Just repaired my GPS - Galaxy S I9000 General

Prying the frame open wasn't such a problem although you should be careful not to force anything, it actually clicks open nicely when handled carefully. I ran into problems with the little bridge of the GPS, it broke of when I looked at it. Well actually I did help a little with a screwdriver but it broke on touch so to speak.
So there I was with a broken GPS and my sight isn't everything either so what to do. Well I found a solution. Have a seat. This is shocking.
I folded a peace of alu foil a few times and fitted it in the little space on the speaker just left from the gps and covered the broken bridge with it. I wont have to tell how difficult this is considering you have to avoid all contacts in this area. So if you try it it's your choice.
Result. A blasting fast GPS that indeed gives me never seen before fixes. This just must be my lucky day. Geocaches here I come. Time to put my external GPS aside again. Nothing beats a mad hatter.

So you kind of inadvertently upgraded the GPS antennae!
Thanks for posting, don't suppose you could post a picture?

Been checking this GPS thing myself.
I actually wonder how people manage to break that contact. You only have to bring it up a notch.
When checking the back cover you can see that there are 2 places that are contacts. i've checked with the multimeter and both are connected to each other.
Now there is one thing that is strange to me. The contact that is not the one touching the metal 'spring', well on the circuitboard there is this what looks like a piece of conducting foam that would make contact with the other one on the back. Measuring that foam it indeed conducts. It conducts to ground (measured between the coax connector and foam = 0 Ohms).
Now I actually dont know if it really touches the antenna but it would be odd to create a contact when it would not be touching.
So maybe there are 2 places that should make contact to the antenna.
Does anyone have an actual clue, or even better pictures, of the changes that were made on the models after October?

