Database Users

[Q] Water damage

A few months back my Legend went through a cycle in the washing machine. Afterwards I did all the recommended things (take everything apart, leave it in the sun for a day or two, keep it in a jar of water absorbent silica in the evening). Anyway, after three or four days of that, I put it back together again and my battery was dead. Tested it with someone else's battery, and everything worked perfectly, I even made a call with it.
I then waited about 3 months for a new battery (it got stuck at customs) which I finally go this week. Thing is, I now have 0 connectivity with the phone no matter what I do. I always have 0 bars, I can't connect to wireless networks (even though I pick them up perfectly), and I can't get the GPS to turn on at all. Everything else works fine (including the FM radio), but there's no connectivity.
I was hoping it might be a software issue of some strange sort, since the wireless picks up well but just says "connecting--disconnected" when I try to connect. A hard reset did nothing to the phone though.
Is there anything else for me to try? I'm running pretty thin on ideas at the moment. Would replacing the back cover fix any of the connectivity issues? Also, is it still possible for it to be a software problem, and should I maybe try to install a custom rom on it?
Any advice at the moment would be much appreciated. Thanks!
EDIT: I just realised that I had made things worse with my reset. Now I have no file browser with which to sideload apps and no internet connectivity. EDIT2: Managed to fix the file manager problem with ADB. Now just the actual problem again

The GSM antenna is in the bottom part that covers the battery compartment - I'd say you have some oxide on those two contacts.
Take a small screwdriver (or a needle) and gently scrub those pins on your phone.
As for the two on the cover, you'll notice those two parts come apart, so I'd take the inner part and gently brush the two contacts with a piece of cloth and a toothpaste - it's a good thing to gently brush something.
If that fails and you're sure you plugged all inside as it was...it could be another problem...
You may also try bending the two contact in the phone out - these act like a spring, but be gentle about it
P.S.: Is your Legend at least clean now?
EDIT: Now that I think about it, you can try the phone with piece of wire:
cut a wire of : speed of light/frequency in Hz and connect it to the two pins inside the phone
For USA:
299 792 458 m/s divided 1 900 000 000 Hz = 0,15778 m

Thanks Dr.Romca.
I'm trying the clearning out for now. when you say the battery cover comes apart, are you talking about the piece of plastic inside the rubber? There seems to be an additional piece of plastic inside the rubber which might come loose, but I'm not quite sure how to pry it out without breaking it. Any tips on how to do this?
I'll give the piece of wire a skip until the very end

It's not glued or anything, just push the rubber part in the middle and try to click it out...

Dr.Romca said:
It's not glued or anything, just push the rubber part in the middle and try to click it out...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ahh ok, I wasn't sure what to expect on the other side. Didn't want to jam a screwdriver in between the plastic and rubber and hurt some electronic component. Managed to get it loose though, and gave it a thorough but gentle rub down.
EDIT: Nope, still no service on it. I still find it strange that it doesn't want to connect to the GPS or the wireless either. As far as I know, those shouldn't be affected by an antenna issue right?

That's strange... WiFi and GPS antenna is in the other rubber part....
It seems there might be something wrong with the PCB...
I'm at a loss here...

Damn I have connectivity issues here...
The strange thing is it worked once after the washing...
If you have the courage for it, you can also try this:
Take the phone apart, I mean really apart, if you can unmount the display/touchscreen. Then take the PCB - mainboard, try to put a sticker over a microphone and the repro, then take a toothbrust and a detergent and brush the PCB - make sure you clean all, there will probably be some metal plates that look they can be unmounted, so try to unmount them and clean beneath them.
After this take the PCB and put it in the hot-air oven (if you have one - NOT a Microwave! ) 40 - 50 °C for like an hour should do the trick...
You can also use alcohol to clean the PCB, but since it was water that caused this, I'm gonna presume you'll have more luck dissolving with water again...
Anyway, that's what I'd do, but I'm and engineer, so if you're not sure, just take the phone to service

Hello,
The WiFi and gsm signal are at seperate places on your phone, so you either got a major problem with the hardware, or the ROM just went nuts. I suggest you flash a new ROM before you take the phone apart, cause it might get damaged irriversably..
Goodluck, keep us updated!
Sent from my HTC Legend using XDA App

