Database Users

clean the trackball

has anybody had to clean their trackball yet? i don't need to but im sure one day i will. anybody attempted to take it apart and do it at all?

These things have a trackball?
Not to change the subject, but folks find using trackball more convenient than swiping the screen? I guess if you're used to a Blackberry Curve or something it's an old habit.

daveydave said:
Not to change the subject, but folks find using trackball more convenient than swiping the screen? I guess if you're used to a Blackberry Curve or something it's an old habit.
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i don't really use it or see why htc put it there but like the BB we will eventually have to clean it.

I've taken mine apart to blow the dust out from under the screen a couple of times. It's not that difficult actually. There's a great tutorial at Android Central in the Sprint Hero forum.
http://androidforums.com/sprint-htc-hero/22036-sprint-htc-hero-disassembly-diy.html
The trackball is stuck in a housing so you can't actually take it out, but you can roll it around and wipe what you can.

Tikerz said:
I've taken mine apart to blow the dust out from under the screen a couple of times. It's not that difficult actually. There's a great tutorial at Android Central in the Sprint Hero forum.
http://androidforums.com/sprint-htc-hero/22036-sprint-htc-hero-disassembly-diy.html
The trackball is stuck in a housing so you can't actually take it out, but you can roll it around and wipe what you can.
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if they make a 2nd gen hero i want no trackball.

I just use a little rubbing alcohol. Although I've heard that it hurts to put alcohol on your balls.

It seems difficult to completely get rid of it. We need some form of hardware navigation for utilities like recovery.

fixxxer2008 said:
if they make a 2nd gen hero i want no trackball.
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Your wish has (pretty much) been granted haha. The Legend has been rumored to be Sprint's Hero 2 (still very much a rumor) but it makes sense. Optical trackpad included.
But on a more related note, I too have had my phone apart to dye the housing black and to clean the dust out, and the trackball is indeed in its own little housing as was mentioned above, and it can be cleaned pretty easily with some rubbing alcohol

Leukay said:
Your wish has (pretty much) been granted haha. The Legend has been rumored to be Sprint's Hero 2 (still very much a rumor) but it makes sense. Optical trackpad included.
But on a more related note, I too have had my phone apart to dye the housing black and to clean the dust out, and the trackball is indeed in its own little housing as was mentioned above, and it can be cleaned pretty easily with some rubbing alcohol
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I'm planning on cleaning the dust out of my Hero this weekend. How fragile are the connectors when you disconnect them etc.? Because I REALLY cannot end up damaging my phone

Leukay said:
Your wish has (pretty much) been granted haha. The Legend has been rumored to be Sprint's Hero 2 (still very much a rumor) but it makes sense. Optical trackpad included.
But on a more related note, I too have had my phone apart to dye the housing black and to clean the dust out, and the trackball is indeed in its own little housing as was mentioned above, and it can be cleaned pretty easily with some rubbing alcohol
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i just looked the legend up, looks like the gsm hero?

http://android.1800pocketpc.com/2009/12/07/htc-legend-features-specs-and-images.html
the htc legend. i like the design but not the white color.

fixxxer2008 said:
http://android.1800pocketpc.com/2009/12/07/htc-legend-features-specs-and-images.html
the htc legend. i like the design but not the white color.
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It isn't actually white, its made out of a single piece of aluminum (thats the color too lol).

Aluminum design. Yep. I've never had my hero apart because I'm too scared to take apart my phone... I don't know what I would do if I bricked it I just complain to Sprint so they do it.

Leukay said:
...But on a more related note, I too have had my phone apart to dye the housing black and to clean the dust out, and the trackball is indeed in its own little housing as was mentioned above, and it can be cleaned pretty easily with some rubbing alcohol
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You dyed your Hero black? Any pics?

crunchybutternut said:
You dyed your Hero black? Any pics?
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Here's some pic's for ya!

fixxxer2008 said:
http://android.1800pocketpc.com/2009/12/07/htc-legend-features-specs-and-images.html
the htc legend. i like the design but not the white color.
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The only problem with the design is that you're probably stuck with the stock battery size. And although they may make a somewhat higher capacity in the stock size, you're not going to be able to upgrade to a Seidio 3500 mAh battery or some other behemoth sized battery.

