screws located somewhere around this area. They are under the ribbon cable connecting the hard drive to the motherboard.
Be carefull around that area. The shift's motherboard is made of 2 pieces, apparently one for the x86 side (intel processor, GMA950 video, card reader etc) and another for the WM side. The 2 parts are linked via a connector that is secured by those 2 screws. YOU WILL NEED TO BE CAREFULL WHEN REASSEMBLING THE SHIFT. IF THAT CONNECTOR ISN'T ATTACHED PROPERLY YOU'RE IN FOR A LOT OF TROUBLE AHEAD (had mine... trust me).
Here are various components.
RED - Display side connector. This is the only connector linking the 2 sides.
BLUE - Keyboard connector.
GREEN - underneath that area lies the connector that links the 2 parts of the motherboard.
YELLOW - those cables go to the wireless antenna.
Here is the Shift's internal microphone. Like I've said, i didn't know it had one.
The mic is linked to the generic "WM side" of the motherboard. Actually it isn't that simple like wm side - x86 side but as I can see these 2 parts seem to be pretty well diferenciated. One side - x86 - heatsyncs, ram, hard drive... another side - WM, aluminium caps soldered over the chips (like in most phones) microphone, gsm/gps antenna. The WLAN module is also located there.
11 If you remove the motherboard you should see something like this. The arrow marks the position of the antenna block (like the one shown in the FCC pictures).
If you want to remove the display part from the rest of the body you have to remove these screws:
2 more of these are located on the left side. Also remove them. Then the display should come out easily. Carefull not to damage the ribbon connector.
.
12 If you want to dissasemble the display you have to remove the screws from it's back plate. It should also come out easily. You should see something like this:
The hinges that enable your display to tilt are located inside the display block. Here's a photo with one of them :
now some tips about how to do this process if you want to upgrade the shift.
BE CAREFULL. The Shift's motherboard seems pretty delicate. If you want to mess with the hard drive, first disconnect the cable from the HDD's end, then from the motherboard.
If you want to remove the RAM board, pull it off by using 2 fingers, 1 for each side. You will find that the module is firmly attached and woun't come out easily.
I don't recomand you remove or try to mess with that silver foil over the display's back (one of the last pictures). There's a jungle of connectors and wires underneath it and they are cought between 2 layers of that stuff. They can be easily damaged.
When reassembling the shift first start by connecting the small ribbon from the microfone to the motheboard, then connect the display's cable. You will find it more easily to maneuvre if the display is at halfway distance from the main body. Then connect the 2 screws that secure the connector between the 2 portions of the motherboard. ONCE AGAIN, CAREFULL TO HAVE THESE 2 SCREWS FIRMLY ATTACHED. In my first try, the connection wasn't good so when i powered on the shift, it started to make some scarry stuff with it's leds and display. No harm been done but it was pretty scarry. You may then reattach the rest of the screws in backwards order.
If you will want only to upgrade the HDD just stop at "removing the back cover" part. There's nothing more you need to do, you don't need to remove the motherboard and there's pretty much no risks involved. Just be carefull with the ribbon linking the HDD to the motherboard.
I heard some advices about some serials on the chips and such data. Yep, I did photos of these things too. I'll attach them also, tomorrow after I organise my list of findings and notes that I've made with those. I'll post them by category. However I didn't find much, most chips are imposible to read because of the faded markings and other ones are covered by aluminium caps that are soldered over them. The shift looks like a large phone.
Please ask questions if you have. I'll try to help and be specific on those topics.
Bravo!! Good job!!! Can't wait to see the remaining! Now we need someone to try upgrading the HHD. This is getting more interesting!
Excellent, thanks for sharing your findings.
Really good job, man!
Really good job! Thank you for this "step-by-step" guide!
now time to enable the microphone, enable the phone, and look like a complete idiot when u try to hold this thing up to your ear
now u pretty much proved a few things. this thing is pretty much a fully functional wm device. you also shower we were right all along the gps is very very possible for this device. i need to get ltxda one of the gps tools and have him post a lock so you can all see some gps action
Ok people, I'm willing to order a larger HD and even more RAM. I'm going to contact some of my sources on Monday or Tuesday. Any help you guys can provide would be great.
