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T-Mobile SDA White Screen of Death Revisited

Sorry to start up a SAD SDA topic but it has to be done...
I thought I'd be smart and pick up a broken screen "tornado" SDA from Ebay like some of us have already done. Got it, hooked up to usb cables and my activesync 4.5 picked it right up, allowing me to explore the file system and even browse some naughty pics (oops) that the previous owners had left on there. Ok, seemed to work, could make a phone call with my sim card etc...even without being able to see past the cracked LCD screen.
Next step was to buy a replacement screen, for which I am sure you all have seen the "2125 screen" that is the exact model as a Tmobile LCD. I replaced this and prayed for the best.
The best didn't happen. I got a nasty all white screen and got upset....then recheced the ribbon cable connections and they were appropriately installed.
Same thing over and over. WTF?
I have SOTI pocket controller professional. For those who don't know what this is, it allows remote viewing of the little screen on your PPC phone or Smartphone on your Desktop or Laptop computer's monitor.
It is great for the purpose of checking functionality of a "broken LCD" phone. Everything worked fine on the virtual screen! I even UNLOCKED and SUPER CIDed the darn thing and have reflashed original OS from TMO just to be sure.
WHY ON GOD's green earth can I not get a working display on this thing UNLESS of course, I got ripped off by the ebay vendor. (who never sent me a replacement envelope as promised to swap out and send this one back)
Just venting but seriously, DOES anyone have a solution.
It is not a dead phone, bricked, wrong operating system, or any of the other posited theories here. The screen is just inexplicably white and properly connected. HELP.
Thanks.
I am an MDA owner and just dabble in this SDA thing.
I would love this nice little phone to work..if not, I have a brand new housing, a possibly working screeen (with another phone) and lots of parts for someone..hint hint.

gfourner_austintxmda said:
Sorry to start up a SAD SDA topic but it has to be done...
I thought I'd be smart and pick up a broken screen "tornado" SDA from Ebay like some of us have already done. Got it, hooked up to usb cables and my activesync 4.5 picked it right up, allowing me to explore the file system and even browse some naughty pics (oops) that the previous owners had left on there. Ok, seemed to work, could make a phone call with my sim card etc...even without being able to see past the cracked LCD screen.
Next step was to buy a replacement screen, for which I am sure you all have seen the "2125 screen" that is the exact model as a Tmobile LCD. I replaced this and prayed for the best.
The best didn't happen. I got a nasty all white screen and got upset....then recheced the ribbon cable connections and they were appropriately installed.
Same thing over and over. WTF?
I have SOTI pocket controller professional. For those who don't know what this is, it allows remote viewing of the little screen on your PPC phone or Smartphone on your Desktop or Laptop computer's monitor.
It is great for the purpose of checking functionality of a "broken LCD" phone. Everything worked fine on the virtual screen! I even UNLOCKED and SUPER CIDed the darn thing and have reflashed original OS from TMO just to be sure.
WHY ON GOD's green earth can I not get a working display on this thing UNLESS of course, I got ripped off by the ebay vendor. (who never sent me a replacement envelope as promised to swap out and send this one back)
Just venting but seriously, DOES anyone have a solution.
It is not a dead phone, bricked, wrong operating system, or any of the other posited theories here. The screen is just inexplicably white and properly connected. HELP.
Thanks.
I am an MDA owner and just dabble in this SDA thing.
I would love this nice little phone to work..if not, I have a brand new housing, a possibly working screeen (with another phone) and lots of parts for someone..hint hint.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey mate, don't loose your faith!!! Redo the connection. The same thing happend to me, and I swore I had pluged that flat connector correctly into the socket and I didn't. Wiggle it, you can't enter it straight in, it has to slide in on an angle. Look at the one you removed. Look at the mark left by the "YELLOW TAPE" that holds the ribbon inside the slot. It will tell you how far in it has to go. Also, there are 2 other contacts that have to be in the propper position. One makes contact between the back plate of the LCD and a mesh looking spot where it sits. It has to sit in place so you have the "ground" on the LCD. If you need, I can put apart my phone and take a close picture and post it for you so you can see what Im talking about. But I'm pretty sure that your problem is just the ribbon not being in all the way. There are 2 sets of connections inside the socket. If the ribbon isn't all the way in, only the 1rst set will make contact, LCD will light up, but, no image. Good Luck and I do hope its as I say. Please let me know here or on PM if you need some pictures.

