Need some help, phone is dead, Vodafone playing silly buggers. - Galaxy S III Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi guys,
Going to pick my Mum`s phone up from Vodafone today after it was placed in for repair and they stated it`ll be £150 to repair. She took it in as the phone started to bootloop, Samsung screen the reboot. She took it into Vodafone and they sent it off, the answer back was that the "chip behind the screen" was damaged and that was her fault and would cost £150 to repair.
Couple of question, what is the "chip behind the screen"?
If the chip is there what does it do and would it stop the phone from booting?
Is it repairable and if so could it be done at home cheaper?
Should I try a Samsung Service Center instead?
She said that she was having issues with the phone before it died, sluggishness, unresponsiveness and random reboots, then dead.
Cheers in advance guys,
Blinky

"Chip behind the screen" doesn't really mean much. I would ask them to be explicit. Since the screen covers 90% of the front of the phone, almost all the chips the phone has are behind the screen.

Sorry, I have just been informed that she was told it was the chip that controls the LCD screen? I would presume that if the touchscreen chip is dead then the phone would boot to the OS and you wouldn`t be able to control it and if the chip was good and the screen was knackered then you would not see the screen come on.
If the phone is stuck in a bootloop then wouldn`t that be a system board problem?
cheers
Blinky

yes

Blinkydamo said:
Sorry, I have just been informed that she was told it was the chip that controls the LCD screen? I would presume that if the touchscreen chip is dead then the phone would boot to the OS and you wouldn`t be able to control it and if the chip was good and the screen was knackered then you would not see the screen come on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well hang on.....
Its an SAMOLED not LCD, but thats not the main thing I need to identify here. Just FYI, the SAMOLED screen (Display Panel) and the touchscreen, although on this phone, mostly provided in a single unit - are actually 2 individual parts. You do not touch the display panel to get touch input.
Essentially from the outside in, you have:
1) Gorilla glass tough glass protector
2) Digitiser film (to translate electrical disturbances into input)
3) SAMOLED Panel (Display)
I don't really understand what chips control what so what VF are saying still seems ambiguous to me.
But a hardware failure could be picked up by the kernel drivers at boot. The kernel would see an error and a boot loop could ensue, definitely. It just depends on the fault.

Related

[Q] Screen problems. Hardware or software?

HTC legend. Screen behave very strangely.
When you turn phone on its kind a OK, but in some time strange things happen.
Some parts of screen are unresponding. Or for example if you slide at the bottom of the screen it acts as if you pull status bar down.
Some times every touch tries to pull status bar down. But then again it will be normal.
Is that a hardware or software problem.
I tried hard reset too, didnt help. So is it screen itself then?
I would change it, but still not sure about it. Why its not bad all the time?
Thanks for all the help.
Search for TouchRecalibrate in Market maybe that helps.
Sent from my Revolver powered Asus Transformer TF101 with Tapatalk
hardware i'm afraid.
had the same problem after my phone got wet along with me in bat-****-crazy storm.
you don't need to replace the lcd, just the digitizer.
i picked one up off ebay for £10.
the replacement process is kinda scary in places - mainly prising the digitizer off the lcd.
if you're still under warranty and the damage wasn't obviously caused by yourself (that includes getting water inside the casing - the water residue gives it away unfortunately) i'd flash back to stock and rma it.
Well I thought it will be digitizer too.
Already ordered one. And yes, my missus dropped it in to a toilet after just 2 months since she bought it new. Just didn't had time to get to it till now. And warranty doesn't apply for this
She should have bough same like me - Defy

[Q] Sticky touch points i9305

Hi guys, I have been having an issue with my i9305 where a touch point seems to stick and my phone won't respond properly to other touch Input, sometimes looks like it's having a bit of a fit, it's as if I'm holding a finger down on one point. I have broken the screen a couple of times and replaced it but most of the time it works flawlessly, it seems a lot like a software or driver issue, happens exactly the same across all roms, long pressing seems to set it off the most, stays stuck unti I Switch my screen off and on and unlock it's fine again, can happen every few seconds or might not happen all day, any thoughts?
You say you have broken and replaced your screen twice, which is very unusual, so are you sure you didn't drop your phone since the last screen replacement? Also, did you take the phone to an authorised service center or did you replace the screen yourself, with parts that you acquired? Maybe you have a faulty screen that needs replacement once again.
iR¡[email protected]!* ? from i9300 via Tapatalk 2
The screen has been cracked slightly in my pocket twice, only ever a crack, not smashed or anything, don't know what happened the first time but the second time I tried to pick something up and it leaned against my phone in my pocket and cracked the screen, I have replaced the glass myself twice, only light heat and gentle separation, replaced with glass and adhesive membrane like original, the digitiser seems completely untouched. It probably is something to do with the digitiser or screen, I just wanted to see if it is happening to anyone else before I fork out for a new digitiser, would be more cost effective to just buy a new phone. Just seems like a software or firmware thing by the way it acts and is fine after a quick on off of the screen, as if there is some cache for the touch control that gets cleared when I Switch the screen of, dunno.
[READ THlS FlRST] POST QUESTIONS IN THE Q&A SECTION AND NOT HERE!!!!
I9305 Q&A
jje

