Hi, peeps. Would like to ask for your assistance in troubleshooting my old T-Mobile MDA - the one that is also the Xda mini S.
The unit in question is 2nd hand although it was still in good shape when I got it. Used it for over a year already and has seen much use. Once, the insides got wet and I had to dry it out but it was okay after that. Although the keyboard wasn't showing any backlight until I figured out that a blowdryer would help remedy that situation (after careful dismantling).
Recently, the screen when you slide open the keyboard either comes up blank (whole screen is just white) or is discolored and a bit disaligned (the top part is either missing or is at the bottom of the screen). It happens too on the normal layout at times.
I upgraded the firmware with the most recent one I downloaded here last year. No problems experienced though with regards to the OS and not sure if the recent problem can be attributed to it.
Any ideas and suggestions?
I got the same problem on with the screen my Cingular 8125. When I slide the keyboard open, the exact same thing happens to my screen. Sometimes It only used to happen maybe once every 10th time, but as of last, it is happening all the time.
I spoke to someone at a repair store in Toronto and the guys said it will cost close to $100 to replace some wiring in the back. It didn't seem worth it for me so I got another phone instead, but I would love to keep using this phone if this could be replaced.
Hey guys. If you are comfortable, I would suggest dismantling the phone and taking a look at the ribbon connector between the board and the screen. My guess is that it is loose, or damaged. Reseat the ribbon and try again. Otherwise I would see if replacing the screen helped. Certainly much cheaper than a new phone...
Reseating
first of all check out the socket (on board) where the screen coaxial cord is plugged in , r all the connector pins alligned or are any bent / pulled back ?
in that case reset pins location using a tiny neidle or pin, also use a double faced adheisive tape on the back of the screen connector to rest it tight to keyboard (original setup only they use glue).
second check out if the screen does that if was flipped using software , if it was a hardware case and upper solution wouldnt help then check to see if the sliding mechanism (two plastic identical bars screwed by two screws each to the top and the buttom of the screen) are aligned and screwed tigh to the screen.
now the wizard hardware is a survivor but any tampering with it require tight reseating , screwing and later reflashing (even if the software showed unaffected).
A friend of mine brought me his Wing to look at for him. If I turn on the phone on it boots up and the screen looks just fine. When I slide the screen opened to use the keyboard the screen freezes and when I close it again it gets all jumbled up. There are lines going through it and I can not make out anything. The phone isn't locking up at this point because I can press menu buttons and other hard buttons and see the screen react, I just can't tell what is happening.
I assume that this is a hardware problem. I was thinking that the cable that connects the screen may have been jarred loose or damaged in some way. If that is the case do you think that it would be as easy as opening it up and repositioning the cable? I don't have any experience with this phone specifically so I don't know if this is a common issue.
I was also wondering if it is possible that this is just a software issue. Maybe the function that rotates the screen for use with the keyboard is messing up and jumbling the horizontal and veritcal lines when going back and forth. I was thinking about doing a hard reset and seeing if this clears up anything. Any thoughts?
I appreciate any help. This forum has always been there when I needed help in the past. I'm sure somebody out there has much more experience and knowledge that I have and can lead me in the right direction.
Thanks for any and all help!!
Update...
So I went ahead and tried the hard reset first hoping that it might be a software issue. I am now at the screen that says "Tap screen to setup your Windows Mobile based device." No screen touches are being recognized. This seems to support my thoughts that there is a loose cable or bad connection. Agree?
I just slid the screen opened to see what would happen and it faded to white.
Yep, if my experience with the Wizard tells me anything, the flex cable from the main body of the phone to the screen is either loose or damaged somehow. Even a small nick or cut into the flex cable will cause it to stop working correctly. I would hunt up the Herald service manual and take your device apart and see what you can find.
Thanks ... I downloaded the service manual and plan on taking it apart. I have to make a run to the store though and buy a small enough Tork screw driver. T5 or T6 I believe.
Thanks again, I will post with my findings when I get going on it.
now what?
So ... I have the phone completely torn apart. I do not see any loose or damaged cables. It was dirty inside the phone but other than that everything looks just fine.
Does anybody have any advice as for things to look for, that might be causing this problem, while I have this thing torn apart?
Hi, I come on here quite a lot for information as it's an amazing resource! This time however, I'm attempting to give something back!
I experienced the "black screen on slide out" on Monday. Phone completely screwed. I've also had a few droppages and had it apart once before so there's no way warranty is gonna help!
I stripped it down and soon discovered what it is that actually fails on the ribbon. The coating had worn through due to rubbing on something during the slide out / in process. it had been playing up for a while, probably due to shorting out on the metal case, but now the tracks (aluminium?) had worn right down.....
