I recently removed the motherboard from my original evo and set it in a new one b/c I shattered the screen on my original. The process seemed to work for the first couple days, however now I have a large area of dark shading on my screen. I am still able to view the screen entirely but this large shaded area is obviously a nuisance. I assume I must have hit/messed up something during the transfer. Any idea what that could be?
Sounds like a problem with the backlight for the screen maybe. Might try taking it apart again and making sure that all the cables are properly seated where they need to be, might be a loose connection somewhere.
Related
Hi all
I have a serious problem with my Defy and I'm hoping that someone will know how to fix it, although I think the answer will probably be "replace the screen" or "it's dead".
Basically, only small part at the top of the screen is working propperly. This area, a strip of about 1cm at the top, shows everything as it should. The rest starts black and then a load of mainly white vertical bars slowly fade in down the screen. These change when the screen does, but with a delay.
The touch screen still works fine, and ocasionally the bottom part of the screen will correct itself, but only for a few seconds.
I'm really hoping there's a simple fix to this. Please help me...
Is it drop or water causing this wierd symptom??
It is a must to replace the display if it drop or water damaged.
But if it happen after flashing then it most probably caused by rom issue.
I haven't dropped it/got it wet. The only thing I have done recently is upgrade to the latest MIUI last week, which incidentally was causing battery draining issues, so I was planning to revert to my nandroid.
The problem is, I can't even do that easily as I cannot see the recovery screen. Anyone know how to get round this?
OK, quick update
I have managed to restore my nandroid through a bit of memory and guesswork (remembering where things were in recovery). Initially the screen was the same, but after half an hour it has come back. I hope this means it works, but I haven't moved the phone since, so I am not 100% certain. I'm looking into the possibility of getting an Atrix now, as I have seen them for sub-£200 on eBay and I have wanted one since they came out. Hopefully the Defy will work, and I can sell it and put the moneys towards an Atrix.
Hi everyone,
I've had my Desire Z for little over 2 years now and two months ago (was running CM7.2 at the time) I started getting a weird issue where my touchscreen would only be responsive when the keyboard was slid out (so the opposite problem of what quite a few other people have reported where the touchscreen becomes unresponsive when the keyboard is out). The status LED would also stay off whenever the keyboard was closed, and the keyboard backlight didn't come on anymore at all. Also, I had to make sure that the keyboard was slid out during boot, if the phone booted without the keyboard out the screen would not become responsive at all until after another reboot. My earpiece speaker stopped working around the same time so I was wondering whether it was just an issue with the flex cable becoming a bit loose, but the touchscreen would consistently start working again when I flipped the keyboard out, and also the physical scroll button on the top bit would always work, so I was still hoping it would be some weird software issue.
I then upgraded to Flinny's (amazing) Andromadus ROM (build 22, complete data+dalvik wipe) after which the keyboard backlight started working again, but the rest remained pretty much the same. Since then the touchscreen issues have been getting worse, so that I sometimes have to flip the keyboard in and out again a few times, or turn the screen on or off with the power button several times before it becomes responsive again, but then it tends to work fine until I lock the screen again, with no noticeable dead spots anywhere on the screen. I've had days where it worked all day without problems (except having to flip out the keyboard, that's been a constant for the past two months), and then today I haven't been able to get the screen to do anything at all even after dozens of reboots.
I've already bought a new digitizer and am all ready to put it in (I'll have to replace the broken earpiece anyway), but was wondering whether anyone has any thoughts on whether it could still be a software issue after all, or if anyone has experienced anything similar? The thing with having to flip the keyboard out to get not only the touchscreen but also the status LED to work is just so weird and makes me doubt that it's a pure broken digitizer or lose flex cable issue, so I'm wondering whether it would be better to first try reverting to a stock ROM before taking on the messy sticky glue stuff (I should be fine but still, never done it before)?
Many thanks!
From what you describe my best guess would be the main flex cable is what needs to be replaced. Flash a touch based recovery and see if you have the issue there as well, if so its very unlikely that its anything but a hardware fault
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
Thanks for the heads-up, I've been playing around a bit more with software and I do manage to get the screen working again occasionally, typically after the second boot into a newly flashed ROM or restoring a backup, and only until one or two reboots later when it becomes completely unresponsive again. I've tried CM 7.2.0 as well as Flinny's Andromadus 10, and it is only complete flashing that does the trick, cache wipe or factory reset alone does nothing. The two occasions where the touchscreen worked were still limited to when the keyboard was flipped out, and it also had to be flipped out during boot, otherwise nothing would work. I've learned to navigate my way around the phone by just using the hardware navigation button, but I'll have a close look at the flex cable when I take it apart to replace the earpiece speaker tonight...
Hello,
so I took my dear phone apart yesterday to replace the broken earpiece - everything went fine but after reassembly the replacement earpiece isn't working either, which leads me to think that all those little broken bits might actually be related to some contacts being a bit lose, all in the same region. Should've thought about that earlier really since the earpiece and the LED (only works when keyboard flipped out) are both in that top region that the digitiser data presumable also has to run through before passing through the flex cable.
