G1 ribbon/tape caught in its Hinge - G1 General

Yesterday, I impulsively rooted my phone (my first time), successfully did it after several tries and installed jf 1.5. When everything was done and fully functional, I noticed some resistance when closing the keyboard. I tried closing it several times trying to investigate the cause.. until my screen just went black suddenly, w/ the resistance in closing it getting stronger! What I discovered was that the brown tape inside the screen, bottom part, ( the one you can only see w/ keyboard open) was caught in the hinge ripping it partially out of place. I dont have any idea what is the main finction of that tape/ ribbon but I believe it has something to do w/ the lcd. I ended up w/ a dead phone, won't power up anymore. i called the customer service but they don't have any idea what i'm talking about and suggested me to go to the nearest Tmobile store. I did and to my disappointment, nobody in the store also knows anything about G1, even though I'm pointing out to them the tape that was caught by the hinge! I called customer service and they seem not to understand about that hinge part of G1. Anyway, they will send a replacement in 3 days and I hope they wont discover that I rooted the phone. Well, it won't power up anymore and besides the problem is on the hardware and not on the software I installed.
I came across the same problem posted in one of the forums,a long time ago, coupled w/ some pictures I tried searching it again to no avail.
Anybody here have the same problem w/ G1? I do believe that HTC and Tmobile should be aware of this hardware flaw and do something about it. I love my G1, w/ its physical keyboard. But if all my G1 will end up this way, I may have to find a better phone.

Yep... had the same thing happen to me. Brought it into the store (30 days or less) and got a new one. If your's is older, it should still be under warranty. Contact T-Mobile and they should send you out a new phone.

That ribbon has several conductive traces in it. Basically, its a bunch of wires, and you moosed it out. I would say that it was your fault for forcing it when you should have investigated the problem BEFORE ripping it out.

Sounds like your screen just doesnt turn on, not that its bricked.
Thats the ribbon that connects the lcd and backlight to the ui module. It can be fixed most likely if you're not afraid to take it apart. What prob happened is the ribbon got bent up a bit, and one of the 2 connections for it got pulled out.
I disassembled one of my G1's completely, and there is a very specific way that ribbon has to fit into the hinge. Its not all that difficult, but you have to be very gentle and patient to get it back to where it needs to be.
You should go to the Dev forum, and do a search for G1 repair manual. You'll see what i mean. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions about it, although Im not an expert, just a tinkerer.

@lbcoder: you dont have to "investigate" anything, its made the way it should work, all he did is open and close screen, thats called a manufacturer defect, and falls under warranty.
@tr.slate: you are right, however that's exactly what OP put in his post. Nothing bout phone being bricked, but hardware flaw.
@jdc2006: yes, G1`s construction is not the most durable, as we can read around this forum, even i had squeking (or however oyu spell that word) but im guessing that it`s the price we pay for something new as this (though i would expect a bit more from HTC) but i dont think that all will have that problem. though Im on my second G1, first one got nasty case of stuck pixelitis.
now excuse me, i have to dispose a body from the trap.
G`nite.

This is going to be my 4th G1 and I hope the last..
The 1st one- brand new; has dead pixels- returned/replaced
The 2nd one, obviously a refurbished item, keyboard imperfectly fitted; home/call buttons replaced w/ cheap looking plastic, not the marble-like.
This 3rd one- almost perfect but ribbon/hinge flaw.
Good thing is I still have my old HTC Touch
tr.slate.. tnx, I like to tinker too but this beyond my capabilities.

I never had any problems with Tmobile fixing mine...When I first got mine in February 09 the ribbon stuck out a bit....they told me come back in 2 hours, i came back and they had it fixed, as others have said, it really needs to be in the right spot or something bad could happen to it...Its a cell phone, not much space to use.