Touch screen stopped working

http://www.reddit.com/user/MeowMixSong
I tried to replace the front glass, (not very successful). I got the front glass off, but the LCD was still stuck to the screen, even after heating it up with a hair dryer. at first, none of the buttons except for power and VolUp and VolDn were working, so I took apart the phone completely, (MB, and screen/bezel assembly as one unit) and noticed that a connecter came loose on the touch screen link to the lower buttons. I got the home, menu, and back buttons to work again, but I still can't use the touch screen at all. It simply doesn't recognize input. Is there a way to fix the touch screen? It displays everything fine, but input via touch is now impossible. Is there a connecter that I may have missed? I would like to not spend $71 if I don't have to buy a new front screen/bezel assembly
You have a hardware fault caused by overheating the digitizer, replace the hardware.
It's quite common after screen replacement, which is why the screen assembly is the sold in one piece.
boomboomer said:
You have a hardware fault caused by overheating the digitizer, replace the hardware.
It's quite common after screen replacement, which is why the screen assembly is the sold in one piece.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, now that I tore it apart again, and put it back together, the phone won't turn on at all. ****. Now it looks like I'm going to have to buy one. I'm now back to my backup phone, which is a i997 flashed with CM11 (unofficial) 4.4.4. Do you think I EMPed it by accident? Even plugging it in, it won't signify charging at all.

[Q] HELP! Problem with my Samsung Galaxy A5!

Hi,
As mentioned above, there is a problem with my A5. When my tempered glass screen protector is fixed and when my phone is charging, my touch screen seemed to go haywire. I am holding my finger in one place but the phone detected that my finger is shaking, wildly. Besides shaking, my phone will stop sensing my finger even though it is held there.
I doubt it is the problem with my hardware because I have already changed the touch screen, charging port and the motherboard by sending it to the Samsung Service Centre. I believe the problem is due to the tempered glass (my previous tempered glass) because it was put onto another A5 and the same problem occured. Now, I have purchased another tempered glass from REMAX (picture below), and it seemed to cause the same problem again.
So now my questions are
1. Can I seek for another alternative such as Spigen's tempered glass screen protector or should I just use the normal screen protector?
2. Am I the only one facing this problem?
3. Is the problem really due to the tempered glass?
Oh by the way, my phone is running on official rom version 4.4.4.
http://76.my/Malaysia/[email protected]
JssCheonGz said:
Hi,
As mentioned above, there is a problem with my A5. When my tempered glass screen protector is fixed and when my phone is charging, my touch screen seemed to go haywire. I am holding my finger in one place but the phone detected that my finger is shaking, wildly. Besides shaking, my phone will stop sensing my finger even though it is held there.
I doubt it is the problem with my hardware because I have already changed the touch screen, charging port and the motherboard by sending it to the Samsung Service Centre. I believe the problem is due to the tempered glass (my previous tempered glass) because it was put onto another A5 and the same problem occured. Now, I have purchased another tempered glass from REMAX (picture below), and it seemed to cause the same problem again.
So now my questions are
1. Can I seek for another alternative such as Spigen's tempered glass screen protector or should I just use the normal screen protector?
2. Am I the only one facing this problem?
3. Is the problem really due to the tempered glass?
Oh by the way, my phone is running on official rom version 4.4.4.
http://76.my/Malaysia/[email protected]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Without getting into too much tech details i have a list of possible cause's
1. with having a additional screen cover in place and power connected your body+screenprotector create a capacitor, this is exactly how the screen registers touch , so without the screen protector in place this wont happen. I've seen this on a few Screen protectors that use certain types of conductive glue/bonding agent.
2. faulty charger or fake chargers often cause this behavior, try another charger or use USB on a laptop not plugged into mains power, if the problem is gone then plug in laptop's main power, if problem still gone then your issue is charger, if problem starts when pluging in the laptop's power then it's either ground loop or your screen protector acting as above.
3. faulty assembly when fitting screen, they didnty apply the copper back shield or the protective cloth that act's as a shield around the ribbon cables
before anyone shouts that samsung fixed it, I know and i can quote many a occasion a cell phone was not fixed right first time by the OEM
if you activate developers options and switch on show touches then repeat the test , does the display always show certain areas that register touch , if so it can also show where the bonding agent has a airgap, this adds to the capacitor effect.
finally try wearing shoes when touching the screen, if wearing shoes stops the problem get your house wiring checked.
darkspr1te
gua rasa pasal charger lu tu bro. try tukar charger atau cable lain.
saxmydix said:
gua rasa pasal charger lu tu bro. try tukar charger atau cable lain.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks saxmydix, i used multiple chargers and it is still the same, i tried charging in another house in another area, still the same problem occured, so i doubt it is the problem with my charger.
thank you for your time and i appreaciate it a lot
darkspr1te said:
Without getting into too much tech details i have a list of possible cause's
1. with having a additional screen cover in place and power connected your body+screenprotector create a capacitor, this is exactly how the screen registers touch , so without the screen protector in place this wont happen. I've seen this on a few Screen protectors that use certain types of conductive glue/bonding agent.
2. faulty charger or fake chargers often cause this behavior, try another charger or use USB on a laptop not plugged into mains power, if the problem is gone then plug in laptop's main power, if problem still gone then your issue is charger, if problem starts when pluging in the laptop's power then it's either ground loop or your screen protector acting as above.
3. faulty assembly when fitting screen, they didnty apply the copper back shield or the protective cloth that act's as a shield around the ribbon cables
before anyone shouts that samsung fixed it, I know and i can quote many a occasion a cell phone was not fixed right first time by the OEM
if you activate developers options and switch on show touches then repeat the test , does the display always show certain areas that register touch , if so it can also show where the bonding agent has a airgap, this adds to the capacitor effect.
finally try wearing shoes when touching the screen, if wearing shoes stops the problem get your house wiring checked.
darkspr1te
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hi darkspr1te,
thanks for ur response.
1. so it is entirely dependent on how the screen priotector/tempered glass is sticked to the screen?
2. sorry for not including the details on my charger in my post. i am currently using an official charger that i got when i purchased my previous samsung phone(S2 gt-i9100g). i tried using the A5 charger and the problem persists. will using a powerbank recreate the scenario of the unplugged laptop charging? if it is the same, the problem is still there even when my powerbank is unplugged. i do not have a laptop at home and it wouldnt be possible for me to get my hands on a laptop that i can use these few days. i tried charging my phone in another house (in another region which is like 20 kilometers away) and it is still the same. and my brother's samsung galaxy alpha do not have this problem while charging.
3. so u are saying that the problem might be due to oem? once again i apologize for not including this in the post. while i am at the samsung shop, the person in charge tried putting the tempered glass (which was fixed to my phone) onto another A5 which was there due to a boot loop problem, and it started to have the same problem. is it possible that all Samsung A5's assembly do not have the copper back shield or the protective cloth?
apparently nobody in the samsung shop knows how to deal with my problem because they have never seen it before. it took me quite some time to explain to each person who attempted to serve me and i only managed to show the problem to one of the personnel (which was the one who helped me fix my phone). i went back to the samsung shop 3 times in 2 days. in the 1st time, he changed the touch screen, in the second time, he changed the charging port and in the third time, he changed the motherboard.
as for the test, i turned on the pointer location and i keyed in *#7353#, and i selected TSP grid mode. that is how i checked the problem. and while i was there, the shaking only occurs at where my fingers are. i tried enabling the show touches option and the display do not register touches until i touched them.
i doubt it the the problem with my house wiring since it is the same with my other house but thanks for the suggestion. i will definitely try wearing shoes when i am at a different house. maybe both my house got wiring problem.
i learnt a lot from your post. thanks for your time and i hope to hear from u soon
JssCheonGz said:
hi darkspr1te,
thanks for ur response.
1. so it is entirely dependent on how the screen priotector/tempered glass is sticked to the screen?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It wont be 100% of the cause but will affect performance of the screen.
2. sorry for not including the details on my charger in my post. i am currently using an official charger that i got when i purchased my previous samsung phone(S2 gt-i9100g). i tried using the A5 charger and the problem persists. will using a powerbank recreate the scenario of the unplugged laptop charging? if it is the same, the problem is still there even when my powerbank is unplugged. i do not have a laptop at home and it wouldnt be possible for me to get my hands on a laptop that i can use these few days. i tried charging my phone in another house (in another region which is like 20 kilometers away) and it is still the same. and my brother's samsung galaxy alpha do not have this problem while charging.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, using a non-mains connected charger will be sufficient for the test, like your power bank for example
3. so u are saying that the problem might be due to oem? once again i apologize for not including this in the post. while i am at the samsung shop, the person in charge tried putting the tempered glass (which was fixed to my phone) onto another A5 which was there due to a boot loop problem, and it started to have the same problem. is it possible that all Samsung A5's assembly do not have the copper back shield or the protective cloth?
apparently nobody in the samsung shop knows how to deal with my problem because they have never seen it before. it took me quite some time to explain to each person who attempted to serve me and i only managed to show the problem to one of the personnel (which was the one who helped me fix my phone). i went back to the samsung shop 3 times in 2 days. in the 1st time, he changed the touch screen, in the second time, he changed the charging port and in the third time, he changed the motherboard.
as for the test, i turned on the pointer location and i keyed in *#7353#, and i selected TSP grid mode. that is how i checked the problem. and while i was there, the shaking only occurs at where my fingers are. i tried enabling the show touches option and the display do not register touches until i touched them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes,
Galaxy Alpha Images
Note on images 4 and 5 you will see the copper shield, this model does not have the conductive cloth I mentioned but the copper ground plane can clearly be seen on both the body and screen. Fake and non oem parts tend not to have this, in the body there is also a copper area which can be removed by mistake on replacement of the screen.
this is not often found in the replacement screen kit.
i doubt it the the problem with my house wiring since it is the same with my other house but thanks for the suggestion. i will definitely try wearing shoes when i am at a different house. maybe both my house got wiring problem.
i learnt a lot from your post. thanks for your time and i hope to hear from u soon
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if it's happening at another location then you can discount this theory.
I am still leaning towards incorrect parts or assembly as this is the cause I personally see most often and i've repaired a LOT of damaged phones. As you have stated you have more or less a complete new phone if they replaced screen+motherboard.
I once repaired a phone that had been back to the OEM service center, cause of fault was copper strip from old screen touching the board, the copper slip was so small i only noticed it when it sparkled under the right light, it's mistakes like that is what I am talking about, easily missed by many.
darkspr1te
how do i check if my phone has the copper strip or not?
i am going to bring my phone to the samsung store tomorrow and hope for some answers regarding the copper strip. thanks darkspr1te
how do i check if my phone has the copper strip or not?
i am going to bring my phone to the samsung store tomorrow and hope for some answers regarding the copper strip. thanks darkspr1te
darkspr1te said:
It wont be 100% of the cause but will affect performance of the screen.
Yes, using a non-mains connected charger will be sufficient for the test, like your power bank for example
Yes,
Galaxy Alpha Images
Note on images 4 and 5 you will see the copper shield, this model does not have the conductive cloth I mentioned but the copper ground plane can clearly be seen on both the body and screen. Fake and non oem parts tend not to have this, in the body there is also a copper area which can be removed by mistake on replacement of the screen.
this is not often found in the replacement screen kit.
if it's happening at another location then you can discount this theory.
I am still leaning towards incorrect parts or assembly as this is the cause I personally see most often and i've repaired a LOT of damaged phones. As you have stated you have more or less a complete new phone if they replaced screen+motherboard.
I once repaired a phone that had been back to the OEM service center, cause of fault was copper strip from old screen touching the board, the copper slip was so small i only noticed it when it sparkled under the right light, it's mistakes like that is what I am talking about, easily missed by many.
darkspr1te
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
how do i check if my phone has the copper strip or not?
i am going to bring my phone to the samsung store tomorrow and hope for some answers regarding the copper strip. thanks darkspr1te
JssCheonGz said:
how do i check if my phone has the copper strip or not?
i am going to bring my phone to the samsung store tomorrow and hope for some answers regarding the copper strip. thanks darkspr1te
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sadly that can only be done by removing the screen. I dont suggest you try, ive seen the disassembly video, it's tough, one time job and if it goes wrong it's bye bye screen.
darkspr1te
darkspr1te said:
Sadly that can only be done by removing the screen. I dont suggest you try, ive seen the disassembly video, it's tough, one time job and if it goes wrong it's bye bye screen.
darkspr1te
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I sent in my phone to the samsung store to check the charging port (which is also making some problems), and i requested them to check the copper shield.
while i was there, i realised there is another phone which has the same problem as me. could it be that all the A5 model has the same problem ? :/
JssCheonGz said:
I sent in my phone to the samsung store to check the charging port (which is also making some problems), and i requested them to check the copper shield.
while i was there, i realised there is another phone which has the same problem as me. could it be that all the A5 model has the same problem ? :/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think it's the phone model, we would see more reports if it was, I would enquire if the other unit also had screen changed. If it has then one might assume pirate parts, no way to prove that without checking back of lcd for the oem barcode sticker. The is on possibility I only just thought of, a while back I had a client bring me a i9505 that the oem changed screen on, I just reread the emails between us and the fix was replacing the screen with a i9505 screen, the oem locally only supplies i9500 devices so they only fitted a i9500 screen, turns out there is a difference in the touch chip, I was able to prove this by attaching the touch only circuit from his old screen. No more random touches.
From this I can assume the various SM-A500 models use different touch chips. Or slightly different firmware in the chip, I have seen that before on the rock chip based tablets I support here.
Darkspr1te
darkspr1te said:
I don't think it's the phone model, we would see more reports if it was, I would enquire if the other unit also had screen changed. If it has then one might assume pirate parts, no way to prove that without checking back of lcd for the oem barcode sticker. The is on possibility I only just thought of, a while back I had a client bring me a i9505 that the oem changed screen on, I just reread the emails between us and the fix was replacing the screen with a i9505 screen, the oem locally only supplies i9500 devices so they only fitted a i9500 screen, turns out there is a difference in the touch chip, I was able to prove this by attaching the touch only circuit from his old screen. No more random touches.
From this I can assume the various SM-A500 models use different touch chips. Or slightly different firmware in the chip, I have seen that before on the rock chip based tablets I support here.
Darkspr1te
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this is getting a little too complex for me to understand, let alone explaining it to the samsung guy. are u trying to say touchscreens from different variants of A5, such as SM-A500G is being fitted into my SM-A500F?
JssCheonGz said:
this is getting a little too complex for me to understand, let alone explaining it to the samsung guy. are u trying to say touchscreens from different variants of A5, such as SM-A500G is being fitted into my SM-A500F?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, that's exactly what I am saying. Although it's only a theory based on prior solutions, I dont have any proof to hand other than my experience.
darkspr1te
Battery issue
My galaxy A5 have some battery issue. It won't charge after 88%,and didn't turn off after 2%. The phone is turn on over night at 2%..please help me regarding this issue.

