Database Users

[Q] Can I use the Note 3 motherboard without digitizer plugged.

Dear all,
I've performed an exhaustive search all over internet and in particular in XDA developers site and I could not find any information.
First some background just for info:
We are an amateur group that launches high altitude balloons to the stratosphere. There we take photos, videos, we measure temperatures, accelerations, pressure... (I guess it is quite known the HAB activities). Apart from other equipment’s (arduino based) and payloads, we always send an android phone as a recovery system as we can send an sms to the phone to ask its gps location. We also takes some photos during the flight with the phone camera and record GPS, the accelerometer and gyro data.
We would like to save some mass (to reach higher altitude) so we are thinking to launch only the motherboard and the battery. I have tested it with my galaxy S2: I opened it, extracted only motherboard (usb included) and battery (with no screen at all) and I could switch on, and operate it through MHL (hdmi) and a bluetooth mouse.
So we decided to buy a second hand galaxy note 3 (better camera resolution, battery, more sensors...) with a broken screen as no needed.
The note 3 works perfect with the screen attached again via mhl (even though the screen was not working). BUT when I remove the screen, the phone cannot be switched on... it enters and endless bootloop.
I guess that this is because the boot process checks somehow the presence of the screen.
Now the real question:
Do you know if there is any method to use the phone without the digitizer plugged?
Maybe replacing or reconfiguring the boot/kernel/rom to avoid the screen check? No problems at all with voiding the warranty (is a destroyed second hand device) or rooting, or flashing...
Many thanks!
Blunder
p.s. Sorry for my bad English

blunderbrain said:
Dear all,
...
Now the real question:
Do you know if there is any method to use the phone without the digitizer plugged?
Maybe replacing or reconfiguring the boot/kernel/rom to avoid the screen check? No problems at all with voiding the warranty (is a destroyed second hand device) or rooting, or flashing...
Many thanks!
Blunder
p.s. Sorry for my bad English
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know this is not what you are asking (which is interesting in itself) but why don't you leave the digitizer plugged? It should be like just 1mm or so, and only a few grams.

Maybe this is unclean workaround: how about let the phone completely booted and remove the digitizer?

I would suggest disabling the digitizer and/or display in a custom kernel build first -- if you can get the device to still boot fully, you can try removing the hardware connections. If it doesn't boot, then you need to figure out what in the OS relies on these features.

I know this is not what you are asking (which is interesting in itself) but why don't you leave the digitizer plugged? It should be like just 1mm or so, and only a few grams.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks xclub101
Our workaround is indeed that one, to remove everything appart from the digitizer (frame, glass, wacom...). But we also thinking in volume reduction that also impacts weight. Considering that we are tipically launching 500g, 50g is 10% that in terms of balloon ceiling could be 3 or 4 km (not that much, but in any case above our actual limits).
In any case, I do not want to diverge from the original question. That is to use the phone without the digitizer.
Maybe this is unclean workaround: how about let the phone completely booted and remove the digitizer?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks Crescendo
Yes, it could be a solution, I will try to do it. However, once integrated within the payload, it could be not so easy to remove it.
And what would happen if there is a reboot during the flight? (sometimes it happens, mainly due to failures in the battery as a consequence of the cold temperatures up there, almost reaching -50ºC). Then the phone wont boot again
I would suggest disabling the digitizer and/or display in a custom kernel build first -- if you can get the device to still boot fully, you can try removing the hardware connections. If it doesn't boot, then you need to figure out what in the OS relies on these features.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks jisoo
Sounds a good solution, but I'm not an expert in kernel customization, nor cooking... If you (or any other) could guide me in how to do it I could try.
Thanks again

[Q] S4 Flickering screen issue - What replacement parts are needed?

