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Cracked S2 screen from a short drop. Depressed.

A really stupid story, and I am sure not that uncommon either. Was in the college cubicle this morning (adult college, English ex-pat learning Finnish) and some bright spark had set the automatic lights at something like 2-3 minutes. Cue darkness and yours truly having the bright idea (no joke intended) of grabbing my phone and using my bright-as-the-sun SAMOLED+ screen to regain composure in pitch darkness and reactivate the lights.
I accidentally dropped the phone from knee height (please, imagination not necessary) onto the tiled floor leaving me with a dim partial screen lightup and many many problems, especially as I use my phone heavily to help with my language course. AAAAAAGGG.
Well, this is definitely going to be a lesson to anyone who doesn't think it will happen to them (one more educated user down, many to go) and haven't invested in a bumper case or at least a silicone cover. The only recourse I am aware of is the screens from aliexpress.com which both cost approximately a 1/4 of what the phone is worth....unless anybody has any better sources they can share?
Before I debase myself further, I have to mention that I am a 35-yr old who moved country with his family and is currently on a government-sponsored language integration course, and is therefore on the equivalent of unemployment-level finances until at least August 2012 with books to buy and all that depressing stuff. My phone is my only real luxury at the moment (cry cry, etc) and has become a lifeline helping me improve my language skills to become employable again in a very skill-oriented country. In that respect it is more than worth its (albeit svelte) weight in gold to me.
Despite me not being an existing contributor here as such, not having accrued reputation and therefore not being seen as an investment, I plan to provide a screen replacement tutorial (laced with comments like "BUY A BUMPER CASE!") when I can afford to buy a new screen. In that respect, I have set up a "Donate To Me" button to the left in my profile chit:
<<<<<<<<<<
....which I hope people would be goodly enough to use anonymously to help ease my transition through my S2 limbo. Please understand that this is not invitation to deride me for my stupidity in not buying a case yet (practical lesson learnt already, believe me) or to comment on the validity of my request in what is to me a very troubling time.
I'll be ordering the new screen at the end of the week. This is the first picture of the intended tutorial:
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I am a fairly good photographer and document writer, if that is my one saving grace in this instance. The first wag to suggest I sell my camera or my PC gets the dogs set on them!
Source links for replacement screen assemblies:
http://www.aliexpress.com/store/905...ng-Galaxy-S-II-2-i9100-Super-AMOLED-Plus.html
http://www.aliexpress.com/store/905...-Flex-Cable-For-Samsung-Galaxy-S-2-i9100.html
My email is carldotmaltby.at.googlemaildotcom for donations. Even half a Euro here or there helps ease the sting.
If you can't be generous, please be nice.
Or in Finnish, "jos sä et voi olla antelias, ole silti kiltti".
In addition, if you live in Satakunta and need guitars/basses set up and/or repaired then I can do this for a very reasonable fee. I will also have plenty of woodland mushrooms for sale. I make a mean curry. I know far too much about Matsumoku-era Japanese Aria guitars. I can still remember most of my Sinclair Spectrum machine code. I helped to prove from geotechnical data that there is a continuous layer of impermeable clay below the Stratford Olympic Village site preventing migration of contaminants buried beneath the multi-million pound development thereon from leaching into sensitive waterways. I can calculate weight bearing and design roof trusses for lots and lots of snow. I ran 10km in a very slow 59m 52s once. I came second in an egg and spoon race when I was four. I invented one of the first network instant messaging systems in 1991 using BBC BASIC and various network hacks. I then implemented it in Winword. I know far too much about brasses. I have three points on my driving licence that I should have had removed seven years ago. I can't ice skate. If any of these skills or lack of are capitalisable to you, drop me a PM....!! Callers are standing by.

Gutted!!!
Do you not use some sort of case?
I use a great rubber one that in VERY close to the phone so doesn't even look like i use one!
Looks good and would save my phone if i ever dropped it

Ouch...
Many sympathies. And good luck learning Finnish, it's horribly tough. I gave up and learnerd Swedish instead from my Finnish ex - helluva lot easier.

@OneZeoN - I've never actually used a case before, and it is only recently (well, July 2010) when I bought my first large format screen phone. Before then They were semi-bricks like my Nokia 5800 Xpress Music which you'd need to stab with an icepick to damage. My original Galaxy S never failed either. I've always been very careful (or lucky).
I guess I fell for the svelte design and feather weight of the S2. It's a shame that form is taking more precedence over function in some kind of counter-productive race on thinnest-flattest-lightest-shiniest, as the walls of material physics are being hit hard. Shock-absorbancy doesn't marry well with thin and stiff as my S2 proves.
I'm going over whether to run a silicone skin or a proper bumper case. Given that every Euro counts at the moment (upcoming school books and my wife needs a nurse uniform "for school", woof) I'm a little worried that silicone might not provide the protection and assurance an expensive phone like an S2 really needs. As you say, more than likely better than no protection!
@B3311 - Finnish is unfeasibly hard. That said, it is very logical like German is. You can read Finnish straight from the page and even if you don't know the words or the sense of what you are reading, everything can be vocalised. The grammar is the problem, cramming that system into your head and then realising you haven't had time to absorb any vocab so you have nothing useful to say. I keep telling myself that two years of intensive language courses will pay off for the rest of my life. Swedish is easy, yes.

Does it affect the way your screen renders things or is it only on the gorilla glass?
My friend dropped his belt buckle on his LG Optimus 2X and cracked his gorilla glass but it still turns on and renders without problems. He sent it back to LG and got a replacement (only the glass) for $5 + $10 service fee.
Or maybe this can help?

