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Before we were so rudely interrupted in the original thread, we were discussing the G1 hardware keyboard replacements. Please folks, if you must flame each other do it via PMs to avoid locking legitimate threads.
I've been able to find some inexpensive after market replacements on eBay, but still am not sure how difficult it is to actually do that. All the sites I've been able to find on the subject only provide time-lapse dis-assembly instructions of the entire phone. If anyone has done the replacement themselves, I'd greatly appreciate pointers on how to keep my phone operational after I put it back together.
I replaced the white keyboard in my Dream with a black one. It was a scary operation as it takes a bit of force to dismantle. I accidently pulled my antenna off and disconnected a flylead. ment my phone had no signal at all. later when i got home (did it in work ) i took it apart again and fixed it.
Take your time and have patience, alot of it is plastic and clipped together so requires a bit of force.
May I ask what is wrong with the keys on the bronze one? I did a quick skim of the old post and gather that you can't see the keys in daylight but I don't get why?
I'm just genuinely interested, I have a black G1 so never had such a problem.
brummiesteven said:
May I ask what is wrong with the keys on the bronze one? I did a quick skim of the old post and gather that you can't see the keys in daylight but I don't get why?
I'm just genuinely interested, I have a black G1 so never had such a problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's the combination of silver keys with light-silver backlight that make the lettering almost impossible to see in day light conditions. I'd take a picture if I had a camera with me today. Whoever came up with that color combination should be fired. Or at least made to stare at it every day for the next year. I have to tilt the keyboard at a weird angle just to distinguish the letters. From what I understand the white G1s suffer from the same problem.
The "Backlight Off" app definitely helps as it lets you toggle the backlight with a keyboard shortcut. I'm looking for a more hardware solution though.
I've been thinking about changing keyboards and housings too. But from what ppl are saying it seems to be pretty exhaustive. Do any of you guys have the service manual? I DL'ed it from somewhere and it goes through each step of disassembly and also shows assembly. I'm sure it would help out to give an idea of what you need. But like I said, even having read the service manual, it's still quite scary.
A full housing from my understanding is a bitc(....doing the KB I can see why. The LCD portions look ridiculously complex in comparison to other phones.
That said if you have the proper tools , good organization or memory , steady hands and patience really shouldnt be "that" tough to do the keyboard.
Heres the thing. Its really not that hard to unscrew things etc...but the piece you need to move in order to get proper access to the KB has 2 ribbons that are a PAIN IN THE ASS to take off and put back properly. Theres so little room for error.If youve never worked with ribbons before BE CAREFUL.
I will say G1 is pretty unique in how its put together , I swear they were determined to make it as complicated as possible
The really pain in the ass part is that the online manual/guide will merely tell you something like "remove part A" but no explanation how. Theres also 2 screws I swear it glossed over leading to frustration when I did the trackball/front keys.
Torx 5 and really good mini screw driver are mandatory.
Nice lil workstation is really helpful..(masking tape ,towel , table lamp or LED headlamp , vitamin/pill cases etc)
Im no mechanical engineer but Ive opened up damn near everything Ive ever owned at some point. Took me a solid 3 hours from start to finish. With major time spent on organizing the screws pieces and those damn ribbons.
I will say the black KB makes a HUGE difference. Black key on the front arent necessary but do look better and add much needed contrast.
KOF33 said:
I will say the black KB makes a HUGE difference. Black key on the front arent necessary but do look better and add much needed contrast.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pics, or it didn't happen
Thanks for the tips!
Chahk said:
Pics, or it didn't happen
Thanks for the tips!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As you can see I also replaced the trackball with a glowing white one.
lol at the trackball
doing a case swap is only bad the first time LMAO. I learned a lot, like for example the brass inserts that the screws go into...are not pre-installed. You must CUT Them out of the old housing and HAMMER them into the new oneBut in the end, it turned out very nice.
As far as just replacing the keyboard, it isnt too bad actually once you know what screws hold what down!
