Related
Hello
I have managed to come to the conclusion that the original cause for the d-pad failures is NOT the loose connector as described before. this connector is in fact surprisingly sturdy.
the problem lies with the little black IC on the keypad membrane.
i am taking my hermes tomorrow to my friends' phone repair shop and he is going to heat the IC up for me and allow it to reseat.
i shall report back tomorrow.
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just in case your wondering, i came to this conclusion by purposefully 'un seating' that IC and lo and behold, intermittent white screen and d-pad failures. however if i applied pressure to the IC it allowed it to make contact and it worked again, let go and white again.
many thanks
It will be interesting to hear the results on this BUT -
I'm not certain I agree with your methodology here though. I am not surprised that deliberately un-seating the IC causes a white screen! In all probability removal of any number of components will cause a white screen! AND of course heat gunning it again to re-establish it's connections will make it work again!
Unfortunately this does not prove to me at least that the IC is the problem for most people. If I remove a capacitor from my TV and the picture goes, I cannot conclude that everyones picture problems are related to that capacitor. The D'pad connection though it may appear sturdy has a set of very fine connections and it only takes one to be fractionally bent or oxidised for you to get the whitescreen or indeed a poor connection of any component or connection.
However the IC was reported on in the loooong white screen thread where some folk found that placing padding on the IC surface or squeezing it would correct the white screen and thereby concluded that it was an IC connection fault.
Of course the problem is IMHO that there are several possible causes and any individual person can have one or a combination of things causing the white screen. So far we have as possible causes:
D/Pad connector (must be seated firmly and FLAT but neither over tightened nor too loose. The pins may also get slighly bent or oxidised so cleaning them or fractionaly bending them may work
The D/Pad IC may have poor contacts.
The LCD Flex cable may have cracks (but less likely in my view)
Some have reported capacitor faults (possibly poor connections or degradation with heating or current draw) on both D/Pad and M/board. These faults may be related to the whitescreen only appearing after 10 or so minutes of use and recovery after switching off for a while.
Heating up - in some cases the whitescreen only appears when the phone is warm/hot. This may be caused by expansion of the multi-layered board causing poor contacts / or possibly components not performing correctly due to heat or current draw.
Often some of these whitescreens can be made to disappear by putting pressure on certain components / connections or even in some cases by squeezing the phone casing near the D'pad area. So all in all it is likely to be poor contact somewhere, it's just that it can be in several possible locations - including but not exclusively the D-Pad IC.
Mike
first of all, can i just say what an honour it is to have you comment on one of my threads!
second of all, i am only trying this as a last resort to revive my hermes before i jump ship to the raphael/diamond. or unless i decided to buy a new keypad PCB for it in the hope it will fix it!
i shall report back as soon as ive been down to the shop
many thanks
hi there
i had the white screen initially and although intermittent was useable, then, progressively got worse. countless reseats of the cable, time and time again, including put 'foam' in the places indicated then i did indeed notice in that post about the ic
so, i decided to experiment with the IC. first two layers of paper on top, made some difference in that i had to apply less pressure to get it to work, and then i though, id heat it up slightly using a hairdryer (only thing i had to hand!) and a nozzle made out of a drinks can and just pry it up gently. and indeed the white screen was permanent although the phone otherwise was functioning.
so, i'm taking it down to my mates tomorrow or as soon as i get a chance and he's gna have a go at reseating it using his fancy hot air gun rework thingumajig
i would definetly go for the raphael! for the sole reason that it has a VGA screen! (im an ebook nut!) and it looks beautiful!lol
will keep this post updated
i have to agree with mike on this ,there are many problems that can cause the white screen problem. But i am betting that heat is the major culprit,wether it is the IC you mention ,is another discussion, unless of course your friends attempt at reseating the IC cures the problem ,once and for all. Good luck anyway. I am keen to find out if it was successful or not
Hi there
well, he had a look at it under some fancy microscope and confirmed the IC was not sitting 'true' meaning not 100% level, he also used some little jig he had which he sat the board in and it confirmed it wasnt level
so, he heated it, and allowed it to reseat and we tried it again and it appears that did not solve it. we used another flex cable from his own spv and it still didnt work, my cable ran beautifully in his spv too though.
so, im going to find a replacement keypad pcb now and go ahead and buy it and see if i can get it to work
Hi
ive been hunting for the last hour and i cant seem to locate a d-pad anywhere
if i was to use a cingular 8525 d-pad in my vario II it would still work, just button orientation would be different wouldnt it?
do you know of anywhere where i could get one?