Thanks for the link. My glass is immaculate and the crack is in the screen component mounted beneath the glass itself.
More than a little polishing required here!
<edit: apologies for the bad photo. snap decision and not set up fully hence the reflection!>

If you find a source for the bits, I would be pleased to hear about it.
My buddy's son did the same thing, but the display underneath is OK, but the glass is cracked. He now has my spare gel case, but needs to find a new glass.
Someone else, with an iPhone 4, told me his agent charged £180 to replace the glass when he did it.

The screen, glass and bezel seem to comprise one unit. I haven't taken my S2 apart any further than the rear plastic cover and bezel as I only really want to try this once I get around to replacing the screen for real. It seems it will be a "full body transplant" of all components and boards from the old damaged (well, killed) screen straight across to the new unit.
A full teardown is available here:
http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Samsung-Galaxy-S-2-Teardown/5861/1
...and a little-too-quick-for-my-liking video on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKztg1ra4-0
Most of this evening will be spent looking for sources. Amazon and "Ali Express" seem like the most likely sources, however I haven't even found suggestions here really. Has nobody broken their S2 yet, unlike me?
I'm marginally concerned about ordering from a random Chinese site, however since it likely won't come from anywhere else what can I do? X'D
Oh, and despite my apparent light-hearted posting I am still depressed. Levity in the face of gravity and all that.

"Disassembly" in pic slideshow.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYNy0ODQ26A

Has anybody had any experience with this company? Going to ask this in the accessories section also.
http://www.repairsuniverse.com/samsung-galaxy-s-i9000-lcd-touch-screen-digitizer-replacement.html

I sympathise with the OP. I cracked the glass to the left of the home screen button, it shattered in an area 6 x 10 mm and propogated from the bottom left hand corner, with 4 long cracks running into the main screen area. Fortunatly for me the it still works and the long cracks are very fine and not too distracting.
It was in my pocket when it happen and i don't recall bashing into anything. I assume it was a glancing blow from the handle of a cupboard door which matches the hight where my phone would sit in my pocket. When I first pull it out I thought I had my friends phone (HTC Touch HD2 since he has cracks from where it fell from his bike) gutted when I realised what had occurred.
I have looked up service centres in the uk and was sent to CPW in Bristol, spoke to "the Tech Guy" they quote £150, 2 days lead on the part (incidental anecdote: and their engineer isnt in because he has a bad back. The guy told me had had a similar crack in his sgs2.) Have found others offering fitting for £125 but would much prefer the recommendation of a stranger on a website i lurk in . I have put a cheap screen protector on top so not to loose further glass.
anyway good luck.

Small donation sent. Good luck.

Thank you! I really appreciate it and the other donations made so far. I calculate that I am about 2-3% of the way there already. I think I remember where my anti-static wrist strap is also! I just need to locate a SAMOLED+ screen replacement.
I believe I will need to inspect the screen assembly when it arrives, as this may not involve a "full body" transplant and might just require the Gorilla glass debonding from the bezel rather than a full disassemble. I'm not sure which of these I actually prefer however...
@s1lvf1sh - those propogating cracks must be a complete nightmare as any pressure will surely apply stress along them! I don't know whether the glass can be replaced on its own as it seems to be that it is bonded to the SAMOLED itself. Perhaps this goes some way as to explaining the high cost of glass replacement services? I hope to see Samsung using flexible AMOLEDs in the next couple of years, as they appear to be all but immune to convential damage.
....and unconvential damage....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8S8tbQMp2k

Pulled the trigger on a new SAMOLED screen from a UK reseller for a reasonable price. Should arrive next week, so unless I get some good time during the day that week I will be documenting the replacement process next Saturday and uploading the same or the next day or thereabouts.
Thanks to everybody that made donations. Found out yesterday that my next language book will cost me €49(£42) which is a serious dent in our general finances alongside this new screen and my intended bumper case. Any supplementary donations are always welcome of course! :-D
Whilst I am on-topic; if any steps of the transplant process need documenting in specific detail, it would be a good time to discuss those now I guess.

I'm no expert here..... but on my O2 mini I had many a year ago I had the screen go garbled like that after i dropped it. Now I understand that this phone is a amoled where my O2 was an lcd but I found the problem with the O2 was the flat cable connection for the screen to the motherboard....
Just a thought and doubt your problem is the same but you have to pull the phone apart anyway so worth a check.

pbrown77 said:
I'm no expert here..... but on my O2 mini I had many a year ago I had the screen go garbled like that after i dropped it. Now I understand that this phone is a amoled where my O2 was an lcd but I found the problem with the O2 was the flat cable connection for the screen to the motherboard....
Just a thought and doubt your problem is the same but you have to pull the phone apart anyway so worth a check.
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It's unlikely that I am the first person with a broken S2 LCD/LED given the number of them up for sale out there. In that respect any fatal design flaws should have been reported by now, so I doubt it will be a similar problem however I never rule anything out until I have appropriate evidence so I will definitely examine the damaged screen and trace the source of the crack back through to the initial shock transmission point in the (relatively) inelastic case.
In other news, I am heavily tempted to buy an aluminium Taurus case.

don't buy the story. My SG2 fell down 3times. One time even from more than 2.5 meters hight. No impact on any function so far.
sorry, but wish you good luck anyway. May God give you power to manage your life with honour.

Story? It's far from being a story at this end of the Internet! I'm stuck with "using" a GT-S3370E whilst I've been rejigging money to cover this repair and have discovered the downside of syncing all your contacts with your Google account....when you move backwards to an older phone that can't do that, you find that you have no numbers on your phone. Bleh.
Good luck with dropping your phone "successfully". Most people just don't get second chances you know? Just happy that I'm living my life honourably under my own steam thanks.
PS. A big Saturday handshake to the last donation received! Makes me feel a hell of a lot less "out in the cold" from my little disaster.
PPS. Missing Android.