Related

S100 Loses Signal

Hi, I hope someone can help me.
I dropped my phone a couple of months ago and now I'm experiencing a problem. It appears to work fine for hours then suddenly starts losing signal strength to the point where it goes altogether. I can start a call with 5 bars and be cut off with no signal in a minute even though I've not moved. It will nearly always lose the signal when I'm on the phone but takes longer when just in other use. All remaining elements of the phone work fine. Please can someone suggest what it could be as it is getting me down...thanks
I'm sure it's a hardware problem.
have got the same problem.Did you already find the problem.In the beginning the signal just dropped but know i even cannot find any service at all.
gr
I've had some luck by raising all the contacts under the sim card but the signal still comes and goes when I use the phone ??
Snap!
I droppped my phone the other day and it is doing exactly the same thing. Mine is a Qtek S110. I used to 'lurk' on this forum ages ago.. but [email protected] BACK to seek help! If and when I get my phone fixed I WILL post and let you know what it is, if I havent already found the solution here!
I think it definately has something to do with the SIM holder, whenever the signal decays and vanishes, if I take out the sim and put it back in it comes back straight away. if I just take out the battery and replace it doesn't
ok.. next time i lose signal I will do that. maybe even run some isopropyl alcohol over the contacts to make sure they are clean.
I will keep you posted in my findings!
(oh.. i tried a makeshift external aerial last night to see if I could see if it was an internal aerial fault. It didnt make any difference, so either my homemade job was [email protected] or it isnt an aerial problem, I'm yet to find out!!)
Cheers!
oh poooop..
that unfortunately didnt work for me.. Oh well. i even tried cleaning the contacts and making sure the 'sprung' contacts were connecting with the Sim correctly.
I actually lost signal until it came back 15 mins later.. hmmmmmmm!!!
Can anyone advise where I can look on the circuit board to see if there is any damage. I am capable of doing this and making a basic repair !!
I had a look at the mda strip down guide on here, but I could see any reference to the aerial or anything. I think I'll have to send off for repair! Doh!
I emailed HPC and they wouldn't take mine back as apparently it was not sold in the UK.
I think I'll give xdarepairs.co.uk a go. a mate of mine said they were good n' quick.
merceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
no wurries!
the unit that sorunded in red (in the Attached picture) is connected to the main board with tiny connector, and this connector is a male to female connector. the male is solderd to the main board and the female to the unit. my guess is that one of the connector parts (the male or the female) was disconnect from its soldering, and you need to resold it. but it is just my guess based on my experience.
I was taking a look at the mda-jam.pdf guide to removing the case and it suggests that the aerial contact on the board you have pictured is with the front panel.
Can anyone confirm if indeed, the aerial for the phone is the metal casing? That would suggest that the dents in the front of mine could have affected that very contact.
Would still like an answer to my previous post.. but I think I may have fixed my phone temporarily.
Using the above information I got a flat bladed blunt instrument (in this case a normal dinner knife) and carefully placed it into the empty sd card slot. Using the diagram from the case removal guide I applied pressure with the knife to the area where the 'aerial connector' rests against the front bezel, inside, whilst at the same time pushing on the front outer casing with my thumb in the same position.
The thought process being, that it may have worked loose.
Sure enough I have noticed a vast improvement in signal yesterday and today. I am going to keep an eye on the phone today when I go out to see if the signal stays up!
YAY!
Okay.. latest update.
The signal did drop out a little bit throughout the day, So I have taken it upon my self to put my electronic training to good use.
Using the (now much read) case removal manual I carefully .. and I MEAN carefully took my phone to pieces.
I was convinced that the reason my signal kept dropping out was either that something had worked loose or that there were some contacts that needed cleaning or reseating.. as I was able to get a signal by squeezing the case at the top.
So.. Here's what I did (In reverse order)
Page 9 straightened and cleaned the 3 contacts on the RHS plastic plate with isopropyl alcohol. Also cleaned the corresponding contact points on the main PCB with alcohol and dried with a lintless bud.
Page 10 3 contact points, top right and top edge left are the contact points I refer to above. Also cleaned the 2 sprung contacts at the bottom of the PCB RHS page 10
Page 16 cleaned sprung 'Aerial Output' contact with alcohol.. also pushed connector outwards to make a betterr contact. Also cleaned 'contact to the antenna' area and dried thorughly with a lintless bud. Any other contacts I could see were cleaned and dried too.
Whilst putting the phone back together I was very careful not to touch any components. Battery contacts and Sim contacts were also cleaned.
One thing to note in the manula is that it it possible to unclip the connector for the camera prior to removing the plate in page 8. However, it is probably best to follow the guide, if you are unfamiliar with the type of connectors used. They can break easily.
My phone booted correctly and is currently on charge.. I am checking functionality at this very moment and can see that the signal is good and all other parts / hardware functions appear to be good. watch this space! It COULD be one fixed phone!!
I can't remember who on this forum wrote the mda-jam.pdf manual, but I would like to publicly thank you as you have helped fix my phone!
I hope its worked !!! Let me know !
OK!
Well so far I have noticed a dramatic improvement on how the phone was. I am sitting here with full signal, whereas on Saturday I had between 2-3 bars.
I lost a little signal earlier today but as soon as I held the phone up, the siganl came back. So, it's not perfect, but the phone is useable now.
As long as it lasts for the rest of my contract, I'll be happy!!
Dood.

How difficult is to take apart an HTC Ozone?

Hi all,
My wife spilled a glass of beer on my PDA, and now the top front buttons don't react like before. Sometimes you don't hear the 'click' and you can feel like they got stuck.
The keyboard looks fine, so the problem is only the with the top buttons at the front of the PDA.
Have anybody tried to take apart this PDA? Would be easy to open it and clean everything before putting everything back?
Thanks a lot
I completely soaked my Ozone about a week after I got it... knocked it in the sink. I like to think that I was among the first to void my warranty, Lo..l?
The phone is really well constructed for what you need to do. All of the critical electronics are very well shielded on the board, nothing difficult about separating the board from the case.
Six 'star drive' screws on the case (that's where the warranty sticker is), one tiny phillips on the board - board pulls up off of pins, away from the usb connector and Bob's your uncle. The keypad is not fastened to the case, pull it right out.
Watch the ribbon cable for the lcd - I would not recommend disconnecting it. there should be enough play to allow you to work. Make sure you're working in a really clean environment, and check the inside of the plastic lcd cover obsessively right before reassembly. If you're anything like me that one little catpet fiber or cat hair or whatever the hell will drive you to take the phone apart again 4 days later...
Sorry about the ramble... it's late. Short answer is: Nothing to it.
Good luck!
Thanks a lot for your post. It was really helpful.
I will probably try it this weekend.
I'll post here the results
Cheers
So if I wanted to buy a different color keypad (dont like the green) it shouldnt be hard to take apart??...I change screens in Env/Voyagers a bit so have a little knowledge...

