Water Damaged Z2.. Trying to fix it! - Xperia Z2 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hello.
So to make a veeeery long story short, the phone leaked water in a lake at about 0.5 meters depth after a minute or two with flaps definitely closed (checked 5-10 times before submersion). The screen then flickered and died.
Phone gets sent away to a service center, tested and results unsurprisingly say its watertight so must be user fault. Sony and service provider refuse to help me in any way to fix the broken phone, so basically they say i have to pay it as normal (it was 4 weeks old at time of damage).
I received the phone back after countless phone calls to sony and service provider trying to get them to take responsibility, especially sony, but to no avail.
So now im trying to fix it myself. I took the phone apart, and the screen connector at the bottom was fried as expected. I bought a new screen and flex connector cable but still my screen wont show. The touchscreen works perfect, and so does the phone. When i connect it to my tv via MHL it works flawlessly. Every function including the new touchscreen works perfect, just that the screen is black on the device.
Am i missing something?? I really want to get this working so i can say IN YOUR FACE to this stupid company SONY. Im thinking the only thing it could be now is some faulty component on the mainboard regarding screen output, seems strange though that everything works perfect via MHL, especially the touchscreen.
Anybody have any ideas? Would be greatly appreciated if anyone can share similar experiences!
Cheers, Vincent from Sweden.

i
vinnibinni said:
Hello.
So to make a veeeery long story short, the phone leaked water in a lake at about 0.5 meters depth after a minute or two with flaps definitely closed (checked 5-10 times before submersion). The screen then flickered and died.
Phone gets sent away to a service center, tested and results unsurprisingly say its watertight so must be user fault. Sony and service provider refuse to help me in any way to fix the broken phone, so basically they say i have to pay it as normal (it was 4 weeks old at time of damage).
I received the phone back after countless phone calls to sony and service provider trying to get them to take responsibility, especially sony, but to no avail.
So now im trying to fix it myself. I took the phone apart, and the screen connector at the bottom was fried as expected. I bought a new screen and flex connector cable but still my screen wont show. The touchscreen works perfect, and so does the phone. When i connect it to my tv via MHL it works flawlessly. Every function including the new touchscreen works perfect, just that the screen is black on the device.
Am i missing something?? I really want to get this working so i can say IN YOUR FACE to this stupid company SONY. Im thinking the only thing it could be now is some faulty component on the mainboard regarding screen output, seems strange though that everything works perfect via MHL, especially the touchscreen.
Anybody have any ideas? Would be greatly appreciated if anyone can share similar experiences!
Cheers, Vincent from Sweden.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
explain more about phone instead of situation and problem with service center
the touch panel is ok but display is died!
but the phone can boot with another display?!

Geeks Empire said:
explain more about phone instead of situation and problem with service center
the touch panel is ok but display is died!
but the phone can boot with another display?!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello.
The phone has booted ever since it got water damaged, even with the bad screen. Yes the touch panel works perfect but no display, and i can see and use everything on the phonebon my tv via mhl cable. I even updated firmware whilst using mhl to see if it would help but still no picture on the device.
I have replaced the touch screen and the flex ribbon cable that connects screen to mainboard. I have also removed mainboard and cleaned it with 95% alcohol incase some water or dirt causing a short circuit somewhere.
The mainboard looks fine, and everything works apart from the visual screen. Nothing is overheating. Im really baffled as to what could be wrong, but it surely must be something on the mainboard?

i
vinnibinni said:
Hello.
The phone has booted ever since it got water damaged, even with the bad screen. Yes the touch panel works perfect but no display, and i can see and use everything on the phonebon my tv via mhl cable. I even updated firmware whilst using mhl to see if it would help but still no picture on the device.
I have replaced the touch screen and the flex ribbon cable that connects screen to mainboard. I have also removed mainboard and cleaned it with 95% alcohol incase some water or dirt causing a short circuit somewhere.
The mainboard looks fine, and everything works apart from the visual screen. Nothing is overheating. Im really baffled as to what could be wrong, but it surely must be something on the mainboard?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got same issue on Galaxy S4 but that wasn't water proof so this type of damage was normal for it.
have u tried ur display on another board?
- as Sony said it was user fault... after phone get wet have u tried to dry it with heat?
+ as i read the warranty agreements when u open phone by urself or others (non official center) it will void the warranty.
anyway If ur display not working with another board so thr is problem in display panel and not anything on board.
Please Inform me if u got any info or result of this damage
Thanks
:good:

Geeks Empire said:
I got same issue on Galaxy S4 but that wasn't water proof so this type of damage was normal for it.
have u tried ur display on another board?
- as Sony said it was user fault... after phone get wet have u tried to dry it with heat?
+ as i read the warranty agreements when u open phone by urself or others (non official center) it will void the warranty.
anyway If ur display not working with another board so thr is problem in display panel and not anything on board.
Please Inform me if u got any info or result of this damage
Thanks
:good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes the phone is thoroughly dried out. I only opened the phone after i had received it back from sony service. They said it wasnt covered by warranty because it was water damaged and was caused by the user (even though both water indicators behind the 2 flaps are still white and not been exposed to water), and they said that they never repair water damaged phones.
Thats why i decided to open it and try to fix it myself, i had nothing (more) to lose!
I havent tried the new display on another board, thats exactly what i want to do but cant get hold of a new board. I've even been taking apart previous smartphones to see if the display can be connected to it somehow just so i can confirm it works. But the probability is that it does work, as the first "broken" screen worked in the same way as this one, touchscreen fine but no display. Thats why i changed the flex cable also, i thought it must be that when the mainboard seems to be doing everything else perfectly.
Does the problem have to be in one of those 3 components? Screen, flex cable, mainboard, or have i missed something?
Thanks

vinnibinni said:
Yes the phone is thoroughly dried out. I only opened the phone after i had received it back from sony service. They said it wasnt covered by warranty because it was water damaged and was caused by the user (even though both water indicators behind the 2 flaps are still white and not been exposed to water), and they said that they never repair water damaged phones.
Thats why i decided to open it and try to fix it myself, i had nothing (more) to lose!
I havent tried the new display on another board, thats exactly what i want to do but cant get hold of a new board. I've even been taking apart previous smartphones to see if the display can be connected to it somehow just so i can confirm it works. But the probability is that it does work, as the first "broken" screen worked in the same way as this one, touchscreen fine but no display. Thats why i changed the flex cable also, i thought it must be that when the mainboard seems to be doing everything else perfectly.
Does the problem have to be in one of those 3 components? Screen, flex cable, mainboard, or have i missed something?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it should be those factors. From what you have stated, its most probably the connector on the main board. Before you make more purchases, try to take it to a shop and ask them to test the screen on another phone, so you can see if its the screen or not. It MIGHT be a faulty flex cable that you just purchased, hopefully, since its the cheaper solution. I actually bought one in ebay that was water damaged, changed the screen, middle frame and flex cable, and have a brand new refurbished Z2, good for me the main board was intact. I would take the board out, wash it with 95% alcohol again with a soft toothbrush to brush impurities off the connector piece. Then spray it a little with electrical spray and leave it in rice to thoroughly dry out overnight and try all the connections again. Look through the main board with a magnifying glass and see if anything obvious burned out, the smallest connection can cause problems.
If all fails, then take it to a shop to test the screen or the main board, hopefully they are friendly enough to do it.
Good luck buddy. :good:

elbello said:
Yes, it should be those factors. From what you have stated, its most probably the connector on the main board. Before you make more purchases, try to take it to a shop and ask them to test the screen on another phone, so you can see if its the screen or not. It MIGHT be a faulty flex cable that you just purchased, hopefully, since its the cheaper solution. I actually bought one in ebay that was water damaged, changed the screen, middle frame and flex cable, and have a brand new refurbished Z2, good for me the main board was intact. I would take the board out, wash it with 95% alcohol again with a soft toothbrush to brush impurities off the connector piece. Then spray it a little with electrical spray and leave it in rice to thoroughly dry out overnight and try all the connections again. Look through the main board with a magnifying glass and see if anything obvious burned out, the smallest connection can cause problems.
If all fails, then take it to a shop to test the screen or the main board, hopefully they are friendly enough to do it.
Good luck buddy. :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like good advice elbello
Good to know that you have managed to fix a water damaged Z2 using the same mainboard, hopefully i can have the same luck.
So you think it could be the flex cable? Are they known to break easily?
I have already cleaned the board twice with alcohol, maybe using electrical spray might help, and i will check it with a magnifying glass aswell.
Hopefully i can find a shop that will test the screen for me, but this is Sweden, the place where no favours are done, and where everything has to be sent away and fixed by professionals!
Thanks for the replys guys

I have just checked the whole mainboard with a magnifier, and found no oxidation anywhere. I found quite a bit of dirt in some places, and i have once again cleaned the screen connector with 95% alcohol and also the other side of the board behind the screen connector. I dont have any electrical spray at this time so cant test with that.
Another thing i have realised is that there is visual damage to two contact points that are located at the bottom of the phone, very close to where the flex cable connects to the lcd screen. What are these two contacts for, and could they be causing the problem? I will attach an image of them.
Thanks.

