Database Users

Crazy Tytn screen and button problem, please help

Hi all, this is my first post on this forum but I've been reading for a while to educate myself.
I've got a Herm200 that I've been trying to troubleshoot but to no avail. I'm fairly certain that it has a hardware problem but I haven't been able to isolate anything.
Here's whats happening:
Occasionally the screen will come out of stand-by all white. This will also happen randomly if i touch the screen to perform a command. While the screen is operating, sometimes the buttons on the face will stop working, however the buttons across both sides will continue working just fine.
When the screen turns all white a soft, hard, or stand-by cycle will not always bring it back to life. The fact that the hard reset wont always fix the problem makes me think it's a hardware issue since the phone will boot-up with the the all-white screen.
This is incredibly frustrating especially since HTC wont accept any warranty claims in the USA on the Tytn.
At first I thought this might be a problem with the ribon connection between the screen and the base but i haven't been able to confirm or discount anything at this point. I have yet to find a way to consistently reproduce or rectify the problem so it's very hard to troubleshoot.
I pretty much have to take a second phone with me everywhere right now just incase i need to make a call. Please help! Has anyone ever encountered such a problem?
Thank you in advance!

SneezyRobot said:
Occasionally the screen will come out of stand-by all white. This will also happen randomly if i touch the screen to perform a command. While the screen is operating, sometimes the buttons on the face will stop working, however the buttons across both sides will continue working just fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi. This sounds very similar to a problem that I experienced with a HERMES100. I bought the phone off someone on Ebay recently - someone had obviously scrambled the radio on it. I re-flashed it, and it sprang to life. However, after a couple of days, I experienced a problem where occasionally the LCD would stop refreshing, all the pixels faded away leaving only a white screen. Under these circumstances, some of the buttons on the phone stopped working. Turning phone on/off sometimes cured the problem, or it would require the occasional hard reset. This would happen once or twice a day and I suspect thats why someone tried to re-flash the phone.
In the end, out of curiosity I took the entire phone apart, put it all back together again and now there are no more problems!! Totally fixed!
My suspicion is that it was one of the ribbon cable push connectors on the mainboard - possibly not seated properly, or a bit of dirt contaminating the connection. Obviously when I took the phone apart I must have re-seated it.
If you are planning to take your phone apart, please exercise considerable care because some of the parts are very small and easily damaged. I would recommend buying a proper kit to take it apart. I bought mine for about £5 off ebay. Particularly useful are the plastic spoon "wedges" used to gently prise open the case after removing the screens. Don't use a screwdriver - you will scratch the case.
Good luck.

wow... that sounds like exactly what's going on here, I actually even tried to disassemble it lastnight but didnt have the right driver set. thank you for the advice!
I'll look for one of those sets but what would you search for if i needed to find it?

Thanks again, I just got a set off of Ebay. Hopefully it'll be here next week
With any luck it'll be a connection issue.

I have had the exact same problem. Because I got the Tytn through work I made our IT department handle the issue and I am currently waiting for a replacement and to find out what happened.

Yep, it looks like the problems the OP is having are very similar to the problems we've been having over in this thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=291027
I'm beginning to think it's a hardware problem as well but not entirely sure.
People in the above thread mentioned that using the scroll wheel a while then moving back to use the D pad fixed the problem (very briefly in my case.) Once I use the center D pad button again it locks the hardware buttons under the screen until I make my device sleep and resume.
Somtimes rather than making all the front hardware buttons unresponsive the issue is that once I use the Down Dpad button I can't use the up button. Pressing up will make it go down, as will pressing down (at least that's working ).
Regarding the white screen - this sometimes also occurs. I can force it to white screen by putting a little pressure on the silver panel surrounding the top, right and bottom of the screen (I have an imate jasjam). Randomly when there's no pressure on the rim and I wake it out of standby, it has a white screen that can only be fixed by turning the screen off and on again.
Finally, the LED indicator seems screwy. Sometimes it never flashes. Other times it flashes sporadically (uneven intervals - we're talking maybe a minute between one flash then seconds before another). When I charge it sometimes the LED doesn't come on but nevertheless it charges. Sometimes if the LED is on it never turns green to indicate a full charge. Yet other times it comes on orange, turns green, then never switches off!
Is it possible that
a) The hardware button problems.
b) The white screen problem.
c) The LED problem.
are all related to some kind of connection going loose? Why would the hardware button problem be temporarily fixable with use of the scroll wheel if this were the case?
The other thread has fallen silent. I'm hoping that some of the gurus in here can offer some input here, even if they don't know the answer but can formulate an opinion. I know very little about these devices.
Thanks in advance guys!
PS - don't really know if I should start another thread, I've posted here as it seems like very much the same issue.

