Develop Bugs

Painting the HTC Universal's housing

So... I've purchased a Vodafone v1640 from eBay a while back.. and I'm sick of the silver housing! I'd rather have a white or black housing, so I plan on opening the sucker up to paint it! I'm pretty sure I have no warrenty anyway, as I purchased from eBay and am not on a Vodafone plan (Cingular here in the USA)...
My question is... what's the best type of paint to do this with? Any special sort of paint?
Or, I guess, if there's anywhere I could buy different housings for it, pre-painted.. that'd work too.
Any input at ALL would be greatly appreciated! ;D

I want some infos too on this case for a new housing because black housing for Universal looks the best.

From my experience of disassembling the HTC Charmer, I think the HTC stuff are kinda tightly fitted, it might not be that easy to have it painted. I mean, I'm not sure how good you are at painting, but for the paint job I did (on other stuff, toys, cars, shelves, not the phone, yet), I usually end up with a thick (relatively) layer of paint on it, which I think may cause problem when you try to assemble the phone up again.
So, my advise, make sure you can really do a skin tight paint job before you try it on the phone, as it seems that it is really difficult to get a spare casing for HTC stuff.
BTW, you may want to look at some of the web site for PC modding, where they tend to mod their keyboard and mouse, giving them new paint job, probably such forums will have experts on the paint that you should be using.

you might have to experiment a bit if you haven't painted before...
The most impoportant thing is to find a dry place with no humidity.
You can get the retouching spray for cars called deco paint. It will work well.
p.s. IMO black housing will look good if you have a black keyboard.

Hmm black keyboard...
very good point.

i once painted my dreamcast controller black 8)
just used a normal spray can for it (didn´t have an airbrush at that time yet)
works very easy:
- open it up and remove all things you dont want to spray
- clean everything very good (with terpentine/gasoline/ammonia for example)
- let it dry
- spray it (very thin, because you don´t want to make drops of paint on it) from about 15-20cm away (any closer and it will be more difficult to avoid paintdrops and keeping the paint thin
- let it dry in a clean enviroment
after a few months of usage the paint will shine on spots where you hold it much...
so you might want to spray some colourless shine stuff (sorry: don´t know the name for it in english, it is ´lak´ in dutch) on it after the paint is drie to have the color remain the same way
or you could just touch it everywhere so the shine is everywhere :wink:

heh, it's close in english, it's pronounced 'lak-ker', spelt lacquer

Anyone have any luck with this repainting the case idea? Any pictures?

i did my old mpx 220 before black cases were out, i used a special, plastics spraypaint from krylon. flat black ,and clear topcoat. i dont have the pictures anymore but it was nice. just take your time read up on painting . thin light coats and follow the directions on the can.

[In Progress]Custom paint job of my blue angel

Well here are the pics of my phone, atm i have only taken it apart and put on tape on the parts i don't want to get paint on, im planing on painting it black completely or maybe a combination of red/black like my laptop here's a link to it, so you can see it, and finaly i want to thank +Qppc(eres un mostro pintando ejejje ) for the inspiration, anyways when i finish paiting it i will post the pics until then wish me luck xD.

Good Luck men!!!
BTW cover with tape and paper the sliding black part of the qwerty piece
if this gets paint maybe it can damage your flex cable on buttons back on display... or even it can slide off again cause the paint turns it a little gross.
Post more pics of your works latter and remember Let it dry! and apply smooth layers of paint betwen them let 5 or 10 minutes time diferent!.
You are welcome men!
This will become crazy.!

update:i'm going to change the type of paint im using cause is not gloss i though it was but its not, i test it using my OEM battery since is not the one i use on my device, I'l post a picture of the battery already painted tomorrow.
stay tune

Try to edit your pics
Suggest:
Edit your pics men... Make up them with brightness and dont let them out of focus is hard to see the surface type and threatment. good luck with batt!

Sorry lol i dont have a digital cam, the only thing i have is my old htc tornado, so thats what im using to take the pictures lol, later on il be adding the pictures of phone parts already painted, gave them 3 thing layers of paint tomorrow il give them one last layer and after that il sand, and i also decided to go full black(i love black lol) anyways stay tune for my follow up pictures.

my Carbon Fiber vinyl wrapped Atrix 4G

Well, after as much as I loved my Samsung Captivate that I had previously wrapped in 3M Di-Noc Carbon Fiber vinyl, I decided to wrap the front and sides of my Atrix, as well as modify the back of it a bit. Here's the work done:
Wrap the entire front panel using one solid piece of vinyl, pre-cut prior to installation using templates - including the cut outs!
Cut out out the front camera hole, the speaker, the proximity sensor, ambient light sensor, and the status indicator light - then trimmed down the bottom with the microphone port - all prior to installation so as not to scratch the screen!
Wrapped over the excess on the sides to enable a better grip of the phone since the 3M Di-Noc material is TEXTURED just like real carbon fiber, then cut a relief cut on the edge of the screen so the vinyl could wrap successfully around the edge, went around it a bunch with the heat gun to seal it all up
Cut out the volume buttons but left the panel over them - we'll see how long it lasts in my pocket, but I heated it pretty well to ensure it wouldn't lift....
Wet sanded the back cover to remove the AT&T logo, the "HD VIDEO" text by the camera, and the word "blur" next to the Motorola logo for the ultimate in clean....
And now for the pics......
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You can see higher resolution pics by going to my album on Picasa:
https://picasaweb.google.com/garciam25/MotorolaAtrix4G3MDiNocCarbonFiber#
Now remember.... I am not taking any commissions on doing this to your phone, sorry.... the other vinyls available on eBay will just have to do because this stuff is too expensive and this was too time consuming to do for any customer, plus, I am NOT soliciting my services on here to do it, so don't ask! I do this professionally and install the material, I do NOT sell it for you to buy. Google it if you want this for yourself, but expect to spend well over the 2 hours this took me to do if you don't have any experience. Don't forget your heat gun and X-Acto knife with lots of fresh blades!
Again, all the buttons function exactly as they did from the factory. I have NO issues with this, so don't try and bash this concept because you think the buttons don't work - if they didn't work, I wouldn't leave this on! FUNCTION over FORM
What do you think? Better looking that my Captivate? Yeah, I think so too.... I am a carbon fiber junkie - if this isn't your thing, that's okay! I appreciate you being able to appreciate my hard work on the day after this phone was officially released!

That looks sick bro. I'm assuming it's 3m Di-noc film. Can you see the touch buttons when they are lit up through the vinyl?

Veeeery nice! Wish I had the patience.

loztboy said:
That looks sick bro. I'm assuming it's 3m Di-noc film. Can you see the touch buttons when they are lit up through the vinyl?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It sure is 3M - first line of the original post - and no, you cannot see the softkeys. I liked my Captivate that way, especially since I used NoLED and it required you to hit the Home key in order to bring up the screen if you had received a text, email, missed call, etc, as the power button didn't work any longer. With this phone, I guess my security is a little tougher with a fingerprint scanner!
Thanks for the compliments! First day "road testing" it with my younger cousin messing with it and she went out to buy one with me after 5 minutes of messing with it, so I guess it didn't hinder much of the stock capabilities, haha

Really like the clean look on the back after you wetsanded the logo off. I'm definitely going to attempt this myself, I hope it turns out just as nice!

looks good.
any advice for trying to do the back cover? I can't get it to wrap nicely on the corners. It just seems too thick to properly pull cleanly over the rounded bits.

