There are a lot of messages on this subject and the cause is dirt and damp /humidity causing the tiny pcb tracks in the charging / usb port to corrode and short out. Some people manage to salvage the port by carefully cleaning the port with a toothbrush.
HOWEVER many ports will never work again even when cleaned. I suspect the short often kills a chip in the charging port circuit so even when clean it won't work again and the phone will give spurious error messages.
THE REASON I AM POSTING IS THAT JUST BUYING ANY OLD REPLACEMENT PORT ON EBAY WILL EXPOSE YOU TO THE RISK OF COUNTERFEIT PARTS.
I and a lot of other UK users have bought fake ports on ebay. Look for an assurance that it is a REAL SAMSUNG part.
The usual problem with the fake part is that you get hardly any 3g signal. The main phone antenna is on this USB board and although the fake part will cure the error message, you won't get coverage and certainly not as good as you used to get with the original part. My fake board was 25db down no bars instead of five.
I bought a better quality board for £8 from a UK ebayer called can888. It worked great and was marked REV2.3.
Here is a link to his part:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/150912000314?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649
One problem I had was that when you fit the part, be sure to remove the microphone grey rubber boot from the phone chassis and fit it to the tiny microphone part which dangles on about 5mm of ribbon cable. Post this little microphone into the slot on the boot and when snug, fit the board under the plastic lug at the left side (the side where the L shaped ribbon cable goes.
This youtube video shows how to completely strip and re-assemble the phone. The part concerning fitting this USB board is at 20 minutes into the video. Watch it and see what to do.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=65pvAINg2ME
Obviously, you don't need to remove the mainboard as he has done. His video is a complete strip and reassembly. You will need to remove the small black screw about two inches up the leg of the main board that comes down the side of the battery compartment. The video is worth a watch anyway - the whole lot. Unlike a lot of vids on this,it is extremely clear, well filmed and well described.
Good luck
Tony
Great thread Wish we saw more of this stuff. Rated 5 stars/thanked.
1.looks like hes not uk based at all.
2.the pic and description says 2.2; not 2.3.
3.theres a thread in the general section with "reviews" of where and which one to get.
4.in that thread, theres even advice about only using half of a new board.
5.i would not use the seller in your link!.
Related
First of I would like to say thanks to this forum.
I try not to post any problems that have already been answered and this forum was a big help in getting my xda unlocked.
However I had only had my phone in working condition for 2 weeks, enough time to start to like it, when it fell and cracked.
I ordered a new glass screen (no bleeding ink) and had it overnighted. I sucessfully swapped out the broken scree, but in the process I screwed up the phone. So here is whats going on with it, if anyone can help me out it would be awesome.
When taking it apart I accidently broke 2 of the connectors for the ribbon cables on the back of the pcb. Now the phone wont turn on. The screen comes up but its just white and I cant tell if the os is loading.
Sorry for the long winded post
Thanks for the help
Chris
Also if this cant be fixed whats my best option, selling it broken or parting it out? How much could i get?
Re: Some help for a newbie... [borken screen]
beggy said:
When taking it apart I accidently broke 2 of the connectors for the ribbon cables on the back of the pcb. Now the phone wont turn on. The screen comes up but its just white and I cant tell if the os is loading.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I guess it depends on how broken the connectors are, but this definitely doesn't sound good...
If you post a few close-up pictures, I'll tell you if there's any hope for fixing it.
Well..
One of those 3 connectors lead to the screen.
My wild guess would be that it's not porperly connected since it's borken.
In that case, I would have done one of two things:
1. Buy a connector through an electronics component vendor, then ,manually replace the broken one or have a electronics lab do it for me.
2. Solder the wires to the connector's base manually (or in a lab) to over-ride it. (I hope you understand what I mean).
At any case, my guess would be a broken connection somewhere in the connectors (one of the 3). This can probably be fixed that way or another.
BTW - I have a lot of dust between the glass and the screen. How do you remove the glass from the screen (it seems to be attached firmly somehow)??
To take the glass apart from the lcd, there are 4 metal tabs (2 at the top and 2 on the bottom) you can pry a thin flat-head screwdriver between the metal tabs (you will see what I am talking about, when you look closer). It will sound bad but its just the glue coming apart.
I tried to get the connectors but had no luck finding a match.
So I am going to part out the phone.
Ill be posting the ebay auctions for the lcd screen, the new glass piece, the motherboard, the battery/case and whatever misc accesories I have lying around.
Before I put all the parts on ebay, I figured I would give the people on here a crack at it. I will entertain all reasonable offers. Send me a PM.
Here is what I have for sale
Case in good condition w/ battery
Motherboard - in good condition just missing the two plastic pieces where the lcd connects.
Brand new glass touchscreen/digitizer
Lcd Screen
Also for sale the in-wall charger, the sync cradle with an extra 3 stylus (styli?).
Right, i'd appreciate any help you guys can give me, especially if it means i don't have to spend money.
My XDA fell about a foot off my bved onto a capeted room, it's fine but now there's a line going straight down the middle of it. then the screen flickers and the whole right of the screen is covered with vertical lines then it goes back to being just the one line in the middle.
Now i'm guessing that a new screen would sort that out instantly but say i didn't have £150.20 lying around, anyone got any suggestions?
Thanks loads guys
small suggestion
my two cents worth:
all LCDs are connected by some sort of ribbon connector to the main board of a unit, my experience with nokia celphones INDICATES that some lines in the LCD do not display due to LOOSE connection between the ribbon connector to the mainboard. Sometimes, we just replace the ribbon and even just push it to the board a little and this seems to solve the problem.
My suggestion to you would be: There is a site that i've seen that sells replacement LCD and glass covers, and its a DO-IT-YOURSELF kit, so get info on how to OPEN your XDA, if youre not fainthearted, then apply a little pressure on the ribbon connection to the mainboard, this may help. OTHERWISE, if you are not a TECHIE, have a service center check that for you, YOU MAY NOT HAVE TO REPLACE THE LCD anyway.
Nice, you wouldn't have te address for the place that sells the screens would you?
Ta
It may be that you have dislodged the cable connecter or the contact connection to the screen, many nokias displayed this same fault and sold millions of screens when all that was needed was either to attend to the connections or remove the elastomer and reverse it, or replace the elastomer. An elastomer is a small rubber block with a row of connecters either side, this is the bridge for the electrical/video lines to the screen. Its worth a look anyway to see if anything obvious has occured.
try searching "Repacement LCD Screens", you might find the shop that sells them, its in a thread here somewehere.
The latest suggestion and mine are almost identical, YES, it may really be the ribbon connector that was PARTIALLY dislodge or looses contact sometime.
Search and ye shall find. hehehe. goood luck. Tell me when you find it and POST the thread here will you, for others with the same problem as you to be helped.
website
OH, heres the website.
http://www.pdasmart.com/pdaphone.htm
thanks, i'm really glad to hear it's probably just the cable, but now the problem is finding the right screwdrivers
lol, seriously i haven't got any screwdrivers the size to open my XDA, and i don't particularly want to send it off to a repair centre, they'd charge me for labour, anyone got any ideas?
You need a t6 torx driver and a flat blade dirver and a small crosshead driver.
Anyone Got a t6 torx driver? because i know i haven't lol. how many people do you reckon would have one?
UPDATE
evening all, just got me T6 screwdriver, i opened my XDA and found what looked like te connector and had a bit of trail and error but it still doesn't completely fix it, any ideas?[/code]
HI,
It appears that the usb port on my t-mobile vario is loose and so it does not charge on the mains charger or via the usb cable on a pc.
So the question is:- How do you open it up to replace / repair the usb port?
I had a look through all the threads I could find dealing with usb port, but none dealt with this particular problem.