In pic 1 i've circled the worn area. The shiny section is where i'd tried taping over it to prevent shorting, before i realised the tracks were gone.
Got an almost new one off ebay for 15 quid and, realising it was going to happen again, came up with a solution that, so far, looks like it will work....
A while back I bought some "anti rattle felt" for my car's dashboard - really thin and strong self adhesive felt to prevent squeaking joins between dash sections. I cut a piece of this and stuck it to the new ribbon. Once this stuff is on it's well stuck, by the way!
See pic 2 for the modded ribbon cable.
On reassembly everything is working just fine so far! Here's hoping that it lasts longer than 6 months this time!
Just need a new casing now as mine is decidedly second hand!
Hope this turns out to be of use to someone!
cool story bro
when i took apart my xperia to replace the housing this seemed like a really weak point in the device. glad to see someone who has had the problem has been able to fix it
Why does the screen go black?
Hi,
When the coating wears off the ribbon cable it exposes the tracks in it. when you slide the keyboard out the exposed tracks short out on the metal casing and the screen loses it's input signal.
thats whats happened on mine at least and i presume quite a few others?
HTH!
Update:
That's interesting: My phone was also losing signal with the keyboard out, and occasionally while closed up as well. It would just randomly drop to "no signal" for a few seconds.
It hasn't done it since replacing the ribbon cable.....could be coincidental of course.
I'm having the same problem
It just started a week ago and I got the phone in January off of ebay. I'm new to opening up the phone so could anyone help me find the correct tools or have a link to a site with pictured instructions?
I noticed that the sliding mechanism started to go loose about 4-5 months ago but didn't expect the screen not respond in landscape mode. I have yet to see the other symptoms you all are referring to. I would like to fix this before it get worse.
In mine case it went totaly black after one week of this problem... You have all the instruction on youtube, there is where i looked. For tools you can be inovative, but the exactly right ones come with housings from ebay, it is only 15EUR, and i bet you have some cracks so it wouldn't hurt replacing. That is what i did, along with ordering new sliding mechanizm, and new ribbon cable.
I am open for ideas to prevent my ribbon cable from being cut at it weakest point again.
I'm assuming my flex ribbon went bad yesterday, since sliding the keypad out causes my screen to shut off.
Already ordered a cable off ebay and will attempt to replace it myself :O
Replaced my flex ribbon cable with one I bought on eBay. The screen doesn't turn on at all now, which leads me to believe the cable I was sent is defective. Put the old one back in and it works okay, less landscape mode. ughhh what a pain.
great tips! my input is I bought a case off of ebay that was ~60$ and everything actually fit fine for me...so I wouldn't discount every seller but you do get what you pay for, the 15$ cases are probablly the ones that will give you problems
I working in a mobilephone repair center if anyone need help drop me a priv... i able to get 2nd hand or even brand new components
Replaced the flex ribbon cable -
I got my flex ribbon cable a few weeks ago and took it to my local repair shop. They replaced it but the LCD screen/optical joystick receives no power. The touchscreen and everything else on the phone works just fine now. I thought it was a defective item so it was exchanged with a new one.
Got the repair shop to replace it again and the outcome still remains the same as the first.
Theres no light coming from the screen nor the side illumination.
I just told the repair shop to just place the original back in for the mean time.
Before the repairs, there would be a flicker of white light and random illuminations. Now there's no lights at all except the power botton.
Could it be defective a batch that the seller was sending out? or the repair shop's mistake and is playing dumb so they do not have to admint fault?
Hopefully there's an easy fix to this problem.
-Also I did inspect the ribbon before and after the repair. looks new as the OEm
Can anybody help me out with this new problem after replacing the cable -
perhaps you should try a hard reset. Ive had problems in the past where the optical joystick and the illuminators did not work, and that worked for me.
On the other hand, the top illuminators are on the same piece of hardware as the flex cable that was replaced, so a faulty flex cable is possible. The bottom illuminators are on the circuit board that the optical joystick attaches to, separate but connected to the flex cable.
Ive recently replaced my flex cable and touchscreen. The experience i had with the faulty touch screen was that it appeared to receive no power, but was in fact displaying a dark backlit illumination that could only be seen in the dark. At the same time however, the screen did not display anything. I'm not sure if this is similar to your experience, but if so then your touchscreen would need to be replaced.
ive done all repairs on the xperia myself, and one thing ive discovered is if something doesnt work right after a repair, simply disassembling it and reassembling it to make sure all the connections are properly done has worked for me in the past.