EDIT: Great job on the how-to here!!!
Pawel062 said:
now time to enable the microphone, enable the phone, and look like a complete idiot when u try to hold this thing up to your ear
now u pretty much proved a few things. this thing is pretty much a fully functional wm device. you also shower we were right all along the gps is very very possible for this device. i need to get ltxda one of the gps tools and have him post a lock so you can all see some gps action
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Let's try this on Sunday afternoon bro if you're availabe. I also have a tool that i'm going to try to run, if the family allows, and provide results. Get with me sometime after 3pm. I'm headed to bed now...nite all.
Can you give some information about touchscreen model or manufactur???
I must first study how the protective silver film is attacked on the back of the display. from the fcc photos it seems there are a lot of ribbon connectors between it's twin layers. first time i've dissasembled shift i didn't have enought guts to rip that film in order to expose the internal components. Some connectors in that area caused me a lot of problems (shift's display didn't light up at all or the led's started to go crazy). I'll investigate the problem and there will be a second shift disassembly session in which time i wish to upgrade the hdd also.
So, where might we solder our 32GB SD card to the WM side?
Great job!
Keyboard
Hello,
I tried to pull out the KEyboard by it doesn't work.
What is the Secret to get it out ?
i've sent you an email.
facdemol said:
i've sent you an email.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the Email, I'll try it on Monday and let you know if it work.
Andi
Possible Mistake If You Choose A 2,5 Hhd For Shift Original Hdd.
facdemol said:
I've heard some of you guys asking about the dimensions inside and the possibility to replace this hard drive with another one, more thicker. THERE IS SPACE INSIDE TO DO THAT.
(Someone asked about a 2.5 drive replacement into the shift -- NO way dude)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks to everybody for the help to dissasenble.
Im sorry, It´s clear is not possible.
I'd attach a Picture of my shift with a 1.8 + 2,5" hdd.
---------------------------- -----------------------------
Please, don´t buy ANY HDD 2,5" Noone will fit in.
Is necesary a 1.8" HDD AND the conector of the HDD MUST BE a kind of ZIF connector. (They Called "LIF")
(Neither there are COMPATIBILITY with IDE/ATA/SATA connectors. You will need a ATA 7 conector!!!)
I found this kind HDDs in 80, 100 and 120 GB capacity, easy to buy ad least in Spain.
For Myself I'd ordered a Toshiba-MK1214GAH (120GB), where I Plan to Install a Personal Ed. XP + Vista in a second partition.
Armas.
I recently repaired a friend's Droid 2 after she broke the digitizer and front case. I also had to replace the flex ribbon cable that includes the ear speaker and connects the display to the mainboard; all went fairly well until it came to reassembly, when I jumped ahead of myself and started fastening the backplate onto the display before I had slid the base onto it. The screws wouldn't come back out, though I really didn't think I had torqued them down that much...anyway, had to grind one of them down until I could pry that corner of the backplate off enough to slide the base on.
The whole point here - the phone acts like the keyboard is open all the time. I'm not sure what to check...I noticed the flex ribbon cable had some contacts that were affixed to the backplate, but I didn't consider them all that important when I reassembled the phone; as it is, you have to practically peel the damn thing apart, and the adhesive's shot anyway. I haven't taken it back apart yet, because I'm not sure what to look for...so I figured I would present it here, see if someone else has had this issue and found a way to resolve it.
Any assistance would be appreciated. Especially if (God forbid!) you just happen to be a renegade Motorola tech.
So my EVO has slowly developed a loose USB port over time. It got to the point I could only charge and not use USB mass storage.
So I fixed it. It turns out that pocket lint slowly got compacted over time from being in my pocket and pushing the USB jack into the port. I got in there with a pick (from my lock pick set, another hobby) and a razor blade (To get on the other side of the port) and sure enough, the USB port is now working just like it used to.
So, there wasn't a hardware failure of any kind.... just pocket lint.
