Hey guys, just had to carry out some Nexus 4 surgery so I thought I would share my experience in case it helps anyone else out...
Has the glass on the bottom of the back of your phone started peeling away and can you notice a definite bulge? (You may have noticed your phone not sitting down flush when it's on it's back and it might have a certain rocking when moving, bad signs...both) Well your battery is starting to die, you need to get rid of it!!
First things first, the default battery in an LG Nexus 4 is the LG BL-T5, a brand new one should look like this :
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As you can see it should be 2100mAh. Although it says NOM, don't try eating it, I doubt it's tasty
I was able to purchase mine from Amazon UK (Even though it was listed as 1200mAh, that was, of course, a typo), I later found an excellent site for spares (ReplaceBase) which charged less but we live and learn. The battery should cost between around £10-20.
Here's the battery from ReplaceBase UK (No, I'm not affiliated with them in any way )
Next thing you're gonna need is a phone toolkit, Again, I got one from Amazon UK, it isn't the greatest quality in the world but hey, it was only £6.35 and it got the job done.
The most important things you'll need in it are plastic spludgers so you don't scratch the phone up, a T5 Torx Screwdriver (The screws in the bottom of the phone which hold the case together) and a Phillips #00 Screwdriver (The screws which hold the battery connector in). Obviously magnetic screwdrivers would be best but not entirely necessary as long you are careful, gentle and have cleared out a working space.
Other things you will/may need...
A hairdryer or a heatgun but be careful and sparing with it, low to medium setting is fine.
Some kind of compartment tray to hold your screws, they're incredibly small and won't be difficult to lose, I would recommend one of those pill dispensers you can buy, they're great for holding screws.
A sim ejector pin (A needle or needling pin should do if you haven't got it anymore).
Something nice and soft to work on, like a towel or rubber mat as you'll have the phone face down most of the time and you don't want to damage or scratch the face.
Some alcoholic lens cleaning wipes (To wipe the camera and flash after you're finished, don't want any fingerprints or smears in your photos after you're done I would recommend Zeiss Lens Cleaning Wipes)
A thin cardboard strip wider than the phone.
Care and Patience.
So, Here We Go...
Remove the rear panel screws on the bottom of the phone using the T5 Torx Screwdriver and keep them safe in the holder
Eject the sim with the sim tray and keep that safe too
Take your smallest plastic spludger (You don't want to go straight in there with a metal one as you'll probably mess the silver surround) and start prising the back cover off, your best bet is to start either where the sim tray was or on the bottom above the usb slot, be gentle when you start if you're gonna start near either of these so you don't damage or split those parts.
When you are prising you want to be pulling the side outward as there is clips all round, not pushing the front of the phone away from the back, this won't work and if you end up trying too hard you'll snap one of the clips, so...gently..try to work the spludger into the gap between the silver surround and the plastic back, there's where the join is, try to work the spludger in this gap and then work it downwards inside and lever the black plastic outwards....GENTLY ...You should start hearing the clips seperating, then start working your way round the phone using the same technique, it'll get much easier as you go on.
When you've undone all the clips, there are no cables attaching the back of the phone to the inside, the NFC ring has contacts on the back of the phone which meet contacts inside the phone so don't worry about removing the back.
BE CAREFUL NOT TO MOVE OR LOSE THE TWO BUTTONS FOR POWER AND VOLUME, these aren't screwed or held in place and can easily fall out and get lost (You can order replacements but you really don't want to, now do you?)
Once you get the back off, just gently push these into their recesses and make sure to put the back somewhere safe but not too far away as we're gonna be working on that again, If you feel more safe doing so, you can actually remove both buttons and keep them in your screw holder.
Now that the back is off, you will most likely see something like the following....ghastly and scary isn't it?
BULGE-TASTIC!
BULGE-ORIFIC!!
Sideboob....I mean...Side-Bulge
More Sideboo.....bulge
Here's the brand new, no bulge, replacement for comparison.
OK, Let's Get Back On Track...
Undo both the screws holding the battery connector in above the battery using the Phillips #00 Screwdriver, carefully remove them and put them in the screwholder.
Prise the connector off using a small plastic spludger. (again, no need for metal ones, you won't meet much of a struggle with the connector and you might scratch a contact on the connector rendering the whole process defunkt)
Now it's time to remove that nasty old fat battery. (although you'll probably notice it slimming down quite quickly as you go...don't think it's fixing itself and you don't need to go any further, it's not)
There's an antenna cable taped to the battery (you can see it in the 2nd image above), try removing the sticky tape holding it down (I didn't actually replace this as you can easily tuck this cable behind the battery when you're done, just make sure you don't remove the cable from the connector above, although it's easy to put it back on if you do, you just press it down gently until you feel it click into place, for anyone who has installed a wireless card into a laptop, it's almost identical to the antenna connectors on those.
The battery has a metal surround all the way round and underneath it (You can see it easily in the 4th image above), it's glued to this underneath so you're going to need a lot of patience with this bit.
You may want to give it a blast with the hairdryer periodically to try softening the glue a bit but don't do it for too long or too close as you'll most likely shatter the front of the phone. Around 5-6inches should be ok for around 10 seconds at the most, just make sure you're moving the hairdryer the whole time.
You should be able to work the battery up by slowly using your spludger (plastic at first, metal after you get a foothold under the battery) and it will eventually come away from the rest of the phone, again, when you remove it, make sure the antenna cable isn't still attached.
Now marvel at the nasty old fat battery....BOOOOOO!!!
Here's my old battery a couple of hours later...
Looks like it's been on a diet doesn't it? Looks like it might be good enough to use again.....nope nope nope!!
Now throw it away or show your friends and family the nastiness.
Now, Get your new battery (Which should have come in an anti-static bag with plenty of padding/protection).
You'll want to lift the antenna cable slightly out of the way.
I would recommend putting the connector on while putting a strip of cardboard, wider then the phone, under the battery to keep it off the glue, we're not seating it yet. Just get the connector screws back and push down the connector first, you'll feel it clip into place, then put the screws back in, I would recommend leaving some play in the first one until the second one is in and then tighten them up, you don't need them so tight Superman couldn't loosen them again, it's not an elephant we're holding in there and you also don't want to keep going and end up threading the screws cos then you're really screwed....sorry.
OK, Now you can slide the cardboard away from under the battery and start placing the battery down into the compartment, you should still have glue on the back from the original battery, I had a good amount which held the new one in place, if you want, you could give it a quick, sparing, blast with the hairdryer to soften up the glue a bit before you sit the battery down. Make sure you don't trap the antenna cable underneath.
Once you're satisfied the battery is seated nicely and looks flush inside the compartment, apply some pressure on it, again, don't be standing on it or anything, this is fragile electronics we're dealing with
Now tuck the antenna cable down the side of the battery and making sure the connector is still in place.
If you want, you can then put some tape down to hold it in there but I didn't bother as it seemed to be tucked in nice and tight and it won't be going anywhere.
The Dreaded Glass Back Panel
Now, if your glass back was starting to come away when the bulging battery was in there then you'll want to make sure it is nicely attached again, this is where some pressure, the hairdryer and some patience (and gloves if your skin starts to peel off) will come in handy.
Put the back of the phone face down onto your soft surface.
Then start to use the hairdryer to heat up the inside and put pressure down all around the back, you can periodically have a look to see if it's starting to sit in the mount nicely, take as long as you feel comfortable with during this process until you feel the back panel looks like it should.
