Responsiveness of 32GB N7 vs 16GB unit... - Nexus 7 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I managed to do 2 stupid things at once yesterday:
- I let my N7's battery completely run out, which meant that I needed to yank and re-insert the battery cable (Only way I can get it to actually start charging after it hits 0)
- When reinserting the battery cable, my fingers slipped, and I managed to break the 2 tabs that connected the wireless antenna to the motherboard...(%^&$%&^$%$)
So I now have a fully charged wireless-only-when-sitting-next-to-the-AP tablet.
I'm able to get replacement main boards for $30-ish for a 16GB board and $40 for a 32 GB one. The question I'm asking is: are the 32GB tablets less stall prone with LP/MM? Or should I just list it on eBay for parts? (The screen looks like new, the battery isn't completely worthless yet, and nothing is broken but the stupid copper tabs...)

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short circuited my note

Hi everyone,
First of all, I apologize in advance,
1. Because I know this isn't a tech support forum.
2. Because I don't contribute and help out as much as I should.
Coming here was a last resort, I don't consider myself a noob, but I'm really stuck here.
Please note that I appreciate every single response, and I will donate if anyone can give me a fix.
With that aside, let me get started
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Okay so about a week ago, I accidentally bent my charger when it was charging my note.
It didn't charge at all that night
That morning, I blew into the charge port on my note, suspecting that dust may have been the cause.
Somehow, that helped, as my note charged fully that day, in about 2-3 hours
Then I tried charging it the next night.
It charged incredibly slowly, reaching about 70% after 10 hours charge
The next few nights were similar, but reaching no more than 40% charge after 10 hours.
It got progressively worse, it would only charge if I applied pressure to the mini-usb,
I looked around this morning, and stumbled across another guy with the same problem
(see here http://www.galaxynoteforum.net/galaxy-note-help/charging-port-issue/ )
He advised,
"Well I have figured out the issue. If you look into the charging port slot on the phone you will notice a small thin flat piece of metal which inserts into the charger. That was slanted and angled downward which would not let "ANY" charger or docking station charge correctly also causing it to drain the battery. Contacts on this piece and the phone were to close causing a minor contact draining power. I used a precision flathead screw driver and lifted the piece slightly and now works fine"
So I tried that, and it seemed to help, as the note began charging, (extremely slowly, reaching about 30%)
Then I tried pushing that "thin flat piece of metal up even further"
However, I went too far, and I couldn't fit the charger into the charge port.
So I tried pushing it back into the centre but I may have damaged one of the pins in the charge port (inside the phone)
I seen a little spark, and the note turned off.
I tried switching it on, and managed to boot to safe mode (no idea how)
So then I tried charging it, I applied pressure and managed to get it to start charging. (thank god)
This was about 30 mins ago, it looks to be holding the charge at about 20%, but it's not increasing
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I suspect one of the pins in the note charge port was snapped off.. although I'm not sure.. (it appears to be the one on the right)
1.Does anyone know how many pins there are on the charge port inside the note? (is it 4 or 5?)
2.What should I do?
If I broke a pin, it should not charge at all, right? (but it seems to be charging)
3. Do I need to replace the charge port, if so, how much would it cost?
4. Would I be better off getting a charging station, and charging the battery using that
5. Should I try moving the metal strip again? (inside the charge port of the note)
oops forgot to mention, when the problem started, and the note was slow-charging, an audible buzzing/humming could be heard in the wall outlet
also, I'm using my original samsung usb charger, not a generic one, and I'm charging directly into a wall outlet.
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Thank you for taking the time to read this, I really appreciate it, and any advise that you do offer.
Cyber735