Hey, I'm having the same exact problem with the usb port, you wouldn't happen to have taken pictures of the process would you? I'm pretty bad with fixing things myself. Do you think you could explain this to me with a little more detail?? Thanks
Sent from my dope fly fresh EVO
I can try to explain it, but I don't have any pictures of the process.
There wasn't anything wrong with the connectors on the phone, it was just that so much crude got compacted in the backside of the port that the jack couldn't be pushed in all the way to make a connection.
I got a small piece of metal (a lock pick) that is maybe 1/8" or 1/16" of an inch thick and started to dig at the backside of the port. This is the side closest to the battery. I grabbed the pieces I could with the pick, and used a pair of needle nose pliers to grab the more stubborn pieces after I loosened them with the pick.
The other side (the side not housing the connections and closest to the screen) is very tight to the USB housing. I slipped a razor in that space and managed to get out the remaining crude, which was very little compared to the opposite side.
Took maybe 5 minutes of poking around, and went from the jack falling out if I even slightly moved the phone to getting a nice click when I insert the jack.
I don't know how prone to damage those connectors on the phone are, but I wasn't exactly gentle at one point with the razor and it survived. I was going to get the phone replaced anyways so it was a low risk venture for me.
hi
when i connect my phone with usb to pc it could charje but pc not recognize my device even in boot screen and its not change from serial yo usb
i do this with another cable and pc but it doesnt work
whats the problem?
tnx
could be dirt in the usb slot
could be a faulty pin in the usb slot
could be a failing usb slot (fairly common fault that the usb slot starts to fail , lots of threads reporting it - pretty difficult to repair unless you're a dab hand with a soldering iron)
1st - test on another pc, just to check its not some weird driver issue
2nd - have a really really good look in the slot, dirt gets caked into the bottom, , personally ive cleaned mine with a paper clip in the past (gets pretty grotty in my usb slot, , i run a lawnmower as one of my jobs, , get pockets filled with grass and i dont use a phone cover), but they're sharp and metal so i cant strictly recommend it, a magnifying glass and bright light will help inspect it.
3rd - gently try a little upwards and downwards pressure, if the pc suddenly recognises it but then drops it again when you wiggle, its hardware.
samsamuel said:
could be dirt in the usb slot
could be a faulty pin in the usb slot
could be a failing usb slot (fairly common fault that the usb slot starts to fail , lots of threads reporting it - pretty difficult to repair unless you're a dab hand with a soldering iron)
1st - test on another pc, just to check its not some weird driver issue
2nd - have a really really good look in the slot, dirt gets caked into the bottom, , personally ive cleaned mine with a paper clip in the past (gets pretty grotty in my usb slot, , i run a lawnmower as one of my jobs, , get pockets filled with grass and i dont use a phone cover), but they're sharp and metal so i cant strictly recommend it, a magnifying glass and bright light will help inspect it.
3rd - gently try a little upwards and downwards pressure, if the pc suddenly recognises it but then drops it again when you wiggle, its hardware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i do all of these but it doesnt work
you know when i come to the bootloader and the connect the weird serial not changed to usb
but when in the first i connect the weird and then go to boot loader theres nothing in the white colour and when i diconnect the weird th serial is shown!
I know a lot of people are hopeful for a Micro SD connection on their G2's which even if it wasn't easily removable, I would love to drop a 64gb Card into mine- it would round it out nicely...
Now looking at the Logic board in the LS980, I cannot see anywhere for a SD Receiver to mount, but there is one small connector, right above the Vibration motor on the underside of the board that has nothing connected to it- and there's not much clearance for anything else so, What the Heck is this plug for? anyone? did I lose a part?
So I Would like to add- that As I replaced the Digitizer on another G2 today, I found that the Same plug was also on the motherboard, but it was not the Plug, the small connector that was on the board of the Last G2 I worked on was not present on the Digitizer Replacement Board- only the Solder pads were there, but it was there at least- The First one was a white one from Sprint- the Second one was also White, but from AT&T-
I have not looked in mine- Which is a Black Sprint G2- but i'd be willing to bet that theres a plug there- SO WHAT IS IT FOR!!!??? I'm hoping for an SD Mount, though its pry not-
I think it for JTAG