Hello!
I recently purchased a broken S4 with a 'flickering screen' issue. Normally, people are told to return the phone for a replacement, but I can't do that.
In more detail, the problem begins after using the phone continuously for several minutes. The phone works flawlessly regardless of the broken glass screen, but after a while, begins to flicker. Only slightly at first, but then more and more severely until the screen shuts off. Turn the screen on and off again, and it's back to normal. (you normally need to leave the phone for a while before turning it back on, or it'll quickly just flicker itself off again). This to me suggests an over-heating problem, but I can't be sure.
I've wired the phone up the the TV using cheap cable, and the flicker doesn't show on the TV. That is, the phone starts going mental, doing its flicker thing, but the image on the screen remains constantly smooth when swiping - no flicker.
So... is this an image with the digitizer or the cable attaching the digitizer to the motherboard? If the screen doesn't flicker on the TV, that means we can rule out a motherboard issue, correct?
I just want to know what part of the phone to replace really. I don't want to buy a £80 digitizer only to have the same problems once it's been replaced.
Any suggestions welcome, cheers!

Based on your testing, it's very likely that you can rule out the motherboard. Unfortunately, that leaves the screen. You'll have to replace it, and you can reuse the existing midframe, but save as much of the adhesive as you can after peeling the old screen off, as the new screen doesn't come with adhesive to mount to the midframe.
Unless of course, the place you buy the screen from includes a small roll of the stuff.

Hello,
As @Strephon Alkhalikoi said it may depend on the motherboard.
Sometimes the kernel may be the cause too, I suggest to try first to reflash stock ROM. Here you can find how-to

With due respect to Antaresone I think I've found the best solution out there for most annoying screen flickering issues... Done a substential amount of digging and finally discovered the app "Twillight" works like a charm by enabling backlight control feature... Try it out first, then thank me and share your experience here ...

N910C bootloop, no Recovery, please HELP.

Hi there, people.
I am having a weird issue with my Note4.
After tons of reading about it(here and all over the net), I don't seem to be able to fix it.
So... here's the situation -
I tend to put my phone next to me in bed, on charger, when I go to sleep. One morning I woke up and I saw it continuously restarting, only managing to get to the "Galaxy Note4" screen.
It was running 6.0.1 stock the last time it worked.
I've played with my old Galaxy S2 before and got some Cyanogenmod (and other) ROMs on it. So I decided to try to fix this one. I googled about the issue and tried a few things, but was left a little baffled, since I was unable to enter Recovery mode.
So basically I was left with the only option to reflash stock rom with ODIN. I did, but nothing really changed.
I saw on the net, that commonly this is a battery issue. I was almost sure it's that, so I went to a shop and tried booting it up with a brand new battery. Didn't work out, nothing changed. So I decided not to get a new battery, since that wouldn't really change anything.
Therefore I decided to bring it to a local phone repair shop and have it checked by someone more skilled at this.
I did, and few days after I got my phone back, in a working condition, back to 6.0.1 stock (just as it was before). The repair man said that it was pretty messed up but he managed to get it back running. Apparently, he reflashed it few times. At least that's what I understood.
Nothing has been replaced in terms of hardware.
Few HOURS after I got it back from the repair shop, I was just randomly browsing on it, and it decided to restart itself and went into bootloop again.
Recovery mode was once again, non-available.
I set it aside for few months, since I was really busy with work and had no time to spend on it, and used my old S2 in the meantime.
Recently I picked it up again to try to fix it. What I noticed is that when plugged into USB (doesn't matter if PC or wall charger) it does not show the Battery charging icon, but it's either off, or boot looping.
It apparently charges while looping, because the battery is not dying even after hours of this.
I decided it might have something to do with the charging/power PCB module, so I got a spare and replaced it myself. Unfortunately it made absolutely no difference.
Some facts, so I can cover most of the questions you might have:
-It has no microSD/SIM card inserted.
-When I got this phone it was on 5.0.1 and after few months of use I updated it to 6.0.1, using the regular procedure.
-No custom ROMs or anything unofficial has been flashed on it.
-Power button is fine, it does not power on by itself, hence it's not stuck or anything. I took the time to actually remove the power button module (with the vibrator) and power it up with the battery insertion method. No difference.
-The rest of the buttons are also fine. Vol Up/Down both work in Download Mode, Menu Button also works as expected.
-ODIN manages successfully to flash whole packages of pretty much any N910C 6.0.1 firmware I tried. (and the TRELTE_EUR_OPEN.pit, with or without NAND Erase All) That changes nothing. (hence why I suspected a power module issue, not a software one)
-I tried pretty much any version of ODIN, and this also made no difference.
-Changing to a new battery does not resolve it.
-By some chance it managed to go into Recovery ONCE (with a freshly reflashed 6.0.1 firmware) and I did wipe cache, but this changed nothing. Since that, I never got into Recovery again.
- In Download Mode it says:
ODIN MODE
PRODUCT NAME: SM-N910C
CURRENT BINARY: Official
SYSTEM STATUS: Custom
REACTIVATION LOCK: OFF
Secure Download: Enabled
KNOX WARRANTY VOID: 1
RP SWREV: 2
I am running out of ideas.
I'd really love to hear your thoughts on this, since I really like this phone, and I have the feeling it might be something simple software-wise I'm missing.