replacing G1 speaker

Hey guys,
The earpiece speaker on my G1 has developed a fault, the fault being it doesn't appear to work, how easy is it to source a replacement for it and how easy is the repair itself? is there any guides as to how to do it around? (i looked but i couldn't find anything).
I've tried flashing the rom and doing a hard reset but its still faulty.
The loud speakers working fine though so atm all my calls have to be done on the handsfree kit or via loudspeaker which can get annoying.
any help is much appreciated
regards
Streather
Are you using a ROM where sound works?
What ROM are you using?
Tried it with cynagen and the stock tmob one, same results.
Same problem
I'm using CyanogenMod 4.2.5. I dropped the phone about a foot (it fell out of my shirt pocket as I was tying my shoe!), and the earpiece stopped working. Everything else (speaker phone, etc.) works fine.
I've seen a number of similar cases in other forums, so I'm thinking that this is a weak point. I'll attempt disassembly and see if the speaker contacts got moved or something simple. Fortunately, replacement receivers/earpiece/speakers are available over the net.
Meanwhile, I'd love to learn of others' experience with this. The tech manual makes it look like you have to just about completely disassemble the phone to get at the earpiece, even though you can easily access 3 screws on the back of the lcd. Is there a shorter route to the receiver than a complete disassembly?
[update] I found some good info (including a technical manual) by Googling "g1 phone disassembly". And searching for "g1 speaker" on eBay gave some decent looking results.
[update 2] I disassembled my phone, took out the receiver, cleaned its contacts, replaced it, and and reassembled everything. That was a pretty serious chore, and it demonstrated that a nearly complete disassembly is required to access the receiver (yes, including all the stuff at the opposite end of the phone). I don't know how to test the receiver without being in cell range, which my house is not. But at least nearly everything else still works, except the camera--I need to tear back into the phone and make sure I fully seated the FPC. I think finding a replacement receiver will be a challenge--most of what turned up on eBay is actually the main speaker on the back of the phone, and I have yet to find a vendor that sells receivers.
Sadly, you will almost have to tear down the whole unit to get to it. It's not extremly diffucult, but you will need to be steady and gentle. Good luck.
Success!
I haven't seen many report back after tearing apart their phones to address issues with a bad receiver, so here goes. My simple-minded approach of opening it up, cleaning the receiver contacts with a pencil eraser, and ensuring good alignment before reassembling WORKED. I did not have to buy a new receiver.
Now if I can just get my camera to work again (I think I didn't get the cable well seated).
[update]: camera works! Seating that FPC took some nimble fingers--I got it on the 3rd attempt. I hope this proves useful to others who, like me, do not have the warranty option for various reasons.
I dropped my phone once, by accident, same thing happened. The speaker you use to put your ear up to when making a phone call doesn't work, but the speaker phone speaker works as does a bluetooth headset. Called HTC lied said that it just stopped working out of no where, they said its covered under warranty. Luckily the phone is under warranty until March and will be replaced.
I ran into the same problem. I was having intermittent problems with the earpiece. Yesterday I was able to take out the battery and put it in and it started working again. Today that didn't help either. I saw this thread and I thought that I'd try blowing really hard on the earpiece to see if that helps. It seems to be working again! I hope it continues to work.
dirtprof said:
Now if I can just get my camera to work again (I think I didn't get the cable well seated).
[update]: camera works! Seating that FPC took some nimble fingers--I got it on the 3rd attempt. I hope this proves useful to others who, like me, do not have the warranty option for various reasons.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you post details on how to do this?
My camera stopped working too.