"Before the repairs, there would be a flicker of white light and random illuminations. Now there's no lights at all except the power button."
Now when you say the power button, do you mean that a red light appears under it?
I dont know if i can come to a conclusion or that i can help (or have helped) you come to a conclusion, but i can only assure you that the xperia acts out in strange and weird ways.
Good Luck!
Tags
Dismantle / Disassemble Sony Ericson Xperia X1
http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Sony-Ericsson-XPERIA-X1/788/1
http://www.formymobile.co.uk/xperiadisassembly.php
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWDurQrRt-Y (REAR)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyGUbxFqvyc&feature=related (FRONT)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elgC8hwHfYQ&feature=related
For info.
Mike
Thanks for the links. I've tried the hardreset and restoring the original rom but the issue is still there. It's really bugging me that everything works but the LCD screen. I'm currently using MyMobiler to use my phone. The touch screen works fine and so does the soft keys. Just no power for the lights. I might just give up and wait for another phone that catches my eye and then tinker with the xperia myself. but if anyone got a solution or want me to test something then I'll give it a try.
My warranty is no longer affective so I'll use my phone as a tester to help others with any problems.
TRIONDAVE, how's your Xperia running now with the cable mod that you did? Its been 6 months since you created the thread. I hope you're still around.
My Xperia X1 works nearly fine, except for the keyboard issues, so I'm thinking of opening it up. If your Ribbon mod helped I might just do it too once I've got it opened. Mine has a MOUNTain of cracks though, and the battery compartment itself is cracked on both side enough to make the compartment CURVED. Hence the Battery cover doesn't sit well.
I'm looking around for broken Xperias which I might be able to use to change the internal cracked casing. Lets see.
DatDereX1 said:
cool story bro
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My thoughts exactly.
Hello guys, I am in need of real help over here!
Its just that Ive replaced my ribbon cable, the old one got screwd up.
However I got done for 10 minutes ago, tried to start up the phone.. without success :,(
The ribbon cable doesnt have anything to do with the start up, only the screen am I correct? Cause I cannot even start my phone..
Ive connected the charger, but when I remove the battery it shows a red light, meaning no battery, correct?
So what may the problem be exactly? Maybe the battery is all dead, or?
PLEASE HELP!
for the people with ribbon failures how long have you had the phone before it occurred ? im just interested on the cables lifespan.
mine is fine so far but i have noticed the slider is flimsy and rocks left and right.
My usb port has been flaky for a while but finally gave out totally recently. It's actually loose inside the case. Over the past couple weeks my digitizer has also been going bad. I read about how you can press the power button hard to get it working again, which works but it seems only a matter of time for that thing too. Anyone got any recommendations for what I could do? I ordered an external battery charger and battery but all it accomplished was frying my old battery. :/ I might try to solder a new usb port on once I have good reason to (read: solid mango wp7 rom.) but if my digitizer is done it's not really worth it. Why would pressing on the power button revive it when it's not working? I'm hoping it's just a loose cable.
Bottom line, does anyone who's had these problems (they're the two most common HD2 hardware issues afaik) have any recommendations for solutions?
Your USB port issue probably can't be fixed.. unless you can find someone who is willing to help you solder a new usb port to your motherboard (or you can do it yourself if you have enough skills)
As for your Digitizer, you can open up your hd2, and check if the digitizer plug is loose (located under the lcd). If it isn't, that means your hd2 digitizer is dead, and you should order a replacement.. (of course, please see here
I have the same issue with my Infuse. The digitiser only seems to have a problem for the four bottom buttons. They have a mind of their own. The rest of the screen is fine. My USB port is intermittant. I'll probably just take it back to the store though. Sorry I cannot help.
My phone, not damaged in any way I know, has suddenly developed a touchscreen problem. There is a 2cm thick band across the middle of the screen which no longer responds to touch.
Do I need to take it to the phone doctor, or are there some software issues I can eliminate first? Thanks.
forgottenit said:
My phone, not damaged in any way I know, has suddenly developed a touchscreen problem. There is a 2cm thick band across the middle of the screen which no longer responds to touch.
Do I need to take it to the phone doctor, or are there some software issues I can eliminate first? Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My Nexus 4 began to display the same problem a few days ago.
I found this thread in the archives that may help you: http://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-4/help/section-touch-screen-t2232903
It has suggestions like charging the phone with lower amperage (trough a laptop USB port) and unplugging and plugging again the screen connector.
I'm not comfortable doing the latter without having a replacement phone in case things go worse, so I ordered a Nexus 5 before I try to open the phone myself.