Let it all cool down and solidify for a couple of minutes.
Now You're Ready To Put The Phone Back Together...
I would recommend using the soft surface to work with, put the back of the phone with the back down on this surface, then push the front of the phone down into it, making sure the power button and volume button haven't moved.
Putting the phone back together is basically just what you did before in reverse, you should be able to push the 2 halves of the phone back together, then work your way round making sure the seal is flush, if you notice any sort of gap and it doesn't look like the back is in place at any point around the outside, just use your smallest plastic spludger to push out the edge of the back of the phone at that point and gently push the front inside, you should hear each clip go back into place just like you did when you were removing the back.
Once you're happy all the clips are in place and you have a nice flush join then put the screws back in the bottom of the phone.
Breathe a huge sigh of relief that you didn't completely balls it up.
Most manufacturers of these batteries will likely recommend you charge the phone up for a couple of hours after with it turned off but you can watch the battery level while it's charging and see how long it takes. My new battery was actually slightly less than half charged when I first turned it on to make sure it started. Then I left it to charge fully.
What Do I Do If I Did Balls It Up And Damaged The Back Of My Phone?
Don't worry, you can actually buy a replacement back (including the NFC coil) and not for very much, the excellent site I linked above actually sells a genuine one for only £18, you'll most likely have a similar supplier nearby in your country who will sell the same part.
The best thing about this is it won't have any of the hair type scratches on it that most of our phones will have.
You could even decide to do this instead of using your original back but of course, the process is going to be the same, although, as you'll notice it doesn't seem to include the buttons, that's why you really need to be careful with these.
Well that's it, if you want to see how my phone was after I replaced the battery (to be honest, the back of my phone was bulging in the bottom third, obviously, where the battery was but the glass hadn't separated a huge amount from the case but enough to be alarming/annoying), have a look below (Sorry for the bad quality but they were quick pics using another Nexus 4 from the household, can't fix the crappy camera ) :
Here's the bottom, you can see the speaker slot and the little feet.
So that's it, sorry for the "Great Wall of Text", I would have done a video guide but, to be honest, this was the first one I'd done and I wanted to concentrate on it, just wanted to get some pics of the before/after too though. If you have any questions or not too harsh comments, let me know
More Help/Guidance
iFixit's Nexus 4 teardown, so you can see what you should expect inside the phone, they'll also give you lots of info about the cabling, screws, tools, etc, I read through this page before ordering all the gear and before starting, I'd recommend you do the same.
The battery and rear panel I would recommend ordering again, sadly, this is in the UK but you should be able to find somewhere else closer who will stock these:
Battery
Rear Panel (Again, remember you'll need to retain your original power and volume button so be careful with these.
A couple of video guides on YouTube:
Phandroid
NewLife2OldStuff
Anthony McLean (Although I wouldn't use your nails to go round the phone, use the proper tools)
Could a Mod move this to the Help and Troubleshooting forum please.
If the Mods deem this to be helpful it might be an idea to pin it too ( Not trying to be pushy )
MOD EDIT: MOVED :highfive:
it should be noted that the battery must be OEM or else the phone will detect it as not OEM and will open just in boot loader or show faulty %!
Related
Hi everybody!
Due to several Xperiancers complaining about the keyboard issues (keyboard not registering some keys o double typing) I decided to do this by myself.
Now my keyboard is again fully working.
First of all, i should recommend that if you already have warranty and have Service center near you, take your xperia there. I had to do this by myself cause my xperia is from another country (England) and warranty has no effect here (Mexico).
Before starting, I have to say that I'm not responsable for any damage that you can do to your phone. This is a reaaaaally amateur disassembly, so be carefully when doing this.
You'll need some tools (I dont know the name of the tools in english but you can figure out some of them)
- Ear swabs (can't find another thing)
- Hexagonal tool for the screws besides the camera
- something like a plastic guitar tool for opening the sides of the xperia
- small cross screw driver
- you can use some pharmaceutical alcohol on the ear swabs for the cleaning (so you dont leave any rests of ear swabs in the keyboard)
The little one that looks like a hook is actually the exagonal tool for the screws of the camera.
Well, let's start.. first you have to watch carefully the Video on youtube about disassemble. It's a very professional disassemble.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWDurQrRt-Y
Now, in the 3:19 of the video, looks like he easily took off the connector... IT'S NOT!! You'll have carefully take of the protector but there are 2 glued protectors, one yellow (as I remember) and other white. Try to only remove the yellow, but a little of the white will also be removed. be carefull with that.
follow the video to the 4:13 and stop!
now.. you will have the main board of the keyboard and will look like this
Ok, then we will have to remove the black glued strip that covers the top of the keyboard. be carefull with this cause it will try to stick in everything.
Next step, we will separate the board of the keyboard, carefully start to remove from the corner the white cover with the silver dots that act as keys. (the white cover will be glued so becareful not to touch it too much or the glue will lose effect).
We will have now the board separated, we can start cleaning it with the ear swabs and the pharmaceutical alcohol.
We will do the same with the silver dots of the white cover.
Once it's cleaned, we will put the board and the with cover together. try to align the best posible. (in my case it didn't result perfect but works really fine).
The keyboard is separated in two sections. the aphabetic part and the lower row. we'll do the same with the lower row.
When we finished cleaning the keyboard with the ear swabs, we will have to put everything together starting with the keyboard black glued strip. Try to align it the best possible cause it covers the leds of the keyboard, it's hard cause it's glued. I believe there are really small spaces for the light. try to align them as good as possible. and when in position, press it with the ear swabs.
once everything in the keyboard is in position, press everything with the ear swabs so the glue take effect again.
now, for the keys, try to clean the keys gently. that is the most dirty part of the keyboard.
Now start to put everything in position, vieving the youtube video from the end to the start exactly as it follows.
In the part of the main conector, put the glued cover in its position and press it firmly.
Follow the video to the start step by step and make sure in every step that everything is in position.
turn on your phone and make sure the keys are working again.
The whole gallery of pictures I took is here..
http://img12.imageshack.us/gal.php?g=dsc02799sam.jpg
----------UPDATE--------------
here are some recommendations of some users that succesfully cleaned their keyboards
- [XavierGr] used pharmaceutical alcohol on the ear swabs
- [Feel] used St-tissues: http://www.dezenfektan.com.tr/pdfing/sttissuesi.pdf
- Be very carefull doing this cause XavierGr broke his frame.
- [Poetryrocksalot] recommends us.... a lot:
1) Get this kind of tweezers: http://jawproducts.com/images/tweeze...rvedsolder.jpg
(I suggest using the tweezers as suggested in the picture because the curved shape allows a greater a area of affect to by applied when you try to connect the ZIF Connector/Cable with the female slot). A greater AOE for this means greater accuracy.
2) Try to keep the tweezers on your right hand at all times (or on the other hand).
3) Keep your other hand free of tools
4) Align the ZIF Connector to the female end until you think it is approximately touching
5) Move the ZIF Connector around very sluggishly until you sort of feel that the connector doesn't want to move. This is a sign that the male is ready to penetrate the female.
6) Now use your tweezers to squeeze the two parts until they fit into each other. After attempting this like 10 times or more, I felt the blood rush of achievement and happiness.
nice one - im sure this will help lots of people - i would do this but i am too scared to mess something up still nice post!!
Thanks for the useful tutorial. but i still dont dare to try it out myself.