Related

Digitizer Non Responsive

Hey guys.
Owned the phone for a few months now and have started to notice a really odd problem. For a while the screen was being fairly unresponsive to touches and I couldn't figure out why. Taking the screen protector off fixed it temporarily but now the issue is back.
I finally realised that the issue was a black smudge that would appear whenever I pushed too hard on the screen. I'm assuming this registers as a touch on the screen and prevents it from working. Rubbing the stylus over the area usually makes it dissipate and the screen becomes responsive again, but it would come back not long later after general use.
Also there's some fairly odd rainbowing underneath the digitizer that moves around when you press on the screen. It circles around the smudges when they appear.
I know that all sounds fairly vague, but any help on the issue would be great. Is a new digitizer in order or could it be fixed by just dissassembling it? I've tried using a suction cap to make the problem go away, the rainbowing disappears but slowly comes back again. Also I haven't dropped the phone, left it near anything etc, besides the digitizer problem the phone works fine.
Thanks in advance!
(On a side note, I bought the phone off eBay and had to use a serial number locater to determine the region of the phone. Found out it was destined for India when I'm in Australia. Fairly odd, but what are the warranty implications? Is it still covered?)
Same problem here!
I've sent it to HTC for repair, since my Diamond2 has 1 year warranty and I only bought it in May/09. HTC said that screen issues are excluded of the warranty and that I have to pay about €70 for the screen repair, because, they say, the problem is due to misuse - wich I don't think is true.
Daisjun said:
Hey guys.
Owned the phone for a few months now and have started to notice a really odd problem. For a while the screen was being fairly unresponsive to touches and I couldn't figure out why. Taking the screen protector off fixed it temporarily but now the issue is back.
I finally realised that the issue was a black smudge that would appear whenever I pushed too hard on the screen. I'm assuming this registers as a touch on the screen and prevents it from working. Rubbing the stylus over the area usually makes it dissipate and the screen becomes responsive again, but it would come back not long later after general use.
Also there's some fairly odd rainbowing underneath the digitizer that moves around when you press on the screen. It circles around the smudges when they appear.
I know that all sounds fairly vague, but any help on the issue would be great. Is a new digitizer in order or could it be fixed by just dissassembling it? I've tried using a suction cap to make the problem go away, the rainbowing disappears but slowly comes back again. Also I haven't dropped the phone, left it near anything etc, besides the digitizer problem the phone works fine.
Thanks in advance!
(On a side note, I bought the phone off eBay and had to use a serial number locater to determine the region of the phone. Found out it was destined for India when I'm in Australia. Fairly odd, but what are the warranty implications? Is it still covered?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have collapsed your layers between lcd and digitizer.
Some folks here use duct tape to repeatedly pull the layers apart and it fixes their issue for a while.
Thought it'd be something along those lines. I'll give the duct tape trick a try, can you point me to some other threads? I tried searching but was probably using the wrong terms.
Also vasco that's complete bollocks. I've kept my phone in its case the whole time I've had it, never put any pressure on it or had it in a rough environment. I'd throw a few customer complaints their way, especially if other people have had the same issue. Nice to know I'm not alone at least.
Daisjun said:
Thought it'd be something along those lines. I'll give the duct tape trick a try, can you point me to some other threads? I tried searching but was probably using the wrong terms.
Also vasco that's complete bollocks. I've kept my phone in its case the whole time I've had it, never put any pressure on it or had it in a rough environment. I'd throw a few customer complaints their way, especially if other people have had the same issue. Nice to know I'm not alone at least.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
search for "newton rings"
Daisjun said:
Thought it'd be something along those lines. I'll give the duct tape trick a try, can you point me to some other threads? I tried searching but was probably using the wrong terms.
Also vasco that's complete bollocks. I've kept my phone in its case the whole time I've had it, never put any pressure on it or had it in a rough environment. I'd throw a few customer complaints their way, especially if other people have had the same issue. Nice to know I'm not alone at least.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The issue is being discussed here:
http://forum.xda-developers...522813
I've already filed a complaint to the comm's regulation office. I'me presently waiting for their response.
had the same issue.. I just replaced the digitizer, it's a bit tricky but certainly possible.. yours is not that old so it should be repaired under warranty if you can have that done (have no clue about your situation there..)
digitizers are cheap on ebay
disassembly:
http://www.pdacenter.ru/razborka/htc-touch-diamond2/
Daisjun said:
Thought it'd be something along those lines. I'll give the duct tape trick a try, can you point me to some other threads? I tried searching but was probably using the wrong terms.
Also vasco that's complete bollocks. I've kept my phone in its case the whole time I've had it, never put any pressure on it or had it in a rough environment. I'd throw a few customer complaints their way, especially if other people have had the same issue. Nice to know I'm not alone at least.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here is my thread about this.
I am in the same boat as you - phone was destined for somewhere in Asia, and I am in Australia. I contacted HTC, and they also told me that the problem could be caused by misuse, even though I KNOW it wasn't, as my phone is always in it's case unless being used, never dropped etc. It sucks, but I think I will just replace the digitizer myself.