White Screen of Death Advice
markanthonypr said:
Hey mate, don't loose your faith!!! Redo the connection. The same thing happend to me, and I swore I had pluged that flat connector correctly into the socket and I didn't. Wiggle it, you can't enter it straight in, it has to slide in on an angle. Look at the one you removed. Look at the mark left by the "YELLOW TAPE" that holds the ribbon inside the slot. It will tell you how far in it has to go. Also, there are 2 other contacts that have to be in the propper position. One makes contact between the back plate of the LCD and a mesh looking spot where it sits. It has to sit in place so you have the "ground" on the LCD. If you need, I can put apart my phone and take a close picture and post it for you so you can see what Im talking about. But I'm pretty sure that your problem is just the ribbon not being in all the way. There are 2 sets of connections inside the socket. If the ribbon isn't all the way in, only the 1rst set will make contact, LCD will light up, but, no image. Good Luck and I do hope its as I say. Please let me know here or on PM if you need some pictures.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for this insightful and confident reply!
I am certain that it will be quite useful to a Tornado user with this problem in general. The screen I got must be defective (too late to return) because this advice above should be the perfect solution.
Didn't work for me though but It is very nice for someone to put the effort into posting in such a manner.
Kudos to a valuable member of our community!
I might fool around and pick up another used T-mobile SDA and pray that I can get one working properly. If this screen works on that one, I guess I bought an ebay dud (masked by the broken screen).
Yes, this phone is getting dated but I really wanted to experiment with new ROMS and push it as far as it could go.
G

gfourner_austintxmda said:
Thank you for this insightful and confident reply!
I am certain that it will be quite useful to a Tornado user with this problem in general. The screen I got must be defective (too late to return) because this advice above should be the perfect solution.
Didn't work for me though but It is very nice for someone to put the effort into posting in such a manner.
Kudos to a valuable member of our community!
I might fool around and pick up another used T-mobile SDA and pray that I can get one working properly. If this screen works on that one, I guess I bought an ebay dud (masked by the broken screen).
Yes, this phone is getting dated but I really wanted to experiment with new ROMS and push it as far as it could go.
G
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sad to hear it didn't work for you mate. Well if you get another one, you got that one for parts Gotta be optimistic!! lol

Chances that an LCD + digitizer will fix this?

A coworker I started working with a few months ago told me about the much-better Sensation he had before his MyTouch 3G. It seems that he still had it, but stopped using it "because the screen cracked." I correctly surmised that it was a simple and cheap to replace touch screen digitizer and described to him that it was "just the glass cover" and that it was "cheap to replace." I have done many such repairs on other phones and gadgets.
He then told me that he had continued to use it until the LCD went blank. There is no reason to think that the LCD inside suddenly cracked, but I can only assume that it also sustained some kind of damage and now also requires replacement. Knowing that the LCD isn't cracked, what are the chances that a replacement LCD + digitizer will restore the phone? I'm concerned because we've already purchased a kit for $65.

Nobody can tell you that off the internet. If we do, that would be pure guess, just as accurate as you would have guessed.

sawo said:
Nobody can tell you that off the internet. If we do, that would be pure guess, just as accurate as you would have guessed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, someone could have had the exact same problem and already tried it. I ran into people with the same problem already. I'm just looking for more because some, no doubt, have tried it and others may have an alternate explanation. Reasonable.

there is a good chance that will fix the problem. but since the LCD was working for a while until it blank out, it is possible the problem might be with the circuit board. only way to know is to try it out.

