What are the metal pins that connect to the battery cover? - HD2 General

Ever notice how there are two metal pins on the back that make contact with the metal cover? Why did HTC put them in there?
Also would one be able to hardwire the antenna too these points so that the metal battery cover can be used as an extended antenna?

msoler8785 said:
Ever notice how there are two metal pins on the back that make contact with the metal cover? Why did HTC put them in there?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They are probably there to cushion the force of the back place being clicked on.
msoler8785 said:
Also would one be able to hardwire the antenna too these points so that the metal battery cover can be used as an extended antenna?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not a chance, have you ever pulled a HD2 apart? I severely doubt it is a wise idea. Hardware modding of a phone is a fools game.

Is it to dissipate heat?

It's for the car GPS kit.

jdwrrzmm said:
It's for the car GPS kit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not the 3 pins, the 2 balls on either side of the phone.

Is it really for a GPS kit? Maybe that concept kit that HTC never came out with? But what would they do it can't be for power.
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App

This comes up every month or so, and i agree with Kalavere in that they are there to keep the back plate snug. They are spring loaded, so the plate wont get wobbly with extended clicking on/off. Since the reset button is under the back panel, it seems reasonable that HTC would expect the plate to be removed fairly often.
I also think it plausible that they are earthing points for the antenna, but i think that a little less unlikely.

Not sure exactly what they are for but I am positive they are not there to keep the backplate snug.
They are some kind of a contact point. The metal cover bridges the connection. You will notice that the cover is clean where the points contact.
Never seen the car kit but that is a possibility. I doubt very much that they have anything to do with the antenna. My guess is that they might simply be a ground shield.

I had the same question, I rung up the HTC support here and they told me that even they are not sure, but they did mention that on the inside, it's linked to the antenna for the GPS. Don't know what they mean by that but I guess, it's either an earth (since, if you notice, the area where the nobs rest has the paint scrapped off), or the whole back plate is an antenna. I tried to insulate it, no diff to operations of the GPS or Phone.. *shrug*
msoler8785 said:
Ever notice how there are two metal pins on the back that make contact with the metal cover? Why did HTC put them in there?
Also would one be able to hardwire the antenna too these points so that the metal battery cover can be used as an extended antenna?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Related

How to disassebmble the Prophet?

I have an XDA Neo whose soft buttons haven't been working for quite a while and I cannot find a right moment to send it for repair. But I suspect it's the dust that has made its way beneath
But the bolts are so strange, I cannot unscrew them with anything - screwdrivers, knives I tried - nothing helps
Any suggestions?
this is easy you need a torx 6 screwdriver good luck
10x a lot
Look no further..
http://www.modaco.com/Changing-you-prophet-caseand33-t240109.html
Attention to side plugs...
Yes that's torx 6. It's rare but available in some stores.
But it's not over. There are some steps which need special care. Otherwise you may break some fragile parts of the body. I dismentled 2 times completely but i broke some plastic ears on the sides and the screws are not enough to come back to a tight fixing. Some spaces remian on the sides if you break the small ears while disassembling.
The steps, roughly:
1- Pull out battery, sim card.
2- Unplug upper rear cover (not necessary to unplg the antenna cover) starting from top, then bottom. Pushing 2 ears at left and righ side of the bottom is enough.
3- Unscrew 4 x torx6
4- Pull out front frame by unplugging side ears surrounding the whole frame but PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO KEEPING THE EARS UNDAMAGED. The frame is still connected to the board and the speaker. So separate it slightly, not too much.
5- Unplug the speaker unit by pushing its caoutchouc frame and slide it through the hole to free the rear frame. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DISCONNECT THE SPEAKER SOCKET. IT'S DANGEROUS AND NOT NECESSARY.
6- Pull out the camera. Its body is not fixed but only pushed into its frame. Pay attention while disconnecting its cable.
7- Unplug the keypad socket by pushing upside from sides. It's fragile but not too difficult.
8- Unscrew 4 little screws. One may be masked by a spacer. You can push it the access the screw.
9- Unplug the AC connector if necessary. Not screwed. So, you can get manually.
10-Pull out the keypad towards the rear of the phone. It will not come very easyly. Find the right angle. It's not necessary to pull out the white cover but you can do this if you want.
I write this using what i remember. I may forgot some small details but the order should be correct.
Finally don't use battery screwdrivers on a/m screws. The torque will be too strong and may destroy the plastic holes. You can unscrew but don't screw.
Thanks a lot man. I know it's dangerous, so want to be extremely careful. But some people told me that doing this can break my warranty because some of some manufacturer sticker being damaged. Is that true?
Yes, Warranty Voids If Dismantled
Yes indeed. One of 4 torx screws is covered by a warranty label. You have to destroy it to unscrew.
I did it because i never trust warranty issues on PDAs, at least in my country. Mine was fallen on its upper left corner and the body has taken a good crash make-up! It's 100% sure that u have no warranty because of user fault.
So, i dismantled and tried to repair the cover like a garage man works on a crushed car. Result: Not bad. Better than nothing. Some painting has gone. I add a silicon case on the device and everybody's happy.
Hi. Can anyone help me identify where a part comes from? I took apart my Prophet because of the amount of dust it in and the very irregular digitiser calibration. This is much better but I seem to have a piece left over and I don't know where it should go. I think it must be something to do with the phone antenna as I have very poor telephone reception since.
can u post a pic of the top end of the circle? can't really make out what it is. didn't have this problem when i opened my case
Hi, thanks for taking an interest. Here's another couple of shots.
Richard
i'm kinda guessing that it's the external antenna? u know the 1 with the rubber circle at the back of the pda? can't seem to find my tools atm to see what it actually is...
Yes, I am sure you are right - I will get my tools out and have another play with it. I may find an obvious place where the antenna goes which will fit the part in.
Well I feel pretty silly now. I took the Prophet apart and realised that this part was just a mount which the long screws screw into. One mount had come loose so I superglued it in and the screw firmly screws in now, making the whole device hold together better.
part
Richard Fantom said:
Hi, thanks for taking an interest. Here's another couple of shots.
Richard
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i think that part is below the antenna cap
Richard Fantom said:
Well I feel pretty silly now. I took the Prophet apart and realised that this part was just a mount which the long screws screw into. One mount had come loose so I superglued it in and the screw firmly screws in now, making the whole device hold together better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hahahah... well, it did look like the ext antenna part to my eyes... heheheh glad you know what it is now