Dropped my N1, going to strip it soon!

Hey all.
Accidentally dropped my N1 today and funnerly enough i dropped it on carpet however its kitchen floor and hard... only from a distance of 3ft id say.
Now i cant hear people when they phone me, they hear me fine.
Camera doesnt work.
LED doesnt work.
Not good =(
Theres no signs of damage visually looking at it.
So can only leave 1 thing to do...
Going to strip it down see if i can find out whats wrong if anything loose.
What people think?
Did you ask if you can get warranty on it?
You might be able to get it repaired under warranty. Even if unlocked, if you are nice and knowledgeable to the right Google rep, then HTC rep (you must call Google first for approval, I found that out last time I did an exchange) There is no physical damage, and I doubt that that fall should have caused any issues. I would suspect that there was a faulty part/solder joint that is causing issues since the fall. Of course you can't tell them it was dropped though. And it might be good to restore it to stock software as well.
Kind of too late now took the void sticker off
Also noticed the charging light doesnt work either.
The loud speaker does...
This would have been hard to get warranty replaced. Too many issues make it look obvious. It's one thing to call up and say "my camera broke" is one thing. But to have a list of issues, "yeah my camera, charge light, ear piece, speaker, and LED" all stopped working. Good luck trying to get HTC on board with that one
It sounds like every broken function you mentioned is located on the small PCB at the top of the phone (cf the ifixit teardown).
Maybe it's just one of the connectors from the main PCB to the one at the top that got dislodged?
If its broken and no warranty....I got dibs on the shell!

unresponsive touch screen

So my girlfriend drooped my phone and broke it on me. Oh my beloved atrix what ever will I do without you. Everything about the phone is working just fine so I am curious if its just the touch panel that ia broken. I touch the screen and nothing happens I have fully charged it and turned it on and off several times. Do you guys think if I replace the touch panel that there is a chance it will work again. I didn't get insurance on it because I was very careful with it and took care of it like it was my child lol.
First of all I would like to point out that it is ok to admit that you dropped it, and not your gf.
Secondly I would suggest tearing it down and checking the connections. I have seen where the digitizer connector will be loose and wont be responsive on other phones. I have never taken apart the atrix, so I dont know if that is a unlikely thing for it or not.
In the unlikely event that it really was your gf who dropped it, you could always guilt her in to getting you a new phone
Lol I swear it was her we were at the bar last night and she was trying to show somone the gi Joe psa's. Ill try and tear it down have to find a walk through I guess. The real kick in the teeth is I just bought a e book and it was really starting to get good . As far as guilting her, her parent were with us and gave me a kindle fire because they felt bad but the things useless until they get android running well enough on it.
there is a teardown site, i am too lazy to look it up, I am supposed to be studying business law right now ... dont tell my wife im on xda
I tried to replace my digitizer once and I wouldn't recommend trying to fix it yourself.
There are several youtube videos of the teardown and they are elaborate enough but some parts are really tricky and it's not as easy as it might look. Took me a few hours and the result was far from perfect...
Took the mobo out and checked all plugs everything seems fine. Replaced and still no response I will give the digitizer a try hopefully it works. Ordering it tonight and post my results when it comes in and i install it. I'm supprised you had problems putting it back together only problem i had was my God damn shaky hands lol. I am assuming it fell just right and damaged the chip on the digitizer itself. If it ends up working I know for sure that I will be buying a very buff case! The internals on these things are so fragile!