CZroe said:
Well, someone could have had the exact same problem and already tried it. I ran into people with the same problem already. I'm just looking for more because some, no doubt, have tried it and others may have an alternate explanation. Reasonable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The LCD could go blank for several reasons. Faulty LCD, loose cable, faulty board etc. etc. Even if someone had the same problem, the reason for it could be completely different, thefore this wont help you at all except for giving you hope. If this is what you need, then i would say "yes, the change of lcd & digitizer should fix the problem" but you never can be sure unless you try When you start the phone, do you hear the startup sound? This could at least indicate that the phone isnt completely faulty.

brabusamg55 said:
there is a good chance that will fix the problem. but since the LCD was working for a while until it blank out, it is possible the problem might be with the circuit board. only way to know is to try it out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The plus side is that you can't make it worse. So you've got nothing to lose by trying to repair it, other than the few bucks for the parts.

Well, I took it apart to re-seat all the cables and it's still blank. Reading online, I see that a lot of dropped Sensations/Pyramids develop a loose/broken SMT capacitor component near the headphone jack, but I'm not registered on any of the forums I see it discussed on and I can't see the pics. They describe a slightly different problem anyway (screen goes blank after standby). I needed sleep, so I put it all back together and I'll check that out when the parts get here. My hunch is that the LCD panel is fine and that I'll have an extra, assuming the capacitor problem is fixable. I've done some delicate soldering work before but I can't really say that I'm good at it! I didn't see any loose SMT components rattling around so I hope it didn't fall completely out somewhere.
Skipjacks said:
The plus side is that you can't make it worse. So you've got nothing to lose by trying to repair it, other than the few bucks for the parts.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks but it's almost $70 for the parts.

Works great! Well, it had the touchscreen sensitivity issue pretty badly but the T-Mobile OTA update fixed that. Transferring all the adhesive bits from one screen to another was down-right frustrating, but I pulled it off and I only see a single spec of dust inside. The dude will be thrilled. I broke the earhook on my Looxcie so I did not make a video but it was full of me tearing and ripping the things anyway and not a good example of how it should be done!
FWIW, there was no way to remove the old screen without denting up the backing plate and prying the heck out of it to free it from multiple adhesives and glues, so I would not have had two good LCDs after testing the replacement even if there was nothing wrong with the original. Good thing it was the LCD at fault! I didn't have to drill anything like the glass replacement video I watched instructed me to do. They didn't realize that the LCD removal allows the flex PCB through just fine. I forgot to thread it back through before seating the replacement LCD in the adhesives and tape left-overs but it flexed enough to allow it through without removing, which was quite a relief after seeing how the original fared after being removed.

[Q] Busted LCD got blue screen?

Okay strait to the point! I've got a Galaxy S2 with Android 4.0.3 bought it 4 months ago.
I accidently dropped my phone and cracked my screen on the bottom right corner. The crack went from bottom and a diagonal line up til the right side. I took a picture below.
imageshack(.)us/photo/my-images/685/20120326152703.jpg
This happened about 2 months ago. No problem since. I dropped the phone a few times afterward but it didnt seem to affect it lucky me.
Yesterday i tried watch some series over my WIFI and the phone got really hot around the camera area. The phone wasn't acting well either and then battery dropped from 75% til about 10% in 10 minutes without any video still showing up. (Never had that problem before). I stopped using it and instead put it on recharge for the next day. And today on the morning it was still okay. Went to school and back with the mobile still working. Put it on my table and checked my PC.
About 2 hours later while cheking up on my galaxy i discovered this.
imageshack(.)us/photo/my-images/198/20120326153629.jpg
I think that the LCD finally busted but i need to be sure if it has something to do with the previous crack and also if you could provide any info about what to do with it? Does my warrenty cover this? Or do i need extra insuranse?

