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Here is the Samsung Galaxy S3 (GT-I9300) Service Manual.
Please take a moment to read the notes and issues about this manual in this post.
For some reason Google didn't pick up that post, so I had to re-post here...
Now, if you are brave and happen to have a GT-I9300, you can still help us by posting some
internal pictures, to verify some issues in the manual. If they are good,
some of them will eventually become part of the SGS3 Hack-Pack.
Thanks and Enjoy!
I will be opening up the phone in the next few days due to me managing to damage the sim card holder section(not holding sim card) So at present i have got somthing putting pressure to keep sim card in place. I have a new sim card holder on order so when it arrives i will pull phone apart and take some pictures.
If you have any advice for me before attempting this please let me know via pm
Do you have any experience in this kind of electronics? I mean, are you planning to replace and solder the SIM card holder by yourself?
If you have not done this type of soldering before, I do not recommend it.
If you do decide to do it on your own, make sure:
You are working on a clean workspace
You are well grounded and not wearing wool clothes mixed with synthetic materials to avoid any ESD.
Have the right tools for the job.(Temp controlled SMD soldering iron + flux and acid-free lead-free SMD solder etc.)
A very steady hand with good eyes!
As for the pictures, keep the environment as bright as possible, preferably daylight. Try to keep your PCB on a bright or neutral background. (Bright cardboard is usually good.) Inspect your pictures and make sure you can read the text on the smallest chips. (The big ones we already know about, its the smaller ones that are difficult to navigate around.) Make sure the pictures are well focused.
Good Luck!
From looking at the pictures I was hoping I don't have to solder the sim card slot in. It looks easily replaceable as it looks like it's just a connector and not soldered
Replaced the sim holder. My camera wasn't good enough to get focus of the smaller chips however it is very very easy to take phone apart. And I guess Samsung are expecting issues with sim slot so they have fixed it using one screw and connected to board using a pull off connecter.
Just in case anyone else is interested the sim holder/sd holder cost me £20, delivered.
E:V:A said:
Here is the Samsung Galaxy S3 (GT-I9300) Service Manual.
Please take a moment to read the notes and issues about this manual in this post.
For some reason Google didn't pick up that post, so I had to re-post here...
Now, if you are brave and happen to have a GT-I9300, you can still help us by posting some
internal pictures, to verify some issues in the manual. If they are good,
some of them will eventually become part of the SGS3 Hack-Pack.
Thanks and Enjoy!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
amazing !!!
Hi guys,
Here is my contribution to da community, hope so it helps.
h t t p s : / / docs . google . com/open?id=0B9lrf7AWQW7ETjRZTkFXb1luN0E
On image 20120616_150200.jpg you can see the region jumpers. The images are of a live demo unit - everything works besides the GSM/3G data. Haven't tested to see if the NFC is working.
The real unit has some more antenna connector. The demo one does not have PBA /printed board antenna/ the ANT102 and ANT103 as well as the capacitors and the coils u may seen them market in red cycles (ANT102, ANT103, C102, C191, L103, L102) there is no room on the MOBO for C192 /or at least I can't find its place/.
Thanks.
^^ Here is the link for above! (Thanks!)
Hi again,
I can confirm that the NFC is working on the live demo unites. According to the original S3 user manual the NFC antennas are build into the battery back.
I still can't figure out what is the "W2" antenna connector for. The Live demo unit has no connector soldered to the motherboard and also lacks the small PCB antenna with the white coaxial cable. Some ppl claim that the W2 is for WiFi antenna, but it is not, because I got great WiFi connectivity tho the lack of such PCB antenna. I can only confirm the WiFi working fine, under "G" type of WiFi networks. The openWRT firmware of my current router has known bug and I can't bring up "N" standard in air, to check if the PCB antenna is for "N" type of WiFi networks.
I also did some testing to see if the PCB is for GLONASS or GPS, and it seams that this PCB antenna with the white coaxial cable is not for any of these services. That's why I think it might be for wifi "N" or 3G data/networks. Donno if the 802.11n requires a separate antenna.
^^ Please post a link to a specific image, that clearly show the connector(s) you're talking about.
Hi I have a live demo unit to, so I think I can help about this =).