MyTouch 3G slide screen not working

Hey guys, I have had this phone since August of 2010 and personally its really nostalgic, in all reality I prefer it over my Galaxy S, Especially for the Slideout keyboard and seems to have better ROM support :/ But around November 2011 the screen would spaz out not respond and just not turn on. Sometimes it would but so dark it was nearly impossible to see it. I'm not sure if the screen is dead I haven't used it since November when I got my Galaxy S. If the screen is dead, is there any type of repair service? or a way to buy a top half for the screen and replace it?
Look on Ebay, there are lots of these phones for cheap.
Sent from my T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide using xda premium
Sounds like a loose connection on the cable for the screen. I had the same problem with mine. I'm still using this phone now. Free fix if you can figure out how to take the phone apart & basically unplug & re-plug. Be super careful though! And of course it could be a different problem.
You can buy a new one very cheap in amazon or ebay i dont think it worth to repair
Not sure it's the right place to post this, I replaced the digitizer in my old MT3GS (cracked in my pocket), and ever since, Ive have the screen-spazzing issue as well - wasn't my first time replacing a screen, either. For me, the solution _every time_ has been hit the power button to lock the screen, hit it again to get back to what I was doing... Never had to totally power down to fix the spaz :\
If it'd interest you at all, I'd be willing to send you the phone, charger brick, (and the metal case if I can find the damn thing) for $50+ship - thats what I paid for the new digitizer... If you have better troubleshooting skills than I do, good on you, because I've torn this one down and put back together again at least 2 or 3 times since replacing the digitizer, and can't find a single loose connection - maybe you'll have better luck than me?
Thanks
L4T
I called a repair shop I found on craigslist and they mentioned it's more than likely the flex cable, not the lcd screen or glass digitizer. These phones' cables go through lots of wear due to the sliding mechanism. They gave me a 70 dollar estimate, so I just don't slide my phone out anymore to prevent the screen from spazzing out or blacking out for good (it happened to a friend of mine's MTS3g). I've also seen the cable for sale online on ebay or repairsuniverse but I'd rather wait for my full upgrade than invest in it AND risk not fixing it.
I really wanna use this phone again, the slide mechanism is so worn on it you can feel it its kinda tough to do its not springy like it was outta the box, also on ebay these phones still run close to 200 dollars, I would take it apart, as its out of warranty anyways, but I don't have the proper tools to do so, like the mini philips head and the tiny socket wrench. And I hear it is most likely the flex cable but as I said I can't access it.

Nice service repair story from HK (update: not so nice)