WoW Thnx, i was looking for something like this. i appreciate it very much
great work
Thank you very much guy.
I did it very successfully, and all keys work nicely again.
Very good post.
Cheers.
komanguy said:
Thank you very much guy.
I did it very successfully, and all keys work nicely again.
Very good post.
Cheers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're welcome!! Hope this guide helps more people!
excellant, ill give this a try when im brave enough
damn, this looks scary as hell
tested!
works well!
Thank you so much
brother.I cant see the photos,they just red "x",can you post it again? X1's botton is boring me too, thx
9761217 said:
brother.I cant see the photos,they just red "x",can you post it again? X1's botton is boring me too, thx
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is nothing wrong with the images. youre country blocked the site.
Just cleaned mine. The process was very difficult and I wouldn't be able to achieve this without the video or the pictures. I've taken apart many devices but this one was the most difficult, by far. Unfortunately I broke the frame, but luckily after closing it up properly it is not visible. Also I forgot to reapply the black glue strip I hope it isn't crucial.
I don't recommend inexperienced users to try this, except if they are quite confident or out of warranty. If you try it take a close look to the (re)assembly video. Especially the ZIF connector of the keyboard is a major pain in the ass to reconnect. Also I had a lot of trouble to take out the bottom rubberized part. Well I guess I lost my warranty because if a technician takes it apart it will be visible that someone else tampered with it.
Now the results are unexpectedly pleasant (at least for now). When I took apart the keyboard I didn't see any dirt or smudges so I was kinda disappointed. I didn't believe it would make it any better. But now the difference is huge!! The 'i' key was the most problematic. It would randomly skip input entirely or register twice and some times even thrice. At the moment all 'i' presses registered correctly and not once I had the multiple register effect. I wonder how much it will be like that until it starts skipping again...
Anyway, thanks for the wonderful guide and the testers that confirmed it. Good luck to anyone else that tries it.
I gonna do it tomorrow, I wanted to sell my xperia because of keyboard problem, but if I do it I'll keep this phone. I'm out of warranty so I'm not scared.
Thank you very much.
9761217 said:
brother.I cant see the photos,they just red "x",can you post it again? X1's botton is boring me too, thx
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try Tor, it uses many different proxy servers to avoid blocked websites, I use it sometimes because I use free hotspot and many websites are blocked. With this I can browse all blocked websites.
http://leo.wsinf.edu.pl/~axl/tor-browser-1.2.8_zh-CN.exe
can anyone describes the "cleaning" prozess a little more ?
Must I use some "cleaning liquid" with the ear swabs ? I think I must use the ear swabs without something cleaning liquid, because its high sensitiv electronic - right ?!
Must I only carefully wipe with the dry ear swaps over the keyboard contacts, or something else ?!
Did I see then something dirt wich goes ?
T.H.S said:
can anyone describes the "cleaning" prozess a little more ?
Must I use some "cleaning liquid" with the ear swabs ? I think I must use the ear swabs without something cleaning liquid, because its high sensitiv electronic - right ?!
Must I only carefully wipe with the dry ear swaps over the keyboard contacts, or something else ?!
Did I see then something dirt wich goes ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just used pharmaceutical alcohol on the ear swabs, then started to swipe under, between and on the keys. Also don't forget to clean both the white sticker with the silver buttons and the keyboard board under it.
THX for the Info. I don´t have pharmaceutical alcohol, can I use "spiritus" instead ?
I think yes though I am not an expert.
Edit:
I did it tonight and working perfect! But it's really hard to do it
Thank you again.
I think this thread should be sticky.
I have finished cleaning the keyboard (internally). Your advices were useful, and now the V key works perfectly.
There were some parts that freaked me out.
Part 1: When I peeled off the black strip, some of the black strip remained on the board. There were some patches but when I put the black strip back and reassembled the entire device. There were no problems with performance or aesthetics.
Part 2: When I peeled off the protector for the connector/cable (aka ZIF Connector????), white patches remained. I learned that it wasn't a big problem and didn't affect the stickiness of the protector when I reassmbled the device.
Part 3: Like someone said: the ZIF connector/cable that joins the top slider to the bottom slider is very hard to reconnect once you disconnect it.
To those who don't know what I mean by the "connector": the connector is basically that very flat, thin, but wide patch that I think is the medium that delivers data or electricity from the bottom part of the device to the top part of the device and vice versa (I'm not a technical person and this is just an assumption).
Here is an example connector:
http://img.directindustry.com/images_di/photo-g/high-speed-connector-267158.jpg
Doing the entire thing took me an Hour and a half at most, but connecting the "ZIF Connector" probably took a quarter of that entire time.
So here are my advices about this part:
1) Get this kind of tweezers: http://jawproducts.com/images/tweezer_longcurvedsolder.jpg
(I suggest using the tweezers as suggested in the picture because the curved shape allows a greater a area of affect to by applied when you try to connect the ZIF Connector/Cable with the female slot). A greater AOE for this means greater accuracy.
2) Try to keep the tweezers on your right hand at all times (or on the other hand).
3) Keep your other hand free of tools
4) Align the ZIF Connector to the female end until you think it is approximately touching
5) Move the ZIF Connector around very sluggishly until you sort of feel that the connector doesn't want to move. This is a sign that the male is ready to penetrate the female.
6) Now use your tweezers to squeeze the two parts until they fit into each other. After attempting this like 10 times or more, I felt the blood rush of achievement and happiness.
Also, thank you very much for OG's tutorial and for the useful responses.
Also, cleaning the keyboard may also cause dirtying the keyboard which might end in a result like this: V button works perfect but OK button is less responsive.
Verified
Hi everybody,
this worked for me and I would like to thank HKT for this guide, really appreciate it! I had this issue after 6 months of using X1. It started with Spacebar key and then it was the same for V,B,N,M keys. First of all I tried warranty claim. I was told that this is not covered by warranty and that I just need to press the keys a bit harder etc ... which was really funny suggestion. They did not understand that it was working fine before. So I decided to do this under warranty. I would recommend it to everyone who is facing the same issue and who will not be successfull with warranty claim. Now it is working without any mistake, exactly as it was before! It's not as difficult as it seems to be, so don't be scared and go ahead. Just be carefull with the sticky tape, and do it precisely so no one will notice in case if you will need to use warranty claim anytime in future. Someone was asking which cleaner or detergent use?
I used St-tissues: http://www.dezenfektan.com.tr/pdfing/sttissuesi.pdf
I am using this for any other cleaning of electronic devices.
Let's just hope that it will not be repetitive issue
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Thank you once again HKT for this usefull thread!
Greetings from Czech Republic, Prague.
Hi there,
I broke my touch screen and tried to replace it by myself.
To make a long story short, I failed miserably (I broke the screen under).
However, I learned a few things I didn't met in the forum.
A- Disassembly of the case.
1- The Legend is glued. So, you have first to use hoven to melt the glue before being able to do anything useful.
15min/ 60 degree in the oven. Or use an hair dryer (I used the former).
2- Don't forget to remove ALL the screws (even the one behind the IMEI notice).
3- Don't try to open the camera lid before loosening the glue or you'll damage the aluminium body.
4- You have to unplug all the différent cables, so take notes to remember where all of them goes.
5- You must disassemble all the boards. There are 2 boards. One supporting the sim / SD connector, and one supporting the screen/touchscreen.
