I've got a transformer, and the screen doesn't appear to be working. My boyfriend bought it the first day it came out, dropped it, was able to play with it a bit. The battery died and he set it to charge, and after that the screen wouldn't work. The screen itself is fine, it just isn't displaying anything (He can't take it back for a warranty repair, because he threw out the receipt, that's why he threw it to me to look at).
When you plug it into a computer, the computer recognizes it and you can browse the files on it. When you use the hdmi cable to plug it into the tv you can see the screen of the tablet on the tv and you can use it, so it's not anything wrong with inside workings of the tablet itself. I took it apart and everything looked alright on the inside to me, nothing rattling around, and all the connections appeared to be connected tightly. I was able to see the slide to unlock symbol on the screen by shining a flash light directly on it while the unit was on, but it was really faint and hard to see.
Does anyone know what the problem could be? In a normal laptop I would say it's the inverter, but I'm not really sure if tablets use technology like that. I'm a bit at a loss here for what the problem could be and how to fix it.
Pretty close i would say its the digitizer though you will need to rma it to get it fixed
Screens break in many different ways, just because there is no crack or leaking LCD look to it doesn't mean its fine
I would place my bets on the screen being damaged, although the board could have cracked or a solder joint could have come lose or a tiny tear in the ribbon cable
Screen is the most fragile though
I had the same problem, and after opening the TF everything looked fine too. It was not. What I did was to unplug all the cables and plug them all again. Problem solved.
Probably the screen cable got a little loose after the drop.
Good luck.
Related
ok i've really buggered it up this time, my screen's been pissing me off because it's still ****ed (slight drop, people suggested it might be a loose connector) so i got the t6 screw driver and opened it up and decided that i could probably live with a slightly buggered screen as opposed to anything going wrong.
Decided to give it another go today and re did the connectos and all. got to restart it and it seems the screen's off and the backlight's on or the screen's white. help?
No video signal I think, check the flat connecter that comes from the screen to the motherboard, this must be pushed in and clipped firmly.
checked that, it's all fine there, what's on the other end of the cable? has it got another connector in the screen should i check that? how do i take out the motherboard?
Well, this isn't the best place to ask, but I'm not sure where else to do so. Somehow I managed to drop my phone (onto a carpeted floor from not quite a full standing height, not concrete or anything) and it landed right on the bottom I think. I can't see any signs of damage anywhere at all -- I even pulled out the screws and looked at the PCB itself and I just can't see anything obvious at all. Unfortunately, something obviously is wrong all the same. It simply will not charge at all most of the time, though seemingly randomly on a whim when I connect it sometimes it will. I'm afraid even to touch it once it finally does as just moving the cable around seems to be enough to make it stop sometimes (whereas at some other times I can move it around a lot and everything and it still stays connected.) Last night it decided not to even charge even though the LED indicator and the icon showed that it was connected. What's more, I can no longer use the USB OTG capability to plug in USB drives, other devices, and etc (which I used for diagnostics, repairs, and etc of other things on the go.) I have multiple batteries and external chargers, so this isn't completely fatal but it means:
A. I can't keep it from running the batteries down in the first place (which means larger wear and tear on the batteries long-term since they are discharged further before charging.)
B. Since it's like this it means generally speaking it's not as ready for a fully day of use since it's starting the day with less than 100% charge before I even leave for work every time now.
C. I really did use the USB OTG feature and have already been missing it. It's not as fatal as devices like my Nexus 7 (since that lacks a MicroSDHC card reader to supplement its internal storage whereas this has one) but very annoying at least.
D. I really really miss being able to use a phone dock! I was docking it in my car to keep it at least semi-charged and to output a line output to my car stereo system. It's kind of a pain having to change the volume back and forth between headphones and line output (since a line output really needs the full volume) and obviously it uses more power while playing than just sitting quietly in a pocket anyway. I also liked the way in the dock it wouldn't completely shut off the screen, just go into a really low power mode where it had a faded clock (might be a CM10.1 feature, but nice wherever it came from) and I could just touch it to get back to the player controls.
At first I thought it was just loose, so I tried putting a very thin piece of plastic in the top part of the connector so the connection is extremely tight which fooled me at first by pretending to work really well for a while, but then after a while it just did the same stuff all over again (so it was just doing that thing where it works fine for a little while even when I move the cord around.) I just can't see what could possibly be the problem though because if there is any damage anywhere I'm just not seeing it. I really don't see how the connector could have been damaged anyway since it more or less landed straight on the middle of the bottom (and that ring that goes around the side should have absorbed the shock) but with no cracks on the PCB or anything that I can at all see I can't imagine what else it might be -- plus a few times when it decided to charge it was just sitting flat not being touched and suddenly started working randomly. It really is like it just works on a whim here...