Touchscreen ghost touches(screen flickering)

Hey guys, recently I had my Z2 sent to a service shop because it wasn't turning on or charging. The guy at the shop said that it was the battery fault and he changed it, but he also told me that the screen was not working( flickering, ghost touches, unable to work on it). So he put my old battery on and when I went home the phone actually turned on and booted up, but still I had the screen problem. So whenever I touch the screen it doesn't respond and it touches by itself. Tried putting it on rice for 20 hours, dried with a hairdryer and assembled dissamssebled the screen jacks, still the problems wasn't fix. Do I really need to change the whole LCD or is this a problem that can be fixed?
Shawiee said:
Hey guys, recently I had my Z2 sent to a service shop because it wasn't turning on or charging. The guy at the shop said that it was the battery fault and he changed it, but he also told me that the screen was not working( flickering, ghost touches, unable to work on it). So he put my old battery on and when I went home the phone actually turned on and booted up, but still I had the screen problem. So whenever I touch the screen it doesn't respond and it touches by itself. Tried putting it on rice for 20 hours, dried with a hairdryer and assembled dissamssebled the screen jacks, still the problems wasn't fix. Do I really need to change the whole LCD or is this a problem that can be fixed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, you have to change the screen, or more precisely, the digitializer.
But since the LCD and the digitialier come in one-piece, you have to change it as a whole, but at a much lower price, as your screen can be sold again and recycle the good LCD panel.
iXaidyiu said:
Yes, you have to change the screen, or more precisely, the digitializer.
But since the LCD and the digitialier come in one-piece, you have to change it as a whole, but at a much lower price, as your screen can be sold again and recycle the good LCD panel.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So replacing the LCD would fix the problem right? That's great then because I found an LCD with a very low price (20$), completely new on ebay and I sucessfuly dissassembled the old LCD out of the phone. I'm gonna buy it as soon as possible. Thanks man.

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