Here my tipp: You can go to a service center, maybe they even repair it under warranty. Or you can order a new micro usb port and replace it. Google should help you to find a seller. Depends on whether you feel comfortable enough to replace it yourself or not. Oh one more thing, I would stopp using your Note to avoid any further damage.
Sent from my Galaxy Note running ICS
there are 5 pins on the charger slot, 4 I believe are for data transfer and the 5th being the one that draws power (charges the phone)
Have you tried transferring data from PC to Phone and see how that pans out ?
Its possible to replace the USB port, Ive seen a few threads about this on XDA, A quick search should chuck out some results.
But as mentioned above, Try to claim under warranty first, if you have it, or pay the Service centre to do it if you dont feel confident enough to do it yourself.
I think I recall someone with a similar issue and it cost him / her $60 for USB replacement (convert that in to your currency)
If you have a friend with a Note or a phone that fits the Note's battery you could always charge your battery in that phone and place it into yours until you get it fixed.
IF YOU MUST charge your Note ( you could if you intend to get a new USB slot) I would suggest to charge only via USB - as in charging from your PC / Laptop / TV / PS3 etc. As this will not draw as much current as it would coming directly from the mains supply!
Good luck on getting it fixed, And please keep us posted with the results !
http://pinoutsguide.com/PortableDevices/micro_usb_pinout.shtml
check this out. It gives the pin configuration. I am no expert but hope it helps!
altae said:
Here my tipp: You can go to a service center, maybe they even repair it under warranty. Or you can order a new micro usb port and replace it. Google should help you to find a seller. Depends on whether you feel comfortable enough to replace it yourself or not. Oh one more thing, I would stopp using your Note to avoid any further damage.
Sent from my Galaxy Note running ICS
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Click to collapse
r
Thanks for the quick reply!
First of all, I can confirm that no pins are broken or bent, everything looks normal, it also seems to be charging better, as I centred the metal strip in the charge port.
As for warranty, well I didn't purchase any extended warranty or insurance, however, the standard warranty lasts 2 years.
Unfortunately
The Repair Warranty Exclusions are as follows: (i) Subject to the inclusions of the applicable manufacturer's warranty, a mobile that has broken down or is damaged as a result of: (a) abuse or tampering, (b) electrical damage, moisture, dampness, oxidation, corrosion or food, dirt or liquid ingress (c) accident, neglect, impact, actual or attempted theft, fire, power outages or surges, or incorrect voltage, (d) transportation or packaging (e) removable batteries or damage caused by battery leakage
Basically, the only thing that I'm covered for is "handset breakdown"
My phone is in perfect condition, and no pins are broken or bent (as discovered on closer inspection)
So do you class charging issues as "handset breakdown" or not?
I may purchase a new charger, just in case the issue is with the charger, and not the phone,
What d'ya think?
Thanks again for the quick replies azzledazzle & nipuna, I didn't notice them until now,
Yeah I'm 90% there's no damage to the pins on the charge port, and it seems to be charging now, slowly at least,
I've centered the metal strip as best as I can, (inside the charge port)
I'll leave it to charge now for a while, as I'm not sure if it's fixed or not
Then I'll try another charger if it doesn't work
If all else fails, I'll try getting it repaired under warranty
(although that's more of a last resort, as it will take a few weeks to get my phone back)
does anyone know if the standard galaxy s2 charger will work on the note?
I don't have it on me now, although I could borrow it from a friend
I know its an official samsung charger, although not sure if it's the usb or the other kind.
I'll let it charge for a while, then I'll try transferring data from the laptop, to make sure the pins are fine,
thanks for all your help everyone,
1st of all: if you go poking around in the usb port with a metal screwdriver, take out the battery first. Not only will it avoid shortcutting and maybe blow a fuse inside the phone, but it will also protect you from an exploding battery when shortcutted !
S2 charger will work
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium

Preventing stress on micro usb port...?

I swear for as smart.and.as great as this phone is, the easiest things to fix which pose the biggest.problems arent.fixed. Having the phone plugged.in.while using.it in landscape creates huge stress.on the port. So much that the cable gets looser as the pins are bent. Stupid samsung with their.idiotic location for.ports, but I.digress... has anyone found a longterm fix for this? . I thinking like a plastic moount that clips.to.
The bottom of the phone and.encases the beginning of the charger cable to prevent any stress in any direction? My temporary solution is I rubberband the beginning of the cable in a few loops as if I have it zip tied. This prevents any minor tugging from directly pulling the port.
First of all new USB 3 port cost about $14 and could be replaced by user in about 30 min even if you don't have 1 yr warranty. You can use any USB 2 wire to charge Note 3, some are much thinner and more flexible, than the factory cable. And with at least 6 hours screen time I can't imagine running out of power before night, when I put it on charger and go to sleep, but I do have full time job and little kids so actually never had a chance to use it for 6 hrs in 1 day anyhow. Maybe you need bigger battery and if you don't like Samsung design maybe another phone, I don't see anything wrong with it, otherwise would not buy it, heard Apple is a popular brand, but never actually used it.
pete4k said:
First of all new USB 3 port cost about $14 and could be replaced by user in about 30 min even if you don't have 1 yr warranty.
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I hate giving a reply that doesn't really help the OP, but I can somewhat sorta agree with this comment. Sorta.
Because I got the Note 3 now but haven't broken its port yet.
However I did have the Note 2 and the Galaxy S2 and there was that issue if you're careless. Sloppy plugging and stress, sometimes a few drops of water falling on the port too and shorting it, etc. Anyway, I'm very unskilled and clumsy regarding basic electronics repairs but still managed to replace the USB board on the S2 with Ebay parts. It was less than 20 USD, the board and a kit of screwdrivers. It really is very easy to replace that part if you damage the USB port (getting the infamous "charging / not charging intermittent warnings, even when the phones are not connected to anything).
I seriously doubt the N2 or N3 are much more complex. (I used repair videos on YouTube for the S2, I'm sure they will pop up for the N3 if relevant)
Not so with other components (Screen, for instance). So take some care with it and don't worry too much because even home-repair is fairly accessible and cheap in that case.
Okay let me paint you a picture..I play aot of poker. there is an outlet under the table so I have my phone plugged in sitting on the rail behind my chips as I either watch 24/7 movies or play games.but since my phone is horizontal, naturally gravity works its magic and puts pressure on the port. not only that, but the less slack I have the more pressure is applied.
so as you can see my circumstances are very specific to my regular usage of this device. hence I utilize rubber bands.sometimes.
If you guys are really concerned about the usb port on the phone being damaged, maybe something like the qi wireless charger can help.
Or maybe buying a spare battery.
Or buy a right angled usb cable
Sent from my IdeaTab S6000-F using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

[Q] Motherboard replacement

Yesterday I picked up a used Nexus 7 with a bootloop issue.. spent $10 so I figured worst case I bought an expensive charger for my phone. Either way, it looks like the bootloader is locked and I can't unlock it. Everything I've read seems to point to a bad emmc chip. Would replacing the motherboard solve this issue (assuming the new motherboard doesn't have the same defect). Also could I replace this one (an 8gb) with a 16 or 32 gb board?
I changed my motherboard from 16 to 32gb. All went without a hitch. I got this one...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/261636621214?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
Good luck! ?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
eLCruz said:
I changed my motherboard from 16 to 32gb. All went without a hitch. I got this one...
Good luck!
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
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Did you just want to upgrade or was there an issue with the original 16GB? If it's good (and you still have it) would you want to sell it?
I assume my motherboard is zapped. I can charge my Grouper while it's unplugged but no device will recognize it. I made the mistake of upgrading my partition with this issue, now I have a fancy paperweight. Thoughts?
I just ordered an 8GB replacement motherboard from eBay, cost $16.99. I'm figuring I'll be into this thing for a bit under $30 if all works out so worth the gamble I guess. I'll update once it comes in.
My new 32 gb motherboard arrived, and I installed it right away- I felt like it was Christmas morning. Fast forward to closing the case, and I get no power. Not even a weak attempt. I went through everything, it's all properly attached. Still nothing. It's currently charging with no LED light on. I am not optimistic. Anyone have any suggestions?
slyest12 said:
My new 32 gb motherboard arrived, and I installed it right away- I felt like it was Christmas morning. Fast forward to closing the case, and I get no power. Not even a weak attempt. I went through everything, it's all properly attached. Still nothing. It's currently charging with no LED light on. I am not optimistic. Anyone have any suggestions?
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Click to collapse
I replaced my boards also.... Bought a used unit that came from a Nexus that someone had broken the screen on.... So, I received the frame with camera/speaker and boards attached.... only thing missing was the usb/headphone piece which I just took from my old frame....
Put everything together.... sealed it up..... plugged it in..... Nothing...... mild heart attack..... But then, I let it charge for 10 minutes... returned to the unit and pressed and held the power button.... and it fired up....
So, as I don't have a suggestion on if there is something internally wrong.... But sure, that the battery is plugged in securely and give that power button another shot after charging for a little while...
Motherboard came in yesterday, couldn't have been easier to install just have to watch the plastic clips on the ribbon cable connectors, I broke one on the old motherboard, if they are anything like the PS3 if they break you're SOL. The new MB was on 4.2 so I went through the upgrade procedure to 5.0.2 and wow it runs lollipop nicely. Also I ended up getting a 16gb MB so that worked out well.
Try and use a regular tablet charger, which I think is 1.3 or 2.3 amps and not one of the generic chargers which are lower - you will notice a huge difference in charging time. I'm using the tablet charger on my S4 and it goes from 10% to 100% in around an hour.