LaZ8787 said:
Really like the clean look on the back after you wetsanded the logo off. I'm definitely going to attempt this myself, I hope it turns out just as nice!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used 2000 grit and a decent amount of water from the faucet. Just take your time and remember - NEVER press too hard when wetsanding. The whole point of using such fine paper is to let the grit do the work when it's good and ready, not pressing too hard that it burns up the material you are sanding! Good luck!
cegna09 said:
looks good.
any advice for trying to do the back cover? I can't get it to wrap nicely on the corners. It just seems too thick to properly pull cleanly over the rounded bits.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Heat gun. I could have done the back too, but I liked how it came out so far and I love the cool home desktop "dock" I have, which is more of a stand with a cord to plug in manually. The material will bend around just about anything, as evidenced by the fact that I bent the material 90 degrees around the two sides of the phone, as I applied heat to it very carefully.
Post your pics when you get stuck or done with it, I'll see if I can help remotely, haha! Just cut more than you need so you have something to grip onto, heat smoothly and evenly, do NOT overheat the vinyl, and pull it straight around the corners and edges. It can EASILY stretch too far and ruin the natural looking 2 x 2 weave of the carbon, and then you mind as well just have bought the cheap stuff....

Very nice I love carbon fiber as well
can you at least post instructions on how to remove the blur and HD logo on the back please.

RacecarBMW said:
Very nice I love carbon fiber as well
can you at least post instructions on how to remove the blur and HD logo on the back please.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I kind of did in my last post, the post above yours, but I'll add a few things for those completely new to wet sanding altogether. As with anything, read through ALL the steps before you get so excited you'll have a phone rid of that blasted AT&T branding - inside AND out!
Things you'll need (not in bullet format because there's only three) - 2000 grit sandpaper that clearly states on it that it can be used for wet sanding, a sink with adjustable spray pressure levels, and patience!!! Wet sanding is probably the easiest way to sand, but you have to know what you're doing so as not to ruin the material you are protecting with the addition of water to the normal sanding process. If we tried this without sanding, it would require a good amount of buffing afterwards -that is, if we didn't burn right through the top, protective layer of the panel, the glossy part above the fake carbon fiber pattern!
Most important step of all - TAKE OFF THE BATTERY COVER BEFORE STARTING WORK!!!! I hope no one misses this step.....
Tear off a piece of sandpaper about 1" by 3" - the width of the paper should be around 3" so just cut or tear by folding a few times the 1" section. If you bought a square piece, grab some scissors and cut this size out.
Turn on the faucet to more than a drip and less than medium pressure. You want a steady stream but not too heavy pressure.
Hold the back panel so you can angle it such that the water runs on to it and off of it ONLY on the spots you will be sanding off! Now re-read what I just said - don't soak the whole thing in the water, just make the line of water hit the AT&T logo (or whatever else you're sanding off) and run off, not onto everything on the panel!
The water will rush off the panel because of how smooth it is. That's cool, with your other hand, rub the water onto the soon-to-be-removed logo, I use my thumb to utilize the most surface area.
Hold the paper in your hand such that the finger you are most comfortable with applying light pressure with is holding a 1" x 1" square at the end of the 3" section - this can be your thumb as it is in my case or your pointer and middle fingers together. Either way you feel comfortable NOT pressing down too hard, the better. Sometimes I've seen people not able to control the level of pressure their thumb emits, so I've told them to use their fingers instead and it has worked better for them.
Be aware of where the paper is in your hands in relation to the back panel. The reason I said to cut such a small piece is that anything bigger can "get away from you." You can easily let the paper grind up against other spots of the panel, ones that AREN'T being protected by the water! You might get the AT&T logo off, but your friends will all be saying "what happened here??" when they see a mistake.....
Wet the sandpaper thoroughly and then L I G H T L Y rub a section of the sandpaper onto the logo in a circle pattern while you alternate between 1 second under the stream of water and 3 seconds out of water. DO NOT go up and down, left and right, etc! Let the paper do the work for you and rub it every so gently.... The grit is actually strong enough to burn right through the logo and ruin the fake carbon fiber pattern below, so the lighter you press, the better chance you have of making the paper burn off just the logo and not the pattern below. You don't have to worry about JUST sanding off the logo and not touching the material - small circles about 1CM in diameter will work just fine and the water will protect the material from scratches - so don't be SO precise as to what you're sanding here!
Keep applying water! Keep up the pattern of 1 second under / 3 seconds out of water. You want it to get enough moisture between the sand paper and the material so that it doesn't scratch up the protection on the cover. Don't be afraid, as if you keep enough water between the two, you'll get it off in no time.
A Warning from Captain Obvious - items that have a lot of paint, like the Motorola logo, will take longer to remove than thin lettering like the "HD VIDEO" text! That means you have to ensure you're not burning off the protective layer below when you're sanding longer!
Once you're done with removing all that you want to remove, ensure that there aren't any traces of paint left on the outside cover by using water and / or a wet paper towel or napkin. You're not DRYING the piece just yet, you're making sure there aren't anything left on the panel that can be abrasive BEFORE drying it!
Dry the panel completely. You can do this with cool air like from a compressor (best option) or hair dryer on the cold setting, leaving outside NOT in the sun but in an area that wind blows, leaving it out to dry indoors for an hour, or a terry cloth or paper towel (both are last resort options because they can scratch up your nice work even if you don't think there's any chance they can). The point is.... give it some time to ENSURE it is dry before reinstalling it!!!
Inspect the panel. If you see some areas that look burned up or scratched, grab a clean, wet paper towel or napkin and gently rub over it. Then dry again, and then start using your fingers to rub over it and smooth it all out. You'll be surprised to see that some "blemishes" are just the oil from your skin or residue from the cleaning process!
Slap that sucker back together and post your pics!
Any questions, of course, post them here!

