Develop Bugs

[Q] Broken vibrator?

Is there any conceivable software-related issue that could cause the Epic's vibrator to quit working, and continue to not work after it was wiped (both data & cache), then ultimately reflashed to SPH-D700-EB13-8Gb-REL.tar.md5 using Odin? Or can I safely assume that if it still won't vibrate at all, there's probably a mechanical failure with the vibrator itself? I've already checked to make sure the vibrator and haptic feedback is enabled in settings, and also tried z-DeviceTest (it reported that the vibrator was "OK", but tapping the button did nothing).
For what it's worth, the last time I remember the vibrator working, I remember the phone was in my pocket, something triggered vibration, and it literally wouldn't stop vibrating until I pulled out the battery (I'd say it was probably vibrating nonstop for about 2-3 minutes). I can't say with 100% certainty (because I didn't really notice at the time), but I don't think the vibrator has ever worked since then. I have a hunch the vibrator's motor might have gotten burned out (though why it would have worked up to the point when I pulled the battery, but never worked again, is somewhat of a mystery).

Oh! Every woman's nightmare!
Sounds like your vibes are gone. If you did that test and it said it was good but you still did not feel it, then it is definitely locked up. The load in the electrical circuit showed good but the vibrator it self must be jammed up. Was there a dropped phone incident that might have caused a small piece of plastic to lodge in there?

Give it a good wallop > if no workie > sprint repair center
Sent from Bonsai 7.1.3.1

Top Nurse said:
Give it a good wallop > if no workie > sprint repair center
Sent from Bonsai 7.1.3.1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you do that to fix your phone and your ... well nm

jdelano said:
Do you do that to fix your phone and your ... well nm
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sometimes a good whack on electronic stuff works. Learned that on the tube tv's.
Sent from Bonsai 7.1.3.1

kennyglass123 said:
Oh! Every woman's nightmare!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dang you beat me to it

Top Nurse said:
Sometimes a good whack on electronic stuff works. Learned that on the tube tv's.
Sent from Bonsai 7.1.3.1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree, sometime a good wack can do it - sometime the small vibrator piston can get stuck - they are so small that you may have to unstick it and a good wack will sometime jar it lose.
Although if you can open up the case where you can see it, it can be unstuck with a smaller wack.
This is no joke, as I have worked on a lot of small device eletronicss and mechanical vibrators can get stuck - funny for the dirty minds, but true. I am sure if you take it to a Sprint repair center, they can open the case and unstick the piston, and if they have the part they can fix it - worst case is to replace rather than repair, which means a longer wait unless they have one in stock.

How big of a disassembly job is involved with getting at the piston to try and un-stick it? As in, is it a fairly safe matter of removing a few screws and gently prying off a plastic shell, or are we talking about hardcore disassembly where my ability to put it back together again is likely to become a serious question?
Does anybody know the official part number if it had to be replaced?
Also, is the Epic's vibrator a conventional motor with unbalanced load, or did they actually go with something more exotic, like a linear induction motor to enable them to get more 'throw' across a wider area in less space?

The Cause Of Screen Flickering With A "Possible Solution"

Many One X owners, including me, has be having from display/screen issues that are quite annoying. And apparently, none has a definite answer as to what the main cause is. hTC has exchanged all those faulty devices, claiming it's a "hardware" issue...while in fact, it's their stupid back covers...i'll explain as we speak.
First, to know what screen/display problem i'm talking about, please refer to this Video.
Few days ago, i got my hands on a "Dead" One X...but i just refused that fact...because it just works! but no screen....screen is always blank....can touch it, go to dealer and make a phone call even. Sometimes the screen turned, sometimes, and it was like in the video, exactly like it.....so what's the problem?!
yesterday, i'll be honest, i got mad at this phone and held it with a tight grip...my finger happened to press just above something...and the screen turned on! worked great in fact! i was astonished! it just worked....but, oops, i turned off screen, then when wanting to turn it back on...blank...
I kept pushing on the back casing of the phone, trying to find the same place that made the screen turn back on...and viola, same place pressed on, screen back on.
Wanna know what's causing all of this?
Here you go:
Click me!
And those connectors Should be in good contact with this on the back cover
Click me too!
But you know, hTC ****ed this one up, just like it does on most devices with connectors on the back cover...*sigh*...like the sensation for example...
So what to do now?
i tried a bunch of things, and almost broke those connectors with a stupid thick aluminum foil on top of them...
also i tried bending them up, but that doesn't help either, as when the cover pushes them down, their shape will change and well...didn't work.
i also tried putting aluminum foil on the metal connectors on the actual cover...didn't help as well!
it seems only pushing on it from outside does the trick!!
i also tried pushing on the connectors together while the back casing is off, didn't work...as it seems there must be a triple connection...board, connectors, and cover...
I think the only solution would be with a new back casing? but...if hTC f****d it up with this one, wouldn't all back casing suck too?? or is this a manufacturing problem that the connectors are just short and won't connect well?!
here are pictures of how the phone turned on magically after pressing over that connector, and another of how the screen gets messed up when the, well, there's not a good connection...Thank you hTC!
Sample 1 Sample 2
Tomorrow i will buy a new back casing and report if that helped me or not.
I only came to this because i have no warranty...if you have warranty, please consider an exchange!
Oh, and finally, i was able to get into bootloader, first time i saw that screen! always has been blank!...pushing on the connector also did the trick.
Finally!
Soooo...comments?
If anyone has an idea on how to make the back casing come in better contact with those connectors, please let me know.
UPDATE

Hmm, why did you put this into Q&A?

what? in a bad mood and wanna bash me?
where should i put it then? as people with such problem would come ask here, am i right?
EDIT: lol, it's all good now ^^

arabology said:
what? in a bad mood and wanna bash me?
where should i put it then? as people with such problem would come ask here, am i right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well nah, would post it into General , as this was more like a guide. I wasn't bashing.. and not in a bad mood... If anything I bumped your thread up...
Also wanted to say that those contacts and that case seems to be f..cked up in general. As next to those you have the WIFI ones which in another thread, thats in General is shown how to fix...
My first comment was a compliment and you could clearly see I was smiling as I am on my avatar smiling. No reason to get defensive...

PAGOT said:
Well nah, would post it into General , as this was more like a guide. I wasn't bashing.. and not in a bad mood... If anything I bumped your thread up...
Also wanted to say that those contacts and that case seems to be f..cked up in general. As next to those you have the WIFI ones which in another thread, thats in General is shown how to fix...
My first comment was a compliment and you could clearly see I was smiling as I am on my avatar smiling. No reason to get defensive...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
oh well...also WIFI connectors are bad?...no wonder SIII is flying and hTC is dying...
anyway, maybe a moderator can take this thread to the general forum, thanks for pointing those things out!
and sorry i seemed mean, but many, really, many users have nothing better to do but nag...trolls
thanks ^^

Soldering would fix this!
putting two round solders on the gold plates of the back cover. i will try that tomorrow. but i fear they would squash the connectors on the board? as that's what happened when i used two tiny balls of aluminum foil....one connector got squashed by it and i had to push it back up and play with it to make it look normal again.....hmmmm

arabology said:
Soldering would fix this!
putting two round solders on the gold plates of the back cover. i will try that tomorrow. but i fear they would squash the connectors on the board? as that's what happened when i used two tiny balls of aluminum foil....one connector got squashed by it and i had to push it back up and play with it to make it look notmal again.....hhhhh
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Moved to general forum hope youll fix it bro...
So it is a hardware fault,would never guess that...in the general forum you have a topic with the name "wifi fault" give a look on that
Sent from my HTC One X using XDA

muamers said:
Moved to general forum hope youll fix it bro...
So it is a hardware fault,would never guess that...in the general forum you have a topic with the name "wifi fault" give a look on that
Sent from my HTC One X using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
*nods* already took a look at that
will try the soldering...or connecting a wire between both connectors...one of those should work

arabology said:
*nods* already took a look at that
will try the soldering...or connecting a wire between both connectors...one of those should work
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Like you guys would say: "inshallah" :d
Just dont rush with the opening and be carefull
Sent from my HTC One X using XDA

waw another fellow citizen
so before we go ahead and go
doooom gloooom htcccc suxxxxxxx
lets first affirm tons of people have no problems with their wifi and their screens
so yes those connectors issues whether screen or wifi are another forum of a manufacturing defect, things might not be perfectly aligned and hence the issue
the flickering issue your thread title suggests finding the source of, isnt related to this, 90% of the corruption we saw out of box on the HOX turned out to be software including the back-light flicker which HTC fixed by readjusting the LCD voltage
moving on to your question a new back cover might very well fix it unless the misalignment is on the board
but im wondering why is this pin related to the screen to begin with? the Sensation didn't have such a pin you could remove the back cover and the screen kept operating, also the disassemble photos that were posted for the HOX showed the board and screen running perfectly without the back cover
as for the stupid copper foil, make sure you don't loose it unless you are planning to make a bomb its added to distribute Tegra3 heat

arabology said:
*nods* already took a look at that
will try the soldering...or connecting a wire between both connectors...one of those should work
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Before you do that, please check the WIFI thread. There was already one member that described that soldering or adding a wire might be possibly harmful in the long run.
Changing the electricity stuff, how its called, the resistance or something (for the antenna though)

I'm having the same damn issue (check the picture) and thanks to Arabology for the well explanation on the problem. what I did was to send my phone to the service center and they told me it will take 3 working days (today was just the 1st day) for the technician to diagnose the fault and decide whether to replace the device or to repair it.
given that its a well known defect - should I just demand an exchange for a new device just incase if they revert that they repaired my phone? because I am sure the chances for the problem to reoccur is high.
Also just so you know I purchased this phone only about 3 months ago in HTC roadshow launch of OneX in Malaysia. HTC needs to come out with really quality products otherwise they will loose all their customers to samsung & apple (I believe they already lost major % of their loyal customers to their rivals)
oh well hope to get a good news soon. will keep u guys posted.

Update:
well, My One X is just cursed, few days ago it feel off my hand and the screen got cracked. now i'm waiting for my local repair station to get hold of a One X digitizer.
ALSO, HUGE NEWS, seems i was wrong. it's not the connectors. it's the whole part where there is a copper kinda sheath over it...i guess that's where are the cores are plus the Nvidia Tegra chip??! turned out, when i push there, that the screen lights up. at first i thought it's the connector, coz that's the most reasonable right?
what could be wrong under that? well, that place can be taken off, there's a metal housing that can be lifted off....idk, nothing seems wrong there...but seriously, just a slight push lights up the screen! so now i'm using the oldest trick in the book, i put a wrapped paper at the back of the casing, just where it will push over the place i talked about, and now screen is always on....just this small push does the job!! no more flickering!
i repeat, it's not the connector nor the back casing.......only God and hTC knows what's going on...
i did further investigations and tried to relate the "push" to any connections that could be on the board from the other side, but after disassembling the phone, there does't seem to be anything on the other side of the board that needs that certain force to help the screen to light up....idk, this just boggles the mind.
...anyone has any clue?!?
BTW, phone is working great even with the cracked screen, playing Dark Meadow just fine

walker07 said:
I'm having the same damn issue (check the picture) and thanks to Arabology for the well explanation on the problem. what I did was to send my phone to the service center and they told me it will take 3 working days (today was just the 1st day) for the technician to diagnose the fault and decide whether to replace the device or to repair it.
given that its a well known defect - should I just demand an exchange for a new device just incase if they revert that they repaired my phone? because I am sure the chances for the problem to reoccur is high.
Also just so you know I purchased this phone only about 3 months ago in HTC roadshow launch of OneX in Malaysia. HTC needs to come out with really quality products otherwise they will loose all their customers to samsung & apple (I believe they already lost major % of their loyal customers to their rivals)
oh well hope to get a good news soon. will keep u guys posted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i say you should demand an exchange. hopefully the device they'll give will be of a different tier of products that doesn't have that silly, unknown problem.
also, i'm pretty well sure that they won't repair your device. as i read many users regarding this issue, all of them got an exchange......seems pretty messed up. and i doubt my paper trick will hold long before this issue comes back

PAGOT said:
Before you do that, please check the WIFI thread. There was already one member that described that soldering or adding a wire might be possibly harmful in the long run.
Changing the electricity stuff, how its called, the resistance or something (for the antenna though)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
now that i have a paper inside my back casing, i can see that my WIFI connection is not at it's best, because of the extra space it took. so i'll most probably solder all the connectors

arabology said:
Update:
what could be wrong under that? well, that place can be taken off, there's a metal housing that can be lifted off....idk, nothing seems wrong there...but seriously, just a slight push lights up the screen! so now i'm using the oldest trick in the book, i put a wrapped paper at the back of the casing, just where it will push over the place i talked about, and now screen is always on....just this small push does the job!! no more flickering!
i repeat, it's not the connector nor the back casing.......only God and hTC knows what's going on...
i did further investigations and tried to relate the "push" to any connections that could be on the board from the other side, but after disassembling the phone, there does't seem to be anything on the other side of the board that needs that certain force to help the screen to light up....idk, this just boggles the mind.
...anyone has any clue?!?
BTW, phone is working great even with the cracked screen, playing Dark Meadow just fine
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
there was some guy, who posted a youtube video of when he pushed a certain area of his screen (the front part), it would switch off!
It only did it when pushed in that area, it was literally like a second power button.
Sorry I don't know exactly what it was, just the fact that somebody else had a similar problem!

HTC repaired my phone as the screen was faulty, it had a yellow tint, when i sent it for repair it did have screen flickering, ever since its come back, with a new screen, i rooted it and also put in the NEW ARHD rom, 2.05.2 base or something, it has stopped flickering :fingers-crossed:

walker07 said:
I'm having the same damn issue (check the picture) and thanks to Arabology for the well explanation on the problem. what I did was to send my phone to the service center and they told me it will take 3 working days (today was just the 1st day) for the technician to diagnose the fault and decide whether to replace the device or to repair it.
given that its a well known defect - should I just demand an exchange for a new device just incase if they revert that they repaired my phone? because I am sure the chances for the problem to reoccur is high.
Also just so you know I purchased this phone only about 3 months ago in HTC roadshow launch of OneX in Malaysia. HTC needs to come out with really quality products otherwise they will loose all their customers to samsung & apple (I believe they already lost major % of their loyal customers to their rivals)
oh well hope to get a good news soon. will keep u guys posted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Finally found someone with the exact same problem. I haven't been able to use my hox properly for weeks. Think I need to be sending back to HTC
Sent from my X10i using XDA

Finally I've got my OneX replaced with a new unit.:laugh: Hoping this will not have any sort of hardware faulty anymore.
interestingly. while waiting for my turn in the service center, I was just talking to a guy sitting and waiting beside me who came to report a problem with his OneX
and apparently its his 4th time visit to the service center. And all his previous 3 visits ended up with his OneX getting replaced each time....and each time with a different hardware issue (screen flickering / dead pixels / color faulty). Oh man....I thought the OneX was the best quality product from HTC.
and now I'm having a slight regret that I shud have just waited for another 2 more months and bought the SIII instead. God knows what other problems my OneX is going to come up with.

Hi
arabology said:
Update:
well, My One X is just cursed, few days ago it feel off my hand and the screen got cracked. now i'm waiting for my local repair station to get hold of a One X digitizer.
ALSO, HUGE NEWS, seems i was wrong. it's not the connectors. it's the whole part where there is a copper kinda sheath over it...i guess that's where are the cores are plus the Nvidia Tegra chip??! turned out, when i push there, that the screen lights up. at first i thought it's the connector, coz that's the most reasonable right?
what could be wrong under that? well, that place can be taken off, there's a metal housing that can be lifted off....idk, nothing seems wrong there...but seriously, just a slight push lights up the screen! so now i'm using the oldest trick in the book, i put a wrapped paper at the back of the casing, just where it will push over the place i talked about, and now screen is always on....just this small push does the job!! no more flickering!
i repeat, it's not the connector nor the back casing.......only God and hTC knows what's going on...
i did further investigations and tried to relate the "push" to any connections that could be on the board from the other side, but after disassembling the phone, there does't seem to be anything on the other side of the board that needs that certain force to help the screen to light up....idk, this just boggles the mind.
...anyone has any clue?!?
BTW, phone is working great even with the cracked screen, playing Dark Meadow just fine
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Probably what's referred to as a dry joint or some other connection not connecting very well, not uncommon in electronics.
You need to get it repaired or replaced, simple as that. If it is a dry joint under one of the chips that use a ball grid array of solder points, you will never be able to sort that out yourself and it would be scrapped more than likely rather than a repair attempted for such a fault. To repair, it would need to go into a special over to heat it enough to melt the solder under the chip. Exerting pressure will just eventually make things worse as you can end up fracturing more of the soldered connections as there is little give to resist flexing.
Regards
Phil

No vibrate

This is my first thread so forgive if i put it in the wrong place. I wasn't sure where it should go.
So did the usual phone user mistake and dropped (threw) my phone. cracked the screen pretty good. I've messed with phones for a while now so i purchased a new screen and digitzer and tore down the phone. pulled the old screen off, replaced it with the new and everything was good as new. ran some tests with video and quick touches as well as multi-touch and zoom. everything worked great but i have no vibrate. the phone can be put into vibrate mode but it doesnt vibrate. i tried factory reset, though i figured it was hardware and not software. If anyone who has torn down these phones knows anything about the vibrate can you please guide me into fixing this?
On a side note, i also broke a little golden clip off the inside later when tinkering trying to fix the vibrate (im pretty sure it completes the circuit for sound because now i have no sound).

Bump. Sorry but this is kind of urgent. does anyone have any ideas on this?

th3 game said:
Bump. Sorry but this is kind of urgent. does anyone have any ideas on this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is possible that the connector came loose. Try checking that. The motor could have also been damaged so it make need to be replaced.

th3 game said:
This is my first thread so forgive if i put it in the wrong place. I wasn't sure where it should go.
So did the usual phone user mistake and dropped (threw) my phone. cracked the screen pretty good. I've messed with phones for a while now so i purchased a new screen and digitzer and tore down the phone. pulled the old screen off, replaced it with the new and everything was good as new. ran some tests with video and quick touches as well as multi-touch and zoom. everything worked great but i have no vibrate. the phone can be put into vibrate mode but it doesnt vibrate. i tried factory reset, though i figured it was hardware and not software. If anyone who has torn down these phones knows anything about the vibrate can you please guide me into fixing this?
On a side note, i also broke a little golden clip off the inside later when tinkering trying to fix the vibrate (im pretty sure it completes the circuit for sound because now i have no sound).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Joking put aside - which it's VERY hard not to go there with this - contact Tuscani1821 and he might be able to help you troubleshoot it further.

garwynn said:
Joking put aside - which it's VERY hard not to go there with this - contact Tuscani1821 and he might be able to help you troubleshoot it further.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i can deal with the jokes lol i did it. but thank you for the help. I'll pm Tuscani1821 and see if he help me out

When u have phone apart do u have a tester to see if vibrator is getting power?
Sent from an Apple killing JellyBean

moparfreak426 said:
When u have phone apart do u have a tester to see if vibrator is getting power?
Sent from an Apple killing JellyBean
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
like a multimeter? no i do not.

Tried taking the vibrator out of something else?
Sent from an Apple killing JellyBean

moparfreak426 said:
Tried taking the vibrator out of something else?
Sent from an Apple killing JellyBean
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't have a different phone. I'll be posting pics of the Motherboard and other internals later tonight

That probably wont help.... Just to be honest, if u had a backup phone i could look at for you but since u dont..... Lol.... I would suggest even getting a cheap blue samsung flip phone (verizon) all models of those have same vibrator as the e4gt
Sent from an Apple killing JellyBean

[Q] Opened phone, now my soft keys don't work

This phone isn't my daily driver and I got a skyrocket on Ebay but it came without volume buttons. Being an idiot, I figured same phone same part....not the case. Long story short, My phone turned back on after putting it back together and my touch screen works but none of my soft keys work and they won't light up. Phone is running stock, non rooted.
the hell did I do? Did I break something or did I just knock a cable loose? Should I be checking for anything specifically?
Thanks in advance.

Sooppex said:
This phone isn't my daily driver and I got a skyrocket on Ebay but it came without volume buttons. Being an idiot, I figured same phone same part....not the case. Long story short, My phone turned back on after putting it back together and my touch screen works but none of my soft keys work and they won't light up. Phone is running stock, non rooted.
the hell did I do? Did I break something or did I just knock a cable loose? Should I be checking for anything specifically?
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Probably didn't put the flex cable back.

graydiggy said:
Probably didn't put the flex cable back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i'll check now.
Thanks for the reply.

I really hope you didnt break it...
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda app-developers app

graydiggy said:
Probably didn't put the flex cable back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
graydiggy said:
I really hope you didnt break it...
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
.
All the ribbons seem to be plugged in. I think I broke it, but how?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?! I'm not really worried, i'll just throw it on Ebay; I just don't know what I did wrong. Well, I opened the phone, I know I shouldn't have done that. Any idea on what ribbon cable I should be looking at specifically?

Sooppex said:
.
All the ribbons seem to be plugged in. I think I broke it, but how?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?! I'm not really worried, i'll just throw it on Ebay; I just don't know what I did wrong. Well, I opened the phone, I know I shouldn't have done that. Any idea on what ribbon cable I should be looking at specifically?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Make sure the ribbon cable isn't torn.
The attached image should help.

Also, Each carrier specific phone will normally have different hardware inside.

graydiggy said:
Also, Each carrier specific phone will normally have different hardware inside.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it's the Sprint variant.
Edit: I tore the cable, didn't even realize it until you posted that picture. Wow, I really shot myself in the foot here. How difficult is it to replace?
thanks for the info.

Sooppex said:
it's the Sprint variant.
Edit: I tore the cable, didn't even realize it until you posted that picture. Wow, I really shot myself in the foot here. How difficult is it to replace?
thanks for the info.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A whole new screen assembly is needed... It is very hard to replace just the soft keys. A heat plate or heat gun is required to separate the glass from the screen to get to them. Much easier to just get a whole new screen/digitizer assembly.

graydiggy said:
A whole new screen assembly is needed... It is very hard to replace just the soft keys. A heat plate or heat gun is required to separate the glass from the screen to get to them. Much easier to just get a whole new screen/digitizer assembly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for all the help, I'm just going to sell it.

Sooppex said:
Thanks for all the help, I'm just going to sell it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sell it in separate parts. The mobo and battery will pull the most money. Don't even bother to keep the screen on it. That will lower your total price to maybe $75 at the most. You can easily pull that on just the motherboard alone. the battery can probably be sold for 10 or 15. and the other stuff will vary as well.

[Solved] Screen comes on but does not respond to any touch

I'll start by saying I don't have a whole lot of specifics on the issue as this isn't currently my phone. I'm looking to buy one and the seller said that one morning the phone would sporadically not respond to touch and by the end of the day wouldn't respond at all. She said that sometimes if she repeatedly locks and unlocks the phone it will work for a short time before becoming unresponsive again. She says there has been no water damage and she hasn't done any sort of software updates recently. She did say that a couple weeks before the issue started that it fell off her night stand but didn't seem to effect it at the time.
My question is has anyone run into this issue before? If so is it a software issue that could be remedied by doing a full wipe back to stock software? Or is it a hardware issue such as a bad digitizer or maybe something as simple as the digitizer cable coming loose?
I did some googling and the only thing I found about this issue was a result of flashing the wrong ROM to the s3. Any help would be appreciated.
Sent from my SGH-I897 using xda app-developers app

m1batt1 said:
I'll start by saying I don't have a whole lot of specifics on the issue as this isn't currently my phone. I'm looking to buy one and the seller said that one morning the phone would sporadically not respond to touch and by the end of the day wouldn't respond at all. She said that sometimes if she repeatedly locks and unlocks the phone it will work for a short time before becoming unresponsive again. She says there has been no water damage and she hasn't done any sort of software updates recently. She did say that a couple weeks before the issue started that it fell off her night stand but didn't seem to effect it at the time.
My question is has anyone run into this issue before? If so is it a software issue that could be remedied by doing a full wipe back to stock software? Or is it a hardware issue such as a bad digitizer or maybe something as simple as the digitizer cable coming loose?
I did some googling and the only thing I found about this issue was a result of flashing the wrong ROM to the s3. Any help would be appreciated.
Sent from my SGH-I897 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try doing a factory reset see what happens.
Sent From My Galaxy S 4 SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 Running On New Deadly Venom v8.0.0

Venom0642 said:
Try doing a factory reset see what happens.
Sent From My Galaxy S 4 SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 Running On New Deadly Venom v8.0.0
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
She says she managed a factory reset before the screen completely quit responding. But I don't know if she just cleared her data or did a full reset
Sent from my SGH-I897 using xda app-developers app

This happened to me once. I fixed it by factory resetting and reflash the ROM.

Looks like it'll be an easy fix(fingers crossed). I'll update after I purchase.
Sent from my SGH-I897 using xda app-developers app

Well it appears to be hardware... I tried doing a wipe/reset in recovery and after that didn't help I flashed back to stock using odin. Still nothing so it looks like I'll be replacing the screen.

m1batt1 said:
Well it appears to be hardware... I tried doing a wipe/reset in recovery and after that didn't help I flashed back to stock using odin. Still nothing so it looks like I'll be replacing the screen.
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I was going to say it sounds like the digitizer controller died/was bricked by a wrong rom.

m1batt1 said:
Well it appears to be hardware... I tried doing a wipe/reset in recovery and after that didn't help I flashed back to stock using odin. Still nothing so it looks like I'll be replacing the screen.
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Try seeing if the ribbon cable is loose? Very possible, and would save you quite a bit of money , also, nice to see you on the S3 forums :highfive:!

x0ne215 said:
Try seeing if the ribbon cable is loose? Very possible, and would save you quite a bit of money , also, nice to see you on the S3 forums :highfive:!
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Forgot to mention it but I pulled the back off and checked the ribbon cable. Removed and reseated it as well as made sure it wasn't corroded. Still a no go but on the bright side I found a nicely priced "blemished" screen on eBay so in a couple weeks I should be rocking the s3! And I'm glad to be in these forums. Looks like I'm going to have more options than I can handle.
Sent from my SGH-I897 using xda app-developers app

m1batt1 said:
Forgot to mention it but I pulled the back off and checked the ribbon cable. Removed and reseated it as well as made sure it wasn't corroded. Still a no go but on the bright side I found a nicely priced "blemished" screen on eBay so in a couple weeks I should be rocking the s3! And I'm glad to be in these forums. Looks like I'm going to have more options than I can handle.
Sent from my SGH-I897 using xda app-developers app
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If blemished means lightly scuffed just use some glass cleaner on it in a small coat, buddy of mine did that with his iPhone looked brand new.
& yep lol, soo many choices for ROMs and kernels for this phone, gotta love it :good:

So I got bored and disassembled and cleaned the connections on the board as well as the connections on the back of the screen. After reassembling it I get response from the touch screen again although its as though there's a phantom finger making random movements on the screen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiulrZHsDuc&feature=youtu.be
Sent from my SGH-I897 using xda app-developers app

Looks like you've got ghosts
Making the iPhone jealous one user at a time.

So I guess it was just a bad digitizer. Just got my new one and got it swapped out and I'm good as new! Though if anyone else is looking to replace a screen and aren't too brave when it comes to taking a phone apart I would suggest getting a screen that has the frame already attached to it. Removing the screen from the frame and reattaching is a bit tricky.