I can't show you the mainboard back because I' m new user... xD
I don't really know what you mean with NFC (sorry, I'm not really good with english)
But
W1 is a GSM external antenna conection
W2 is a wifi external antenna conection
And the white wired antenna is for wifi to.
After thinking a lot, if you conect an antenna to the GSM antenna conection (external or the internal lacked in Demo unit) you probably can't use phone function.
That function probably was crippled by software or because demo units don´t have imei maybe o.o.
The only thing I need to try is to connect a microsim to the phone
No one has any insights ???
johnny21a said:
No one has any insights ???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have sgs3, international version on my workbench right now.
Don´t have any clue what could I share, so - if there is anything specific -- let me know. I will do my best..
BR
Samsung galaxy S3 i747
i have a Galaxy S3 SGH-i747m that has been water damaged and given to me so i could try and fix it. I can take pretty much any pictures you want, have openned the phone a couple times now to try and clean it up.
My problem is that the works well, it starts up, unlock the screen, plays sound...but the screen is off. Now at first when i was "playing" with it the screen would flicker on and off to show me the battery charging logo when it was plugged in. I've cleaned the phone and all flex connectors with some products. the phone still turns on and works but my screen is off. It detects the touch since i can unlock the screen ( it plays the water sound when i slide my finger on the screen) and speaker works when i boot it up (little booting sounds).
I was thinking there might be a small fuse on board for the screen backlight and that could be blown. I was also thinking my battery might be damaged and is not giving the phone the right voltage to the right connectors or something so i have ordered a new battery on ebay (under 4$) and am waiting for it.
Anyone has an idea to some specific things i should be looking for ? only thing haven't disassemble is the digitizer from the framebecause doing so would surely break the glass. It bums me up a bit since there are some electronics behind the frame that could have been damaged by the water that i couldn't see.
Bigred065 said:
i have a Galaxy S3 SGH-i747m that has been water damaged and given to me so i could try and fix it. I can take pretty much any pictures you want, have openned the phone a couple times now to try and clean it up.
My problem is that the works well, it starts up, unlock the screen, plays sound...but the screen is off. Now at first when i was "playing" with it the screen would flicker on and off to show me the battery charging logo when it was plugged in. I've cleaned the phone and all flex connectors with some products. the phone still turns on and works but my screen is off. It detects the touch since i can unlock the screen ( it plays the water sound when i slide my finger on the screen) and speaker works when i boot it up (little booting sounds).
I was thinking there might be a small fuse on board for the screen backlight and that could be blown. I was also thinking my battery might be damaged and is not giving the phone the right voltage to the right connectors or something so i have ordered a new battery on ebay (under 4$) and am waiting for it.
Anyone has an idea to some specific things i should be looking for ? only thing haven't disassemble is the digitizer from the framebecause doing so would surely break the glass. It bums me up a bit since there are some electronics behind the frame that could have been damaged by the water that i couldn't see.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
check if you can see anything on the screen, use some extra light, torch for example.
if so - then its more likely that the LEDs in the display panel are damaged, since it flickered, as you said. also could be the driver circuit for backlight. Clean connectors for display panel, use magnifier, or better microscope to check for corrosion. use IPA to clean or scrape off the corrosion.
also - maybe this is not the right place to discuss this.
GL
Redrigon said:
Hi I have a live demo unit to, so I think I can help about this =).
I can't show you the mainboard back because I' m new user... xD
I don't really know what you mean with NFC (sorry, I'm not really good with english)
But
W1 is a GSM external antenna conection
W2 is a wifi external antenna conection
And the white wired antenna is for wifi to.
After thinking a lot, if you conect an antenna to the GSM antenna conection (external or the internal lacked in Demo unit) you probably can't use phone function.
That function probably was crippled by software or because demo units don´t have imei maybe o.o.
The only thing I need to try is to connect a microsim to the phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't have he white antenna coaxial cable neigh the PCB antenna board that this cable is connected to but I have WiFi.
Could it be for WiFi N(150Mbps)?
Watter damage, LCD working/not working?
Bigred065 said:
i have a Galaxy S3 SGH-i747m that has been water damaged and given to me so i could try and fix it. I can take pretty much any pictures you want, have openned the phone a couple times now to try and clean it up.