thanks so much! i was going to ask you for some advice. but no need now. thank you for being so thorough.

another method to remove the logo is to use a penny. took me about a minute and didnt scratch the surface.
where do you get the 3m tape? have you thought about putting it on the back cover to give it more grip?

Gonna have to try this! Thanks for the detailed instructions also! That'll prove to be very resourceful when i do this for my Atrix!

neotekz said:
another method to remove the logo is to use a penny. took me about a minute and didnt scratch the surface.
where do you get the 3m tape? have you thought about putting it on the back cover to give it more grip?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The best place to get it from (cheap plug for the awesome staff over there) is Carbon Fiber Gear's sister website, CarbonFiberFilm.com - best prices hands down!
Someone asked earlier HOW to do the back, and I guess I didn't get into WHY I didn't do the back on mine. I kinda like the tacky fake carbon on the back of the phone! Plus, with wet sanding, it gives it a TINY bit more grip, but then again, think about where you grip the phone anyways - the sides. These sides are wrapped and have tons more grip, so I haven't dropped it since I pulled it out of the box.... a couple times.... haha!
TfzSCVang said:
Gonna have to try this! Thanks for the detailed instructions also! That'll prove to be very resourceful when i do this for my Atrix!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're welcome, good luck and post pics when you're done!

LaZ8787 said:
Really like the clean look on the back after you wetsanded the logo off. I'm definitely going to attempt this myself, I hope it turns out just as nice!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just scratch it off with a penny, took 5 seconds.

Tennis11 said:
Just scratch it off with a penny, took 5 seconds.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
another recommend on the penny method, literally took me less than 1 minute to remove "hd video, at&t, and blur", left the moto logo on there.

I couldn't get the lock and power logos off the top of the cover. I think they're different paint.

i just got the tape and cant seem to figure out how to make the outline for the sides.
i did the battery cover by putting the tape on first and then cut the holes after but i cant do that with the sides and dont want to scratch the phone.

neotekz said:
i just got the tape and cant seem to figure out how to make the outline for the sides.
i did the battery cover by putting the tape on first and then cut the holes after but i cant do that with the sides and dont want to scratch the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just PM'd you about the same question you asked here - there isn't an outline or template you need to make first, you cut the vinyl once it is heated ON the phone, not beforehand, using an X-Acto

i just finished. i found an easy way of making an outline for the sides. i put teh tape on and then take it off which leaves a good impression of all the holes and made it easy to cut.
here's teh finished product, i did the sides and battery cover as well as my candyshell case. thanks for the great idea GarciaM25

Looking GOOD! I love that you took my idea and went one step further with the outer case! Awesome job, seriously!!!

Galaxy S2 screen replacement photo tutorial.

Having stupidly cracked my screen last week I pulled the trigger on a replacement part from an eBay seller. Thanks go out to the people who graciously donated a few Euros/Dollars/Pounds/etc. to this cause. This tutorial is my thanks to you, and also to the wider XDA community for having provided me plenty of yummy Android fun ever since my first Galaxy S last July. Any subsequent donations are of course welcome (I have a bumper case to buy for obvious reasons) however thanks are also gladly received.
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This tutorial will be completed progressively, hence the various edits and reserved posts. Do bear with me. So here goes!
Tutorial complete! Enjoy. I am happy to help out with any questions, although please respect the following rules:
1. If you quote posts, please remove references to images. These are hosted on my own shared hosting space at the moment and I want to keep bandwidth down. Please refer to pictures either by step# or by using a URL link.
2. Please read the tutorial through from top to bottom before attempting to do this to your own phone. Despite this, neither myself or XDA can be held liable for you not paying attention or asking questions before carrying out the repair.
3. Stay on topic! I will use this at my own discretion:
I hope this proves useful and helps recover some dead in the water S2s!!!!

1. The patient with the battery, SIM card and SD card removed.
2. The new donor part.
3. All parts, connectors and their ribbon cables were checked for kinks or other faults.
4. I removed the seven screws securing the body's back panel. I test fitted my selected screwdriver for "bite" as there are many easily-damaged microSMD parts and fine tracks around the various PCBs. A magnetic tip helped remove the screws.

5. To part the rear plastic part of the body, a thin but stiff plastic separator was needed. A guitar pick was idea for this. Carry out these steps in a clean and organised environment! The captive buttons are easily lost and they literally drop out when you remove the rear bezel.
** under no circumstances use a flat-bladed screwdriver! One slip and you could find yourself with one dead phone if it scratches a PCB track or hits a component. **
I started at the corner nearest the headphone jack....
6. Then I slid the pick down the side to the bottom corner....
7. Cracked open the bottom....(fnar)
8. Before working up the other side to the top....
9. The cover came off easily from thereonin.
10. I familiarised myself with the components needing to be transplanted across. This amounts to the main L-shaped PCB and the front-facing camera/proximity detector. Everything else is part and parcel of the LED panel unit.
11. Working anticlockwise, I gently popped the five ribbon connectors with my nail. I took care not to force these as the connector density and therefore fragility are both high.
12. I found that the antenna connector was actually the hardest component to deal with. Popping it was no problem....reconnecting it however....but we'll get to that later....

13. I removed the two screws that hold the main PCB to the chassis. Although I have not yet seen this yet, I believe that some i9100s have miniature hex screws. Mine are standard crosstops (heh) which made life easier. Again, I checked my screwdriver for bite. If there was any play instead of a solid engagement with the screw then I would have needed to find a better screwdriver! This was a €500 decision, right there. One slip and you can easily say goodbye to those SMDs.
14. The buttons were secured to the chassis with a thin sticky tape. I used my plastic tool to gently separate them from the back, then pushed the switches upwards from underneath. I found that my pick was maybe a little too thick for this job. Perhaps a 0.60mm orange Tortex would have been better (!). Patience is needed here as this is not an easy job to carry out.
** do not try to pull them from the body by pulling the PCB! **
15. The PCB can be lifted right out. The ribbon cables tended to catch whilst I was doing this, so I needed to poke them underneath a bit.

Almost finished the dissection!
16. The final part to remove is the front-facing camera and proximity detector. Firstly, I needed to remove the cover from the proximity detector which comprised a tiny metal plate and a small pad. This needed to be pried up from the top for which I used a knife. This was perhaps not the best choice, so a pin or a fine flathead screwdriver might have been better. After removing this, the camera and detector were lifted out carefully.
17. Next I replaced the old chassis and started the process in reverse.
18. Firstly, the camera and detector were fitted. The thin metal plate was replaced and clipped into place using a quick poke from the screwdriver.
I'M IN UR BASE REFITTED UR DOODS
19. The PCB was carefully fitted taking care not to trap any of the ribbon connectors underneath or to scrape the board on the chassis.
20. I manoeuvred the switches into place, and thankfully they still had the majority of the sticky tape left on them. I took care to position them as close as possible with the slots. I didn't want any problems with the buttons not working!! I pressed them in from the side to allow the adhesive to do its job.
21. The two PCB screws were then replaced.

