Wife's phone usb port is broke. It got mangled by a tough cord pull. It can't be straightened out. plastic is broken and contacts are mangled. After I did some research, I can see this issue happens on quite a few phones with micro usb such as the evo, but i have not seen too many people mention it about the g2.
Anyways, no warranty since I got the hardware from craigsist. Even if there was a warranty htc has not been covering this sort of damage on the evo.
From what i can tell there are a couple of possible fixes and a workaound.
fix one - new motherboard. too expensive
fix two - have a new replacement port soldered onto the existing board. i am not sure if this is worth it. i don't have much soldering experience, so i would probably have to send it somewhere. Does anyone have any idea of what that sort of thing would cost? is it pretty risky in terms of further damage to the board?
workaround - Get an external charger and possibly a second battery to reduce downtime while charging. This is probably what we will do for a while. Does anyone have a solid suggestion for an external charger for the g2? Is the battery the same format as other HTC phones such as the evo?
thanks!
Ah that sucks. From what i think if you know how to open the g2 then you wouldnt have a problem with fix 2 only thing i say is dont F..k up the motherboard lol... yoll have a fully broken phone. Dont know about fix 1.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
soreyes said:
Wife's phone usb port is broke. It got mangled by a tough cord pull. It can't be straightened out. plastic is broken and contacts are mangled. After I did some research, I can see this issue happens on quite a few phones with micro usb such as the evo, but i have not seen too many people mention it about the g2.
Anyways, no warranty since I got the hardware from craigsist. Even if there was a warranty htc has not been covering this sort of damage on the evo.
From what i can tell there are a couple of possible fixes and a workaound.
fix one - new motherboard. too expensive
fix two - have a new replacement port soldered onto the existing board. i am not sure if this is worth it. i don't have much soldering experience, so i would probably have to send it somewhere. Does anyone have any idea of what that sort of thing would cost? is it pretty risky in terms of further damage to the board?
workaround - Get an external charger and possibly a second battery to reduce downtime while charging. This is probably what we will do for a while. Does anyone have a solid suggestion for an external charger for the g2? Is the battery the same format as other HTC phones such as the evo?
thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you don't need a working micro USB port for connecting to your computer, just pick up one of those power mats that charge your devices by just placing them on the mat.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App
OriginalGabriel said:
If you don't need a working micro USB port for connecting to your computer, just pick up one of those power mats that charge your devices by just placing them on the mat.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I looked into the powermat product last night. As far as I could tell, it seemed like they didn't have one for the G2. In that case, they provide a workaround, but it sounds like it also requites a working port of some sort.
"If your specific device is not listed in Step 1, we currently do not have a receiver for your model. By choosing "other" your solution will include a wireless Powercube universal receiver with 7 tips to allow your device to charge on a Powermat mat."
"The Powercube Universal Receiver Allows you to Charge Hundreds of Devices Wirelessly
The perfect accessory to your mat. Seven Interchangeable tips (micro USB, mini USB, Samsung, LG, Apple, Nintendo DSi, Sony PSP) allow you to wirelessly charge hundreds of mobile devices using just one receiver. Works with all Powermat mats."
After reading that, it stops sounding wireless at all. The universal powercube is wireless to the powermat, but it needs to attach to the handset with a cord. Pretty silly for $100. maybe there are other companies besides powermat?
I found a great thread about sanding chintech batteries. I ordered the two pack plus charger and will peel and sand them. So for now, I will use the external charging workaround.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=945090
In the meantime, if anyone else has a broken usb microport issue, post up your experience here. The issue seems rampant in the evo's, but maybe not so much on the G2. It is a heck of a small plastic tab in there holding the contacts.
Or get one of those 2 batteries + 1 charger deals on ebay and charge one while you're out and when you run out of battery just swap it. That's what I do and I think it's a hell of a lot more convenient.
Just chiming in
I have the same problem, except my micro usb connector still functions very testily. I have to plug and unplug it several times, and the slightest of jostles will disconnect it. Charging is more reliable than tethering, and I definitely use tethering, as I don't have a wired broadband connection at home. I'd love to get this repaired, if it's not too costly or difficult, so I'm going to watch this thread. Thanks for the suggestions on getting an external charger and extra batteries. If my connector continues to deteriorate, it makes me feel very relieved to know I'll have a backup. Thank heavens this phone has an sdcard slot!
Tethering and file transfer can be accomplished over wifi with some apps. Look for wireless tether and the samba or ftp apps
This is planned obsolescence at its worst. The switch from mini-USB to micro-USB doesn't save any space and makes the plug VERY VERY delicate.
Personally, I would take it apart, unsolder the micro-USB socket from the board, solder in a new MINI-USB socket, and reassemble. It is relatively low risk, as long as you are careful while soldering (use proper desoldering wick to disassemble). Be sure that you don't use too strong a soldering iron -- about 15 watt, and be sure to use one that is GROUNDED (three prong plug).
Thats some good advice. I was not aware you could swap out the interface in that way.
It's actually not quite that simple to change interface. You would first need to find a mini-USB connector having the same alignment pegs (to help with strain relief) and pad spacing as the current micro-USB connector. You will also need to hack the chassis of the phone some as well (and even then, a mini-USB connector will still probably stick out slightly).
Despite what was stated earlier, although both mini-USB and micro-USB have about the same width, mini-USB connectors are significantly thicker (or taller) and slightly longer (as far as depth). Micro-USB actually does give a pretty nice space savings for a hardware designer and can be more robust in design depending on the actual connector used.
Probably easier to just try and find the same connector HTC used if you are going to go through the trouble of replacing it.
I like to know all the great advise I was also worried about this when I just had the EVO. But to transfer files you could use a sdcard slot adapter for your pc or one of those usb sdcard readers I had used that when rooting my g1 along time ago LOL. Thanks for the backup ideas
Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk
soreyes said:
Tethering and file transfer can be accomplished over wifi with some apps. Look for wireless tether and the samba or ftp apps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, soreyes I already use the wifi tethering now and then, but it really drains the battery and makes the phone very hot. In fact, I accidentally left my wifi tethering on overnight the other night and woke up to a dead battery and a radio that wouldn't work for half the day. I was actually worried I had fried my phone and turned it into an expensive PDA. After turning it off for about 8 hours, it worked fine again, thank goodness.
I definitely hadn't thought of FTP or samba for file transfer, but thanks for the suggestion. I hate taking out the battery to get to the sdcard, just to transfer a file or two.
Having this problem with a G2 as well
I started having charging issues a few months ago, before my warranty ended, but now, I'm screwed and the phone will not charge at all. I know it is not the battery.
I have a G2 from T-Mobile. I took it apart and it looks like the job to get the port off and replace it would not be simple.
Has someone actually completed that task?
Does anyone have the part number on the port? I see several very similar ones on ebay. (search for microUSB and android)
Or, has someone sent theirs off to be fixed out of warranty? I've seen a place called Mission Repair mentioned here and there on the web...
Thanks!
-g
I had always thought (if mine usb port broke) about trying these guys ( www.cellulardr.com ), i mean if your phone is not really working you could check them out to see if the price is right.
I know I sent my itouch off for screen repair and it was worth it.
gelainest said:
I started having charging issues a few months ago, before my warranty ended, but now, I'm screwed and the phone will not charge at all. I know it is not the battery.
I have a G2 from T-Mobile. I took it apart and it looks like the job to get the port off and replace it would not be simple.
Has someone actually completed that task?
Does anyone have the part number on the port? I see several very similar ones on ebay. (search for microUSB and android)
Or, has someone sent theirs off to be fixed out of warranty? I've seen a place called Mission Repair mentioned here and there on the web...
Thanks!
-g
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You might consider buying one of those G2's on eBay with the broken screen, and swapping out the motherboard, then along with that you'd get all kinds of other spare parts, including battery etc.
I've never taken apart the phone, so can't attest to the difficulty, but I've seen a few guides around.
Update on repair options
So I called a local shop and they said that it was too complex of a procedure for them and referred me to Mission Repair in KS.
Called Mission and they said they get several calls a day from folks with G2's/Evos/and Desires with this exact problem. The guy said that in 80% of the cases it is not fixable without replacing the logic board because the issue is often that the logic board connectors break. This is a known issue with these similar HTC phones.
On the other side of things, I called HTC and it turns out these phones have a warranty from 15 months of manufacture, which T-Mobile did NOT inform us about. They said they will take the phone and fix it for free if i hadn't voided the warranty.
Now if only I hadn't open the phone up after the T-mobile rep told me there was no hope. *arg*
So after having the "Charging" issue when the phone wasn't plugged in anymore and sick of always having to bend the tab inside to clear the charging status, I decided to order a replacement flex cable from wholesalegadgetparts.com
I ordered this flex cable since I do in fact have a i515 CDMA.
After getting the cable and cracking open my phone, I'm surprised to see that cable does not have the same connections on it. It looks more like the i9250 cable that the site also sells. Cable1 Cable2
Does anyone else have this issue arise?
Which cable should I get now?
Thanks!
Bump for today. Really need some help with this!
I would get the one that your phone needs. The phone has been out for 6 months and Samsung has been manufacturing it for 8 probablly now. There is bound to have been some slight design changes.
So I've had my OTG cables (eBay/Amazon) for quite some time now. A couple of days ago it just stopped working. I was using it to transfer files from thumb drive to/from the phone. My buddy has the exact phone I do Galaxy Note 2 and both cables I have work fine on his phone but not on mine? Phone detects that the OTG is inserted with the usual "USB Connector Connected" notification but when a USB memory stick is inserted it will not show the "USB MASS Storage" notification and I can't see the memory stick in file manager. Occasionally (1 in 20 tries) and after a reboot, it will see the stick and allow me to explore the contents. I have tried 2 different cables that used to work fine with my phone and several USB sticks that also used to work and still do work on my buddies phone.
All other functionality of the phone remains perfect as it is fairly new. Charging through USB works fine, transferring data from USB to PC also works fine. I have looked into the port with a magnifying glass and it is clean and shows no signs of debris or pocket lint and the cable has a good feel when it is inserted. Positive click.
I tried to do a restore factory settings today and still it's totally hit and miss with either OTG cable.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Wow 60 views and not one suggestion. Guess this must not be a common thing at all.
I just tried it and works fine for me. Maybe try a different rom or custom kernel and see if it works then...I really dont have any suggestions
Galaxy Note 2
You said you tried the cables on your buddies phone but have you tried different cables on your phone?
Also this might help you.
Its meant for the gs3 but i can confirm works great on my n2. I see the dev has updated the op and others are saying the same.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1711009
Also want to add mar.ioo has good info here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2217874
:silly: "Bonk on the head!" I just remembered that several weeks ago while using a 2-port cigarette lighter to charge my Note 2 and iPad at the same time resulted in a funny burning smell. I took apart this charger (Amazon) and it was fried and melted on inside and obviously was of questionable quality. I guess at the time I didn't think anything of it because both the iPad and GN2 work and charge and sync perfectly well.
I've ordered a replacement charging port. Looks dead simple to change and phone itself looks much easier to take apart than the iPhone was. I found a site that sells the OEM charge port. I picked up an extra headphone jack as well since they are cheap. Yesterday while phone was charging in car, it woke up several times with the sound indicating a charger had been plugged in even though the cable was already plugged in securely.
I have also purchased the OEM Samsung OTG USB cable that was available for the Galaxy S2. I realize that the GN2 micro USB port has 11 pins but from what I have read the extra pins are for MHL HDMI output and there is no 11 pin OTG cable in existence but the port on the GN2 is backward compatible with 5 pin USB OTG.
Fixed
Today I pulled the phone apart and fixed the charging port USB OTG problem. Both cables that I have now are in working state.
This repair was VERY easy and took about 15min. with proper tools.
Ookpic said:
Today I pulled the phone apart and fixed the charging port USB OTG problem. Both cables that I have now are in working state.
This repair was VERY easy and took about 15min. with proper tools.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can u please elaborate how you fixed the charging port problem? I also have similar problem... Phone shows USB connector connected but no mass storage device in file explorer
Ookpic said:
Today I pulled the phone apart and fixed the charging port USB OTG problem. Both cables that I have now are in working state.
This repair was VERY easy and took about 15min. with proper tools.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please let me know how you fixed it. I am facing this same issue for past 2 weeks. Is it a hardware problem?
bkar81 said:
Please let me know how you fixed it. I am facing this same issue for past 2 weeks. Is it a hardware problem?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OP said it was a hardware issue for him. OP said replacing the small pc board and ribbon cable with the Micro USB port on it fixed the issue for him. I have replaced the USB port on my wife's Note 2 in the past (for a different reason, that is stopped charging.) It is a relatively easy repair, if you have the correct tools. You have to take the phone completely apart to replace the board, so you will need the small plastic tool to separate the bezel, as well as a small screw driver. There are walk through videos available.
If you decide to try this, avoid buying a cheap part. I bought a replacement part for about $5.00 from an e-bay supplier, but the company sent me two of them, and neither one worked. I bought a good one from and would recommend ETradeSupply out of Texas. That link is for the exact part. You will also pay for shipping, but it will be a good part. You can also buy the tools you need there if you want.
OK I don't know why this thread was closed, it was definitely not resolved... I think you guys misread my question... The Note 2 does NOT have the same charger as the Note 3... The Note 3 uses a USB3.0 cable which has a different A/C adapter that looks very similar but is a different part and I guess the problem is that it works differently with the 3.0 cable. My phone was sold, NEW by T-Mobile with the wrong A/C adapter in the box... To those of you that replied that it's the same charger, you're wrong. It's clearly a different kind of cable, even if the adapter part looks similar. And to whoever closed the topic, i understand moving it to the questions section (sorry about that) but the question hadn't been resolved at all. I was wondering if anyone had the same situation happen and any tips on how to deal with T-Mobile on this situation... Here is the original post below:
Has this happened to anyone else? My friend said he saw similar threads but I just did a search and couldn't find any...
My T-Mobile Galaxy Note 3 apparently came with a Note 2 a/c adapter. I found this out because after about a week, the USB3.0 cable stopped charging my Note 3. Luckily I can still charge with older microUSB cables, but I called T-Mobile for a replacement and they claimed they don't have replacement cables yet because it's so new and I should call Samsung. So I called Samsung, they said to send in the cable and a/c adapter and they'd replace it. But then today I got an email that they're cancelling my replacement because what I sent is NOT a Galaxy Note 3 charger and is in fact Item# ETA-U90JWEBXAR (obviously this is in reference for the a/c adapter part and not the USB3.0 cable which is a 3.0 cable).
So anyway now I'm waiting for my cable and a/c adapter to get back to me so I can go back to T-Mobile and complain. I have a really bad feeling that they're gonna fight me on this and claim I switched the chargers or something. Has anyone had this issue and have any tips on how to make it right?
Thanks
BTW I apologize in advance if A/C adapter is the wrong term haha. I think it is, but after typing it like 10 times in the above paragraphs it's starting to sound like gibberish...
polarbearmc said:
OK I don't know why this thread was closed, it was definitely not resolved... I think you guys misread my question... The Note 2 does NOT have the same charger as the Note 3... The Note 3 uses a USB3.0 cable which has a different A/C adapter that looks very similar but is a different part and I guess the problem is that it works differently with the 3.0 cable. My phone was sold, NEW by T-Mobile with the wrong A/C adapter in the box... To those of you that replied that it's the same charger, you're wrong. It's clearly a different kind of cable, even if the adapter part looks similar. And to whoever closed the topic, i understand moving it to the questions section (sorry about that) but the question hadn't been resolved at all. I was wondering if anyone had the same situation happen and any tips on how to deal with T-Mobile on this situation... Here is the original post below:
Has this happened to anyone else? My friend said he saw similar threads but I just did a search and couldn't find any...
My T-Mobile Galaxy Note 3 apparently came with a Note 2 a/c adapter. I found this out because after about a week, the USB3.0 cable stopped charging my Note 3. Luckily I can still charge with older microUSB cables, but I called T-Mobile for a replacement and they claimed they don't have replacement cables yet because it's so new and I should call Samsung. So I called Samsung, they said to send in the cable and a/c adapter and they'd replace it. But then today I got an email that they're cancelling my replacement because what I sent is NOT a Galaxy Note 3 charger and is in fact Item# ETA-U90JWEBXAR (obviously this is in reference for the a/c adapter part and not the USB3.0 cable which is a 3.0 cable).
So anyway now I'm waiting for my cable and a/c adapter to get back to me so I can go back to T-Mobile and complain. I have a really bad feeling that they're gonna fight me on this and claim I switched the chargers or something. Has anyone had this issue and have any tips on how to make it right?
Thanks
BTW I apologize in advance if A/C adapter is the wrong term haha. I think it is, but after typing it like 10 times in the above paragraphs it's starting to sound like gibberish...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried going to a tmobile store? And just to let you know, the two chargers perform the same function. As long as the charger is a 2A charger, then it will charge the phone the exact same way.
And about the thread closing, a mod here has been going crazy with closing threads in the Q&A section.
The USB 3.0 cable is the only difference. The charger is the same even though different part #. I have both charger and they're the same. I even have a tablet charger and that is quite different, color and shape, but it works all the same.
sent from my sm-900t.
aooga said:
Have you tried going to a tmobile store? And just to let you know, the two chargers perform the same function. As long as the charger is a 2A charger, then it will charge the phone the exact same way.
And about the thread closing, a mod here has been going crazy with closing threads in the Q&A section.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
see i thought that they'd work the same too. so that's good to know, and i didn't try the 3.0 cable in a different a/c adapter before mailing it back to them.
also, like i said in the post up above i'll be going to the t-mobile store as soon as i get the charger back from samsung in the mail. but when it first stopped working and i called t-mobile they said they don't even have replacement cables to give... so between that and samsung saying t-mobile put the WRONG a/c adapter in the box... i have a feeling i'm gonna have a HUGE problem getting a replacement from t-mobile, which is why i made this post... to ask if anyone else has had a situation like this.
The n3 charger output is 5.3vdc and the n2 is 5.0vdc. That's just because of the bigger battery on n3. Thou it doesn't hurt anything because both are rated at 2.0A.
Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk
LaloHigh said:
The n3 charger output is 5.3vdc and the n2 is 5.0vdc. That's just because of the bigger battery on n3. Thou it doesn't hurt anything because both are rated at 2.0A.
Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So lets say I get T-Mobile to replace the A/C adapter and 3.0 wire and it still doesn't work... Is there a chance just the 3.0 charging portion of my phone is damaged somehow and not the microUSB charing port? Would that even make any sense? Gonna really suck if I have to get my phone replaced...
I doubt the 3.0 is damaged as the pins are only active when you connect it to a 3.0 port in a pc.
Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk
LaloHigh said:
I doubt the 3.0 is damaged as the pins are only active when you connect it to a 3.0 port in a pc.
Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yea that's why i was thinking the note 2 a/c adapter that came with it just simply doesn't support 3.0 cables and maybe that's where my problem lies... hopefully t-mobile will replace it. bah.