I'm having whit screen prob on my wizard and a complet housing case change. I didn't know a keyboard can cause white screen. I was looking to buy a new flex cable. what's the ic and who do I heat?
Hi, three days ago my trinity fall off in water( in a pool) .immediately i've dissassembled it and cleaned it and putted to dry.Now It works perfectly except the radio( "no service") and gps.
There is more can i do?
Thanks and sorry for my english.
You can try once more disassembling and clean with a contact cleaner and then reflashing the Radio part,good luck!
A friend of mine did exactly the same thing... And trashed his Li-Ion battery too - they really dont like exposure to any mosture!
From what you say, I'm guessing that despite your attempts to remedy, there's a reasonable likelhood that there's still moisture inside your unit. Probably trapped under the low profile ("surface mount") ICs where its the hardest to dry out and can cause the most havoc if it contacts any IC pins.
I suggest you disassemble the unit again and inspect carefully for any signs of moisture. Even if you cant see any it may still be wise to use, say, a hairdryer or similar to force out any trapped moisture. A good, long session afterwards, in a warm place e.g. an airing cupboard, might help too...
Not nice - good luck!
my friend im going to give you a hint that usuly works on electronic devices,
1º try weting the board of your trinity with pure alcool ,because the alcool brings all the water to the surface and then it ends up evaporating
at least it works on mobile phones!!!!!!
give it a try
2º only turn on the divice after its dry
good luck
p.s
i have a feeling it´s going to resault
I confirm that the alcohol procedure is the right one - by experience! i was told to do it as soon as possible after the immersion, to avoid oxidation of the electrical contacts. In addition, i would suggest isopropylic alcohol (if you have it) since it has a larger molecular weigth and it will leak less into the packaging of the IC - which unfortunately are VERY moisture sensitive...
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Introduction:
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Hey everyone, I'm just posting this tirade about my problems with the X1's build quality here in case anyone else is suffering from the same problems I had, as well as some tips regarding disassembling and re-assembling the phone if you're brave/foolhardy enough to attempt repairs yourself, like me.
With contributions from others this thread could become a compendium of common hardware problems with the X1 and how to identify or fix them, as well as pitfalls to watch out for when repairing the device by hand.
I don't have any diagrams yet because I simply couldn't stomach opening up the shoddy device again to take photos.
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My X1:
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I bought my X1 on eBay second-hand (my first major mistake) so I was always a bit worried what would happen when the day inevitably came when I'd have hardware problems with the phone.
However, I bought it very shortly after the phone's release and the seller described it as unused. The phone appeared mostly unused when I received it, apart from a couple of tiny scratches on the casing.
The phone was functionally fine when I received it and showed no problems whatsoever for the first few months.
Like seemingly everyone my first hardware problems with the phone (I won't even get into the device's software failings) that developed over time were an unresponsive keyboard, cracks in the case and a non-functioning vibration motor.
The 'r' key on my X1 took considerably greater force to register a press than any other key on the device, while other keys intermittently ignored presses or interpreted a single press as 2-5 presses while typing.
The spacebar also intermittently became unresponsive, as did the 'up' key on the front-mounted optical joystick.
The vibration motor worked at first, but eventually gave only a single loud 'click' when the phone should vibrate.
The problems worsened over time and despite taking good care of the phone, the casing started to look badly banged-up - This is not a phone that ages gracefully.
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Replacement Parts
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In early December I ordered a replacement casing & keyboard from a supplier in Hong Kong on eBay (mistake #2), happyhouse.cn .
The parts were suspiciously cheap compared to the ones from non-ebay suppliers, so I assumed they would be imitation/unofficial parts, not from SE.