Leukay said:
Here's some pic's for ya!
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That's the way it should've came!

Leukay said:
Here's some pic's for ya!
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Excellent! What did you use to dye it?

atoz350 said:
That's the way it should've came!
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Isn't it?! I mean, the tan/beige color is nice for a corporate kinda person, but I like my phones lookin slick
crunchybutternut said:
Excellent! What did you use to dye it?
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I just used some black RIT dye. I think it looks purrdy

You can use RIT powdered dye, I used to sell Touch Pro backs in about a dozen colors. very easy to do, but make sure you don't overheat the housing or it'll curl up on you.

Tmobile HD2 heat damage on back

The lower right side of the back of my HD2 looks like it has heat damage. The black finish is bubbling up. I do not believe it was from an external heat source. Is this a known or common problem? Anyone know what is located in the lower right corner of the back side of the phone? I'll snap some pics later.

IDQ said:
The lower right side of the back of my HD2 looks like it has heat damage. The black finish is bubbling up. I do not believe it was from an external heat source. Is this a known or common problem? Anyone know what is located in the lower right corner of the back side of the phone? I'll snap some pics later.
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Pics please.
Only source of heat there I can think of would be the battery while charging. Are you using the stock charger?

Snarksneeze said:
Pics please.
Only source of heat there I can think of would be the battery while charging. Are you using the stock charger?
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Stock charger.

There is a video floating around of someone taking the HTC HD2 completely apart, I'll see if I can find the link and possibly you can see exactly what part is located under there.... It was from someone complaining about a cracked screen.
EDIT: found it:
http://www.crunchgear.com/2010/03/02/official-htc-step-by-step-video-for-disassembling-the-htc-hd2/

IDQ said:
Stock charger.
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Can you tell me what the brown liquid is? Kinda looks like a coffee spill...
I ask, because to my untrained eye, it looks more like you accidentally sat the phone down in a puddle of a mineral-spirits-based liquid. It looks a lot like what I would expect from paint-thinner or the like.
I wouldn't have thought so until I actually saw the stains on the battery cover as well.
Is there anyone out there with a very hot phone coming back from a charge?
I've left my phone on to charge once, placed it under my pillow. The next morning I got a text and pulled it out to read, the phone was so hot I nearly dropped it, but it did no damage to the bed or the phone. I was able to hold it again after unplugging it for a few moments. Less than 30 seconds in all.
Now I am getting concerned...

Down below on the backside there, under that spot are the heat sinks for the processor and memory

sirphunkee said:
Down below on the backside there, under that spot are the heat sinks for the processor and memory
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Whoah! If you are 100% sure this is heat damage, return the phone now!
I don't mean tomorrow, I mean right now!
This is a potentially dangerous situation, considering the battery is so close. Remember all the "exploding laptop" issues that were cropping up all over a few years back? Imagine that happening in your pocket or on your dresser at night!

Does the phone still function normally? If it was heat damage to the point it was melting the finish you would expect some chip damage as well. You are not working with some solvent like brake fluids or any type of acids?
When I charge mine it rarely even gets hot. Even under full load with GPS, WIFI etc. it gets warmish but not blistering hot.
Take it back, definately warranty issue unless they can prove it was purely cosmetic - which they would check buy opening up the case - heat damage (interior) would show there.

IDQ said:
Stock charger.
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Looks more like a chemical reaction than a heat reaction, have you had it around any alcohol base liquids like Patron perhaps?

It looks more like the soft-touch plastic came unglued from the case below rather than the case actually melting through and pushing the soft-touch up.
Can you poke it? Does it feel soft (like a bubble of air inside)? Would you mind taking a knife to it and cutting around the boil to see the condition of the case below?
I'll agree with other's here and say that it looks more like external damage.
I've had my HD2 and used it heavily (bluetooth and wifi while charging, screen always on at full bright) and it does get warm. Actually, it's hotter than warm but cooler than hot. Maybe like the bottom of a crappy laptop (or a mac, six of one...). Anyway, it's never frozen or lagged, so I don't think there's any actual damage going on.

I'm going to agree with everyone else who said it looks like a chemical reaction. FWIW, I've seen alcohol-based hand sanitizer do this to the soft touch surface in a car before.