-Remove the 6 torx screws for the back housing
-GENTLY pry open the TOP of the casing with a plastic case tool, work your way down to the bottom of the housing. The bottom is a PITA to remove. I usually get it by rocking it gently back and forth
-remove the long and short coax leads from the motherboard side. swing them out of the way
-peel back the tape and GENTLY pull the bottom connector (mouthpiece module) from the motherboard.
-peel back more tape and lift the latch for the keyboard connector (the one on the side)
-Peel the camera module up SLOWLY (it is double side taped down) as well as the imei card. The cam cable is routed under it, lift it all as a unit. When you get to the motherboard, STOP
-Now, gently twist the whole camera and motherboard unit as a whole until it is free of the latch on the side. Gently lift the camera end exposing the 2 small ribbon connectors on the bottom.
-Peel back the tape and GENTLY lift the ribbon connectors out of the board. Place the motherboard/camera unit to the side for now.
-Remove all the black and silver screws for the metal piece. The lcd should stay in place as the mouthpiece plastics kinda hold it for you, but you should still support it to keep from hurting the connections.
-Viola, keyboard access. Remember when you put it back together be sure to re-tape all the connections, else when you drop your phone one of them may pop loose.
Keeping the motherboard and camera/imea plate all as one module saves you from a very difficult connection and will help you keep everything aligned when reassembling it.
I guess the spacebar has 2 functioning buttons, (left and right) ... well my right side just konked on me, and i was wondering if a replacement keyboard off ebay will fix this, or are they just the button "covers"?
the "buttons" are just plastic nubs that make contact on a board behind it. That board would be what you need. I dont know if there are any on eBay, but I have a spare one if you want to PM me for details.
I dropped my G1 about 6 months ago and was devastated. After entirely too much research I finally got the guts to purchase a replacement digitizer and managed to install it successfully. However, in the process I managed to rip the LCD ribbon cable. I then had to order a replacement LCD screen. I've also damaged one of the black ribbon cables pretty severely causing the touchscreen to become unresponsive sporadically. I've just placed an order for one of those ribbon cables and will hopefully have that up and running soon. I've also purchased an entire new housing unit to rebuild the phone to make it look as new.
Now when I first took this thing apart I was by NO MEANS an expert or have ever done something like this before. I'm just an avid enthusiast who wanted to save a little money, feel a sense of accomplishment and to learn a few things along the way. I technically paid nearly the same amount of money it would have cost me to send the unit to HTC for repair, however i've learned everything there is to know about my phone's hardware. I know which board does what and are extremely confident about fixing ANY hardware problem in the future.
If you have the time, patience, and truly want to become confident about the workings of your phone, then I highly recommend fixing it yourself. I've bought my parts for VERY cheap off of reputable ebay buyers. You can find EVERY single piece for your phone on Ebay. My LCD has 1 dead pixel, but I guess that's the risk you take when you buy really cheap parts.
Hope this helps.
Hi there,
I searched before posting this, but couldn't find anything for the Atrix...
Just wondering if anyone has seen/made a guide to replace the Glass/digitizer for the Motorola Atrix?
As to why I'm asking:
(If the image links don't work, you can find them as attachments to this post)
I've damaged the plastic around the glass (basically the housing, near the usb port) but I need to remove it from the digitizer...
I bought this: http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=572442&stc=1&d=1303199913
But as the ifixit teardown guide shows...
(http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=572441&stc=1&d=1303199913),
...When you take the phone apart, the glass is one with the housing.. Has anyone done this replacement of the digitizer or housing, if so, can you offer any suggestions, and what you used as adhesive to reattach the digitizer?
I've repaired the iPhone 3Gs and iPhone 4 before, both ranking higher in difficulty on ifixit's site, so I'm guessing the ATRIX should be a lot easier...
Anyways, any helpful tips or any guides would be greatly appreciated. I've already checked Google but no luck...
keithgrobertson said:
Hi there,
I searched before posting this, but couldn't find anything for the Atrix...
Just wondering if anyone has seen/made a guide to replace the Glass/digitizer for the Motorola Atrix?
