Database Users

Hermes bricked? Toasted? Need assistance urgently!

Before anyone jumps on me, I've been going through the Wiki and forums extensively, and found just one similar problem. Which wasn't solved...
My HTC TyTN/Hermes 200 won't boot up anymore. It is totally dead. I even can't get it into bootloader mode. Screen stays blank and the LED is off.
Put the (3 months old) battery in another Hermes to test it, and it's at 100% charge.
My Hermes shows a steady red LED when it's plugged into power without the battery in, and no LED at all when the battery is installed. The red LED turns off when the battery is installed while there's power going into the unit.
I've left the battery out for at least an hour, plugged it back in, same results. Like the other guy I tried the "pull power, pull battery, plug in power, plug in battery, reset" trick http://forum.xda-developers.com/show...6469&p=1077622 - to no avail.
Does anyone have any last resort ideas on how to get it to at least come back up to a boot loader screen ?

check the battery contact points on the phone. the hermes shows a red led when its plugged in but without a battery

... have you ever dismantled your hermes? your screen ribbon cable may have dead tracks or not be connected properly
just a test on the opposite side of the battery connectors with battery removed press firmly without putting pressure on the LCD, this worked for me when i had a white screen on power up.
if this fixes the problem you may need to actually dismantle the back and put some flame retardant electrical tape on the back over the existing tape to add an extra layer of pressure and retension

XtreMe_G said:
check the battery contact points on the phone. the hermes shows a red led when its plugged in but without a battery
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I have cleaned the contact too, nothing. And the battery is OK for sure, my colleague's TyTN runs on it without any problem.

Mattnokis said:
... have you ever dismantled your hermes? your screen ribbon cable may have dead tracks or not be connected
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In fact I have, I have totally dismantled and reassembled my TyTN yesterday afternoon, nothing.

the only other problem may be that when being dismantled you may have damaged some sensitive components, Electro Static Discharge will fry sensitive CMOS components, they do not like it at all, whenever dismantling you should wear an earth strap, any time i dismantled mine it was on a workbench with a static mat and i was earthed through the mat.
but this is one possibility, the only other idea is to swap main board and displays with another that works, finding someone willing to allow you to do this with a working hemes is the tough part.
thats as much all i can think of for now

R.I.P. my trustful Hermes 200
Thanks all for your assistance. I have come to the conclusion that my sweetheart is no longer among us. May she rest in peace.
I have obtained a (2d hand) replacement yesterday. May this one last longer.
I'll keep the old TyTN for replacement parts.
Oh well...

Blackstone totally death

Hello,
I've been flashing my Blackstone since I bought it a year ago, used many different ROMs, TASK 29, latest ROM I used was MaryOne - Build 23568 - WWE [300410]. There were some minor problems but otherwise it was working good till today.
In the morning, phone was connected to USB for activesync and suddenly died, it doesn't want to turn on, not even a diode turns on when I plug in the usb cable to show that it is charging, anybody could give some help? It is in warranty but I'm not sure, what they will say if they'll get in and see cookend rom in it any solution how to avoid it?

Same problem here. Has been flashing Energy ROM for the last couple of weeks but I dont think it is a software issue.
Prior to the present state of totally dead (ie. no LED light when charger is connected, cannot power on, pressing ON switch will not power/turn on phone neither can I hard reset), the phone behaved strangely by resetting itself during video play and phone switched off by itself.
I suspect it a hardware issue. If so, which parts and where can I purchase it without going thro HTC authorised dealer to pay a ransom! Or its time to dump the phone and upgrade? - HELP!, any suggestion?

I have no idea what you could do, but if you decide to
upgrade, please contact me. I would buy the broken phone
because I need a tiny metal part from it, as you can read in my other thread.

surfwarrior said:
Same problem here. Has been flashing Energy ROM for the last couple of weeks but I dont think it is a software issue.
Prior to the present state of totally dead (ie. no LED light when charger is connected, cannot power on, pressing ON switch will not power/turn on phone neither can I hard reset), the phone behaved strangely by resetting itself during video play and phone switched off by itself.
I suspect it a hardware issue. If so, which parts and where can I purchase it without going thro HTC authorised dealer to pay a ransom! Or its time to dump the phone and upgrade? - HELP!, any suggestion?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the same problem a couple of weeks ago.
I sent the phone to htc and they changed the motherboard. This took alltogether about 4 weeks.

bgumble,
Thanks for your input. I could only find motherboard flex cable online : http://www.globaldirectparts.com//ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=HTC730080&Click=1710
Maybe you can tell if the motherboard also house the flash ROM? If that is the case I guess the motherboard is only available via HTC service centre! or purchase a faulty unit from ebay with a working motherboard.