Does your battery cover jump off

Mine does all the time. Its a major week point of the phone. Apart from that and the delete key in Opera (will install the beta of 9.5 to resolve this) the phone is near perfect.
It literally jumps off the phone in my pocket, I put it really nicely on the desk and when I pick it up, it has jumped off again. Hold the 4 corners and move one really (i mean really) slightly and the cover pops off.
The plastic clips where I have put the back on continuously are starting to wear down!
Anyone else get this or is it just me?
Yes mine did when I first got it. Easy fix though.
Take the back cover off, where the two interior clips are housed in the cover ( bottom part of cover lined up with the indents on the phone to allow removal of the cover) give it a good squeeze to bend the metal cover in by pushing both sides.
Worked a treat for me.
Thanks, you have made me look stupid
Works a treat!!
While we're on the subject of battery covers, do you guys have any idea what's up with the metal contacts making connections to the battery cover? Is it some kind of grounding thing? maybe an extensible connection of the antenna, or using the batt cover as wifi antenna or something? Hah, but really, it seems odd.
Good tip though, this thing is stuck on there now!
Nope, but the tip is good.
Jump? Mine has a little 'bump' in the middle, a slight outward curve. Took it to 2 service centres and they said it's normal.
matthewf01 said:
While we're on the subject of battery covers, do you guys have any idea what's up with the metal contacts making connections to the battery cover? Is it some kind of grounding thing? maybe an extensible connection of the antenna, or using the batt cover as wifi antenna or something? Hah, but really, it seems odd.
Good tip though, this thing is stuck on there now!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is it to know if the cover is off?
xpear-e-ah said:
Yes mine did when I first got it. Easy fix though.
Take the back cover off, where the two interior clips are housed in the cover ( bottom part of cover lined up with the indents on the phone to allow removal of the cover) give it a good squeeze to bend the metal cover in by pushing both sides.
Worked a treat for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry could you explain a little more...i'm a bit blonde haha. The clips on the actual battery cover? where do u bend the metal...like forward, inwards? etc thanks
edit: Nevermind, after taking it off a few times it fits fine now
zoelucker said:
Sorry could you explain a little more...i'm a bit blonde haha. The clips on the actual battery cover? where do u bend the metal...like forward, inwards? etc thanks
edit: Nevermind, after taking it off a few times it fits fine now
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
upside down, your battery cover looks, in profile, roughly like this:
|____|
You want to bend the sides in, on the end where it says SONY ERICSSON, in this manner:
--> /____\ <--
(Don't bend it to such an extreme degree as depicted though, of course! Just an indication of what direction you're bending in...)
matthewf01 said:
upside down, your battery cover looks, in profile, roughly like this:
|____|
You want to bend the sides in, on the end where it says SONY ERICSSON, in this manner:
--> /____\ <--
(Don't bend it to such an extreme degree as depicted though, of course! Just an indication of what direction you're bending in...)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the same problem. This is how you solve it.
Dont just bend it in the MIDDLE or else you'll deform the entire cover.
xpear-e-ah said:
Yes mine did when I first got it. Easy fix though.
Take the back cover off, where the two interior clips are housed in the cover ( bottom part of cover lined up with the indents on the phone to allow removal of the cover) give it a good squeeze to bend the metal cover in by pushing both sides.
Worked a treat for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
^^^
This guy is a superstar

