Database Users

Help with touch screen replacement!!!

I wanted to change the touch screen on my QTEK 2020 and I bought a new one a few days ago. I opened tha PDA, but when I tried to pull the touch screen off, I damaged a slim orange cable on the back of the screen. Specifically, I pulled a black sticker and it took along the two cables that were on the circuit on the screen. I don't care for the touch screen's cable, but for the one of the screen. I have scratched the insulation on the cable and I have a question. If I just put over the circuit the nakes cable and glue it a little belower, would it make connection? Or have I to solder it? And How am I going to soldier a cable like this that's naked from the side that I don't see when I put it in place, without even melting and damaging for good the screen or the cable itself? I have some pics, too for you to see and understand what's going on. Please help me, as I am a young man with prospect and I want to learn things like this and do stuff more than the usual.

OK, I couldn't wait for advice so I soldered both cables. The screen turns on and it needs to be aligned. I tap the screen, the touch screen works, but when I finish the alignment, it starts from the beginning, the cross in the center. It asks to be aligned constantly. I haven't assembled the PDA, I have it like the pictre below. Is this the problem it doesn't start, or do I have to put the touch screen somehow differently? I have it centered and tried to align tapping a little upper, lower, left, and right from the cross, but nothing.
Please HELP!!!

OK, no worries! I fixed it! It took me all evening, but I'm completely satisfied. Solder this, solder that, make a bridge because a connection was damaged with all the scratching, but it worked!

cong. dominator happy that you have finally fixed it :wink:

Thanks Kbantikos my boy! And here's the bench and the heat tool I used! That's the only that I have. No doubt it took me 4 and a half hours to complete.

Congratulations! I'm not kidding, saw a lot of "homework" results, in some cases, display was damaged beyond repair.
You get the working display, so you are lucky .

Thank you, my friend! I didn't believe my eyes when it booted! It still works fine, even if it fell off my hands one time!

my touch screen is really quite dull / lacks brightness even when on the high setting
i've aquired an XDAII that isn't working but i know its screen was bright when it was working
my question is: what do i need to be looking out for / be carefull of when i replace the screen
what would you do differently?
thanks
Larry

You'll definitely have to look for that orange cable that's not of the touch screen. on the back side of the screen there should be a black sticker. When you try to pull it over, it takes the cables, too. So pull it from the side of the touch screen's cable only. You are gonna need to solder the new touch screen for sure, just placing it won't work. Scratch the side of the cable that's going to be placed on the circuit on the back of the screen so that the metal contact on both (touch screen's cable, circuit) is naked. Put solder on the circuit's contacts. Then put the cable on top of the circuit, but a little lower. Now, burn the solder holding the cable steady and connect that way all four contacts. I hope I was of a little help, observe my pictures and good luck!

Just about to try this myself.
Touch screen bought from - http://stores.ebay.de/hitechhk. Arrived within 1 week.
Removing the black tape on the back of the screen, even very carefully, pulled off both the connections for the touch screen and another connector (the back light I think)
In hindsight would recommend only removing the tape around the touch screen connector.
As soon as I find a small enough tip, will resolder everything.

Detominator7, how did you change your digitizer? cause i need to replace mine too, but the seller is talking about soldering it. i already open my pda and all i can see is there is only plastic cable. how do you solder on plastic?

Your touch screen might have a cable that plugs into a hole and does not require soldering. You know, like the fans we use on PC.

Dominator7 said:
Your touch screen might have a cable that plugs into a hole and does not require soldering. You know, like the fans we use on PC.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no, i already checked (disassambly my pda) i got the ribbon cable that attached to another ribbon cable at the back of lcd.

hi dominator touch screen 2020i
please dominator, could you send me or post a clear procedure about touch screen sostitution?
have I to cut some cable...?
sorry but i'm italian and i don't understand so well english!!
thanks a lot!!!

Dominator7 said:
Thanks Kbantikos my boy! And here's the bench and the heat tool I used! That's the only that I have. No doubt it took me 4 and a half hours to complete.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
good job! I have the same problem and so i got a new touch screen but i cannot get over the calibration thing same as your problem before can you give me some tips as to what to do im just about to give up and get a new lcd.Only thing stopping me is the price of a new lcd.

What kinda adhesive do they use on the back of the screen
I'm talking about the clear glue type adhesive on the back of the screen in order to hold the ribbon in place
here's a pic of what I'm talking abouthttp://blog-imgs-3.fc2.com/i/n/u/inuchanbt/CHT9000_dismantle12.jpg
The gold/copper ribbon glued to the screen
had to replace my brothers screen about 3 times and now its barely stickin

it's a kinda like double tape. u can find in office stores

I hard reseted my O2 XDA II & I had surprised the screen aligning can't be passed.
Can somebody help me with ROM Flash or maybe some hardware tricky?
I use WM5 from C_Shekar.
PM me if anyone replies this message.
Thanks, Berns.

2 phones / 2 issues / trying to make one phone work.

If anyone can offer any advise/assistance, it would be greatly appreciated!!
I have 2 AT&T branded 8525 phones. Both have issues and I assumed I could make one good working phone from them.
Phone 1 had a touchscreen issue. It is not responsive what-so-ever. I tried the credit card trick, cleaning out the edges, hard reset, soft reset, etc... nothing seems to make it respond at all. Reflashed the ROM, but of course I am stuck at the "Touch Screen to Begin" screen.
Phone 2 works just fine, but when plugging in the mini usb charger the screen starts to fade to white (with many vertical lines appearing...but eventually the screen goes to white). If you wiggle the charger, it will clear up, but then go back to the fading white screen. If you leave it long enough on the white screen, it will lock up.
So I thought I could take the known good LCD from phone 2 and put it in phone 1. Yesterday I took both phones apart to do this. I placed the good LCD in the phone that had the possibly bad LCD. Put it all back together and found the touchscreen still does not work . So perhaps the LCD was fine and it was something else. I then decided to just take the motherboard from phone 2 and put it in phone 1 along with the LCD I just replaced (effictively moving the lcd and motherboard over to a new case). Same issue... touchscreen does not work. I assume moving the parts around eliminates a loose connection of some sort. I did make sure the ribbon cables were properly aligned and secured well. I am guessing something is wrong on the motherboard.
Does anyone have an idea of what could be wrong to prevent the touchscreen from working?
Oh...moving both the motherboard and lcd with the whitescreen issue(phone 2) over to the other phone (phone 1) casing didn't change anything at all either...so I assume that is not a connection issue with the cables. I also looked closely at the mini USB connector on the motherboard to see if there was bad solder or something that was making it act up. I am guessing bad hardware in both phones, but was hoping I could somehow make one of these phones work and junk the other. Sounds like I may have to junk both as the cost of parts is probably is silly.
Thanks for any help!!
Eric

Fade Out; WSOD; White screen coloured lines

I know there are others dying to fix this problem. Apparently there is a back "connector" that gets loose. If someone has fixed this please show me which one it is and how you fixed it.

It is the connecter between your mobo and the screen itself. Its come partially lose on one side. You need to dis-assemble your device, then remove and re-insert the little flex cable back into the slot, and all should be well!

hey thanx heaps man. i have it apart and didnt want to put it back together til i knew what the cause was.Wicked!

also the flex/ribbon cable is very sensitive. i will dremel the part of the case that touches the side of the ribbon cable. i am also thinking about coating it with something to make it last longer. replacements cost 40 euros

All good ideas! tell me what u decide to coat it with. i put it back together and made sure that connection was in right but it didnt work, (WSOD 5mins after assembly), going to try putting something underneath to keep it tight when its all fixed together. thanks again for your help guys.