Well, I was in the process of putting my phone back to stock so I could get the camera replacement (purple haze problem) done while the warranty was in place... except somehow the eMMC screwed up while going back to stock. The bootloader still runs, so HTC can at least see that I unlocked the phone before it screwed up... and likely voided my warranty.
I talked with HTC in HK (where I bought it; I'm in GZ now), figuring I'd be on the hook for the memory fix but also the camera now, too.
In fact, they were pretty cool about it - they said if they could fix the memory and get it back to stock without replacing the motherboard, they'd cover it under the warranty. Even if the motherboard had to be replaced, they'd charge me for that, but then still cover the camera replacement under the warranty!
Have to say, that wasn't the response I was expecting. On top of that, they accepted my phone in the GZ location and sent it back to HK, for free.
The phone's still in processing now, so it's not final yet, but so far I'm pretty impressed with HTC service...
(update: after a number of returns, detailed below, I've thrown my hands up in frustration and moved on to another phone.)
tobin_o said:
Well, I was in the process of putting my phone back to stock so I could get the camera replacement (purple haze problem) done while the warranty was in place... except somehow the eMMC screwed up while going back to stock. The bootloader still runs, so HTC can at least see that I unlocked the phone before it screwed up... and likely voided my warranty.
I talked with HTC in HK (where I bought it; I'm in GZ now), figuring I'd be on the hook for the memory fix but also the camera now, too.
In fact, they were pretty cool about it - they said if they could fix the memory and get it back to stock without replacing the motherboard, they'd cover it under the warranty. Even if the motherboard had to be replaced, they'd charge me for that, but then still cover the camera replacement under the warranty!
Have to say, that wasn't the response I was expecting. On top of that, they accepted my phone in the GZ location and sent it back to HK, for free.
The phone's still in processing now, so it's not final yet, but so far I'm pretty impressed with HTC service...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here is my exprience:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=52438047
so all in all, i dont have anything bad to say about em. heck they even changed the covers .D
HTC is a company from Taiwan. I have to say, they don't treat us like this over here.
Repair Story from Pakistan
I just got back my phone with camera purple haze fixed. They replaced the camera in my HTC One.
I gave them my phone yesterday and to my surprise holding my phone in perfect condition right now within 24 hours.
Amazed at their extremely efficient service
tobin_o said:
Well, I was in the process of putting my phone back to stock so I could get the camera replacement (purple haze problem) done while the warranty was in place... except somehow the eMMC screwed up while going back to stock. The bootloader still runs, so HTC can at least see that I unlocked the phone before it screwed up... and likely voided my warranty.
I talked with HTC in HK (where I bought it; I'm in GZ now), figuring I'd be on the hook for the memory fix but also the camera now, too.
In fact, they were pretty cool about it - they said if they could fix the memory and get it back to stock without replacing the motherboard, they'd cover it under the warranty. Even if the motherboard had to be replaced, they'd charge me for that, but then still cover the camera replacement under the warranty!
Have to say, that wasn't the response I was expecting. On top of that, they accepted my phone in the GZ location and sent it back to HK, for free.
The phone's still in processing now, so it's not final yet, but so far I'm pretty impressed with HTC service...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
how long gonna take to repair it? i'm planning to replace the camera, on my vacation in HK.
Well, OK, time for an update to my original story:
So I got the phone back from HTC:
- Camera replaced, purple haze gone. Yay!
- eMMC (entire mainboard) fixed at a cost of approx. USD$213; oh well, my fault.
- Surprise - back casing replaced for free, without prompt from my side. Reason given was "Beats logo print quality poor" (ironically, the Beats logo on the new casing is wiping off even faster than before)
Anyway, so I had the phone back in my hands, and was initially pretty happy. Signal reception seemed a bit... off... but I figured it was maybe down to being in poor reception spot in China, or needing a factory reset, or even that I should get a new SIM card after more than 2 years.
Less than a day later, I realized there was something seriously wrong. 3G was seriously unstable in most places where it used to be strong, and even phone calls would drop out abruptly. Locking the phone down to 2G seemed to help a lot, but maybe not quite perfect, either. Regardless, staying on 2G is no good. Here's the unfortunate part: I was so determined to believe within the first evening that even *if* anything was wrong, that it couldn't possibly be the phone. By the time I realized it was the phone, I had already unlocked it, in order to root it. Why? Because I'm in China, and since the Tiananmen Square anniversary, anything related to Google is totally blocked, including Google Play, Mail, Contacts, Mail, Calendar, Translate, etc. which means SSH or VPN is a must, which means unlocking->rooting.
So I get it back to HTC in HK, and explain very kindly that while I appreciate the camera being fixed, that I think they've given me a borked 3G radio. I explain that it's unlocked, only because of the situation in China, and they're very understanding about this, as apparently they've heard this from many other customers, too.
I get the phone back later, and same issue. They state that they just replaced the "upper board" which apparently handles the radio. Worst thing is that they don't even know if they've fixed it or not, because I realize the 3G radio problem in HK is far less severe, and therefore far less obvious, although definitely still apparent throughout a day of usage. Even for myself, I didn't realize the problem was still there until after the service center was closed. This leads me to believe that it might be the antenna embedded within the back casing (which they replaced in the original repair because of the bloody Beats logo... which I didn't even ask for...), because of the far better 3G coverage in HK compared to anywhere in mainland China.
I get back in touch with HTC HK, and explain the situation. They try to be understanding, but they're unsure about what to do about this. I tell them I think it's the back casing. They seem open to that idea, but then go on to explain to me that their lenience with the unlocked status of the phone only extends to repairs that don't involve mainboard replacement. If it were to come down to that, they'd want to charge me another ~USD$213.
It gets better: I had been using an old Sony Xperia Play during the time that my HTC was out of my hands, and was using a SIM card holder in it. I stupidly placed the empty holder back into its SIM slot during the most recent HTC pickup, and when I tried to remove the SIM holder from the Sony later, it had snagged on something... probably one of the electronic contacts for the SIM card. Long story short, I got the holder out, but the SIM slot in the Xperia is busted. Yay...
Faced with my HTC One being gone again for a while, and no certainty at all about whether it would come back to me any better than before, and no longer having a backup phone, I bought a OnePlus One. Despite all the crap you read about delays with their invite system and shipping, etc... if you buy it domestically, it's delivered to your hands in less than 24hrs from clicking "Buy" on their website. Nice. Although OPO has a couple of issues, too, but that's for another post.
As for HTC... I hope they might try replacing the back casing this time (at no expense to me) and that this might resolve the situation. As troublesome as this whole service situation has been since the purple haze camera started it, I still love the phone, and think it's definitely the best phone I've ever owned, and one of the best phones ever made. Even with the improvements made, the M8 doesn't beat it, either. I'm very anxious to see what HTC does with the M9...
Final update on what started as a "nice" service repair story at HTC in HK:
Got my HTC One back from HK repair... again. Given the lousy signal strength, the fact that they'd already tried replacing the "upper board" which apparently hosts the radio, the hotter (than normal) temperature and lousy battery life, I figured the issue was probably with the antenna in the back casing (which they needlessly replaced the first time because the 'Beats' logo was wearing off), and told them so in a very polite and patiently-phrased letter I attached, concluding that this might easily be fixed with a replacement of the back casing - no big deal right? Since they replaced it the first time only because of the 'Beats' logo.
So, yeah, I finally get it back... and what's the result? They interpreted my letter as meaning the bad battery life must be the result of a bad battery, and replaced it. That was it. So my radio still sucks, the battery is slightly better, but still not as good as it was originally, the overall casing came back totally filthy, which took a good deal of cleaning... and the best part? Now my speakers, which previously worked perfectly, are constantly cutting out during playback of any song. Yay. Another problem that wasn't there before.
Basically, it seems can't seem to do a full and proper testing and evaluation of a returned phone, not even when I'm continuously pointing them in the right direction. Furthermore, they keep returning my phone with new problems that never existed in the first place. The former is greatly frustrating, but the latter really burns me.
To HTC (if you happen across this): you guys have great, world-class designers in your company, such that your products are beautiful and hit almost all the right keys for me... BUT... you have SERIOUS issues, both in your factory (my original phone had weirdly mismatching casing and the purple-haze camera) and even more in your after-sales repair. Your next phone (M9) is going to have to be out-of-this-world for me to even consider going down this road with you again. My OnePlus certainly isn't perfect, but it's awfully close, at less than half the price that I paid for my M7. Please get your act together... soon.

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