My problem is that the works well, it starts up, unlock the screen, plays sound...but the screen is off. Now at first when i was "playing" with it the screen would flicker on and off to show me the battery charging logo when it was plugged in. I've cleaned the phone and all flex connectors with some products. the phone still turns on and works but my screen is off. It detects the touch since i can unlock the screen ( it plays the water sound when i slide my finger on the screen) and speaker works when i boot it up (little booting sounds).
I was thinking there might be a small fuse on board for the screen backlight and that could be blown. I was also thinking my battery might be damaged and is not giving the phone the right voltage to the right connectors or something so i have ordered a new battery on ebay (under 4$) and am waiting for it.
Anyone has an idea to some specific things i should be looking for ? only thing haven't disassemble is the digitizer from the framebecause doing so would surely break the glass. It bums me up a bit since there are some electronics behind the frame that could have been damaged by the water that i couldn't see.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have identical symptoms with my i9300.
1. Water damaged
2. Dried in a can of rice etc over several days
3. Cleaned under sim card, lots of debris there, looked scorched, I cleaned with alcohol and a brush in an ESD protected environment.
4. Re assembled, the display briefly flashed on, and showed the expected "Battery is low, an d No Sim Card" then powered off.
5. Now after charging the battery and emplacing my sim card, I hear the proper musical tones when the phone boots but the screen doesn't light.
Where you able to get the screen working?
I am going to try a more throughal cleaning and I will try viewing the LCD under a more power full light.
I too worry that just getting the LCD screen replaced might not work; the screen may be fine but the mother board LCD power supply might be at fault...
I will keep you posted and keep an eye on this forum to find out how to fix this.
This thread has served its main purpose.
OT discussions are prevalent.
Thread Closed!
The tabs connecting the antennas to the motherboard is pretty fragile and breaking them is a big problem. Mine is broken, for unknown reasons, and I'm proposing some solutions.
Solder with wire
Someone tried to do this and according to the replies, its not safe and would probably lead to the end of the world. But the results are better than having no antenna at all.
Using other pins on the motherboard
Crazy idea, but would probably work. This is the part where I need help.
I labeled which I think are not important(Correct me if I'm wrong). #2.1 and #2.2 looks like ground tabs for the motherboard.
Im also planning on using the nfc's tabs, labeled #2.3, since I never use nfc and probably never will.
First of all, is it safe and reasonable to take these tabs and use them as replacement tabs?
If yes, then which tab should I use? #2.1, #2.2, or #2.3
I'm currently choosing between solution 1 and 2. Any comment would be deemed valuable.
Thanks
Image courtesy of iFixit.com
Bump. Anyone?
You are correct in your assumptions of what the pins purposes are... the pins you call "ground" are to ground the shield on the back cover... most likely to pass FCC requirements on RF emissions... and if you don't use the NFC radio, those pins would probably do fine also... you may end up losing the NFC radio after awhile running with no load on the antenna outputs so that may be a "no turning back hack"
I have powered up my tablet and used it for 30 minutes or so with the back cover removed to test my antenna mods so those ground pins are not required for the tablet to function properly... not like they complete a circuit or anything
Worked for me
I know this is an old thread but, FWIW, using the mentioned spring tabs (#2.1 & #2.2) worked for mine. As previously stated, they appear to just be EMI grounding. They probably clean up emanated noise that could otherwise interfere with the tablet's antenna reception/transmission. I moved them to replace the broken wifi tabs and so far reception for wifi works just fine. I haven't tried any other antennas yet but I suspect the impact is minimal on the other antennas.
I'll update if I notice any degradation to the other antenna functions.
I bought my Galaxy S4 1 1/2 weeks ago and already spend something like 100€ on accessories.
My first NFC-Tags (1k mifare classic) had to go back because they won't work (had the original cover on my S4 at that time)
Then i ordered the original "S Charger Pad" and "S Charger Cover" and some days later NTAG203-stickers.
I just love the ability to charge it wireless. When the new NFC-stickers arrived none of them were recognized.
My Xperia Z tablet had no problems with them.
For some reason i removed the "S Charger Cover" from my phone and voila ... it worked.
Also no problems with the original, flexible cover, but with the charger-cover ... i can rub the stickers all over the back - nothing happens.
In a german android bulletin-board some ppl told me, that they don't have any problems with S4 + Charger cover + NFC.
I contacted the Samsung-Support and they told me, that my problem is very common and that the qi-copper-coil in the cover prevents nfc from working.