Feel with you. Made my first scratch today dropping mine from knee height as well...Luckily its at the edge of the screen and barely visible.
Sent from my GT-P7500 using Tapatalk

bingoking said:
Feel with you. Made my first scratch today dropping mine from knee height as well...Luckily its at the edge of the screen and barely visible.
Sent from my GT-P7500 using Tapatalk
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No scratches in mine. I suppose that just makes it worse, that I wrote off a pristine Gorilla Glass screen by cracking the LED underneath. I hated the scratch in my original S. 3mm right down in the middle, two-thirds down. Grr.
Considering a Zonus leather wallet case instead of a bumper. Not a fan of the portrait ones though. A little too Star Trek communicator for my liking....reminds me of Ace Ventura too....

Screwed by ASUS! RMA gone wrong. See inside..

He Guys, so Recently has the Transformer sent in for not working properly. ( Would not stay on). Would shut off when power supply pulled off.
I got a response from Asus a few mins ago with pics. I cant believe this. For the record, I treat all my electronics with much respect. Especially if its only a few months old. (Bought in June) This thing has never seen an ounce of water. The pics they sent were disturbing. See body of email and pics below. Thoughts?
Dear Mr. XXXX,
Your RMA has been received; however there is a delay in processing as it has ( liquid damage that has caused corrosion ), which is not covered under the ASUS manufacturer warranty. For your reference, please review the attached picture(s). For more information in regards to types of damage not covered under ASUS manufacturer warranty, please visit http://service.asus.com, http://support.asus.com, and/or refer to your User Manual.
If you would like to continue with repairs for your ASUS product, please return the completed and signed credit card form by one of the following methods:
Fax: 510-797-2102 (Attn: Megan)
Email: (PDF/JPG formats accepted only)
Payment will need to be received no later than ( 11/3/11 ) to prevent your RMA from being returned unrepaired on ( 11/4/11 ). Repair process is approximately 3-5 business days from once payment is approved (excludes: parts on backorder and/or shipping/transit time).
Cost of repairs (all amounts are USD) – enter amounts on credit card form:
Parts - $409.00 (Motherboard-$189 + Audio Board-$21 + LCD-$199)
Labor - $65.00
Shipping – please select one shipping method only on credit card form
Sales Tax** – please select one option only on credit card form
**Only if you reside in California or Canada will sales tax be charged. If you are outside California or Canada, please select “none”.
IMPORTANT: It is required that all amounts and totals be filled in by you directly, based on the quote we have provided. All credit card forms must be received with a physical signature for credit card payment processing. If sending via email, you will need to complete the form, sign, and scan as a PDF/JPG format. If any of this required information is missing/incorrect, Asus will request that you update and resubmit the form. It is important to provide a completed accurate form to avoid any delay in the repair process.
Best regards,
Megan
ASUS
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You can buy a new one for less than the cost of repairs. Do that.

normally i'd say it happenned in shipping, but there is no way all that corrosion happenned that quickly. i'd say one of two things, either you bought a returned item, or they got yours confused with someone elses. make sure to call and verify the serial number.

Or your kid (if you have one) spilled some liquid all over your tablet and pretended they knew nothing about why it doesn't turn on. It happens.

...or you've regularly used the device in a very humid environment, especially taking it from a cold air-conditioned environment to one that's hot and very humid, causing condensation inside the device.
A lot of manufacturers include devices in their products to test for water damage, and it's been shown regularly over the years that these can easily be triggered without immersion in water.

ExploreMN said:
You can buy a new one for less than the cost of repairs. Do that.
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Exactly. Thats a slap in the face to charge someone more than what the item costs brand new.
gottahavit said:
normally i'd say it happenned in shipping, but there is no way all that corrosion happenned that quickly. i'd say one of two things, either you bought a returned item, or they got yours confused with someone elses. make sure to call and verify the serial number.
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Im on it but im going to say that probably is a dead issue. These guys dont care.
frosty5689 said:
Or your kid (if you have one) spilled some liquid all over your tablet and pretended they knew nothing about why it doesn't turn on. It happens.
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No kids. If something did spill on this, Im sure it would be a whole lot worse.
knoxploration said:
...or you've regularly used the device in a very humid environment, especially taking it from a cold air-conditioned environment to one that's hot and very humid, causing condensation inside the device.
A lot of manufacturers include devices in their products to test for water damage, and it's been shown regularly over the years that these can easily be triggered without immersion in water.
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Even if that were the case, it would take a lot of that back and forth to make even a slight dent into corrosion.
I did some more research and found out that most electronics manufacturers use some sort of chemical protection on circuit boards. Apple, Microsoft and many many others use PCB boards treated with anti corrosion and anti tarnish chemicals. Clearly ASUS did not on these transformers. That really shows that these things are not the best of device. With that being said, there is no way you can take this thing to a beach or a bathroom for that matter. any amount of moisture in the air will start to make this thing deteriorate. Sub par all the way.
For a 400 device which is in competition with many in that price range, the transformer seems to be falling very short in the "quality" department. This means, along with battery issues and other hiccups, corrosion is now going to come into light. im sure others with similar battery issues have the same problem.
Now I dont know what to get. Im going to have this thing returned un repaired. I dont know what to jump into anymore. Any other tab with similar specs? Maybe i will go back to the Acer tab.