Anybody any idea? advice?

I had a similar problem with my HERM100. I didn't mess around with it too much, I just had Cingular replace it out of warranty exchange (thank god those original ROMs are on the wiki ). I did notice however that after doing a master reset, the screen would function again although I haven't messed around with it too much. I got so frustrated with removing the battery for 5 minutes and STILL powering on with a white screen that I just threw it in my back seat until the new one arrived.

I don't have these screen issues. I only have hardware button problems. It's so damn frustrating! I already own a replacement.
I just received a call from my girlfriend. I wasn't able to answer the phone with the buttons, only with a screentap. I also wasn't able to close the call with the hardware button. Since the side buttons work, I went to settings -> phone, closed it, and there we go. The hardware buttons worked again.
Why the heck is this? I truly hope for some wizz out there with some advice, since HTC would only tell me to send it back after replacing it with a new TyTN with same issues.
Regards,
DM.

Anyone anyone?

HELP!!!!
barncourt said:
Hi. This sounds very similar to a problem that I experienced with a HERMES100. I bought the phone off someone on Ebay recently - someone had obviously scrambled the radio on it. I re-flashed it, and it sprang to life. However, after a couple of days, I experienced a problem where occasionally the LCD would stop refreshing, all the pixels faded away leaving only a white screen. Under these circumstances, some of the buttons on the phone stopped working. Turning phone on/off sometimes cured the problem, or it would require the occasional hard reset. This would happen once or twice a day and I suspect thats why someone tried to re-flash the phone.
In the end, out of curiosity I took the entire phone apart, put it all back together again and now there are no more problems!! Totally fixed!
My suspicion is that it was one of the ribbon cable push connectors on the mainboard - possibly not seated properly, or a bit of dirt contaminating the connection. Obviously when I took the phone apart I must have re-seated it.
If you are planning to take your phone apart, please exercise considerable care because some of the parts are very small and easily damaged. I would recommend buying a proper kit to take it apart. I bought mine for about £5 off ebay. Particularly useful are the plastic spoon "wedges" used to gently prise open the case after removing the screens. Don't use a screwdriver - you will scratch the case.
Good luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is my first post as I've so far managed to cure all my issues from just reading the forum. However, I am now having a similar problem with the white screen.
I have a cingular 8525. It fell and the following day the call and end buttons remained lit and wouldn't turn off and they also wouldn't work.
I soft reset, nothing, I then removed the battery and when I turned it back on, there was a white screen and the buttons below still don't work.
I have read the other posts on this issue, but I need help on exactly what kit to buy to reconnect the screen cable and instructions on how to do it as I've never taken apart a phone before, although I have dabbled with other electronic devices.
Your help would be much appreciated, as I am in Jamaica and there are no technicians here who I trust to help.
Thanks in advance.
Below are links to 2 kits I'm thinking of getting. Is either one better than the other?
http://www.pdasmart.com/pdaphonehtcmini.htm?gclid=CJrHntO-hosCFQx1VAodaQf6KQ
http://cgi.ebay.com/SCREWDRIVERS-TO...01677255QQcategoryZ108648QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

CINGULAR IN JA said:
This is my first post as I've so far managed to cure all my issues from just reading the forum. However, I am now having a similar problem with the white screen.
I have a cingular 8525. It fell and the following day the call and end buttons remained lit and wouldn't turn off and they also wouldn't work.
I soft reset, nothing, I then removed the battery and when I turned it back on, there was a white screen and the buttons below still don't work.
I have read the other posts on this issue, but I need help on exactly what kit to buy to reconnect the screen cable and instructions on how to do it as I've never taken apart a phone before, although I have dabbled with other electronic devices.
Your help would be much appreciated, as I am in Jamaica and there are no technicians here who I trust to help.
Thanks in advance.
Below are links to 2 kits I'm thinking of getting. Is either one better than the other?
http://www.pdasmart.com/pdaphonehtcmini.htm?gclid=CJrHntO-hosCFQx1VAodaQf6KQ
http://cgi.ebay.com/SCREWDRIVERS-TO...01677255QQcategoryZ108648QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Both kits look ok. PDA one tells you a little more but the basics appear to be in both.
I'm curious though you soft reset and took the battery out, but have you done a HARD reset? I would always try this first before dismantling.
Mike

In my case, they also are always lit up when the screen is also active.
And no matter what ROM version, they occasionally stop responding. Side buttons keep working.

mikechannon said:
Both kits look ok. PDA one tells you a little more but the basics appear to be in both.
I'm curious though you soft reset and took the battery out, but have you done a HARD reset? I would always try this first before dismantling.
Mike
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the response.
I couldn't do a hard reset because the buttons weren't working.
I have made some progress with the phone now. Found a tech guy who looked at it for me. The white screen is gone, but the buttons still stop working from time to time.
All the connections seem ok.
Is there anything else that could cause the buttons to malfunction?