In any case, I also took a picture of the flex cable which is slightly bent but doesn't seem straightforwardly damaged (see attachment, that thing on the right is *not* a rip). Think it's worth trying to replace it anyway?
What was truly bizarre is that after the first boot following reassembly the touchscreen worked quite consistently for the entire evening - I thought I might've fixed a lose contact by un- and replugging the digitiser cable, but then the screen went nonreactive again at some point. I wonder if the working screen was again actually related to some software reset caused by the battery being taken out for so long? In the meantime the actual screen and trackball are still working away perfectly. Bizarre.
Just to let people know the solution to the mystery: the increasingly odd behaviour was actually caused by an initially small rip in the flex ribbon cable that got bigger and bigger - it's actually half-visible in the picture I uploaded above, only that the rip is where the cable comes out from underneath the case, and not where it's wrinkled!
Just in case it could be useful for anyone, here's the (top half of phone) components in the order in which they failed on me, which I guess corresponds to the order of the respective data lines in the ribbon cable (from the top of the phone towards the center):
environment brightness sensor (I thought that the sensor had been broken for almost a year, but as soon as I rebooted with the new flex cable I noticed how my phone stopped shining into my face at full brightness - if your brightness sensor gets stuck reporting the same (low) value this means your flex cable is on its way out!)
earpiece speaker
status led
touchscreen
screen (non-alignment with edge of screen, visual artefacts)
screen (fade to black/power interrupt)
obstacle3 said:
Just to let people know the solution to the mystery: the increasingly odd behaviour was actually caused by an initially small rip in the flex ribbon cable that got bigger and bigger - it's actually half-visible in the picture I uploaded above, only that the rip is where the cable comes out from underneath the case, and not where it's wrinkled!
Just in case it could be useful for anyone, here's the (top half of phone) components in the order in which they failed on me, which I guess corresponds to the order of the respective data lines in the ribbon cable (from the top of the phone towards the center):
environment brightness sensor (I thought that the sensor had been broken for almost a year, but as soon as I rebooted with the new flex cable I noticed how my phone stopped shining into my face at full brightness - if your brightness sensor gets stuck reporting the same (low) value this means your flex cable is on its way out!)
earpiece speaker
status led
touchscreen
screen (non-alignment with edge of screen, visual artefacts)
screen (fade to black/power interrupt)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll for sure keep that in mind. Mine is still going strong for the time being, but it's good to know some warning signs if I need to replace parts or if it's time to get a new phone
fireball0093 said:
I'll for sure keep that in mind. Mine is still going strong for the time being, but it's good to know some warning signs if I need to replace parts or if it's time to get a new phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Replacement parts all the way, the repair was 15$ and it feels as good as new! Well, it could do with a new battery but that's just another 5..
Just realised that the proximity sensor should actually be added to the very top of the list - just noticed that faint red light when taking a phone call, don't remember seeing that in almost a year :]
obstacle3 said:
Replacement parts all the way, the repair was 15$ and it feels as good as new! Well, it could do with a new battery but that's just another 5..
Just realised that the proximity sensor should actually be added to the very top of the list - just noticed that faint red light when taking a phone call, don't remember seeing that in almost a year :]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's not a bad cost at all. I know I'm going to have to replace my keyboard in probably 2 months or so (maybe sooner) because some buttons are starting to not work. Other than that fact my phone is currently still going strong for being going on a 3 and a half year old phone
Hi all.
My phone's display has been getting progressively worse and worse over the past couple weeks. Initially, when I flipped out the keyboard, the screen would get garbled. I could technically still interact with it (it still responded to stuff), but the display would start glitching out and move all over the place. It's like there's tons of scanlines and it repeats the same display again and again.
When I went back into portrait mode, things were fine. This was extremely awkward but I dealt with it because I had little choice.
However, over the past couple weeks, the problem's gotten progressively worse. Holding my phone a certain way would cause the screen to glitch up again. It came to a point where I had to flip out the screen and keep the flex cable positioned a certain way so I could see the screen. I'm using a dull edge to kinda poke that flex cable around and it helped me gain use of the phone, but today it's gotten so bad now it refuses to "undo" itself when it boots and no amount of poking and prodding of the flex cable will help.
It looks almost exactly like this guy's phone (not my video):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IVlvZt3U3U
Pictures of how my phone looks right after bootup:
http://i.imgur.com/eQ5j9KC.jpg
A few seconds after bootup:
http://i.imgur.com/L4doDyV.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/zVIH9Pw.jpg
Luckily, I was able to get a VNC server installed on the thing, so if you guys think it's a software issue, I may be able to get it to do something, but I'm not going to be able to interact with the phone if I put it into Clockwork Recovery mode, so doing a hard reset is out of the question.