No consumer electronics circuit board is going to stand up to standing water, like you can see in that picture. This is not a production quality issue. I know you're upset about your device and if you believe that the device that was obviously abused in those photos is not yours then I strongly suggest you verify the serial numbers, Asus has to be willing to do this for you. If however you believe this really is your device, then stop blaming ASUS, this is obviously misuse on someones part(i'm not saying yours).

i think i would go with the clerical mistake theory. it couldn't have been the RMA people who spilled water on it...because like others said, the corrosion wouldn't have happened fast enough. so it must be the case that the TF was already correded before it got to them.
remember that the company is not asus, but a third-party RMA company. they get paid to service your device. from this perspective, no one would accept those charges...and therefore, they would not make any money. so i don't think there's anything fishy going on on their part.
not fanboying at all (currently a bit pissed at asus since my speakers went bust....i already had to RMA my device as well for sleep-of-death issue, and i'm not really wanting to do it again). but yea, it's either your device got switched with someone, or someone got your TF wet without you knowing.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk

I'm sorry, but that looks like corrosion left by a battery and not water...

91ludesit said:
I'm sorry, but that looks like corrosion left by a battery and not water...
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I looked up some more pics on electronics pcb corrosion and you might be onto something. Water corrosion on boards looks different. BUT the batteries in the TF are dry no?

91ludesit said:
I'm sorry, but that looks like corrosion left by a battery and not water...
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There actually isn't much difference.....if you've had to deal with a flooded house lately and electronics that were left plugged in, you'd know there isn't much difference.....
Whatever caused the corrosion, it wasn't much. Obviously the tablet wasn't submerged in water, but obviously something happened to it. Perhaps some liquid (water, or another drink of some kind) was spilled near the uSD/uHDMI port? That's about the only thing I can conclude by looking at this.
As far as condensation.....it's possible. I used to work for an electonics/amplifier company as an engineer that provides amplifiers for medical (think GE/Siemens) companies (MRI, etc..), and I had to deal with a unit that had extensive damage similar to this (we ended up scrapping the unit and replacing it). I know how the units get packaged, and there was no way we would have shipped the unit with water in it (sealed package, about the size of a filing cabinet drawer, the customer said the unit itself was wet when they opened the package). What we determined was that it was packaged on a very humid (down-pouring/rainy) summer day on our dock (where they generally keep the dock doors open since it's hot) and then shipped via air (as usual, since it goes from the USA to Germany). During this process, obviously, the compartment where luggage/mail is kept isn't heated much, if at all. Therefore, if there was alot of humid air inside the packaging, and then a drop in temperature, it could very well condensate, and cause this type of corrosion (and mold in our case, due to some laminates and glues being used in our application). That being the case, we started including desiccant (sp?) inside the packaging. Anyway.....I could certainly see this type of corrosion being similar.
NOTE:Before anyone says anything, I no longer work for said company, and I'm not divulging anything that is not public record or already known. =P
Personally, as others have suggested, first ensure it's the correct serial number. If it's the correct serial number, I'm sorry to say but I think you're screwed as far as getting Asus to repair it as an RMA without paying for it. You're most likely best off to just buy a new one, or wait and get a TF2 (whenever that comes out).

darkhawkff said:
There actually isn't much difference.....if you've had to deal with a flooded house lately and electronics that were left plugged in, you'd know there isn't much difference.....
Whatever caused the corrosion, it wasn't much. Obviously the tablet wasn't submerged in water, but obviously something happened to it. Perhaps some liquid (water, or another drink of some kind) was spilled near the uSD/uHDMI port? That's about the only thing I can conclude by looking at this.
As far as condensation.....it's possible. I used to work for an electonics/amplifier company as an engineer that provides amplifiers for medical (think GE/Siemens) companies (MRI, etc..), and I had to deal with a unit that had extensive damage similar to this (we ended up scrapping the unit and replacing it). I know how the units get packaged, and there was no way we would have shipped the unit with water in it (sealed package, about the size of a filing cabinet drawer, the customer said the unit itself was wet when they opened the package). What we determined was that it was packaged on a very humid (down-pouring/rainy) summer day on our dock (where they generally keep the dock doors open since it's hot) and then shipped via air (as usual, since it goes from the USA to Germany). During this process, obviously, the compartment where luggage/mail is kept isn't heated much, if at all. Therefore, if there was alot of humid air inside the packaging, and then a drop in temperature, it could very well condensate, and cause this type of corrosion (and mold in our case, due to some laminates and glues being used in our application). That being the case, we started including desiccant (sp?) inside the packaging. Anyway.....I could certainly see this type of corrosion being similar.
NOTE:Before anyone says anything, I no longer work for said company, and I'm not divulging anything that is not public record or already known. =P
Personally, as others have suggested, first ensure it's the correct serial number. If it's the correct serial number, I'm sorry to say but I think you're screwed as far as getting Asus to repair it as an RMA without paying for it. You're most likely best off to just buy a new one, or wait and get a TF2 (whenever that comes out).
Click to expand...
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Thanks for that detailed post.
Well I guess its a wrap so to speak. I know the item was never in water and pics do show that. Perhaps it was condensation. Either way Im screwed. This being my third TF, it doesn't take a genius to know that the TF being sub par in quality. Its a great machine when it works. But I think Im going the "3 strikes, you're out" scenario. Im not getting another TF. I will take my chances with something else.

Cracked Camera Glass. Another build quality issue?

I've had my One from Rogers Canada since launch day last Friday.
I've been reading all the issues here about the build qualities of this phone. Mine has a hair gap on the top and the screen also rises slightly at the top edge. I've decided that these were ok and happily used my phone with great care.
No I do not have a case, and neither did I use a case for my previous Samsung Infuse which I used 2 years without dropping it ever.
Today when I turned my One over, the camera glass was cracked! It looks like it got hit somewhere and just gave in. Seems pretty impossible as the rest of the phone is in perfect condition without a single scratch. I keep the phone in my pocket top down, screen facing inwards as I always have in the last few years.
This is so frustrating...I'm afraid if I get an exchange I'll end up with one or more of the several build issues that people have been seeing.
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You will get an exchange for a damaged phone that was caused by you (intentionally or unintentionally) ? They should kick you out of the store for asking that or hang up on you if you call to simply get it exchanged without paying for the damage.
People these days .....