22. This was probably the most difficult part of the job. Smooth the antenna cable down in the groove with your plastic tool and secure in under the PCB, bringing it up through the small notch in the side of the PCB. Apologies for the lack of focus in the photo.
The difficult part is reattaching the antenna connector. I made several attempts at this, checking and rechecking the shape of the connector and failing to make it fit. This is a FRAGILE connector! Don't force it. When it mated, it needed relatively little effort. It was all an alignment job.
23. I finally reclipped all of the ribbon cables back together. Alignment was again of paramount important as the photos show. The force required to reseat these was no greater than the force it takes to press the volume or power button on the S2. Treat these with respect.

24. Reassembly of the case is made more difficult due to the captive buttons. Rather than trying to balance them whilst whanging the case back together, I progressively closed the case and slipped the buttons into the widened slots before closing the case around them. Far easier!
First, I clipped together the bottom corner of the "volume" side.
I then worked my way up to just below the opening for the volume button and slipped in the button insert.
The top "volume" corner was then closed.
Back at the bottom, I closed the "power" corner.
....then worked up to just below the button....
....slipped in the button....
....and cracked the entire case closed! Woo me.

25. I refitted the battery, SIM and SD card and powered up. 1% battery remaining.
....is this screenshot an advert?

Whoa mad skills. I would never be able nor have the time to do what you did.

Mic covering?
Thanks for your tutorail nice clear shots. Could you post a close up shot of the mic on board (white cover) and if poss with out the white covering and a shot of the covering please.
Reason I ask is some reports that removing this covering improves the mic audio on the SGS2. Thanks once again.

Nice tutorial, thanks. How much did the screen replacement cost?

You replaced whole housing with screen alredy attached, so this is not screen replacment. Rename thread.

£60 from ebay. Genuine SAMOLED+. I'll post a seller link when I get home. I'll have a look at the mic also.

ZhuraYuk said:
You replaced whole housing with screen alredy attached, so this is not screen replacment. Rename thread.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow. There's no pleasing some people.

This is where I bought my replacement:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180720196554#ht_500wt_1156
I've decided that I don't really want to go poking around inside my phone again at the moment. It isn't a difficult venture, however it is outside the bounds of the screen-replacement thing and I don't really want to go removing mine since I don't even know if it'll go back on, etc. The third picture in step 3 is pretty good, as is step 10.
The instructions on how to get to yours are up there also however! ;-D

Wow I think I won't even bother to try to replace my screen myself if it meets a mishap. Don't have skills to carry it out
I think you found yourself a new vocation though ^^ To repair screens haha.. Could make some money that way~

It's certainly not a difficult job. This took me about 20mins including photography. I could replace a screen or whatever you want to call it in about 4-5. That antenna is the worst bit! I wrote this so anyone carrying out this work knows that it is not labour-intensive.

As I said before you my friend have balls, but if it came to it again having done it would you not just take it to a service centre ?? Im still awaiting mine after a complete screen shatter(through no fault of my own they dont fly) I have a feeling though it make come back repaired, on a scale of 1-10 how difficult would you say this is to swap the phone to a new housing, I would be swapping everything over, unless i go to my service centre round the corner
Edit Scratch that just rang me there posting me a new phone on Tuesday

On a scale of 1-37 (how arbitrary) I would rate it about 12 on the basis that ham-fister work with the screwdriver can render the phone deader than a dead thing if those SMDs get chipped. If you discount that hazard, I would call it a 5.
Actually, if your scale of 1-37 had "desoldering, replacing and resoldering an SMD Intel ATOM chip" at "37" and writing your name as "1" then the scale makes more sense. If you've ever worked with micro miniature pitch ribbon cable connectors before, then perhaps less than 12. It truly is an easy-to-fix device which puts Apple's stupid "pentalobular" screw crap and general "stay-outishness" to shame. There are no weird connectors, permanently locked plastic security tags, thread lock gunk, glued up pieces or anything. I can understand why it would become a magnitude more difficult if you had to remove the glass from the bezel or whatever, but this is really a noddy job. Simpler than replacing the heatsink on your PC processor (sorry Apple, you don't count), changing the wheel on a car or cooking a reasonable French velouté soup.
As for a service centre, no. Definitely no. Sonera charge €50 just to look at it first, then the repair cost on top. Not sure of other avenues, but self repair is far better.

