Develop Bugs

Desire Teardown

Hi I will try to explain how to open up a Desire, it's easier than you think.
I got one from a friend how had dropped it in a pool and it would not start.
Try to be as ESD proof as possible, before you start.
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If you dropped it into water, remove the battery as fast as possible.
You need 3 tools to open up a Desire: 5x40 torx, philips screwdriver, and a plectrum.
Unscrew all of the four torx in the corners and the two philips. Two of the torx are located under "void" stickers.
Remove the cellular antenna using the plectrum against the edge of the SIM-holder.
Continue with the plectrum around the edges, beware of the small snapps so you don't brake them.
Now it's open.
If you want to bet to the display, you have to remove the three connectors first. Be careful not to break the flexes.
Unscrew the two philips for booth of the PCB.
Carefully lift out the hole package. Be sure not to brake the flex for the side volume keys.
Because this had visited the pool, I opened up the shieldcans to make sure everything looked OK. To do that one had to remove the SIM- and SD reader.
Open them up with the plectrum.
And the same on the other side.
Water had also made some marks on the LCD so I also hade to get the LCD away form the front glass.
Don't miss this connector! You will brake the flex if you don't disconnect this one.
Use the plectrum around the display, carfully, it will come loss eventually.
Don't touch the LCD, it's a hard time to get rid of fingerprints. Clean it with a lens cloth and some compressed air.
Then you do every thing the opposite way and it's soon back together again.
Power it up!
Everything seams to work.
While I had it apart I cleaned all parts and removed as much oxide as possible.

Nice work Mate!
Im sure this will come in handy for afew folks
and good to see its back up and running again as well

Thanks for the post. I really hope I never need it, but if I have to for some reason, at least I know where to look to make things correct.

Absolutley fab guide/tut, mate. Handy to have in times of crisis
Should be added to the Wiki actually. Any mod able to fix?

When the Wiki is back up im sure itll be added

Brilliant guide, nice to see it's working again.

r33z said:
While I had it apart I cleaned all parts and removed as much oxide as possible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, 2 questions for you..
Where did you find the most oxide?
what are important areas to clean?
Oh, and a third one.. I find the speaker has become garbeled after my Desire's beer plunge, do you know how I can make it better?
thanks

Dead camera replacement still dead [FIXED]
Thank you so much for this. I had a dead camera - no camera, no flash, no LED, no headphone jack. I tried all the software fixes like rename DCIM directory, factory reset, change SD card, stock ROM etc. but still no joy. I knew it must be a hardware fault so I bought and installed a new camera module ... but still no joy. I then removed the circuit board (your photo 9) and found the long ribbon cable was slightly unplugged under the SD card holder. I plugged it in properly, put the phone back together and all was well. Yay! It must have come adrift when I dropped the phone.
Many thanks, Peter

peterthevicar said:
Thank you so much for this. I had a dead camera - no camera, no flash, no LED, no headphone jack. I tried all the software fixes like rename DCIM directory, factory reset, change SD card, stock ROM etc. but still no joy. I knew it must be a hardware fault so I bought and installed a new camera module ... but still no joy. I then removed the circuit board (your photo 9) and found the long ribbon cable was slightly unplugged under the SD card holder. I plugged it in properly, put the phone back together and all was well. Yay! It must have come adrift when I dropped the phone.
Many thanks, Peter
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And many thanks from me guys. With the photos from r33z and the info about the camera from Peter i fix mine.
Thanx again

Fixed mine too
peterthevicar said:
Thank you so much for this. I had a dead camera - no camera, no flash, no LED, no headphone jack.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you Peter for your troubleshooting efforts and mention of what was wrong. I had dead camera, flash (and LED), and wifi. I didn't try software fixes because it all started after a heavy drop. I don't know exactly what I did to fix it, but I did reseat those three connectors. Thank you r33z for the guide!
Peace,
Greg.
PS: I've just looked at the guide again, and the images aren't loading. e.g. first one loaded directly (URL stripped of http prefix since I'm a new member and not allowed to post links):
lh4.ggpht.com/_k2t8S4X-WRA/TBs4fT6n6RI/AAAAAAAAFLE/lCqINbBDJBs/s800/DSC_8163.JPG
"403. That’s an error.
Your client does not have permission to get URL /_k2t8S4X-WRA/TBs4fT6n6RI/AAAAAAAAFLE/lCqINbBDJBs/s800/DSC_8163.JPG from this server. (Client IP address: xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx)
Rate-limit exceeded That’s all we know."