I really need help right now LCD blackned spots
The screen has started to turn black from the core of the LCD leak. I now really think this is a broken LCD screen and not a software problem. If someone knows what i could do to fix this i really could need the help right now.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong,
But it sounds to me like you've busted the digitizer portion of your device. As to it being caused by the small crack on your screen.. i don't really know(can't really see if it's a crack in the glass or digi). At any rate, judging from the second picture you provided us it most definitely looks like you damaged the digitizer.
Most companies don't really cover damaged screens caused by users. However, being that your S2 is only 4 months old you could possibly pass it as "it did it by itself, I don't know what happen". Worth a shot I guess...
If all fails you could bring it to a electronics repair shop or you can repair it yourself via a digitizer part bought on ebay(probably pretty expensive being that its part of the screen)

If all else fails check ebay for a new screen.

cbr69er said:
If all else fails check ebay for a new screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Full-LCD-Di...ltDomain_0&hash=item27c3101beb#ht_1618wt_1185
If your thinking about taking the DIY road I found a screen for you.Quick note about buying something overseas on eBay: it usually takes awhile for the part to ship and even when you get it, the part may not be functional. But don't fret, eBay is usually pretty good about stuff like this so a working part will be guaranteed or your money back!
If you do decide to repair it yourself I would first research A LOT about your phone. Especially, the disassembly guide! Try to use only credible guides such as iFixit, repair universe etc.
This only applies to flex ribbon cables:
when replacing screens sometimes you have to plug it in a few times before you actually get it to respond(could be cause by oxidation of the pins) if thats the case, you could try to take a #2 pencil eraser and gently rub against the pins and remove the oxidation...
Good Luck!
Please let me know how it goes!

rhodium9 said:
As to it being caused by the small crack on your screen.. i don't really know(can't really see if it's a crack in the glass or digi).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it is really a crack and a very annoying one. It doesn't cause any problems with the touch-function, so I've been using it normally but for the screen, it has gone completely black but for the top right part still a little darkblue. I think I'm going with your first answer and try to check it in on warranty have had a bit luck with it past couple of times but im not sure about changing it myself. If having no luck with warranty then maybe ill try doing it myself.

at any rate weather you get warranty to change it or you fix it yourself maybe youll learn to be more careful and get a case maybe???

[Q] Screen Issue

Hey All, Trying to help a coworker of mine. She dropped her phone the other day, and her screen now looks like this.
(PIC is in attachment)
Would something like this be the result of a damaged screen, or a contact that came loose in the phone. And would you even bother fixing this?
Thanks!

If the Device is Un-Rooted, and she has T.E.P. I would suggest taking it in to Sprint. It's the easiest way. That does look like a Hardware issue. It could be any of several things. I suppose you've already tried a Reboot ? If that didn't resolve it, and it's Un-Rooted take it into Sprint.

Sadly, no TEP.
Yeah, it's been rebooted many times. I took it apart even, to make sure all the connections looked good. Still got this issue.

You could try and find a cheap screen for it (amazon) and replace it
sent from a nuclear explosion

swolltitan said:
Sadly, no TEP.
Yeah, it's been rebooted many times. I took it apart even, to make sure all the connections looked good. Still got this issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
UGH . No T.E.P is not what you wanna hear. Unless your willing to take it all the way apart and replace the Digitizer assembly. The reason I say assembly, and not just the Screen is because of the way the sceen appears to be acting. It will be a safer bet to replace it as an assembly instead of just the LCD Screen. It will also be slightly easier. It is not an entirely difficult job. You just have to be very, very careful, and take your time. Wear latex Rubber Gloves, and work in as clean an environment as you can get. I like to work late at night when no one is awake. If you do decide to do it there are Videos I can link you to, or you can Google them. Your other option is to take it to a Cell Phone repair shop. Usually for a reputable place your looking at between $60 - $100 for a LCD / Digitizer replacement.

digitizer or LCD screen.

So my photon Q is rather old. Shocking I'm sure. Recently the screen has started behaving very oddly. Flickers, sensitivity is weird, blacks out etc..
I thought perhaps flex ribbon due to keyboard sliding and closing but now I think may be digitizer or the lcd. I"m leaning towards digitizer becasue when it does work it looks perfectly clear. But there will be the one time i push the power to check if I have anything and nothing happens. Reset it and can see the screen wants to do something but can't decide what. Reset over and over and eventually boots up fine.
Digitizer?
Thanks for any info.