vinnibinni said:
I have just checked the whole mainboard with a magnifier, and found no oxidation anywhere. I found quite a bit of dirt in some places, and i have once again cleaned the screen connector with 95% alcohol and also the other side of the board behind the screen connector. I dont have any electrical spray at this time so cant test with that.
Another thing i have realised is that there is visual damage to two contact points that are located at the bottom of the phone, very close to where the flex cable connects to the lcd screen. What are these two contacts for, and could they be causing the problem? I will attach an image of them.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From that picture, I dont think that affects the screen at all. Bad thing is you cant try the two pieces you bought with another board so you can narrow the problem down.
I doubt the electrical spray will make wonders, it just good to clean dirt and make the contacts react better after oxidation, but if you state they are clean...
Think your only options is to consider it a loss, sell it in ebay for parts and stuff, or try getting a new flex and see if it was that, but if it wasnt, its like throwing money away. I would say the same for the screen, but those go for $100+ easily.

elbello said:
From that picture, I dont think that affects the screen at all. Bad thing is you cant try the two pieces you bought with another board so you can narrow the problem down.
I doubt the electrical spray will make wonders, it just good to clean dirt and make the contacts react better after oxidation, but if you state they are clean...
Think your only options is to consider it a loss, sell it in ebay for parts and stuff, or try getting a new flex and see if it was that, but if it wasnt, its like throwing money away. I would say the same for the screen, but those go for $100+ easily.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea i was thinking about selling it for parts, but its not really worth much without a working mainboard. I will probably just keep it and wait till i can get hold of a new board. How much do you think a new board would cost? I cant find one anywhere at the moment when searching on ebay/google.
Wish i had access to a working board for testing

Hello,
I have the same problem ... black screen on the tv works perfectly, xperia z2 also drowned after 10 seconds under water .... someone back to life solved the screen, that you have replaced?
best regard.
Oscar

vinnibinni said:
Yea i was thinking about selling it for parts, but its not really worth much without a working mainboard. I will probably just keep it and wait till i can get hold of a new board. How much do you think a new board would cost? I cant find one anywhere at the moment when searching on ebay/google.
Wish i had access to a working board for testing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello ..... no answer .....
I'll buy on aliexpress touch screen digitizer to replace it, anyone know if the screen will return to work? I have to replace more parts? thank you ...
Best Regard
Oscarrrr

Hello,
I'm now in the exact same position.
Water damaged, Touchscreen is still working I can enter recovery any press stuff but no display only shows black.
Had my screen replaced in a shop here but same problem prevails.
They told me to replace Mainboard 3500 THB.
But they didnt have one right then.

He could fix it?
vinnibinni said:
Yea i was thinking about selling it for parts, but its not really worth much without a working mainboard. I will probably just keep it and wait till i can get hold of a new board. How much do you think a new board would cost? I cant find one anywhere at the moment when searching on ebay/google.
Wish i had access to a working board for testing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
he could you solve your problem? It happens to me the same with a z2 . I board bought new eh and the problem persists . you could help me?

Thinking of buying a used z2 with intermittent touchscreen issues. It works but seems to be intermittent it either takes multiple taps to work or it goes mad like your pressing the keys could this be down to water damage or possibly just a software issue and need re-flashing a ftf by clean install it's a totally stock z2 in mint condition for £50

[email protected] said:
Thinking of buying a used z2 with intermittent touchscreen issues. It works but seems to be intermittent it either takes multiple taps to work or it goes mad like your pressing the keys could this be down to water damage or possibly just a software issue and need re-flashing a ftf by clean install it's a totally stock z2 in mint condition for £50
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's probably hardware problem. Trust me, ghost touches make people go crazy,so don't buy it.
Sent from Xperia Z2
Luckily not from an iPhone = Yesterdays technology at tomorrows prices

Ghost touches are a digitizer problem right?
You can buy a new one for about 30-50$
Gesendet von meinem LENNY2 mit Tapatalk

Haldi4803 said:
Ghost touches are a digitizer problem right?
You can buy a new one for about 30-50$
Gesendet von meinem LENNY2 mit Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Probably yes, but replacing it isn't so easy these days.
Sent from Xperia Z2
Luckily not from an iPhone = Yesterdays technology at tomorrows prices

try this : http://www.mobilerdx.com/2014/10/sony-xperia-z2-display-light-working-problem-solution.html
or this : http://gsm-friends.blogspot.co.id/2015/05/sony-xperia-z2-display-light-ic.html

Related

[Q] Sorry if this is in the wrong place, X10 Help?