broken headphone jack

PLEASE HELP
My wife has this phone..(so do i) well anyway she found a way to do the impossible. she broke her headphone jack in the headphone hole. The tip broke and the bottom is logged in the hole. I tried to get some super glue to perhaps stick it together and pull it out..this did not work. I took the back cover off to get more access but still cant get it..any one have any suggestions...now i also have a lot of superglue residue in the hole. is there any way to open this thing and get the rest of the plug out? BTW it is not the N1 headphone but another brand. PLEASE HELP
Is the tip hollow? If so you could try taking a small screw into it in order to have something to pull it out with.
aj
how deep is the remaining part?
the tip is not hollow and the shaft part is broke off under the plastic part.
ok this is not a joke.....
BUT if you are feeling "ballsy"
take your average sewing needle and heat it up with a lighter stove w/e unitll it is red-hot. USE A PLIERS TO HOLD IT
then plunge it into the center of the remenants and let it cool
only try this if there is some plastic left in there.
lol...I will try that...hope it works, how will the needle grip the broken part of the headphone. would it just pull right out.. I need something to grab or grip the broken part....I dont want to break my phone.
Well the poster with the needle idea has the goal of having the hot needle cool with melted plastic from piece that is broke off. Once cool, the hope is that the plastic will adhere to the needle (now completely cool) and allow you to pull it free.
I have some reservations about this idea. How did she break the tip off. Was it a sideways motion? Or did you try to correctly remove the plug but for some reason it was stuck and the tip was left lodged in?
If it was the later of those, the needle idea will do nothing. It may work is it happened the first way I described.
An alternative to the needle idea and potentially more damaging is to take a paper clip, place a small bead of solder on the tip. Avoid touching any of the phones internals with the solder and press that paper clip up against the broken tip. It should not take long to cool. Once it does, it may give the the force you need to pull it free.
Please report back when you have sorted this out. We are all curious.
maybe a little dab of jbweld or gorilla glue, if worst comes to worse of course. It would be much easier if it were hollow.
What about a really strong magnet?
gIMpSTa said:
What about a really strong magnet?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You want to stick a high power magnet next to a 530 dollar phone? Are you nuts?!?
The way to take out a broken screw is to drill a small whole in the center and try to wedge the smallest Allen wrench into it.
Maybe that might give you some sort of idea on how to dislodge that earpiece. I know it's not the same thing...but its N idea.
McFroger3 said:
You want to stick a high power magnet next to a 530 dollar phone? Are you nuts?!?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And what exactly do you think would happen?
I'm not talking SUPER magnet, but honestly, what component of the phone do you think is in anyway affected by a magnet?
There is a myth that magnets destroy electronics. Sure you can use a magnet to wipe a hard drive (not flash storage, talking magnetic disk) but it takes a SUPER strong magnet with a concentrated beam to do even that.
gIMpSTa said:
And what exactly do you think would happen?
I'm not talking SUPER magnet, but honestly, what component of the phone do you think is in anyway affected by a magnet?
There is a myth that magnets destroy electronics. Sure you can use a magnet to wipe a hard drive (not flash storage, talking magnetic disk) but it takes a SUPER strong magnet with a concentrated beam to do even that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Magnets will not do anything, Blackberry uses one to turn the screen on/off
did you get it out????
Not yet still trying. .already voided the warrenty

[Q] whats that little (gold plate) on the back of the MT4G!?