Probably wasn't a high impact hit. You probably leaned on the corner of a table or something without realizing it and the pressure from the corner was focused all on that point.

The do not believe that I should be held responsible for this glass. It should point to the fact that the glass might have been fractured slightly so that slight pressure pushed it in from the beginning.
The argument is that I have used this phone for 3 days, taking exceptional care of it, and ended up with a cracked camera glass as opposed of my previous phone, which I used for 2 years and doesn't have a dent in its plastic, let alone cracked glass.
Also, why be so offensive Mr insomnia? Is the fact that the One's build quality is way lower than expected hurting your fanboy heart?

Probably be a great time to buy a case, don't you think?
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app

it seem like has been hit by a bullet , maybe HTC One saved your life !

Feel sorry for you bro. I am getting a leather pouch this weekend to avoid any damage to my One
Sent from my Nexus 10 using XDA Premium HD app

even if you didn't do this, You're going to have a hell of a time proving it. You very well could have just leaned on it too hard during the day and put pressure on the glass. You need a real friendly service rep to accept the possibility there was a previous fracture

10 years ago if this were a psp or gameboy we all knew we were sh1t out of luck and that it was our own fault. We "deserve" nothing.
Clowns

mettleh3d said:
10 years ago if this were a psp or gameboy we all knew we were sh1t out of luck and that it was our own fault. We "deserve" nothing.
Clowns
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Times have changed, customers expect more because companies are providing more. If I can get better quality service why would I settle for less?
Also, phones shouldn't be designed with cases in mind. I shouldn't need to have a case for my phone to prevent camera glass shattering through normal daily use.
I'm heading back to the store tomorrow and see if I get a nice rep to help me. I'll let you guys know

jackwu95 said:
Times have changed, customers expect more because companies are providing more. If I can get better quality service why would I settle for less?
Also, phones shouldn't be designed with cases in mind. I shouldn't need to have a case for my phone to prevent camera glass shattering through normal daily use.
I'm heading back to the store tomorrow and see if I get a nice rep to help me. I'll let you guys know
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Are you 14?

mettleh3d said:
Are you 14?
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Click to collapse
Move along. For all we know OP may have raised an important point. Just because you don't believe him doesn't mean he's at fault. If you don't have anything relevant to contribute then beat it.
OP, keep us posted. I haven't run across anything like that with my device. Do you use the phone to the point where it gets quite hot?
Sent from my HTC One using xda premium

mettleh3d said:
Are you 14?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If he is 14, you must be 3

You're not the only one having this problem. One guy on a french forum had exactly the same thing, he couldn't explain it.
Here's his picture of the cracked camera lens :

thegregulator said:
Move along. For all we know OP may have raised an important point. Just because you don't believe him doesn't mean he's at fault. If you don't have anything relevant to contribute then beat it.
OP, keep us posted. I haven't run across anything like that with my device. Do you use the phone to the point where it gets quite hot?
Sent from my HTC One using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! Don't worry though, I'm trying to point out this problem and see if anyone else has similar experiences and we can pinpoint an issue.
I don't game on phones at all, so my device usually stays quite cool. It does warm up a bit after ~10 minutes of screen time but I doubt that could cause any issues.
fidelcstrl said:
You're not the only one having this problem. One guy on a french forum had exactly the same thing, he couldn't explain it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is interesting, thanks for sharing this, I'm looking out to see if anyone else is seeing this.
Just in case this starts happening more, my phone is from batch FA346W
Was raining the whole day today so didn't go to the store, will update once I do

Hm, might have been that the phone got hot enough to make the metal expand faster than the glass....

Not that I doubt you on for your mishap. But knowing Rogers and their ways - my family has been with them since they were still AT&T - you will need hell of a lot of explaining to convince the CSR to make them comply to your exchange request. And online sources won't make much of a statement in their mind. Try play the loyalty card and plead for forgiveness.
As to the picture above, it seems more like an impact hit as the glass seems to fracture in the center of the piece and the cracks don't extend to the edge.

Looks like the phone was abused. Hope you have Insurance because that is definitely not a warranty issue
Sent from my HTC One S using Tapatalk 2

Hi OP,
not meaning to be patronising but the glass is more brittle than the casing with lower impact resistance. so a load that might not necessarily damage the casing will more than likely damage the glass. the chances that the damage is simply contained to the glass region though is odd and one would expect there to be at least some signs of wear/ scratches etc even close to this region as in a typical case.
the main thing is how it happened which appears to be the mystery and the exchange will ultimately be based on this. looking at your picture it looks like an impact dead on the centre of the glass from the outside in. hard to be totally certain considering your pic.
i cant think of a viable scenario though other than something along the lines in my first paragraph considering the metal is in perfect condition.
i would just tell them what you have stated.

Hi OP,
I had exactly the same problem. My unit was only a day old with not a single blemish anywhere on the handset besides the crack on the camera. In fact I'm fairy certain it cracked whilst resting on my table which I found to be very odd. Anyway I did manage to get a replacement with very little hassle.
A note to some other users:
In an incident such as this the consumer is entitled to a refund or replacement or a repair depending how old the item is since purchase. There is even further statutory protection specifically under the sale of goods act. This is an expensive (£500) phone and as such it's quality and durability should be commensurate to the price paid. Thus if the OP can establish the crack happened without having dropped the phone or damaging the phone in some other way then he will be entitled to a replacement which seems likely as there are no other scratches or dents anywhere else on the unit.
I am open to listening to others' opinions but should stress that I am a lawyer and therefore am quite knowledgable on matters such as this.