Custom lollipop or kitkat rom? Bluetooth issue.

My Nexus 7 2012 is running CM12.1 nightly and while the performance is acceptable, charging is too slow (battery life is another issue) and bluetooth doesn't work properly. Is lollipop still too unstable for the Nexus7 and should I go back to kitkat roms? Or is the bluetooth problem inherited from the kitkat days? Or are there fixes/patches around?
No clue what you're talking about brother. Zero Bluetooth problems here, running xenon HD LP with F2FS patched in. Charging is slow because your USB port and battery are worn out by now. Both parts are very very affordable on amazon. I just replaced my battery with one from amazon that is actually slightly larger in capacity than the original.
Pop the case and check the Bluetooth antenna is getting proper connection to the gold spring pin contacts on the board. Be cautious as they are fragile, but can be slightly bent outward for a better contact point.
If you have a soldering iron I can show you how to repair the usb connector like I did, I didn't feel like buying a new one. Its a punched and pressed piece of potmetal, you just reform the USB connector shape and drop a single drop of solder on the crimped edge so it can't deform again.
Also, use a brand new USB cable when charging, the n7 is sensitive to ****ty USB cables in my experience.
fwayfarer said:
No clue what you're talking about brother. Zero Bluetooth problems here, running xenon HD LP with F2FS patched in. Charging is slow because your USB port and battery are worn out by now. Both parts are very very affordable on amazon. I just replaced my battery with one from amazon that is actually slightly larger in capacity than the original.
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You're right, the bluetooth problem could have been the other device which was running a buggy lollipop wip rom.
The battery should be ok since it was replaced not too long ago. The battery calibration or whatever looked messed up , the battery monitor widget app showed -ve values while charging.
I popped open the cover and found the port to be in ok condition, but I pressed it a little with pliers to make the fit more snug. I unplugged/plugged the battery and now the charging seems to be working ok, still abit slow but at least its making its way to 100% instead of being stuck at 67% 68%.
The ports they used in these are trash and not properly mounted imo

[Q] Better Safe than Sorry

I got a good deal on a refurbished Tegra Note 7 so I quickly snagged it as I wanted a tablet for media consumption, some browsing + gaming! Now I've read all the reviews and came across the infamous ultra flimsy micro-usb port. I'm hoping that the tablet was refurbished because of a faulty port and they put in an awesome one! Anyway, do you guys have any suggestions for me so that I don't break the port like using a particular charger, any specific way to charge it(Wireless Charging without any soldering or other method that requires skills with tools?) or anything, really. Also, in case it does break, I'm guessing inevitably it will, has anyone found a convenient way except sending it to the respective manufacturers?
I just recently got a used one off eBay. The cord that came with it was a very tight fit and I could see how that would eventually break the port. Fortunately my samsung cord slips on the port very easily. And since it's white I marked the top of the cord with black magic marker so I never put it in wrong. So far it's working out great.
There's not much else to do but be extremely careful or go buy a Micro USB Type A cable. The whole problem with the port is that they used the wrong one.
http://www.yogaretnam.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/micro_usb_type_a_b.jpg
I never even knew there were two types of Micro USB connectors until I got this thing. I never bothered to get the right cable (and Nvidia didn't bother including the right one... did they even know there were two types?), and thanks to a minor fall while plugged in, I have to plug my cable in slightly crooked to get it to charge right. If I plug it straight in, it will show it's charging but actually drain the battery even if the stupid thing is off!

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