Anybody able to chime in

Flickering screen can't have anything to do with the digitizer. The digitizer is just there for input.
It could be that the connector is a bit loose on the mainboard. The way the Photon is designed I wouldn't think it's the ribbon. I could be, but very unlikely. Anyway it's worth looking into the connectors and just to be sure the ribbon as well. But that would take a full dismantle. The connector is just 5 minutes work.
Next time try booting into recovery. If that goes well (and regular boot not) i'm pretty sure it's a hardware problem (GPU).

Die Bruine said:
Flickering screen can't have anything to do with the digitizer. The digitizer is just there for input.
It could be that the connector is a bit loose on the mainboard. The way the Photon is designed I wouldn't think it's the ribbon. I could be, but very unlikely. Anyway it's worth looking into the connectors and just to be sure the ribbon as well. But that would take a full dismantle. The connector is just 5 minutes work.
Next time try booting into recovery. If that goes well (and regular boot not) i'm pretty sure it's a hardware problem (GPU).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When boot in any mode Ican't see anything.. A fading circle of grey lines runs vertically down the front. Sometimes after many reboots it fixes itself though. Good to know not digitizer. So take apart and check ribbon and maybe replace LCD likely?

I wonder if it is possible to simply replace the LCD if it's defective or if you have to replace the whole LCD-digitizer-speaker-etc set (which is expensive).

Loader009 said:
I wonder if it is possible to simply replace the LCD if it's defective or if you have to replace the whole LCD-digitizer-speaker-etc set (which is expensive).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I ordered a replacement lcd screen so will find out. I also ordered the digitizer and flex cable.

So i'm thinking it may be more hardware involved than screen inolved. When it does work everything is usable and it works fine. This is only about 10% of the time at this point. Otherwise it boots up to show some vertical lines traveling down the middle of the screen but only in a circle in the middle of the screen that fades as it gets close to the edges. I'll try taking apart tomorrow night to see if ribbon and what not looks ok. But so far i've invested about $70 into parts and i'm thinkin about just snagging an S5 for $100. I will miss the keyboard though although I can hope that like the s3 and s4, the s5 will get a keyboard attachment. Thoughts?

If I remember correctly the LCD comes with the ribbon and camera connected. The digitizer is connected via a ribbon to a board in the top of the front panel. You could try to disable the pin. When the phone doesn't seem to work, reboot and try calling yourself. If it rings, there's something wrong with the screen and not the phone.
If there was something seriously wrong with the phone, it wouldn't boot. But that's just me guessing/assuming.
My daughter's Photon has had a digitzer replacement twice. And it looks like it's been used to play football. But that one still rocks. No quirks or any strange behavior for that matter.
What I'm trying to say is that the Photon is a decent piece of hardware. A family of four, we all have a Photon. Three of which have had their digitizer replaced and one an LCD (scratched it when replacing digitizer).
I swapped my Razr HD for an Z2. It was time for a new corporate phone. So that, and the camera, is the reason why I went for a Z2. My options were 930/G3/S5/Z2. S5 is not my cup of tea. The G3 has no ruggedness whatsoever. The 930, apart from WP maybe I should have went for it.
So it came down to the Z2. To be honest I'm looking to trade it when the Z3 compact arrives. We'll see.
@Loader009
Digitizer is a part, board for speaker is a part, the speaker itself is a part (adhesive, watch out, btw 100% the same as Droid4), and the LCD is a part on it's own.

Going to open up my phone tonight after work. I was bored and was just playing with the keyboard sliding it open and closed a bunch and now the screen looks perfectly clear.. although sometimes it will still black out and I have to reboot it a few times to get it back. I feel its more a connection inside like you stated earlier. I love my Photon and really don't want to have to get a non slider phone. New phone's are so friggin huge lol.

The good thing is, the PQ has gotten pretty cheap, so you might want to get a used one at ebay if the part to replace is too expensive.

flickering screen (backlight) is not lcd problem.
for 70% is it problem on mainboard - backlight ic. This problem is caused by using unoriginal charger.
and 30% flex problem

I had my screen become un-responsive etc, it was due to a crack in the ribbon. Swapped it out & all ok.
Easier to swap the whole screen assy than to change the ribbon, but depends on what spares you have/can get.
You'd need to have a good look at the ribbon for any damage.
Sent from my SIM-modded Photon Q