At first glance, the new casing and keyboard seemed like the real deal, but when I attempted to re-assemble the phone with the new parts I found that the phone's original screws didn't properly fit the sockets of the new casing and that the new keyboard didn't fit either the new casing OR the old one.
I ended up using a mixture of new and old parts to rebuild the phone.
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My Repairs
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Over the course of 'fixing' the phone, a few other problems came to light within the device's internals.
A couple of these problems were apparent as soon as I examined the device internally, while others became apparent when I rebult the device and tried to use it.
Keyboard:
The R key on the old keyboard had cracked at first, then eventually split completely into 3 parts during use. One part fell away while the other two remained stuck to the flexible plastic backing of the keyboard structure.
As I mentioned above, the cheap new keyboard did not fit the casing whatsoever (the scale of its design was wrong and it was in total 3-6mm longer than the original part).
I cleaned the original board (the plastic layer with the keys, not the circuit layer) in warm, soapy water and removed the broken R key by plucking it off the flexible backing.
I then plucked the 'r' key off the new keyboard and used it to replace the missing key on the old keyboard, with the aid of some 'Bostik Impact' adhesive.
I finally refitted the old keyboard (with a new R key) to the casing and prayed that it would still work.
It did, in the end, but the R key has less travel and tactile response than the unreplaced keys.
---Tip:---
The unresponsive (or over-responsive) behaviour of the keyboard can primarily be attributed to poor design, but the grit and dirt that enters every keyboard known to man similarly affects that of the X1 and worsens the problem.
Removing the plastic portion of the keyboard unit and washing it in warm, soapy water is a good way to at least regain the functionality that the keyboard had when you first got the device.
Vibration Motor:
I saw the physical evidence of the claim that the camera light LED is badly designed and prone to overheating, in turn killing the vibration motor.
In the original phone casing, the plastic housing that surrounds the LED had melted and resolidified over the course of the phone's life and there was minor scorching on nearby components.
The vibration motor for the device is situated directly beside the LED (to the left, while the rear camera lens is to the right) and seemed unable to function with the melted plastic in its way.
I cleared away the melted plastic but the motor still only 'clicked' when I later tested the vibration.
It seems that the motor gets burned out by trying to work when obstructed by the plastic, or the heat from the LED kills the motor internally.
One way or the other, it's dead.
---Tip:---
The recommendation to not use the light for extended periods of time on the X1 still stands, it's worrying to think of how much worse the damage could get if the light were left on longer.
It is an especially worrying issue when you consider that the light LED is so close to the main Li-Polymer battery of the phone.
Broken Side-mounted buttons:
The next problem I encountered in the original phone casing was that of the weak rubber straps that hold the side-mounted buttons (power, camera, volume-rocker) in place.
These rubber components are quite thin and weak, as well as prone to snapping when stressed.
The purpose of these straps is to hold the button in place (flush-mounted) and to provide the spring action and make the buttons return after pressing.
In my case, the strap holding the power button had weakened and the button stopped working properly, while the phone behaved as if the button was being constantly held in.
The phone constantly brought up the "Are you sure you wish to power off the device?" prompt in WinMo.
When I set about trying to remove the old button to replace it with a new one from my pack of replacement parts, the old rubber strap almost instantly snapped!
I replaced the old button eventually, but even now there is less travel in the button and barely any tactile response when it hits the internal switch on the PCB.
---Tip:---
When re-inserting the PCB during re-assembly, keep an eye on all of the side-mounted buttons to make sure that their inwards-pointing nub sits *above* the PCB and is able to reach the board-mounted switch that the button controls!
Incompatible Screws:
Beware that the screws from the phone's original casing do not properly fit the cheaper replacement casing.
This means that you will have difficulty in forcing the screws to fit (and possibly shear the heads off the screws, which is a pretty major problem in a delicate device like this where they will be difficult to remove).
If you force the screws to fit due to a lack of any replacement screws to use, they will likely not sit properly flush-mounted with the original casing, particularly on the front (touchscreen) half of the device; and this may prove problematic for the sliding mechanism.
Additionally, it means that the casing will not close properly, resulting in gaps between the casing and touchscreen as well as gaps along the sides of the device.