So what is it now? NFC is not working for me and Samsung tells me, that this is normal.
But on the other hand there are tests of the cover and other people telling me, that it works.
Does anybody here have a clue, what could be wrong here ?
Some information:
- Samsung Galaxy S4 GT-I9505 (Android 4.2.2), original battery, no root
- original S Charger Cover (EP-P100IEWEGWW) bought from Amazon (manufact date 2013-06-19)
- NTAG203 Stickers
- when i lift the lower end of the cover about 1cm it works
solved ...
Problem kinda solved.
Since the cover actually has a build in antenna fpr nfc to prevent the problem it had to be a problem with the mainboard/battery/antenna.
I've put a little piece of paper right on top of the contacts for nfc (upper right) and closed the inductive cover.
The funny thing - nfc worked now. So i thing the 0,1mm of the paper fixed the connection between the contacts and don't damp the signal of nfc.
Now i can charge inductive and still use the nfc. I'll see if i can finde some better solution than a piece of paper - like two little drops of conductive varnish on the contacts of the cover.
Angel_de said:
Problem kinda solved.
I've put a little piece of paper right on top of the contacts for nfc (upper right) and closed the inductive cover.
Now i can charge inductive and still use the nfc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same problem here. I was conviced that the cover integrated an NFC coil as well as a QI one.
So you have a samsung case with nfc built in and it doesnt work unless you cover the contacts and let the battery nfc do its job? Is that correct?
As I have no nfc working on my phone and it annoys me, all stock too
I have a nexus 7 and a nexus 4: My wife has another nexus 7
I have been using nfc on very few ocassions, but it's comfortable when my wife wants to send me a link and we are just in the same place, instead of pushbullet, i used to use NFC: Put the devices back to back and receive the link.
For some time, my device has been in the hands of a repair technician because I had a fatal drop that ended my nexus 4 screen a while ago. Long story short: LG kept sending defective pieces and everytime I got the phone back, I'd find something not working: Battery damaged, Screen doing weird colors, proximity sensor not working.... not joking.. a lot of problems: But now it seems fixed for good - i even got the back cover replaced, where, i think, the NFC chip is located.
Now, lately, I've playing around with some new AOSP 5.0 images: First, with an unofficial CM12 ROM.
After the first boot, you get the option to transfer your data from another nfc enabled device to your device, so I put my nexus 7 (with cyanogenmod 4.4.4) back to back with the nexus 4: Nothing happened: "Well, maybe because it's a new system, NFC is not working".... then I kept on playing with the rom, not really concerned about NFC.
Some days later, I shifted my Nexus 7 to SimpleAOSP 5.0 and afterwards, did the same with the nexus 4: Again, NFC did not work between both devices upon the nexus 4 first boot: Something's wrong.
I opened the device and the NFC chip seems to be there. Hardware-wise, at first look, everything seems to be on it's place: I even flashed the latest radio image from the official image downloaded from google: Still no luck
I tested reading my gym's card: It's nfc enabled and my nexus 7 reacts to it: You just install a reading app and can see what's on the card. However, the nexus 4 does not react at all.
I don't know what else to do and finally, gave the NFC capabilities for lost. Anyway, no biggie: I don't really need them.
But today, at my job, I decided to try something: I have an unofficial wireless charger. I thought those worked with NFC so, to my surprise, when I put the device on the charger base, it got detected and it's actually currently charging beside me while I write this....
What's going on? Or perhaps I'm wrong and wireless charging is not related to NFC at all?
Please help.
NFC and wireless charging isn't related, there's 2 coils on back of phone - one for NFC and other for wireless charging - check connection of those 4 pads : http://www.parts4repair.com/nfc-wireless-charging-coil-for-lg-nexus-4-e960/ , looks like nfc part isn't working ...
Ok, so what you linked is the wireless charging receptor?
Can you point on some image which exactly are the nfc antenna is so I can review them and see if they make contact successfully? Or you mean the same "pad" on the back has both antennas?
Thanks!
here you can see 2 coils - one for nfc, other for charging http://cdn2.bigcommerce.com/server5...ntenna_02__02990.1411006050.1280.1280.jpg?c=2
So, If one of them is not working, i have to change the whole thing... right?
yes, but first check coils resistance with multimeter and double check connection from mainboard to this nfc/charging receiver pads .
