Related
Hi, I’ve just changed my mobile to an XDA Exec, had it for about a week and just noticed today the screen seems a little lose where the twisting joint is. I’ll try and explain this: With the XDA sitting on the desk and the screen open (at 90deg to the keyboard), if you put your fingers on the top of the screen assembly, it will rock noticeable from side to side (left/right), which is then more noticeable when it’s closed up. It almost feels like there is enough play in it to cause some damage if not careful.
What I’m interested to find out is, is this normal? Is it normal ware (given it’s a week or so old) or is this something that isn’t right and needs some attention?
Also is it possible to tighten something up to stop this and are there any disassembly guides available for the screen assembly?
Cheers
Matt
same here!
same problem with my xda exec, it has a slight wiggle but then it really bothers me. is there a way to tighten the joint or a service center that can do the tightening? im from toronto. thanks!
Hi, At least I'm not the only one, driving me mad too every time I pick it up....
Do you remember if it did this when you got it or has it started over time? I'm wondering if I can get it repaired under the warrantee or if this is just a "Feature" of the hardware.......
Alternatively I'm interested in finding out how to take the screen section apart. Has anyone got any pictures of the innards? And if that is actually worth doing, e.g. is there a nut that's come loose and needs tighten?
Cheers
Matt
The common problem I have found is that the screw on the hinge by the screen pivot comes loose. Look at it with the screen 90 degrees out, It's obvious. It has happened on my last 3 Execs. The screens seem to be easy to damage.
Try removing the screw, adding a little super glue or whatever your local glue is and tightening it quickly. Works for me
i little wobble is normal considering you have a relatively huge screen on that end of a lttle metal base plate with one screw holding it on.
if your screw is tight, but you can wiggle the screen back and forth your base plate may be bent.
this happened on my UNI after a dropped it. the plate was noticabley bent convex. when this happens the base plate isn't supported by the plastic of the case. i removed the single metel screw (described above) and detached the screen from the rest of the case. while it was out i bent the base plate into a concave shape. once it was tighted back down the screen was back to it's slightly wobbly self again!
download the service manual and study the pictures.
I have an XDA Neo whose soft buttons haven't been working for quite a while and I cannot find a right moment to send it for repair. But I suspect it's the dust that has made its way beneath
But the bolts are so strange, I cannot unscrew them with anything - screwdrivers, knives I tried - nothing helps
Any suggestions?
this is easy you need a torx 6 screwdriver good luck
10x a lot
Look no further..
http://www.modaco.com/Changing-you-prophet-caseand33-t240109.html
Attention to side plugs...
Yes that's torx 6. It's rare but available in some stores.
But it's not over. There are some steps which need special care. Otherwise you may break some fragile parts of the body. I dismentled 2 times completely but i broke some plastic ears on the sides and the screws are not enough to come back to a tight fixing. Some spaces remian on the sides if you break the small ears while disassembling.
The steps, roughly:
1- Pull out battery, sim card.
2- Unplug upper rear cover (not necessary to unplg the antenna cover) starting from top, then bottom. Pushing 2 ears at left and righ side of the bottom is enough.
3- Unscrew 4 x torx6
4- Pull out front frame by unplugging side ears surrounding the whole frame but PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO KEEPING THE EARS UNDAMAGED. The frame is still connected to the board and the speaker. So separate it slightly, not too much.
5- Unplug the speaker unit by pushing its caoutchouc frame and slide it through the hole to free the rear frame. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DISCONNECT THE SPEAKER SOCKET. IT'S DANGEROUS AND NOT NECESSARY.
6- Pull out the camera. Its body is not fixed but only pushed into its frame. Pay attention while disconnecting its cable.
7- Unplug the keypad socket by pushing upside from sides. It's fragile but not too difficult.
8- Unscrew 4 little screws. One may be masked by a spacer. You can push it the access the screw.
9- Unplug the AC connector if necessary. Not screwed. So, you can get manually.
10-Pull out the keypad towards the rear of the phone. It will not come very easyly. Find the right angle. It's not necessary to pull out the white cover but you can do this if you want.
I write this using what i remember. I may forgot some small details but the order should be correct.
Finally don't use battery screwdrivers on a/m screws. The torque will be too strong and may destroy the plastic holes. You can unscrew but don't screw.
Thanks a lot man. I know it's dangerous, so want to be extremely careful. But some people told me that doing this can break my warranty because some of some manufacturer sticker being damaged. Is that true?
Yes, Warranty Voids If Dismantled
Yes indeed. One of 4 torx screws is covered by a warranty label. You have to destroy it to unscrew.
I did it because i never trust warranty issues on PDAs, at least in my country. Mine was fallen on its upper left corner and the body has taken a good crash make-up! It's 100% sure that u have no warranty because of user fault.
So, i dismantled and tried to repair the cover like a garage man works on a crushed car. Result: Not bad. Better than nothing. Some painting has gone. I add a silicon case on the device and everybody's happy.
Hi. Can anyone help me identify where a part comes from? I took apart my Prophet because of the amount of dust it in and the very irregular digitiser calibration. This is much better but I seem to have a piece left over and I don't know where it should go. I think it must be something to do with the phone antenna as I have very poor telephone reception since.
can u post a pic of the top end of the circle? can't really make out what it is. didn't have this problem when i opened my case
Hi, thanks for taking an interest. Here's another couple of shots.