CINGULAR IN JA said:
Thanks for the response.
I couldn't do a hard reset because the buttons weren't working.
I have made some progress with the phone now. Found a tech guy who looked at it for me. The white screen is gone, but the buttons still stop working from time to time.
All the connections seem ok.
Is there anything else that could cause the buttons to malfunction?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nothing obvious.
Have you got applications installed that you have loaded - could be one thats playing up.
Have you now been able to do a hard reset?
If taking device apart and reassembling improved things it does suggest hardware though and might be worth double checking all those multi-connector blocks for good connections - i.e. take them out and in a few times to ensure any oxidation on contacts is removed.
Mike

mikechannon said:
Nothing obvious.
Have you got applications installed that you have loaded - could be one thats playing up.
Have you now been able to do a hard reset?
If taking device apart and reassembling improved things it does suggest hardware though and might be worth double checking all those multi-connector blocks for good connections - i.e. take them out and in a few times to ensure any oxidation on contacts is removed.
Mike
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks Mike.
I will give that a shot.
I haven't installed any new applications recently, so I don't think it is a software issue.
Thanks again.

CINGULAR IN JA said:
Thanks Mike.
I will give that a shot.
I haven't installed any new applications recently, so I don't think it is a software issue.
Thanks again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it wouldn't be a software issue, why is it, in my case, instantly resolved when going to settings -> phone with the side buttons?

i had this problem i took it to a guy who fixed the problem he said it was a very small tear in the flex cable which causes this white screen every now ant then and the buton problem , sorry to say its the cable problem and u need a very capable person to fix it or replace it with a new one . its very common problem baised on the guy who fixed it .

dmxl said:
I don't have these screen issues. I only have hardware button problems. It's so damn frustrating! I already own a replacement.
I just received a call from my girlfriend. I wasn't able to answer the phone with the buttons, only with a screentap. I also wasn't able to close the call with the hardware button. Since the side buttons work, I went to settings -> phone, closed it, and there we go. The hardware buttons worked again.
Why the heck is this? I truly hope for some wizz out there with some advice, since HTC would only tell me to send it back after replacing it with a new TyTN with same issues.
Regards,
DM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly what is happening to me, no white screen issues, just screen taps and answering calls, I also have another problem where the PDA will not allow me to open anything, be it the start menu or contacts, it will open and quickly close again. I have had mine swapped through Telstra in Sydney, it worked fine for a while and then the same crap again. These problems started before I even touched the OS, so it must be a build problem. Maybe we should write a joint letter to HTC letting them know that there is a serious problem with their machine.

I have had the same problem, got my Tytn through work so we sent it back to the company that supplied it to us. Got it back yesterday and they had replaced the "switchboard". Not sure what it is but there was the problem. Had white screen and buttons not working.

What a STRANGE problem with my buttons and LEDs! Ideas?

Hi guys!
Long time no post!
I hope you can help point me in the right direction.
Two things started happening with my 8525 TyTN, rendering it unusable. I do have a backup one, so it's no panic. But I would LOVE to try to repair this.
Here's what happens!
1 - The two LEDs in front don't work! No green; no blue; no amber. (HOWEVER, When I first replaced the battery after a hard reset, I did see is glow red for a second!)
2 - None of the buttons on the front work! None. Start/End, the D-pad, mail, internet explorer. All dead!
Interestingly enough... the LCD screen is perfect, as is the touch screen.
The unit also works perfectly fine.
I did a Hard Reset.
I am using WM6.0.
I am wondering... PERHAPS there is some kind of ZIF cable that goes from the body to the top panel? MAYBE that came loose?
If you have seen inside your TyTN, is there one cable/ribbon for lights/buttons?
If so, that would explain it!
If there are two cables/ribbons.... one for lights, one for buttons, then the odds of them BOTH falling out are near impossible!
I would LOVE to hear any ideas or thoughts!!!
Thanks as always!!!!!
Mike

Hello and welcome to a new phone!
I have a similar problem, mine sometimes gets a white screen and the D-pad buttons rarely work for long.
It is quite possibly a loose ribbon cable.
There is actually a thread here about this issue - just do a search for 'white screen' or similar and you'll find it. It was posted to within the week so shouldn't be far from the top if you browse for it, but I can't remember which Herme's category it was in.
There's even a full guide with pics to pulling your 8525 apart!
Cheers! Oggy. ó¿ó

try a new rom,.

I have the same problem. I thought it was bcs my TyTN fell down once. It started with Iexplorer always popping up when I wanted to do something. I thought the IE button at the top was stuck or something and when I pressed hard on the message button everything was okay. All buttons worked. But after a few days they stopped working and pushing the message button wont work also. And both the red and green call button leds are always shining. It sometimes happens that the dpad works for a second and than nothing.
I used the original wm5 and flashed to 6.1 now, no change tho.

it's not the rom, tried several roms now
for me it's just the call answer button, but this is annoying enough
there are some topics in the hermes section which describe the problems you encounter or even worse problems (the lcd flickering or just giving you a bright shining white) and they all say it is a loose cable connector right under your dpad
some of them opened their tytn (guarante already gone) and put some sort of paper or rubber or sth else on the connector.
other say tighten or loosen the screews worked for them, but none of the solutions seem to be final, it always works for some time.
if you have still guarantee i would try sending back or try somewhere else a repair, that is what i will do with tytn
i hope i do not have to pay for the repair
good luck

Loose screw
I was able to fix this problem after ATT told me that I was out of warrenty and it was going to cost 499.00 for a new phone.
I it turn out it is a loose screw on the inside and to get to it you have to undue 11 screw to get to it. I might be able to fix it for you. I dought you would be able to get into this phone and not hurt any of the other functions.
Rick

Hi,
could you advise how you managed to fix it?
Thanks.

button failure and white screen
I have the same problems, if I turn off and on for 3/4 times everything back to normal. But is really annoying because I miss calls.
To me seems a software issue.... I can solve it by turning off the screen does not make sense hardware problems
have a look to this post:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=435281
I have still to test the suggestion of schaps advance config version 2.02.1.0.0

Sorry it not a software issue and you can flash a 100 roms and it still won't work. You simply have a bad flex cable and possibly a defective dpad circuit board. You have to crack open the phone to replace it and it has to be carefully done. There are tons of DIY's about opening the phone and replacing the cable. There are even YouTube Videos about it.

Screen problem when opening (Wing)...

A friend of mine brought me his Wing to look at for him. If I turn on the phone on it boots up and the screen looks just fine. When I slide the screen opened to use the keyboard the screen freezes and when I close it again it gets all jumbled up. There are lines going through it and I can not make out anything. The phone isn't locking up at this point because I can press menu buttons and other hard buttons and see the screen react, I just can't tell what is happening.
I assume that this is a hardware problem. I was thinking that the cable that connects the screen may have been jarred loose or damaged in some way. If that is the case do you think that it would be as easy as opening it up and repositioning the cable? I don't have any experience with this phone specifically so I don't know if this is a common issue.
I was also wondering if it is possible that this is just a software issue. Maybe the function that rotates the screen for use with the keyboard is messing up and jumbling the horizontal and veritcal lines when going back and forth. I was thinking about doing a hard reset and seeing if this clears up anything. Any thoughts?
I appreciate any help. This forum has always been there when I needed help in the past. I'm sure somebody out there has much more experience and knowledge that I have and can lead me in the right direction.
Thanks for any and all help!!

Update...
So I went ahead and tried the hard reset first hoping that it might be a software issue. I am now at the screen that says "Tap screen to setup your Windows Mobile based device." No screen touches are being recognized. This seems to support my thoughts that there is a loose cable or bad connection. Agree?
I just slid the screen opened to see what would happen and it faded to white.

Yep, if my experience with the Wizard tells me anything, the flex cable from the main body of the phone to the screen is either loose or damaged somehow. Even a small nick or cut into the flex cable will cause it to stop working correctly. I would hunt up the Herald service manual and take your device apart and see what you can find.

Thanks ... I downloaded the service manual and plan on taking it apart. I have to make a run to the store though and buy a small enough Tork screw driver. T5 or T6 I believe.
Thanks again, I will post with my findings when I get going on it.

now what?
So ... I have the phone completely torn apart. I do not see any loose or damaged cables. It was dirty inside the phone but other than that everything looks just fine.
Does anybody have any advice as for things to look for, that might be causing this problem, while I have this thing torn apart?