I broked my screen on me Desire , when my screen will arrive to me , i will use this method
Sent from my HTC Desire using xda premium

[Theory] Better Reception

So I was looking at the tear down of the phone at ifixit and noticed this
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Notice the w1 w2 and r1 marking with the holes. To me that seems like a receptacle for antenna cables like on a wifi card for a laptop. What frequencies do you guys think that's for?
i'm guessing the w's are either wifi or wimax but i'm not sure about the r1. as well as if it's for the general radio in the phone could there be a potential way to plug in an antenna to increase the surface area of the antenna to increase the signal.
These are my two cents.

morphis568 said:
So I was looking at the tear down of the phone at ifixit and noticed this
Notice the w1 w2 and r1 marking with the holes. To me that seems like a receptacle for antenna cables like on a wifi card for a laptop. What frequencies do you guys think that's for?
i'm guessing the w's are either wifi or wimax but i'm not sure about the r1. as well as if it's for the general radio in the phone could there be a potential way to plug in an antenna to increase the surface area of the antenna to increase the signal.
These are my two cents.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't do it. The impedances on those antenna leads need to be very precise...any change in the resistance will totally throw that off and you risk destroying the radio in question. (3G/2G, 4G, Wifi I think)

Read it here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1273292

daneurysm said:
Don't do it. The impedances on those antenna leads need to be very precise...any change in the resistance will totally throw that off and you risk destroying the radio in question. (3G/2G, 4G, Wifi I think)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First. Thank god before i posted. I assumed ones from a laptop on't work but I've got some from an old lg vu that i thought may do the job.
Second would there be a way to measure that? I've got the concept planned out already. If there is someone who is good with this stuff i'd be more than happy to explain the idea further. The other thing is if the way i'm thinking about it is possibly it will add virtually no size to the phone.

justwonder said:
Read it here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1273292
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Answered all my questions.
Thanks
To bad though. :/

I tested the connectors and this is what I found:
R1 - cell radio. All cell communications use this port and the circuit trace leads to the actual antenna is at the bottom of the phone. One of these days, I will find the frequencies it uses so I can make a proper external antenna.
G - GPS antenna, jack hidden under the antenna at top of the phone. There is no opening on the back due to the size of the antenna.
And I am still trying to pinpoint where wifi is from. Connecting an antenna to the W1 and W2 jacks has no effect. I set up a constant scan for fast graphing of the signal. Narrowing this down has been elusive. I have built wifi antennas for years and this boggles my mind.
Large antenna left of the camera and the small one to the right. No external port and had no effect on wifi. Bluetooth? More antenna diversity for wifi?

I have been wondering which is for what for the longest time maybe I will try hooking some antennas up to them and see if there is any changes.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk

dattaway said:
And I am still trying to pinpoint where wifi is from. Connecting an antenna to the W1 and W2 jacks has no effect. I set up a constant scan for fast graphing of the signal. Narrowing this down has been elusive. I have built wifi antennas for years and this boggles my mind.
Large antenna left of the camera and the small one to the right. No external port and had no effect on wifi. Bluetooth? More antenna diversity for wifi?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
one of the W's for WiMax perhaps? that's what i'd love to add an antenna to..

so on a similar topic, whatever happened to someone testing out whether placing a strip of aluminum foil under the cover strengthening the radio signal?

ppcpirate said:
so on a similar topic, whatever happened to someone testing out whether placing a strip of aluminum foil under the cover strengthening the radio signal?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what are you waiting for?

This is what your looking for. http://www.wpsantennas.com/WA-1071-Samsung-Skyrocket-Galaxy-S-II-SGH-I727-Antenna-Adapter-Cable.aspx

I was wondering for the longest time what those ports are for. So could I get an external antennae set up at my house for better signal? This would help with wifi tethering
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

true story with the vibrant ( galaxy s 1 ) which had horrid gps due to hardware the fix was an antenna connection fix off a very similar port.

kawaski47 said:
I was wondering for the longest time what those ports are for. So could I get an external antennae set up at my house for better signal? This would help with wifi tethering
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not if you want a working phone. Using those ports can kill the radios.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

I've already tried it! Doesn't work!!
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

Weakest Wifi - hardware FIXED!