As to why I'm asking:
(If the image links don't work, you can find them as attachments to this post)
I've damaged the plastic around the glass (basically the housing, near the usb port) but I need to remove it from the digitizer...
I bought this: http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=572442&stc=1&d=1303199913
But as the ifixit teardown guide shows...
(http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=572441&stc=1&d=1303199913),
...When you take the phone apart, the glass is one with the housing.. Has anyone done this replacement of the digitizer or housing, if so, can you offer any suggestions, and what you used as adhesive to reattach the digitizer?
I've repaired the iPhone 3Gs and iPhone 4 before, both ranking higher in difficulty on ifixit's site, so I'm guessing the ATRIX should be a lot easier...
Anyways, any helpful tips or any guides would be greatly appreciated. I've already checked Google but no luck...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try this http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Motorola-Atrix-4G-Teardown/4964/1
Or, this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbR56jSplRs
Broke my digitizer and did the job myself using the youtube guide above. Just used straight up superglue to glue digitizer to frame. I put a bunch on the top and bottom and very little on the sides.
Amazingly the phone worked when i put it back together... for a while until I screwed up one of the ribbons by opening it a bunch more times. Be extra careful with these, especially the volume/camera ribbon. You can bend it pretty easily trying to slide it back into its slot.
Good luck.
NB: Theres places that will do it for as little as $90 in case you don't want to take the risk.
http://www.ubreakifix.com/
Thanks for posting the youtube link. I can't even quote the post because it involves an external link. The video was vague on details and the quality is crap but it did the trick.
My Arix got under the tires of a car (please dont ask how ) and only the digitizer broke, then i replace it with an OEM digitizer from amazon and now the proximity sensor is malfunctioning (Turns off the screen when im not near it or doesnt turns off when im near it), and there is a line of the screen that doesn't respond to tact. could it be the digitizer that came defective, or maybe it was the installation? oh, the other digitizer was broken and all but the light sensor was working fine and also the other thing. Sorry for my bad grammar.
Metacat said:
My Arix got under the tires of a car (please dont ask how ) and only the digitizer broke, then i replace it with an OEM digitizer from ebay and now the proximity sensor is malfunctioning (Turns off the screen when im not near it or doesnt turns off when im near it), and there is a line of the screen that doesn't respond to tact. could it be the digitizer that came defective, or maybe it was the installation? oh, the other digitizer was broken and all but the light sensor was working fine and also the other thing. Sorry for my bad grammar.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I replaced my digitizer, and had the EXACT same thing happen (not the light sensor but the line in the screen that doesnt respond to touch).
Get a new digitizer, but get it from someone else.
That's what i feared, did you changed it back again afther that, and did it worked? and thanks.
Metacat said:
That's what i feared, did you changed it back again afther that, and did it worked? and thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. I sold it and let someone else deal with it. Didn't have the time to replace the digitizer again. Too much of a hassle.
I just replaced a digitizer on an atrix... i didnt put any adhesive on it because there was what i thought was adhesive strips on the digitizer... but there's strips on the screen that doesnt respond, i heated it n tried reattaching the digitizer a few times n sometimes the home and back button will work, sometimes they wont... any suggestions? could the lack of adhesive cause this?
Menu buttons problem
if menu buttons is freeze till I block and then unblock my phone is it digitizer problem ?
what do you mean by " block/unblock" ?
Sent from my HTC Desire CDMA using XDA
He means lock/unlock.
Go the ifixit route!
Just went through 3 digitizers in my repair, and wanted to share my experience/caveats
I bought one digitizer from All4Cellular for $25, and the others with a 20% discount a few days later, for $20.
I installed
the first using the RepairUniverse Youtube 'how-to' method, and had a heck of a time threading the flex cables through the slot. Bent/twisted it too much, and nothing responded on the touchscreen, so I read some forum posts on how fragile they were, and regarded that as user error.
Got the idea to move the LCD screen from another RepairUniverse YouTube video and a previous post here, and tried installing the digitizer from the front face of the phone. It was still a delicate matter to bend the flex cable so that it fit through the slot, and then re-position the LCD and align the sticky strips of the digitizer on the LCD and casing. Part of the digitizer worked this time - a 1cm vertical strip on the left fowled any attempt to touch icons or use a keyboard, so I thought I had damaged things again (doh!).
Hoping third time was the charm, I completely disassembled the phone using the guide in the 'ifixit' link, since a digitizer/case assembly was suggested in another thread. The rear camera just needs to be raised above the casing so the thin plate can move upward, and the LCD pops out easily if the sides of the casing are delicately pulled. The digitizer can be positioned easily and with minimal bending/twisting of the flex cables.
When reconnecting everything the third time, I noticed that pressing down on the front camera / digitizer connection *with the rubber boot in place* didn't pass when pulling the connected assembly upward. So I pulled the rubber boot out of the way and snapped the camera / digitizer connection firmly, then re-inserted the boot. A loose connection might have been the culprit for the nonfunctioning part of the digitizer in the second test.
@MrSaba - I had the same issue with capacitive buttons - perhaps because the screen senses touch and disables those buttons. Replacing the digitizer solved the issue
trouble
Hello friends,
Here's my story - broke a screen, as usual slipped from my pocket. though broken, digitizer worked fine. after replacement with new one (digitizer only) - no luck it didn't work. bought a new one, this time with a plastic part around it to avoid damage to it's cable. after careful repair no luck once again - does not work at all. downloaded a testing app (i was able to remote control the phone with a piece of soft called androidscreencast), everything is ok, except digitizer. checked and rechecked all ribbons and connectors 10 times, nothing seems to be broken or twisted.
what's your opinion, is it worth buying third one ? what part of my repair went wrong ?
thanks
drZeT said:
Hello friends,
Here's my story - broke a screen, as usual slipped from my pocket. though broken, digitizer worked fine. after replacement with new one (digitizer only) - no luck it didn't work. bought a new one, this time with a plastic part around it to avoid damage to it's cable. after careful repair no luck once again - does not work at all. downloaded a testing app (i was able to remote control the phone with a piece of soft called androidscreencast), everything is ok, except digitizer. checked and rechecked all ribbons and connectors 10 times, nothing seems to be broken or twisted.
what's your opinion, is it worth buying third one ? what part of my repair went wrong ?
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not all digitizers are created equal. The ones that ship with the red stripe on the backing are junk. Spend more money and yes buying with a frame is key. Did you try reinstalling the original screen or did that ship sail already?
Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk 2
jjwatmyself said:
Not all digitizers are created equal. The ones that ship with the red stripe on the backing are junk. Spend more money and yes buying with a frame is key. Did you try reinstalling the original screen or did that ship sail already?
Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The first one was with the red stripe indeed, from china. The one with a frame came from UK, "used but tested OK". original screen is gone - tore off flex cable while removing.
Well, update...
2 screens bought on eBay were BAD. Had to wait full month for authorised motorola service to change the digitizer. Must say though that both merchants on ebay refunded, no questions asked. Lessons learned - pay more, wait longer, never give up
DrJCFitz said:
the first using the RepairUniverse Youtube 'how-to' method, and had a heck of a time threading the flex cables through the slot. Bent/twisted it too much, and nothing responded on the touchscreen, so I read some forum posts on how fragile they were, and regarded that as user error.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What I noticed on their video was that their folded digitizer connector magically unseats itself during the disassembly transition. I had to pry mine off based purely on guesswork and think I might have broken the flip-chip that is stuck onto the frame with double-sided tape. Like yours, my touchscreen doesn't respond at all, despite there being no cable tears. I'm going to try and re-heat that flip chip and maybe get the connections to work again (doubtful).
To anyone else out there attempting this... when you go to remove the touchscreen, HEAT THE CONNECTOR so that you can gently pry it out!
Bad screen I got 3 before it worked its fine now if old one partially works new one doesn't screen is junk took mine apart several times to figure out screens were junk...guess they felt sorry for me give me my money back plus free working screen.from amazon
Also that lock clamp u mentioned first video I watched didn't show unlocking that I just pulled it out and pushed back in it was the 2 screen that I figured out it needed to be pryed loose by the white clamp but guess I didn't damage it..
Sent from my HTC One X+ using xda premium
I have just put in my second digitiser. The first was one had a red stripe, which was junk, the second on I bought had the plastic round the edge and the digitiser.
I put it in and it worked fine no dead spots at all. Then 12 hours in it started to stop working intermittently. Then 24 hours after that while on charge its dead again. I reflashed notattrix and still nothing. I've confirmed all the ribbon connectors are firmly in place and everything looks right.
Any ideas whats wrong?
thanks
Jonnym
Hi,
Is anyone elses Prime have problems with creeky, lifting glass either to the right of the charger slot or the area with the volume adjuster? I don't want to send it to Asus to have it "Repaired" just for having creeky glass but I'm tempted (I can't send it back to Gamestop as I live in the UK). Do you think blasting it with a heat gun/Hair Dryer and pushing down on it will fix it?
Thanks, and nice forum .
ya I also have it next to the volume thing and near my camera I don't know if I should return it or send it to get repaired.
Not so far... Mine has no problems at all.
Was it this way when you received it?
Just noticed this yesterday to the right of the Volume control on mine. This is my second Prime as the first one had a faulty MicroSD slot but no other defects. I wonder if I can take it back to Gamestop (again) or will I have to deal with ASUS directly.
dmaple5495 said:
Not so far... Mine has no problems at all.
Was it this way when you received it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It wasn't anywhere near as bad, at least not to the right of the charger slot. It is about a 2" by 1.5" rectangle that goes down by about 1 or 2mm when pushed down on it. I said if it gets any worse I'll send it to ASUS but I don't want to spend up to weeks without it because of this.
Do you reckon attempting to heat the adhesive with a hair dryer could cause damage to the screen/glass?
I have it too!
Just wanted to let you know that I also have the same issue. I noticed it first by the 2 inch section of bezel to the right of the dock arrow, and just noticed it by the volume keys after you pointed it out to me. I have pondered exchanging it with Best Buys, but I wondered if this was unreasonable. Any fixes or suggestions anybody? Thanks!
BrianMigs said:
Just wanted to let you know that I also have the same issue. I noticed it first by the 2 inch section of bezel to the right of the dock arrow, and just noticed it by the volume keys after you pointed it out to me. I have pondered exchanging it with Best Buys, but I wondered if this was unreasonable. Any fixes or suggestions anybody? Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I noticed it to the right of my charger port a week or so ago.
Makes a light creak noise when pushing on it. Not an area I really touch, but annoying all the same. Living in Australia, not going to RMA (yet at least), and can't send it back to B&H anyway.
Havn't noticed it get any worse.
How long would an RMA from Asus take? I would prefer to do an in-store exchange, but none of the Best Buys around me have Primes in stock. Also, what store is B&H? It doesn't sound familiar.
I thought it was only me having the problem to the right of the charger port. In this case it's probably a widespread issue that's due to there being no support underneath the glass.
I've go this problem too. Mine is right above the speaker and, to a lesser extent, above the volume rocker. The one above the speaker seems to be getting worse, probably because I can't stop myself from repeatedly pressing on the f***ing thing...
I also have some light bleed at the top of my screen, so what I'm going to do is wait until near the last day of Best Buy's extended Holiday return period (1/24) then go swap it out in-store. Hopefully by then they will have stock so I won't have to be tablet-less for any length of time.
Mine has light bleed down the right side of the screen, and the ride side of the tablet appears to be slightly raised. I can literally push the glass flush against the underbody. So yes, I have the same problem.
It is weird, it just feels a bit loose on the right hand side.
One thing I did notice is that it appears the Touch Glass is attached to the Back Panel with a rubbery adhesive or a rubber "filter" type thing. It almost reminds me of a gasket or something. So maybe it was actually designed to have some give since you will always be touching and pressing on the glass. However, I would expect that rubbery adhesive was intended to let the screen move a little in as you push it, but not somewhat push the screen away from the Back Panel.
