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Guide: HTC Cruise Polaris Screen replacement/dismantling

It happened to me that the TC fell on the sidewalk face down, so I had to find and replace the screen. Couldn't find any pictorial guide so I decided to share my experience for the benefit of others with the same problem.
Cause: Cell phone shocked, fell down, hit
Symptoms: touch screen works OK, but display has cracks, blackened areas, which are spreading as time goes by.
Screen type : TC combines the matrix sensor (touch) and the LCD in 2 layers, the front touch-glass and shell, and the LCD itself underneath it.
Source of display: I bought via eBay on this source: Asia Bol
http://stores.ebay.com/newasiabol
Cost $70 inc. shipping and arrived within a week and a half. Rumors insists the at below $100 a screen is either factory dropout or refurbished.
Tools needed: Torx screwdriver T5-50, the size can be viewed after removing battery door, at lower corner.
A flat sharp tool ("fish knife") to help open the plastic case, but not too sharp to scratch the phone.
Here are the pictures and some notes:
1. Remove battery case and battery, SIM
2. Remove 2 screws from lower side
3. Prick open the shell with the flat tool
4. Prick open the top shell with the flat tool
5. CAREFUL as there are 2 tiny ribbons from the touch screen/hardware buttons into the PCB, one is held in place with sticky band (keys), the other (digitizer) is locked in-place with a lever, tiny one! - pull them out, not before noticing where they went into and lifting the lever on the smaller one.
6. Take apart the FRONT shell with the flat tool slowly as not to tear ribbons
7. Pull the LCD ribbon out
8. Carefully pull the old screen as it is held in place with sticky gum
9. Clean interior glass of phone if needed, pull out new screen protective sheet and put in place.
10. Connect new screen ribbon, 2 keyboard/jog tiny ribbons
11. Press shells in place
12. Pray you didn't forget anything and load SIM and battery
13. Good luck

more pictures...
following...(please note that where it's marked on the above picture as "jog wheel" - it is not. it's the glass digitizer ribbon.

Excelent work....!!!

Awesome man

Great contribution! You give me hope for the next generation of xda'ers!

Thank you!

Excellent work! Must be added to Polaris wiki page (if it hasn't yet!)

my lcd screen crashed 1 month ago. replaced a new screen for 450 CNY included the handwork fee.

great job.... thanks for sharing
My TC has got a big scratch on the screen (cheers to Jack, my cat who is responsible for that )...
I just ordered a new LCD screen, and by "mistake" i only ordered the digitizer...
Now after reading this post, it seems that I accidentaly did the right thing, since is only the front panel which is scratched and not the LCD itself... Am I correct?
Anyway do i have to disassemble the whole phone to get the front panel out???

As you see on the completly dismanteled TC picture above (left on the last picts row), there are:
Glass top, actually the outer top shell, and the LCD & Digitizer are one piece (the 'glassy' square with flat orange attachement)
If the scratch in on the shell glass, that's not the LCD screen, it is the so called "LCD LENS GLASS" or "faceplate".
If the TC fell and you see cracks and smears on the screen instead of what should be displayed, that's the LCD.
Please make sure where your scratches are.

Reuvenm said:
As you see on the completly dismanteled TC picture above (left on the last picts row), there are:
Glass top, actually the outer top shell, and the LCD & Digitizer are one piece (the 'glassy' square with flat orange attachement)
If the scratch in on the shell glass, that's not the LCD screen, it is the so called "LCD LENS GLASS" or "faceplate".
If the TC fell and you see cracks and smears on the screen instead of what should be displayed, that's the LCD.
Please make sure where your scratches are.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the Info,you ve been very helpful .... Well my scratch is on the outside and I couldnt find any outside faceplate for my TC... Instead I ordered the digitizer (see picture attached) which for me it seemed as the right option (I did that before reading your post )... Now I will just have to wait and see when it comes, if i did the right thing........ I will let you know

well, I was (and still) confused as I was looking for some info about the screen assembly, and the only one I've found was on this lab site (not particular to TC model though).
Please read the paragraph in RED starting with "ATTENTION..." later on that page (the link above includes Google's translation from russian).
More confusing is that the part you mention here IS available as is...

puzzle solved.
I was curious so I dismantled the TC again, than I notice the the glass shell IS carrying a tiny ribbon, which means IT IS the digitizer (I though it's coming from the hardware keys).
So I assume you ordered the right part.