MENU button not responding

I've had the G1 for about an year and the MENU button began to act strangely.
I have to press it several times or press it around the edges to get it to respond. Does anyone else have the same problem and do you think it can be fixed without changing parts (e.g. cleaning or something else)

Yea mine is like that too. Initially I thought it was SetCPU making response/wake up time slower but all my other buttons wake the phone up quick. I have to press mine on the right side for it to register.
I'll be watching this thread for solutions, if any.

Ohh so its not only me who is having this problem, on my black g1 i have to press 2 times menu to activate it. But sometimes in one press its ok, weird... I guess it started to happen after i root and install CM .... i hope i am wrong for my lovely CM rom....

I'm afraid it could be a hardware issue, at least that's what I'm going for at the moment. It's probably the most frequently pressed button so It's probably going to die first. Anyone who has more experience with phone hardware can tell us why buttons fail over time and how they can be foxed. I'm guessing I'll have to buy some spare parts and fix it myself...

I uninstalled cyanogen 5.0.8 and ran an 1.6 rom (non cyanogen) - at first thougt the menu button worked fine, but it get's unresponsive again. So it's a hardware issue.

I wanna tell you a little story:
Once upon a time, in my years before my Android mobile, i used a HTC Tornado (WinMo), where a joystick was used for navigation. When time passed by, it began to react strange: i had to wiggle the joystick a little to navigate in some directions or sometimes it was impossible to do it at all without a bit force on it. Many others had the same Problem an the drivers of new versions of WinMo where blamed for it. So all devs made their work on it and tried every setting they could find to get this thing working... but nothing helped...
One day, a guy came and disassembled his Tornado to look at the joystick in hardware. He took a magic spray and sprayed it onto the electronics of the joystick, wiggled it a bit and reassembled his device. After turning on his phone, he found WinMo working like charm again and the joystick reacting like in childhood!!!
Well, why i tell you this story:
I didn't believe it or wasn't willing to take my device apart (like many others) and tried all software drivers the devs built instead. But as nothing helped, in the end i bought this magic spray, disassembled my device, sprayed on the joystick, wiggled it and put all together. And - YES! It was like having a new phone!!
From this moment on, i use this spray for everything: my camera's dpad wasn't working too - i sprayed on it, wiggled it a litte bit - and it was working again! My doors everywhere in the house were squeaking - i sprayed on them all, and - guess! they were silent again and opend nearly by themselves!
So -what's this magic spray? It's WD-40 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WD-40)!
I would say, try it! You can't destroy anything (although i am not liable for any damages caused by it's use... ) I think, you don't need to disassemble your phone, just spray a little bit on the corners of the home button, wiggle it a bit, clean it and you're gone (...or disassemble your phone... ).
Hope my experience helps someone!

Thank you. That's what I need - a good practical advice. I will definitely try that.

Power button issue

I've done a ton of research and this may look like an issue that's been covered but from what I can find, i don't think it has... When I boot up, I usually use the power button to get to unlock screen, now, this just makes my phone's sense not work at all, I hit the phone button and that makes it function properly. I'm guessing it's a dirty contact dust, does anyone know where I can find a 'how to' to open it up and clean the contact?
I hope I haven't misplaced this thread, but it's not a screen issue from what I can tell.
Thanks

evereste said:
I've done a ton of research and this may look like an issue that's been covered but from what I can find, i don't think it has... When I boot up, I usually use the power button to get to unlock screen, now, this just makes my phone's sense not work at all, I hit the phone button and that makes it function properly. I'm guessing it's a dirty contact dust, does anyone know where I can find a 'how to' to open it up and clean the contact?
I hope I haven't misplaced this thread, but it's not a screen issue from what I can tell.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're not a pro(or at least assisted by one) I wouldn't recommend you to even think about: in order to get to the part you need to clean (IMO it doesn't worth it to clean it for 5-7EUR) or to change it, you need to dismantle your hd2 piece by piece (literally), including lcd+touchscreen combo from main chassis!
If you can't leave with it the way it is, go to a service shop(a good one!)!
Cheers!

bib*oops said:
If you're not a pro(or at least assisted by one) I wouldn't recommend you to even think about: in order to get to the part you need to clean (IMO it doesn't worth it to clean it for 5-7EUR) or to change it, you need to dismantle your hd2 piece by piece (literally), including lcd+touchscreen combo from main chassis!
If you can't leave with it the way it is, go to a service shop(a good one!)!
Cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I think I will take it to a pro...It's working great just that one very slight inconvenience. I think I caused it by installing so many roms...I'm addicted.

Yeah i got the same problem. Power button sticks and the screen becomes unresponsive, so I use a combination of Button Savior and Button Remapper, my volume up button is now my power button.