---Tip:---
If you must do your own repairs on the device, try to get the official replacement parts from Sony Ericsson.
Buying the cheaper replacements from eBay is a false economy and a major headache, take my word for it!
Malfunctioning Antenna:
When I first rebuilt the phone after repairs I discovered that I could only get very weak intermittent radio signals in places that I previously had full signal strength.
This problem occured only because of incorrect re-assembly by me, but it represents a pitfall that might catch someone else out when re-assembling their X1.
---Tip:---
When reattaching the Antenna unit (the black shroud that sits around the rear camera lens and which also contains the camera LED), be sure to firmly press on the left side of the plastic (where there are visible metal strips in the plastic) until you hear a click to signify that the shroud is properly attached.
Otherwise, the antennae embedded in the plastic will not properly contact the main PCB of the device and your reception for all radio antennae in the device (GSM, WiFi, etc) will be weakened or lost completely.
This problem was caused solely by my inexperienced maintenance of the device, but may be related to the weak-signal problems some people experience with the X1, at a guess.
Ammendment:
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I may be mistaken on this one! I had originally thought that this component held the antennae, but after further experimentation I've come to think that the antennae may be housed alongside the speaker unit in the other end of the phone. The tip still stands, just to be on the safe side!
Malfunctioning Speaker/Microphone:
During use early in the phone's life I sometimes found that the phone's main speaker stopped working for apparently no reason and that squeezing the casing 'fixed' the problem until it occured again seemingly at random.
Within the rear plastic portion of the casing that forms the battery compartment there is a small module comprising the phone's primary speaker and in-call mic underneath the plastic piece that contains the SE circular logo.
These components make only surface contact with the main PCB of the phone and are not soldered in-place.
In my case, the small copper contacts that extend outwards from the speaker unit had become flattened somehow within the device and no longer reached their counterpart contacts on the main PCB when the device was closed-up.
---Tip:---
Extending the speaker contacts outwards with a fingernail seemed to rectify this problem for me.
Be sure to tightly screw the module back in when you're done, just to make sure of the circuit-contact.
Touchscreen Ribbon-cable:
This problem was mentioned by others in a thread here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=561151
I very rarely encountered that problem in my typical usage of the X1, but after my repairs this issue seemed to become exacerbated (probably due to strains placed on the ribbon cable during my reassembly of the device numerous times).
Currently my touchscreen works as it should in portrait mode, but I cannot extend the keyboard, as this causes the screen to still display a signal, but not respond to any touches.
Upon sliding the keyboard back in, the touchscreen is out of the alignment by about 5-6mm every time until I re-align it under WinMo settings.
In an attempt to fix this problem I covered the exposed portion of the ribbon cable with thin insulating tape, in the hope that this would stop the traces of the cable shorting against the metal casing.
Unfortunately, this hasn't proven enough and I have not yet solved this issue.
It looks as though I need to buy a replacement ribbon cable and fix the device that way.
========================
---Other Tips:---
+ Make sure you have all the tools you need.
Replacement parts come with the necessary tools, but if you don't get those you're going to need a tiny phillips screwdriver, a tiny 6-point star-headed screwdriver and a thin, stiff implement such as a credit card or guitar plectrum to open the casing.
I also recommend a snipe-nose pliers and a tweezers for more delicate parts.
Adhesives & Bonding Agents can be useful in certain applications, but use them sparingly (or don't use them at all, to have any chance of making the phone look untampered for warranty purposes!).
+ Don't expect cheap replacement parts to fit perfectly!
They're cheaper for a reason, you get what you pay for, except in the case of the phone itself.
+ Be gentle with all of the components.
The Xperia X1 feels nice and sturdy when it's assembled, but the individual components can be flimsy and brittle when separated.
Everything from the plastic casing to the circuitry inside needs to be handled with care and treated gently to avoid being broken.
That's everything for now, but if I think of any more issues or tips I'll amend this post.
Please feel free to comment with other issues and any other maintenance tips you've discovered and we can build a useful list for people to refer to.
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Conclusion:
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Before opening my Xperia I didn't really know what to expect inside.
