Oh disaster. My ExtUSB port just expired.
I think I saw a piece of trace fall out, and now I am getting a 'USB device not recognized' message on all my PC's and with verious cables. It is charging still, but no logic connection.
I read somewhere the connector on HTC is bad anyway, it uses PCB traces in stead of real connector leads. And when I first bought it, I wondered why eBay sells replacements
But the replacement one seems to have real connectors, not a piece of PCB. So it is either better, or it will not fit...
Well, I am going for warranty first anyway. I still have stock ROM luckily, but I did drill a 1mm hole over the soft-reset button.
Just out of interest and in preparation: Has anyone ever replaced this component? I have in the past soldered small surface mount SMD chips, which experience taught me it can be done, but is far from fun or easy.
Also, anyone can confirm the HTC ExtUSB connector typically uses PCB traces, and/or if this replacements will fit?
Thanks
Edit: Managed to locate my watchmakers loupe, and the connector has proper leads with a small spring-bend at the end. Some of these bends seem flatter than others, so that may be the problem.
Edit2:
Well, I fixed it, but not the way one may expect. No soldering or opening the device or any other possible voiding of warranty involved.
As stated, looking up close with a proper 10x watchmakers loupe, I found that the ExtUSB socket did have proper leads, the middle ones bend slightly different than the outer ones. Touching them with a needle showed all still had a good spring action, and they seemed to be OK, only a little far back. Also, I found one cable that did work.
The middle leads in a mini-USB plug are also a little further back then the outer 2. I decided that under normal conditions they already barely touch, and usage may have bend or wore the middle leads back ever so slightly. Just enough to make them fail to reach each other.
So, with a fine grained grinding stone, I removed about 1/2 mm from the mini-USB plug on a cable. Take care to grind so you do not pull the leads away from the plastic. I guess you can also use fine sandpaper on a fixed surface, especially if you do not have a fine grained stone. After that, the connection works.
I do not consider this an advised solution, especially if you can claim warranty. But the fact I had already drilled a hole for easy access to the reset button, and the fact I would be without phone for a time, made me try and fix it myself.
my old polaris had a similar issue, and i took it to a local cell phone repair store. i was told these connectors partially break all the time. 20 dollars and 20 minutes later, my pda was fixed. consider having it fixed locally before sending it to htc and losing it for weeks
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Introduction:
=======
Hey everyone, I'm just posting this tirade about my problems with the X1's build quality here in case anyone else is suffering from the same problems I had, as well as some tips regarding disassembling and re-assembling the phone if you're brave/foolhardy enough to attempt repairs yourself, like me.
With contributions from others this thread could become a compendium of common hardware problems with the X1 and how to identify or fix them, as well as pitfalls to watch out for when repairing the device by hand.
I don't have any diagrams yet because I simply couldn't stomach opening up the shoddy device again to take photos.
=======
My X1:
=======
I bought my X1 on eBay second-hand (my first major mistake) so I was always a bit worried what would happen when the day inevitably came when I'd have hardware problems with the phone.
However, I bought it very shortly after the phone's release and the seller described it as unused. The phone appeared mostly unused when I received it, apart from a couple of tiny scratches on the casing.
The phone was functionally fine when I received it and showed no problems whatsoever for the first few months.
Like seemingly everyone my first hardware problems with the phone (I won't even get into the device's software failings) that developed over time were an unresponsive keyboard, cracks in the case and a non-functioning vibration motor.
The 'r' key on my X1 took considerably greater force to register a press than any other key on the device, while other keys intermittently ignored presses or interpreted a single press as 2-5 presses while typing.
The spacebar also intermittently became unresponsive, as did the 'up' key on the front-mounted optical joystick.
The vibration motor worked at first, but eventually gave only a single loud 'click' when the phone should vibrate.
The problems worsened over time and despite taking good care of the phone, the casing started to look badly banged-up - This is not a phone that ages gracefully.
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Replacement Parts
=======
In early December I ordered a replacement casing & keyboard from a supplier in Hong Kong on eBay (mistake #2), happyhouse.cn .
The parts were suspiciously cheap compared to the ones from non-ebay suppliers, so I assumed they would be imitation/unofficial parts, not from SE.
At first glance, the new casing and keyboard seemed like the real deal, but when I attempted to re-assemble the phone with the new parts I found that the phone's original screws didn't properly fit the sockets of the new casing and that the new keyboard didn't fit either the new casing OR the old one.
I ended up using a mixture of new and old parts to rebuild the phone.
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My Repairs
=======
Over the course of 'fixing' the phone, a few other problems came to light within the device's internals.
A couple of these problems were apparent as soon as I examined the device internally, while others became apparent when I rebult the device and tried to use it.
Keyboard:
The R key on the old keyboard had cracked at first, then eventually split completely into 3 parts during use. One part fell away while the other two remained stuck to the flexible plastic backing of the keyboard structure.
As I mentioned above, the cheap new keyboard did not fit the casing whatsoever (the scale of its design was wrong and it was in total 3-6mm longer than the original part).
I cleaned the original board (the plastic layer with the keys, not the circuit layer) in warm, soapy water and removed the broken R key by plucking it off the flexible backing.
I then plucked the 'r' key off the new keyboard and used it to replace the missing key on the old keyboard, with the aid of some 'Bostik Impact' adhesive.
I finally refitted the old keyboard (with a new R key) to the casing and prayed that it would still work.
It did, in the end, but the R key has less travel and tactile response than the unreplaced keys.
---Tip:---
The unresponsive (or over-responsive) behaviour of the keyboard can primarily be attributed to poor design, but the grit and dirt that enters every keyboard known to man similarly affects that of the X1 and worsens the problem.
Removing the plastic portion of the keyboard unit and washing it in warm, soapy water is a good way to at least regain the functionality that the keyboard had when you first got the device.
Vibration Motor:
I saw the physical evidence of the claim that the camera light LED is badly designed and prone to overheating, in turn killing the vibration motor.
In the original phone casing, the plastic housing that surrounds the LED had melted and resolidified over the course of the phone's life and there was minor scorching on nearby components.
The vibration motor for the device is situated directly beside the LED (to the left, while the rear camera lens is to the right) and seemed unable to function with the melted plastic in its way.
I cleared away the melted plastic but the motor still only 'clicked' when I later tested the vibration.
It seems that the motor gets burned out by trying to work when obstructed by the plastic, or the heat from the LED kills the motor internally.
One way or the other, it's dead.
---Tip:---
The recommendation to not use the light for extended periods of time on the X1 still stands, it's worrying to think of how much worse the damage could get if the light were left on longer.
It is an especially worrying issue when you consider that the light LED is so close to the main Li-Polymer battery of the phone.
Broken Side-mounted buttons:
The next problem I encountered in the original phone casing was that of the weak rubber straps that hold the side-mounted buttons (power, camera, volume-rocker) in place.
These rubber components are quite thin and weak, as well as prone to snapping when stressed.
The purpose of these straps is to hold the button in place (flush-mounted) and to provide the spring action and make the buttons return after pressing.
In my case, the strap holding the power button had weakened and the button stopped working properly, while the phone behaved as if the button was being constantly held in.
The phone constantly brought up the "Are you sure you wish to power off the device?" prompt in WinMo.
When I set about trying to remove the old button to replace it with a new one from my pack of replacement parts, the old rubber strap almost instantly snapped!
I replaced the old button eventually, but even now there is less travel in the button and barely any tactile response when it hits the internal switch on the PCB.
---Tip:---
When re-inserting the PCB during re-assembly, keep an eye on all of the side-mounted buttons to make sure that their inwards-pointing nub sits *above* the PCB and is able to reach the board-mounted switch that the button controls!
Incompatible Screws:
Beware that the screws from the phone's original casing do not properly fit the cheaper replacement casing.
This means that you will have difficulty in forcing the screws to fit (and possibly shear the heads off the screws, which is a pretty major problem in a delicate device like this where they will be difficult to remove).
If you force the screws to fit due to a lack of any replacement screws to use, they will likely not sit properly flush-mounted with the original casing, particularly on the front (touchscreen) half of the device; and this may prove problematic for the sliding mechanism.
Additionally, it means that the casing will not close properly, resulting in gaps between the casing and touchscreen as well as gaps along the sides of the device.
---Tip:---
If you must do your own repairs on the device, try to get the official replacement parts from Sony Ericsson.
Buying the cheaper replacements from eBay is a false economy and a major headache, take my word for it!
Malfunctioning Antenna:
When I first rebuilt the phone after repairs I discovered that I could only get very weak intermittent radio signals in places that I previously had full signal strength.
This problem occured only because of incorrect re-assembly by me, but it represents a pitfall that might catch someone else out when re-assembling their X1.
---Tip:---
When reattaching the Antenna unit (the black shroud that sits around the rear camera lens and which also contains the camera LED), be sure to firmly press on the left side of the plastic (where there are visible metal strips in the plastic) until you hear a click to signify that the shroud is properly attached.
Otherwise, the antennae embedded in the plastic will not properly contact the main PCB of the device and your reception for all radio antennae in the device (GSM, WiFi, etc) will be weakened or lost completely.
This problem was caused solely by my inexperienced maintenance of the device, but may be related to the weak-signal problems some people experience with the X1, at a guess.
Ammendment:
------
I may be mistaken on this one! I had originally thought that this component held the antennae, but after further experimentation I've come to think that the antennae may be housed alongside the speaker unit in the other end of the phone. The tip still stands, just to be on the safe side!
Malfunctioning Speaker/Microphone:
During use early in the phone's life I sometimes found that the phone's main speaker stopped working for apparently no reason and that squeezing the casing 'fixed' the problem until it occured again seemingly at random.
Within the rear plastic portion of the casing that forms the battery compartment there is a small module comprising the phone's primary speaker and in-call mic underneath the plastic piece that contains the SE circular logo.
These components make only surface contact with the main PCB of the phone and are not soldered in-place.
In my case, the small copper contacts that extend outwards from the speaker unit had become flattened somehow within the device and no longer reached their counterpart contacts on the main PCB when the device was closed-up.
---Tip:---
Extending the speaker contacts outwards with a fingernail seemed to rectify this problem for me.
Be sure to tightly screw the module back in when you're done, just to make sure of the circuit-contact.
Touchscreen Ribbon-cable:
This problem was mentioned by others in a thread here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=561151
I very rarely encountered that problem in my typical usage of the X1, but after my repairs this issue seemed to become exacerbated (probably due to strains placed on the ribbon cable during my reassembly of the device numerous times).
Currently my touchscreen works as it should in portrait mode, but I cannot extend the keyboard, as this causes the screen to still display a signal, but not respond to any touches.
Upon sliding the keyboard back in, the touchscreen is out of the alignment by about 5-6mm every time until I re-align it under WinMo settings.
In an attempt to fix this problem I covered the exposed portion of the ribbon cable with thin insulating tape, in the hope that this would stop the traces of the cable shorting against the metal casing.
Unfortunately, this hasn't proven enough and I have not yet solved this issue.
It looks as though I need to buy a replacement ribbon cable and fix the device that way.
========================
---Other Tips:---
+ Make sure you have all the tools you need.
Replacement parts come with the necessary tools, but if you don't get those you're going to need a tiny phillips screwdriver, a tiny 6-point star-headed screwdriver and a thin, stiff implement such as a credit card or guitar plectrum to open the casing.
I also recommend a snipe-nose pliers and a tweezers for more delicate parts.
Adhesives & Bonding Agents can be useful in certain applications, but use them sparingly (or don't use them at all, to have any chance of making the phone look untampered for warranty purposes!).
+ Don't expect cheap replacement parts to fit perfectly!
They're cheaper for a reason, you get what you pay for, except in the case of the phone itself.
+ Be gentle with all of the components.
The Xperia X1 feels nice and sturdy when it's assembled, but the individual components can be flimsy and brittle when separated.
Everything from the plastic casing to the circuitry inside needs to be handled with care and treated gently to avoid being broken.
That's everything for now, but if I think of any more issues or tips I'll amend this post.
Please feel free to comment with other issues and any other maintenance tips you've discovered and we can build a useful list for people to refer to.
========================
=======
Conclusion:
=======
Before opening my Xperia I didn't really know what to expect inside.
I'm very familiar with computers and I build my own systems as a hobby, but my knowledge of circuit-level electronics is limited and I have no prior experience of manually repairing devices like the Xperia.
My experiences show that some of the common hardware problems can be resolved by the end-user with some patience and the right tools or parts, but one needs to be extremely careful not to end up with more problems than one started with!
=======
Disclaimer:
=======
I won't be held responsible for any damage you do to your phone and I do NOT recommend that you actually perform any of these procedures.
It is better to let qualified technicians at SE's Warranty Service handle these issues.
I'm providing this information solely for those people who either want to do it or have no other choice to get their phone working again.
The information presented is a combination of information collated from guides that I've linked herein and my own experience but I cannot guarantee their accuracy beyond that.
Treat everything in these informational posts as opinion or observation, not fact!
=======
Links & Other Information:
=======
This post will contain any other helpful information or links pertaining to the disassembly, repair and reassembly of the X1.
This is Cellular Nationwide Network's selection of spare parts for the X1:
http://cnn.cn/shop/sonyericsson-xperia-c-28_638.html
This online store also offers the X1 replacement LCD/Digitizer unit:
http://www.formymobile.co.uk/proddetail.php?prod=x1lcd
I have not bought from either of these stores nor can I verify the quality or compatibility of the items they offer!
I'm just listing them here in case people have trouble finding anywhere to get parts!
=======
Disassembly Summary:
=======
The device needs to be disassembled in the correct order as laid out on this page: http://www.formymobile.co.uk/xperiadisassembly.php
-Remove battery cover, stylus, battery, sim card & micro sdhc card and put them aside.
-Remove the plastic portion of the bottom-rear of the phone (where the SE circle is), using the proper tool, a credit card or a plectrum.
-Unscrew and remove the speaker module
-Remove the screws where the speaker module was
-Remove the covers over the screws at the other end of the phone and then the screws themselves (using the star-headed screwdriver)
-Remove the plastic battery compartment (which also takes the camera cover and stylus slot with it)
-Lift the small black tape and disconnect the plug that powers the camera LED
-Remove the screw in the top-right, then left the black lens-shroud it was holding down.
-Remove the small plug on the ribbon cable at the top-right (this connects the keyboard unit to the main PCB
-Pull the clips around the edges of the green PCB back gently to release it (but do not pull it upwards).
-Lift the PCB gently and (Very) gently remove the orange tape that covers the touchscreen ribbon cable attached underneath, then pry that ribbon cable's connector away from the connector on the green PCB.
-Lift the PCB away and put it aside
-The keyboard circuit and plastic pad can now also be lifted away if necessary.
--- This is where you can stop if your repairs/maintenance only affect the rear portion of the device. Only go further if you need to perform repairs on the front/touchscreen portion. ---
-Remove the four shallow screws underneath where the green PCB previously lay to separate the rear housing from the slider mechanism.
-Remove the four screws in the front portion of the phone, then pry the casing open with the tool/card/plectrum as before.
-The main ribbon cable is attached to a small PCB and some other ribbon cables which are concealed underneath the grey fuzzy foil on the surface in front of you.
-That foil can be removed but it is not necessary to do so unless you are replacing the LCD screen unit, receiver-speaker, front-camera or the ribbon cable assembly itself.
-The Touchscreen component is held down with small grey braided straps at the corners, peel these back to release the touchscreen from the front fascia.
Then do all of that in reverse to put the phone back together!
=======
Videos:
=======
I found these videos on youtube, I didn't record or upload them.
Video guide to Disassembling the Rear half of the device:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWDurQrRt-Y
Video guide to Disassembling the Front half of the device:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyGUbxFqvyc
Video guide to Reassembling the Front half of the device:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcDqyEyC_HY
Video guide to Reassembling the Rear half of the device:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0sOaIo6724
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Personal Comment:
=======
It goes to show that, as many of us are already aware, you must pay a premium price for this phone but it is NOT manufactured like a premium product.
If my situation were rare or I had only one of the above mentioned hardware issues with a new phone I could accept it, but things got ridiculous with the X1.
The build quality is very poor overall and Sony Ericsson should be ashamed firstly for releasing a device onto the market that functioned as little more than a flawed prototype for the X2; and secondly for charging upwards of €600 for the 'privilege' of putting up with its many problems and shortcomings.
I for one, won't be buying any more SE phones.
My next smartphone will be an Android device such as a Motorola Milestone if I ever pluck up the courage to spend that much money on a phone again.
=======
Disclaimer:
=======
I won't be held responsible for any damage you do to your phone and I do NOT recommend that you actually perform any of these procedures.
It is better to let qualified technicians at SE's Warranty Service handle these issues.
I'm providing this information solely for those people who either want to do it or have no other choice to get their phone working again.
The information presented is a combination of information collated from guides that I've linked herein and my own experience but I cannot guarantee their accuracy beyond that.
Treat everything in these informational posts as opinion or observation, not fact!
Useful post, but it really seems that the majority of your issues were caused by the imitation housing that you purchased, not by poor SE build quality. Of all the issues you mentioned, the keyboard issues are an SE/HTC quality control problem, I've experienced them as have many. The rest seem to have been caused by the imitation housing. This begs the quesiton, why didn't you just use SE's warranty service? They don't require a reciept or that you be the original owner. And trust me, they are several times better than HTCs warranty service.
sonus said:
Useful post, but it really seems that the majority of your issues were caused by the imitation housing that you purchased, not by poor SE build quality. Of all the issues you mentioned, the keyboard issues are an SE/HTC quality control problem, I've experienced them as have many. The rest seem to have been caused by the imitation housing. This begs the quesiton, why didn't you just use SE's warranty service? They don't require a reciept or that you be the original owner. And trust me, they are several times better than HTCs warranty service.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd hardly call the problem of the non-fitting screws a majority! The rest of the issues were unrelated to the cheap replacement housing.
Maybe my post is confusing, but the issues with the keyboard, vibration motor, ribbon cable, side-buttons & speaker all existed long before I ever ordered the replacement casing!
Some, such as the ribbon cable and antenna were issues that cropped up or were worsened due to my inexperienced maintenance, but everything else was a fault of the build quality of the original device.
The incompatibility of the screws was the only problem specifically caused by the new housing, while its own supplied keyboard didn't fit the chassis, but that was a non-issue since I used the original keyboard anyway.
It could be said that my repairs would have gone significantly smoother if I had bought and used an official replacement housing from SE, but that would only solve the issues of the screws and replacement keyboard.
I put emphasis on the problems related to the cheap replacement casing primarily to warn people away from wasting their money on them the way I did.
I'll edit the original post for clarity.
To answer your question, I didn't use the Warranty service because frankly I assumed they would need a proof of purchase for the warranty (since most warranties do in my experience) and I had bought the device second-hand on eBay.
Secondly, sending the device in for warranty would mean going through the hassle of reflashing a stock rom and SPL to the phone.
Thirdly and most importantly, I wanted to try doing it myself for the experience and potential savings.
Obviously, I wouldn't recommend anyone to try and repair their own phone as I did, but if someone has had a phone sent back to them marked as "tampered" by the warranty service and are left with the options of paying for repairs, paying for a new phone, or buying parts and repairing it themselves.. well that option is there and this thread might help them.
Also, off-topic but I couldn't agree more with your signature. I tried a myriad of fancy ROMs and shell replacements for my X1 but never found satisfaction until I flashed a basic blank WM6.5 ROM and installed PointUI Home2!
Thanks this post helped me out, I suddenly lost my mic, took a look under the hood and found I had the same issue as you, the mic pins not touching. The pins are very weak so had to be careful but it works now!
tumpin said:
Thanks this post helped me out, I suddenly lost my mic, took a look under the hood and found I had the same issue as you, the mic pins not touching. The pins are very weak so had to be careful but it works now!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad to help!
Definitely the most thorough repair and tips guide for the x1. A lot of the issues you had are the same as mine. Thanks to your suggestions I got my phone in almost working condition. Now I just need to find a way to get my keyboard working again.
Sent from my xperia x1 using XDA App
Thanks Zurechial for this thorough post. I for one, have been lucky in finding a repair guy (non-SE) who is an expert with devices like the X1. I had a problem that some water/moisture/sweat had seeped in the charging port and I could not get the phone to charge. He fixed it for me.
Now the only problem I face is that the camera is not working, and wifi is disabled. Any tips to get the Wifi working? It is shown as disabled in the Comm Manager and there is no WLAN MAC Address also for it.
brilliant post, thank you very much indeed. I have just ordered a cheap housing off ebay, i know what to expect now
What worries me the most though, is how the keyboard WILL fail eventually ><
The qwerty keyboard is one of the main reasons why i got the phone.
time to snatch back our lives suckers
Apparently, it's taken less than 20 years, to destroy the Consumer Electronics Industries, ability to Repair products, sold in this country. I saw the writing on the wall, in the early 80's, with the first lines of "off shore", throw away VCR's, that were priced cheaper than they'd cost to repair. The theory, if it breaks, throw it away & buy a new one. Who cares if it winds up in a land fill somewhere.
Now, we're up to $500 Cell Phones, with the state of repair being either, unit replacement, or, cannibalization of parts. And apparently no one cares. Is it our complacency or can we really afford as a society, to buy a new phone every time one breaks? God knows we're all desperate, for our phone usage.
It's time to snatch back the repair ability we once had. This is the age of recycling, and the highest form of recycling is repair.
As consumers, start demanding access to schematics, and, access to sources of component level repair parts.
IM
You help me...
I'm almost freaking out when signal on my phone show only 2 bars...
Anyway...
it's for additional information,
use handscoon, it gives somewhat confident and when using tweezer, hold it like using pen (I learnt it when I studied as paramedic) because it will give me strength while holdin it.
AND ask the seller to send housing with screw. I bought 2 housings, from ebay and another hongkong shop. Ebay is s%ck but that other hongkong shop is more fit.
So my EVO has slowly developed a loose USB port over time. It got to the point I could only charge and not use USB mass storage.
So I fixed it. It turns out that pocket lint slowly got compacted over time from being in my pocket and pushing the USB jack into the port. I got in there with a pick (from my lock pick set, another hobby) and a razor blade (To get on the other side of the port) and sure enough, the USB port is now working just like it used to.
So, there wasn't a hardware failure of any kind.... just pocket lint.
Hey, I'm having the same exact problem with the usb port, you wouldn't happen to have taken pictures of the process would you? I'm pretty bad with fixing things myself. Do you think you could explain this to me with a little more detail?? Thanks
Sent from my dope fly fresh EVO
I can try to explain it, but I don't have any pictures of the process.
There wasn't anything wrong with the connectors on the phone, it was just that so much crude got compacted in the backside of the port that the jack couldn't be pushed in all the way to make a connection.
I got a small piece of metal (a lock pick) that is maybe 1/8" or 1/16" of an inch thick and started to dig at the backside of the port. This is the side closest to the battery. I grabbed the pieces I could with the pick, and used a pair of needle nose pliers to grab the more stubborn pieces after I loosened them with the pick.
The other side (the side not housing the connections and closest to the screen) is very tight to the USB housing. I slipped a razor in that space and managed to get out the remaining crude, which was very little compared to the opposite side.
Took maybe 5 minutes of poking around, and went from the jack falling out if I even slightly moved the phone to getting a nice click when I insert the jack.
I don't know how prone to damage those connectors on the phone are, but I wasn't exactly gentle at one point with the razor and it survived. I was going to get the phone replaced anyways so it was a low risk venture for me.
Hi,
I have a Motorola Atrix and I'm afraid that the TRS connector socket in the phone has a loose contact. It got worse and worse the last days and now it doesn't work at all :-( It's not the earphones and unfortunately I'm out of warranty.
Does anybody have experience repairing those? Help would be very much appreciated!
Have you opened the phone to see if it's the connectors internals or it's connection to the board? If the issues is inside the connector then you can just find a replacement connector and a buddy with some soldering skills. If its the later then you will have to determine if there is board damages and reevaluate after that.
you can see it any good mechanics , and sure it will be right soon.
No need to replace, if its dirty, use some petrol or contact cleaner solution, dip an earbud in it, and use the buds to clean it,
If its loose, open the phone, use a small sharp needle to poke up the contacts ( the earphone jack usually got 4 contacts, or howmany u can see, that realy touches the earphones plug), u can access all of them via openings in the jack,( the jack got small holes in sides( three sides, which are not visible to external world, unless u open the device), via which u can insert small pins to poke the contacts.
Nb. Some contacts are made to touch each other( intended to determine if u had inserted a headphone or not) . Notice you dont damage its position. Also turn on the phone only after the solution u used (if any) completely dries out.
Patience, precession,examinations .... dnt forgot these. U can save a lot of money if u have these, else dont go for it.
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App
I feel just dirty...
Hi y'all,
I opened the phone and made sure all the connectors touch the board. However, while doing this I realized there is a lot of dust on the bottom of the socket. I didn't see it initially because it was that much that it covered the whole bottom. I am pretty sure it was the dust.
Anyways it works perfect again. Thanks a lot for your help!
Warning: These MODs will void your warranty. You will have to open the device and leave traces behind by performing them. Only perform these Mods on your own risk, if your tablet turns into a brick after or tries to conquer the world, it is not my fault !
As many people know, the Nexus 7 ( 2013 ) has some serious issues. Some devices might show next to no problems at all while others are barely usable.
The Mods I´ve come up with help to at least make the tablet usable again since the manufacturer saved too much $$$ for these devices.
Improving the Touchscreen performance and fixing the grounding issue:
The Touchscreen controler is way too sensitive and the connector cable leading to the Touchscreen acts like a antenna. In order to suppress interferences, it requires a shielding.
I know that some people try to flash other Firmware in order to improve the response but this is not how you can get rid of the problem permanently. These extra Touchscreen Firmwares might decrease the sensitivity and make the Touchscreen usable, not more or less.
Material needed:
- Some Aluminum Foil
- Some adhesive Tape
- Some thick piece of paper ( optional )
- a multimeter device ( optional )
- conductive pads ( optional )
Basically you need to disconnect the Touchscreen connector, attach some thick piece of paper between the cable and the battery ( only optional since this method only adds some extra insulation and insures a even tighter fit of the cable ), attach some Aluminum Foil ( make sure to fold it many times since you need many layers to make it stable ), wrap it around the cable and fix it with stripes of adhesive tape.
This is how your new cable could look like. The open copper spots on the Touchscreen cable are connected to ground; by attaching the aluminum foil, it will also have a connection to ground and shield the cable against interferences. You can check the proper connection with a multimeter if you´re not sure if you have a tight connection.
I also attached a extra conductive pad on top of the connector to ensure a even tighter electrical connection.
I salvaged these conductive pads from junk devices
After having performed this Mod, I never ever had any trouble with my Touchscreen controler going ape-sh*t after a while or not reacting when the tablet was laying on my table and only being touched with one hand only ( also known to other people as the "grounding issue" where you need to touch your Tablet with both hands ).
Audio buzzing issue:
My device also had another issue where I could hear a buzzing noise while using the headphone jack without playing any sounds at all. I could only fix this ground connection issue by bypassing it with a extra trace of conductive ink.
Material needed:
- conductive silver ink
- conductive pads
- adhesive tape ( optional )
This is what I did:
You will need a multimeter to check if the connections are ok and also attach some extra conducting pads.
Safety first:
If you´re too scared about risking a short circuit, you can attach some adhesive tape :
My device is working without any flaws now and I can finally enjoy it like I wanted it to behave when I bought it in 2013..
Happy Modding,
I also wanted to mention that the grounding error when using the headphone output, without listening to music for a while, seems to have vanished too.
I used to have a buzzing noise when not playing any sounds at all, after a while. Maybe the parallel ground connection prevents some internal interruptions, messed by a faulty PCB design.
edit: removed
Very cool. I'll give this a try over the weekend; I'll have to get that silver pen first. They cost a pretty penny here in Singapore.
edit: removed this one too
Sweet. I'm doing this asap. I absolutely love my Nexus 7 but the touchscreen just drives me crazy. Terraria is my favorite game and controls are just insane. I get multiple inputs often. Character is running all over the place, turned the wrong way. I tried to play a FPS a few days ago and that was a complete joke. I've done the touchscreen firmware flashes and reseating the cable connections and both help alot but still doesn't stop the frequent spaz fits.
So you did both steps; added silver trace to the backplate and wrapped the cable in foil...?
I'm assuming the silver trace didn't work since you continued working on it. Do you recommend doing the silver trace or just the foil wrap?
A video would be interesting to just show what connects to what. Video is also easier to make out what is what.
edit: removed this one too. It seems that there is not any demand for mods like this.
Just wanted to report that I placed a 2×3 strip of twice folded tinfoil underneath the two cables running down the back inside my nexus. I made sure the left and right edges of the foil were touching the metal bracket before I put the back cover back on. My issues with a dead screen have disappeared. It had been happening more and more over the past 2 months, maybe 10-12 times a day. I was close to getting a new device. Glad I didn't!
Gorgtech said:
Edit: removed due to low demand
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But why? Should sharing something be in a racing with other threads? Helping even one person should be good enough.
Sent from my D6503 using XDA Free mobile app
I´m glad the shielding did the trick for you
I removed the posts because the Mods require you to not only open the device ( which is easy and can be done without leaving any traces if done the proper way ) but also perform changes which will leave marks behind and void your warranty for sure. If you are a older user who owns the device for 1-2 years ( and doesn´t care about voiding the warranty ), you might want to try them.
But I guess that most people here might be afraid in the end to modify the device like I did. XDA is a platform for software enthusiasts and I´m not sure if hardware-mods really fit here.
But if there really is a demand for fix which require you to do more than just eg. playing with ADB around and flashing other Touchscreen Firmware or simply open the device and pushing a connector ( while wearing gloves so you cannot leave any finger prints on the copper foils ), I can reupload a short description
Gorgtech said:
I´m glad the shielding did the trick for you
I removed the posts because the Mods require you to not only open the device ( which is easy and can be done without leaving any traces if done the proper way ) but also perform changes which will leave marks behind and void your warranty for sure. If you are a older user who owns the device for 1-2 years ( and doesn´t care about voiding the warranty ), you might want to try them.
But I guess that most people here might be afraid in the end to modify the device like I did. XDA is a platform for software enthusiasts and I´m not sure if hardware-mods really fit here.
But if there really is a demand for fix which require you to do more than just eg. playing with ADB around and flashing other Touchscreen Firmware or simply open the device and pushing a connector ( while wearing gloves so you cannot leave any finger prints on the copper foils ), I can reupload a short description
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, a mod is a mod. Does not matter if software or hardware. A simple warning for warranty risks should be enough. It's not any more dangerous than installing Cyanogenmod or achieving S-off on HTC devices or bacing up DRM keys of our Sony, yet their inventors think giving you the warning on the OP is enough.
For the same angle, it's l logical that you advise people to use gloves, etc.. to hide any evidence of interacting with the device's inside so the warranty remains..
Besides, same rule as rooting still applies; if one is afraid or not know what to do clearly, then one should not do it.
People, like me, who lives in countries where the warranty is not honored properly because most of the tech companies has no honor at all, most likely would prefer a self-made solution rather than trusting the warranty companies -which is not the device maker company but a local one- and waiting for weeks.
Sent from my D6503 using XDA Free mobile app
Was gonna about to check this out again and try it, but you removed it already Hope you will post the shorter guide.
Please upload the guide again
Skickat från min HTC One_M8
Why would you delete your posts?
please re upload the fix
I'm very interested in seeing the guide
I just found this today, so I haven't had a chance to see it yet, but the context from the later posts makes it sound very interesting
Gorgtech said:
Edit: removed due to low demand
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
but why remove it?
where is fix?
Low demand? What kind reason is that?
can you post a picture? thanks.