Reuvenm said:
puzzle solved.
I was curious so I dismantled the TC again, than I notice the the glass shell IS carrying a tiny ribbon, which means IT IS the digitizer (I though it's coming from the hardware keys).
So I assume you ordered the right part.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
cheers... I feel ever so glad!!! ... but you would recon I would have to go through all the procedure to get it out and install the new one?

Actually it's a very delicate work with a steady hand and non scratching behaviour.
points to notice:
- The side silver bars are detached by sliding as well as pulling gently, as there are L shaped pins coming out of them into a niche in the body.
- The glass digitizer ribbon is run from one side of the main board into the other, so unlocking it (small lever and pull out) is needed as well as having the upper and rear shell apart as much as allowed, Or having the LCD wide ribbon out (& digitizer small one) and let the 2 shells free for easy access.
Saying that, it means that the procedure is almost identical as for replacing the LCD as the glass/digitizer is attached to front glass with sticky rubber and you need to get in there to release the tiny ribbon.
In your case I assume you also have to pull the bottom hardware keys' plate (assembly), in order to release it from the old shell/glass.
If that is the case, be carefull as the assembly is pinched into place by fragile plastic bumps that keep it in tight place in order to make a good push action (click). You'll have to widen the shell sides a bit and help it out.
! bent ribbon, and some mulfunction may occure.

Awesome Guide, Reuvenm you're the MAN!
I'd been searching all over for this guide so as to attempt to remove both the front and back camera. My Company just implemented this silly policy that doesn't allow phone w camera
Reuvenm, by any chance that you've had a good look at both the front and back camera and if it's a type which can be un-plug easily? Pls do not bother to disassemble the TC again, really. Just wanna check cos you may have shot some other pics of your disassembled gem that may show the front and back cameras
Anyway, great job and thanks a bunch in advance

you can disable the camera by software & registry, but I guess they want it to be out of sight..
as you see on the left pict on the first row of images, the front camera is a cubic aparatuse with 3-wings circle in the middle, just underneath the ext GPS antena hole:
this can be pulled out but I think it's ribbon (connection flat wires) is going via a cooling metal plate element and then to a PCB connector. Not sure about that as it's very delicate in there.
as for the back camera, I can't recall
here is a close up:

Hi Reuvenm, thanks for the really quick reply. Yeah i wanna get them removed altogether. So I took a leap of faith and viola! I had gotten the Back camera (3M pixel cam) out!
Followed the steps as you had illustrated and yes the 3M pixel camera was attached using some kind of L-shape flat metallic ribbon cable that ends up w a PCB connector. Wasn't difficult to remove though. I'll try to disassemble the Front camera tomorrow when i've got the time cos got to catch up on some work now.
A really big THANK YOU to Reuvenm for posting this amazing guide and i'll get some shots of the Front Cam removal and post them back here again.

Outstanding work man
You really got the guts gotta say
Elegantly done and explained!! I copied this guide with pics for future reference
This opens the door for a whole new era I guess, right guys!?

glass deformation
Hello gusy
Can you give me a suggestion ?
One day i noticed this "stain" on my screen when the device is off.
At first i thought it was liquid traped insinde the lcd (as seen on other phones) but it turned out not to be.
This stain is visible only in bright neon light (at my workplace), and it moves or dissapears almost completly when i press the screen.
Outside, or in normal light the sceen has no problem.
I think that the top glass part of the screen is to big and it bends a little causing this.
Can i remove the top layer of glass, cutt let's say a half of milimiter from the side, and stick it back on ? or is there someting holding it under ?
I noticed that in a corner i could peal it off, but i don;t want to take any chances to breack something.
thanks in advance

Replaceing the front keypad HELP

Hi all
My D pad has come off and I am just about to get a new keypad
for the front of the phone.
I have read the manual but its not very detailed about the keypad.
I have been told I can lift the keypad up at the front and pull it off
then the one I get will be sticky backed and I just have to put it back on
ion the right place but I am not sure about this.
so any help would be great
thanks for your time

Don't mess around with the keyboard assembly on the Vox. Mostly you make things worse. The keyboard consist of 3 layers and all are glued on the other only. So if one thing gets off, just re-glue it back. The Layers are:
1.) bottom: semi-flexible PBA, glued to the housing - contains also the sealed pushpads for the keys
2.) middle: rubber middle layer, glued to the PBA on dedicated edges to leave the room for the keys to press
3.) keys: one-by-one glued ot the rubber layer, so normally 2+3 is just one layer and it cannot easily be separated. If a key falls off, take a little super-glue and put it back where it should be.