I personally found it easier when disassembling the phone to carefully lift the entire camera and IMEI sticker as a whole unit and remove it as part of the motherboard. That way you dont need to mess with that hard to reach connector. So from where you are at, lift the board back out, reattach the camera assembly, and reassemble as a unit. I think you will find it is MUCH easier
Seat the camera FPC fully
RueTheDay said:
Can you post details on how to do this?
My camera stopped working too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had to lift the motherboard up and away from the hook that held it down in order for the FPC clip to open fully. Then I inserted the FPC *fully* before closing the FPC clip (my failures resulted from not being able to fully seat the FPC because the FPC clip could not fully open as long as the motherboard was in place). Then the trick was to get the motherboard back under its hook without accidentally pulling the FPC back out again. What I did was to press it gently straight down, using my fingernail to ease it past the hook.
Good luck!
bump...
Yeah looks like all there is on Ebay for speakers is the back one, the one for the receiver earpiece looks like it has two wire connections at each end while the one for the back speaker has them right next to eachother.
So if anybody had this problem, it is very odd and might have to do with the spring connection maybe.
Still I had this problem before and it fixed itself randomly, but this problem came out of nowhere because 12 hours earlier I had dropped my phone on its back and it continued to work fine. Than on my way driving randomly it would not work and I barely set it down in my car.
Once again hopefully somebody has found a part for this because ebay only has back speaker parts.
Best bet is to blow on it and massage it or tap it until it works, damn this sucks because it is basically the very last step to get to after dissambling your phone. So much work to get to such a common problem for many people.
I almost wanted to try to shortcut it and undo the two screws on the screen section to move it around to make connection. Now I am the deusche bag with the bluetooth in his ear all the time.
I almost wanted to try to shortcut it and undo the two screws on the screen section to move it around to make connection.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That was what I tried at first. It didn't gain me access to the speaker.
Taking the phone apart is a pain. You really need nimble fingers and faith that you're not breaking the phone when you're levering apart the *very* tightly held together plastic parts. HTC did not make this thing with servicing it in mind. Just be sure to have the right tools (including light and a good magnifying glass if you're over 40) and patience.
Removing the 3 screws that are accessible without disassembling the entire phone will get you in there if you are VERY careful. Unfortunately the one I tried this on did not work differently with a known-good speaker in it. You can delicately dig out the old speaker with a knife (Xacto) and drop the new one in. Takes patients, but not nearly as hard as disassembling the entire phone (been there, done that x10)
I have at least one spare speaker. Maybe more, gotta check my stockpile!
Hey,
My phone got dropped in a rum & coke on Saturday, so i soaked it in 90% rubbing alcohol and let it dry in a rice bath. after 4 days in the rice, it looked dry, so i turned it on. IT WORKS! The screen looks a little trippy (the pattern is even changing throughout the day) but the touch and accelerometer work great. The only real problem is the speakers sound like crap. the receiver is so quiet that it sound like they're wispering, and the back speaker is all crackely.
I found a replacement receiver speaker, but as i haven't taken it apart yet, i was hoping one of you could tell me if this looks correct.
http://www.tvc-mall.com/details/Replacement-Speaker-Earpiece-Receiver-for-HTC-G1-HTCO-G1/photos.htm
If so, i guess i'll order both speakers and attempt to replace them.
That looks about right. Bear in mind, of course, that those pictures are greatly magnified. If you haven't taken apart a G1 yet, you're in for a bit of nerve-wracking prying. Just go slowly and be patient. Getting all the way to the receiver speaker means taking the phone most of the way apart.
Thanks!
I have taken apart a phone before, the Dash (excalibur). I had to replace the screen, it involved removing almost every component.
I think i'll go ahead and order it, and cross my fingers. right now the phone isn't much more then a tiny computer, since i can't hear anyone and i don't have a Bluetooth.