RolF2 said:
yes, but first check coils resistance with multimeter and double check connection from mainboard to this nfc/charging receiver pads .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is beyond my knowledge: I'll try the old cover with the working nfc and if it works, switch the coil from the old back to the new one.... my insurance really messed up this time: I have been more than 9 months trying to fix the phone. Originally it war a broken screen... they fix one thing: Break two and the worst thing is that it usually takes me some weeks to notice, so finally, maybe they'll think I'm trying to scam them or something..... it really drives me mad.
Thank you.
Hello,
I noticed today that I could not read (or detect) RFID cards, through the use of NFC TagInfo. At first I thought I was using a defective card, but after trying out every card that I could detect before (and not getting any kind of response), I thought it might have been the phone. The thing is, I don't see why it would have stopped working.
By testing, I mean enabling NFC and opening NFC TagInfo (or another RFID reading app) and holding the phone against the card (which would previously bring up some kind of detection at least). Instead, the app displays "Scan a tag..." continuously and seems to expect a tag. (similar behavior with other apps - I don't think it's software related) Previously when using transit card, at least NFC TagInfo would tell me it found a card but couldn't read it's content (I'm okay with that). I'm thinking it's a hardware issue - I tried removing and reinserting the battery thinking it might have been the contacts but alas. Is there any other contacts used for NFC on the S4?
Note: I don't want to read RFID cards or edit them. I just want to verify if 1) NFC works on the phone and 2) if my cards in my wallet still works _with their intended reader_ (I'm just checking if the antenna inside the card isn't broken and I have no other means other than this phone).
Relevant info:
- Stock battery (thus with an antenna; proven to work in the past). Previously used replica batteries (with no antenna) but switched back to the stock
- DualTek case with original back cover (tested without case and/or without cover)
- 4.4.2
- Stock rom
- Rooted
- TWRP loader (I think?)
- I have opened and fixed the phone twice so far (removed, cleaned and replaced the USB board)
- Titanium backup with only S Voice frozen; everything else left untouched.
--
Reason for thread: Other threads dealing with NFC-related problems only seemed to be about software issues or inability to connect to a particular phone (S Beam/Android Beam) or read a particular tag. Couldn't find info on the NFC hardware and testing it's functionality.
I have the same issue. I337m, rooted stock 5.0.1, twrp. Nfc just never detects anything even though it turns on.
lemonloaf said:
Hello,
I noticed today that I could not read (or detect) RFID cards, through the use of NFC TagInfo. At first I thought I was using a defective card, but after trying out every card that I could detect before (and not getting any kind of response), I thought it might have been the phone. The thing is, I don't see why it would have stopped working.
By testing, I mean enabling NFC and opening NFC TagInfo (or another RFID reading app) and holding the phone against the card (which would previously bring up some kind of detection at least). Instead, the app displays "Scan a tag..." continuously and seems to expect a tag. (similar behavior with other apps - I don't think it's software related) Previously when using transit card, at least NFC TagInfo would tell me it found a card but couldn't read it's content (I'm okay with that). I'm thinking it's a hardware issue - I tried removing and reinserting the battery thinking it might have been the contacts but alas. Is there any other contacts used for NFC on the S4?
Note: I don't want to read RFID cards or edit them. I just want to verify if 1) NFC works on the phone and 2) if my cards in my wallet still works _with their intended reader_ (I'm just checking if the antenna inside the card isn't broken and I have no other means other than this phone).
Relevant info:
- Stock battery (thus with an antenna; proven to work in the past). Previously used replica batteries (with no antenna) but switched back to the stock
- DualTek case with original back cover (tested without case and/or without cover)
- 4.4.2
- Stock rom
- Rooted
- TWRP loader (I think?)
- I have opened and fixed the phone twice so far (removed, cleaned and replaced the USB board)
- Titanium backup with only S Voice frozen; everything else left untouched.
--
Reason for thread: Other threads dealing with NFC-related problems only seemed to be about software issues or inability to connect to a particular phone (S Beam/Android Beam) or read a particular tag. Couldn't find info on the NFC hardware and testing it's functionality.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
NFC on my S4 also doesn't work. I have new battery, original supposedly, and it looks like it has an antenna in it. Nothing happens. At all. Is there a way to detect if the antenna i faulty? Any logs I can look into or such?