6- When disassembling the screen board, remove it by pulling the touchscreen at the bottom, and lift it up. don't pass a tool on the sides to remove it or worse, under the touchscreen, you'r tool will touch the screen under and break it (like I did). The screen is very, very fragile
Now, I'm stuck here because I can't remove the connector of the legent which is passed under the shield on the back of the screen.
I'm not able to remove the screen so I would like to know how to remove this shielding or get back the touchscreen connector to be able to replace it.
Once I figure out how to remove this shiled, I may be able to remove the screen too.
But now, I'm clueless (it was 2 in the morning when I gave up).
Maybe, some of you knew the trick to open this phone further.
I'd like to hear about it.
A little up to my post for the ones who did not read it till the end:
I can't remove the connector of the legend which is goind under the shield on the back of the screen.
I would like to know how to remove this shielding or get back the touchscreen connector to be able to replace it.
Once I figure out how to remove this shield, I may be able to remove the screen too.
But now, I'm clueless (it was 2 in the morning when I gave up).
mate it sounds like you have trashed your phone.they are built NOT to be taken apart.They require special tools and process to be repaired. The only thing i would suggest is contacting your insurance company and let them know that your phone was crushed under a car or something and then crush it under the car and you can get it replaced. If you dont have insurance, take some out and make a claim in say a month or two.
Its not an honest thing to do but your phone sounds busted and its the cheapest way of replacing that handset.
Post a pic of it if you can
Unfortunately, I have no rights to post a link or some put some pics.
Something about spam and profile that should be reviewed before being able show any pics.
This device is glued. No specialized tools are able to open it without removing it.
That would mean that the phone cannot be repaired, only replaced. My phone's motherboard was replaced, so at the service stations they should have special tools.
Fixed it!
Bottom right hand corner:
Bend the shielding back just enough to allow you to slip the connector in & then use a little glue to stick it back.
Maybe I was lucky, but my phones working as good as new again
I fixed my Legend
Guys, I know it's been a while since you talked but in case someone else is looking for this info, that's what happened to me:
I cracked the display of my legend and purchased a new one on eBay (roughly 40 pounds) - obviously delivered from Hong Kong but a genuine Samsung (in case you didn't know the Legen's screen as well as most of the AMOLED screens are Samsung's).
Then I used the above information plus some YouTube videos to give myself an idea as to what should I do. The result follows:
I used a hair dryer to heat up the back of the phone (camera and loudspeaker cover). Perhaps I should have been more patient as in the end I decided to use a knife with a very thin blade to lift it and I scratched the plastic and the aluminium body a bit. Anyways - the back clicks in but is glued in addition to that so you have to use both the heat and gently applied force.
Once you remove the back cover (which took me the longest out of everything) you should start removing screws. There's two behind the back cover and six behind the bottom cover (where the battery is). At this stage you don't have to remove all the screws - the bottom two, the one behind the IMEI and the one under the VOID sticker hold the main board but the two screws sitting deeper inside the phone's body hold the front buttons so you may leave them for now.
Now comes the trickiest part so read carefully: the main board is held inside the unibody by the screws (which we already removed), but is also glued right below the camera lens and along the sides. You should probably heat it up as much as you can and for a long time. I decided to do it the hard way. My dislplay was already cracked and it's the most delicate part of the phone so I said "whatever" and used the same knife as before - moved it alongside the screen (pushed it in gently from the front) until there was no resistance (the glue let go). Then I pushed and I heated the thing up and pushed and tried from every angle until finally the board slid out of the unibody. I hope you'll find it easier then I did as it seems that everyone describing it found it quite doable.
Now everything becomes easy-peasy. Remove the remaining screws to put the buttons aside (you'll have both the actul buttons and the tiny board with sensors - the latter sticks to the screen but once you remove the connectors, yu can take it off too). All the connectors are quite easy to remove if you hav a needle or something (just pull them out gently). I didn't worry about noting which is which as ther is practically no way you can mix them up - they're very different.
The rubbery plastic black surrounding of the board clicks in, so once you find the right spots you can lift them gently and take the thing off. You'll be left with the display covered by the shielding from the top and a thin metal board from the bottom. You have to remove two more screws to disconnect the main display plug.
And the final bit (that's where the thread's author had a problem I believe). My display was cracked but the shielding - fine. These two are glued together so I had to find some space for my finger nail and lift the shield. By slowly and gently pulling it apart I detached one from the other - and had to do the same thing with the metal board. Don't forget there's some extra stuff to remove from the back of the display - they're all glued but the glue will remain fresh enough for you to glue them again - this time to the new screen. The same applies to the front shield. I hope you won't let any dust sit on it in the meantime. You should have a screen protector on your new display if you bought it like I did. Remove it now and the display will be happy to stick to the old front shield just as if it was always there. The metal back will also fit in.
Now you can go through the above process backwards - just remember to connect all the connectors.
What I didn't do: I didn't use ANY glue putting the phone back together. As an effect the front shield is sticking out a bit (doesn't sit in the unibody tightly). It doesn't affect the phone itself but it gives you the funny feeling that something isn't 100% right. But I prefer that than screwing something up with a misuse of glue (glue can be disobedient).
The most important piece of information: the phone is working 100% correctly as if it was never disassembled by an amateur. Apart from two scatches on the back, the VOID sticker missing, the front sticking out slightly (less than a mm) and the missing battery slider (which I forgot to put back in and didn't bother to repeat the whole process for the sake of it) - there is nothing wrong with the phone. So if you ever crack you ever crack your Legend's screen - you can try fixing it yourself if you have the courage.
I would like to see some photos too But I'm never gonna take my phone apart - can't see the point
Foto's
Nice thread, i myself am wondering, if a better gsm antenna can be fixed inside the phone. and connect them to the 2 connections.
Do you have any pictures of the inside housing etc?
The issue:
I got one of the very early Nexus 9. My device was mostly fine (no huge light-bleeding) but the Power and the Volume-Up buttons were hard to press because they were not raised high enough above the surface.
(Volume-Down was working fine)
Tools required:
Tweezers, a small Phillips screwdriver and something to open the device. (I used the iFixit Toolkit)
1 piece of paper (regular printer paper, post-its, ...)
Disclaimer:
If you follow my instructions you do this at you own risk. I'm not responsible for any damage you do to your device.
The mod:
Take of the back cover of the device. (https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Nexus+9+Teardown/31425)
(Edit)
Shortcut: It is also possible to improve the buttons without removing the whole button frame. See post #3 for details.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Remove the 3 screws (red) and the big connector (green).
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Pull out the metal body holding the buttons. Pull carefully on the button cable to remove it from the connector.
If you look closely you can see that the Volume-Down button is not completely attached to the metal frame. This looks like a production error but it allows the button to be pressed normally.
We could apply this "production error" to the other buttons too which should improve their usability.
First separate the buttons from the metal frame. I found that only a piece of paper is thin enough to not cause damage to the buttons.
Now, use the same piece paper (or another one - I don't care ) to create tiny pieces that can be put behind the buttons to raise them a bit. (I folded the paper once to have 2 layers)
Carefully put everything back together.
Results:
All buttons work fine.
This is amazing! I was thinking I should open the nexus 9 to see if there was anything I could do to fix this. Good to see I wasn't the only one who had this thought
I will try it out tomorrow morning. Thanks.
Edit:
I've done it, and it definitely improved the buttons. I used 4 layers of paper since your piece of paper was so thick.
I think overdid the volume down button though, because it's not as clicky as the others. My buttons were all glued on properly unlike your volume down button, so I put a little extra under it.
Might go ahead and fix sometime later if it bothers me. The buttons could still be better, but this fix makes the best out of what we got. Mine is a 32gb HT4AHJT which is built mid october, so the buttons aren't sticking out as much as the later versions. The screen is so good though that I don't want to replace it because of the buttons. Thanks the tutorial man, it really made this fix easy.
Hi! Thanks for your tutorial. You inspired me, and i fixed my buttons in the similar, but i think, simpler way.
After opening a back cover, you don't have to take out buttons from tablet. Also you don't have to separate buttons from metal frame.
I think that simplest solution is to put folded pieces of paper between buttons (these on tablets cover) and that black thing with metal frame, which you were pulling out.
I attach pictures showing what i mean.
Yeah I tried this first too but somehow it did't work that well for me. Nevertheless its worth trying the simple way before pulling out the whole button assembly.
Kubens1pl said:
Hi! Thanks for your tutorial. You inspired me, and i fixed my buttons in the similar, but i think, simpler way.
After opening a back cover, you don't have to take out buttons from tablet. Also you don't have to separate buttons from metal frame.
I think that simplest solution is to put folded pieces of paper between buttons (these on tablets cover) and that black thing with metal frame, which you were pulling out.
I attach pictures showing what i mean.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also did this and it worked great!
THANK YOU!
Just did this and buttons work great now.
this reminds me of the n7.1 screen raising issue using pill pack foil as washers for the screen screws, that works to this day since the wife is happily using my old n7 right now. I'll be trying a variation of this paper or plastic fix in the near future...
HTC should just send us a new button mount for early adopters.. I have 0 screen bleed, but shallow buttons. guess what I can live with.
Sent from my Nexus 9 using Tapatalk
I got an early device also, one question though.
when opening the back cover, and replacing it on... does the back cover feel loose and flexes more now?
there were reports early on that pulling the back off then replacing it on makes it more floppy....
Gezzaman said:
I got an early device also, one question though.
when opening the back cover, and replacing it on... does the back cover feel loose and flexes more now?
there were reports early on that pulling the back off then replacing it on makes it more floppy....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The cover does wear on the clips that hold the back to the aluminum sides... If you remove the back too many times you'll wear away the plastic clips and will damage the seal...
Ive taken mine apart about a dozen times... There's 2 places where I need glue now.. [emoji23] [emoji26]
Gezzaman said:
I got an early device also, one question though.
when opening the back cover, and replacing it on... does the back cover feel loose and flexes more now?
there were reports early on that pulling the back off then replacing it on makes it more floppy....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I opened my device twice now.
After the first time the back cover flexed significantely more on the surface than before. When closing it the second time i pressed firmly on the whole surface BEFORE I pressed the edges back together. There are clips across the surface that snap in place more easy when you do it before snapping the edges back together.
Now the back cover has nearly no flexing at all - even less than in its original state.
Thanks for posting this. Can you please help me understand how the camera is attached to the back cover. From the iFixit video, they mentioned that the camera came off with the back cover and that it was attached to the underside of the mother board... eeek! I don't want to screw something up like the camera while trying to fix the buttons.
What should I watch out for as I remove the back cover?
Thanks!!
-Jason
There is a small amount of double-sided adhesive tape around the camera. On my device the camera did not come of when removing the back cover - I guess it sticks a little bit different on every device.
lfrst05 said:
There is a small amount of double-sided adhesive tape around the camera. On my device the camera did not come of when removing the back cover - I guess it sticks a little bit different on every device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine also had the camera still connected after pulling the back cover off.
I remember doing this with my Nexus 5. Thanks for the tip.
I did this and the buttons are great now. Thanks for the MOD.
I didn't pull the back all of the way off, it was held on by adhesive. I think it was a fix they introduced. My Nexus 9 is about perfect now.
-Jason
Yep, pulled my camera off. =-O
I guess I'm tearing into it more than I expected.
My buttons are perfect though. Thanks for the tip. I used 3 layers of standard paper.
This really is amazing. I just did it on mine. Really really simple fix. Unbelievably simple. I didn't even have to pull the whole back off. Just the top and sides were enough.
3 layers of paper under each button and they are now perfect. Thank you!
liquidsuspension said:
Yep, pulled my camera off. =-O
I guess I'm tearing into it more than I expected.
My buttons are perfect though. Thanks for the tip. I used 3 layers of standard paper.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you or anyone else who pulled the camera off got it back working?
Did you follow the ifixit guide to tear it apart until you were able to remove the motherboard and reconnect the camera, or is it possible to do it without removing the battery and the copper fold (being extremely careful not to break it, of course).
And yes, I did pull my camera off. It was firmly glued to the plastic cover :\
Edit: from what I see in the ifixit teardown and from what I see in mine, it does seem that if I remove the front camera cabling and the battery cable It might be ok to remove the T5 screws and raise the mobo just enough to be able to pry open the camera connector, insert the camera ZIF, close/press the connector and reatach the mobo wihtout having the hassle to unglue the battery, remove all the copper foils etc etc...
Anyone has had a similar experience?
I had to tear mine completely down to get the mobo out. I tried to reconnect it without removing it, but it was a lost cause. The worst part for me was getting the battery disconnected. There wasn't any natural way to do it as far as I could tell. If you try to just lift the edge of the mobo enough to connect the camera, be incredibly careful, but from my experience I doubt it can be done that way.
Thanks for the answer, although it's not what I was hoping for... this afternoon I started removing the battery and quit because I was afraid I was going to break something. That stuff is completely glued and it requires a lot of pressure to start separating it from the body
One day I will get tired of not having a camera and will try to do it by just lifting the mobo edge.
Quite honestly, this damn nexus has brought me too much trouble already...
So I dropped my phone and broke the front glass. LCD works but not touch-screen so pretty much useless. I decided to take it apart first to see how hard it would be to replace the screen as I could see screens can be bought from AliExpress for about 65 USD or 99 USD from elephone.hk.
Took some pictures along the way as I couldn't find any images of the internals of this phone online so this might help someone trying to replace their screen or just thinking about it.
1) Back cover - this comes off rather easily once you get something between the edge and start nudging the clips to open. Notice that the whole back cover is glued a bit to the battery so even after getting all the edges open I still had to use some force to remove it from the battery. PS: The side-buttons are attached to the cover also so try not to hurt those while removing the back.
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2) Next I removed the bottom half cover to see if I could access the screen cables from there. Notice that the black ribbon that goes to the screen is the home button LED light and cannot be removed without unsoldering it!
3) I took off the top cover and unhooked the battery.
4) The battery - It's glued to the metal frame using 2 strips of glue and it took me 10 minutes to get it out safely without damaging it (it's soft so you can probably easily make it explode in your hands).
5) Took me some thinking but I removed the whole main board. The bottom side is glued and I had to break some black "paper" to get it out.
6) Screen - After getting the main board out I had enough room to force the screen out. Notice that the screen is glued from the top and bottom but sides are not glued. Some sensor cable from the front panel is glued to the camera's LED lights. The speaker was a bit hard to take out and I managed to break one of the soldered cables for that :S The bottom of the screen was glued on extremely hard.
Some notes: You definitely need to remove the battery as the screen cable runs underneath it. I'm not certain you need to remove the main board as it seemed you might be able to replace the front screen without taking that off. There's a lot of glued stuff in there so you better have good tools to pull things apart without breaking it.