I checked out a few other threads, on a couple forums and dont think anyone has been stupid enough to do this so far...
about 4 months ago, I was lost and my phone was dead, having bodged a car charger together I plugged it in.
The phone turned on, booted up and I got the SatNav software running, but before I could drive off it started flashing.. screen, lights, like a tiny disco....
Then it smoked, quite a lot for a second or two, by this time I'd took battery out and dis-connected the charger but it was too late, the phone was dead.
I got home, put the battery in a desktop charger til it was full and the phone has remained at it's current condition since.
So; it won't turn on, vibrate or flash any lights. The ONLY thing it does, is power up the right hand side bottom white light between the home key and back button.
I've been Ebaying since the day I killed it for a spares one, tried buying a main board but no joy anywhere without paying over £70 (and that's for a complete but knackered handset).
My dad's good with phones, his mate better also both of which said i've burnt out some chips. Some do kinda, have small 'holes' in, and I wiped a 2GB card too, wont work in anything else.
Without spending silly amounts on a new phone can I not do anything with this? Apparently everything except the main board should work (screen, digitizer etc)..
Help anyone please? -ta.
I suggest that you contact your local support team because I think this is something that needs to be examined at a repair center.
http://www.sonyericsson.com/cws/corporate/common/contact/phonelist
I dropped my X10a, and cracked the screen/digitizer. Is it easier to replace the whole housing or just the digitizer? Any suggestions on which company supplies OEM parts at the best prices?
agentJBM said:
I dropped my X10a, and cracked the screen/digitizer. Is it easier to replace the whole housing or just the digitizer? Any suggestions on which company supplies OEM parts at the best prices?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've found some an i will keep looking but here is some at the bottom of my post and if you know of some please do post them here and all update this. good luck
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=15712166#poststop

[Q] Need advanced hardware help!!

Hi all,
I had to replace the power button flex board of my i9100, but I made a mistake when soldering, and something shorted and a SMD in the board exploded with a *BANG* and went flying like a bright shooting star. Then came the smell of fried electronics, oh boy, that was horrible! Strangely, I couldn't locate which SMD component exploded, the boards looks fine, even if carefully examined with a 10x magnifier.
I thought the board was completely destroyed. But I fixed the power flex cable soldering, assembled the phone, connected it to the USB charger, and guess what?? The recovery menu appeared, some message appeared and quickly disappeared, and the phone booted normally! Everythting worked: network, wifi, bluetooth, camera, etc. However, the power button didn't work anymore, even now it's properly soldered.
I removed the battery to turn off the phone, but now it doesn't turn on with the button. If I plug it to USB, now it shows the charging battery screen, animated and all, but I can't turn on the phone anymore!
So I ask: does anyone know which SMD components take part in turning the phone on by pressing the power button? I can't find this info in the service manual, but I'm sure it's just a matter of replacing a burnt SMD resistor, capacitor or inductor, since the phone works, I saw it working!
So, does anyone have any info for me, or at least a detailed diagram of the circuitry, so I can find my way into that?
Thank you all in advance!!!
Eduardo
Marcovecchio said:
Hi all,
I had to replace the power button flex board of my i9100, but I made a mistake when soldering, and something shorted and a SMD in the board exploded with a *BANG* and went flying like a bright shooting star. Then came the smell of fried electronics, oh boy, that was horrible! Strangely, I couldn't locate which SMD component exploded, the boards looks fine, even if carefully examined with a 10x magnifier.
I thought the board was completely destroyed. But I fixed the power flex cable soldering, assembled the phone, connected it to the USB charger, and guess what?? The recovery menu appeared, some message appeared and quickly disappeared, and the phone booted normally! Everythting worked: network, wifi, bluetooth, camera, etc. However, the power button didn't work anymore, even now it's properly soldered.
I removed the battery to turn off the phone, but now it doesn't turn on with the button. If I plug it to USB, now it shows the charging battery screen, animated and all, but I can't turn on the phone anymore!
So I ask: does anyone know which SMD components take part in turning the phone on by pressing the power button? I can't find this info in the service manual, but I'm sure it's just a matter of replacing a burnt SMD resistor, capacitor or inductor, since the phone works, I saw it working!
So, does anyone have any info for me, or at least a detailed diagram of the circuitry, so I can find my way into that?
Thank you all in advance!!!
Eduardo
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hola Eduardo,
you probably used a too high temperature in the soldering iron.
Google for "56542824-Samsung-GT-i9100-service-manual.pdf" and you will find a good service manual that will guide you on a series of problem.
I doubt that there's a procedure for your specific problem, but you may be able to know what SMD you have to replace.
I wish you luck, and next time make sure that the temperature is low (and eventually use a solder paste!)
robdpi said:
Hola Eduardo,
you probably used a too high temperature in the soldering iron.
Google for "56542824-Samsung-GT-i9100-service-manual.pdf" and you will find a good service manual that will guide you on a series of problem.
I doubt that there's a procedure for your specific problem, but you may be able to know what SMD you have to replace.
I wish you luck, and next time make sure that the temperature is low (and eventually use a solder paste!)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your reply, robdpi!
The soldering iron temperature was ok, I used a 12W Weller micro soldering iron, temperature was not more than 550F / 300C, and I never leave the iron on the work for more than 3 continuous seconds. The problem was a short between two of the 3 pins in the connector. I noticed it only after the accident occurred, testing with my multimeter.
About the service manual, this is the one I have, and the testing procedures (voltages, frequencies) are all OK when plugged to the USB, but they all fail when I try to turn it on with the power button. And you're right, there's no procedure in the manual regarding this specific problem.
Anyway, I will keep trying, thanks again,
Eduardo
Well, after almost an year, I fixed the phone! I'll write about the solution here, to serve as a reference to anyone who needs help.
I managed to find the electrical schematics of the whole phone. With the information given in it, I noticed the connection between the positive battery pin and the flex power button connector was interrupted. Probably the short circuit I did overheated and blew some thin trace on the PCB and it kind of exploded. So I soldered a thin wire between the battery connector and the power button to replace the lost connection, and the phone is now working again! If anyone needs the schematics, just PM me and I will send it over.
But now, I'm back to another issue the phone already had, even before I did the short circuit: the screen shows horizontal lines, blurring the image. It started after I replaced a cracked screen. Does anyone have any idea if it's software or hardware related? May it be a driver issue? I'm from Brazil, and the screen came from Korea (bought at eBay). Should a korean screen work in my phone? Is it possible to confirm or not if it's hardware or software related?
Any help will be great, thanks in advance!
Eduardo
Post a screen.
Sent from the little guy
gastonw said:
Post a screen.
Sent from the little guy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I attached 8 pictures showing how the thing looks like. Please note the banding can't be seen on black background, and it's only horizontal. I used red arrows to show the banding. Vertical and curve artifacts are distortions caused by the camera.
If you pay attention to the file names (which have the time each picture was taken) it's possible to see how the thing gets worse with time. In the last pictures, screen goes completely unreadable, it degrades to an almost uniform bluish white.
I already tried flashing a custom kernel as suggested on another thread, but it didn't help. Already tried stock 4.0.4, that didn't work also.
Thanks a lot for any help.
Eduardo
Marcovecchio said:
I attached 8 pictures showing how the thing looks like. Please note the banding can't be seen on black background, and it's only horizontal. I used red arrows to show the banding. Vertical and curve artifacts are distortions caused by the camera.
If you pay attention to the file names (which have the time each picture was taken) it's possible to see how the thing gets worse with time. In the last pictures, screen goes completely unreadable, it degrades to an almost uniform bluish white.
I already tried flashing a custom kernel as suggested on another thread, but it didn't help. Already tried stock 4.0.4, that didn't work also.
Thanks a lot for any help.
Eduardo
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i have the same isue with my phone and i have another motherboard , but it didn't work....
ps: my screen is a genuine one
kozimcfly said:
i have the same isue with my phone and i have another motherboard , but it didn't work....
ps: my screen is a genuine one
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You mean you tried the screen on two motherboards, and it shows the same problem on both? Could you please tell the country of origin of your motherboards and screen? I suspect it may be a hardware incompatibility issue.
In other words: motherboards sold in country X may not "talk" correctly to screens from country Y. My i9100 is from Brazil, but the screen came from a Korean seller at eBay.
By the way, does anyone know if the official firmwares come with low level hardware drivers? Is it possible to "transplant" the video driver from an asian firmware, to a south america firmware, for example?
I know about android phones which changed the wi-fi chip during their life cicle and this transplant used to be made, and worked. I would like to try the same for video.
Thanks!
Eduardo
Marcovecchio said:
You mean you tried the screen on two motherboards, and it shows the same problem on both? Could you please tell the country of origin of your motherboards and screen? I suspect it may be a hardware incompatibility issue.
In other words: motherboards sold in country X may not "talk" correctly to screens from country Y. My i9100 is from Brazil, but the screen came from a Korean seller at eBay.
By the way, does anyone know if the official firmwares come with low level hardware drivers? Is it possible to "transplant" the video driver from an asian firmware, to a south america firmware, for example?
I know about android phones which changed the wi-fi chip during their life cicle and this transplant used to be made, and worked. I would like to try the same for video.
Thanks!
Eduardo
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
both of them from belgium
This is either a screen problem or a battery problem.
What happens when you swap batteries?
Sent from the little guy
gastonw said:
This is either a screen problem or a battery problem.
What happens when you swap batteries?
Sent from the little guy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have only one battery, so can't swap to test. But could you explain how could the battery cause this problem?
I just measured the battery voltage with a digital multimeter, and it's 4.15 V, fully charged. This is almost a half volt above the 3.7 V it should be. Do you think this may be the cause for all the problem?
Many tthanks!
Yeah, screen might not getting enough juice.
Sent from the little guy
gastonw said:
Yeah, screen might not getting enough juice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did another test: measured the battery voltage with the phone turned on, to check the voltage drop caused by phone load, but it seemed normal. With phone on, battery measured 3.8V approximately, which is a little less than the 4.15V I got without load. The battery indicator shows 75% battery charge. It looks like the battery is behaving well under load.
Anyway, I will try another battery as soon as I can.
Thanks again,
Eduardo
Well, I did test with another battery and the problem persists. Should I give up and consider it's really a screen hardware problem?
Thanks,
Eduardo
My guess was on the battery, I guess I'll take the screen problem then.
You should have it checked it out with a tech guy.
Sent from the little guy
Well, I think I went as far as I could. I replaced all 20 tiny SMD components from the display flex PCB with the ones from the old display, which cracked.
But it didn't work, the problem remains. Now I think the problem lies in the AMOLED screen itself, or perhaps in the main phone board. Who knows if the main board is sending dirty electrical signals to the display?
Anyway, I think I will just sell the phone the way it is, I can't afford spending even more money on this phone.
Thanks for the help, gastonw!
You got it Eduardo.
Sent from the little guy