[Warning: giant pics inside] My experiences with disassembling the OnePlus One

Meh, might as well. Repost from OnePlus Forums.
Update: finally added the Note 2 battery's weight
Tip: resize the browser window to make the thread more readable.
I should add that I facilitate no allegiance to any particular phone brand, nor am I sponsored by any phone brand. I work for myself, and make my own decisions based on fact, not personal biases. I love the OnePlus One as a phone, I just don't like what the company is doing to their customers.
It all started when I created a thread about the iPhone 5C's battery being able to be upgraded. I was then met with the question: "Why didn't OnePlus make the battery on its One removable? Another manufacturer, Samsung, could make a phone that had a larger removable battery in a form factor that was thinner and shorter than the OPO, even with the addition of a MicroSD slot and a USB 3.0 port." I was informed that OnePlus chose to make their battery non-removable, because if they did, it would end up being a 2500 mAh cell, 80% that of the current 3100 mAh, due to the inclusion of a protective shell, regulatory circuitry, spring contacts etc.
Then I thought, "Weird; the 5" Samsung Galaxy S4 has a removable battery, but it has a 2600 mAh battery!" So to settle things once and for all (for now), I went ahead and disassembled my OnePlus One, to compare its internal battery's volume with a removable equivalent, the Samsung Galaxy Note 2's (also 3100 mAh). Seeing that OnePlus warranty is near non-existent anyway, even if the phone did fail or malfunction due to manufacturer fault, I'd just get another phone to save the trouble of going through RMA hell.
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Centimeter grid, for your convenience
Now, I'm not going to dissect the batteries; rechargeable cells are very dangerous, and can explode if punctured. So, I measured the dimensions of both batteries to calculate their respective volumes. I didn't have a digital scale on me, so I couldn't calculate the energy density of Li-ion (Note 2) vs. LiPo (OPO).
The dimensions (in milimeters) of the batteries are as follows:
OnePlus One
Length: 83.39 mm
Width: 57.84 mm
Thickness: 4.38 mm
Volume: 21125.96 cubic mm
Energy Density (power/weight): 230.98 Wh/kg
Volumetric Mass Density (weight/volume): 0.0024 g/cubic mm
Note 2
Length: 75.00 mm
Width: 55.44 mm
Thickness: 5.65 mm
Volume: 23492.7 cubic mm
Energy Density (power/weight): 226.54 Wh/kg
Volumetric Mass Density (weight/volume): 0.0022 g/cubic mm
This makes the volume of the OnePlus One's battery 89.9% that of the Note 2's, so the percentage difference is only 10.1%. Keep in mind that this is lithium ion vs. lithium polymer. Li-ions need more protective circuitry to prevent overcharging and exploding and whatnot, compared to their LiPo counterparts. And from what I heard, LiPos have a higher energy density than Li-ions, which is why I wanted to calculate how much the batteries weighed as well.
Edit: The OnePlus One's battery has a comparatively higher energy density (1.8% higher), a smaller volume, and a higher mass density (8.3%!!!!) than the Note 2's, meaning a LiPo battery should provide more power than a Li-ion of the same weight and volume. But, since the difference is so small, it's probably going to cancel out once we take into account the protective shell and protection circuits and whatnot. In conclusion, the point below still stands due to the negligible difference because it is calculated based on the removable equivalent having around the same specifications.
Just going by these numbers, a removable equivalent for the OnePlus should be roughly 2780 mAh (10.4% decrease), not 2500 as OnePlus has claimed (a ~20% decrease). Of course, this is inconclusive, but this should give you a better idea of what's actually happening here.
The Galaxy S4 featured here is the LTE-A version, sporting a Snapdragon 800 chipset, more closely related to the OPO's Snapdragon 801 compared to the Snapdragon 600 S4.
I have discovered that the OnePlus's processor may not be adequately cooled. Since smartphones are passive devices, they aren't actively cooled by fans like computers are, so they rely on heat dissipation through the use of a heatsink of some sort.
The Samsung Galaxy S4's chassis is made of magnesium alloy, just not as abundantly so as the OPO. The logic board well is form-fitting, and there are thermal pads that contact the underside of the logic board to the chassis in order to dissipate heat. Since the chassis is so big, heat is easily dissipated.
The OPO, however, looks like it's insulated at the area where the chipset is closest to the chassis with what seems to be carbon paper/film. Now, I'm no materials expert (and correct me if I'm wrong), but I'm pretty sure carbon in this state should act as an insulator. I say this because iPhones use the same stuff on the chassis to protect the LCD from heat damage (on the iPhone, the film is on the LCD side and not the logic board side).
On the underside of the logic board, we see that there's a steel cage covering the on-board components, covered by a thermal pad.
What does this mean? It means that under load, a Samsung phone will feel hotter to the touch, because that's the passive cooling system in action. In the case of the OnePlus one, it might not feel as hot as a Samsung under similar loads, but when it does get hot, it's really, really hot. So hot that the small heatsink and carbon film can't contain or dissipate it.
For size comparison purposes, here's the Galaxy S4's logic board next to the OPO's. Remember that the S4 is a 5 inch phone.
Assembly was probably quite sloppy; the tape used to insulate the speaker contacts is off-center on the left speaker.
The weak vibrate motor cannot be upgraded, as it is soldered to the flex.
The earpiece grille is centered on the front of the phone, but it is offset to the left internally because the camera module takes up the space in the center, as can be seen below. This may or may not contribute to the low earpiece volume, since it is channeled.
The rear microphone (pictured below) is also offset slightly lower than the hole next to the rear camera. Outside, the hole is parallel to the center-point of the camera lens, but internally, it is parallel to the top of the flash LED closest to the camera. I'm not sure how effective this placement is. The top microphone (refer to picture above, left of front camera hole) is channeled.
I should update my signature.