BAMF said:
I'm going to agree with everyone else who said it looks like a chemical reaction. FWIW, I've seen alcohol-based hand sanitizer do this to the soft touch surface in a car before.
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I'm still waiting for the OP to come back and tell us if it might be a chemical burn instead of heat related.
I watched the entire teardown video from an earlier post and from what I could see the heat sink for the processor is located in the center of the mainboard. The only thing directly below the spot in question is the copper/brass antenna. This does not rule out a heat-related cause, but it certainly helps to bring it into question.

DaveNavy said:
Looks more like a chemical reaction than a heat reaction, have you had it around any alcohol base liquids like Patron perhaps?
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Maybe this owner owns one of the Aliens? ****...

IDQ said:
Stock charger.
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From the looks of it, for me it seems externally caused like acetone or the like chemicals. If it were caused by heat as you mentioned, the bubbling would be uniformed for that certain area unlike what we see. And if that where the case, there would have to be a really small circuitry in that area that have risen in temperature at a fast pace to form an almost "branding" like form. Also, you can see the residue of the chemical partially cleaned from that area due to discoloration.
** Sorry didn't mean to be rude.

My G1 use to get about twice as hot as my HD2 ever gets and never had any bubbling or melting. I've had my phone on a car charger stream music over bluetooth and using GPS and it barely gets warm. Your phone would have to get extremely hot to bubble the finish on the phone.

speoples20 said:
My G1 use to get about twice as hot as my HD2 ever gets and never had any bubbling or melting. I've had my phone on a car charger stream music over bluetooth and using GPS and it barely gets warm. Your phone would have to get extremely hot to bubble the finish on the phone.
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Yeah, My G1 did the same, I always felt like it was going to just melt into a puddle of nothing with how hot it was getting. Check your battery on your G1, mine has swollen from the heat.. Haha, thank god I have the HD2 now!

HTC Teardown on Fixit

http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/HTC-Evo-4G-Teardown/2979/1

Very cool. iFixIt was very quick to get a teardown going.
I hope some aftermarket company makes a black rear casing for the phone. I still do not understand the point of all that red.

liquidkernel said:
Very cool. iFixIt was very quick to get a teardown going.
I hope some aftermarket company makes a black rear casing for the phone. I still do not understand the point of all that red.
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It's different, and it's not like you see it with the battery cover on anyways.

mrono said:
It's different, and it's not like you see it with the battery cover on anyways.
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It still peeks through around the kick stand. Oh well, still an amazing phone and how often will I be looking at the back anyway. Plus, it's not as horrendous as the Droid Incredible's rear.

[Q] Stickers inside the battery cover

Hi everybody
Just a question i removed this stickers from my atrix and now i can see perhaps aluminum do you think it's a matter???

tonton_fred said:
Hi everybody
Just a question i removed this stickers from my atrix and now i can see perhaps aluminum do you think it's a matter???
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Why would you do that?
It's not like anybody is going to look inside the battery cover anyway.

the sticker make me crazy
i already did it i hope it s not a problem i don't think so but i want to know if another user did it as well...
Because i never expected something like that under.
Like i said a stupid question, but i m wondering about my phone.
No motorola warranty in switzerland...

Aluminum? In terms of a sticker or built into the plastic? If it is the former it might just be a security thing if the stores implement it to keep people from walking out on a busy day or something.
Don't think about it though, it won't affect anything.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA Premium App

I took my sticker off and like you I wasn't sure if I should. I was wondering if it make it a little cooler (for some reason). I don't think it hurts anything but now that I think of it, maybe the extra tiny amount of space gone is contributing to my creeky back cover.
Sent from my Olympus using XDA App

Maybe try putting some electrical tape on it? It will look fugly but like I said, who is going to see it under the battery cover?

i took some pictures of what i just did
just pick and peel at it and it will come off
hope this helps someone

brian2220 said:
i took some pictures of what i just did
just pick and peel at it and it will come off
hope this helps someone
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Haha, it looks like a heat sink to me. I bet you did the wrong move because the battery does get hot and the sticker should be able to dissipate the heat. It's nothing to do with antenna reception I think because there is no metal connector directly connecting to the battery cover.

