Develop Bugs

[Q] screen stopped responding - bad digitizer?

For the last day or so the touchscreen on my Tilt 2 will not respond. I thought Sense was hanging due to text messages so I deleted all of them this morning. That didn't help and neither did multiple reboots so I finally did a hard reset. Now I am really hosed since I can't get through the initial setup. Sounds like the digitizer may have bit it?
I am not at home to flash an official ROM right now but I will try that tomorrow. Other than that does anyone have any other ideas? I am paying for the warranty and insurance so I think I can get it swapped if I have to. Are they still sending out Rhodiums or do they have another device to send in its place now?

Okay, I just flashed the latest official ROM downloaded from HTC. Screen still isn't working. :-( Guess it's time to contact Asurion.

my tilt2 is also doing this, it stopped working about a week or two ago, then started working a few hours later. lately it will work sporadically and most the time not how it is supposed to. i have simplicity. i also have the insurance and i think mine is still under warranty, will i need to put the original sense back on it b4 i send it back in? also, on another note, sometimes when i plug it in to charge it the orange light doesn't come on indicating it is charging, i have to hold the power button for a few seconds. it started around the same time, are these issues related.

Possible fix
Ok, so I have learned that these screens are pretty sensitive, especially if you put them in your pocket. You can sometimes revive this by sliding your fingernail into the seam along the outer edges of the screen and running it along the seam as if you were trying to peel the front (digitizer) off of the LCD. It somehow releases the stuck screen or something. Mine has been doing this off and on for a while and I've been able to revive it several times with this method, though it's getting too frequent now and I'm thinking of trying to replace the digitizer all together. I'm afraid to make that leap though.

SgtMac02 said:
Ok, so I have learned that these screens are pretty sensitive, especially if you put them in your pocket. You can sometimes revive this by sliding your fingernail into the seam along the outer edges of the screen and running it along the seam as if you were trying to peel the front (digitizer) off of the LCD. It somehow releases the stuck screen or something. Mine has been doing this off and on for a while and I've been able to revive it several times with this method, though it's getting too frequent now and I'm thinking of trying to replace the digitizer all together. I'm afraid to make that leap though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The reason this "fixes" it is there some dust or dirt between the screen & panel. If enough gets in there, the digitizer gets confused and ignores any presses.
If you completely disassemble the screen and thoroughly clean it, I bet it'll be fine - no need to replace anything. However, this is a very tedious and delicate process, so be extremely careful.

[Q] Hairline crack "under" the screen.

Hi.
I've got a small question for all. I had my galaxy phone for only 2 weeks now, and treaded it with the same care I've done with all my phones (have had earlier a Galaxy S for 1.5 years without a single scratch on it).
Just a few days ago I saw a very thin crack in the screen, stretching from almost the edge of the top left corner, and diagonally down a bit to the right side.
Curiously as I am, I checked if anyone else had the same problem.
I found a few places online, but not a lot.
[cant add links due to first post]
I want to know if this can be a build problem, since I'm pretty sure I didn't miss treat it.
It doesn't affect the usability of the screen, meaning all pixels and everything with the touch layer seems to be working perfectly, and its quite hard to spot even if you know its there. You need the right amount of light and angle to see it. Perhaps that's why I cant find a lot about it.
Has anyone a similar problem?

That sucks. You might not be able to exchange it since that is physical damage. Youre probably going to have to live with it, sell it or get it repaired which will be costly.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

Is that on the digitizer or on the glass? If its on the surface you could throw a screen protector on it to fill it in.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoMRO4OiXw4
if its on the digitizer, that shouldn't happen. I would try and get it replaced.

there is certainly no harm in taking it back to the place of purchase to see if they are willing to help...

I've tried to take it back, but they didn't want to take it without examination, and that will cost $150, and from experience, they will probably come to the conclusion that its not a manufacturer error (unless several people reports the same issue)
Its not in the top glass, but as far as I can see, its not in the digitizer either (I assume the digitizer would at least behave differently with a crack in it)
Still hoping that more people have this problem, since that would prove that its a bad batch or something..

Hi Mazy,
I just discovered a hairline crack on my nexus too.
Unfortunately I don't have a camera right now to take pictures of it, but suffice to say the crack matches the one you have!
I cannot think of how this crack came to be - its so new and hasn't been mistreated at all.
I'll try and upload some photos in the next few days if I can borrow a camera to do so.

With some effort I managed to get to take a photo with a webcam (see attachment).
I haven't yet contacted the place of purchase to see what can be done about this - I'll keep this thread posted.

Thanks for that image.. This seems to be more than a coincidence, the angle and size of the crack seems very similar. I suspect that your phone works as normal as well, and that the crack is more or less invisible in normal usage, but in specific angles it shines up?
Have you used any "heavy" program for a long time, meaning did you use a program that could make the phone become warm?
We have two similar phones here, but only one is cracked, and thats the one that we used as GPS, and using that, the phone gets hotter than normal. I dont know if that can affect it at all, but Im trying to figure out what caused it.

Hey op is your phone GSM or CDMA? Australian guy I assume yours is GSM.

I have the exact same crack that you have found in your screen. (Verizon LTE version) Thought maybe I had simply been careless with my phone but then started thinking that it might be a manufacturer issue.

Buff McBigstuff said:
Hey op is your phone GSM or CDMA? Australian guy I assume yours is GSM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its a GSM, and from the charger I got, I assume it was meant to be shipped to UK (or any other country with that type of outlet)
Slowburn72: if its possible, please take a picture as well, Im planning to use this thread to prove that this is not a user mistreating the phone, but rather some problem in manufacturing or assembly of the phone.

Slowburn72 said:
I have the exact same crack that you have found in your screen. (Verizon LTE version) Thought maybe I had simply been careless with my phone but then started thinking that it might be a manufacturer issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow guys, I smell something fishy here. Mark one up as my GN has the same thing.
I was out in the winter sun today for the first time with this phone after having it for about 4 weeks when I saw a line going across from the top left, diagonally down to the right side about 1/3 down.
Immediately I thought, WTF! I have NOT dropped this thing and have NOT sat on it. It's been in a case since day one which should also reinforce it. How the hell did I do this? I even tried rubbing it off when I first saw it thinking it was just another fingerprint smudge.
This is a Verizon LTE version so at this point I don't think this is specific to version.
I will also say that I am shocked that I didn't notice this before being a very picky nerd about this kind of stuff. At the same time, I can't actually see this until I get enough ambient light and hold it on an angle. It's a hairline crack beneath the topsheet of glass but not deep enough from what I can tell to affect the display. Most user damage appears to result in shattered outer glass and the fact that our cracks are the same that this is due to assembly or design.
I have a feeling we aren't the only ones with this issue. I have insurance on the phone but no way am I going to make an insurance claim considering we all have the same, and I mean SAME crack.
I will be printing this thread out when going back to where I got mine to kindly ask for a replacement. I will be taking this one up the chain, if I have to, after reading this thread. I am glad this thread was started.
I think we are on to something...

I would contact Samsung and point them to this thread. Maybe if they see its happening to multiple people they will replace it.

Same hairline crack on mine too!
I have had this galaxy nexus less than 24 hours. I literally watched a small scratch like mark turn into a diagonal and long hairline crack across 1 quarter of the screen. I didn't do anything to the phone I've had a nexus 1 for over year with no crack at all. Now I think I know why the guy was trying to sell me the warranty so hard. Will be returning the GN to best buy for a full refund.
Same symptoms everyone else is listing... shows up in only certain lighting and angles. But marked it is... ever presently defective.

Everyone with this defect, are you on gsm or verizon version? Only reason i ask is verizon version case is slightly modifies which can cause loose volume keys. Perhaps this bigger casing puts some awkward twisting force on the screen from the modified production assembly.
Thats why the crack would be in identical location on every one.

Its happened on both gsm and lte
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

I have the exact same "Hairline crack". Tried to get it replaced without success.
Btw, it's a GSM version.

I have a version from telus in vancouver canada. My crack is from top right (to the left of the front facing camera) and runs to the middle left side. There are absolutely no scuff marks on the phone as it has not been dropped once. Phone is in mint condition all except for this hairline crack.
I will be returning to best buy to let them know my unhappiness with this phone.
I suspect a change from inside temp afer taking video and pics all day at the local science world.. then going outside is when I noticed a small crack starting to spread. i had the phone less than 24 hours.
Unimpressed!
I also only kept the phone in my x-Large leather jacket pocket by itself.
When the phone is turned on the hairline crack can only be seen from certain angles. When it is turned off it is easier to see from the photos attached.
Coincidentally, a friend bought the GN and just told me over gchat that the same thing happened to his GN phone, as described here.

I would call samsung. Ask to speak to a manager. That is crap. If this many people are having the same crack, it isnt isolated.

While I do not have this problem, I did want to chime in here. For those of you who tried to exchange your Nexus without success, I highly recommend going to another store or taking the matter up the chain until you get a replacement.
There is absolutely no reason they can't exchange the phone. This is clearly a manufacturing defect and there is absolutely no sign of physical abuse that the user could have done to cause this. If I were in your shoes I would not give up until it got replaced.
My last resort would be to go directly to Samsung with pictures and a detailed explanation of the issue. This is completely unacceptable in my opinion.

Bubbles under digitizer? No screen protector

Hi all. Quick searching leads me nowhere as there are thousands of problems concerning issues I'm NOT having. Sorry for the crappy 3ds camera pic, it's the only thing I have at my disposal right now besides the phone. As I said in the title, I'm not using a screen protector - this is a stock phone right out of the factory with no accessories, albeit aged a bit.
If you'll take a look, you'll see two screen bubbles. The huge funky-looking one at the top started out looking like the one at the bottom, and grew over a period of a few weeks. The bottom one started out really small and doubled in size to what it is now, but has since stopped.
It's really annoying and starting to bother me, but I was wondering if anyone had experienced similar issues, or has any input whether or not I can maybe fix this thing without having to get a whole new screen/digitizer/whatever. No replacement plans on this phone so gotta figure something else out. Any idea what's going on?

D-Lew said:
Hi all. Quick searching leads me nowhere as there are thousands of problems concerning issues I'm NOT having. Sorry for the crappy 3ds camera pic, it's the only thing I have at my disposal right now besides the phone. As I said in the title, I'm not using a screen protector - this is a stock phone right out of the factory with no accessories, albeit aged a bit.
If you'll take a look, you'll see two screen bubbles. The huge funky-looking one at the top started out looking like the one at the bottom, and grew over a period of a few weeks. The bottom one started out really small and doubled in size to what it is now, but has since stopped.
It's really annoying and starting to bother me, but I was wondering if anyone had experienced similar issues, or has any input whether or not I can maybe fix this thing without having to get a whole new screen/digitizer/whatever. No replacement plans on this phone so gotta figure something else out. Any idea what's going on?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is the plastic actually raised up? Can you see it when the screen is off? To me it looks like the digatizer may be going out, but its hard to tell from a pic.

It appears to be sealed and working fine... just has bubbles. I don't really know much about the insides of this phone, but it almost looks as if whatever is behind the digitizer is slightly warped and might be causing some contact with the glass or something like that. Reflections (off what is behind the screen - lcd? Not the reflections off the glass) tend to bend near the bubbles, whereas everywhere else behind the glass is pretty straight.
Essentially it just looks like water droplets or air bubbles forming on the inside surface of the glass, but it's never seen water before. I don't think the digitizer is failing.

Same problem, can I fix this myself?
Hi guys, I have the exact same problem on my HTC Desire. Touch is working fine, the pixels underneath are ok... yet this thing is expanding. What used to be 3 little bubbles near the very corner moved and turned into this amoeba looking thing after a few months.
Here are a few other shots.
Hope someone can let me know the possible verdict? Is it gone? Can it only be repaired by a professional or can I expect to be able to "clean up" the inside of the screen if I dismantle my phone as it is done here?:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1566313

Maybe the liquids from the lcd are boiling from the heat? Sounds dumb but is a possibility
Sent from my ADR6300 using xda app-developers app

Yikes. Mine is still having the same issues. I'm thinking about just tearing it down soon and figuring it out myself. A little nervous working on something with such small components. Any tips for a first teardown? I need to get a T6 torx and I've already looked at a couple disassembly guides, was a while ago though.
As far as I can tell, I will have to replace either the digitizer/glass or the LCD. If it's the latter I'll probably just upgrade the phone cause they seem pretty pricey.

Ok, I did what I said and investigated myself. Unfortunately, I broke my phone doing it.
The problem is the front glass/digitizer. I couldn't get the LCD off, but I pried it back enough to see bubbles through the glass looking from the inside.
I broke my LCD prying on it, now I have an ugly black spot. Guess I'll be buying an LCD and a digitizer now. Anybody have some spare ones, or know the cheapest place to get them?

D-Lew said:
Ok, I did what I said and investigated myself. Unfortunately, I broke my phone doing it.
The problem is the front glass/digitizer. I couldn't get the LCD off, but I pried it back enough to see bubbles through the glass looking from the inside.
I broke my LCD prying on it, now I have an ugly black spot. Guess I'll be buying an LCD and a digitizer now. Anybody have some spare ones, or know the cheapest place to get them?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are some digitizers on ebay for about $20 USD. i dont know about LCDs cause i never needed to replace mine but i would assume that they would be a little more expensive. Also, make sure you get the digitizer WITH the bezel because it will make your life a ton easier.

I'd better not touch it then
Sorry to hear about your LCD, D-Lew
Guess I wont be touching mine on my own. I'll definitely break it trying to do the same thing as you. I wonder if it's gonna break my phone if I just leave it as is. I mean, apart from the fact that it is there, it is not affecting the performance at all.

The bubble might get bigger. That's all you have to worry about.
Sent from my GT-P3113 using xda app-developers app

[Resolved] Digitizer Dead-zone...?

So I got this nice (albeit beat-up, but 100% functional) G2 from a friend, and for about 3 weeks it had no problems. I rooted it, put CyanogenMod 7.2 on it, worked fine.
About 3 days ago, it started behaving really weird while I was using it. Interfaces not responding, at times opening things when I didn't have my finger on the screen, usual possessed phone behavior) I did some investigating with the Developer Tools' Pointer Location display, and there's this massive dead-zone on my digitizer! The dead-zone (while holding the phone in landscape) goes from X=255.1 to X=401.1, and covers all the Y-values in that range. if I move my finger slowly enough through the deadzone from one fo the sides of it, it will register as being directly in the center of it. Other times it will show a very light touch on the right side of the zone, activating interface elements and the like.
What happened? Do I have to replace the digitizer? I don't have a warranty on it, seeing as I got it second-hand. Possible fixes, if it's not a serious hardware issue?
I don't have money to spare, so buying things to fix it might take a lot of saving.
EDIT: Got it in the mail finally, replaced it in 45 minutes. I had to use the dorm's heated-air hand-dryer to get it off, and I kinda messed up the glue a bit, but it's working just fine.

If you have to replace the digitizer, I would not worry. I just got done replacing the lcd on my G2, and it works. I bought the lcd (in your case it would be a digitizer) off ebay and my purchased also included the screw drivers and plastic tip thingy to open the phone. For the digitizer you might need to also get double sided tape.
There is a youtube video showing how to take a part and put back the phone. I think the video was like 30min, but when I did it, the time was 1.5hrs totally.
good luck if you go that route.

Previous post is spot on, for most people I would assume this won't be a hard task, I have opened and repaired dozens of g2s (and many other phones) and although sliders tend to be the most complicated its really straight forward
Find a YouTube video or other instructions online and look at it ahead of time to see if its something you feel comfortable with. Then if so, order the digitizer (90% this is the cause 10% the main flex) for around 15-20$ and all you need is a #0 Philips and a t5 torx and a hairdryer/heat gun
You won't need tape as there is more than enough sticky left after prying of the digitizer. Expect about that hour in half if your new to this, but can be done in less than 20 if you do it a lot Here is a link to info on your phone including repair guides
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=43195539
Best of luck!
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

Aw. Was hoping this wouldn't be the solution.
That sucks. Just went and ordered one, it came with screwdrivers and the prying tool, but I don't have any double-sided tape. Let's hope it's still sticky. Well, it supposedly gets here on the 9th, so I'll read up on replacing from these links. Thanks for the support. Hope I don't break the thing. :/

[Q] Replaced broken screen, thin line on screen unresponsive

Today I finally decided to replace the broken screen on my Nexus 7. Everything went well and according to plan, and when turning on the device I noticed it was working fine. However, upon closer inspection it turned out that one thin line on my screen isn't working. It's preventing me from doing SwiftKey flow, and when I tried drawing in Evernote I could see it was skipping over that part of the screen.
What could be the cause of this? I can't rule out that it's the screen part itself, but could it be more likely that I somehow damaged the LCD flex cable? I tried detaching and reattaching cables, so I have doublechecked that. I guess my question is mostly, how useful is it to try and replace the cable? Thanks in advance!

wi11ow said:
Today I finally decided to replace the broken screen on my Nexus 7. Everything went well and according to plan, and when turning on the device I noticed it was working fine. However, upon closer inspection it turned out that one thin line on my screen isn't working. It's preventing me from doing SwiftKey flow, and when I tried drawing in Evernote I could see it was skipping over that part of the screen.
What could be the cause of this? I can't rule out that it's the screen part itself, but could it be more likely that I somehow damaged the LCD flex cable? I tried detaching and reattaching cables, so I have doublechecked that. I guess my question is mostly, how useful is it to try and replace the cable? Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you replace the combo lcd/digitizer, or just the digitizer? In the latter case, you're lucky to have just a thin dead band; usually,1/3 of the screen would be unusable. In the former case, if the bezel is bent, however slightly, or there is some glue residue from the old screen on the bezel that causes the new screen to lie on an uneven surface, it would happen. I've experimented enough times to know the bezel has to be absolutely clean of everything and the surface must be 100% smooth and even. If you used strong tape on the new screen, your best bet is the multi-fix touch, as removing it would in most cases damage it.

graphdarnell said:
Did you replace the combo lcd/digitizer, or just the digitizer? In the latter case, you're lucky to have just a thin dead band; usually,1/3 of the screen would be unusable. In the former case, if the bezel is bent, however slightly, or there is some glue residue from the old screen on the bezel that causes the new screen to lie on an uneven surface, it would happen. I've experimented enough times to know the bezel has to be absolutely clean of everything and the surface must be 100% smooth and even. If you used strong tape on the new screen, your best bet is the multi-fix touch, as removing it would in most cases damage it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I replaced the screen + digitizer. I looked at the bezel (luckily the tape I used wasn't that strong so the screen was still detachable) and I cleaned it up thoroughly. There were indeed some glue residues left. However, it was no use, the screen still fails in the same locations. I had high hopes this might be the cause, but apparently not.
I highly doubt the bezel was bent, because I was very careful with it. I will try out the multi-fix touch option, but I'll do that tomorrow as I'm quite tired now. Thanks for all the suggestions!

wi11ow said:
I replaced the screen + digitizer. I looked at the bezel (luckily the tape I used wasn't that strong so the screen was still detachable) and I cleaned it up thoroughly. There were indeed some glue residues left. However, it was no use, the screen still fails in the same locations. I had high hopes this might be the cause, but apparently not.
I highly doubt the bezel was bent, because I was very careful with it. I will try out the multi-fix touch option, but I'll do that tomorrow as I'm quite tired now. Thanks for all the suggestions!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't know if you're familiar with the mechanics of the touchscreen, so I'm adding this for the sake of completeness. Lots of people would post problems and when you try to help, would snap back: "I already tried this and that and other things..." So if you already know, forget the rest.
I've found Yet Another Multi-touch Test (YAMTT) of tremendous help in diagnosing. When you switch from one firmware to another, YAMTT allows you to pinpoint exactly where touches do not register. If the dead band remains consistent, it's probably the screen itself. However, touch detection sometimes varies with the speed at which you touch. I've seen touches missing in some areas, which would register on a second or third or fourth pass. So, go slow in those areas, and back and forth to make sure they're really dead. Tedious process indeed, since you have around 30 variants to play with.

graphdarnell said:
Don't know if you're familiar with the mechanics of the touchscreen, so I'm adding this for the sake of completeness. Lots of people would post problems and when you try to help, would snap back: "I already tried this and that and other things..." So if you already know, forget the rest.
I've found Yet Another Multi-touch Test (YAMTT) of tremendous help in diagnosing. When you switch from one firmware to another, YAMTT allows you to pinpoint exactly where touches do not register. If the dead band remains consistent, it's probably the screen itself. However, touch detection sometimes varies with the speed at which you touch. I've seen touches missing in some areas, which would register on a second or third or fourth pass. So, go slow in those areas, and back and forth to make sure they're really dead. Tedious process indeed, since you have around 30 variants to play with.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know about the mechanics of the touchscreen, so all of this is helping me
I took a look at that tool, and I posted the result of drawing on imgur: paste "oyIt3bg" after imgur.com (I'm apparently still too 'new' to post links, sorry about that). It is clearly one band, very consistent. I think I should probably talk to the shop I got it from and ask for a replacement. Which sucks, because this particular parts took 3 weeks to even get here. Anyhow, glad I know what the problem is now. Again, thanks for all your help, I appreciate it

Hello fellow dutchie,
I have experienced this problem on my Nexus 4, and after having replaced the LCD+digitizer I also had issues with touch responsiveness in exactly the same areas. As silly as it would sound beforehand, it doesn't seem to be the screen or digitizer. Best... to give up.