Diamon2 T5388++ NEW GPS reception fix

EDIT: DISREGARD THIS. GO TO POST #3 and #4
Hello guys,
this is my first post so if I'm posting in the wrong section please bear with me.
I recently bought a T5388++ HTC diamond 2 clone. Everything was fine except that I couldn't get a GPS fix. (In the Start -> Settings -> System -> GPS Settings [Satellite State] I only had *red* satellites)
I used the "aluminum foil in the back side" fix, which worked well and I could get a fix.
Being an uneasy person I open the back cover of the cell phone to take a look (beware the headphone cables).
Now here is the good part.
On the left side (near the sd card and where the stylus ends) is probably the GPS antenna.
In the inside, on the board's side, there are two metallic "pins" which (when the cover is closed) touch the back of the antenna. What I did was to add some foil on the back side of the antenna so the contact with the pins would be more tight.
This worked like a charm and the signal is very good. I can even get a decent fix (3-4 *blue* satellites) from inside the house.
Sorry for the lack of pics, if anyone tries it, post a couple pictures and I can show you what I did exactly.
EDIT: DISREGARD THIS. GO TO POST #3 and #4
Pics!!!!
Here are some pics.
First unscrew the four screws, one at each corner of the phone.
Then slice the phone with the help of small flat screwdriver or some other tool. (there are some appropriate notches for that purpose)
**Beware of falling parts**
In the forth and fifth pic you can see where I install the alu foil.
Now you can close the phone and enjoy your newly found GPS!
[I also tried some solder, but the results where almost the same]
Congrats.
However, I can assure you that is not the GPS antenna. Based on the antenna size and shape (its a small inverted F antenna, see the black sticker that is attached to in on top of the stylus case) I am assuming it is either the Bluetooth or WiFi antenna.
The GPS antenna is a bit higher, it is the small pink 'cube' thingy on top of the phone, connected by the micro coax connector.
I had reported before the micro coax is loose in some devices, and I suspect you 'accidentally' fitted it better while opening and closing the phone.
But congrats on your successful operation anyway, being able to open and close the phone and still have a working one is already good, and often, just doing that and ensuring all connectors are clean and properly fit solves a all sorts of problems.
Yeap you are right!
I have read you saying this about loose connectors, so when i first opened the phone I refitted the micro coax.
In my defense I tried to see if this was the antenna. I disconnected it and opened the GPS. Seeing many satellites on the screen (red ones) I concluded that this was not the GPS antenna. (I thought maybe WiFi since I've seen this type of connector on my laptop's wifi)
But having read your post now, I tried a new experiment and found out that the "red" satellites appear, due to the A-GPS (with neither "my" GPS and THE GPS antenna).
Damn...
So could someone change the title to "OLD GPS reception fix"
I had the same problem with GPS. I have risked and have changed orientation GPS of the antenna - GPS perfectly works. BUT now the speaker in which I hear the interlocutor doesn't work for me. At other person after the assembly has broken touch the panel. Therefore it is better not to recommend to open phone.
onde consigo a rom do htc t5388+ idioma PTG ?
magicwolf said:
I had the same problem with GPS. I have risked and have changed orientation GPS of the antenna - GPS perfectly works. BUT now the speaker in which I hear the interlocutor doesn't work for me. At other person after the assembly has broken touch the panel. Therefore it is better not to recommend to open phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You changed the orientation of the antenna. In which way?
When I opened the phone to see if the connector is set right one cable to the speaker was dispatched (very bad soldering). I had to remove the old cable and solder another one because it was not only loose it was broken, too...grrrr...that's very bad.
But I was lucky and did't burned my phone
So, I also recommend to be VERY careful when opening the phone.
BTW: It is much simplier to open the T5388++ than my ASUS P535.
MicAlter said:
You changed the orientation of the antenna. In which way?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In a picture it is visible as I oriented the antenna.
cybermaus said:
Congrats.
However, I can assure you that is not the GPS antenna. Based on the antenna size and shape (its a small inverted F antenna, see the black sticker that is attached to in on top of the stylus case) I am assuming it is either the Bluetooth or WiFi antenna.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you please identify Wifi antenna? Look in attachment:
"C" is GPS antenna.
What is "A" "B" "D" ?
"D" - I see little piece of aluminum foil, but nothing else. Under this foil is place for stylus only and above foil is contact + Vibration Motor.
Somewhere I reed a tip not to hold the hand on the bottom of this phone during the phone call in order not to shield located there GSM antenna, so it means B is probably GSM. Are you sure C is BT and not GPS?
You're right. "C" is 100% GPS antenna. My mistake. (I've changed it now in original post.)
Well, my guess is B (at the bottom) is GSM, based on the fact it is larger (lower frequency) and seems to have two (one for the 850/900 MHz and one for 1800/1900Mhz), which leaves A and D for Blue and WiFi.
PS: Or GSM has two because it has 2 radio's? I wonder if they would share antenna or not, since it is a dual-sim dual standby, I guess the could share)
serak_hd2 WiFi probl.
If you have opened your phone already you can easily discover which one is wifi and BT. Just put a peace of paper on one contact (blocking connection), reassemble (screws are not necessary) and try connect to BT devise (compare to previous performance(distance)) if it is gone (or big performance difference), you blocked BT if not, it was WiFi. After you know which is Wifi, just try to ensure good mechanical contact from antenna till the board (bending contactors little higher or putting allufoil (aluminum can oxidize quickly, so it is not the best solution)). Try not to touch the board, some of the components can be sensible to static discharges. If you have not opened it yet, try to consider ones more the possibility to change it by your seller for new one.
problem with touch screen
t5388 + + touch screen does not work, but the image looks perfectly fine.
How to fix this?
thanks
cybermaus said:
The GPS antenna is a bit higher, it is the small pink 'cube' thingy on top of the phone, connected by the micro coax connector.
I had reported before the micro coax is loose in some devices, and I suspect you 'accidentally' fitted it better while opening and closing the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also had this problem, the connector was loose, now I have very good signal. No aluminium foil needed. Your post saved me!
My recommendation to other people trying to solve this problem: be VERY careful when you open your phone.