There is a contact id get its part of the antenna array.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA Premium App

I don't know if it s really efficient for the cooling...
But i think it's perhaps something like that.
To be more specific i don't want this aluminum or whatever it is stick on my battery the only way to find out is trying
Thanks for the reply

squarejp said:
Haha, it looks like a heat sink to me. I bet you did the wrong move because the battery does get hot and the sticker should be able to dissipate the heat. It's nothing to do with antenna reception I think because there is no metal connector directly connecting to the battery cover.
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Probably an interference shield.

ah why not i don't think about this posibility

The back comes off?

So, I dropped my phone. Noticed that around the volume button and then on the other side that the back was separated from the front. Thinking, oh crap, the back doesn't come off, I was already having nightmares about going to verizon. I pushed the back, back onto the frame and it snapped into place on both sides. I was too much of a wuss to try to remove it again but, I think the back actually comes off this phone and is just held on like all removable back phones, it just snaps into place. I have the ballistic nylon back.
ANyone know for sure?

xkape said:
So, I dropped my phone. Noticed that around the volume button and then on the other side that the back was separated from the front. Thinking, oh crap, the back doesn't come off, I was already having nightmares about going to verizon. I pushed the back, back onto the frame and it snapped into place on both sides. I was too much of a wuss to try to remove it again but, I think the back actually comes off this phone and is just held on like all removable back phones, it just snaps into place. I have the ballistic nylon back.
ANyone know for sure?
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I watched the teardown video. The back is held down by clips I think, so you can actually pry it off if you have a shim to get into there.

Well yeah, if it can be put together it can be taken apart. What it comes down to is how easily it can be done without damaging the phone. iDevices have always been made without a removable back, but as far as I know all of them can be taken apart for servicing. I replaced the HDD in my 2nd or 3rd gen iPod like 5 times and the battery once before wising up and ditching that Apple crap (that was my first and last Apple product).
Sent from my XT1254 using XDA Free mobile app

A guitar pick has always worked great for me, Razrmaxx, & RazrmaxxHD. I haven't needed to yet on my ballistic 64, but the video shows it working like the past Moto's

Second that. guitar pick worked great!

I see that there are ballistic nylon backs being sold on eBay now. I wonder how long before the metallized Kevlar backs show up. It will be awesome to be able to switch them out.

I put the red volume key in the black plastic so it now it has a red accent. Also the M comes out on the ballistic nylon. I actually plan on removing the M, I'm putting in some sort of metal dish. Then using that does to attach to a magnetic car dock for wireless charging. yeah, I might end up taking this too far lol

zathus said:
I put the red volume key in the black plastic so it now it has a red accent. Also the M comes out on the ballistic nylon. I actually plan on removing the M, I'm putting in some sort of metal dish. Then using that does to attach to a magnetic car dock for wireless charging. yeah, I might end up taking this too far lol
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Could you keep us up to date on your progress? I'd really like to make my own magnetic car mount as well. I had one with my Galaxy SIII using a Palm Touchstone. It was amazing.

JTH182 said:
Could you keep us up to date on your progress? I'd really like to make my own magnetic car mount as well. I had one with my Galaxy SIII using a Palm Touchstone. It was amazing.
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The camera picked up every flaw the eye cant see lol I took one of the LG car charging pads, a cheap $10 RadioShack car dock. Took the charging pad apart and put four magnets. One in each corner. then I took the cheap Doc I bought and cut the legs off of it and plastic welded them to the LG pad . Then I took the sticky part of the cheap dark and super glued it to the pad. It holds just fine without the little legs. But I like the extra support. Doesn't look too great without a phone on it. But once I put my phone on it all you see is the phone. looks like it's floating.
Edit. the back of the Droid turbo has metal in it. So its magnetic. If you put a magnet on the center and triggers the flip case. But keeping them off the side seems to be just fine