I had a similar problem with Note 10.1 (N8000). It went into infinite loop. I could boot into download mode with buttons but not into recovery. So I just flashed a TWRP recovery and everything has been fine since then...

falconsson said:
I had a similar problem with Note 10.1 (N8000). It went into infinite loop. I could boot into download mode with buttons but not into recovery. So I just flashed a TWRP recovery and everything has been fine since then...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried that too, but it doesn't seem to work. I get the "RECOVERY IS NOT SEANDROID ENFORCING" in the upper left corner.
I am doing it according to this guide (which uses twrp-2.8.7.0-treltexx.img.tar):
rootmygalaxy.net/install-twrp-root-samsung-galaxy-note-4-android-6-0-1-marshmallow/
I also tried with the latest twrp version released... same SEANDROID error in the upper left.
Am I doing something wrong?

boogiesamy said:
Phone should work with stock recovery, for sure you issue is a hardware one
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am considering this outcome.
Although, I hope someone can shed some light, why with TWRP's version for N910C 6.0.1 it still gives me the seandroid enforcing error...

I have installed many ROMS, allways with TWRP, and every time I've had "Recovery is not seandroid enforcing" without any problems.
If you get that message then you succesfully installed a custom recovery.
As somebody said before, it seems like a hardware problem.

boogiesamy said:
because before flashing twrp you must enable oem unlock and usb debugging from developers option
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, but how if the phone is bootlooping?
@faeterov thanks for clarifying!

mstoynov90 said:
Yeah, but how if the phone is bootlooping?
@faeterov thanks for clarifying!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have flashed TWRP recovery many times on different phones including N910C, i don't remember doing anything about USB debugging and OEM thing. Anyway, I can recommend something like flashing a custom rom, try if It doesn't do anything then, I will be sorry to give you the idea. Thank you...
PS: About the SEANDROID error in the upper left, there is nothing wrong with that error. If your recovery is not original then that error will be there. Which is not an actual error... I have it too...

Try to flash Twrp, then try a custom ROM.
Also try to flash supersu 2.78 SR5 through twrp if it works. Sounds silly but sometimes after flashing root the phone will boot.