Richard
i'm kinda guessing that it's the external antenna? u know the 1 with the rubber circle at the back of the pda? can't seem to find my tools atm to see what it actually is...
Yes, I am sure you are right - I will get my tools out and have another play with it. I may find an obvious place where the antenna goes which will fit the part in.
Well I feel pretty silly now. I took the Prophet apart and realised that this part was just a mount which the long screws screw into. One mount had come loose so I superglued it in and the screw firmly screws in now, making the whole device hold together better.
part
Richard Fantom said:
Hi, thanks for taking an interest. Here's another couple of shots.
Richard
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i think that part is below the antenna cap
Richard Fantom said:
Well I feel pretty silly now. I took the Prophet apart and realised that this part was just a mount which the long screws screw into. One mount had come loose so I superglued it in and the screw firmly screws in now, making the whole device hold together better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hahahah... well, it did look like the ext antenna part to my eyes... heheheh glad you know what it is now
EDIT
"meyourchum" has provded a link to get offical disassembly instruction with lot more information.
Check it for yourself
Hello folks,
I had a chance to work on my friends arc who bought a Rogers version and dropped it. He had it totally mess on the case and needed the full housing replacement.
I hope that doesn't happen to anyone. I didn't take any photos but I am trying to explain everything as it was to help anyone with this.
General Note:
- Anywhere you got stuck, watch some X10 Disassembly video
- Be very gentle to your phone in this process
- Besides all the screws the rest of the phone is put together with glue(Sticky Back) and snap(plastic for main board)
- Using this information on your own risk as I don't take any responsibility if anything happens to your phone.
Instruction
1) Remove the back battery cover. Thats the easiest part
2) Need star shaped screw driver[Trox](I bought the set for $5) there are 4 screws like that and two which opens with phillips screwdriver(tiny) This is what I bought
All the above we all have seen them
3) After removing the 6 screws remove the front fascia of the phone with a guitar picks, something skinny but sturdy*
* I recommend not using anything other than rubber or plastic in the whole process.
4) Main board is snapped in with plastic to the body which easily can be opened.
5) Little board on the bottom is glued(sticky back @ top) which you can remove with pulling little hard but make sure you don't break it.
6) Majority of the wire you see connected to mainboard can be discounted (snap in wires)
7) Removing the screen: from outside of the phone (like you are looking directly to screen like you normally do) you need to put something under neat and raise up the screen. This part has glue as well and its hard to lift but I did it and it should be possible.
8) if you are doing a full housing replacement, then there are stuff here and there that you need to remove and re-use it on the new housing(Like 3.5 mm jack, HDMI lid, etc.)
Good Luck and let me know if you have any questions.
1st time... ehm.. taking the Arc apart, that is!
Helluw there
Just read your post, and thought I wanted to share with you, that I might be opening one of these slick little things. My friend broke his display, and the ISP is talking about some 'off the scale' repair prizes.
...So, he asked me to do the job
Told him I didn't have any experience on the disassembling of this phonetype, but he trusts me it seems
I might return with some questions in case of problems, is that OK with you Nimche?
Greetingz
Hope u have the courage to make a video next time
Sent from my Arc using XDA premium App
xelion said:
Helluw there
Just read your post, and thought I wanted to share with you, that I might be opening one of these slick little things. My friend broke his display, and the ISP is talking about some 'off the scale' repair prizes.
...So, he asked me to do the job
Told him I didn't have any experience on the disassembling of this phonetype, but he trusts me it seems
I might return with some questions in case of problems, is that OK with you Nimche?
Greetingz
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure, no problem. I would be more than happy to answer. Lets see just some general stuff...
Note: anywhere you got stuck, watch some X10 Disassembly video
Note: be very gentle to your phone in this process
- you remove the back battery cover. Thats the easiest part
- you need that star shaped screw driver(I bought the set for $5) there are 4 screws like that and two which opens with phillips screwdriver(tiny)
All the above we all have seen them
after removing the 6 screws
note: besides all the screws the rest of the phone is put together with glue and snap(plastic for main board)
- remove the front fascia of the phone with a guitar picks, something skinny but sturdy*
* I recommend not using anything other than rubber or plastic in the whole process.
- main board is snapped in with plastic to the body which easily can be opened. I change full housing and not sure if you have to remove the hard key button from the bottom end of the phone too or not but that little board on the bottom is glue which you can remove with pulling little hard but make sure you don't break it.
- All the wire you see connected to mainboard can be discounted (snap in wires)
- There is a big one which goes to the screen you have to dis-attach that before removing the screen
- Removing the screen: from outside of the phone (like you are looking directly to screen like you normally do) you need to put something under neat and raise up the screen. This part has glue as well and its hard to lift but I did it and it should be possible.
Good Luck and let me know if you have any questions.
Can you answer this??? It get's hot here (and also in the same spot on the front.. so what's inside at this point??
CPU is right behind the second cover. I wish I could take some photos.
Nimche said:
CPU is right behind the second cover. I wish I could take some photos.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the clarification. I was also suspecting since this area gets damn hot when playing games and even at charging (sometimes).
So seems like they move the CPU from behind the battery in X10 to near to the camera in Arc .
Can I change only the front faceplate around the screen without removing the mainboard? How easy would that be? I want to change mine to Misty Silver as Rogers only carry the Midnight Blue.
Also, for glued parts, do I have to glue them back on the new housing?
hellocng said:
Can I change only the front faceplate around the screen without removing the mainboard? How easy would that be? I want to change mine to Misty Silver as Rogers only carry the Midnight Blue.
Also, for glued parts, do I have to glue them back on the new housing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glue part, they are more sticky than glued. You just simply stick it back where it was.
Where is the silver face you found?
This is retarded from them...
Digitizer and screen(one part) are sticked to the front face. In order to for your to change the faceplate only(front) you may have to go through the whole process because the wires from digitizer are going through a big hole to the main board. You don't want to mess around with $700 or $800.
Inside, everything is small. really small. I thought I totally screwed up the whole thing. Technology has gone forward alot since I was a kid putting radio together.
Good Luck
prathaban said:
Thanks for the clarification. I was also suspecting since this area gets damn hot when playing games and even at charging (sometimes).
So seems like they move the CPU from behind the battery in X10 to near to the camera in Arc .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, there are two board one above battery and one below batter @ bottom of the phone
On top is the main board
on bottom is the board for hard keys.
Nicely put together but they could have done a better job there....
Are there three parts to the housing? I assume there is the front plate, middle housing with the chrome, and the battery cover. The mainboard should be in the middle with the chrome. So I can't just detach the screen front the front plate? What is holding the three pieces of housing together? The six screws?
There are silver housings on eBay from time to time. Though, blue is a lot more common.
Three pieces. Back battery cover which is nothing.
Then there are two main pieces.
Chrome which is more like a holder of the fascia.
If I remember correctly, the front Fascia is the one holding all the board on it including that metal look piece(aluminum probably)
I will take photos and upload here...
Uploaded photos to the first post...
Hey, I'm looking to replace the chrome piece which has a few nasty chips in it, after removing the second back cover, how easy is it to take off that chrome piece?
Great post
How can I replace digitizer? I dropped my phone and the glass cracked
anyone know where i can get the tiny screw driver? I cant seem to find the correct one. they are either too small or too big.
how easy is it to replace the front cover, ive cracked the top of it and chipped a bit out the side (surrounding the screen) i presume it'd be simple enough. And does anyone know where i can get a good quality/genuine front cover replacement?
soldiers33 said:
anyone know where i can get the tiny screw driver? I cant seem to find the correct one. they are either too small or too big.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, you could have sent a private message.
I bought the screw driver here at local tool shop. Home Depot sells them.
Its called Trox Screw Driver and I bought exactly this one http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&productId=100087664&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&ci_sku=100087664&ci_kw={keyword}&cm_mmc=shopping-_-googleads-_-pla-_-100087664&ci_gpa=pla&locStoreNum=618
I don't have the packaging but they should be standard.
Good Luck
mps83 said:
how easy is it to replace the front cover, ive cracked the top of it and chipped a bit out the side (surrounding the screen) i presume it'd be simple enough. And does anyone know where i can get a good quality/genuine front cover replacement?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can find the whole housing between $30 to $40 but the front cover is that actual main piece that holds all the internal components + the screen.
If the crack doesn't bug you much, I would not do it since you have to replace the sticker behind you battery as well, which is not easy to peel off + you have to take the screen off the old front fascia which is glued and kind of hard to take off.
Downside of the whole thing for me was the sticker. I have to find an alternative for this problem.
This is the way I fixed the wifi\bluetooth error with continuous rebooting on my Atrix.
I did not come up with it, and I do not guarantee it will work in your device, I'm simply sharing this because it's information that's hard to find and understand. I fixed my device in this way, so have others. I do not take responsability for any damage you might make to your device attempting this fix, and I do not claim it will work forever - it's been two days for me and still great!
For completeness sake, if you guys want to check other proposed fixes and some reasons why they might or might not work, here is this great post by mvniekerk, a person more far more knowlegble then me when it comes to these technological issues:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1655071
I'd also like to thank John-aurelio, junior member, who initially posted about this fix here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1655071&page=4
All credit goes to him!
So, what did I do?
1) I cut out two rectagular pieces of plastic from a pill tin, glued them on top of each other with scotch tape. I think any thin piece of plastic should do.
2) Opened up my Atrix by removing screws with a T5 Torx screwdriver. If you don't know how to do this check out this teardown by ifixit: http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Motorola+Atrix+4G+Teardown/4964/1
3) Slightly raised the motherboard and placed the plastic rectangle under it, with a little bit sticking out into the battery compartment.
To my amazement it worked, it is still working.
I wanted to tell you guys why, but I don't know. Perhaps one of you guys wants to experiment applying pressure to each component separately to find out the culprit?
Also, I'm curious to know if this will work for all of you, or just some of you.
Here are the pics:
This last one is the piece of tin\plastic with tape, side by side with a pencil for scale. Its not the tin I used, but its basically the same, but the one I used has white paint, I don't know if should make a difference. If you're worried about shorts just cover the whole thing in tape or cut plastic from a bottle or something.
The first two are how its supposed to look in the end.
[EDIT]: Here are some more pics:
This is the piece of plastic I used. It doesn't show, but it is very thin, one milimiter thick, if even.
These are of the open device. In the last one the plastic piece is a little eschewed, but you get the idea.
Cheerios
Huh. This is similar to the fix some people did with the digitizer problem. Seems like the the connectors on this phone tend to come loose, to where pressure in the right direction will fix it.
Sent from my MB860 using xda app-developers app
Newbleeto said:
This is the way I fixed the wifi\bluetooth error with continuous rebooting on my Atrix.
I did not come up with it, and I do not guarantee it will work in your device, I'm simply sharing this because it's information that's hard to find and understand. I fixed my device in this way, so have others. I do not take responsability for any damage you might make to your device attempting this fix, and I do not claim it will work forever - it's been two days for me and still great!
For completeness sake, if you guys want to check other proposed fixes and some reasons why they might or might not work, here is this great post by mvniekerk, a person more far more knowlegble then me when it comes to these technological issues:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1655071
I'd also like to thank John-aurelio, junior member, who initially posted about this fix here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1655071&page=4
All credit goes to him!
So, what did I do?
1) I cut out two rectagular pieces of plastic from a pill tin, glued them on top of each other with scotch tape. I think any thin piece of plastic should do.
2) Opened up my Atrix by removing screws with a T5 Torx screwdriver.
3) Slightly raised the motherboard and placed the plastic rectangle under it, with a little bit sticking out into the battery compartment.
To my amazement it worked, it is still working.
I wanted to tell you guys why, but I don't know. Perhaps one of you guys wants to experiment applying pressure to each component separately to find out the culprit?
Also, I'm curious to know if this will work for all of you, or just some of you.
Here are the pics:
This last one is the piece of tin\plastic with tape, side by side with a pencil for scale. Its not the tin I used, but its basically the same, but the one I used has white paint, I don't know if should make a difference. If you're worried about shorts just cover the whole thing in tape or cut plastic from a bottle or something.
The first two are how its supposed to look in the end.
Sorry for no open device pics, I did this yesterday and don't really feel like opening my phone, but if you guys think its needed I'll do it later.
Cheerios
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A detailed How To to show us what to do exactly, we can do much ourselves with just this pics. :/
EDIT: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYz_RiuFVRk had anyone seen this?
Will try this with my wifi broken atrix tomorrow.
guidoido004 said:
A detailed How To to show us what to do exactly, we can do much ourselves with just this pics. :/
EDIT: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYz_RiuFVRk had anyone seen this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's literally as simple as opening the atrix and placing the plastic under the motherboard, I don't think it gets any easier then that. But I'll try to take more photos.
As for that video, there are reports of people killing their mobiles by breaking the piece holding the battery or killing the nearby ICs trying that. That guy is just too rough. Also, it doesn't show the battery actually being replaced. If you wanna try to replace the battery, better do it gently and stay clear of that video
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
If the solution is to apply pressure to certain parts of the board then it's likely similar to the infamous nVidia issues from around 2008 where the chips were getting hot enough to expand and brake the solder connection or in some cases, rip some of the pads from the board. If that is the case, be careful, as flexing the board the wrong way could eventually lead to making it worse over time.
I can't believe this actually worked. Been using my Atrix for the whole weekend on WIFI. Also finally been able to use my Lapdock properly.
Thanks so much for such a simple fix.
If its any help to anyone, I ended up using an old debit card, as its seems the perfect height to give enough pressure on the board.
It did take a few goes, but as long as you persist with it, it works really well. Plus no more over heating too.
Thanks again
holy crap. 5 minutes and its fixed! thank you
Cause found??
Hi everybody,
I might have an idea what causes the wifi errors. As the wifi gets fixed by changing the motherboard's position, the motherboard is not fastened properly. This might be caused by the vibration function that is located on the part of the motherboard you would need to move up.(see the location of the vibrationfuction in the attachment.)
If so, should this function be less used then?
Thanks Newbleeto! I was so frustrated with this issue. I was initially trying based that youtube video link by someone else which never worked for me. I later decided to try your solution and it worked for me the very first time Appreciate your help!
Thanks, seems to work!
What an interesting tweak. There some validity to this. The Atrix 4G is notorious for wifi, bluetooth, and GPS dropout. This is largely due to kernel and rom. However I have seem plenty of Atrix4Gs with loose antenna clamps. Usually I apply a little pressure in the outside of the clamp to reform it slightly so it will maintain hold on the reciever socket. Second thing I look at is the shielding around the mainboard. This acts as a heatsink and guard. If depressed in anyway will cause massive heating along with grounding. The antenna clusters are not well separated from RF interference from one another to begin with. Metal in general will restricted RF signals considerably depending on its frequency. The greater the frequency the lower it's ability to perpetrate materials.
From the looks of it your directing RF crossover and bounce back away from each antenna. This is a good thing. It also means as long as the phone is not held on its edge towards any receiving end it won't effect talk and data very much.
My experiments with the Atrix4G always had a bit of unpredictable outcome when it came to pressure on the ribbon connections. This would result in the screen blacking out, digitizer over sensitive or non responsive, failure to boot and so on. Pressure is a big deal with these phones so be careful.
Happy tinkering
IT WORKS
after nearly 4 months of this bug i finally had the guts to open up my phone and do this fix.
and it is working , my wifi is back thank you OP. :highfive::highfive::highfive::highfive::highfive::highfive::highfive::highfive::highfive::highfive::highfive::highfive::victory::victory:
This method works wonderfully. Thanks, OP!
sangyum said:
This method works wonderfully. Thanks, OP!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Spoke too soon. This fix stopped working after two days.... Back to Wifi Error and boot loop. :crying:
I got my wifi to work again, there are two snap on connectors on the same side of the phone. I put 2x pieces of toilet paper cardboard between the frame of the phone and the connector, pushing the connector tighter to the other side.
I'd like to confrm that it works to me !
Thank you, I spent dozens of hours to try solve it.
Newbleeto said:
This is the way I fixed the wifi\bluetooth error with continuous rebooting on my Atrix.
I did not come up with it, and I do not guarantee it will work in your device, I'm simply sharing this because it's information that's hard to find and understand. I fixed my device in this way, so have others. I do not take responsability for any damage you might make to your device attempting this fix, and I do not claim it will work forever - it's been two days for me and still great!
For completeness sake, if you guys want to check other proposed fixes and some reasons why they might or might not work, here is this great post by mvniekerk, a person more far more knowlegble then me when it comes to these technological issues:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1655071
I'd also like to thank John-aurelio, junior member, who initially posted about this fix here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1655071&page=4
All credit goes to him!
So, what did I do?
1) I cut out two rectagular pieces of plastic from a pill tin, glued them on top of each other with scotch tape. I think any thin piece of plastic should do.
2) Opened up my Atrix by removing screws with a T5 Torx screwdriver. If you don't know how to do this check out this teardown by ifixit: http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Motorola+Atrix+4G+Teardown/4964/1
3) Slightly raised the motherboard and placed the plastic rectangle under it, with a little bit sticking out into the battery compartment.
To my amazement it worked, it is still working.
...
Cheerios
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did this as well, and it's been working perfectly for over a week now. Battery life has tripled to 24h (back where it used to be, what a relief) and the wifi is back to being perfect.
In my case, I cut a small piece out of an old credit card and inserted into the section highlighted in the attached picture, inside to out (from the battery bay towards the side). There are flat cables/strips underneath and you probably don't want to insert your spacer material from the outside in. Make sure that the plastic strip fits completely underneath the board, otherwise you won't be able to properly close the back.
Thanks!
To add some data to this can all of you confirm the kernel and rom you are useing before and after this mod. Would help all of us in the future for reference. Thanks.
Cab121 said:
To add some data to this can all of you confirm the kernel and rom you are useing before and after this mod. Would help all of us in the future for reference. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure, no problem!
Atrix 4G (Bell Canada)
Unlocked and rooted by yours truly (don't ask how, I'm still not sure I know what I did)
CynaogenMod 10.1 from epinter: Megathread or linuxmobile.org site, builds 2013-08-07 + hporch32 kernel (before and after mod) & 2013-08-26 + hporch32 kernel (after mod)
Radio: Telstra N_01.87.00R
OK - the burning question many people have had has been answered - Can I replace my screen?
The answer is yes, but it is not for the fainthearted.
My poor HTC One came to grief recently hitting a marble floor and while useable came off second best.
Investigation with local phone repairers yielded little. I could only find one company in Melbourne that wanted $295 to fix the screen on a $700 phone.
Looking around online I could only find teardown clips and the ifixit rating of 1 which isn't terribly confidence inspiring.
So this left me with a three options
1. Cut my losses and by a new phone
2. Cough up for a repairer
3. Have a crack at it myself
I started off searching for replacement screens on e-bay and after a bit more searching came across etradesupply.
Not only did they have all the parts they also gave me an idea, if I am changing screen, why not colour? I always liked the black one a bit more but was too impatient and bought the silver one.
So I went for it and ordered the screen and digitizer as an assembly
etradesupply.com/oem-htc-one-lcd-screen-and-digitizer-assembly-with-front-housing.html[/url]
and new rear housing
etradesupply.com/oem-htc-one-rear-housing-black-with-htc-and-beatsaudio-logo.html[/url]
I also ordered a few tools and about 5 days later my parts arrived.
Over this period I watched the youtube tear down clips and also reviewed the iFixit guide and wondered what had I got myself in for.
So I decided tonight was the night to go for it.
I started by trying to pry off the bottom speaker with the intent of working around the old housing. My delusions of grandeur of an elegant fix disappeared quickly as the zero gap was an impenetrable fortress that could not be penetrated until I hacked the base off breaking the bottom off where the polycarbonate seam is.
After a good half an hour of hacking and prying my case was off showing off the sheer complexity of the interior.
THIS WAS NOT LOOKING PROMISING
So as I looked over this and thought ok, lets start unscrewing and this is where I hit my first obstacle. My precision screwdrivers were not precise enough so a quick trip to the local hardware store and I was in business.
I decided to try and take the path of least tear down. Looking at the clips I felt I could achieve the outcome without a complete tear down. My advice to anyone else thinking the same is DO NOT DO THIS.
While I got there in the end, the antennas are fragile and any tension will snap them as I discovered. Not a big deal as a few seconds with the soldering iron fixed it, but it is easier to simply detach and re-attach them.
So after taking off various bits of tape, screws, ribbons and prying the battery out of the case which is well glued with adhesive I was almost there. If you watch the tear down clip, be prepared to rip every last item out and disassemble as per the clip. All the way down to the vibration motor.
It was about here I was ready to abandon all hope, I had disassembled and had thought I had reassembled and when I did a test boot, nothing....
I pushed, prodded, poked and tested all the connections and still nothing.
I disassembled and ensured every tricky little ribbon was connected and like a patient in a medical drama when it has had two shocks with the defibrillator, when I tried again it kicked in to life.
Screen works - Yes
Wi-Fi works - Yes
Bluetooth works - Yes
Audio works - Yes
3G/HSDPA works - Yes
Test call works - Yes
All of a sudden when I thought I was off to buy a new handset my HTC One had kicked back in to life. My transplant had patient was alive but still critical.
So I started the process of taping up the ribbons, screwing in all the screws and getting it in shape for the final part - attaching the rear housing.
I lowered the rear housing on to the exposed wires like Darth Vader's mask lowering on to Anakin at the end of Revenge of The Sith and just as I thought victory was mine there was a moment of dread.... it didn't fit
I delicately pried off the housing and took a look, the convoluted assembly around the charger socket was the culprit. After some re-evaluation and re-organisation of the plate, the rear housing was secured and the death star, oops no the HTC One M7 in black was fully operational
So about 3 hours after I started my task is complete, black is a much nicer look, however, the zero gap isn't as zero as it was before but will do.
I think if I were to do it again I would do it in under two hours, but the repairer estimates of 3 hours isn't outlandish.
If you cracked your screen and want to replace it, then I would say go for it and buy the assembly and housing as I did.
If you simply want to change colours for no other reason that you want to, I would caution against this. The work is serious and has risks. It is a repair of last resort.
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one minor thing to point out, the Sim Card Tray ships seperate so anyone thinking of a colour transplant will need to add that to the list.
Showed off my repaired One today, my workmates who are all in IT were mighty impressed, thought I had no chance of getting it done after looking at the tear down on iFixit
Dredd73 said:
one minor thing to point out, the Sim Card Tray ships seperate so anyone thinking of a colour transplant will need to add that to the list.
Showed off my repaired One today, my workmates who are all in IT were mighty impressed, thought I had no chance of getting it done after looking at the tear down on iFixit
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for the writing.
I was hoping to take apart the top and bottom speaker grill so I can close the gap.
How are they put together? Is it as simple as adhesive tape? or screwed?
dsan45 said:
thanks for the writing.
I was hoping to take apart the top and bottom speaker grill so I can close the gap.
How are they put together? Is it as simple as adhesive tape? or screwed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good Question, the answer is a definite no.
With a serious amount of heating the adhesive will yield, however, the top grill is also used as a mounting point for one of the screws. I would also be concerned that the amount of heat needed to break the bond would get to damaging levels for some components such as the speakers which sit underneath.
They SERIOUSLY made this phone as lowest self service as possible. The pics from my old grill's show this.
I would also think you would need something more serious than adhesive tape to bond to the plastic.
View attachment 2159676
dsan45 said:
thanks for the writing.
I was hoping to take apart the top and bottom speaker grill so I can close the gap.
How are they put together? Is it as simple as adhesive tape? or screwed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thinking about your question a bit more, if you are trying to close a gap by taking a component off and reattaching then I think you would be doomed to fail.
Without knowing where the gap is I'll assume it is in one of two spots, either between the rear housing and the grill or the screen and the grill. If this is the case then i'll try to explain what is occurring, a likely cause and why fixing is unlikely to work.
The design of the One M7 is basically a front assembly which is a chassis that the components screw on to. The back of the case is simply a shell that clips in to place.
If the gap is like this:
View attachment 2160617
It is a gap between the chassis and the back of the device. With the chassis being between the rear case and the grill all you would be doing is reattaching the grill to the chassis and not closing the gap and would almost certainly make the gap bigger not smaller as you would be adding more substance between the grill and the chassis/midframe
If the gap is like this:
View attachment 2160618
Then this is more likely to be the screen being pushed up from within the device itself. A likely cause is the battery sitting underneath is out by a mm or less and is pushing the screen up. The battery sits underneath the screen and there is literally no margin whatsoever between the screen, battery, motherboard and midframe so if something is out by a few μm to mm then the path of least resistance is for the screen to push up.
I know this from having completed not just a tear down but also a reassembly how fine the margins are. After my repair there is a very small gap in the screen and bottom grill which I just have to live with. Overall with a new case and a repaired screen I am much better off but it is not quite as good as something from plant. The repair process requires removing tape and disrupting some of the foil and all this increases the margins ever so slightly
I think HTC may have got themselves in to trouble with the marketing of this as Zero gap, it is pretty damn good, but Zero Gap means that a consumer will tolerate nothing less than Zero gap and thus we have an expectation problem. I have a lot of respect for what HTC have done with this device and still think it is a magnificent device but perhaps it is a bit too ambitious and the yields are killing them.
One final comment, a number of people have stated that their "Cracked Screen" was replaced with a new device. I personally believe it is nigh on impossible to remove the screen without some form of damage to the back of the case. The amount of pressure required to separate the front assembly loose would mark it with the amount of adhesive between the two plus the lack of margins mean that the repair is effectively what I did (i.e. a new front and rear assembly with a contents transfer)
Knowing what I know now, if I were to severely scratch or damage the grills I wouldn't entertain replacing them, it will only make the matter worse. I also know I could possibly open mine up and remove the internal pressure that is the likely cause of the gaps but again would risk making it worse for a small aesthetic gain.
I saw this thread on whirlpool as well, but the images here really give us a better look at the work you did. I also looked over the iFixit tear down and I have to say what an amazing job! You really did well, definitely not for the faint hearted!