my display its ok and i am taking care of it..but this tutorial couldnt make me stay calm...amazing job you have done here mate. pics are superb and even link provided... you are worth my 5 thanks today... i hope we will have more people like you around here and then i will become a part of service centre - just watching stuff like this - great ...))
thanks again!!!!!!!

Convert Black HOX to White

Hi,
I was wondering if anyone has successfully changed their HOX's colour from black to white or vice versa?
I have heard that the back slides off if you break the glue seal and I've seen vids on Youtube where people appear to be using a guitar pick to do this. Is this a safe method and will it go back together (and stay together) afterwards? It looks like the back will always be a bit loose afterwards. I'd like to know if anyone has tried this and what happened. I saw some white backs on ebay for £20 but not sure if it's just a case of swapping them over or if there is anything to attach first, like wires etc.
Has anyone seen/tried any white stickers like you get for the iphone? I'd prefer this method if the stickers were good quality and not tacky.
Thanks

eggshaped said:
Hi,
I was wondering if anyone has successfully changed their HOX's colour from black to white or vice versa?
I have heard that the back slides off if you break the glue seal and I've seen vids on Youtube where people appear to be using a guitar pick to do this. Is this a safe method and will it go back together (and stay together) afterwards? It looks like the back will always be a bit loose afterwards. I'd like to know if anyone has tried this and what happened. I saw some white backs on ebay for £20 but not sure if it's just a case of swapping them over or if there is anything to attach first, like wires etc.
Has anyone seen/tried any white stickers like you get for the iphone? I'd prefer this method if the stickers were good quality and not tacky.
Thanks
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I´ve just changed mine from grey to Hox+ cover. Its easy to remove the back and its fits tide if you replace it. I guess the change from white to grey or grey to white is some you can do without any problem. If you want to change from normal to Hox+ you have to do some http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NXyCNJaLSY stuff for that, because not all clips are the same like in the original back.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1825853
Looks like it's been done before without any major problems, though I suppose there's a slight risk of knocking something that doesn't like being knocked while you're poking around trying to get the back off. Definitely worth watching a few tutorials that show how to take it all apart safely before trying it yourself

Changed mine to white. Easy, though I'd took it apart before to fix the WiFi issue.
Just remove the sim tray, and pop it apart. Oh and remember to swap the speaker over into the new cover.
You pop the bottom part off first, then run your nails or a guitar plectrum around the edges, then pull it free from the top (slides out from the top bit).
Oh and its more secure than it was before, there's double sided tape inside the new cover around the edges etc.
I'll try and find the link on eBay where I got mine... Some are fake, this sellers selling genuine parts. Was 25 quid.
Edit - http://r.ebay.com/9ouETu

Keep in mind that there is not always a SIM-Tray (Holder) included. So either make sure there is one included or you know a source where to get one... a white hox with a grey sim-tray looks crappy imo !

There is with the link I added. Everything included.

backfromthestorm said:
Changed mine to white. Easy, though I'd took it apart before to fix the WiFi issue.
Just remove the sim tray, and pop it apart. Oh and remember to swap the speaker over into the new cover.
You pop the bottom part off first, then run your nails or a guitar plectrum around the edges, then pull it free from the top (slides out from the top bit).
Oh and its more secure than it was before, there's double sided tape inside the new cover around the edges etc.
I'll try and find the link on eBay where I got mine... Some are fake, this sellers selling genuine parts. Was 25 quid.
Edit - http://r.ebay.com/9ouETu
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Thank you all for the great advice. I think I'll give it a try.
Thanks Backfromthestorm for the link and all your help, I'd rather get one someone has tried and tested rather than some fake one, so that link is really helpful
Much appreciated.