I have the same issue, but also my touchscreen is affected to, touchscreen wont work when you slide keyboard open, sometimes i have to open very slightly for touchscreen to work.
The ribbon cables are very delicate, and it is known that slide open phones are bad for these ribbon cables, if cleaning and securely connecting them and the problem persists, its probably a damaged ribbon cable.
My phone does the same screen problem, where it sometimes gets lines down one side of the screen and gradually fades out, putting the phone into standby and back on brings the screen back to normal but it sometimes repeats several times.
I have noticed that it very rarely does it when the keyboard is exposed, it does it most frequently with the phone closed. And its more likely to do it when there is alot of white background, like in certain option screens, for example when in camera options does it alot.
In my case i suspect that the screen itself is faulty (hardware) and the touch screen cable has been damaged, since sliding out the keypad affects on weather it works, doesnt work, or works as if not calibrated.
emjay87, sorry to say it but i suspect your display is faulty or the ribbon is damaged. Replacement is easy to fix, but make sure you get the right screen, as far as i remember there are 2 different screens for this phone. They have different ribbion cable connections. One gold and ones white i think.

X1 Ribbon cable - what happens and a fix I came up with!

Hi, I come on here quite a lot for information as it's an amazing resource! This time however, I'm attempting to give something back!
I experienced the "black screen on slide out" on Monday. Phone completely screwed. I've also had a few droppages and had it apart once before so there's no way warranty is gonna help!
I stripped it down and soon discovered what it is that actually fails on the ribbon. The coating had worn through due to rubbing on something during the slide out / in process. it had been playing up for a while, probably due to shorting out on the metal case, but now the tracks (aluminium?) had worn right down.....
In pic 1 i've circled the worn area. The shiny section is where i'd tried taping over it to prevent shorting, before i realised the tracks were gone.
Got an almost new one off ebay for 15 quid and, realising it was going to happen again, came up with a solution that, so far, looks like it will work....
A while back I bought some "anti rattle felt" for my car's dashboard - really thin and strong self adhesive felt to prevent squeaking joins between dash sections. I cut a piece of this and stuck it to the new ribbon. Once this stuff is on it's well stuck, by the way!
See pic 2 for the modded ribbon cable.
On reassembly everything is working just fine so far! Here's hoping that it lasts longer than 6 months this time!
Just need a new casing now as mine is decidedly second hand!
Hope this turns out to be of use to someone!

cool story bro

when i took apart my xperia to replace the housing this seemed like a really weak point in the device. glad to see someone who has had the problem has been able to fix it

Why does the screen go black?

Hi,
When the coating wears off the ribbon cable it exposes the tracks in it. when you slide the keyboard out the exposed tracks short out on the metal casing and the screen loses it's input signal.
thats whats happened on mine at least and i presume quite a few others?
HTH!

Update:
That's interesting: My phone was also losing signal with the keyboard out, and occasionally while closed up as well. It would just randomly drop to "no signal" for a few seconds.
It hasn't done it since replacing the ribbon cable.....could be coincidental of course.

I'm having the same problem
It just started a week ago and I got the phone in January off of ebay. I'm new to opening up the phone so could anyone help me find the correct tools or have a link to a site with pictured instructions?
I noticed that the sliding mechanism started to go loose about 4-5 months ago but didn't expect the screen not respond in landscape mode. I have yet to see the other symptoms you all are referring to. I would like to fix this before it get worse.

In mine case it went totaly black after one week of this problem... You have all the instruction on youtube, there is where i looked. For tools you can be inovative, but the exactly right ones come with housings from ebay, it is only 15EUR, and i bet you have some cracks so it wouldn't hurt replacing. That is what i did, along with ordering new sliding mechanizm, and new ribbon cable.
I am open for ideas to prevent my ribbon cable from being cut at it weakest point again.