So I'm wondering: just how screwed am I here? I don't have any sort of drop insurance -- I've never dropped a phone in a way that damaged it before -- and I don't think there's any way I could afford the ridiculous amounts they'd surely want for a repair (not to mention that for a while I'd have no phone at all if I did that...) I thought about changing out the connector myself (I see one on Amazon for $8 which is ridiculous, but obviously it has to be the exact same connector) but I'm not terribly confident about desoldering and resoldering something with such small connectors as it is and that one is hard to get to anyway. Besides which, I'm not convinced it is the connector even if I can't see what else it could possibly be. What could possibly be causing it to be quite so random about this? Is there any way at all I can fix this myself, or is this something where the only way of ever getting it fixed would be to take it in for repair at extreme cost (and no phone for a while too)? Anyone have any idea what it might cost for such a repair?
Well I'm sure you noticed the metal charging usb port that is connected to the circuit board.
It sounds to me that it may have broke free a little bit and not making a solid connection.
First thing I would do is try some one else's charger and see if it works ( Just in case)
Then If that failed I would take apart the phone and inspect the connector.
Ten screws on the back plastic and one little black one on the circuit board.
Next you pop off the ribbon connectors and finally pop off the wire connector that runs along the right side of your phone when laying face down,
Double check all connectors and remove circuit board carefully.
Now you will be free to inspect connector
For all you know. Pushing it down with some pressure on the thumb may give you the connection you need again and you should be good to go.
But you really need to see what's broken before you go to fix it.
Good luck. Pm me if you need further help
Well, like I said, I opened it up and I just can't find any signs of damage to the connector or the board. Also, if you look at the SGS3, the connector is actually inside the casing somewhat, so really I don't see how it could have bee damaged anyway -- I'm just not sure what else it could be since, as I said, I also couldn't find any cracks in the PCB or anything.
Oh, and I've used four different chargers and at least three different cables. One charger and cable is the OEM set for the SGS3 and another is the OEM set for the Nexus 7 (which is probably a decent amount more more power hungry.)
Nazo said:
Well, this isn't the best place to ask, but I'm not sure where else to do so. Somehow I managed to drop my phone (onto a carpeted floor from not quite a full standing height, not concrete or anything) and it landed right on the bottom I think. I can't see any signs of damage anywhere at all -- I even pulled out the screws and looked at the PCB itself and I just can't see anything obvious at all. Unfortunately, something obviously is wrong all the same. It simply will not charge at all most of the time, though seemingly randomly on a whim when I connect it sometimes it will. I'm afraid even to touch it once it finally does as just moving the cable around seems to be enough to make it stop sometimes (whereas at some other times I can move it around a lot and everything and it still stays connected.) Last night it decided not to even charge even though the LED indicator and the icon showed that it was connected. What's more, I can no longer use the USB OTG capability to plug in USB drives, other devices, and etc (which I used for diagnostics, repairs, and etc of other things on the go.) I have multiple batteries and external chargers, so this isn't completely fatal but it means:
A. I can't keep it from running the batteries down in the first place (which means larger wear and tear on the batteries long-term since they are discharged further before charging.)
B. Since it's like this it means generally speaking it's not as ready for a fully day of use since it's starting the day with less than 100% charge before I even leave for work every time now.
C. I really did use the USB OTG feature and have already been missing it. It's not as fatal as devices like my Nexus 7 (since that lacks a MicroSDHC card reader to supplement its internal storage whereas this has one) but very annoying at least.
D. I really really miss being able to use a phone dock! I was docking it in my car to keep it at least semi-charged and to output a line output to my car stereo system. It's kind of a pain having to change the volume back and forth between headphones and line output (since a line output really needs the full volume) and obviously it uses more power while playing than just sitting quietly in a pocket anyway. I also liked the way in the dock it wouldn't completely shut off the screen, just go into a really low power mode where it had a faded clock (might be a CM10.1 feature, but nice wherever it came from) and I could just touch it to get back to the player controls.
At first I thought it was just loose, so I tried putting a very thin piece of plastic in the top part of the connector so the connection is extremely tight which fooled me at first by pretending to work really well for a while, but then after a while it just did the same stuff all over again (so it was just doing that thing where it works fine for a little while even when I move the cord around.) I just can't see what could possibly be the problem though because if there is any damage anywhere I'm just not seeing it. I really don't see how the connector could have been damaged anyway since it more or less landed straight on the middle of the bottom (and that ring that goes around the side should have absorbed the shock) but with no cracks on the PCB or anything that I can at all see I can't imagine what else it might be -- plus a few times when it decided to charge it was just sitting flat not being touched and suddenly started working randomly. It really is like it just works on a whim here...
So I'm wondering: just how screwed am I here? I don't have any sort of drop insurance -- I've never dropped a phone in a way that damaged it before -- and I don't think there's any way I could afford the ridiculous amounts they'd surely want for a repair (not to mention that for a while I'd have no phone at all if I did that...) I thought about changing out the connector myself (I see one on Amazon for $8 which is ridiculous, but obviously it has to be the exact same connector) but I'm not terribly confident about desoldering and resoldering something with such small connectors as it is and that one is hard to get to anyway. Besides which, I'm not convinced it is the connector even if I can't see what else it could possibly be. What could possibly be causing it to be quite so random about this? Is there any way at all I can fix this myself, or is this something where the only way of ever getting it fixed would be to take it in for repair at extreme cost (and no phone for a while too)? Anyone have any idea what it might cost for such a repair?
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You might as well try it yourself THEN go somewhere if it doesn't work out. I wouldn't think if things go horribly wrong that you'd do damage that isn't reversible, and if there was damage it would likely be just to that $8 piece.
You sound like a knowledgeable guy though, so I'd give it a shot.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app
The thing is, I don't really want to spend the $8 (I'm getting pretty broke) and have to try to desolder then resolder those tiny contacts on a board I'm not even entirely sure how to safely get out possibly messing something else up along the way when I'm not convinced it is the connector (and obviously if I messed something else up along the way I could make things a lot worse -- for instance, breaking it entirely...) Things that should make it work if it were (jiggling and shaking it for instance) don't seem to and then some things that should work don't (for example, last night I disconnected the phone from one charger and connected it to another while it was at least pretending to work and it stopped even though the connector part didn't get moved at all.)
That's my real concern in the end. If it's not the connector, what is it? I'm not 100% confident about trying to replace it myself as it is, but if it's not that the time, money, and effort would be wasted...
Well that's that. The problem, as I feared, was more fundamental (which is part of what I was asking here.) I plugged in something last night and it just shut off. I checked all over and couldn't find shorts or anything to explain it. Even after leaving the battery out overnight it still won't come on. Clearly the problem was much more fundamental than it seemed. Regardless, the question of the connector is moot now. EDIT: It might have been caused by the connector after all. It seems like there are pins at the back that either are loose or were knocked loose by the fall. I THINK one of them was touching another causing a short. Unfortunately, it's too late to discover that now as either way the damage is already done and it no longer works even after I got them straightened out.
So I broke my digitizer glass a few weeks ago. I ordered a new digitizer off ebay... I made sure I ordered the correct version (it was the "no model version" or whatever). Installed it which was really annoying because of all the nasty glue.
Now I can't get the tablet to turn on at all. Before at least the LCD was functional. The red charging light comes on when I plug in the charger but that's it.
Any way I accidentally broke a cable or something when I was taking it apart? I checked it all and everything seems fine... I really don't know what to do.
Assuming I can't get it fixed, think I could sell the broken tablet for anything?
Thanks!
zaner123 said:
So I broke my digitizer glass a few weeks ago. I ordered a new digitizer off ebay... I made sure I ordered the correct version (it was the "no model version" or whatever). Installed it which was really annoying because of all the nasty glue.
Now I can't get the tablet to turn on at all. Before at least the LCD was functional. The red charging light comes on when I plug in the charger but that's it.
Any way I accidentally broke a cable or something when I was taking it apart? I checked it all and everything seems fine... I really don't know what to do.
Assuming I can't get it fixed, think I could sell the broken tablet for anything?
Thanks!
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Of course you can resell the tab in its current state. Quickly or slowly depending on the asking price. But before doing that, you should check one more time. The fastest way is plug it to a TV monitor via the micro HDMI port. If it comes on, at least you know the system is working except for the video. Past that, there can only be two possibilities. (1) Bad lcd: something might have happened when you pried it off the broken digitizer; and/or (2) the video cable is bad, or improperly connected - by that, I mean you need to make sure it fits all the way in at both ends (mainboard & LCD). Check connection with a magnifying glass, You won't believe how many times people forget to reconnect the cable or connect it wrong. Lastly, if you did turn the service switch off, make sure it's turned on again. Good luck.
LCD to Mainboard connection...can it be connected "wrong"? Or simply not as snug as it should be?
Also, what is the service switch?
zaner123 said:
LCD to Mainboard connection...can it be connected "wrong"? Or simply not as snug as it should be?
Also, what is the service switch?
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Click to collapse
Here's the link to the relevant thread. Search for the necessary information within it. The cable that goes from LCD to mainboard is labeled: "MB" end goes to mainboard. The service switch is located at the top of the mainboard looking from the back, to the left of the power button ribbon (top right corner of tab), and is labeled "on"/"off". You should turn it off before doing anything. It cuts off all current to the boards and prevents accidental shortcircuitings. If you don't and mess around with the digitizer board, you might burn a fuse that controls the dig's operations. But this is for later. Go to the thread and browse it.
Hey guys,
I want to know if anybody tried to get a warranty repair on his TF700 with cracked glass.
I can't claim i NEVER dropped my Transformer, it has a small scratch on the side from about 8 months ago. About a month ago I noticed my screen cracked on edge after I woke up and tablet was laying in his case right where i put him. A week or so later I noticed that I can't lock it in the dock, the left hinge just wouldn't fit, however the dock still worked. After about two weeks I was on a yacht, the dock was stored in my cabin all the time, but one day I wanted to charge battery from it I noticed it's dead and not charging. After plugging it to charger in marina the light was not lit and when I connected dock to tablet it didnt recognise it. And then 2 days later I took Transformer out of my backpack at the airport and I saw another crack on the screen. Again it wasn't dropped, hit with a club, tossed, just put gently in the backpack.
The weird thing is I got 3 diffrent problems, all happening within a month and none of it was directly preceeded with any kind of misuse. I wonder if people at ASUS support are going to believe that I didn't abuse my Transformer in any way.
Anybody had simmilar problems and what was the result of RMA procedure?
Where are these cracks? I would assume along the bottom where it would fit in the dock but are they where the connection dongle is, on the side, ever notice it getting unusually hot when charging or smell anything? If I follow correctly then neither the tablet nor dock is charging regardless if they are connected or as individual peices.
I've had the dongle portion on my tablet go bad. I heard a pop after plugging it in, a faint smell of burnt something, and it didn't respond anymore to the usb cable. Connectiong it to the computer also resulted with nothing happening. They repaired it with no problem. Perhaps your port went bad and in the process caused the screen to crack. If the cracks are around the port area of course. How it ties into the dock not working now could also be related. Maybe it was the dock that went bad first but the signs showed on the tablet since it is easier to see.
Either way your tablet is useless if it doesn't charge. All you can do really is send it in for RMA and hope they don't claim it is customer induced damage. Try doing a Google search for the model you have and screen cracks. Might find something there following other people with cracked screens.
Good Luck
So I was using my Photon Q as usual, had a sick new CM11 install I was playing with for the last week or so, and all was good. I pulled it out of my pocket before I took a shower to check the time and nothing. The keyboard would open when slid out, and it even buzzed when i force restarted it. The backlight turns on for a few seconds when turning it on but other than that, no dice, it turns right off. HDMI out is doing nothing either. It is detected by my computer and otherwise acts like everything is normal. I didn't drop it, it was just in my pocket and a little warm, but it was really just the usual "pocket" warmth. What the **** happened? I can't even tear it open to check because one of the inner screws is stripped : (
EDIT: Can't boot into fastboot or anything manually, connections look good, this is so annoyingly random, and this is the first motorola device to just fail on me without reason...
EDIT EDIT: Died in my drawer last night, plugged it in and the green LED turned on, but shortly after it turned off and and now I am back to exactly where I was before.
Answer: So As you can see from the replies below I am most likely dealing with a broken flex cable to the front panel. I am gonna save up for an un-modded replacement and just swap motherboards. I gutted my current Photon Q and am storing all the parts in bubble wrap, with the motherboard delicately wrapped in paper (less friction, it's sim modded and those exposed copper wires just seem so fragile)
@CornholioGSM I ping you because you are the main Photon Q guys and one of the few still really active, you have seen this phone inside out, any ideas???
EDIT: I checked all the connection after tearing away plastic, it's all good looking. I don't understand wtf happened...
It's usually an issue with the flex (ribbon) cable... all I can say is make very sure that cable is still properly connected.
Good luck.
One of my Photons had a dead display while another had an apparently dead display because the broken flat cable.
Hard to say which one is the culprit w/o a close visual inspection to the flat cable, and even in that case a flat cable apparently in good shape can have one or more broken lines.
BTW a LCD panel can theoretically last for decades, while the cable has a finite number of sliding operations, so the latter is more likely to be the culprit.
Possibly your best option is to get a cheap unmodded PQ from the USA, and replace the whole screen assembly w/o further investigations. Less risk to damage something, way less time needed for the transplant, and possibly even the cheaper option.
The Solutor said:
One of my Photons had a dead display while another had an apparently dead display because the broken flat cable.
Hard to say which one is the culprit w/o a close visual inspection to the flat cable, and even in that case a flat cable apparently in good shape can have one or more broken lines.
BTW a LCD panel can theoretically last for decades, while the cable has a finite number of sliding operations, so the latter is more likely to be the culprit.
Possibly your best option is to get a cheap unmodded PQ from the USA, and replace the whole screen assembly w/o further investigations. Less risk to damage something, way less time needed for the transplant, and possibly even the cheaper option.
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Thanks, I'll probably use whatever money I get from my Nexus 5 sale for a replacement Photon Q (un modded). Mine is beat up from a recent camping trip, scratches all over, I need this anyway. Worst case I have myself a sweet new music player. For now I am using a Galaxy Nexus, which I love, but I miss the Sailfish OS support.