Nice!!
Sent from my crispy bacon

This is what i call informative!Thank you @vantt1

Very informative, thank you.

Thanks was it that difficult?
Hit Thanks if I Helped
~Codename Android~

Thank You. So how hard would it be to replace the battery when the original starts dying?

Good work!
Sent via quantum entanglement, focused through my OnePlus One.

This was amazingly informative, one of the best posts I've seen in awhile! Kudos mate

It's hard to tell the thermal conductivity of carbon because it largely depends on the allotrope (type of carbon).

carbon is an excellent heat conductor, it even better than metal.

janice1234 said:
carbon is an excellent heat conductor, it even better than metal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It depends on what form of carbon - some are excellent but others are mediocre, at best.

gavin-phelan said:
Thanks was it that difficult?
Hit Thanks if I Helped
~Codename Android~
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not that difficult, I've had difficult-er
someth1ng said:
It's hard to tell the thermal conductivity of carbon because it largely depends on the allotrope (type of carbon).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, that's why I was "pretty sure" and not "completely sure". I have yet to find any straight answers as to whether if carbon is a conductor or insulator.
I know for a fact that iPhones have a similar sticker on their chassis. It's found on the midframe between the LCD and the logic board, and it is stuck on the LCD side. It is commonly called the heat shield, meaning it protects the LCD from the logic board's heat. Since it's on the LCD side and not the logic board side, I'm more inclined to think it's an insulator.
iPhone 4:
iPhone 5S:
It would make no sense for it to be a conductor, or else it'd conduct the heat to the LCD.

Great informative post... Thx for the teardown.
Tap'd via 1+1

Great post, thank you

Worth it to just to see the rd battery !!!
nice work thanks,
I'll open mine as soon they release the kevlar back ! :silly:

Does LiPo also have a limited number of charges like Li-ion? Will we have to deal with shorter battery life as it ages?

nice work!
nice work!
Thank you so much!

Thanks,
Excellent work. You're a braver man than I for sure!!!!!!
Question: Did you get it back together and did it work???
Seems like a lot of us are like 12 year old little boys.
Take it apart and worry about the rest later, right???
Ken

notesbancales said:
Worth it to just to see the rd battery !!!
nice work thanks,
I'll open mine as soon they release the kevlar back ! :silly:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think OnePlus canceled all the StyleSwap covers for good.
clevebb said:
Does LiPo also have a limited number of charges like Li-ion? Will we have to deal with shorter battery life as it ages?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it does. All batteries, li-ion and LiPo, will decrease in capacity the more charge cycles it goes through.
kenfb1 said:
Thanks,
Excellent work. You're a braver man than I for sure!!!!!!
Question: Did you get it back together and did it work???
Seems like a lot of us are like 12 year old little boys.
Take it apart and worry about the rest later, right???
Ken
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of course!

Very detailed indeed, so how hard do you think it is to replace the screen/digitizer?
Thanks

OVERHEATING PROBLEMS? Let's try to use a better THERMAL PASTE!

As you may know, our beloved smartphone suffers from some overheating problem, due to the powerful Snapdragon 810 that use.
Its cores are the real "cores" of the problem: Qualcomm has adopted pure ARM reference design instead their revised versions, that creates more trouble than it should;
No custom kernel or other things really solve the problem and the results are bad performances in heavy load scenario (multitasking or gaming) and more heat than usual.
To be honest, I never had any particular problems with my M9, but wanted to try something that I also done on my old M7: disassemble the phone and apply a serious-level thermal grease to make sure to put processor die in contact with the metal body!
Well, let's start!
Here's what I am faced: a carefully disassembled One M9 (iFixit exhaustively explains how to do that) and, at my discretion, the best thermal paste on the market, the Artic MX-4.
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Now i gently opened the metal coverage of components and ... There is our processor!
At this point, i have to remove the old (and inefficient) thermal pad applied by the factory.
-In the photo i've already partially removed it.
The instant after the compound application.
Pressure will definitely flatten it; it's also a large surplus but in that way i'm sure that it will cover the entire surface of the processor and also the surroundings. (no problem, it does not conduct electricity)
After closing the coverage, I applied a dose of thermal paste also on it, to bring together the processor with the outside of the smartphone, according to the scheme below.
Now we're ready to clo...HEY! wait, wait, wait, is a missing screw what I just saw?
YES! and also explains my perception of the slightly lower volume from the bottom speaker!
Fortunately, M7 screw are compatible... screwed and fixed!
... is not an oversight that I would expect from this flagship device...
...as I was saying, I reassembled the smartphone.
No one will notice anything, like new!
And now, you will expect results ... here they are!
I made this improvement more than one month ago, at the time I done many many tests, i also take screenshots, but they're totally useless at the moment, because what you should know is the following;
In addition to the significant drop in temperature outside of the phone, as I noticed with my old M7, I have seen an unexpected increase in battery life of 10% of the daily average, really not bad!
And the temperature of the processor? It's now under control! Even under full load, the temperature increases gradually and slowly, without peaks and never exceed 45 degrees on the cores, even after several minutes of use.
In normal use, temperature is a few degrees above the ambient one.
To ensure that my system works well I did a little test... I launched a benchmark app (viewing onscreen temp) and after a few minutes I put an ice cube on the back of the phone, just above the processor position: I assisted to an insane temperature drop, from 45 to 7 degrees Celsius within 8-10 seconds!
What to say, I am pleased of the change I made to my M9, now the problem is not completely resolved but it is dammed.
Remember, I shared with you my experience for information, I do not assume liability for damage to your smartphone!

Awesome. I wish i had the balls to do this. Kudos sir. Amaze balls work.