Yes the motherboard houses the rom.
the only other major pcb (print circuit board) is the top flex pcb which AFAIK doesn't house any of the flash storage or any other major chips.
if you want to DIY repair, you can use the service manual and I have some tips/advice in the bottom link in my sig, even tho its to change the screen, you can omit a few steps and use it to change the mobo if you're confident doing such a repair.
IIRC: mobo houses the cpu, ram, flash, various transistors and i/o rails, the usb socket, radio nand, coax rails. it also is connected to the wifi/gps/bt/sd/sim pcb, but they are seperatable.

Thank you for you info, qwertylesh.
Having replaced the LCD for TYTN II and checked the service manual and video to dis-assemble HD I think I can manage. But the only problem is getting the spare part, motherboard!. I am hoping to bid for a faulty HD but with a working motherboard on ebay.
I tried placing my dead HD, well wrapped in plastic bag, in the freezer for 2 hrs and then out in room temperature for an hour. Replaced battery but same results - will not power on.
With the charger plugged in, there is no LED lights but testing the terminals which comes into contact with the battery terminals there is voltage (4.19v), meaning - it is charging the battery but the motherboard fails to bootup!
Would it be possible to fix the motherboard? - a long shot!!!!

depends on what is exactly causing it to not boot up I think.
weather its a problem with the flex PCB or the ribbon + power button PCB at the top of your mobile or weather it is actually the motherboard at the bottom.

My HD was dead during upgrade
My Phone was dead during upgrade can anybody help me?
I found a way to repair using JTAG method but unfortunately i stuck up unavailability of JTAG pin outs.

Touch HD Mainboard
I too am in need of a new main board. I packed up my touch HD and transported it in it's original box 150 miles couple of week before I powered it up again and the phone starts, responds to volume up/down and connects via active sync. Basically it all works apart from the screen, no back light and can't see anything on the screen. The phone will charged the battery but there's no light on the power button. I've opened the phone up and disconnected the flex PCB and the connection between the main board and the screen but still have the fault.
Has anyone managed to get hold of one?

Touchscreen problem

Hello.
I was working outside for more than 8h and at that time phone was lying in the sports bag covered with some clothes. When I turned it on the battery temp. widget showed 5 degrees Celsius (in fact it was cold).
The first problem was the screen - it showed some artifacts, random RGB pixellation when waking up and while writing SMS screen just froze and only touchscreen worked, had to turn the screen off and back on to get it work.
After warming the phone to 20 degrees the screen started to work properly with no problems but 1 hour ago something started to piss me off. Touchscreen started to self-detects touch points even when I don't touch the screen. It appeared for the first when I slightly pressed "delete character" button (I use better keyboard 8). That maked touch screen to work horribly and pressing random keys near delete, 3 or 5 times per sec for a second or two...
I've already tried factory reset and even reflashing the ROM (stock nordic 2.3.4) but the problem is still occuring.
Any advice? ...

Common problem with no apparent fix.
A way you can make it better is to install Swype, which is how I've got around the same problem on my phone.

I get it in the morning after sleeping in my 24 degrees room everynight...
Normally have to bring it out of my room for 5 minutes or so and allow it to function again.. If not a restart normally works..
Phone works fine if im using it while the aircon is on though, presumably because the phone is generating heat to counteract the cold ._.

Yesterday I got pissed off, grabbed the phone and started to heat it with hair dryer and then polished it with a cloth and everything is right with the touchscreen (maybe there was some dried sweat on the screen I know some guys who had this problem and sweat was the one who caused it).
But random pixellation and screen freezes are back. I think the problem is with the screens' ribbon cable because sometimes when I slide my phone it freezes for a few secs. I remember I've slided the phone when it was very cold, maybe something wrong happened with the ribbon cable. I have to disassemble the phone and check it out.