I'm assuming my flex ribbon went bad yesterday, since sliding the keypad out causes my screen to shut off.
Already ordered a cable off ebay and will attempt to replace it myself :O

Replaced my flex ribbon cable with one I bought on eBay. The screen doesn't turn on at all now, which leads me to believe the cable I was sent is defective. Put the old one back in and it works okay, less landscape mode. ughhh what a pain.

great tips! my input is I bought a case off of ebay that was ~60$ and everything actually fit fine for me...so I wouldn't discount every seller but you do get what you pay for, the 15$ cases are probablly the ones that will give you problems

I working in a mobilephone repair center if anyone need help drop me a priv... i able to get 2nd hand or even brand new components

Replaced the flex ribbon cable -
I got my flex ribbon cable a few weeks ago and took it to my local repair shop. They replaced it but the LCD screen/optical joystick receives no power. The touchscreen and everything else on the phone works just fine now. I thought it was a defective item so it was exchanged with a new one.
Got the repair shop to replace it again and the outcome still remains the same as the first.
Theres no light coming from the screen nor the side illumination.
I just told the repair shop to just place the original back in for the mean time.
Before the repairs, there would be a flicker of white light and random illuminations. Now there's no lights at all except the power botton.
Could it be defective a batch that the seller was sending out? or the repair shop's mistake and is playing dumb so they do not have to admint fault?
Hopefully there's an easy fix to this problem.
-Also I did inspect the ribbon before and after the repair. looks new as the OEm
Can anybody help me out with this new problem after replacing the cable -

perhaps you should try a hard reset. Ive had problems in the past where the optical joystick and the illuminators did not work, and that worked for me.
On the other hand, the top illuminators are on the same piece of hardware as the flex cable that was replaced, so a faulty flex cable is possible. The bottom illuminators are on the circuit board that the optical joystick attaches to, separate but connected to the flex cable.
Ive recently replaced my flex cable and touchscreen. The experience i had with the faulty touch screen was that it appeared to receive no power, but was in fact displaying a dark backlit illumination that could only be seen in the dark. At the same time however, the screen did not display anything. I'm not sure if this is similar to your experience, but if so then your touchscreen would need to be replaced.
ive done all repairs on the xperia myself, and one thing ive discovered is if something doesnt work right after a repair, simply disassembling it and reassembling it to make sure all the connections are properly done has worked for me in the past.
"Before the repairs, there would be a flicker of white light and random illuminations. Now there's no lights at all except the power button."
Now when you say the power button, do you mean that a red light appears under it?
I dont know if i can come to a conclusion or that i can help (or have helped) you come to a conclusion, but i can only assure you that the xperia acts out in strange and weird ways.
Good Luck!

Tags
Dismantle / Disassemble Sony Ericson Xperia X1
http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Sony-Ericsson-XPERIA-X1/788/1
http://www.formymobile.co.uk/xperiadisassembly.php
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWDurQrRt-Y (REAR)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyGUbxFqvyc&feature=related (FRONT)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elgC8hwHfYQ&feature=related
For info.
Mike

Thanks for the links. I've tried the hardreset and restoring the original rom but the issue is still there. It's really bugging me that everything works but the LCD screen. I'm currently using MyMobiler to use my phone. The touch screen works fine and so does the soft keys. Just no power for the lights. I might just give up and wait for another phone that catches my eye and then tinker with the xperia myself. but if anyone got a solution or want me to test something then I'll give it a try.
My warranty is no longer affective so I'll use my phone as a tester to help others with any problems.

TRIONDAVE, how's your Xperia running now with the cable mod that you did? Its been 6 months since you created the thread. I hope you're still around.
My Xperia X1 works nearly fine, except for the keyboard issues, so I'm thinking of opening it up. If your Ribbon mod helped I might just do it too once I've got it opened. Mine has a MOUNTain of cracks though, and the battery compartment itself is cracked on both side enough to make the compartment CURVED. Hence the Battery cover doesn't sit well.
I'm looking around for broken Xperias which I might be able to use to change the internal cracked casing. Lets see.

DatDereX1 said:
cool story bro
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My thoughts exactly.