Oh God, the HTC M9 isnt overheating. Its a bit hotter (Allmost between 5 to 8 Degress then other Flagships) and ony because it uses a Aluminium-Unibody which transports heat more effective. I Bet, others would get as hot as the M9, if they used a Metall Unibody.
And for me : Better a Metall Unibody then Plastic or Glas (which can break easilly (See here Xperia Z3 and Z3 Compact)).
I've tested the Galaxy S6 and the M9 some weeks ago with a Laser-Thermometer (Ambient Temp was 26 °C in my Room) :
After 5 runs Antutu :
M9 = 52,3 °C
S6 = 48,4 °C
After 5 Runs (3D Mark)
M9 = 54,1 °C
S6 = 48,7 °C
So there is no real difference, and the Scores even didnt decreased much on the M9. (from 59,435 to 57,897 Antutu) (S6 : 73,185 to 71,321)

this is a tricky mod to do id say. the better solution would of been if htc went with the 808 processor.

yeah.. the idea behind what i've done was to take all the advantages that an alluminum cover can do in thermal excange.
in that way the heat that the processor produce is immediately brought to the outside of the phone

Nice! Thanks for sharing this
Will definitely try this once I had the balls to do so.

oh my god I am a guitarist and have a pick in the hand. but as I tried to pull of just the top piece and saw glue removing I had fear that could be noticeable once you reassembly it. like parts not sticking right.
last time I disassembly a hd2 it was a mess, I broke 2 flats ahahaha

WOW...holy crap! i just did this mod and im telling you it IS NOT for the faint of heart. the all aluminum frame can bend and scratch easy if your not careful. i was able to do it and assemble the best i could like stock but this WILL void all and any warranty. scared the crap out of me because at first the device would not boot until i plugged it into a charger. :/ be very aware that when you separate the two halfs of the phone there is "very strong" adhesive tape holding the camera to the board. i used arctic silver cpu paste and its too soon to tell but i can say the device is much cooler under cpuz stats. im hoping this might improve battery life as well. soo far everything on the device works.
heres the guide to ifixit. https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/HTC+One+M9+Teardown/39166

Nice!
I just did the procedure described here. I'll post back with results if there's any change.

fix-this! said:
WOW...holy crap! i just did this mod and im telling you it IS NOT for the faint of heart. the all aluminum frame can bend and scratch easy if your not careful. i was able to do it and assemble the best i could like stock but this WILL void all and any warranty. scared the crap out of me because at first the device would not boot until i plugged it into a charger. :/ be very aware that when you separate the two halfs of the phone there is "very strong" adhesive tape holding the camera to the board. i used arctic silver cpu paste and its too soon to tell but i can say the device is much cooler under cpuz stats. im hoping this might improve battery life as well. soo far everything on the device works.
heres the guide to ifixit. https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/HTC+One+M9+Teardown/39166
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ahhhhhhhhhh you're crazy! artic silver is an electrical conductor! you must (or would have had to) use a ceramic or carbon compound!
I hope for you that pressure and time won't let it overflows on the motherboard!
p.s. after i disassembled my one m7 (photo), nothing scares me anymore (i'm still using it)

After 6 months of use I'd say overheating problems are long gone, but this is always a good practice, thanks for sharing this . Even after playing Need for Speed: No Limits for more than an hour the top temperature was 43 Celsius on my M9, that's pretty standard.

http://www.arcticsilver.com/as5.htm
according to this it wont be an issue. im not overly concerned.

fix-this! said:
http://www.arcticsilver.com/as5.htm
according to this it wont be an issue. im not overly concerned.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"(While much safer than electrically conductive silver and copper greases, Arctic Silver 5 should be kept away from electrical traces, pins, and leads. While it is not electrically conductive, the compound is very slightly capacitive and could potentially cause problems if it bridges two close-proximity electrical paths.)"

Valerio-M8 said:
"(While much safer than electrically conductive silver and copper greases, Arctic Silver 5 should be kept away from electrical traces, pins, and leads. While it is not electrically conductive, the compound is very slightly capacitive and could potentially cause problems if it bridges two close-proximity electrical paths.)"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And what makes you think that Arctic MX-4 is any different? MX-4 contains 40% metallic aluminum, so it's not electrically inert either. They both use an oil (silicone oil or ester oil) as a carrier.

mike.s said:
And what makes you think that Arctic MX-4 is any different? MX-4 contains 40% metallic aluminum, so it's not electrically inert either. They both use an oil (silicone oil or ester oil) as a carrier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://www.arctic.ac/eu_en/mx-4.html
-"It does not contain any metallic particles so electical conductivity would not be an issue. Unlike silver and copper compound, it ensures that contact with any electrical pins would not result in damage of any sort."
-"The ARCTIC MX-4 compound is composed of carbon micro-particles [...]"

Arctic MX-4 EC safety data sheet: "Aluminium 40% CAS 7429-90-5"
In any case, both manufacturers assert their products are non-conductive, so you're knocking down a straw man. The question was in regard to a potential effect on interlead capacitance, about which the marketing fluff you mentioned says nothing. MX-4 uses a silicone oil, which has a dielectric constant of in the 2.5 range. Ester oil as used in AC5 is similar (high 2.x). There's no reason to believe they're significantly different electrically, yet you hype one as "the best," and warn against using the other. I think you've just fallen for marketing.

how has this mod panned out for anyone who did it?

Great mod, now i can play heavy games

does this mod actually work? also what the best thermal paste to use for this mod or would a replacement thermal pad be better?
thanks

Techfan3000 said:
does this mod actually work? also what the best thermal paste to use for this mod or would a replacement thermal pad be better?
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, i've used AAB thermal paste and it's ok, thermal paste is always better than thermal pad in my opinion.