I'm very familiar with computers and I build my own systems as a hobby, but my knowledge of circuit-level electronics is limited and I have no prior experience of manually repairing devices like the Xperia.
My experiences show that some of the common hardware problems can be resolved by the end-user with some patience and the right tools or parts, but one needs to be extremely careful not to end up with more problems than one started with!
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Disclaimer:
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I won't be held responsible for any damage you do to your phone and I do NOT recommend that you actually perform any of these procedures.
It is better to let qualified technicians at SE's Warranty Service handle these issues.
I'm providing this information solely for those people who either want to do it or have no other choice to get their phone working again.
The information presented is a combination of information collated from guides that I've linked herein and my own experience but I cannot guarantee their accuracy beyond that.
Treat everything in these informational posts as opinion or observation, not fact!
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Links & Other Information:
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This post will contain any other helpful information or links pertaining to the disassembly, repair and reassembly of the X1.
This is Cellular Nationwide Network's selection of spare parts for the X1:
http://cnn.cn/shop/sonyericsson-xperia-c-28_638.html
This online store also offers the X1 replacement LCD/Digitizer unit:
http://www.formymobile.co.uk/proddetail.php?prod=x1lcd
I have not bought from either of these stores nor can I verify the quality or compatibility of the items they offer!
I'm just listing them here in case people have trouble finding anywhere to get parts!
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Disassembly Summary:
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The device needs to be disassembled in the correct order as laid out on this page: http://www.formymobile.co.uk/xperiadisassembly.php
-Remove battery cover, stylus, battery, sim card & micro sdhc card and put them aside.
-Remove the plastic portion of the bottom-rear of the phone (where the SE circle is), using the proper tool, a credit card or a plectrum.
-Unscrew and remove the speaker module
-Remove the screws where the speaker module was
-Remove the covers over the screws at the other end of the phone and then the screws themselves (using the star-headed screwdriver)
-Remove the plastic battery compartment (which also takes the camera cover and stylus slot with it)
-Lift the small black tape and disconnect the plug that powers the camera LED
-Remove the screw in the top-right, then left the black lens-shroud it was holding down.
-Remove the small plug on the ribbon cable at the top-right (this connects the keyboard unit to the main PCB
-Pull the clips around the edges of the green PCB back gently to release it (but do not pull it upwards).
-Lift the PCB gently and (Very) gently remove the orange tape that covers the touchscreen ribbon cable attached underneath, then pry that ribbon cable's connector away from the connector on the green PCB.
-Lift the PCB away and put it aside
-The keyboard circuit and plastic pad can now also be lifted away if necessary.
--- This is where you can stop if your repairs/maintenance only affect the rear portion of the device. Only go further if you need to perform repairs on the front/touchscreen portion. ---
-Remove the four shallow screws underneath where the green PCB previously lay to separate the rear housing from the slider mechanism.
-Remove the four screws in the front portion of the phone, then pry the casing open with the tool/card/plectrum as before.
-The main ribbon cable is attached to a small PCB and some other ribbon cables which are concealed underneath the grey fuzzy foil on the surface in front of you.
-That foil can be removed but it is not necessary to do so unless you are replacing the LCD screen unit, receiver-speaker, front-camera or the ribbon cable assembly itself.
-The Touchscreen component is held down with small grey braided straps at the corners, peel these back to release the touchscreen from the front fascia.
Then do all of that in reverse to put the phone back together!
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Videos:
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I found these videos on youtube, I didn't record or upload them.
Video guide to Disassembling the Rear half of the device:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWDurQrRt-Y
Video guide to Disassembling the Front half of the device:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyGUbxFqvyc
Video guide to Reassembling the Front half of the device:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcDqyEyC_HY
Video guide to Reassembling the Rear half of the device:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0sOaIo6724
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Personal Comment:
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It goes to show that, as many of us are already aware, you must pay a premium price for this phone but it is NOT manufactured like a premium product.
If my situation were rare or I had only one of the above mentioned hardware issues with a new phone I could accept it, but things got ridiculous with the X1.