Sounds like a trace amount of water damage perhaps from condensation while in your bag.

Fortunately NO!
The problem was with the flex cable connecting down part of the phone with the upper part. It's partially broken, probably it happened because of cold wires and my sliding.
This ribbon connects everything from the upper part (LCD, camera etc.) so it needs to be replaced. I'm gonna see if any of my towns' repair centers are able to fix it.
edit: Professional diagnosis:
Interrupted flex cable connecting upper part with the bottom part - two most left pins broken, screen shows constant "random RGB pixellation".
Bringed my XPLAY to the authorized SE repair center and waiting for the ppl there to fix my beauty...

ribbon that connects everything from the upper part to the lower part? do you mean the long and wide ribbon that is kinda folded when you open your phone? IS IT? jeez that's my problem, too. I haven't been using my phone for more than a week now.

power button stuck on "on"

Since yesterday my SGS is having a very strange issue: It seems that the power button is stuck on pressed state. When the phone was on I had the power menu appear and the phone shut down. Then it started again, only to turn off shortly after the second screen during boot, then looping in that state.
When I remove battery and put it back it automatically starts and then bootloops.
I can't get into recovery as it turns off before recovery can start. I can get into download mode but only for 3-4 seconds till the phone turns off again.
I removed the backplate and can't see any visible damage to the power button. Between the power buttons pins on the board there's a voltage of 7mv with battery removed, in case that means something to anyone.
So 2 questions arise:
- Any ideas on how to fix this? (apart from ripping of the power button which I'm not even sure would help)
- Any ideas how to get into a mode where I can backup my data or at least flash a stock rom? (Currently on CM9 with devil kernel and the devil logo shows for a second in the bootloop, not sure how the techs would like that if I was to sent it in for repair)

XlAfbk said:
Since yesterday my SGS is having a very strange issue: It seems that the power button is stuck on pressed state. When the phone was on I had the power menu appear and the phone shut down. Then it started again, only to turn off shortly after the second screen during boot, then looping in that state.
When I remove battery and put it back it automatically starts and then bootloops.
I can't get into recovery as it turns off before recovery can start. I can get into download mode but only for 3-4 seconds till the phone turns off again.
I removed the backplate and can't see any visible damage to the power button. Between the power buttons pins on the board there's a voltage of 7mv with battery removed, in case that means something to anyone.
So 2 questions arise:
- Any ideas on how to fix this? (apart from ripping of the power button which I'm not even sure would help)
- Any ideas how to get into a mode where I can backup my data or at least flash a stock rom? (Currently on CM9 with devil kernel and the devil logo shows for a second in the bootloop, not sure how the techs would like that if I was to sent it in for repair)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Has there been any water damage to the phone/button? Sometimes this can cause the button to short. Or it might just be stuck, does the button physically click in as normal?
It could also be worse and have an actual hardware issue with the motherboard/power button interface

there hasn't been any water damage. actually, it's been used in the rain but that shouldn't really hurt a phone... just in case i let it try for quite a while but the problem didn't go away.
the button clicks as it used to do, no sound of water or damage there.
problem hardly could have been worse as the phone is completly unusable in this state as i can't even turn it on.

Hi,
A friend has just handed me an abandoned SGS with precisely the same problem.
The power button itself feels fine, ie it doesn't feel stuck, and you can feel it clicking as normal. I too removed the backplate and can't see any visible damage to the power button.
I note however that the water damage indicator 'sticker' mentioned here: "samsunggalaxysforums.com/showthread.php/4674-Galaxy-S-I9000-Service-Manual-How-To-disassemble-your-Galaxy-S"
is completely white, indicating possible water damage at some point.
Any ideas for a fix, or do you think it would be economical to seek a fix from a hardware repairer?
I can replicate the problem as described by XlAfbk above, by simply holding down the power button on my working i9000.

i did sent to phone to the only service location samsung lists for germany. they claimed it was water damage and refused to repair under warranty. repair would have cost ~280 euro.
i'm waiting for the unrepaired device now and will try to fix it myself, in the meantime i got a gnexus

Ok thanks. Please keep me posted if you do find a way to repair it yourself.
Until then, I guess mine's spare parts!