Does this now mean that we can send you our broken One's for a repair job?!?
bwhinnen said:
I saw this thread on whirlpool as well, but the images here really give us a better look at the work you did. I also looked over the iFixit tear down and I have to say what an amazing job! You really did well, definitely not for the faint hearted!
Does this now mean that we can send you our broken One's for a repair job?!?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hehe not quitting my day job just yet.
Best not to break it in the first place. I've got the HTC cover on order!
Dredd73 said:
Thinking about your question a bit more, if you are trying to close a gap by taking a component off and reattaching then I think you would be doomed to fail.
Without knowing where the gap is I'll assume it is in one of two spots, either between the rear housing and the grill or the screen and the grill. If this is the case then i'll try to explain what is occurring, a likely cause and why fixing is unlikely to work.
The design of the One M7 is basically a front assembly which is a chassis that the components screw on to. The back of the case is simply a shell that clips in to place.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
wow thank you for your thoughtful answer.
It sounds like you are in this business!
My gap is the first example you posted where their is a slight opening at the top. It seems like more I try to do 'anything' it is
most likely that I will ruin this device.
I tried fitting in my double sided tape inside the gap but really.. it woudnt get in there. So I guess it is best where it is now.
dsan45 said:
wow thank you for your thoughtful answer.
It sounds like you are in this business!
My gap is the first example you posted where their is a slight opening at the top. It seems like more I try to do 'anything' it is
most likely that I will ruin this device.
I tried fitting in my double sided tape inside the gap but really.. it woudnt get in there. So I guess it is best where it is now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem, I hope it saved you the grief of making something minor worse. Even though my repair job has a slight gap it isn't noticeable in black compared to Silver/white which is unforgiving.
While I am no phone repairer, I've always liked taking things apart and trying to fix them. The HTC One is possibly one of the fiddliest things I have taken on. I guess I didn't take it on by choice, only by bad luck and a hard floor!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=43334075
HTC One Teardown (Really not that bad)
Don't know if you have read this earlier thread from 7 July on HTC one dismantle process
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
oh wow, just in time... i have a cracked HTC One and my parts from e trade supply came only today.. ETS parts look very promising and came neatly packed .. very neatly and properly packed.. gonna do my playing with the phone tomorrow, wish me luck
@op, thanks for your post.. have not read it fully .. was so excited to see a DIY fix thread
---------- Post added at 12:20 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:01 AM ----------
ok so i did do the same order as you, the front panel and the back case .. choose silver and have silver.. thanks for your writing.. its exciting, hopefully i will share my experience here soon.
pradeepvizz said:
oh wow, just in time... i have a cracked HTC One and my parts from e trade supply came only today.. ETS parts look very promising and came neatly packed .. very neatly and properly packed.. gonna do my playing with the phone tomorrow, wish me luck
@op, thanks for your post.. have not read it fully .. was so excited to see a DIY fix thread
---------- Post added at 12:20 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:01 AM ----------
ok so i did do the same order as you, the front panel and the back case .. choose silver and have silver.. thanks for your writing.. its exciting, hopefully i will share my experience here soon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Best of luck. The parts from etrade supply seem to be OEM, the items marked as b-stock are seconds by the looks of things (probably screens with dead pixels etc)
If you go through it methodically you should be OK, make sure you have all the right tools such as screwdrivers, prying tools etc.
I would also perhaps recommend trimming the plastic cover on the battery, this seems to unstick and I think cause some bulging my .5mm when you reassemble. It is a bit like trying to re-wrap a present after you have unwrapped the paper, you can do it but it is never a perfect fit.
Thanks for the refit instructions, this is probably the first tread which talks about fitting it back. I got the A Stock items, did not choose the b stock. I went through the video and blog of ets and ordered every tool that they used in it
Sent from my HTC One using XDA Premium HD app
---------- Post added at 01:33 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:30 AM ----------
And my phone already had the bulging of the screen little in the front.. I mean the top speaker and screen were not flay, Which probably was also a reason why it broke easy.
Sent from my HTC One using XDA Premium HD app
pradeepvizz said:
Thanks for the refit instructions, this is probably the first tread which talks about fitting it back. I got the A Stock items, did not choose the b stock. I went through the video and blog of ets and ordered every tool that they used in it
Sent from my HTC One using XDA Premium HD app
---------- Post added at 01:33 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:30 AM ----------
And my phone already had the bulging of the screen little in the front.. I mean the top speaker and screen were not flay, Which probably was also a reason why it broke easy.
Sent from my HTC One using XDA Premium HD app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool, one last thing, make sure you have some good tweezers that are flat and not sharp. There is a ribbon which I think can only go in with tweezers and requires a bit of pressure to go in. You will also need them to assist re-attaching your antennas.
i have not opened my tweezers from ETS yet! thanks for the note.
Dredd73 said:
Good Question, the answer is a definite no.
With a serious amount of heating the adhesive will yield, however, the top grill is also used as a mounting point for one of the screws. I would also be concerned that the amount of heat needed to break the bond would get to damaging levels for some components such as the speakers which sit underneath.
They SERIOUSLY made this phone as lowest self service as possible. The pics from my old grill's show this.
I would also think you would need something more serious than adhesive tape to bond to the plastic.