I'm having a flex cable come in and I'm going to get some local assistance disassembling and installing it, but before I do that, had anyone had this issue before? What did you do to fix it?
best guess is you need a new flex cable
for more info and links to disassembly see here
Its been some days, I'm experiencing this weird touch screen problem.
My DZ touch screen doesn't respond properly.
For example:
If i see an image and slide just one finger up and down then it would zoom in and out. And then the whole screen becomes unresponsive.
It seems as if, its touched by itself. Even the softkeys would go numb. Only the haptic feedback of my search button works at that moment.
But the trackpad works perfectly.
But, If i lock and unlock the screen using power buttons, it would work properly for some few moment and then again the problem repeats.
At present I'm repeating this process of locking and unlocking screen to use my phone.
One even worst weird thing is that, if the device is connected to a charger and kept on the table or floor. This problem doesn't occur.
I have done system format, restored my nandroids and even changed Roms. The problem still exists.
Please note, i don't use any Casing or covers that would press the device hard for malfunctioning of screen. I have even removed and replaced my screen guard.
I'm sure, its not a software issue.
And even i dont think its a strip issue, because i dont use my physical keyboard always.
Can anyone say what hardware issue it might be..?
Or what i need to do? I'm really out of options.
Do i have to replace my whole screen or the digitizer..?
Thanks...
Thats no fun,
As you stated it's more than likely a hardware fault, the two most likely culprits would be the digitizer or the main flex cable
Which would be this and this
both relatively easy to replace depending on your experience
in 4.x and up ROMs check the developers setting to show touch or use apps like
z device test
or
yet another multitouch test
these wont help you fix the issue but may show you where the bad points are on the screen
best of luck
I know the problematic spot. Its near Search softkey. Even Yet another multi-touch test would stuck at that spot....
As you can see in the image, that i'm not holding anywhere, still it shows that somewhere around Search softkey its touched by itself.
In second image, If i move my fingers around, it would show the other touch responds, but if i slide near search, it would go and stuck there itself.
So, i guess i would first go with the flex cable.
In actuality I'm leaning toward the digitizer in your case, but its possible to be either.
And if you have a spare phone it may be worth disassembling even without buying anything. On a G1 I once fixed a similar issue just taking out the digitizer and cleaning the contacts on the ribbon and the edges of it as well, when I put it back it worked like new. I think some dust may have gotten into the edges but it may be worth a shot before buying anything... But could make matters worse so if you don't have a spare, buy parts first
Best of luck
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
I guess i should try disassembling and clean it first. If it still persists then i would go for digitizer.
And thanks for giving a hope.
Thanks...
Wondering if anyone has any advice on something, plus I'd like to make some observations on a common problem. I dropped my phone about 4 months ago from about 3 feet up, in the cold (around 5C). Since then, I've had vertical lines appearing on my screen as in this post (https://www.asus.com/zentalk/thread-70061-1-1.html). Only difference is the lines don't extend all the way up the screen. There is about an inch at the top where the screen is normal. I have a few observations about the issue:
- It does not appear to be a broken screen. I replaced the screen/digitizer/frame assembly with another (used one), and it worked at first, but developed the same symptoms after a few days, out of the blue (did not drop).
- I can coax the screen to act fairly normally if I display a mostly white screen (either by inverting colors, or by setting a white background/opening a white app, etc)
- After a certain amount of time with a "mostly white" screen, I can revert to a dark screen and it seems to act normally and display dark colors again/can see everything on screen (not always though).
- When it's funky, I can see a vertical line about an inch from the top that flickers - above it, the screen is normal, below the screen is funky (vertical lines)
- It happens randomly, as in it will work normally, I will shut off the screen, and when I turn it back on, it's funky again.
- Weather/heat/cold appears to have no impact on it.
- This occurs during boot and in TWRP recovery, so it's not caused by software (doesn't seem like it's ROM dependent, by the way, I'm on CM 13.0), perhaps by bootloader which is common for everything that runs on the phone?
From these observations, it seems like it's not the screen that's the issue but rather the board the screen connects to (inside the phone, top board with the camera/volume attached to it). Does this seem right? I can't figure out why the screen would work when mostly white is displayed. I had a theory earlier that perhaps a (nano/micrometer sized) crack developed on the transparent conductor used to build the TFTs that drive the individual pixels - that would seem to make sense of the "white". As the lower pixels are driven, sufficient voltage/current is supplied to bridge the very small crack that occurred, leading to a (mostly) normally working screen. However that would have been fixed by replacing the screen, so it doesn't seem like that's the case.
I see two possibilities:
- The board that connects to the display has something that cracked/shorted like I mentioned above and sufficient voltage/current bridges the crack
- OR The second LCD is also broken - however this doesn't seem to be the case as the screen worked perfectly for a couple days. I haven't had the screen work for that long since this happened.
So, what are everyone's thoughts? I'm out of warranty. I could try replacing the board or just get a new phone. Or perhaps someone else has some insight...