no more warranty for you? if you're in germany PM me for a repair shop.
ebay has power button replacements for ~4€ that you could try soldering on, replacing the original one, if that's what's broken for you. I checked mine with a multimeter and as there's still resistance it's not the power button for me.

uhm, I actually did fix it... while it's not completly back to normal i can at least turn on and off the phone, just turning display on and off with power button still doesn't work
some dust had gathered on the board, apparently shorting a circuit. just grab a brush and some canned air and clean the board.
i cleaned the main board at the very top and the bottom one near the middle (PM me for a photo of the location)

Nice that it almost works now. Just thinking what an asshole Sammy is, they want more money for a maybe ~20€ repair than the device costs bought new.

the repair wouldn't have been 20€, they'd have replaced the whole mainboard for me, not just the power button. I have no idea whether just replacing the power button would help, just brought that up as that's the one item that could possibly be it and you can get for cheap.
my power button got worse again since my previous post btw. so something else must be wrong as well.

After my phone was on a rainy trip, I am suffering from the same issues as well. I checked the resistance of the power-switch, and the open-circuit resistance measured to 30 Ohms, while the closed resistance measured to 0. Of course, the open-circuit resistance will not measure the switch isolated, but still, I'd expect something in the range of at least some Kilos. Hopefully, the switch will function normally in some time (if the switch is the only problem).

if it doesn't fix itself remove the mainboard from the housing, check it using a strong magnifying glass for any traces of water (tiny white residue spots) and carefully clean them using with a small brush (and nothing but that!).
of course doing that will void all warranty!

I completely disassembled it in order to clean it properly, but it did not yield immediate results. However, however a few days of rest and it came back to life, and has been stable since. So it looks like the rest is the best advice for other unfortunates.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using xda app-developers app

Screen problem: Only backlight and pixelated screen

Hi, my phone with just three weeks of use, my screen stops working suddenly after ending a call. At that moment I see that the screen does not turn on, I press the lock button and I hear the blocking sound, I proceed to remove the battery and turn the phone back on, but the same thing happens. I do not have a boot image (no LG logo, nothing, only backlight for about 2 seconds) when the backlight is turned on the screen, the bottom edge of the screen gets very hot (even faster and much hotter than the CPU) . The phone reacts, I receive calls, notifications, but I have no picture on the screen. Okay, I'm starting to think it's a hardware problem and I disarm the phone to check that the LCD connector is not badly connected, but everything was fine. I assemble the phone and turn it on again and I still have no picture. I leave the phone charging all night and I go to sleep, the next day the screen worked, but only a few minutes, until it became pixelated as in the attached image.
Now the phone does not give image (only backlight) and only sometimes gives me image, but pixelated. I have been investigating, and the only thing I could investigate is that it can be screen (flex ribbon damaged), overheated GPU or CPU, defective GPU. So I do not know what to do (a replacement is not possible). I need to know if the problem is the screen or the motherboard, in case it is the motherboard I can bake the motherboard in the oven to try to perform a reflow of the GPU, just as it happened with the LG G3 when it reheated and this was a solution.
What do you think is the problem? Sometimes when I have pixelated image and I turn off the main screen, the time shows perfectly on the secondary screen without pixelation

I'd first check the ribbon cable and any other cables or connections to make sure that's not an issue. If it is the GPU, please, please take it to a professional who can reflow it correctly. I can not stress this enough -- the risk you are taking by putting your cell phones motherboard into the oven is astronomical. You could essentially take a phone with a GPU issue and turn it into an everything issue. :\ I used to repair Xbox 360s and Playstation 3s for a living and I had a BGA rework station, you have no idea how many times people brought in baked motherboards from attempted home repairs. You can find these services cheap all over the internet. Just make sure you select one with plenty of positive reviews.
Edit: I also don't recommend a heatgun reflow unless you have something to mount the heat gun with so you can attempt to replicate a BGA rework station environment. If you are dead set on repairing this yourself (if it turns out to be GPU that is) -- then I highly recommend doing this instead of the oven. Watch lots of youtube videos first. PM me if you have any questions. I can't promise I'll get back quickly as I have stuff to deal with here hurricane wise.