View attachment 2159676
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But could you just place a little glue at the gap and squeeze it shut, instead of taking out the whole grill and reapplying?
fluxthesky said:
But could you just place a little glue at the gap and squeeze it shut, instead of taking out the whole grill and reapplying?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Perhaps these pictures may help, the grills do not attach to the rear housing, they attach to the midplane of the phone so the only way to close the gap is between the rear shell/housing and the midplane.
Trying to glue the midplane tighter to the rear housing is not something that I think would work nor would I recommend it. The types of glue required would potentially damage components that sit close to the edges and would cause complications if there was a screen crack later down the track. There is also potential if the wrong glue is used to damage the plastic housing. As you can see, if you were trying to close the top gap with glue there is the camera, speaker, light sensor and power switch which are all very close to the edges and would not benefit from a strong solvent based glue
View attachment 2170276
As commented in a previous post, the upward pressure is going to be where components meet the rear of the case, I've tried to highlight this in this picture. Any attempt to close the gap will be due to trying to flex/bend the edge to glue/adhere to the edge. A contact adhesive or tape will simply not win in the long term and a solvent based glue might stand a chance but the amount required risks gluing components. I'd rather have a small gap than damage something like the power switch.
If someone wants to give it a try, feel free to post results, but having gone through a re-build I wouldn't do it if I were faced with a small gap knowing what I know.
paul_59 said:
forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=43334075
HTC One Teardown (Really not that bad)
Don't know if you have read this earlier thread from 7 July on HTC one dismantle process
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I don't think there was a post on any forum anywhere on the subject that I hadn't read prior to my dismantle.
I guess the big difference between my post and this post is my post is about creating a repaired working phone as opposed to a tear down which is treated as a one way ticket.
I did entertain heavy duty heating, however, since I as not saving the case I opted to spare my components any unnecessary heat stress. Also most tear down's seem to put a lot of flex on the mainboard which is also something I wanted to avoid.
To my knowledge I don't think I have seen anyone else post an actual repair, just a tear down.
ok so my phone is now in a busted state!
i opened the front & the back fine, took quite an effort to pry up and separate the front and the back case, i took it out without any breakage. I started with the bottom speaker grill, heated & took of the bottom speaker grill and then pry'ed in the gap between back case & the front panel. The hard part was the move the separator from the bottom to the sides, in other words, starting to separate the side was hard, once a gap is created on the sides it was pretty easy to take the phone out by moving the separator around the phone.
one mistake i did was to not take out the sim card & sim card tray before starting to separate.
I then started with removing the components from the motherboard - i wanted to do a front panel replacement (essential screen replacement).
when removing the LCD connector cable, i broke the lock/connector which is on the motherboard. i was trying to release the lock to take out the connector and pressed hard on the connector itself rather than the lock - attaching a pic to make it clear - i broke the black part marked red, the lock was supposed to be removed by pulling up the part marked green.
I have assembled back everything with the new front housing and phone is semi partially working - i have almost removed and reconnected everything 4 times.
The vibrator kicks in action when i put the phone on but nothing on the display(broken display port to blame). One time i heard the phone boot (speaker sound) and that was when i tried to put it back in my old front panel to check.
Other than that the phone is identified as HTC Android USB phone in the device manager when connected but does not show on my computer as a portable device. It charges. heats when i try to put it on.
So to conclude the phone is dead now, don't have much of ideas to get it back working - but have a hope that it would if i replace quite some parts
Any advise is welcome!
pradeepvizz said:
ok so my phone is now in a busted state!
i opened the front & the back fine, took quite an effort to pry up and separate the front and the back case, i took it out without any breakage. I started with the bottom speaker grill, heated & took of the bottom speaker grill and then pry'ed in the gap between back case & the front panel. The hard part was the move the separator from the bottom to the sides, in other words, starting to separate the side was hard, once a gap is created on the sides it was pretty easy to take the phone out by moving the separator around the phone.
one mistake i did was to not take out the sim card & sim card tray before starting to separate.
I then started with removing the components from the motherboard - i wanted to do a front panel replacement (essential screen replacement).
when removing the LCD connector cable, i broke the lock/connector which is on the motherboard. i was trying to release the lock to take out the connector and pressed hard on the connector itself rather than the lock - attaching a pic to make it clear - i broke the black part marked red, the lock was supposed to be removed by pulling up the part marked green.
I have assembled back everything with the new front housing and phone is semi partially working - i have almost removed and reconnected everything 4 times.
The vibrator kicks in action when i put the phone on but nothing on the display(broken display port to blame). One time i heard the phone boot (speaker sound) and that was when i tried to put it back in my old front panel to check.
Other than that the phone is identified as HTC Android USB phone in the device manager when connected but does not show on my computer as a portable device. It charges. heats when i try to put it on.
So to conclude the phone is dead now, don't have much of ideas to get it back working - but have a hope that it would if i replace quite some parts
Any advise is welcome!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bad Luck, to get so close.....
The ribbon you are referring to simply pulls out and doesn't have the same clasp, this is the one that is also the hardest to re-insert. Have you got a good picture of what your the socket now? you should be able to push it in unless it is completely smashed.
When I was doing mine I just pulled the ribbons out without realising some are meant to lift open. To me if you are getting to boot and device recognition you got most of the way there.
The mainboard is about the only item that is non replaceable via OEM. I can only assume it is things like IMEI etc that would stop this. My only suggestion is to keep an eye out for someone selling a broken M7 and see if you can swap mainboards.