The build quality is very poor overall and Sony Ericsson should be ashamed firstly for releasing a device onto the market that functioned as little more than a flawed prototype for the X2; and secondly for charging upwards of €600 for the 'privilege' of putting up with its many problems and shortcomings.
I for one, won't be buying any more SE phones.
My next smartphone will be an Android device such as a Motorola Milestone if I ever pluck up the courage to spend that much money on a phone again.
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Disclaimer:
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I won't be held responsible for any damage you do to your phone and I do NOT recommend that you actually perform any of these procedures.
It is better to let qualified technicians at SE's Warranty Service handle these issues.
I'm providing this information solely for those people who either want to do it or have no other choice to get their phone working again.
The information presented is a combination of information collated from guides that I've linked herein and my own experience but I cannot guarantee their accuracy beyond that.
Treat everything in these informational posts as opinion or observation, not fact!
Useful post, but it really seems that the majority of your issues were caused by the imitation housing that you purchased, not by poor SE build quality. Of all the issues you mentioned, the keyboard issues are an SE/HTC quality control problem, I've experienced them as have many. The rest seem to have been caused by the imitation housing. This begs the quesiton, why didn't you just use SE's warranty service? They don't require a reciept or that you be the original owner. And trust me, they are several times better than HTCs warranty service.
sonus said:
Useful post, but it really seems that the majority of your issues were caused by the imitation housing that you purchased, not by poor SE build quality. Of all the issues you mentioned, the keyboard issues are an SE/HTC quality control problem, I've experienced them as have many. The rest seem to have been caused by the imitation housing. This begs the quesiton, why didn't you just use SE's warranty service? They don't require a reciept or that you be the original owner. And trust me, they are several times better than HTCs warranty service.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd hardly call the problem of the non-fitting screws a majority! The rest of the issues were unrelated to the cheap replacement housing.
Maybe my post is confusing, but the issues with the keyboard, vibration motor, ribbon cable, side-buttons & speaker all existed long before I ever ordered the replacement casing!
Some, such as the ribbon cable and antenna were issues that cropped up or were worsened due to my inexperienced maintenance, but everything else was a fault of the build quality of the original device.
The incompatibility of the screws was the only problem specifically caused by the new housing, while its own supplied keyboard didn't fit the chassis, but that was a non-issue since I used the original keyboard anyway.
It could be said that my repairs would have gone significantly smoother if I had bought and used an official replacement housing from SE, but that would only solve the issues of the screws and replacement keyboard.
I put emphasis on the problems related to the cheap replacement casing primarily to warn people away from wasting their money on them the way I did.
I'll edit the original post for clarity.
To answer your question, I didn't use the Warranty service because frankly I assumed they would need a proof of purchase for the warranty (since most warranties do in my experience) and I had bought the device second-hand on eBay.
Secondly, sending the device in for warranty would mean going through the hassle of reflashing a stock rom and SPL to the phone.
Thirdly and most importantly, I wanted to try doing it myself for the experience and potential savings.
Obviously, I wouldn't recommend anyone to try and repair their own phone as I did, but if someone has had a phone sent back to them marked as "tampered" by the warranty service and are left with the options of paying for repairs, paying for a new phone, or buying parts and repairing it themselves.. well that option is there and this thread might help them.
Also, off-topic but I couldn't agree more with your signature. I tried a myriad of fancy ROMs and shell replacements for my X1 but never found satisfaction until I flashed a basic blank WM6.5 ROM and installed PointUI Home2!
Thanks this post helped me out, I suddenly lost my mic, took a look under the hood and found I had the same issue as you, the mic pins not touching. The pins are very weak so had to be careful but it works now!
tumpin said:
Thanks this post helped me out, I suddenly lost my mic, took a look under the hood and found I had the same issue as you, the mic pins not touching. The pins are very weak so had to be careful but it works now!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad to help!
Definitely the most thorough repair and tips guide for the x1. A lot of the issues you had are the same as mine. Thanks to your suggestions I got my phone in almost working condition. Now I just need to find a way to get my keyboard working again.