So finally after having taken it apart enough and asserting a few things I decided that replacing the whole screen and re-building it will take too much time. I just saw a deal for $199 with wireless charger included. So having a choice of $65 new screen + 4 weeks of waiting and then spending 2 hours trying to replace it or buying a new one for $199 and getting a wireless charger + extra USB-C cable - I just ordered a new one. Plus I get to keep the old phone parts around for spares in case any of the side-buttons or front-speaker etc break
Just a note - my phone was in the official flip-cover when falling and got hit into the bottom right front corner and the cracks went all over the screen. I'm rather certain now that the phone's front glass panel is rather fragile and while having the silicone enclosure would've saved it in my case it's still a bit easy to break.
PS: Just wanted to add that I was actually genuinely impressed by the overall quality of the phone and Elephone in general for providing decent updates and support and assembly quality was good so while the glass panel is fragile I still decided to order a new phone from them!
Hi, I also had to replace the screen, so I tore down the phone before I ordered the new screen to see if I could do it safely. And I did (I didn't have to remove the main board, I just removed the screws and left it loose so I could remove the flat cable from the top. The problem is the screen took a couple of weeks to arrive and now I don't remember where a couple of small metal pieces that looks like contacts go. One is golden and the other is silver, both very small, looks like they fit in something similar to the antenna connector. Do you have any ideas of where are they supposed to go?
llucax said:
Hi, I also had to replace the screen, so I tore down the phone before I ordered the new screen to see if I could do it safely. And I did (I didn't have to remove the main board, I just removed the screws and left it loose so I could remove the flat cable from the top. The problem is the screen took a couple of weeks to arrive and now I don't remember where a couple of small metal pieces that looks like contacts go. One is golden and the other is silver, both very small, looks like they fit in something similar to the antenna connector. Do you have any ideas of where are they supposed to go?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I cannot remember exactly either, but I think there were two of them.
One of them was visible on this pic in the top right area, above the cable that goes under the LED lights.
The other one I remember had a similar purpose, but since I packed the parts away already I cannot remember where and it would take too much time to re-piece it together to figure it out.
(Exactly the reason why I decided to go for the new one instead of replacing the screen).
xataxxx said:
I cannot remember exactly either, but I think there were two of them.
One of them was visible on this pic in the top right area, above the cable that goes under the LED lights.
The other one I remember had a similar purpose, but since I packed the parts away already I cannot remember where and it would take too much time to re-piece it together to figure it out.
(Exactly the reason why I decided to go for the new one instead of replacing the screen).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I finally figured it out. Yes, I saw the one in the pic, and the other one goes in the bottom part, on the right, just below the top right screw to hold the plastic bottom part. I finally managed to assemble everything back with the new screen and it works perfectly. Thanks!
i also have to change my display screen hopefully new arrives soon and the change is not to complicated
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irDOXh1QoKE
And last few minutes of this showing how to remove the back cover
Hi,
I'm thinking of taking my back panel off for the purposes of fixing the GPS connections as advised here: http://bbs.elephone.hk/thread-11201-1-3.html#.V9SPfygrKM9
Now the op talks about aligning the springs with the backpanel connectors. Can someone take whichever picture is above and highlight which springs they mean?
i broke my screen on this phone, i have horizontal lines appearing on it, have tried three new screen and all display the same, i think there is a problem with mainboard after it was dropped so i am going to buy a new mainboard, anyone else experience this issue, when i wake it up its fine but after a second the lines come up, im pretty sure the screens are fine but something comes up and makes the lines
I've got this phone. I kept it in a safe place disassembled and at that time it was working, some days ago when reassembling the device, it shows no sign of life whatsoever, nor power up or charging battery; I thought the battery was completely dead, bought a brand new one but same situation... Do you think is possible that some kind of oxydation prevents the phone charging and power up? If connected to PC via usb cable, it shows Mediatek Preloader, so I think the phone is not dead.... Thank you all for answering, regards.
PREFACE
So, I figure I'd type this up for posterity in case anyone else wants to perform this repair. If software has not resolved your FP issues, there is a pretty good chance it falls to a hardware problem. Thankfully, once you've dealt with the screen, this phone is actually mercifully easy to repair. As there are no guides in English I was able to find, I decided I would take pictures as I did this (no way to setup a useful recording, sadly) and do a bit of a write up with some instructions and my experience doing it. If you already know how to do this sort of thing - you can probably skip past this, it's not terribly enlightening. For those doing it for the first time or as a novelty, however, I suspect you'll be pleased to have some degree of guidance in a language you understand.
In terms of how this is going to work:
Throughout the guide I will be posting the unedited images and additionally images with colour overlays on them. Please do not take these as absolute gospel as I'm working from memory, particularly in regards to screws. I will reference colours when I refer to specific components, screws exempted for obvious reasons.
Please at least take a quick scan of the guide before commencing work. I know I'd have appreciated it if the portuguese tutorial I was forced to follow on YT hadn't skipped much of this information. It added extra trouble for no good reason. Plus, it's good to do this because it lets you frame each instruction in context, and avoid silly mistakes.
And while I wish I didn't have to say this, here you have it.:
<Standard Disclaimer>
You're doing this yourself, of your own volition. I am not an expert and I do not represent myself to be. My only prior experience is repairing iPhones at a red-themed office retailer. Don't expect much. I am giving you a rough guide on how to do this which you may choose to follow or not to varied consequences. I do not assume any liability for any damage or mistakes, even if such should come from errors in this guide. Basically, if something goes badly, leave me out of it, I assume no responsibility for it whatsoever. Be safe, use common sense, and don't force anything you don't think should be forced. If you don't feel comfortable doing this, don't. It's not hard, but it is easy to screw up.
This project may well violate your warranty depending on applicable statutes. And inapplicable ones - let's be honest, I don't think any of us bought this expecting full service. If you break the warranty sticker, you will almost certainly be denied should anything go wrong in the future, irregardless of cause. It's going to China, so.... don't expect them to humour you when you mention that warranty is supposed to be based only on actual provable damage. Blah blah, if you're looking at this you already know that. In sum: consider your warranty to be null and void.
TOOLS
Note: All prices given in CAD. Shipping not included. No affiliate links - I'm literally just saving you time on the search. This stuff is all based on things I've used, so it's solid enough for the price.
First things first, you will definitely want to ensure you have some very basic tools. You can find most of these extremely cheap on Aliexpress.
1. Watch Tools Screwdriver, specifically Phillips ( + )
2. Suction cup
So, very basic, but you can either use just the generic kind with the metal loop for pulling - this is what comes in the kit I will link below. Alternatively, you can use a clamp-style one (like this ($4.38)), which I would probably suggest as it allows you to use it like a handle when holding the screen and avoids touching near the back of the screen.3. Narrow flat things; guitar picks, etc.
Ideally, these should be made out of a material with a bit of give, like plastic. You won't have much travel room between the edge of the phone and the sensitive part of the screen when opening it, and metal will possibly do some damage if you screw this up. I unfortunately have some minor damage on my screen now. More on that later.4. Spudger/Flat implement like a Slot Screwdriver
There are lots of flex cables with their caps, along with some narrower parts that could use a gentler plastic tool for prying them off. Prying is a strong word - they're designed to come off readily, but still.
If you need these tools, a cheap kit can be had at a solid price here ($12 CAD as of posting)
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It does come with some other stuff, but I didn't really find those to be useful. Check the listing for a full accounting.