A "how to" with pictures would be great, but even a step by step would be useful.
many thanks to all who use and help on this site, without it we would all be worse off!!
Regards,
John
(UK)
Replace USB port
Ok, It appears that no one has had to do this yet, or the ones who have are not online at present.
I have managed to work it out.
There are four torx screws holding the back cover on.
Two are easy to get at, they are the ones near the usb port. The only problem is that they are smaller than a size 4 torx driver!! I managed to get them undone using an ordinary flat blade screwdriver of the right size from a kit of mini flat and cross blade screwdrivers.
When you undo one of them it also holds in place the little metal bit which you use to put a necklace strap thorough - don't lose any bits!!
The next bit was a bit tricky but only because I did not know how it came apart!
There is a cover which goes over the section which has the camera in it. This needs to be "uncliped", you need to start the unclipping from the open end section near the battery, as there are two "prongs" which go in under the end near the sd slot.
There are two more torx screws at this end that need undoing as well.
The next bit is not really difficult but it is if you don't want to mark your case!
You have to "unclip" the back from the middle bit of the phone, it is held in place by clips that go from the back section into the middle section. I started at the bottom end near the usb port and just used the small flat bladed screwdrivers I had to ease the two sections apart.
At this point you will probably find a couple of bit are now loose inside between the two sections. One is a long black piece of plastic which is held in place by the one of the torx screws you removed earlier. Try and remember where it came from as it is easier when you put the case back together to know where it goes, than to try and work it out.
The second bit floating around will be the USB port! (If it has totaly come off like mine had).
Now you will probably see that the soldered joints are white and furry, this is because they are what is called "dry joints".
Now if you have a reasonably steady hand, good eyesight (or a good pair of magnifying glasses or something similar), you can see that there are four "legs" made from the metal cover of the usb port which no doubt will have come loose. These will need to be soldered back on to the circuit board again along with the 5 "TINY" usb wire connections. I had to modify my soldering iron tip with a file to make it small enough not to solder them all together!! Once they are securley soldered back in place, you can put your phone back together again!
I was told by two mobile phone shops I went into here in the UK that the phone would have to be sent back to HTC to be fixed. I fixed mine in a couple of hours......
I also noticed that it is possible to buy a replacement USB port on E-Bay for this phone if yours is to badly damaged or you just want to use a new one.
Well, I hope this is of help to someone.
Regards,
John
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.
So as many people here know, the rear camera is a sore point on the Transformer Prime, in that it's known to go bad early and often. Not to beat a dead horse, here's how we fix the situation:
Replacing the rear camera module:
Yes it seems logical that this would be all you would need, but I've just confirmed myself that in fact it is only the camera module with a problem. The main issue with the fix is FINDING a good camera. I was a bit discouraged on my first attempt as I bought a rear camera on ebay listed as "working" from a parted out Transformer Prime only to go to the hassle of installing it and it not working. I can't say I was surprised, but after trying to find one for so long I took the chance. Upon recieving my refund, I purchased another rear webcam that surprisingly also surfaced. The seller for this second camera had TONS of feedback, and mostly products with the word "foxconn" in the title, indicating this guy seems to have a line on foxconn surplus parts, which for us is awesome. The camera I received appears to be brand new and fired up immediately! Not trying to push a particular seller but since many people are probably looking for this part, I'll post the link http://www.ebay.com/itm/Asus-Eee-Pa...?pt=US_Tablet_Accessories&hash=item416a33f1f9. The seller is skyline27 and he appears to have one left right now (I bought the second). NOW, enough theory, onto the howto.
HOWTO (the good stuff)
0. Turn off Tablet (thanks whycali)
1. Remove screen as instructed in other disassembly threads (wifi fix threads, etc) Advice for this includes working from the bottom first, being vary carefly to NEVER use the pry tool at either the latch holes or the bottom port, as these very thin pieces of aluminum will bend. Get your tool in (heh heh) to the left or right of these "holes" in the case, then slide the tool sideways past them to avoid prying outwards. Get the entire bottom free, then slowly work up the sides with your plastic tools/credit card. When you get to the top, try gently pulling the screen "Down" or the port. You can also pull up like the rest, but when I disassembled I saw what looked like "hooks" that made me want to slide the top out last by pulling it towards the dock port.
1.2 (I forgot) Flip switch on right side of motherboard (top board) that will disconnect power to the motherboard before disconnecting the battery. Don't forget to switch it back when finished, or it won't turn on. (thanks whycali)
1.5 (I forgot) unscrew and remove flash and microphone at top
2. You can either disconnect the screen ribbon cable from the motherboard *top board* (makes your life easier) or simply set the screen upside down, rotated 90, and to the left of the opened prime. This allows the cables to sit fairly easily, though since you'll be removing the motherboard anyways it may be easier to unplug
3. Unscrew 8 battery screws, carefully unplug wide connector (I used precision flathead to the left and right of plug as to not 'yank'). Set battery aside.
4. Be sure every cable is unplugged from the Motherboard. This includes a small battery on the left side, the power button/volume cable top left, as well as the speaker cable on the right side.
5. Remove all motherboard screws. Be sure you get them all, you don't want to snap the motherboard in half in a minute because we'll be pulling against a little adhesive.
6. Be careful. REMOVE MOTHERBOARD This is the step you're most likely to have an issue, but it's still really easy. Time to remove the motherboard. This is easy if you know what to expect.
6a Both cameras are slightly adhesived into their holes, also plugged to back of motherboard. You can either try and pull these with the mobo, or let them stay where they are and pull them out later (probably easier for beginners)
6b There is a thermal pad about 1/3 away from the left where the CPU is. It is a bit adhesive, but not too much
6c MOST IMPORTANT - The motherboard is sort of "sandwiched" into the ports on the sides. That is, it doesn't want to pull straight up and out, the hdmi and headphone jacks are in the way. I believe it's very easy to break the HDMI and/or headphone jack here, yet I haven't yet. 2 ways to approach, one is to pull the side of the tablet outward slightly at the headphone jack to slide it up, allowing you to lift that side of the board, then sliding to the right to clear the hdmi. The second method which I prefer, is pulling up on the mobo from the center, causing the outer edges to pull inward slightly as the board flexes a bit. Choose whichever you prefer
7. Replace the camera. If you're this far along, I really shouldn't have to explain this. The front and rear sit side by side, your front is probably good, there's a piece of tape over the connectors, pull up, replace rear, make sure plugged in firmly on both, replace tape.
Installation is reverse of removal. I recommend plugging the screen ribbon (and all ribbon cables) into the motherboard before reinstalling it, as the connectors are on the bottom of the board and very difficult to get at once installed in the prime. Again, flex the motherboard or prime slightly to clear the ports going back in. Be sure cameras are attached to the motherboard, when installing, be sure to double check one last time that they're still plugged into the board before putting the board down and letting the cameras sit in their plastic holders. And don't forget that internal power switch on the right side of the motherboard.
FWIW, and I'm sure many will disagree with me, but I typically check everything before snapping the screen back up by booting it up with a few sheets of paper between the screen and internals as an extra safety insulator. Check screen, touch screen, both cameras, SD card, speaker, then I snap it shut.
If anyone really needs pictures I think I have a few, though not really specifically of what I was doing, but I could highlight/circle the pics I have if anyone gets stuck.
I really hope I can help others get a working camera who can't/won't RMA for the issue. Now time to UNLOCK MUAHAHAHA!!!
One thing I mostly remember to do when I plan to disassemble the ribbon cables is to turn off the internal power switch first.
I know this is an older thread but does anybody know where to get a new camera. The one that is linked to in the above post is no longer available. Thanks
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk 2