Poor GPS reception

I bought my G1 used off of eBay about 9 months ago. From the beginning the GPS never seemed to work that good. I didn't use it very much until recently when I got a 2600mAh battery for it and upgraded to CM6.0.0. I decided to investigate the GPS problem further as I wanted to be able to use the navigation feature on it in my car & work van. I was trying to find out where inside the phone the GPS antenna was so I knew which position it would get the best reception in the car. That's when I found this pic:
(sorry, won't let me post links due to being a new account! This was a pic of the antenna tape on the outside of the case next to the camera lens)
And when I looked closely at that area of my phone this is what I saw:
(sorry, won't let me post links due to being a new account! This pic was 2 little tabs sticking out from the original antenna tape, looks like it had been cut off!)
The antenna tape was missing! I can't believe I have been without proper GPS operation all this time. It seems the only location service I was getting was triangulation from the cell phone towers. It makes me wonder if the person I bought the phone from may have intentionally removed the antenna so he couldn't be tracked?
Anyway, I made my own temporary antenna out of aluminum foil:
(sorry, won't let me post links due to being a new account! Just imagine a piece of aluminum foil cut to fit where the original antenna tape goes and taped to the case over top of the original antenna tabs)
Went outside to test it and picked up 8 satellites right away using GPS Test app. Oh I was so happy and mad at the same time! I used the navigation most of the day yesterday. A few times it lost signal, probably due to poor contact between the aluminum foil and the tabs from the original antenna.
So now my question..........Where can I get a new proper antenna from? Does it come attached to the case if I buy a new case or is it a seperate part? So far in searching for G1 repair parts I have not been able to find the antenna as a seperate part & cannot tell if a new case comes with the antenna tape attached.
Thanks for any help!
Jeff
I can't answer the question about where to get parts, aside from looking around for broken parts phones (i.e. cracked screen)... Gotta say -- that's a funny story... and a good thing to keep in mind for others having GPS issues.
It is also why I don't buy stuff like that used.

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