Mine creeks where the time/notifications are in the bottom right of the screen
Is anybody willing to try heating up the screen a little bit with a hair dryer and then pressing the screen down until it dries/cures again?
I know when Anandtech.com described their teardown of the Prime, they used this method (hair-dryer/heat-gun) to get the screen off. He said he was able to put everything back together after he took it apart (I'm sure he has lots of experience though). Maybe this could actually be a really simple solution?
Having the same issue here guys. Just noticed it last night-I bought mine from Office Depot and I went and exchanged it right away. I opened my new one and it has the same issue. From what I am reading here it looks like it's a wide-spread issue and almost everyone has it.
I was wondering the same thing-how can I glue it to the back panel so it doesn't move. Mine has it above the speaker and a little bit on the other side where the volume keys are.
Any ideas on how to fix it?
Thanks.
BrianMigs said:
Is anybody willing to try heating up the screen a little bit with a hair dryer and then pressing the screen down until it dries/cures again?
I know when Anandtech.com described their teardown of the Prime, they used this method (hair-dryer/heat-gun) to get the screen off. He said he was able to put everything back together after he took it apart (I'm sure he has lots of experience though). Maybe this could actually be a really simple solution?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is abthred in the general section on disassembling the Prime and they say not to heat up the unit since the screen isn't glued in it is dual tape of some sort. I am having the same issue and already exchanged mine-have the issue on the new unit too. Not sure if I should try to exchange it again...no fix yet, that I am aware of at least
Sent from my LG-P999 using xda premium
I took apart my Incredible 4G to replace the screen and this small rubber piece fell out. I looked the phone up and down and watched carefully at all the guides, but still can't figure out where it goes. Does anyone here know?
Rubber Housing for part of the capacitive button
jin211 said:
I took apart my Incredible 4G to replace the screen and this small rubber piece fell out. I looked the phone up and down and watched carefully at all the guides, but still can't figure out where it goes. Does anyone here know?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is a rubber piece correct?
It looks like the housing around the light source for the capacitive buttons, either "Back" or "Recent App" button. You will have to lift the board up at the bottom of your phone to see them. This piece holds the clear plastic that directs light to those buttons.
Good Luck getting it back together again.
DavDoc said:
This is a rubber piece correct?
It looks like the housing around the light source for the capacitive buttons, either "Back" or "Recent App" button. You will have to lift the board up at the bottom of your phone to see them. This piece holds the clear plastic that directs light to those buttons.
Good Luck getting it back together again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it's a rubber piece with small step-like grooves like a staircase. I looked again where you were talking about, the light guides, and there already seems to be two rubber pieces around the Back and Recent Apps buttons so I don't think that's quite it. Should there be a piece around the Home button? Because it doesn't seem to fit there.
Any other suggestions? I'm sure it will work fine without it, but it's really annoying that this piece seemingly popped out of nowhere.
Okay, nvm that was the right piece for the light guides. I actually have two of these phones sitting around with broken screen while I wait for the replacement parts to come. I thought that the piece had fallen out of the second phone I was working on, but I checked the first one again and turns out it was missing that piece. How it ended up falling out when I was taking apart the second, I have no idea lol. Guess I need a bigger workspace.
Thanks DaveDoc!
No problem
Sent with my Dinc4G
Came to my phone to find a huge crack across the middle of it! I've changed no end of screens before on other devices so Ill do the same with this phone.
Looking on eBay you can get the screen by itself or with the frame. I'm going to guess that purchasing the screen and frame is the easier option. Has anyone done it before? Any tips?
Definitely do the screen with frame.
Patience is key take your time with the heat gun when getting the visor and plastic bottom out.
And also with the battery. I went slowly and with constant pressure and managed to get the battery out without bending it.
Also don't forget to transfer everything over like. Some things I almost missed were the Power and Volume button ribbon cable and the vibration module.
Oh and also a red piece toward the bottom of the phone that I think channels sound from the bottom speaker.
Also, considering shells for the phone are relatively cheap, I wouldn't sweat marring the finish when doing this, especially since they usually include the visor.
I'm actually considering mixing up the colors as I have seen others do.