backfromthestorm said:
There is with the link I added. Everything included.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry I forgot to ask, the inside of the cover in the link you posted looks like it has lots of metal plates and things on it, does this mean there is anything I'll need to connect to the main part of the phone when swapping covers, or is it literally just a case of sliding the new cover on and that's it?
Thanks again

eggshaped said:
Sorry I forgot to ask, the inside of the cover in the link you posted looks like it has lots of metal plates and things on it, does this mean there is anything I'll need to connect to the main part of the phone when swapping covers, or is it literally just a case of sliding the new cover on and that's it?
Thanks again
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Yea they connect by the pressure of the 2 parts being clipped together. So just swap them over, theres nothing to connect youself, but remember to take the double sided sticky off the inside of the new one.
The only thing you have to swap is the speaker, that just pops out.
The hardest thing is pulling the two parts apart after youve unclipped the bottom/edges, cos of the double sided stickey.
As long as you dont rush it and your careful youll be fine.
Theres loads of vids about explaining that bit anyway.
I do prefer it white, plus the camera lens is new aswell which is nice, bargain for 25 quid!

backfromthestorm said:
Yea they connect by the pressure of the 2 parts being clipped together. So just swap them over, theres nothing to connect youself, but remember to take the double sided sticky off the inside of the new one.
The only thing you have to swap is the speaker, that just pops out.
The hardest thing is pulling the two parts apart after youve unclipped the bottom/edges, cos of the double sided stickey.
As long as you dont rush it and your careful youll be fine.
Theres loads of vids about explaining that bit anyway.
I do prefer it white, plus the camera lens is new aswell which is nice, bargain for 25 quid!
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That's good to know, I didn't fancy dealing with any fiddly connectors or anything. And thanks for the tip about the speaker, you've been a great help

De nada.

AW: Convert Black HOX to White
Didi it, too
It's quite simple
Loving it in white
Sent from my One X using xda-developers app

I'm planning to swap my white one with the HOX+ cover. Is it a straight fit or do I have to do some diy work to get it to fit?
Sent from my HTC One X using xda app-developers app

omondisingh said:
I'm planning to swap my white one with the HOX+ cover. Is it a straight fit or do I have to do some diy work to get it to fit?
Sent from my HTC One X using xda app-developers app
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I did that today. Changed my black/grey hox, with the white One X+, and no, it is not a straight fit. For your own hearts sake, I would not recommend this.. It does require some nasty dremmeling in the bottom of the cover, which I almost ****ed up.
BanBoo helped me out, as he had done the same. Ofc it is possible and if you really wanna do, then do it..
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AW: Convert Black HOX to White
emperact said:
I did that today. Changed my black/grey hox, with the white One X+, and no, it is not a straight fit. For your own hearts sake, I would not recommend this.. It does require some nasty dremmeling in the bottom of the cover, which I almost ****ed up.
BanBoo helped me out, as he had done the same. Ofc it is possible and if you really wanna do, then do it..
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Nice to see you've made it!
Looks pretty cool I use the black one.
But its only a problem if you want to switch from hox to hox+ if you just change from hox to hox you will have no problems at all.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium

Does the camera ring come off?

omondisingh said:
Does the camera ring come off?
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No. The whole camera lens and stuff, is in the housing.

emperact said:
No. The whole camera lens and stuff, is in the housing.
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I've seen people selling the camera ring and lens on their own on eBay
Sent from my HTC One X using xda app-developers app

omondisingh said:
I've seen people selling the camera ring and lens on their own on eBay
Sent from my HTC One X using xda app-developers app
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Don't know. The lens and ring in my new One X+ housing, was in the housing. I do not know know whether you can push out the ring and lens or not.

AW: Convert Black HOX to White
omondisingh said:
I've seen people selling the camera ring and lens on their own on eBay
Sent from my HTC One X using xda app-developers app
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That's the way the lense is bend to the housing... Can't think of a way you can remove it without make damage to the cover.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium