Develop Bugs

[Q] swap nand chip?

hi, I didnt find anything about swapping the nand chip from one phone to another so i was wondering if this is possible since my girlfriends phone is broken and contains over 700 pic and videos and she has no backups. im pretty sure the mobo is fried as the charger light will no longer come on and phone will never attempt to boot. there is a guy on craigslist with the same phone( droid incredibe) with cracked screen for cheap. i could swap out parts and make one good phone but would like to swap nand as well as the screen. does anyone know if this is possible without having to flash the nand chip or lose any data? or any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

1) It would be helpful to describe what is broken and/or how it happened. Did it malfunction during a backup, bootloop, etc.
(not assuming anything but just saying)
2) If it's a battery issue have you tried using another battery to at least transfer files to a computer?
3) Have you tried using another usb cable in the event your cable gave out?

That would be VERY difficult, if not impossible. That component is not socketed in like you'd expect to see in a computer. Everything is soldered to the board and the chips typically use a ball grid array connector. Installing it on another system board would be nigh impossible without the soldering paste used in manufacturing. I wish I had a better answer for you. Even if I tried to do it with things around the house, I think I'd destroy the chip and the working system board in the process. You'd need a fairly precise oven.

Sorry snoop, tried all that. Different battery, wire etc. I have 2 of them so I did swap stuff around. And I should have said what happened to it. It got stepped on and bent a little. The mobo got cracked.
Loonatic, thank you. That is some good information as I didn't know how it was attached. I am pretty good at fixing things but that sounds difficult.
Thank you both for trying to help or provide some insight.
The memory chip is Pretty much garbage if I can't get it off of the motherboard so I guess it wouldn't be a loss if I broke it. I might give it a shot
Sent from my Incredible 2 using XDA App

It's cool, ironically enough once I read loonatik's response I realized this was way over my head.

[Q] DInc2 uSD card removal

How do I remove the card from the phone to replace it? Seems like the text "microSD" is getting in the way of the card sliding out from the slot. Is there some trick that I should know? (First phone that I've not been able to switch cards with).
Thanks in advance for not laughing at me. I realize this should be easy, but the card doesn't have a push-remove feature and extracting it by gently pulling at the "lip" isn't working either.

That's strange, if I push mine in, it will pop right out. Don't know what to tell you. Maybe something else has gotten lodged in to the slot with the sd card?

I know the first time I tried to pull my SD card out, I had a really difficult time getting it out, after pushing it in.
Sent from my HTC Incredible 2 using XDA App

Is it the 16gb that came with the DIncII?
One of my smaller (2gb) cards has a "label" that covers some contacts near the griping area of the card.
No idea why that isn't just a thin layer of some form of epoxy like other cards.
I just use it in an adapter with my Cannon camera.
When you finally get it out of there, if it's not the one that came with the phone then look for a label to remove and put a VERY thin coat of nail polish (clear) over anything that might need it.
Careful not to get any on the data contacts.
And be sure to let it dry for a long time before you put it back in.
Better yet, unless it's the only card you will ever own, get a new one.
Most of these cards have a lifetime warranty.
If it's the one that came with your phone, get on with VZW and have them send a new one.
If the card you are using has no catch tab, then you should NOT put it in this type of device.
It was made for a camera or something that uses an adapter that does NOT have a catch mechanism.
Like the old pushbutton radios that you could pull the button to preset the station, but if you push more than one button at one time you could snap the string.
The catch lock may have locked against the area of the card where the tab should be.
And as stated check the slot for things in there that should NOT be in there.
Like the broken off tab from a card that was pulled out.
Or an eyelash would even mess things up.
Anytime I remove my card I allays "puff n spit" (suck like taking a toke and spit AWAY from the device) before and after removal.
No telling what might have crawled around the slot.
The worst thing to do is to blow things INTO the slot.
Hope that helps..

[Q] water damage, no sim card but *all* else works

Hi everybody,
(TL;DR at the bottom)
I would like to know what your experiences are with the following scenario:
I dropped my phone in a pond, left it to dry, did the rice thing, waited a whopping two weeks, very lightly scrubbed the reachable electrical contacts with a small tool to clean off dirt (did not cause damage to the connectors).
What I'm seeing now is quite strange:
Everything works, down to the compass, the gyro-stuff (I know, not a gyro but you get my drift), touchscreen, lighting, wifi, bluetooth, gps, the battery, the microSD card, basically everything you'd expect to break is working like a charm... except for the recognition of a SIM card. I can type the special commands in the dialer to obtain the test menu (and in doing so, using logcat, seeing no errors whatsoever while testing it, other than 'no sim card detected'), the phone still reports the same IMEI number, etc. It just says no SIM-card.
I tried to clean it up real nice on the inside (not the in-inside but the visible parts when you remove the antenna cover and battery cover) and saw no visible water damage even though it was completely submerged for well above 3 seconds. There was no visible residue as a typical drying process would normally show. I used a clean cloth and a host of very small tools to make sure I could clean all the small contacts and such. Remember, the SIM-card issue existed before the semi-more-than-thorough cleaning too.
I then proceeded to flash a new ROM, full wipe et al, formatted the sdcard just to be sure, I basically redid it as if someone would ask me to do it for them: in the most clean and surefire way possible. (no forgetting to full wipe, etc). I retested everything but came up with the very same issue. So I'm pretty sure it is hardware-related, I'm just not sure in which way.
Is it possible that I am looking at a physical deformation of some contacts which make the card 'not connected' when inserted? I saw a post in the forums about someone having the same issue, stating it was deemed to be the SIM slot being enlarged which was fixed using a small piece of paper, but I want to know if anybody has any experience with this kind of thing or happened to have come across the same situation.
For those of you with fewer time (aka TL;DR): phone dropped in water, dried it, cleaned it, booted it, all works except sim card detection, is that likely to be hw issue and if so any ideas?
Many thanks in advance for your opinions on this matter,
sstm

Have you already gotten a new sim card to try?
Sent from my Inspire 4G using xda premium

Gizmoe said:
Have you already gotten a new sim card to try?
Sent from my Inspire 4G using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
Sent from my HTC Desire HD using xda premium

Seems to me that on a DHD there is an actual gap in the simcard cover & its the most likely place for water to enter the workings its extremely likely that the sim contacts were shorted & caused hardware damage.

Gizmoe said:
Have you already gotten a new sim card to try?
Sent from my Inspire 4G using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
Yes, I forgot to mention that. I have tried with SIM-cards that work in other phones. None get detected.
Kind regards,
sstm

Pat. said:
Seems to me that on a DHD there is an actual gap in the simcard cover & its the most likely place for water to enter the workings its extremely likely that the sim contacts were shorted & caused hardware damage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you say that the SIM contacts were shorted, can you tell me if there would be a solution for that, other than turning it in for repairs?
If the only thing I can do is turn it in for repairs I should change my question:
How much will this cost me? (on average) Am I looking at 50$ or more like 100$ or even more?
Kind regards,
sstm

Without a circuit diagram i would just be guessing which parts would need replacing & repairers will likely immediately turn away fluid damage as a non starter.
I think the phone is most likely not going to be financially viable as I'm fairly sure next stop after the sim holder is the mainboard.

Hi Pat,
Thanks for your reply, unfortunately for me, I believe it is in the line of what I was thinking too
Would it be a good idea to sell it for parts? Or maybe to sell the parts separately?
I never did that, but I'd like to at least get some money for this device, even if it isn't that much
Kind regards,
sstm

Well its a coincidence because i have a mother of 84yrs who has an old Nokia & no computer. She doesn't want a complex phone & likes her old Nokia push button phone but it has no sd memory.
But she asked me about a camera that she could take family pics & video & digitally store them. Something like your phone might be ideal.

A new main board is about $50. You could try replacing it yourself or have a reputable company replace it for you for about an additional $100 dollars maybe. Not sure exactly what someone will charge.
Sent from my Inspire 4G using xda premium

Here's the part you need on eBay.
Check out this item I found on eBay: http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=270946674338
It's a very easy repair. I had the same problem your experiencing about 18 months ago. I repaired it myself and my phone is still working fine. Just be careful not to damage the volume flex cable (part of the main board) when you take the back housing off. Also, when you remove the damaged sim/sd tray you have to pull forcefully (but carefully) as it is lightly glued on.
Don't be daunted, it really is an easy repair.
Good luck.
Sent from my Margarita blender.

Sim card tray damaged. Best way to fix?

I have a tendency to hop back and forth between phones. Today I went to put my sim card in my Note 2. I use a nano sim card adaptor (I decided to experiment with the iPhone 5 for about a month...) to put my sim card in my Note 2 and my Nexus 4. Unfortunately, the sim card fell out while I was putting it in my Note 2 today and the adaptor got stuck in the tray. After a few moments of agonizing struggle, I got the adapter out. Now my Note 2 won't recognize my sim card. I think the prongs at the entrance of the slot were damaged, since that's where the adaptor kept getting hung up.
Is there a way to find out if it's completely broken or if the prongs are just out of place? And if it's broken, does anyone know how much a repair would cost? I don't know that I have the confidence to try to repair it myself.
Thanks.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

The SIM card reader module I'm fairly certain is soldered onto the logic board, so unless your good with soldering, a replacement SIM reader isnt very practical. However, the Sprint Epic Touch (GS2) sd card reader module is attached only by a simple flex cable, so its possible the same may apply here. If this were the case, the replacement part shouldnt cost more than 10-20$ (assuming their available) and replacement would be as hard as taking the back housing off.
Try comparing the SIM slot with another similar model and see if you can see if something is out of place. See see see see see see.:good:

I think I may have done the same to mine with one of those SIM adapters. I've ordered this and it should be here in a few days. I'll give it a go...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/OEM-Samsung...271792?pt=PDA_Accessories&hash=item1c313e9ef0

u did the same exact thing i did lol but what i thought was a damaged sim tray was somehow just corruted firmware when i restored back to stock everything worked just fine i even called samsung and they were going to replace it but since i live in Hawaii i didnt want to wait so i just did a restore in odin and everything works fine
if u are really damaged ur stim tray and dont wanna wait on samsung u can try this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UT-2zrZ_aNo
but good luck try restoring with odin first

I'm glad I'm not the only one to have had this problem, heh heh.
Anyway, after watching the video, I think I'm going to send my Note to Samsung and have them fix it. I would probably ruin my phone if I did it myself. Should I do a factory reset to protect my data before doing so? I don't know if they'll be sending the same phone back to me, since it says they may replace it with another if they determine that they aren't going to fix the part that's broken.

blackplague1347 said:
I'm glad I'm not the only one to have had this problem, heh heh.
Anyway, after watching the video, I think I'm going to send my Note to Samsung and have them fix it. I would probably ruin my phone if I did it myself. Should I do a factory reset to protect my data before doing so? I don't know if they'll be sending the same phone back to me, since it says they may replace it with another if they determine that they aren't going to fix the part that's broken.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
they will wipe ur data if ur rooted and have a custom rom on your phone u need to return to stock and set the flash counter to zero.
u would send the phone is no battery no battery cover no sim card so sd card just the phone nothing else
try to restore ur phone via odin first
http://galaxynote2root.com/galaxy-n...ootunbrick-galaxy-note-2-with-stock-firmware/
if u still get no sim card error after doing that then give samsung a call phone number is on the phone itself under battery and they will send u a box and u should have to wait about 2 weeks then u will either get a fixed phones or a replacement not sure how they do it since i fixed my no sim issue with odin

I did the same thing once. Just called att and told them it wasn't reading a simple anymore and they sent me a new one.
Sent from my GT-N7105 using Tapatalk 2

My Fix For Broken SIM Reader Pin
This is an old thread, I know. But the problem is ongoing. These SIM card adapters are just plain evil. Now that this has happened to me, I googled the issue and see that there are tons of folks suffering. I am posting this reply so that others can see the "fix" I managed for my International Samsung Note I. I am sure it can be applied to most other phones.
I should point out that in order to get any usable access to and visibility of the SIM card reader I had to remove the battery cover and the back from the phone's touchscreen. This reveals the motherboard to which the SIM card reader is soldered. I found a good video on this at YouTube. It wasn't that hard although I did not have the plastic pry bar they used - I think I will get one for the future. I managed with a small flat head jewelers screw driver and an ancient, plastic shirt collar stay. (I can hear my mother saying "save it - you'll find a use for it!" I hate it when she is right.) Once complete I could move on.
At first, I tried to replace the SIM card reader pin that was broken off by the SIM card adapter with a tiny piece or rolled-up tin foil. I saw someone else reference this approach and it seemed possible and cheap. Alas, it did not work. After many attempts, the phone simply would not recognize any SIM card. I finally got to sleep at 3am.
I then found a piece of brass shim stock that I have had lying around for years. (I am hearing mom again!) It is item 1412110231, Brass Strip .016x1/2inx12in shown here. I got mine at the local hardware store for some other aborted project. I used some snips to cut off a tiny strip from one end and then cut that strip to maybe 1/3 to 1/2 its overall length. The idea was to place the strip inside the SIM reader slot where the pin had broken off in an effort to create a contact point to replace the pin. Cutting the tiny strip off the stock piece caused the tiny strip to bow a bit. It turns out that was a good thing but I had to reduce the amount of bow quite a bit for it to fit inside the reader. Remove any rough edges from the tiny strip with a file.
With the touchscreen assembly lying flat on the table I managed to get the tiny strip in place. I was then able to slowly and carefully slide the SIM card into the reader and this resulted in a contact good enough to make the phone again recognize the SIM card and for cell service to be restored. Hurray! Yes, I was able to carefully place the battery in its bay and operate the power button to perform testing.
But you must remain aware that the tiny strip is just lying in the slot and is held in place only by friction/pressure from the SIM card inserted into the reader. Therefore, for the rest of the phone's life, it requires great care when removing the SIM and handling the phone when a SIM is not installed . Basically when removing the SIM, the phone MUST remain flat on its display until the SIM is re-installed. Moving the phone around in other orientations without a SIM card installed will definitely cause the tiny strip fall out. And who knows what hell that will cause?
You cannot put the phone's back onto the touchscreen with the SIM card in place. At first I thought about cutting the SIM's length down so the back would install even with the SIM in place. Before doing this I tried to carefully snap the top portion of the back onto the touchscreen while it all remained flat on the table so the tiny strip wouldn't move. With the top 1/3 of the back snapped on, I could just manage to insert the SIM through the phone's cover and have the tiny strip held in place by the SIM while I snapped the rest of the back into position. This worked pretty well but your mileage may vary.
I basically plan to leave the SIM in place forever - even if it is not to be used. I also put a reminder note on the battery so that I am less likely to forget that I made this hack.
I hope the annotated photos help those who follow me - as surely others will do. Good luck. I was very lucky to have destroyed only one pin and for it to be in the most accessible part of the SIM reader.

[Q] Removing the flash storage chip

Hi all,
the wife's HOX died suddenly, won't turn on at all, wont recoginse being plugged in into either the wall or the PC, no lights, nothing.
Unfortunately she has taken a number of pictures of our 5 month year old son on it, which obviously we would like to have back!
I'm competent with taking the phone apart and putting it back togther, however what I want to know is how the Samsung Flash chip is connected to the mainboard.
I can see black glue around the outside of it, but I am unsure if the underlying pins are also soldered down.
My intention was to razor blade the glue away and then buy a knackered (but working) HOX and transfer the chips over.
Obviously I wouldnt be able to do this if the chip is soldered down. I have monkey hands when it comes to soldering things.
Is anyone able to offer any insight?
I've had a google and read the datasheet for the specific chip, but it says nothing about how it is connected.
Thanks in advance.

ucof said:
Hi all,
the wife's HOX died suddenly, won't turn on at all, wont recoginse being plugged in into either the wall or the PC, no lights, nothing.
Unfortunately she has taken a number of pictures of our 5 month year old son on it, which obviously we would like to have back!
I'm competent with taking the phone apart and putting it back togther, however what I want to know is how the Samsung Flash chip is connected to the mainboard.
I can see black glue around the outside of it, but I am unsure if the underlying pins are also soldered down.
My intention was to razor blade the glue away and then buy a knackered (but working) HOX and transfer the chips over.
Obviously I wouldnt be able to do this if the chip is soldered down. I have monkey hands when it comes to soldering things.
Is anyone able to offer any insight?
I've had a google and read the datasheet for the specific chip, but it says nothing about how it is connected.
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really can't see this being successful, sorry. I'm fairly sure the chip is soldered down, and the chances of damaging the chip are very, very high if you want to try and get it off.
If the phone didn't come into contact with water a JTAG recovery might be possible. It may not get the phone working again but it could get your data back. Alternatively companies like DriveSavers have an excellent reputation for getting data off flash chips, but it'll cost you in the region of $400 - $1400 (I got a quote a month or so back, when I thought my HOX was finished.)
I really wouldn't recommend trying to remove the chip though. You could do irreparable damage to the chip, which would render it completely unreadable.

ucof said:
Hi all,
the wife's HOX died suddenly, won't turn on at all, wont recoginse being plugged in into either the wall or the PC, no lights, nothing.
Unfortunately she has taken a number of pictures of our 5 month year old son on it, which obviously we would like to have back!
I'm competent with taking the phone apart and putting it back togther, however what I want to know is how the Samsung Flash chip is connected to the mainboard.
I can see black glue around the outside of it, but I am unsure if the underlying pins are also soldered down.
My intention was to razor blade the glue away and then buy a knackered (but working) HOX and transfer the chips over.
Obviously I wouldnt be able to do this if the chip is soldered down. I have monkey hands when it comes to soldering things.
Is anyone able to offer any insight?
I've had a google and read the datasheet for the specific chip, but it says nothing about how it is connected.
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try first change the battery to see if the phone will start again it is the cheap way and most secure

de4life - thanks, I've had a quote for data recovery from Kroll. They want £95+ to look at it and provide a list of what can be recovered and then between £195 and £395 for actually recovering it for me. Far too expensive!
As for JTAG, there's been no water damage whatsoever; I've had a quick Google and it says this is more for Routers. How could I do it to my phone? Im not fussed about getting the phone working again, just want the contents of the flash storage back.
Thant - alas, the was the first thing I tried. New battery has made no difference. Which is annoying as her old Desire Z showed the same symptoms, we bought a new battery and its works again. She's currently using that until we decide what to do.

ucof said:
de4life - thanks, I've had a quote for data recovery from Kroll. They want £95+ to look at it and provide a list of what can be recovered and then between £195 and £395 for actually recovering it for me. Far too expensive!
As for JTAG, there's been no water damage whatsoever; I've had a quick Google and it says this is more for Routers. How could I do it to my phone? Im not fussed about getting the phone working again, just want the contents of the flash storage back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First thing's first, if you do go down the data recovery route try to avoid companies that charge any type of analysis fee. Kroll are a well known company but I've not heard much good things about them. I went through an extensive search of companies when I thought I'd killed my HOX and found DriveSavers were the best in terms of reputation, and they don't charge a fee to look at the phone. They are very expensive though, perhaps more so than Kroll, and you have to send the phone to the States which is daunting and costly in of itself (I assume from your £ quotation that you're UK based?).
It's good that there's no water damage. It's difficult to say what can cause the motherboard to suddenly stop working like that, but it's unlikely there has been a serious short circuit that could have affected the memory chip. Have you tried dissembling the phone completely and putting it back together? It may sound ridiculous to even try it, but when one of my older phones suddenly died I managed to get it working by taking it apart and then just putting it back together again. There are a lot of connections within the HOX motherboard framework that could easily have come loose. You might already have done this, but just a thought.
In terms of JTAG, it can be done on mobile phone motherboards with the right equipment. It's usually used for soft bricked phones to reset the software back to its original form if it's been corrupted, but I have seen cases where hard bricked phones were brought back to life using this method, including the HOX. It's not really something you can do at home (not cheaply, anyway) but there are companies that provide this service. One of the more popular services is here: http://mobiletechvideos.mybigcommerce.com/htc-one-x-jtag-brick-repair/ - I believe they post on here from time to time as well. Again, based in the States, but significantly cheaper than data recovery and as far as I've heard very professional. I don't know of any mobile phone JTAG services in the UK, though they probably do exist.
Keep in mind the data chip on your phone is likely fine. Even if the motherboard has stopped working, the memory chip itself is unlikely to be affected and will still contain all of your data - albeit in a scrambled form. If you send it out to companies then they can potentially damage the chip beyond repair, if you go down the route of sending the phone out to repair/data recovery companies I would urge extreme caution. If it's still on the chip the data itself isn't going anywhere. Take your time and make sure you're sending your phone to the right people, because one false move and your data is gone for good.