Thanks for your answer
but I lost the D pad keys when they come off,
I have now got the new keypad and it looks like peel off the back paper
then it will stick to the board that plugs into the mother board.
but I am not trying to do it yet, I am waiting on HTC to email me back.

Well, than you have to remove the old Keypad+rubber layer. This is a lilttle destructive though as the sticky glue will not allow you to easily peel it off. As you see with the new keypad, there are little "noses" at several places (top: left + right & at the D-Pad and bottom: left + right). To peel it off, start at the side in the middle (no "noses" there) and work through the rest of the pad. After removal, clean the PBA carefully (eg. lighter-fuel) so that no glue remains and it is dry. This is very hard - I am not sure if you can remove the texture part of the glue on the PBA at all, I could not.
For re-assembly the tricky part is to get the pad flat and aligned to all edges BEFORE it fully sticks to the PBA. If it is not aligned it looks horrible, if it is not flat, you may end up with a hump in the middle - also horrible.
I think you have to start at top, insert noses first and when the top is aligned and fixed work the rest down, but take care about the bottom noses. You need to fit them in first by bending the pad up in the middle, inserting the noses (but not have it glued there), making it flat again (still not sticky) and then roll it downwards to fully stick. If the glue is very stick (which I hope) you have only one try. You may want to experiment with the removed one first. So have fun doing it...
BTW: Where die you buy it and how much you paid?

Thanks mate for the nfo.
I know a guy who has a dead vox so I will go and see if I can have it
and try what you said. Other then that I will have to pay a shop to do it.

[Discussion/Guide-in-the-making] Housing Replacement

EDIT 2011 08 13: Skip to the post where I'm working on a guide.
Also:
EDIT 2011 08 13: I have since ordered a Black Battery Cover to match it. However, I still can't find a Black "8.0 Xenon" label and a Black little rubber from the top left.
====
Background info:
Ok, so my XT720 is really beat up right now, and I'm looking into replacing the whole housing of my phone.
I bought these:
Front and back housing
Battery cover
(Yes, so the back housing is black and the battery cover is blue, I plan on vinyl dying it)
But I haven't been able to find any guide on disassembly and assembly...
Has anyone tried?

Hmm, you may run into some issues, that is for the xt701 which as far as I know has no HDMI out.
So the housing probably will not either

cdstewart said:
Hmm, you may run into some issues, that is for the xt701 which as far as I know has no HDMI out.
So the housing probably will not either
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I checked just now, it actually does have the HDMI out port.

The XT701 case will not fit the XT720. I read somewhere else, someone ordered this and tried. Will not fit. No HDMI port on the 701 and the USB port is on the other side up by the power button.
Why not use the correct case? http://cnn.cn/shop/motorola-milestone-xt720-housing-p-10055.html

dude,
the phone is made of really strong casing. I'm wondering how did u do it to be beaten up.
I think no one has gone thus far till taking the phone apart. Just my two cents here, beware that the body has 6 screws, 2 totally hidden and 2 partially hidden.
the top two screws are hidden under the rubber bud beside the camera lens and under "8.0 Xenon" label.
the middle row of 2 screws are visible just above the battery.
the bottom row of screws are partially hidden underneath the loud-speaker grills. The grill might be damage in the process of removing these screws. but since you're replacing the whole housing, it won't be a problem for you.

Brian5475E said:
The XT701 case will not fit the XT720. I read somewhere else, someone ordered this and tried. Will not fit. No HDMI port on the 701 and the USB port is on the other side up by the power button.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you link me to that source?
Because the housing I got has an HDMI port on the other side of the power button, and the USB port is on the left side of the phone, just like my current housing.
spiderx_mm said:
the phone is made of really strong casing. I'm wondering how did u do it to be beaten up.
=snip=
The grill might be damage in the process of removing these screws. but since you're replacing the whole housing, it won't be a problem for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Firstly, thanks for the heads up about the screw locations!
I carry my phone in my keys pocket, and it banged up the chrome bezel a lot... After I swap it I'll put it in another pocket.
The grill actually doesn't come with the replacement housing, so thanks for the warning about potentially damaging it!

Ok so I finally decided to try putting on that XT701 casing on my XT720.
==== Step 1
I used a T5 screwdriver. And as explained, there's 6 screws:
- 2 of them are openly accessible after you take off the battery cover.
- 2 of them are under the speaker grill - simply run your fingers under it to pry it out
- 2 of them are at the top:
1 under the "8.0 Xenon" label - use a push pin and run it along the edge to pry it open
1 under the top left tiny rubber cover - again, use a push pin, dig into it and pry it out
==== Step 2
Run your fingers along the egde of the blue plastic (where the blue and silver meet) and dig your fingers in to unhook the mechanism. The blue back cover should come right off after you run your fingers around the contour 1-3 times.
==== Step 3
Here's where I'm stuck. I'm trying to separate the electronics from the front silver part. There's some screws that I believe attach the screen to the front cover. But those screws are even smaller and my T5 did not work on them. I just ordered a set of T4 and T3 screwdrivers from China. So I'll get back to this in maybe 3-4 weeks.

Wow, black looks sexy. Post some pictures when youre done.

You got as far as I did
Hahutzy said:
Ok so I finally decided to try putting on that XT701 casing on my XT720.
==== Step 1
I used a T5 screwdriver. And as explained, there's 6 screws:
- 2 of them are openly accessible after you take off the battery cover.
- 2 of them are under the speaker grill - simply run your fingers under it to pry it out
- 2 of them are at the top:
1 under the "8.0 Xenon" label - use a push pin and run it along the edge to pry it open
1 under the top left tiny rubber cover - again, use a push pin, dig into it and pry it out
==== Step 2
Run your fingers along the egde of the blue plastic (where the blue and silver meet) and dig your fingers in to unhook the mechanism. The blue back cover should come right off after you run your fingers around the contour 1-3 times.
==== Step 3
Here's where I'm stuck. I'm trying to separate the electronics from the front silver part. There's some screws that I believe attach the screen to the front cover. But those screws are even smaller and my T5 did not work on them. I just ordered a set of T4 and T3 screwdrivers from China. So I'll get back to this in maybe 3-4 weeks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dude, you got as far as I did... I got the smaller torx bits & started my attempt to separte the electronics from the face plate... found my fingers were too large to manipulate & figured I'd do more harm than good... I still have the replacement housing... phunny thing, a few months after giving up, my 3g radio stopped working.. Cinci Bell tech couldn't fix (go figure!)... so I ended up buying the phone insurance for 6 bucks a month & got a free replacement.... Housing fixed! Bouyaaah!... If anyone wants the housing I have, you pay shipping & I'll send it to you... it is missing the USB door (i used it on my old XT720). Sorry I couldn't be more helpful.

Replacing screen.

I'm trying to replace the screen on my Arrive. But I can't figure out how to get the screen out. It looks like I can pop out the back behind it, but I can't figure out how it disassembles. is there a tutorial out there or something?

To replace the *glass*, which I'm assuming is what you mean (not the LCD - they're separate in this phone, for once!)
Follow the "replace HTC 7 Pro memory card" instructions to remove the first back piece. Next, remove the screws in the next plastic back and remove it as well (it'll be easier to remove as it's just screws and contacts - no clips or wires). At this point you should see an exposed PCB, and your phone's hinge (a set of springs).
Undo the 4 screws holding the hinges on, along with the two screws holding the "pop-up" bezel (there are access holes for them - it'll make sense once you get there).
Slide the hinges across the back of the display (like you were opening the phone, but pull by the hinges! otherwise you'll break the display cable) and you'll see two screws which hold covers onto the back of the display panel. Undo the one for the bottom panel and pry the plastic bottom panel off from the back to gain access to the touchscreen connector.
Next, take a heat gun to your display and pry the glass off - I hope your glass is shattered and that's why you're replacing it because otherwise this is hugely difficult - the glass is glued on and glued on tight!
You'll see the glass is attached via flex cable thru the plastic to a connector inside the back - this is why you had to take your whole phone apart! Carefully lift the tape covering the connector, flip up the connector, and remove the old touchscreen ribbon cable and chip. Thread the new one through and reverse steps to install.
I just used the remainder of the old glue to stick my new display on, by setting it under some heavy books overnight. Your mileage will probably vary - I'm not too picky and a slightly loose/mushy screen beats a shattered one for me so I just left it at that.
Otherwise you'll probably have to figure out how to glue the display glass back on properly.

http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/htc-arrive-7-pro/144512-htc-arrive-disassembly.html
Sent from my PG41200 using XDA Premium App

Generally, I would look for one of the teardowns that have become popular for when devices are first released.....sort of the one-upping of the unboxing video.

I had trouble finding a decent disassembly - the "big" disassembly sites (ifixit etc.) seem to have ignored the Arrive and all I found on YouTube was horrid quality and mostly worthless.
That ppcgeeks thread is definitely the best resource for pics - I found that peeling the metal tape and unplugging the entire display/front piece was unnecessary by exercising some care to not break the ribbons, and I found that I needed to go a step further and remove the bottom (behind the buttons) plastic cover from the display piece to access the touch digitizer flex cable (which was behind some horribly obnoxious yellow tape).

Replace Screen under digitizer
Does anyone have a walk through on how to change the actual screen under the digitizer? I took the whole phone apart, but everything on the screen half of the phone seems to be glued.
I figured i would look around before just prying it open.
Any help is greatly appreciated.

Someone please post pics about last steps?
I was able to take hinges out of way but I am not sure if I need to peel off the metalic film. Hence I still have my top cover with glass attached with the back of the phone.
After I reach I have no idea what to do and now putting together my phone without changing broken glass!

[Q] Opening lower case plastic flap

Morning!
Has anyone yet taken a closer look at the lower plastic flap of the case? The upper one with the power key opens readily to accept the SIM Card, but there also is a gap of about the same size on the lower part of the phone, just below the beatsaudio logo. This one has no opening to pry open with the fingernail, but i could nudge and move it a little by ever so gently prying with a tiny flathead screwdriver. There also is a small hole pointing within this flap on the very bottom of the phone.
Q: What is the hole? Drainage hole in case the phone gets a soaking bath? Hardreset microswitch? Or is it maybe a releaser that unhooks the flap and allows for easy removal (similar to the holes beneath DVD-Drive trays to remove a disk if the Drive is broken)?
I am trying to figure this out as of now, but for the life of my I cannot find a slim enough needle to get into the hole. Guess I will need to grind / file something down to see if something happens when inserting it.
Has anyone investigated this yet? Anything interesting beyond or is it just a second flap with additional antennas and no access to interesting bits and pieces?

Wonder is it where the battery placed? Perhaps there are website trying to disassemble One S to see is it easy to replace the internal battery.

If you are referring to the tiny hole at the bottom of the phone, that hole is the mic. Wouldn't advice on putting anything in there

lol its the microphone. in almost all devices it is locates there

Funniest sunday topic
You made me laugh... I remember first iphone users were talking about " OMG one of two speakers under the phone doesnt work OMG OMG "...And someone told them " It is mic ! " LOL....

psych0t1c said:
Morning!
Has anyone yet taken a closer look at the lower plastic flap of the case? The upper one with the power key opens readily to accept the SIM Card, but there also is a gap of about the same size on the lower part of the phone, just below the beatsaudio logo. This one has no opening to pry open with the fingernail, but i could nudge and move it a little by ever so gently prying with a tiny flathead screwdriver. There also is a small hole pointing within this flap on the very bottom of the phone.
Q: What is the hole? Drainage hole in case the phone gets a soaking bath? Hardreset microswitch? Or is it maybe a releaser that unhooks the flap and allows for easy removal (similar to the holes beneath DVD-Drive trays to remove a disk if the Drive is broken)?
I am trying to figure this out as of now, but for the life of my I cannot find a slim enough needle to get into the hole. Guess I will need to grind / file something down to see if something happens when inserting it.
Has anyone investigated this yet? Anything interesting beyond or is it just a second flap with additional antennas and no access to interesting bits and pieces?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't yet have the HOS. But I can tell you that the little hole in the bottom of the HOS is the phone mic...
And be aware that doing what you intend to do will eventually void your warranty... but go right ahead... it's not my money if you screw things up...

I have taken apart enough devices to know what I am doing (except for the stupidity of not considering the mic hole because they have becme so invisible these days that its easy to just forget about them heh...).
I changed broken digitizers on DHD and did a complete disassembly / reassembly of a Desire Z that took an Soda bath and both devices work to this day. I am just hell of curios regarding the PCB layout of the One S, mainly for the storage question (soldered or aftermarket slotted microsd mounted under the hood)
And FYI, under the lower flap is just another boring antenna and another plastic cover, no more screws like behind the top flap. Do't have the right tools here to go any further without actually risking damage, but after easter I will have a closer look at it in the company. Unless iFixit comes out with a disassembly tutorial faster than that hehe.
Warranty? Well warranty. I've had a few devices now from HTC and none ever had to go to service. And with the knowledge of how to fix it comes the option of just paying for the OEM spare part from some retailer later on and fixing it yourself in 1 day instead of sending your phone in and waiting on it to come back for 1 week or 10 days.
But thanks for the hint, I might have actually forgotten about that.