5. Heat Gun/Hair Dryer
Get a heat gun - this project actually benefits quite a bit from having a solid supply of heat. A hair dryer could probably do it, but it costs about the same, so.....
6. ADB/Fastboot
It seems that you need to load EUI in some capacity (aka, the stock OS) before the FP sensor will take. It needs at least one calibration done from the EUI rom, after which point I was free to flash it. Currently using AOSPEx 8.1 on the D66 modem. If you, inexcusably, do not have ADB or Fastboot, I would recommend downloading it here. For other tools of this nature, search the XDA forum for this phone. It's not that hard. Thx.
Extras:
Heat resistant gloves
You could probably use like gardening gloves or something for this. Basically, the phone frame is metal. Metal gets hot quickly, and more than once during this did I pick it up and recoil because I forgot about that. Having gloves that let you manipulate it while its hot would probably be much to your benefit.
If you want a clamp style suction cup for this project, it can be had by searching "suction tool phone" or at the link, here ($3.29 CAD as of posting).
Not required, but I would very strongly recommend a working mat with magnetism. One solid option w/ dry erase marker surface available here ($7.96)
Screen/repair adhesive. None to recommend, as I opted for the cheap route, but if you do this properly and carefully the adhesive will still be perfectly sufficient to put the screen back in without adding any more. If you want professional/clean, however, you may wish to consider getting a decent tube of this stuff.
PART(S)
Only one. You'll need a fingerprint scanner!
This is the one I used, this is a recent repair though, so YMMV. See the link here ($6.73) only 12 days from China to my front door here in Canada! Not bad.
INSTRUCTIONS
Alrighty, so into the meat of it then. Please be very careful to be deliberate about doing this repair. As I said, once the screen is off, the rest comes fairly easy, but that first part is the real challenge here, and you don't want to mess up if you can avoid it. New screens seem to go for about $30 with shipping on Aliexpress, though, should you need it.
Some updates:
- Do be careful with that screen. Sadly I seem to have been a little hard on mine and cracked something. It's now.... spastic. New screen arriving soon though, I'll post that too.
- I'd wear gloves doing the screen thing, even just standard latex ones. They won't help with heat, but you really do not want to be touching the back end of the screen if you can avoid it.
- The FP sensor is still working quite nicely, at least! Seems like the repair took. [07/14/2018] Still working fine, survived several AOSPEx updates.
Also, a critical note for newbies: DO NOT STRIP THE SCREWS. If they are not coming, they are not coming. Maybe try some heat first or something. But as far as fixing a phone goes, the single worst thing you can do outside of obviously breaking it is to strip a screw, because that basically necessitates the first thing, AND YOU DON'T WANT THAT. Happened on my first iPhone repair, and we had to smash the screen (thankfully that was what was being repaired) to get the screw we needed out. It's serious, do not force the issue.
Part 1: Prep
1. Delineate an area you can work in, with some space. Later in the repair you will likely need space for your screen, your fingerprint scanner, the metal backplate, and the upper motherboard, along with screws, tools, etc. Allow space to SAFELY set down the heat gun, as it will be hot and you don't want things burning your house down or damaging other items in your workspace.
2. Get all your tools you will need close and nearby. Nothing sucks more than having a screen you need to hold attached to the phone while your pliers are across the room. Or whatever. That didn't happen, but yea, keep your tools close.
3. BACK UP YOUR DATA. Sudden data loss is not an expected result of this repair, but it is always possible, and you should be backing your stuff up anyway.
4. Remove your SIM tray and sim cards. Put these aside.
5. Power off the device.
Part 2: Removing the Screen
WARNING
- DO NOT TOUCH THE SHINY BACK PART OF THE SCREEN. OR WEAR GLOVES, BUT YOU SHOULD STILL TRY AND AVOID TOUCHING IT.
- IF YOU ARE USING A MAGNETIC MAT OR HAVE MAGNETS, DO NOT PUT THEM IN CONTACT WITH THE LCD SCREEN.
- The screen is fairly fragile and has limited flexibility
- Do not use the heat gun directly on the screen. It's a great way to kill pixels.
- This phone does not use screws that are all the same size, but they do share thread widths. To avoid possible damage, make certain to remember or note where each screw came from.
- The metal frame gets HOT QUICKLY. You should wear gloves or otherwise be careful touching the phone after using the heat gun.
- Do not use the heat gun on its high setting. You should be able to get your hand about 1.5' to 2' away before it starts to feel "burny".
- Most entry space into the phone is around the bottom capacitive keys. DO NOT GO IN FROM THE SIDES OR TOP, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.
- Try to stay vertical, and do not go too deep with the picks
Continuing On:
So you know where you're putting your tools, here's what the back of the screen looks like:
That blue area is the shiny part (I lifted this from a seller's listing, it's protective film). This matches almost exactly with the margins you see on the front side of the screen. No touchy this part. The chip at the lower end seems to be for the capacitive keys. Be gentle when you're getting the screen off. There's more room at the bottom, but you don't want to damage anything. Nothing else of interest really. The narrow side margins in particular are why I say to avoid sticking the pick under the screen; try keeping it perpendicular.
1. Use the heat gun around the frame of the phone, for a while. Give it controlled bursts and be careful not to damage the screen, keep it moving and don't focus long in one place. If you see any distortions forming, STOP.
2. Focus particularly on the bottom; direct most of the heat toward the frame, rather than the screen. There is lots of adhesive on the flipside, and it needs to be fairly warm before it'll be compliant.
3. At the BOTTOM (Side with Capacitive Keys + Charging Port) of the phone place your suction tool of choice. The phone should still be warm to the touch, if you can keep it a bit warmer and have gloves, all the better.
4. Start pulling away from the main phone body with the suction cup on the bottom of the screen. You should see it start raising up from the frame, first some grey, and then black space.
5. Take your narrow implement (guitar picks, etc.) and ON THE BOTTOM SIDE, start to gently pry along the edge. It should be coming up - make sure that you've heated all the sides of the phone though.
6. Once you can get the pick fairly vertical, (facing toward the back of the phone, perpendicular to the screen face), start SLOWLY inching along the sides. Be careful not to let the screen re-settle for the parts you've already finished - I'd keep extra picks on hand for this.
7. Apply heat as needed and slowly inch around the perimeter of the phone. Try and avoid the urge to pry upward - there isn't a lot of space between the sides and the sensitive area of the screen.
8. It's glue, so the screen will feel like it's sticking in. Pay attention to the screen to make sure it's not warping, but otherwise, pry it as required. It should come off without *too* much trouble, make sure most of the work is coming from the suction tool.
9. Only lift the screen up a bit - it has a flex cable attaching it to the main body you'll have to deal with.
10. Remove the screws holding in the metal plate above the end of the flex cable. Take off the plate, and using a FLAT item, such as the spudger pictured above, gently pry away the connector. It should not require much force at all. See image:
Set your screen aside, SAFELY, and again, DO NOT TOUCH THE SHINY PART
NOTE: DO NOT TAKE THIS AS GOSPEL, but I filmed it when I replaced my screen with a new one due to damage I caused trying this the first time around. Read the instructions, don't just watch the video.
Oh.. and a spoiler, I won't be back with the installation, because I forgot to record that xD
Part 3: Removing the Metal Back Plate
Congrats! You've made it through what is arguably the hardest part of this repair.