But the real question is... Can you access, remove, and replace the battery?
Sent from my XT1254

ccheww said:
But the real question is... Can you access, remove, and replace the battery?
Sent from my XT1254
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Yep, it doesn't look too difficult. There is a teardown video here: Motorola Droid Turbo XT1254 Disassembly / Tear Do…: http://youtu.be/l_AOQ6U2Zb0

zathus said:
The camera picked up every flaw the eye cant see lol I took one of the LG car charging pads, a cheap $10 RadioShack car dock. Took the charging pad apart and put four magnets. One in each corner. then I took the cheap Doc I bought and cut the legs off of it and plastic welded them to the LG pad . Then I took the sticky part of the cheap dark and super glued it to the pad. It holds just fine without the little legs. But I like the extra support. Doesn't look too great without a phone on it. But once I put my phone on it all you see is the phone. looks like it's floating.
Edit. the back of the Droid turbo has metal in it. So its magnetic. If you put a magnet on the center and triggers the flip case. But keeping them off the side seems to be just fine
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Interesting. That blob in the middle is the sticky part of the cheap dock? Do the magnets hold the phone without that sticky stuff? Is it hard to line up the phone with the charging coil? Does it get a steady current to charge?
Also, would you be able to point me to the exact charging pad you used so I know it would work?
I may have myself a project, lol... I'm wondering if something like this would work with the Turbo:

JTH182 said:
Interesting. That blob in the middle is the sticky part of the cheap dock? Do the magnets hold the phone without that sticky stuff? Is it hard to line up the phone with the charging coil? Does it get a steady current to charge?
Also, would you be able to point me to the exact charging pad you used so I know it would work?
I may have myself a project, lol... I'm wondering if something like this would work with the Turbo:
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Without the bloob it will hold. But not really strong. I'm going to revisit this project, I just needed the dock backup so I could go to work lol because I tried 2 hours and I like having somewhere to put my phone. Any qi charging pad will work with the Droid turbo. The one I have is the LG puck. Just make sure whatever you get it's designed for a car. 12 volts, not 110.
Probably next weekend or whenever I have the time I'm going to take off the back of the Droid turbo and put some metal in there, like grind down some razor blades to fit. One just below the M & 1 just above the droid logo. That will give it a much stronger hold that I can get rid of the blob and the legs. I just have a very strong fear of the phone falling off while driving and face planting into my shift knob lol.

jal3223 said:
Yep, it doesn't look too difficult. There is a teardown video here: Motorola Droid Turbo XT1254 Disassembly / Tear Do…: http://youtu.be/l_AOQ6U2Zb0
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Wow. That was painful to watch. That guy sucks at life.

So, I re did it. Turned out pretty good

jal3223 said:
Yep, it doesn't look too difficult. There is a teardown video here: Motorola Droid Turbo XT1254 Disassembly / Tear Do…: http://youtu.be/l_AOQ6U2Zb0
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Ha. Your version of "not too difficult" definitely differs from mine. I suppose if your battery was absolutely dead and you had no other choice, but when you start talking about adhesive and heat guns thats a little outside of realm of a simple replacement.

timofcourse said:
Ha. Your version of "not too difficult" definitely differs from mine. I suppose if your battery was absolutely dead and you had no other choice, but when you start talking about adhesive and heat guns thats a little outside of realm of a simple replacement.
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Oh then you definitely gotta google how to replace just the glass on The Droid Ultra/Maxx or any other phone for that matter... U'll get a definition of what difficult actually is! I personally did... And after seeing that everything else seems damn easy.... Replacing glass is so difficult that even Manufacturers don't prefer to do it!

zathus said:
So, I re did it. Turned out pretty good
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How did you make that one? Does it really stay on there while you're driving? What magnets did you use? Did you put the metal inside the phone?
I bought some neodymium magnets, but I still don't think it will hold while driving. I haven't finished yet though. I also have a bad feeling it won't actually charge because the magnets are interfering with the charging coil.

JTH182 said:
How did you make that one? Does it really stay on there while you're driving? What magnets did you use? Did you put the metal inside the phone?
I bought some neodymium magnets, but I still don't think it will hold while driving. I haven't finished yet though. I also have a bad feeling it won't actually charge because the magnets are interfering with the charging coil.
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Tonight or tomorrow I'll make a little video explaining when I did. Easier than trying to type it lol and easier to understand.

zathus said:
Tonight or tomorrow I'll make a little video explaining when I did. Easier than trying to type it lol and easier to understand.
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Thanks! That would be awesome:good: