So all of a sudden my G1's display starts producing multi-colored horizontal lines when it is in vertical mode (keyboard not slid out). I used adb and checked out logcat and such and it appears that this is causing the phone to hang up because it is not able to display properly, causing a force close on any open application, even home. Turning the display off, sliding out the keyboard, and turning it back on and everything is fine. The phone continues to run fine as long as the keyboard is slid out.
I thought (aka was hoping) it was a software issue so I re-flashed JF1.51. Still have the problem. Would anyone agree with me in assuming this is definitely a hardware issue? If so, how would I go about fixing it? Maybe there's a loose connection to the display somewhere? Maybe the LCD itself needs to be replaced? How difficult would it be to install a new LCD or fix a bad connection? I'm pretty good at hardware disassembly, I am just kind of curious how crammed in there the G1's parts are.
Any info is much appreciated. Thanks
http://androidcommunity.com/forums/f28/finally-i-changed-the-case-of-my-g1-20366/
Two people have tried and both had the same problem after reassembling their phones.. the touch screen would not work. One of them claims her fiance was able to fix it, but take it as a caution. It's probably not easy.
Guys I did some search job today and have a possible final solution to the back button problem.
Luckily this is also in the forum posted by user ID:insaneturbo13
his thread is here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=833663
He is a Samsung Captivate user, right. Since I think if nexus s have met with is annoying problem, other samsung phones may either. So I did some search job in bed with my insensitive-back-button Nexus S, and found the Epic 4G, Samsung Focus, Captivate, etc. Almost all samsung phones got users annoyed by the problem.
Then I searched the Youtube to see if there is any Samsung user had ever achieved some success in solving the issue, and I found.(You won't know how terrible it is when you have to use a U.S VPN just to watch Youtube since it is blocked in here China mainland... really slow speed...together with facebook and twitter...ToT)
My understanding to the cause is: The picture of the back button is a thin line with an arrow, so the inside paint here may over-cover this thin line, which will definitely make the touch action less sensitive. And that's why there are less people got such problem with the other three keys.
And since capacitive buttons actually respond with the obvious temperature difference, so many frustrated nexus s users like me found under warmer environment the problem is less annoying...
Maybe this is only workable for insensitive problem. But hopefully this is a way.
Since I am a Chinese, it's impossible for me to have an exchange with the Bestbuy. So this is my only solution. But for most of you, it's highly recommended to take several exchanges before you definitely want to try this way.
Of course, try this at your own risk
what i did was tighten up the screws on the back of the phone... especially in the lower part of the phone. I haven't seen the issue since and initially it was a pretty often issue for me.
bogdi1988 said:
what i did was tighten up the screws on the back of the phone... especially in the lower part of the phone. I haven't seen the issue since and initially it was a pretty often issue for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think this is also a good way to solve the problem especially when you dont have to take to phone apart~
The theory may be the same, which is to make the distance between your touch and the module inside shorter cuz there is a piece of rubber under the button position so it can be possible~~
Thanks for sharing this way Dude~~~
bogdi1988 said:
what i did was tighten up the screws on the back of the phone... especially in the lower part of the phone. I haven't seen the issue since and initially it was a pretty often issue for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
how did you access the screws at the bottom to tighten them?
Take off the battery cover. You have 6 bright screws around the edges of the phone. Tighten those up.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
Although, I know this is not gonna help, but it comes from personal experience.
In the beginning, I used to be haunted by the silly back button "bizarre".
I factory reset the phone then voila. It's gone.
The reason I am confident to post this is, my brother's phone was fixed in
a same way as well. I know, I can be just lucky, but I just wanted to share.
bogdi1988 said:
Take off the battery cover. You have 6 bright screws around the edges of the phone. Tighten those up.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks, I decided to watch the video on how to take apart the phone this morning, didn't do it, but it covered the screw access for the hidden 2 screws.
tightened the screws what little bit I could without fear of breaking something (they were already pretty tight), but it made no noticable difference.
I actually got my phone a few days before they were launched (friend is at&t store manager), so I 've been living with it as long as they have been available. it's annoying, and did get a little better with froyo, but not bad enough for me to tear apart the phone and risk damage to the screen...
droptopmas said:
thanks, I decided to watch the video on how to take apart the phone this morning, didn't do it, but it covered the screw access for the hidden 2 screws.
tightened the screws what little bit I could without fear of breaking something (they were already pretty tight), but it made no noticable difference.
I actually got my phone a few days before they were launched (friend is at&t store manager), so I 've been living with it as long as they have been available. it's annoying, and did get a little better with froyo, but not bad enough for me to tear apart the phone and risk damage to the screen...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
there are no hidden or covered screws and the phone doesn't need to be taken apart.
look here: http://guide-images.ifixit.net/igi/BJtxWYS4NMaMyMKL.medium
these are the 6 screws
Mine just started this thing where it presses the back button by itself. Pretty anoying and is making the phone useless. I can't do anything without it just hammering on the back button.
hi everyone,
i'm new to this forum, and joined to see if anyone has been successful in fixing the back button issue...
i've followed some of the advice from previous posts (tightening screws, reset factory settings, updating the OS) but still no luck.
hoping that someone might have discovered a fix (apart from returing the device!) they could share.
thanks!
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hi everyone,
After posting the thread above, I updated OS to 2.3.3 and now back button is working fine.... I waited for a couple of weeks before confirming this, so hopefully anyone still waiting on a fix could try what I did. This seems to be a software problem more than anything else...
btw - 2.3.3 noticeably washes out colours, and there's a yellow/green tinge to white space. awful.
sadkorean34 said:
Although, I know this is not gonna help, but it comes from personal experience.
In the beginning, I used to be haunted by the silly back button "bizarre".
I factory reset the phone then voila. It's gone.
The reason I am confident to post this is, my brother's phone was fixed in
a same way as well. I know, I can be just lucky, but I just wanted to share.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi
I did the same and the problem has gone - just realised after reading your post that factory reset solved this problem.
My phone is constantly on 3G but whenever it dips into Edge or has a weak data signal I notice the back button issue as well. And I tried a factory reset but it did
not fix the problem on 2.3.3
Back button issue
There are a few longer threads in this forum about the back button issue on the Nexus S -- for some people the back button doesn't work at all, and for others it turns on all by itself. There were a few replies from a Google employee (ryguy) who said it would be fixed in an upcoming OTA update, etc. but some reported having problems AFTER getting 2.3.2 when the problem didn't exist before. There are also other reports of tightening the screws on the back of the phone, which haven't tried but seemed to improve things for people whose back button WASN'T working at all.
For my phone around 2-3 weeks after buying it I had the back button come on all by itself. I fixed it by doing hard resets, as suggested on an earlier thread that deals with this issue (it's like 10 pages long but has the complete story of everyone's experience and fixes with this issue). Anyway, the point is for me after the first hard reset the problem persisted, so I did it a few more times (like maybe 5 times) and now it's gone.
There are some people who tried a hard reset (factory settings restore) and the problem still persists but I think that you have to do as many hard resets as possible (like, over and over and over) until the problem disappears. I'm rooted so I did a Nandroid backup first, then did 5 hard resets through Clockwork Recovery (select the "Wipe User Data" option), and after five hard resets I just flashed by backup and I was back to where I was, minus the back button issue. You don't have to be rooted, of course, to do this, but if you are, doing that ROM Manager backup allows you to quickly reinstall everything to the exact way it was after you're done with the five or 10 hard resets or whatever.
If you're unrooted you can power off the phone, then turn it on while holding the Up Volume button. This boots you into Bootloader mode and you can navigate around to do a factory reset. Or, if you are rooted and have ROM manager, you can use ClockworkMod Recovery like I did (see other threads on how to use these programs).
Anyway, again for me I had to do a bunch of these hard resets to fix the problem, so if it persists after the first two resets, I think you have to keep doing it until it disappears. Hope this helps - TC
Samsung Nexus S with root access
Stock Android 2.3.1
tchan1 said:
There are a few longer threads in this forum about the back button issue on the Nexus S -- for some people the back button doesn't work at all, and for others it turns on all by itself. There were a few replies from a Google employee (ryguy) who said it would be fixed in an upcoming OTA update, etc. but some reported having problems AFTER getting 2.3.2 when the problem didn't exist before. There are also other reports of tightening the screws on the back of the phone, which haven't tried but seemed to improve things for people whose back button WASN'T working at all.
For my phone around 2-3 weeks after buying it I had the back button come on all by itself. I fixed it by doing hard resets, as suggested on an earlier thread that deals with this issue (it's like 10 pages long but has the complete story of everyone's experience and fixes with this issue). Anyway, the point is for me after the first hard reset the problem persisted, so I did it a few more times (like maybe 5 times) and now it's gone.
There are some people who tried a hard reset (factory settings restore) and the problem still persists but I think that you have to do as many hard resets as possible (like, over and over and over) until the problem disappears. I'm rooted so I did a Nandroid backup first, then did 5 hard resets through Clockwork Recovery (select the "Wipe User Data" option), and after five hard resets I just flashed by backup and I was back to where I was, minus the back button issue. You don't have to be rooted, of course, to do this, but if you are, doing that ROM Manager backup allows you to quickly reinstall everything to the exact way it was after you're done with the five or 10 hard resets or whatever.
If you're unrooted you can power off the phone, then turn it on while holding the Up Volume button. This boots you into Bootloader mode and you can navigate around to do a factory reset. Or, if you are rooted and have ROM manager, you can use ClockworkMod Recovery like I did (see other threads on how to use these programs).
Anyway, again for me I had to do a bunch of these hard resets to fix the problem, so if it persists after the first two resets, I think you have to keep doing it until it disappears. Hope this helps - TC
Samsung Nexus S with root access
Stock Android 2.3.1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i think mine is forever beat. 15 hard resets and its still there.
My apologies for bumping such an old thread... But i got a captivate to serve as a backup phone, and i slapped over ICS on to it..
Everything was super awesome.... BUT! not the Back button.
A few minutes of google'ing later, im here.
So after reading through this thread, and the one linked to in the OP, i opened up my Phone and ....well....went on with it.
50 Minutes later :
http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/8361/dsc03039j.jpg
http://img818.imageshack.us/img818/4579/dsc03040d.jpg
Some Tips :
1: Once your down to the frame with the LCD assembly stuck to it, first remove the Antenna Module. Under that disconnect the black ribbon connector. (This ribbon connects the capacitive button module to the main board).
2: Before starting to Pry apart the LCD from the frame, take a hair dryer and heat up the edges of the LCD Assembly's frame. This helps a freaking lot in prying it apart. Plus it somewhat preserves the 3M adhesive tape present underneath, and can easily be reused.
3: Start prying open the LCD, from the Ear piece side. Take your time and DO NOT!! And i freaking mean, DO NOT!!!!! rush through while removing the LCD assembly.
4: When your almost half way through (or slightly more , but significantly above the capacitive buttons) take a peak between the frame and the LCD assembly, youll see the "Bridging/Connecting" ribbon i mentioned earlier and it might be stuck to the LCD's back.
-> the best way to proceed further is to simultaneously heat up the "glued" parts and slowly continue with removing the LCD. This way, the glue will not stick to the whatever parts it is meant to stick to , THAT strongly and will be much easier to remove.
5: Now as soon as you reach the part where you can see the Capacitive button module sticking to the LCD assembly, go into SUPER FREAKING SLOW mode... THE RIBBON UNDERNEATH IS VERY VERY FRAGILE! ONE YANK AND YOU'LL HAVE TO PURCHASE A NEW CAPACITIVE MODULE.
*Best way to do this is, to again simultaneously heat the concerned parts while slowing pulling the LCD assembly and the capacitive button module apart.*
You can try going LEFT-RIGHT-LEFT-RIGHT alternatively, to slowly make the adhesive give away.
6: After you have the LCD assembly out, its pretty much dependent on how stable yours hands are at slowly etching out the Light gray parts.
-> You can hold the LCD assembly against a TABLE LAMP / some light source, to better see which parts of paint you need to etch out. *i Almost etched the whole of my back button* So be very careful and gentle as well PATIENT!
Before assembling the LCD back into the frame, i took a small piece of paper (about the size of the capacitive button module) and stuck it between the frame and the module. Just so that it makes better contact with the LCD assembly.
7: Stick the LCD back onto the frame and again heat up the edges. Also while putting the LCD back together, make sure the adhesive tape has not lumped up on any of the edges (This might have happened while trying to pry the LCD out) , if it has, then just gently even/flatten it out. Stick the LCD back and heat the edges. Rest, just take a soft cloth and squeeze the LCD's edges and frame together,so as to make sure they stick together properly. The heat really helps in bonding things here.
Assemble back the phone, blah blah.
I used a CREDIT CARD to start prying the LCD away from the frame. It was pretty easy, because of the heat.
DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK! I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE IF YOU SOMEHOW MANGE TO MESS UP YOUR PHONE! Specifically the LCD and the CAPACITVE TOUCH MODULE!
Big thanks to the OP for posting this.
I've got a Samsung Focus that no longer has a working display. It seems the rest of the phone functions perfectly, but I'm unable to see what is happening. I think the display is recoverable, but I'm not positive (it's almost like there's no power being sent to it).
So when I connect to Zune software, I'm unable to view my phone contents because I have a lock pin. This becomes problematic with a non-working display. So one solution to my problem is how can I remove this code OR factory reset my phone without getting screen conformations.
Secondly, would it be worth an investment to repair the screen by buying a new one? It seems to be about ~$130 online for new displays and I'm very comfortable doing modifications like this with mobile devices
Thanks!
JoelLarson said:
I've got a Samsung Focus that no longer has a working display. It seems the rest of the phone functions perfectly, but I'm unable to see what is happening. I think the display is recoverable, but I'm not positive (it's almost like there's no power being sent to it).
So when I connect to Zune software, I'm unable to view my phone contents because I have a lock pin. This becomes problematic with a non-working display. So one solution to my problem is how can I remove this code OR factory reset my phone without getting screen conformations.
Secondly, would it be worth an investment to repair the screen by buying a new one? It seems to be about ~$130 online for new displays and I'm very comfortable doing modifications like this with mobile devices
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What I suggest is read the diagnisis codes thread and see if you find something useful there (code, advice). Personally, I haven't heard of any code disabling the screen but there might be one. The hard reset combo from the wiki should cover that too, I think.
Now, that being said, I see 3 possibilities, higher probability first:
1. screen is damaged (and/or possibly something else). if it's broken, you can confirm.
2. screen connector/cord is loose (should be easy to fix)
3. software/code issue
1 is hardware repair
2 is easy fix, still hardware
3 is easier fix. here, you need a secondary phone, identical. you can perform the exact steps side-by-side to copy/make sure you got it right.
I know it's not a loose connector issue. I've triple checked that and have rubbed it all down in alcohol to make sure it wasn't a dirt issue. I also cannot do anything that requires the digiplex as none of it seems to be registered.
Things that work for sure:
Sound (internal speaker)
Power Button
Volume Buttons
Touch buttons on the front at the bottom (by windows key)
So the screen doesn't work but it's not broken?
My phone took a dive and hit the pavement pretty hard, leaving a half-inch radius arc on the side of the scree. No big deal, but this damage also killed about 25% of the touch sensor surface in a very inconvenient location. So I did what any other good fellow would do: order an OEM part from Ebay.
I installed the screen with much effort (having taken apart phones before it was not difficult to identify and remove the elements, save for that nasty screen) and turned the device on. Imagine my surprise when I saw that my once beautiful Nexus display was reduced to an upsetting mess of artifacts and pixels.
Key notes to consider:
1. The touch screen works 100%, which kind of makes this problem "tolerable"
2. The artifacts shift with each menu and orientatikn, but remain oddly in similar positions in each screen (the artifacts appear in the same location on the home screen no matter what other screen I come from.)
3. Videos are not affected by this (tested on youtube in landscape view)
These primary factors lead me to believe that there is a problem with the software communicating with the hardware. I have checked and re-checked the cables and made sure they are in the right spot and securely connected. My main question is foes anyone have any idea how to resolve this? Do lcd/ digitizers come with any covers on the ports that I may have overlooked? Do I need to re-flash a rom and/or return to stock altogether?
I have done two teardowns to test all the connections, and have abstained from using glues in the event that I may have to do another. Included is an image of my screen taken from another phone.
helios.z3r0 said:
My phone took a dive and hit the pavement pretty hard, leaving a half-inch radius arc on the side of the scree. No big deal, but this damage also killed about 25% of the touch sensor surface in a very inconvenient location. So I did what any other good fellow would do: order an OEM part from Ebay.
I installed the screen with much effort (having taken apart phones before it was not difficult to identify and remove the elements, save for that nasty screen) and turned the device on. Imagine my surprise when I saw that my once beautiful Nexus display was reduced to an upsetting mess of artifacts and pixels.
Key notes to consider:
1. The touch screen works 100%, which kind of makes this problem "tolerable"
2. The artifacts shift with each menu and orientatikn, but remain oddly in similar positions in each screen (the artifacts appear in the same location on the home screen no matter what other screen I come from.)
3. Videos are not affected by this (tested on youtube in landscape view)
These primary factors lead me to believe that there is a problem with the software communicating with the hardware. I have checked and re-checked the cables and made sure they are in the right spot and securely connected. My main question is foes anyone have any idea how to resolve this? Do lcd/ digitizers come with any covers on the ports that I may have overlooked? Do I need to re-flash a rom and/or return to stock altogether?
I have done two teardowns to test all the connections, and have abstained from using glues in the event that I may have to do another. Included is an image of my screen taken from another phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey! I know this was ages ago but, how did you fix it?
I bought a replacement screen, changed my broken one and it's got the same problem yours had.
Thanks in advance!
My Note 4 SM-N910T3 Android 6.0.1 has an unresponsive strip in the middle of the screen. Landscape and portrait mode no change, safe mode reboot no change, factory data reset no change, installing fresh rooted touchwiz rom no change installing factory touchwiz no root no change. It is always there. I uploaded a couple of screenshots with Developer Options / Show Pointer Location enabled so you can see the missing strip. It becomes a huge nuisance some apps think I'm trying to zoom (hence the zoom percentage square) in one screenshot, scrolling is problematic in either screen orientation. Just trying to see if there is anything I can try before replacing my touchscreen / digitizer. I loved this phone and I have the ZeroLemmon extended battery, case, clip, and many other accessories that go great with this phone. Yes there is a similar thread but does not address my problem. It is not App related. Just trying to get some possible insight before replacing my screen and possibly having same issue. BUT MAINLY I HAVE MY VIPER4ANDROID ON IT THAT I CAN NOT GET WITH MY NEW GALAXY A10 (NO OEM UNLOCKING OPTION)Thanks for your time.
Jsmor1313 said:
My Note 4 SM-N910T3 Android 6.0.1 has an unresponsive strip in the middle of the screen. Landscape and portrait mode no change, safe mode reboot no change, factory data reset no change, installing fresh rooted touchwiz rom no change installing factory touchwiz no root no change. It is always there. I uploaded a couple of screenshots with Developer Options / Show Pointer Location enabled so you can see the missing strip. It becomes a huge nuisance some apps think I'm trying to zoom (hence the zoom percentage square) in one screenshot, scrolling is problematic in either screen orientation. Just trying to see if there is anything I can try before replacing my touchscreen / digitizer. I loved this phone and I have the ZeroLemmon extended battery, case, clip, and many other accessories that go great with this phone. Yes there is a similar thread but does not address my problem. It is not App related. Just trying to get some possible insight before replacing my screen and possibly having same issue. BUT MAINLY I HAVE MY VIPER4ANDROID ON IT THAT I CAN NOT GET WITH MY NEW GALAXY A10 (NO OEM UNLOCKING OPTION)Thanks for your time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
try *#2663#
tsp fw update
Thanks for the info but I failed to mention I have tried that in my post a above. I appreciate it and maybe it may help someone else having this problem.
I had a similar problem after replacing my USB board. In that case, because the replacement involves separating the glass from the screen and fiddling there, I assumed I broke something.
I think this is a hardware problem, and you need to either reposition the touch screen, or get a new screen, or get a new phone... (I did the latter, since there's so little difference between the price of a good new screen and the price of a note 4).
What I did before replacing the phone was use the smallest on-screen keyboard I could find (swype), and if I wanted to scroll, always from the top. Notice that in my case pen still works nicely, so sometimes I would just get the pen out.