Good news, people.
I managed to fix it in the weirdest way possible.
Maybe some of you have heard of this method!
Since I accepted the fact that the mainboard might be the culprit and I had no other options left, I decided to go for it.
What followed might sound pretty scary and illogical to some, but oh well:
- made sure all residual electric charge is discharged (removed battery and hold buttons for a minute)
- disassembled the phone.
- removed the mainboard from the frame.
- removed all the modules that allow removal (front camera, rear camera, earpiece, etc)
- soaked the mainboard PCB in window cleaner
- rinsed it with warm water, thoroughly
- wiped off
- left it under the air-conditioner to dry out for about an hour
- cleaned it up thoroughly with rubbing alcohol
- let it evaporate
(here comes the scary part)
- fired up my kitchen oven to 200C on a ventilated mode and let it heat up
- wrapped the mainboard in aluminium (kitchen) foil with the shiny side out
- made two rolls of the foil and put them on the oven rack
- set the wrapped up mainboard on the rolls
- closed the oven door and left it in for 5 minutes exactly.
- at the end of the 5th minute I opened the oven door and shut the heating off.
- I left the oven fan running and the oven door open for about half an hour until the wrapped mainboard SLOWLY cooled down to room temperature.
- unwrapped it, put the modules back on, connected all the wires and screwed it in the phone
- BOOM it booted up, without a problem whatsoever.
- I'm a happy camper
So, to summarize and explain -
This method is called reflowing. What it does is that it slightly melts the solder connections inside the PCB, and resolves microscopic cracks and bad connections, which might have been caused by extreme heat or cold.
(which turns out to be one of the main reasons for such bootloop issues, as many people just wake up to a looping phone, after it has overheated in the warm bed)
Professional electronic engineers have actual reflowing ovens that bring the PCB inside through some very specific temperatures, way more accurately than a kitchen oven, so it produces way more reliable results.
Of course 200C is pretty hot, so any plastic parts that can be removed, SHOULD be removed, or they might melt and you really don't want that. Good example for this could be the front camera, which while probably having a glass lens, it has a plastic housing which will probably go soft and render the camera useless, if not break it completely.
Reflowing should not be done to components you suspect might have just a software problem.
It is pretty much a russian roulette if you're gonna get anything out of the oven, that is not baked and dead.
I might have been lucky, and I probably am.
Therefore I want to say this out and loud:
============
THIS IS NOT A SOLUTION OR A REPAIR GUIDE BY ANY MEANS. I DO NOT SUGGEST IT TO ANYONE, I AM JUST SHARING MY PROCEDURE.
THERE'S NO GUARANTEE THAT YOU'RE NOT JUST KILLING IT COMPLETELY BY ATTEMPTING A REFLOW.
YOU SHOULD ATTEMPT THIS ONLY IF THERE'S NOTHING ELSE TO BE DONE AND YOU'RE PLANNING TO THROW IT AWAY.
============
So... now for the reflowing enthusiasts:
-aluminium foil wrap is there to spread the heat evenly and protect the components from direct heating
-aluminium foil rolls are there to keep it off the metal rack so it doesn't get a massive heat transfer from its contact with the rack.
-water/alcohol/windowcleaner rinsing is fine for electronics as long as they're not powered. (water leftovers can cause oxidation of metallic components, so make sure it dries out well)
-make sure the board is completely, completely, completely dry, before plugging it back in. Water drops could settle in the metallic hollow chip guards/heatsinks (i suppose that's what they are)
-do not just remove it from the hot oven, as you may just reintroduce new micro cracks by subjecting it to a sudden temperature change. Let it cool off on its own first.
-be careful as some components on some PCBs can emit some pretty poisonous fumes. Ventilate the area and give your oven a good run after that, to make sure it's all gone, before you decide to cook in it again.
- and MOST IMPORTANTLY - if you have any suspicion it might be a software issue, do not bother with this destructive method. You might break it even further or even kill it off, completely.
DISCLAIMER - I take no responsibility if you decide to go the reflowing road.
Any questions are welcome!

Anyone manage to resolve this problem ? I mean beside that weird solution

Agreed - reflow is little bit risky but it comes handy with micro cracks. This method also helps to improve performance after mmc memory fail.
In Androidbench app I still got around 30MB/s when it should be above 100. I've heated my motherboard on 140 deg for 5minutes and will try with 180 right now. Fingers crossed and do not try this if you're not ready to your phone be another brick in the wall
Edit: tried reflow again on 200deg for 5minutes and amazing results! Memory speed increased from 30MB/s to 190MB/s! If you're thinking about buying new motherboard you should try with this method - at worst scenario you will buy a new motherboard.
Mind to wrap in aluminium sheet and leave it to cool down in cooker for 10-15 minutes just like author said