Is there anyway to boost the wifi on this thing. I have 3 tablets (samsung tab 7, Lenovo Ideapad K1, and this) Samsung and Lenovo keeps connection with my home router but this one it disconnects half the time. Kinda frustrating. I assume this also will kill my battery faster than it already does. Any advice?
EDIT:
So I exchanged my tablet and still the replacement has bad wifi. I figure this had to be hardware related so following the procedure here I decided to take it upon myself to figure it out. If youre not comfortable doing this I suggest just keep returning your unit till you get a good one. Note when you remove the first side bezel there's a black sticker over one of the screws. I was able to remove it easily with an exacto knife being careful not to rip it so I can put it back on later. After removing the 3 sides except for the power button side (not necessary) you remove the back off and you end up with this.
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I'm not sure which is the wifi antenna or if they work as a pair but I moved both antenna connectors around (I didnt try to remove it cause this might make the connectors loose) and moved the black antenna right on top the camera. Reference all the red arrows. I left the tablet on so I was able to tell if it was making a difference. Eventually got it to get 2 bars just like on my Lenovo Ideapad! Possibly one of the micro coax connetors was not making good contact. These are the same RF connectors on RC receivers so they are a little more susceptible in losing contact specially if they're too lose. So just move them side to side and dont remove or lift them off.
Prior to this I was alternating between no bar and 1. This time it consistently stayed at 2 bars regardless how I moved or where I moved in my room (our router is in another room upstairs). Carefully put the tablet back together and now my connection is stable 2 bars. Finally!
So it does seem like there's some QA issue with these tablets. There's a huge thread in the acertabletforum about this issue and some say to change your connection from DHCP to static but that doesnt make logic sense to me. Some have been able to exhange theirs gotten good replacements.
Anyhow if you have any question, let me know.

I was actually thinking that wifi going out when it's turned off might be on purpose to prolong the crappy battery life.

bsharitt said:
I was actually thinking that wifi going out when it's turned off might be on purpose to prolong the crappy battery life.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not when its turned off. Theres a setting for that to disable wifi when you turn screen off. But thats not what I'm talking about. My wifi disconnects as I'm surfing or downloading from market or a file.

hmm, does it look like it has a weak signal strength or are you sitting at a good connection and it drops all of the sudden?
If it isn't a weak connection, I assume the device is just having a problem with your router settings. Maybe call support to see if they can give you information, but I haven't heard of this issue. What about open networks at coffee shops or the like? Do you have the same issues?
This is my third tablet and this tablet has the best WiFi that I have seen so far, so I don't think it is a problem with the signal strength.

Maybe I have a bad unit but I went to Bestbuy today and the a100 could not connect to their bestbuy router. It says "not in range". All the other ones (galaxys, xooms, acer, asus, HTC flyer all were connected to bestbuy wifi. HTC and samsung were the better ones at full bars. Acer had 2 and asus had 3. I don't recall what the xooms were. But man what a disappointment. The only thing good was that the a100 was the cheapest at $249. They must've brought the price down again.

[email protected] said:
hmm, does it look like it has a weak signal strength or are you sitting at a good connection and it drops all of the sudden?
If it isn't a weak connection, I assume the device is just having a problem with your router settings. Maybe call support to see if they can give you information, but I haven't heard of this issue. What about open networks at coffee shops or the like? Do you have the same issues?
This is my third tablet and this tablet has the best WiFi that I have seen so far, so I don't think it is a problem with the signal strength.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you on 3.2.1 already? Maybe thats the ticket. I'm still on 3.2 and it says I'm up to date when I try to check for new version. If you are on 3.2.1 how did you get it?

aznmode said:
Are you on 3.2.1 already? Maybe thats the ticket. I'm still on 3.2 and it says I'm up to date when I try to check for new version. If you are on 3.2.1 how did you get it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, I do not have the update in my region.

[email protected] said:
Nope, I do not have the update in my region.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh ok. Updated OP so looks like version number is irrelevant in my case.

Screen replaced now hardware problems

Hi, I have replaced the screen of my DHD with this producht Click. But now I have big issues with my phone. My Wifi won't turn on. When I press it to turn it on I get an error and also the bluetooth won't turn on. When I press it, it keeps trying to turn on but nothing happens. My GPS turns on but can't find any signal and the lights on the touch button's dont turn on. Can someone please help me with these problems?

niyesuh said:
Hi, I have replaced the screen of my DHD with this producht Click. But now I have big issues with my phone. My Wifi won't turn on. When I press it to turn it on I get an error and also the bluetooth won't turn on. When I press it, it keeps trying to turn on but nothing happens. My GPS turns on but can't find any signal and the lights on the touch button's dont turn on. Can someone please help me with these problems?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thats a big problem, but most development here on xda is software, not hardware est bet would be to recheck everything is connected completely, when ever a screen breaks, your best bet is to usually just upgrade, hardware is hard to modify.

It's not that I'm 100% sure that the hardware has problems, but it happened after I changed the LCD etc. So it has to be because of that. Can someone tell me which part of the motherboard is the wifi so that I can check it for damages etc. or are there other things that I can do in order to try to fix it?
Thank you in advance.

I thought the WiFi/cellular antennas are somewhere in the upper part of the phone.
Usually it's some kind of wire running along the edges.

I thought GPS was on the led surround Bluetooth was on the battery cover
Sent from my HTC Desire HD using XDA App

Zulake said:
I thought the WiFi/cellular antennas are somewhere in the upper part of the phone.
Usually it's some kind of wire running along the edges.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, I have 3 wires there, 2 black and 1 white, do you know which one it can be and how I can fix or replace it?

Hi, this is the inside of the phone, can someone show me which part the WiFi is?
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Can you take some pics???
CU AssiY2K

Of what do you need a picture?

the gsm/3g antenna is in the sdcard/sim-cover
the wifi antenna is in the battery cover
and the gps antenna is in the cover on the side of the camera that includes the lenses for the LED flash

@ niyesuh: I couldn't see the picture you have posted. In this afternoon I was at work and there is the internet connection firewalled. But now I can see it.
Dlog is right.
Are you sure that all connectors do have right connection? The battery flap has to be mounted if you want to test WIFI.
CU AssiY2K

Dlog said:
the gsm/3g antenna is in the sdcard/sim-cover
the wifi antenna is in the battery cover
and the gps antenna is in the cover on the side of the camera that includes the lenses for the LED flash
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you show me the wifi antenna on the picture I uploaded and also the wifi cable pls?

AssiY2K said:
@ niyesuh: I couldn't see the picture you have posted. In this afternoon I was at work and there is the internet connection firewalled. But now I can see it.
Dlog is right.
Are you sure that all connectors do have right connection? The battery flap has to be mounted if you want to test WIFI.
CU AssiY2K
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, all the connection's are connected correctly and the battery flap is also mounted well. I think I broke something while replacing the screen, but what could it be?

Also the Wi-Fi MAC-adres isn't available.

Hi, i had the same problem today.
I solved lifting a little the metal contacts under the two plastic covers (wasn't sure about which one was for the wi-fi/bluetooth antenna)...

[Q] What is this connector called? (from the picture)

Cloud somebody please tell me the NAME of this connector? I have another device that has the exact same one and I want to connect an external antenna to it and need an adapter for it (to FME). But since I do not know its name, I don't know what to order. It is not CRC-9.
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No idea what it's called, but do be careful and order the right one as a larger diameter pin can force the contacts inside open permanently, thus disabling the internal antenna even without the external antenna connected.
Beamed from my Maguro.

Thanks for the heads-up. That already happened to me while messing with it. Then I messed with it a little more and it went back.
Anybody else know the name of the connector? Or where else I could try to ask this question?

Actually I tried to check in iFixit website here but could not find it. I think it would be useful to go to a good repairing shop and ask them to help you know more about this component.
Good Luck

external antenna connection/jack
AFAIK, they are all the same size. But save yourself the money, the external antennas are pretty much useless with newer cell systems. You can try a repeater that mounts on your windows but even then you have to figure out line of site with the cell tower you pull from.

It's not worth the risk. Internal works well enough. If you insist on external antenna get something Bluetooth based.

Sdobron said:
It's not worth the risk. Internal works well enough. If you insist on external antenna get something Bluetooth based.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the advice, but this thread is just about finding out the name of that connector.
rudeguy said:
external antenna connection/jack
AFAIK, they are all the same size. But save yourself the money, the external antennas are pretty much useless with newer cell systems. You can try a repeater that mounts on your windows but even then you have to figure out line of site with the cell tower you pull from.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Q: What's the race of the dog fom the picture?
A: It's called dog! They're all the same.
Seriously, like I wrote in the first post, it's not CRC-9, I already tried that one, and although it looks like it might fit in, it doesn't! I also tried two others from an electronics shop and they didn't fit. (unfortunately I don't remember their names) There are several types of similar connectors like this one and most of them are not compatible to each other.
ahmadallica said:
Actually I tried to check in iFixit website here but could not find it. I think it would be useful to go to a good repairing shop and ask them to help you know more about this component.
Good Luck
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the answer. I had tried, prior to opening this thread, to ask at a couple of electronics shops, but nobody could help. Then I tried again this week at another shop and the guy said it's "MMX" but they don't have it. But I'm guessing he actually meant "MMCX", because "MMX" doesn't seem to be a type of connector. I'll just probably order that one, and see if it fits...

So I tried MMCX. It doesn't fit either! The search continues...

Vorsprung said:
So I tried MMCX. It doesn't fit either! The search continues...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
some time ago i read on a galaxy s2 thread that the connector is only to be used by manufacturer to test the antenna and not meant as an expansion for after market accessory. The guy said that he actually broke a little pin (or anyway a little piece of metal) inside the connector by using an external antenna and now the phone only works with the external antenna. Just in case you didn't know..unfortunately i can't post the thread, it shouldn't be hard to find anyway.

I know, I know, don't worry about that! All I'm trying to do is find out the name.

Vorsprung said:
I know, I know, don't worry about that! All I'm trying to do is find out the name.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some call this part the "MS147 connector", but AFAIK it's a CK589-AMGC
Hope that helps