Thanks for the continuing advice. You're right about the engineer thing though; since I'm not an engineer I'll leave taking the phone apart until the very end.
I've never flashed a ROM before, but I'm sure I'll be able to figure that out. What initially made me think that the ROM might have gone crazy is the fact that the wireless actually picks up networks. The further I get from a network, the worse the signal, and the closer I get the better, so the wireless signal is working properly. It just seems to have a problem connecting, which seems like a software issue rather than a hardware issue.
If that fails, I'll send it to HTC and see if they can do a repair for me. I already sent it to them for a check-up and a new battery directly after I had it dried out. I included explicit instructions that it got water damaged, that I was not looking for a warranty repair, and I would just like them to make sure everything is working and bill me for the repairs and a battery. Two weeks later I get the phone back with a note saying that they noticed some water damage, and they don't do warranty repairs on water damaged phones Anyway, I'll try them again.
If HTC fail to do anything again, I'll try my luck with a full teardown. Still, ROM flash first.
EDIT: Ok, so I followed this (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=894465) post up until the end of downgrading your rom, and the problems are exactly the same. From my understanding, this would have installed a clean rom onto the phone, so any software issues should have been cleared up. I'll still try and install a custom ROM, just because I've always wanted to and just maybe something will work, but the software problem seems an unlikely explanation now.

This is getting very strange now. Using my newfound "Wi-Fi" Hotspot powers, I can actually create a Wi-Fi hotspot that my computer successfully connects to. Once again, if the hardware was broken I don't see how this could work. I still can't connect from my phone to any Wi-Fi network though.
As I mention (for a completely unrelated reason) earlier, I sent the phone in to HTC. This might be a very dumb question, but is it at all possible that the ROM on my phone works at a different wavelength/frequency than what is used by carriers in South Africa (where I'm from)? I'm thinking maybe HTC did a stock reset or something which changed it, because I never tested my phone after getting it back from them. That would also explain why my phone doesn't have reception with the current ROM. Just note that I have no idea how these things work, it's a complete shot in the dark
EDIT: My GPS also works now, or at least the gps indicator flashes when it should. Since I don't have any kind of internet access, I have no way of knowing if the GPS works, but in the past it never flashed.
I'm currently thinking of using my computer's wireless to connect to my phone, and then bridging that connection with my UTP connection to connect to the internet. I have no idea if this will work or what exactly if it will get me closer to a real solution, but at least having internet access on my phone will make things a bit easier. Will let you know how it goes.

So have you succesfully flashed a different ROM?I'm not sure what type of rom should you have but WWE by it's definition should work...So if you have rooted, try any WWE ROM...

Dr.Romca said:
So have you succesfully flashed a different ROM?I'm not sure what type of rom should you have but WWE by it's definition should work...So if you have rooted, try any WWE ROM...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I first downgraded it to 1.31, and now it's on BlaYo's B0.2.

can you check what radio you are using?
You may want to update it!
It's in settings / about phone / software / baseband version
My is 47.51.32.17U7.13.35.05
Not sure if there's a special version for SA, but here is a radio update only:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=706435

Sorry for the late reply. Real life caught up for a day or two.
My baseband version was 47.26.35.04u_7.05.35.26L. I updated it with the radio update you posted, and it's still not working. As far as I know, South Africa can use any American phone except those on Sprint, if that helps at all.
Also, I was away from home for the last week, and now that I'm back home my phone connects perfectly to the wi-fi here. I am certain that I did not make any mistake in connecting to the other networks I tried, as I tested the settings on multiple computers and entered the passwords multiple times, but the wi-fi seems to have been a red herring. So the only problem left now is normal phone connectivity.

I'm sorry to hear that...I'm not sure what the L means at the end...but about the wifi thing, it has been mentioned here that different locations use different WiFi channels...so at this point it's almost sure you have a driver/settings mismatch somewhere...
but I don't know much about that...sorry..

Singal drop / loss. Hardware problem? Where is the cell antenna?

hi all...
I have a i337 from AT&T but my display broke some months ago. So I ordered a new one but I think the display was for the i9505. Because when I opened it and looked on it from the back, on the right up corner, there was not enough space for the i337 motherboard. The i337 motherboard has an (additional?) piece, which didn't fit into the display case.
So I cut of the plastic from the display case and then it fitted and went well for a while with great signal.
i337 display case
i9505 display case (with the cut off plastic)
But now for some days, I have a lot of singal loss and can hardly get more than 2 bars.
I try to find out where the problem is. I was originally on MF3 when everything went well. But then I updated to MK2. And then some time later..the issues startet. So my conclusion was that it must be a software problem..I tried all modems..nothing helped. I updated from MK2 to NB1. Nothing changed. Problem is still there.
So i assume that it must be a hardware issue and it was just a coincident that the issues appeared some days after the update. And now I try to understand how the galaxy antennas work. I think it can be fixed, because I didn't loose the whole signal..it's jut a lot weaker.
So I have some questions..
1) Is it normal, that these 2 contacts don't touch the motherboard on the left side and are flexible? The problem might be there..because this was the part of the phone..which didn't fit well.
2) For what is the long blue patch cable for that connects the bottom and top of the phone? http://www.etradesupply.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/IMG_69401.jpg
3) The main cell antenna is at the bottom, right? http://stellatech.com/pubs/uploads/...laxy-s4-antenna-loudspeaker,520e268826f6e.JPG

I changed now the antenna at the bottom and the small blue wire..even if I think the wire is for wifi
But nothing helped...i also downgraded to mk2 from nb1. still bad signal.
does anybody knows where the modem sits? maybe i can change this..

att85 said:
I changed now the antenna at the bottom and the small blue wire..even if I think the wire is for wifi
But nothing helped...i also downgraded to mk2 from nb1. still bad signal.
does anybody knows where the modem sits? maybe i can change this..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure about the exact parts but you're talking about but iFitIt has a tear down where they label and show you all the parts inside

6333645
I had the exact same issue with you. Bought an i337, screen broke and replaced it with that of i9505's and then i experienced signal loss. What worked for me is this:
make sure you compare the mis fitting side (right top corner) and make sure the motherboard is at identical height on both sides. With the bezel taken out ,power on the phone with your sim card inserted (so you have only the screen and motherboard (no speaker and the plastic bezel in place). If you find out that you still don't have signal, while the phone is on, detach and reattach the blue wire and see it this is the issue. This worked for me.

No SIM Card, sometimes battery doesn't charge

Hi,
Just curious is anybody can suggest some avenues for repair. A friend of mine gave me their GT-I9505 which had a broken screen. They apparently were aware of the issues with this phone and upgraded to an iPhone 6, but didn't tell me about this until after I'd bought a screen replacement and had already encountered the issue.
I replaced the screen but now have issues with the device showing "No SIM Card". Sometimes the device also has difficulty charging. The device also seems to get very hot, and the SIM issue appears to occur around high heat.
To try to fix this I have:
Tried different SIMs
Verified correct operation of the top proximity sensor
Verified the device is an authentic Samsung and the IMEI is not listed as stolen
Reflashed firmware with ODIN
Tried Cyanogenmod 11
Used CPU Tuner to underclock the processor to 600mhz and 2 cores
Replaced the MicroSD & SIM Card slots
Tried to reflow the solder contacts on the mainboard with a hair dryer. No idea how effective this really was
Added a piece of plastic to apply pressure to the SD/SIM slot connector (used a cut up bank card)
Examined the battery and found it flawless. Replaced it anyway
Tried copper tape on the rear cover to act as a heatsink
Tried applying arctic silver thermal paste to the chips that come in contact with the body of the phone
Nothing I've tried has really had much of an impact. The device is not under warranty.
Is there anything else I should try? This does appear to be a very common issue but answers seem few and far between.
I've read about people believing its a mainboard issue, only to replace the mainboard and have the same issue occur again?

critenau said:
Hi,
Just curious is anybody can suggest some avenues for repair. A friend of mine gave me their GT-I9505 which had a broken screen. They apparently were aware of the issues with this phone and upgraded to an iPhone 6, but didn't tell me about this until after I'd bought a screen replacement and had already encountered the issue.
I replaced the screen but now have issues with the device showing "No SIM Card". Sometimes the device also has difficulty charging. The device also seems to get very hot, and the SIM issue appears to occur around high heat.
To try to fix this I have:
Tried different SIMs
Verified correct operation of the top proximity sensor
Verified the device is an authentic Samsung and the IMEI is not listed as stolen
Reflashed firmware with ODIN
Tried Cyanogenmod 11
Used CPU Tuner to underclock the processor to 600mhz and 2 cores
Replaced the MicroSD & SIM Card slots
Tried to reflow the solder contacts on the mainboard with a hair dryer. No idea how effective this really was
Added a piece of plastic to apply pressure to the SD/SIM slot connector (used a cut up bank card)
Examined the battery and found it flawless. Replaced it anyway
Tried copper tape on the rear cover to act as a heatsink
Tried applying arctic silver thermal paste to the chips that come in contact with the body of the phone
Nothing I've tried has really had much of an impact. The device is not under warranty.
Is there anything else I should try? This does appear to be a very common issue but answers seem few and far between.
I've read about people believing its a mainboard issue, only to replace the mainboard and have the same issue occur again?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi mate,
Some times the no sim card error may be related to Imei problem or EFS being corrupted ( my case) check your imei dial *#06# see if the imei number match the one behind the battery

I am having a similar problem and the IMEI does not match, what can i do to solve this?

MAX 404 said:
Some times the no sim card error may be related to Imei problem or EFS being corrupted ( my case) check your imei dial *#06# see if the imei number match the one behind the battery
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Found that the IMEI reported by *#06# consistently matches the one behind the battery, even when the no sim fault occurs.
I don't have an EFS backup, but with EFS Pro I was able to perform a backup, format the EFS, and restore from the backup. I also did its fix permissions routine, but it didn't change anything. So I don't think its an EFS problem.
MegaMike604 said:
I am having a similar problem and the IMEI does not match, what can i do to solve this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
EFS Pro. Better if you have an EFS backup.

critenau said:
Found that the IMEI reported by *#06# consistently matches the one behind the battery, even when the no sim fault occurs.
I don't have an EFS backup, but with EFS Pro I was able to perform a backup, format the EFS, and restore from the backup. I also did its fix permissions routine, but it didn't change anything. So I don't think its an EFS problem.
EFS Pro. Better if you have an EFS backup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mate the problem is you maybe doing a backup of something corrupted .....so you basically are putting back whatever "bad" was there again...

MAX 404 said:
Mate the problem is you maybe doing a backup of something corrupted .....so you basically are putting back whatever "bad" was there again...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So I've flashed the following two files with ODIN 3.07, no change. First tried one and it seemed to work, but after it faulted I tried the second, and had it fault again.
http://www.4shared.com/zip/ZG0QtCq_ba/I9505_efs.html
http://www.4shared.com/zip/Z1yKu1Upce/I9505_modem_patch_File_for_Unl.html
That should've rewritten the /efs and baseband?

critenau said:
So I've flashed the following two files with ODIN 3.07, no change. First tried one and it seemed to work, but after it faulted I tried the second, and had it fault again.
http://www.4shared.com/zip/ZG0QtCq_ba/I9505_efs.html
http://www.4shared.com/zip/Z1yKu1Upce/I9505_modem_patch_File_for_Unl.html
That should've rewritten the /efs and baseband?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Mate
Every EFS is unique it has your imei information among others , flashing a different efs could had fix it but in the other hand you may have a different imei information...
anyhow as I said error may be related to Imei problem or EFS being corrupted ( my case) in your case it may be a hardware issue....

[SOLVED] Extremely weak Wi-Fi signal

The Wi-Fi signal on my I9505 is terribly weak. Sitting at the same desk the router is on - full signal; Walk 3-4 meters away - signal drops to 1 line; Go to a different room - disconnects due to no signal. I can only see 3 networks at 1 signal line while on another phone I get 11 networks - all with signal at 2+ lines.
My router is perfectly fine (works as expected and has great coverage on other phones/laptops - it still gives off great signal if I go next door/above/below me).
Phone software side I'd say is fine too, but I'm not 100% sure:
Issue happens both on latest WizCyan (TW based) and on latest RR (CM14 based), both using different kernels.
Currently on XXUHPG1 bootloader and baseband. PDA version is XXUPPI1 (according to the "Phone INFO" app).
Hardware side, I've tried a few things - bent all of the golden springs I could find just a tiny bit upwards, tried to clean the gray contacts on the mid bezel as best as I could (dry microfiber) - they weren't dirty or anything, but they seem scratched/shiny where the spring would have come into contact, is that bad? (I can take pictures if necessary)
I even flipped the blue antenna wire around (though I think that one only affects cell signal).
I also have to note that there's something wrong with my Wi-Fi IC / mobo because sometimes it stops working altogether (won't turn back on), needing a reboot or physical intervention. I doubt that would affect signal strength, as long as it's actually turning on, I guess?
Edit:
SOLVED!
Well, this is probably a very unique/fringe case - I found out there was a crack in my motherboard, just below one of the antenna connectors. I also found out that pushing down on where the crack is relinks the motherboard connections and gives back the full Wi-Fi signal. So I "ghetto-rigged" a piece of plastic to push down on the crack when I put the mid-bezel back in, and it seems to be working for now. Hope it holds up and doesn't cause other issues.

Actually, it could affect signal strength. You might want to check your antenna wire running down the right side of the battery compartment and make sure it isn't broken or partly disconnected.

You should also note that some phones have better antennas, thus having better reception.
So comparing it to a different phone isn't really a good way to measure the effectiveness.

Took some pics, I've no idea if they're of any help. Maybe somebody can tell if there's something wrong.
Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
Actually, it could affect signal strength. You might want to check your antenna wire running down the right side of the battery compartment and make sure it isn't broken or partly disconnected.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's the wire I had flipped around. I even disconnected it to see if there's a difference, and it only weakened the cell signal. Full cell signal when I put it back. No change regarding Wi-Fi. If I run the phone with the mid bezel off, I only get 2 lines even next to the router, and it doesn't even connect - so I suppose the mid bezel antennas connect?
Pwnycorn said:
You should also note that some phones have better antennas, thus having better reception.
So comparing it to a different phone isn't really a good way to measure the effectiveness.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True, still, from full signal to 1/0 lines as soon as I go from my desk (and router) to my bed 5m away isn't right. Wi-Fi reception used to be as good on my S4 as on the other phones. (I can't remember exactly when this started.)

I believe you have a radio chip issue. Something that software cannot fix.

Solved. Thank you for trying to help.

@cLick1338: Telling people you solved the issue without revealing the solution doesn't help anyone who may come across this thread in the future. So how did you solve it?

Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
@cLick1338: Telling people you solved the issue without revealing the solution doesn't help anyone who may come across this thread in the future. So how did you solve it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had edited the first post. Figured it would be most visible for such people.

cLick1338 said:
I had edited the first post. Figured it would be most visible for such people.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you edited it yesterday I wouldn't have noticed it. The XDA app automatically drills down to the first unread post and I don't always think to scroll back up.
Sorry.

Signal issues after changing motherboard

Hi to all,
after change motherboard of my n910f (so it became a n910T), carrier signal became very weak, in every places.
Tried with 3 different bl\cp (for 910T). Also the newest. Tried with 3 different ROMs (1 MM 2 Resurrection). Checked the 2 wires inside. Tried SIM with other cells.
I'm afraid have touched something that broke some antenna, or so. It is very strange.
WiFi goes very well, as the rest. Only no signal, just a little.
Any ideas ?

I am facing similar issue, in my case i replaced the broken display. I get the full coverage only when i am in an OPEN area but other than (at work, at home) my phone is struggling to connect to network and people get "phone is switched off" message when they try to reach me. To troubleshoot the issue, i even replaced the SIM thinking it may be due to bad SIM card but no luck. Now i am suspecting that the latest firmware update from Samsung may have caused it. I am going to try out some custom ROM (i am on stock ROM until now) to see if it was indeed the samsung push that caused it.
Will post an update soon.