Hows it going guys!
After many days of using this awesome forum, I decided to finally join!
So to start things off, I will be asking you guys a question....
Anyone know whats the little gold plated thing on the back, behind the batt. cover of the phone, wondering if it has anything to do with the battery, or some sort of sensor???
There is also a white area on the back of the actual battery cover of the MT4G which I think is the contact point for the gold plated thingy!?
Thanks guys...
Regards,
blackeye
I think it has something to do with grounding, maybe for the screen. I could be way off.
Sent from my Glacier using XDA
estallings15 said:
I think it has something to do with grounding, maybe for the screen. I could be way off.
Sent from my Glacier using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sounds possible!
the reason I ask is because I decided to run my glacier without the battery cover using a case then i noticed my battery started acting funny, it didnt hold its charger very well and didnt charge fully......wondering if the 2 are related somehow!?
"Little gold plated thing" = contact point.
If it's behind battery cover, and battery cover has a matching "window" of bare metal for this contact - look for more contacts that touch the battery cover.
If you only find one - it means the battery cover is used as one of the antennas for this phone (cellular / WiFi / BT).
If you find several - it might be used as grounded shield.
Jack_R1 said:
"Little gold plated thing" = contact point.
If it's behind battery cover, and battery cover has a matching "window" of bare metal for this contact - look for more contacts that touch the battery cover.
If you only find one - it means the battery cover is used as one of the antennas for this phone (cellular / WiFi / BT).
If you find several - it might be used as grounded shield.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks man appreciate it!
So the glacier theoretically should get great reception then...I'm guessing!
Regards,
Blackeye
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA
Mine don't have them..I have 3, Me my wife & a spare..
Sent from my HTC Glacier using xda premium
The little gold contact on the battery cover has been discussed here before, probably in a thread that is buried. The conclusion: the ground contact point for the screen. Pic attached to show what the OP is talking about.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA
I couldn't find such thread in 10 min of googling, so I did what was probably done back then - verified the location of main antenna (which is on the plastic cover with camera glass), checked WiFi and GPS reception. None of those changed. It leaves either BT (which I can't check) or, indeed, grounding.
Jack_R1 said:
I couldn't find such thread in 10 min of googling, so I did what was probably done back then - verified the location of main antenna (which is on the plastic cover with camera glass), checked WiFi and GPS reception. None of those changed. It leaves either BT (which I can't check) or, indeed, grounding.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seams like it would between the two!!
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA
Just a thought but I could have to do with the sensor for temperature.
Temperature sensor can't be embedded in the back cover, and the point is for electrical, not thermal contact.
Upon further review, only 1 of the 3 mt4g's that I have has the gold plate at all. It's possible it could be nothing significant.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using xda premium
The thread I referred to earlier is here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1205155.
In the first post, in the update area at the bottom of the post, it points to a thread in the sensation forum. The pics in that sensation thread show that they have a silver colored plate on their cover almost identical to the mytouch4G's gold plate. The plate is conductive paint that creates contact between the metal of the back cover and a gold pin between the sim and sd cards on our phones. It is located directly above the main board of the phone, near the bottom of the device. The pin can be bent or fatigued to no longer create a good, solid contact with the plate.
The main solution proposed in both threads is to gently lift the pin with a pick to raise its height and create better contact with the plate and is done to have better touch screen response.
dclaw_fantum said:
The thread I referred to earlier is here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1205155.
In the first post, in the update area at the bottom of the post, it points to a thread in the sensation forum. The pics in that sensation thread show that they have a silver colored plate on their cover almost identical to the mytouch4G's gold plate. The plate is conductive paint that creates contact between the metal of the back cover and a gold pin between the sim and sd cards on our phones. It is located directly above the main board of the phone, near the bottom of the device. The pin can be bent or fatigued to no longer create a good, solid contact with the plate.
The main solution proposed in both threads is to gently lift the pin with a pick to raise its height and create better contact with the plate and is done to have better touch screen response.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is interesting!
So if true then the concept would be useless if we have cases on our phones...since our hands won't make contact with the back cover anymore....right!???
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA
blackeye09 said:
That is interesting!
So if true then the concept would be useless if we have cases on our phones...since our hands won't make contact with the back cover anymore....right!???
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, it isn't using your hands to complete the circuit. The phone chassis is mostly metal, but the main board is surrounded by plastic. It looks like they found it more cost effective to ground to the cover than run a wire to a part of the chassis. Looking at the sensation cover, this makes sense. The sensation cover is metal and plastic and they put a contact point on the metal of it too. If it is anything like what I deal with at my work, then they are just trying to provide the phone with a system wide consistent ground. Without grounding the back cover, it could induce or conduct a static charge and possibly shock or create interfere to the main board. When the ground has bad contact, we notice a lag in screen responsiveness, but other things may be happening that we don't notice.
Someone mentioned that the antennas are located near the camera, which is true for at least the WiFi antenna. You will see a drop in signal if you hold the phone near the camera. They also mentioned that the top area of the phone has metal readily available. I would suspect that the other antennas are there too.
dclaw_fantum said:
No, it isn't using your hands to complete the circuit. The phone chassis is mostly metal, but the main board is surrounded by plastic. It looks like they found it more cost effective to ground to the cover than run a wire to a part of the chassis. Looking at the sensation cover, this makes sense. The sensation cover is metal and plastic and they put a contact point on the metal of it too. If it is anything like what I deal with at my work, then they are just trying to provide the phone with a system wide consistent ground. Without grounding the back cover, it could induce or conduct a static charge and possibly shock or create interfere to the main board. When the ground has bad contact, we notice a lag in screen responsiveness, but other things may be happening that we don't notice.
Someone mentioned that the antennas are located near the camera, which is true for at least the WiFi antenna. You will see a drop in signal if you hold the phone near the camera. They also mentioned that the top area of the phone has metal readily available. I would suspect that the other antennas are there too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
good to know!
I might remove the case then, don't want to shock the main board!!
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA
blackeye09 said:
good to know!
I might remove the case then, don't want to shock the main board!!
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Having a case in your phone will not be an issue. The grounding happens using a self-contained circuit. The back plate may just be used as part of that circuit. Additional static from being in your pocket will be grounded with or without a case on the phone.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA

Desire HD GPS Fix

After having no GPS for about a year and getting annoyed with it not working I accidentally found a post about soldering wire to the contacts.
Well, rather than soldering I wondered if I could make a little tin foil antenna. Works a treat!! Pics below:
Nice
Sent from my Desire HD using xda premium
Seems like a great idea,, much easier than soldering,,,, did you sandwich the foil between two pieces of paper ,, was it easy to clip it back together with this mod.
Very tempted to try it.
hi,im struggling with enanche GPS signal too. just two questions..is it just aluminium foil ( http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/Folie_2007.jpg ) or some other foil? and behind,is a piece of paper to cover motherboard contacts?
thanks in advance
20mark said:
hi,im struggling with enanche GPS signal too. just two questions..is it just aluminium foil ( http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/Folie_2007.jpg ) or some other foil? and behind,is a piece of paper to cover motherboard contacts?
thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any conducting foil should be good enough if you ask me. But look at other threads - about resistance/lenght of the antenna etc. - this one is quite a guess, but should be better than not having antenna at all. By the way, if you have broken antenna (the cover), you could apply this patch to the cover leaving the spring contacts to do the resto fo the job.
And more... A new cover (antenna) on eBay is about 6 pounds? (10 euros?) - is it worth of making this by yourself when you can get a new cover?
19ninety said:
After having no GPS for about a year and getting annoyed with it not working I accidentally found a post about soldering wire to the contacts.
Well, rather than soldering I wondered if I could make a little tin foil antenna. Works a treat!! Pics below:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could you please post the URL to that web? I'd like to know how to open that cover
Thanks
rickowsky said:
Could you please post the URL to that web? I'd like to know how to open that cover
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's just round the corner:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1318892
Sent from my HTC Desire HD using xda app-developers app
nice~ thanks.. :laugh:
Template
Is it possible that you could upload a folding and cutting template? Also, (and I believe it was mentioned a bit back) it appears that you have a piece of paper behind the foil to prevent accidental contact with the board other than on the antenna points. Would something like this also work on the other antenna points?
Nice idea .. but i am afraid of shorting motherboard contacts... Perhaps any more detail from you in the long run would be appreciated...
Also my spring contact broke as soon as i tried to pull it up. so may be soldering a wire would fix my GPS!!!
Tried this. It helped a little but couldnt get a good connection and as soon as i moved the phone it would go
probably try to soldier a wire onto it
zphantom1 said:
Is it possible that you could upload a folding and cutting template? Also, (and I believe it was mentioned a bit back) it appears that you have a piece of paper behind the foil to prevent accidental contact with the board other than on the antenna points. Would something like this also work on the other antenna points?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Damn, sorry I missed all the replies!!!
So to make the template I used a craft knife and a board and trial and error cut the paper until it fitted correctly, once I have that done I used that as a template to make the foil.
I used the paper to prevent the foil from touching the motherboard. Its just regular kitchen foil.
To remove the cover I CAREFULLY used a razor blade to lift the side of the cover closest to the camera, its very tight the first time you try and open it, once it been off a couple of times its really easy to do.
To update this methods results, I found it worked for a while but then I started having GRP issues again. I was going to solder a wire in the instead but was due a upgrade so ... HOX ftw.
Soldering a wire in there would be pretty easy using a fine tip on a gas soldering iron, may be a bit more fiddly with a regular fixed bit electric iron but certainly doable. This would be a better fix, though have a look on fleaBay, it may be worth trying a new GPS cover ... I'm certain the issue lies with a really ****ty connection between the motherboard pins and the antenna points on the back of the cover and nothing else.
Sorry again for the slow replies guys, I posted and set for notifications and then forgot about it, was only by chance I found the notifs in my spam folder.
19ninety said:
After having no GPS for about a year and getting annoyed with it not working I accidentally found a post about soldering wire to the contacts.
Well, rather than soldering I wondered if I could make a little tin foil antenna. Works a treat!! Pics below:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really god work...
Thx... Going to try this.
Sent from DHD - Tapatalk
GPS FIX
If you flash the file attached to this reply it will fix your gps issues
If Im flashing it, some error occure and it is aborted.
Im doing something wrong.
Should I rename the file or something like it?
Thanks for reply.
Sent from DHD - Tapatalk
AndroidAdski said:
If you flash the file attached to this reply it will fix your gps issues
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What does the zip do?
Sent from my GT-P1000 using xda app-developers app
this zip is probably from here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1044992
oh and it didn't fix my gps issue....neither did flashing the newest radio or using solder....
19ninety said:
After having no GPS for about a year and getting annoyed with it not working I accidentally found a post about soldering wire to the contacts.
Well, rather than soldering I wondered if I could make a little tin foil antenna. Works a treat!! Pics below:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
EDIT: Please dont jump into conclusions too soon as I did! At first I thought tha this fix was working 100% but I then noticed that although I (at last) had a signal it was too weak compared to a 'healthy' gps receiver and the phone lost it as soon as i got in a moving car or changed direction.
I used tinfoil from my kitchen, plain printer paper, a pair of scissors and a cheap modeling knife. I used the 'trial and error' method just like you said and cut out the paper for insulation first. I trimmed holes for the two flash leds and the strange circular part right next to them.. I then cut the tin foil a tad larger than the papers area and I folded its edges all around to keep it from falling apart.
Congratulations for thinking so cleverly. Thank you for uploading and sharing this fix.
zphantom1 said:
Is it possible that you could upload a folding and cutting template? Also, (and I believe it was mentioned a bit back) it appears that you have a piece of paper behind the foil to prevent accidental contact with the board other than on the antenna points. Would something like this also work on the other antenna points?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With 19ninety's permission I could draft up a template for that and upload it later on.
With
mitmeister said:
Nice idea .. but i am afraid of shorting motherboard contacts... Perhaps any more detail from you in the long run would be appreciated...
Also my spring contact broke as soon as i tried to pull it up. so may be soldering a wire would fix my GPS!!!
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Click to collapse
EDIT: My spring contact also broke apart but it seems to have little on this fix. If the tinfoil has enough width then it should lie correctly on what remains of the broken spring on the main board. The problem is that after a few days the tinfoil looses some of its width due to continuous stress that we apply on the phone (while holding it or having it in our pockets) and thus loosing contact
mmessass said:
This gps fix WORKS 100%. I just tried it and i got instant gps fix using gps test app. I used tinfoil from my kitchen, plain printer paper, a pair of scissors and a cheap modeling knife. I used the 'trial and error' method just like you said and cut out the paper for insulation first. I trimmed holes for the two flash leds and the strange circular part right next to them.. I then cut the tin foil a tad larger than the papers area and I folded its edges all around to keep it from falling apart.
Congratulations for thinking so cleverly. Thank you for uploading and sharing this fix.
With 19ninety's permission I could draft up a template for that and upload it later on.
With
My spring contact also broke apart but it seems to have no affect on this fix. If the tinfoil has enough width then it should lie correctly on what remains of the broken spring on the main board.
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Sure you may make a template if it helps anyone else who has this issue

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