[Q] Touchscreen/digitizer doesn't work/responds well anymore after replacement.

Hello all
This is my first post here so let's hope I do everything correctly here
I have a Sony xperia Live with walkman (wt19i) which I dropped unfortunately and decided to replace it after a while because I was annoyed by all the cracks and was up for an experiment.
After a long search, I came up with this:
amazon.com/gp/product/B006MQFFZQ/ref=cm_cr_ryp_prd_ttl_hst_1
I also posted my findings there already to help other people who might want or need to replace their digitizer as well.
But the bottomline is that the screen sometimes just locks up or starts acting weird... then I have to lock/unlock and it is all OK again for a while.
At least once a day I have to take out the battery because the trick I explained above doesn't work anymore at all.
The hardware buttons do.
I have the idea that when I keep playing a game for too long; it locks up faster, so the device warms up.
I guess I already know the answer but I was hoping that someone had any idea's how to fix this as I already did the installment of the digitizer over again without much luck.
Thnx in advance!
Jelle
Hello! I was facing the same trouble with my Xperia Mini Pro which unfortunately expired yesterday.
I had to replace the digitizer+Lcd whichI bought off eBay (money wasted). One thing that you should see is what you use for sticking the screen unit to the phone (I am assuming that it was stuch to the phone using some kind of adhesive as this is the case in Xperias and maybe others too).
When I replaced mine, it was working fine until I used (very carefully) quick drying adhesive on the edges. My guess is that some of that got between the digitizer and the lcd by seeping in because after that, I started to experience the SAME issues as you. For me sometimes, rebooting would be the only thing to make it work again.
I hope it gets fixed for you soon. It only went downhill for me though
navneetkhare said:
Hello! I was facing the same trouble with my Xperia Mini Pro which unfortunately expired yesterday.
I had to replace the digitizer+Lcd whichI bought off eBay (money wasted). One thing that you should see is what you use for sticking the screen unit to the phone (I am assuming that it was stuch to the phone using some kind of adhesive as this is the case in Xperias and maybe others too).
When I replaced mine, it was working fine until I used (very carefully) quick drying adhesive on the edges. My guess is that some of that got between the digitizer and the lcd by seeping in because after that, I started to experience the SAME issues as you. For me sometimes, rebooting would be the only thing to make it work again.
I hope it gets fixed for you soon. It only went downhill for me though
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi there and thx for your reply.
Sorry to hear that you are experiencing the same kind of problems.
Unfortunately I've had this problem from the beginning, when I unpacked it, I could already see that it wasn't an original part under bright light.
I've used 1mm Wide Double Sided Layer Adhesive Sticky Tape Sticker for Mobile Phone, which I also bought on Amazon, despite of how hard it was to apply, it the replacement went fine with it.
The second time I took apart my phone just to see if I did connect everything well, I also re-applied the sticky dual sided tape.
But that did't really help.
But so i've someone has some knowledge or knows some tricks I can experiment with, that would be nice
I read something about heating up the phone like this thread here for example: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1041943
I'm willing to try that if there is really no other option
But as I said, it's probably just a badly constructed digitizer I got from China.
Jelpot said:
Hello all
This is my first post here so let's hope I do everything correctly here
I have a Sony xperia Live with walkman (wt19i) which I dropped unfortunately and decided to replace it after a while because I was annoyed by all the cracks and was up for an experiment.
After a long search, I came up with this:
amazon.com/gp/product/B006MQFFZQ/ref=cm_cr_ryp_prd_ttl_hst_1
I also posted my findings there already to help other people who might want or need to replace their digitizer as well.
But the bottomline is that the screen sometimes just locks up or starts acting weird... then I have to lock/unlock and it is all OK again for a while.
At least once a day I have to take out the battery because the trick I explained above doesn't work anymore at all.
The hardware buttons do.
I have the idea that when I keep playing a game for too long; it locks up faster, so the device warms up.
I guess I already know the answer but I was hoping that someone had any idea's how to fix this as I already did the installment of the digitizer over again without much luck.
Thx in advance!
Jelle
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You changed the screen?! Fire! even though I can do nothing helpful....sorry...
Linnunium said:
You changed the screen?! Fire! even though I can do nothing helpful....sorry...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, I only replaced the digitizer.
The screen was still fine and they weren't really stuck together
Jelpot said:
No, I only replaced the digitizer.
The screen was still fine and they weren't really stuck together
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But digitizer and screen are one unit and not intended to be separated. Maybe that's the problem!
Sent from my Nexus 4 running Android 4.3
mihahn said:
But digitizer and screen are one unit and not intended to be separated. Maybe that's the problem!
Sent from my Nexus 4 running Android 4.3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I've read that here before, but my mind cannot really get around the why... ?
It wasn't like they were stuck together that I could damage the other when replacing it.
Neither were the parts sold together.
The screen still works and the digitizer as well, it's not like it's not working at all.
The digitizer just stops working after a while and when I lock/unlock again it works fine again.
As far as I remember I also had do connect the digitizer to the mainboard, not the display itself.
It isn't an easy issue, that's for sure

Problems with SGS3 - how to read logs?

Hello,
My friend has problems with her SGS3. It's about 1 year old and it started restarting and turning off itself. Sometimes it's on a keypress, sometimes while charging and something it just went off without touching anything. She sent it to repair and they said that there is some damage on motherboard from water (but it was never wet so it's weird) and it's glass is broken (it felt on the floor and broke a few days after buying), but the screen and touch digitizer work fine.
Since the repair is more expensive than new device, she wants to check if there is some software problems before giving it to someone who can try to fix it. The phone is not rooted, so is there any easy way to check its logs (some app or something)? Is it even possible without rooting?
In case of hardware problems, what should she do now? If the mainboard is broken and the glass is broken too, it's almost impossible to sell it for parts because only battery and soem minor parts are usable. Is it worth repairing the motherboard?
Here is the picture from the repair service: http://i.imgur.com/pF92OgB.jpg
xplod2841 said:
Hello,
My friend has problems with her SGS3. It's about 1 year old and it started restarting and turning off itself. Sometimes it's on a keypress, sometimes while charging and something it just went off without touching anything. She sent it to repair and they said that there is some damage on motherboard from water (but it was never wet so it's weird) and it's glass is broken (it felt on the floor and broke a few days after buying), but the screen and touch digitizer work fine.
Since the repair is more expensive than new device, she wants to check if there is some software problems before giving it to someone who can try to fix it. The phone is not rooted, so is there any easy way to check its logs (some app or something)? Is it even possible without rooting?
In case of hardware problems, what should she do now? If the mainboard is broken and the glass is broken too, it's almost impossible to sell it for parts because only battery and soem minor parts are usable. Is it worth repairing the motherboard?
Here is the picture from the repair service: http://i.imgur.com/pF92OgB.jpg
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Isn't that the USB port? Looks like it's already fried. From the looks of it, the service center is right it's a hardware problem and for them to say that the motherboard is broken probably means other components are also fried. In my opinion it's better to buy a new phone as a repairing it outside warranty is much more costly than buying of a new phone.
SignetSphere said:
Isn't that the USB port? Looks like it's already fried. From the looks of it, the service center is right it's a hardware problem and for them to say that the motherboard is broken probably means other components are also fried. In my opinion it's better to buy a new phone as a repairing it outside warranty is much more costly than buying of a new phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it looks like USB port. Maybe something is fried, but the phone works so all chips and electronics must be okay. They said that there is corrosion on the motherboard. The phone was never wet but it can be due to condensation or humidity. I have a friend who told me that he can fix it if there is only little corrosion, but before trying, I would like to take a look on logs if there is some software problems. Another friend told me to wipe and flash original kernel and ROM from fresh, but I don't think that this is a smart move since the port could be broken and we could brick the device if it lose connection during flashing.
xplod2841 said:
Yes, it looks like USB port. Maybe something is fried, but the phone works so all chips and electronics must be okay. They said that there is corrosion on the motherboard. The phone was never wet but it can be due to condensation or humidity. I have a friend who told me that he can fix it if there is only little corrosion, but before trying, I would like to take a look on logs if there is some software problems. Another friend told me to wipe and flash original kernel and ROM from fresh, but I don't think that this is a smart move since the port could be broken and we could brick the device if it lose connection during flashing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see... so the phone still works. That type of damage is probabaly because of humidity like what you suspect. In my opinion further use of the phone with an existing hardware problem can lead to a more bigger problem so no logs can be of help here. That fried usb port can also hinder on flashing a new rom like what you said as it may fail during the flash that can corrupt the internal memory of the phone. I think your friend's options are only two. Have it repaired or just buy a new one.
Yes it works but it's barely usable. It's blocking (getting stuck) and restarting all the time. Do you know maybe how to read those logs? I never used logs so I don't know. I was googling about it but I didn't understand it well. It seems that the phone has to be rooted.