Sent from my xperia x1 using XDA App
Thanks Zurechial for this thorough post. I for one, have been lucky in finding a repair guy (non-SE) who is an expert with devices like the X1. I had a problem that some water/moisture/sweat had seeped in the charging port and I could not get the phone to charge. He fixed it for me.
Now the only problem I face is that the camera is not working, and wifi is disabled. Any tips to get the Wifi working? It is shown as disabled in the Comm Manager and there is no WLAN MAC Address also for it.
brilliant post, thank you very much indeed. I have just ordered a cheap housing off ebay, i know what to expect now
What worries me the most though, is how the keyboard WILL fail eventually ><
The qwerty keyboard is one of the main reasons why i got the phone.
time to snatch back our lives suckers
Apparently, it's taken less than 20 years, to destroy the Consumer Electronics Industries, ability to Repair products, sold in this country. I saw the writing on the wall, in the early 80's, with the first lines of "off shore", throw away VCR's, that were priced cheaper than they'd cost to repair. The theory, if it breaks, throw it away & buy a new one. Who cares if it winds up in a land fill somewhere.
Now, we're up to $500 Cell Phones, with the state of repair being either, unit replacement, or, cannibalization of parts. And apparently no one cares. Is it our complacency or can we really afford as a society, to buy a new phone every time one breaks? God knows we're all desperate, for our phone usage.
It's time to snatch back the repair ability we once had. This is the age of recycling, and the highest form of recycling is repair.
As consumers, start demanding access to schematics, and, access to sources of component level repair parts.
IM
You help me...
I'm almost freaking out when signal on my phone show only 2 bars...
Anyway...
it's for additional information,
use handscoon, it gives somewhat confident and when using tweezer, hold it like using pen (I learnt it when I studied as paramedic) because it will give me strength while holdin it.
AND ask the seller to send housing with screw. I bought 2 housings, from ebay and another hongkong shop. Ebay is s%ck but that other hongkong shop is more fit.
I'd like to see this thread expand, to show other "How To's for Hard Repairs", beyond the current state of, screen & touch pad (module) replacement, that most of us, already can do, or have seen.
This is intended for those that are capable of using a soldering station, and the other tools necessary, to do physical repairs, on the Logic board. It is Other wise intended for educational purpose only, and should not be attempted by the novice user.
(This is not for those with a 40w Ratshack soldering iron & a little nerve. You need a good temperature controlled station, &, a very fine tip.)
Please understand, every one of these I've seen for repair, has been a little bit different as to the actual repairs needed to restore it to operation.
So this is a guide, not a master repair plan for all.
[size=+2]USB Repair[/size]
I've come across several units, &, threads where the units, where the USB port, has come loose, or, broken away, from the main logic board.
Not ascribing blame, but, this is generally the result of the phones falling, with the USB cable attached, or, customer impatiens, when installing the cable tip.
The result of this, leaves the unit incapable of charging, or, transferring data, to the phone, though the phone may remain otherwise fully functional.
In most cases the original USB socket can be reusable, other times you'll need to find a suitable replacement. The original drawing number is, "L1037", though the MFG name remains unknown at this time.
But, either way, care must be taken to repair, the unseen damage that results, most of us would miss. The EVO 4G for example, uses a multi-layered circuit board, and part of the surface ground plane is dislodged, when the sock breaks loose. (See Photo)
Picture 1: Shows an actual EVO 4G, with the socket broken away from the board, with my notes added.
Picture 2: Is of the typical USB-B socket, with pin out (to show pin functions).
First, I've no idea what HTC used for solder, to secure parts, to their boards. But, I can tell you, it's very very, harder to work with, and therefore needs to be removed.
The traces need to be reconditioned, before the socket can be re-installing.
I did this by adding 2% silver solder, to the traces, and then removing it again, with Chemwick. Using extreme care, not to over heat the traces, causing them to become lifted from the board (if this happens, your done, there's no further repair possible).
Once the traces and ground points are clean, you need expand the ground points (inward), using an Exacto Knife. Also clean the old solder from the ground pad connections, and add just enough new solder, to clean & bead them up slightly (explained later).
Why do you need to expand the ground points? As you can see in photo 2, a small piece of the ground plane, was ripped away from the board, when the socket broke loose. Being a multi layered board, you can see several small silver spots, remain exposed on the board under where this copper was removed.
These are ground points, which need to be re-established. They are just as important, as the ports connections themselves, for maintain proper operation.
I added a small amount of solder to these points, to get them to bead up, above the board level, with a little smear of solder paste, and luck ( and a good cleaner to remove the solder paste once complete). At the same time, I added solder to "tin" the newly expose expanded copper ground points, I'd earlier made (before removing the solder paste).
I took a small piece of "used" piece of Chemwick, and, trimmed it to size to reach the newly scraped ground area. Added a little more solder, to where it was well saturated.
Then tacked the chemwick, first to the outer edges, then worked inward, to grab the beads.
Next prep the old socket.
You need to remove the old copper trace, from the bottom, &, re-tin that area, so it too, will beads a little. Also, because of the OEM solder, it's a good idea, re-tin the leads as well, again bead a little solder.
Now, your ready to actually reinstall the port. Notice that You have very little room to work with, so, care and good vision are a must. The technique your using is called "Reflow Soldering", you hit each lead quickly (on/off, like a bunny), but, you need to insure you've made a good joint.
The Leads:
You have both the "Pads & Leads", tinned & beaded, with solder. I'd suggest doing the leads first, then come back for the ground points, &, tabs last.
I would work form Pin 5 to 1. Where Pin 1, will be the hardest, because, it's pad is more massive, as it is all Ground plane (more, or, longer heat is needed here). Examine your work after, and, make sure the leads are solid.
The socket base:
I would then clip a small set of Hemostats, to the socket and the bottom of the board. Then heat the socket base up, until the Chemwick (installed earlier) compresses slightly. Do not get the soldering tip so far in, as to allow damage the sockets connections. And, once done "do not remove the Hemostats" until the socket is cooled.
The Tabs:
The Tabs are all that's left to solder, flow the solder evenly, to make a strong joint. Your bound to do better than HTC did here, which allowed the damage to occur. I would also consider flipping the board over, and flowing solder into the plated through hole while the iron and tabs are still hot.
There you have it, reassemble the unit, and, it all went well, you should again be able to charge your battery, and transfer data to your EVO 4G.
Like I've said, I'd like to see more detailed extreme repairs, appear following this post, not so much comments.
Use the thanks button if you find this post useful.
If I could find the actual parts, or, part number for reference. I'd also be willing to show how to replace the damaged LCD & Digitizer sockets. I have 3 units currently in this condition, where module replacement went badly.
IMnobody
If you add pictures to your process, you will get a lot more thanks. Overall a decent how-to.
hard to follow. yeah some pics would be nice
Hello everyone, my hd2 after a fall the screen has turned white but the phone seems to work because 'receives calls.
I tried to put it into bootloader but it always remains white.
With the replacement of Dispay you think I can solve the problem?
Thanks to all
the white screen usually means that the ..screen is not working at all. What you see are the led's that make up the backlight. The LCD panel is not polarizing this light in any way. This is because either the motherboard doesn't supply the proper signals or the display unit (LCM) is not able to process them.
Both this scenarios can happen when you drop the phone. Simply put, you may change the display and still have this problem (if it is motherboard related). At motherboard level, since the qualcomm snapdragon chip is the one that also does video processing, a failure in displaying something on the screen could mean that the chip itself either got damaged or some of it's soldering points to the PCB were broken. This is a end-game scenario.
What you really need to do, is to check out the board with another display in either a service center or whatever place you can borrow one before you actually buy it.
Thank you for your answer, but try a screen before you replace it is impossible for me, I'm forced to buy it, ****!
It would be a risk to heat the solder joints with a micro gas lamp as for the chipset of some laptops?
Or is there another system?
Thank you
Orx
Sell your phone and by a new use one... by the time you figure out what's wrong, you put in just as much as it would be to by a new use one
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App
solved
before selling the cell I had to understand the problem!
I solved the problem, was the logic board connector did not close the flat cable of the display. All this caused by bad positioning of the protective mylar
Thanks to all