Hello guys, I am in need of real help over here!
Its just that Ive replaced my ribbon cable, the old one got screwd up.
However I got done for 10 minutes ago, tried to start up the phone.. without success :,(
The ribbon cable doesnt have anything to do with the start up, only the screen am I correct? Cause I cannot even start my phone..
Ive connected the charger, but when I remove the battery it shows a red light, meaning no battery, correct?
So what may the problem be exactly? Maybe the battery is all dead, or?
PLEASE HELP!

for the people with ribbon failures how long have you had the phone before it occurred ? im just interested on the cables lifespan.
mine is fine so far but i have noticed the slider is flimsy and rocks left and right.

What else can I replace? (Screen issue)

My screen started turning white awhile back. I now have a screen and a ribbon cable.
I replaced the screen first, and the new screen shows only white. Probably the cable, right?
Then I replaced the ribbon (keeping the new screen in) and still got only white.
Hooked the old screen back up with the new ribbon cable, and now I have a working screen, but the colors are horribly washed out and it looks like it has lines of white every other line or so.
Is there anything else I can do? Should I give up? Suggestions?
Thanks guys, I don't know if I've ever posted here, but you've been a great help for many years!

RoastGecko said:
My screen started turning white awhile back. I now have a screen and a ribbon cable.
I replaced the screen first, and the new screen shows only white. Probably the cable, right?
Then I replaced the ribbon (keeping the new screen in) and still got only white.
Hooked the old screen back up with the new ribbon cable, and now I have a working screen, but the colors are horribly washed out and it looks like it has lines of white every other line or so.
Is there anything else I can do? Should I give up? Suggestions?
Thanks guys, I don't know if I've ever posted here, but you've been a great help for many years!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Assuming the cable connectors are good and clean, it is now generally accepted that white screen issues are caused by faulty chip connections on the d-pad daughter board. If you can replace that at a reasonable cost, it might be worth it.
Your new screen may have been white because either:
1
The d-pad board is indeed faulty
OR 2
The new screen although made for the Hermes is not an exact match. You MUST replace like with like. There were at least 3 different and NON-compatible screens made for the Hermes (by different manufacturers - Toppoly, Samsung etc). The only easy way to know if the new screen is the correct one is to compare the code numbers printed on the rear of the screens.
see here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=485961
Mike

I'll have to keep a eye on eBay for a d-pad... There are a few parts phones out there now, but I can't tell if they have the right parts inside or not,
Does the serial number tell me what screen components it uses (IE Serial number XXXX+ came with the black flex, XXXX and below came with the white flex, etc?)

RoastGecko said:
I'll have to keep a eye on eBay for a d-pad... There are a few parts phones out there now, but I can't tell if they have the right parts inside or not,
Does the serial number tell me what screen components it uses (IE Serial number XXXX+ came with the black flex, XXXX and below came with the white flex, etc?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It may be that you can match screen to seriel number, but so far as I know, nobody has done that detailed matchiing task. So unfortunately at the moment, the only way to tell is to dismantle and see the number.
A thought crossed my mind about the d-pad board. Have you read the long thread about fixing the whitescreen problem. One reasonably successful solution is to place a little padding on a d-pad chip to press it against it's board. (simply put the issue arises from fractured chip solder joints - caused by finger presses on the d-pad). I don't suggest this as a permanent fix, but if such padding caused the whitescreen to disappear, then at least you could be sure it is a d-pad problem.
Mike

My boss is a parnter in a Electric car conversion company, and they build all sorts of small circuitry (including surface mount stuff) so I'll take the board into one of them and ask if they'll re-do the solder joints for me, thanks.
I never posted here, but I got all the information I used to try and fix it here, but in all my searches, I don't think I ever read anything about the Dpad untill the past few days... So thanks alot for that...

RoastGecko said:
My boss is a parnter in a Electric car conversion company, and they build all sorts of small circuitry (including surface mount stuff) so I'll take the board into one of them and ask if they'll re-do the solder joints for me, thanks.
I never posted here, but I got all the information I used to try and fix it here, but in all my searches, I don't think I ever read anything about the Dpad untill the past few days... So thanks alot for that...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One thing if you have the solder reflowed (obvious to some but not all!!) remember to peel off the sticky plastic layer on the opposite side or you'll end up with a sticky mess
Mike