[Q] Xperia Mini Pro (Sk17i) hw keyboard - screen issue

Hello!
The problem appeared suddenly. I had been using Ultimate HD ROM for over a year with no problems. Few days ago when sliding out the keyboard, the screen went blank. Backlight was on, keylights were on. Typing on that small phone without HW keyboard is absolute rubbish.
Some moment, it just got into bootloop after it crashed while I stopped bluetooth tethering. Flashed the phone with Flashtool, with .587 stock firmware. Issue remained. Opened PC Companion and proceeded to "repair phone". It installed .587 stock firmware again (i guess it's that factory restore thingy). Result? Nothing!
Rooted the phone, installed recovery and Revolution HD ROM. Nothing. Tried to install that "keyboard zip file" while in recovery. Install succeeded, but the problem still remained!
Here is the video of phone and the issue itself:
htt***ps://ww**w.youtube.com/watch?v=mArrpkR1vR4&feature=youtu.be (remove the *** from the link)
Is it a firmware issue or hardware? What could be done?
Regards,
kaktebja
From your description it seems like the flex ribbon acting up. Swap with a new flex and you're good to go
fundre said:
From your description it seems like the flex ribbon acting up. Swap with a new flex and you're good to go
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your reply!
I used a plastic card to put some pressure on that flex. Nothing happened. If flex ribbon would be damaged, why does the screen work in "closed" form? Or it's just matter of time when the whole screen will stop functioning?
eBay shows price 10£ for the flex, with shipping. I would like to be sure it's the flex ribbon thats's causing the issues. As it seems to me, replacing the flex isn't really a nice job either.
kaktebjazovut said:
Thanks for your reply!
I used a plastic card to put some pressure on that flex. Nothing happened. If flex ribbon would be damaged, why does the screen work in "closed" form? Or it's just matter of time when the whole screen will stop functioning?
eBay shows price 10£ for the flex, with shipping. I would like to be sure it's the flex ribbon thats's causing the issues. As it seems to me, replacing the flex isn't really a nice job either.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it's just a matter of time until the whole phone(yes, phone) stop functioning. I had the same symptom, it was working for a few weeks then bam. I tried to reboot but it doesn't boot, not even recovery. Ordered a new flex (~$15, free shipping), replace the old one, then it comes back to life.
Your mileage may vary, but it should be similar. Look the other thread, they already discussed this there
fundre said:
Yes it's just a matter of time until the whole phone(yes, phone) stop functioning. I had the same symptom, it was working for a few weeks then bam. I tried to reboot but it doesn't boot, not even recovery. Ordered a new flex (~$15, free shipping), replace the old one, then it comes back to life.
Your mileage may vary, but it should be similar. Look the other thread, they already discussed this there
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, now I at least know it is matter of time when it dies. Phone itself is 2.5 years old and been constantly used. So I guess it's no wonder that the flex is worn out.
Is there any point trying to change the flex cable on my own? By seeing Youtube tutorials about disassembly, it seems there's too much hassle and it might be better to order whole frame with flex already. I am concerned about the transportation also. If the flex is already installed to frame, then it might actually work.
Or it would be easier to drop it to nearest service center?
kaktebjazovut said:
Okay, now I at least know it is matter of time when it dies. Phone itself is 2.5 years old and been constantly used. So I guess it's no wonder that the flex is worn out.
Is there any point trying to change the flex cable on my own? By seeing Youtube tutorials about disassembly, it seems there's too much hassle and it might be better to order whole frame with flex already. I am concerned about the transportation also. If the flex is already installed to frame, then it might actually work.
Or it would be easier to drop it to nearest service center?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have trusted place I think it's better to drop to nearest service center. It took myself(inexperienced) a few hours to separate the screen assembly........ AND the proximity sensor is broken. Flex ribbon got no warranty from the place I bought it [emoji23]
The flex ribbon consists of front cam, notification LED, proximity and light sensor.
Test them right away before leaving service center to claim for warranty.
fundre said:
If you have trusted place I think it's better to drop to nearest service center. It took myself(inexperienced) a few hours to separate the screen assembly........ AND the proximity sensor is broken. Flex ribbon got no warranty from the place I bought it [emoji23]
The flex ribbon consists of front cam, notification LED, proximity and light sensor.
Test them right away before leaving service center to claim for warranty.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you!
I will probably drop it to nearest service center. I will not try to change the flex on my own. Too much hassle with glue.
Thanks for pointing out critical spots in changing the flex.
I guess the topic can be marked, as solved. Will use the phone till it dies and then going to drop it to nearest service center.

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