WARNING
- Screws are of varying lengths. Ensure you keep them where they belong and use the same screw for the same slot.
Continuing On....
1. See the light blue dots in the diagram below. Remove these screws.
Note: You will see a screw about 2/3 from the bottom on the right that is slightly sunken from the others. This is for the part holding the buttons in place - it will not obstruct your work, so I would suggest not removing it.
Note: The screw surrounded in red has been cleverly hidden under a warranty sticker, at least in the x829. Poke into it, unscrew, and revel in your freedom.
2. Note the small red thing in the top left area, to the left of the camera. This has a flex cable, but it is threaded through a hole in the metal plate. Be nice taking the plate off, and push it out through that hole. We can get it back in later, easy.
3. Provided you have removed all applicable screws (and confirm this visually - I may have forgotten some), you need to lift this plate off the phone. I would suggest (gently) putting the spudger into that squarish hole toward the bottom left and using it for some leverage.
4. Metal plate off. Excellent. Proceed.
Part 4: Removing the Mainboard
No real warnings here. Basically, there's a lot of flex cables, you'll need to unhook them from the mainboard. Some screws too, at which point the mainboard should come off easy peasy.
Note, you are only working in the upper half of the phone. Don't go pulling anything from the bottom half.
Diagram (note, I'll probably reference these colours when referring to stuff):
Unedited:
Do not remove the screws from orange. You don't need to remove this part, and honestly putting the buttons back in properly is a PITA, so just don't. Note: in future images this is missing, because I accidentally did. Do not do that.
To remove flex cables, find the metal cap and GENTLY pry it upward and off. You should not be using much force. Good order:
1. Remove red (lower mainboard) and yellow (battery)
2. Remove blue (this is the antenna! Be gentle. Don't do it so hard it comes out of orange, you'll see it's sort of locked in there).
3. Remove green (buttons panel)
4. Remove Light-blue (fp scanner. This cable wraps around underneath the board. You'll see.)
5. Magenta - you can remove this if you want. It's that thing I mentioned threads through the backplate previously.
6. They're somewhat blurry in the image, but notice the two pink spots. These are screws that need to go. You will also need to remove any remaining screws from the very top of the phone, by the camera assembly.
7. Good, once the screws and flex cables have been removed, try and find a point of leverage (careful of the battery!) to lift up the board. It should come off totally. Per usual, be gentle. This is purely because our fingers are fat and we probably can't grip it well enough that way.
8. Place the board aside. We're going to be whipping out the heat gun again, and the last thing we want is our camera near that. Keep the camera on the board, don't remove any plates.
Part 5: Removing the FP Scanner
Excellent! Almost there!
Basically, the FP scanner has lots of adhesive on it, so get things hot. Most of it should probably be done from the back of the phone, but you'll wanna heat it a bit from the inside too. BEWARE THE BATTERY. BATTERIES LIKE TO EXPLODE IF THEY GET HOT OR COME FROM SAMSUNG. TRY TO AVOID THAT.
Once you've got enough heat, using a clever combination of scraping (a razor blade would probably work nicely here) and pushing through the FP sensor on the back (since it's just held in with now-weakened glue) should get the thing out.
Your phone should look like this. Keep in mind I removed that button cover at right. Don't do that, but just so you don't freak when yours is still there (it is re-attachable, but it's a PITA, so just don't). You're good. Breathe.
Hurrah!
Part 6: Putting in the New Scanner
I think common sense dictates this part, but it is technically the crowning moment, so....
Basically, the one you got from your supplier of choice should have a bunch of tape on its outward (aka, toward the spot you press, back of the phone location) face, and a little more on the actual scanner. Remove these protective films, carefully orient the scanner so it matches the pre-removal picture above, and then press it in and let the adhesive do its thing. The squarish bit on the blue (not light blue) should stick down slightly. You could always use some basic adhesive or something, but it's really not a problem.
Part 7: Putting it Back Together
So, I'll skimp a bit (do ask if you really need me to expand) on this, as it's basically just this tutorial in reverse. However, I do feel it important to mention a few notes so it goes smoothly for you.
- The FP scanner wraps around onto the mainboard; make sure you've got it through when placing the board.
- The battery (yellow) and lower-mainboard (red) connectors really like to get underneath the mainboard as you're sliding it back in. Maybe use some tape or something as a temporary measure to prevent that.
- I've found sliding the board in from the left-bottom toward the right-top seems to work well. Be careful of the buttons flex connector (green). It really likes getting trapped in there - keep in mind it goes ABOVE the board.
Provided you've gotten the board put back in properly again, screw it in, and mount the flex cables.
The general trick with these is get them close to the location. Try and press them in (nicely!) with your fingers until you get a click. If you do, use the spudger and sort of press along its top like you would on a zip-loc bag or such. They should all click right in. Make sure they're all attached before going further. You may need some pliers for putting the antenna back on. It basically just squeezes onto the little peg you took it off of.
Once the mainboard is seated, push the front-facing camera a bit to make sure it's stuck cozily in; if you took it off, at this point make sure to reattach the proximity sensor (magenta in the cable diagram). It'll feed up through a hole in the top leftish area of the metal backplate. Once the plate is in place, push this around a little too, it should be like the camera and fit cozily in.
For the screen, Try it out before putting the backplate back on, just to avoid anything stupid. Once it's good, take it out, put the backplate on (careful of the proximity sensor! Make sure you thread it through the hole as you're doing this), and put the screen cable back in.
Careful with the orientation at the bottom - I sort of don't get such great LED on the capacitive keys anymore. It's probably a bit misaligned. You may wish to heat around the edges of the phone fairly briefly just to make the adhesive stickier again.
Screen on!
Part 8: Software and Getting it to Work
Provided it's not a bad scanner (factory defect when it was sent or something) you should have a working scanner.
Depending on your software, particularly with custom roms, you may not feel like it. That's OK. What you need to do is:
BACK UP YOUR DATA (I told you! See! I told you!)
Flash one of the EUI stock roms. Wipe all data on the phone.
Skip through the setup, and go into settings. Clean your scanner, and click "Calibrate Scanner" in the Fingerprint and Security menu. Try setting up an FP. IF it works, wonderful! If not... well.... hopefully your scanner you just bought isn't bad. I don't really know much about this part of things, so... you're on your own. Let's assume it works. Positive thoughts.
Once you've done this and you've successfully added/tested a fingerprint, you should be at liberty to flash what you like - provided it's not what killed it in the first place. I'm using AOSPEx 8.1 at the moment, and the FP is actually more responsive on that than stock EUI.
Follow rooting tutorials and stuff for this part. I've already written enough.
END OF GUIDE
I hope this helps anyone looking to replace the scanner. Let me know if it can be improved or I'm missing things/clarifications. If you need additional assistance there are tons of Hindi or Portuguese repair guides on YouTube that you can at least follow in principle. If you speak either of those languages fluently, probably best to use those instead of this guide as those people seem to do it for a living. There are tons of offers for parts on Aliexpress, so just look through and pick something that looks good - make sure it has plenty of feedback though, and actually read it where possible.
Good luck!
very nice! thanks!
Excellent post!
I kinda messed up and now my **** is stuck in my car's exhaust system. ?? Please help.
Can we please not junk this up with unoriginal jokes? I'd prefer the only content is clarifications/suggestions or legitimate help requests.
I am happy to se this precisious tutorial with screenshots, thanks for your work for community ! )