"No service" on notification bar. (J500FN) [Solved]

Hi,
Yesterday, I used the phone like normal(little bit of listening music and media etc) and drained the battery, so it shut down. Connected the charger fairly later and it started charging. In a few hours switched it on and saw that there was this white stop sign on the notification bar. Figured it might be a matter of a reboot since things like that happen from time to time. When rebooted in the morning the sign was still there.
I tried all the firmwares from Sammobile available for the region and nothing got it away, tried LineageOS and then used SmartSwitch to restore the thing.
I also got to the ServiceMode using dial code:
Code:
*#011#
and it says there that:
Code:
MIPI DEVICE FAIL. DEVICE MID=0x20c, PID=0x008
Googled a bit and it seems that the easiest way to fix this is changing the motherboard.
Some more background if it matters: the device asks for a sim pin and hasn't been dropped. Just happened out of the blue.

Solved
Hi again,
I managed to fix the issue. Seems like this is a common problem but I didn't find anything on why it happens or is, just some sites I personally haven't heard before had some same content how to fix the J500M but the same chip was faulty on the J500FN.
What I did was: re-heat the chip shown on the pictures a bit with a hairdryer that had a really small radius(kinda like put a cone on it because didn't want to heat the whole board up). And that seemed to do it. It probably will break again, since it was and is still faulty and for that reason broke on the first place. Also if you're advanced enough you can try to solder it, but that seems to be for the professionals really.. One little connection in the wrong place and you fry the damn thing!
The safe bet is to replace the motherboard(which I don't currently have money for) but that does the trick for me now. Also if your warranty still lasts you might wanna take it to the Samsung Service shop where they should replace or re-solder the chip safely onto the mainboard for free. Or change it alltogether.
What also sealed the deal for me was that the grille that was on the opposite of the chip what was faulty had this weird burn-mark thingy on it, so thats why the whole thing happened..
The pictures of the faulty component: Thegsmsolution.com
I hope that anyone who struggles in the future with this (or in the past and still hasn't found a way to fix it) can fix it now.

SCREEN ISSUE - Black flicker every 5 seconds like clockwork?? I'm baffled.

Hello,
I recently replaced the screen on my 6T after breaking it. After putting everything together and booting back up, I'm having an issue where the whole screen will flash black momentarily, like clockwork, every 5 seconds exactly.
The issue is not present in recovery or bootloader screens, only once it has booted up into the OS.
I was running RR to begin with, have since done a full wipe and flashed to liquid, issue persists..... I'm completely baffled.
Any ideas?

Try using manual brightness control, but I think that cycles at much faster intervals.
The mobo may have been damaged. Any impact that can break the display can potentially crack solder joints, break pcb traces even cause internal damage to chipsets or components.

blackhawk said:
Try using manual brightness control, but I think that cycles at much faster intervals.
The mobo may have been damaged. Any impact that can break the display can potentially crack solder joints, break pcb traces even cause internal damage to chipsets or components.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're correct, manual brightness control does note affect it.
I guess it is possible that the mobo was damaged, however, would that explain why it doesn't have this issue in recovery mode? I would think that whatever components are used to control the screen would be the same, so the difference between recovery and OS really throws me for a loop.

Invisibrune said:
You're correct, manual brightness control does note affect it.
I guess it is possible that the mobo was damaged, however, would that explain why it doesn't have this issue in recovery mode? I would think that whatever components are used to control the screen would be the same, so the difference between recovery and OS really throws me for a loop.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know why. Sound annoying though.
Playing with more might yeild more clues.
Maybe the display it's self.
Are you sure all the connections are good especially the ground and V+? Displays draw a lot of current.
Manufacturers use various techniques to connect subassemblies together, most common are ribbon cables but could be a screw, contact pad, the frame rail etc.
Assembly exactly the way in was and closely inspect all contact pins, sockets and surfaces.