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Damsel in Distress - USB Port is loose!

Hi all,
The mini USB port for charging and connecting to PC has come loose on my Tornado (i-mate SP5)... I don't really know how it happened (possible jolting in my pocket while running?) but now the thing can't charge or connect or anything. It seems the actual USB casing has come loose and the things inside can't make a connection to charge - err, I don't have the best technical jargon, please bear with me
Ever since I upgraded to 6.1 my Tornado has been my best friend. I'm loathe to buy a new phone (after all the blood, sweat and tears that went into upgrading) so I was wondering if anyone knows how to fix this problem... I could easily take it to a repair shop (I guess), only I'm in a foreign country that doesn't make HTC and the coffers are low... I've managed to take the thing apart to an extent (struggling with the last two screws under the battery compartment), but does anyone know whether taking it apart will actually allow access to the USB area so I can try to fix it?
Please help me if you can!
Thanks,
Jessica

Well there is always a knight in shining armor to help D I D
Any ways , i had the same problem too, while connected with cable my phone dropped and USB port became loose, if you have managed to open the casing and pull apart (clipped togather) both plastic front and back than you can see the board and the usb jack. Mine was completely soldered off . I opened the set completely and soldered it back. ( Added benifit i cleaned dust particles of LCD Screen) OR you can take it to any mobile repair shop where they will be happy to charge you and repair the mobile.

mangosavage said:
Hi all,
The mini USB port for charging and connecting to PC has come loose on my Tornado (i-mate SP5)... I don't really know how it happened (possible jolting in my pocket while running?) but now the thing can't charge or connect or anything. It seems the actual USB casing has come loose and the things inside can't make a connection to charge - err, I don't have the best technical jargon, please bear with me
Ever since I upgraded to 6.1 my Tornado has been my best friend. I'm loathe to buy a new phone (after all the blood, sweat and tears that went into upgrading) so I was wondering if anyone knows how to fix this problem... I could easily take it to a repair shop (I guess), only I'm in a foreign country that doesn't make HTC and the coffers are low... I've managed to take the thing apart to an extent (struggling with the last two screws under the battery compartment), but does anyone know whether taking it apart will actually allow access to the USB area so I can try to fix it?
Please help me if you can!
Thanks,
Jessica
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here is a guide
It'll take a little wiggling around with a Credit Card or similar thin hard plastic to split apart the covers(See #6 on the tutorial, don't use a screwdriver or nothing metal), but be patient. It'll split. First time I opened mine, I was scared to death, now I do it just to kill bordness. Beware of a little connector between the motherboard and the keyboard plate(#7 on the tutorial). Just pry it off gently and when assembling back, make sure you push it back firmly into place. Feel free to message back if u need help.

for my usb problem (the same symptoms) - HR was a solution...

redred said:
for my usb problem (the same symptoms) - HR was a solution...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You had a broken Mini-USB port and you solve the problem by Hard Restting your device? ummm Don't think so mate. A little soldering might help ;->

ok I do not read all post...

thanks very much
now all i need to get hold of is that T5 screwdriver... i hope i can fix the USB port without needing to solder it...
thanks again guys, i'll let you know if it works...

mangosavage said:
thanks very much
now all i need to get hold of is that T5 screwdriver... i hope i can fix the USB port without needing to solder it...
thanks again guys, i'll let you know if it works...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
most likely you will need soldering. Take the phone with you to Sears. They have the screwdriver. But I believe it isn't a T5, I think its a T6. You can go to any electronics shop and have them do the soldering. Shouldn't cost you more than a $5.00 tip.

Thanks i never knew this guide existed i worked on unproven grounds scratched my phone a bit , thanks any knowledge is always welcome.

Soldering...
Um, don't solder this yourself without a heat sink. I melted the entire USB assembly when I tried earlier this year, so now that phone can only be charged by removing the battery to charge (which is ok for a backup phone) but I can never update the OS again (which is not).

kkrull said:
Um, don't solder this yourself without a heat sink. I melted the entire USB assembly when I tried earlier this year, so now that phone can only be charged by removing the battery to charge (which is ok for a backup phone) but I can never update the OS again (which is not).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can still update the OS by copying the OS file to a miniSD card and change file name to TORNIMG.nbh and boot the phone holding camera button for bootloader and follow instructions.

well, finally got round to soldering, i hope it works...
gents, thanks for your help and i guess i'll be posting here in a few minutes when the damned thing still doesn't work

I used circuit board glue with partial success
I had the same problem with my Tornado. I tried soldering, but the soldering iron I used is old, and the tip was too big to be precise enough to get the job done properly. Or I just suck at soldering. Not sure, but anyways, I ended up using some fast-acting circuit board adhesive from Radio Shack. The phone will charge now, but will not connect to my PC via USB. For now, it's fine, as I already had upgraded to WM6.1, and haven't needed to do any further OS upgrades, and I don't really need to do any email or contact synchs via USB, but it's still kindof annoying. Also, my speaker seems a little static-y and muffled since the attempted soldering. I think I might've damaged a circuit that relates to the earpiece somehow. I guess the moral of my story is be careful when soldering if you don't really know what you're doing. Not that it isn't common sense already...

unlocksmith said:
You can still update the OS by copying the OS file to a miniSD card and change file name to TORNIMG.nbh and boot the phone holding camera button for bootloader and follow instructions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think so. I have tried naming the file TORMING.nbf and TORMING.nbh on multiple Tornado devices, with multiple miniSD cards, with and without SIM cards, in various states of registry unlock, and superCID unlock. I can't make the phone's bootloader do anything unusual. If you want to give me specific steps I am happy to try again.

yes, kkrull is right. I also tried but not working. I think it is not that easy.

[Q] Samsung Galaxy S2 - Multiple Problems

I am using Samsung Galaxy S2 unrooted (bought in India). The phone behaved properly for 2 weeks and then started giving these issues.
1. Switching Off does not really switch-off the phone. A battery symbol comes similar to the one that comes if you are charging once the phone is switched-off. However, there is also an exclamation mark (more like a thermometer) which blinks. There is no charger or USB connected.
From the above state, you cannot switch - off / on the phone unless you plug in the power adapter / USB.
2. I have noticed that while that even when USB Charger is attached, the Battery Status (Menu-> Settings-> About Phone->Status) shows "Charging(AC)".
3. A related problem to the above may be the fact that "Samsung Kies" does not start when you plug in the USB cable with the computer. The phone does not even connect to the computer via USB mode (allowing USB debugging). I have re-installed Kies / USB connectivity drivers for my PC (Win XP) a couple of times and see no change in the behaviour.
4. When charging is removed, the battery health using Z-Device Test (3rd party software) shows "Over Voltage".
I am not sure if anybody else has seen similar problems. Appreciate any help.

I have exactly the same problem. I will go with my SGS2 at the warranty this week.

Me too having same problem... Guyzzz please help us...
please do reply..
Please give some solution to the problem..

Same freaking problem here...
the battery doesnt even charge full.. it goes up to 70% and shows its completely charged..
then it drains fast too..
someone please find a hardware or software DIY fix for it...

Same problem here... I can't believe this is happening after less than a month of buying it.

I've been reading through different forums and some people got it fixed by cleaning the usb port:
go to androidforums and paste this in the URL.
samsung-galaxy-s2-international/377331-spurious-battery-temperature-warning-2.html
xdadevelopers won't let me post url's since I'm still too much of a n00b.
Here is a quote from the forum if the link does not work:
Anybody still having difficulties with this and finding this thread, go down the clean-it-yourself route. Worked for me. You will need: some isopropyl alcohol (disk cleaner), wooden toothpicks, some compressed air.
First things, remove the battery, sd and sim card.
Soak the tips of a couple of toothpicks in the isopropyl. then use them to carefully scrape the top 'tongue' in the port, the bit nearest the screen. you'll notice the toothpick gets quite dirty. Do this a few times with fresh toothpicks (or cut ff the dirty bit with sharp scissors).
Once the toothpicks aren't getting dirty any more, gently ease the tongue up, towards the screen a little, don't force it too much.
Use the compressed air to give it a good blow and leave it to dry for a while.
Its solved my problems, Battery Monitor Widget recognises that the usb is unplugged properly and no more warning triangles or poor battery performance. The phone, also gained an extra 20% of battery out of it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Credit goes to user andycorps from androidforums.
I hope this helps someone else, mine is still not working.

Update:
I've been constantly cleaning the USB port very carefully. Behavior has changed in several ways. The port is still acting crazy, sometimes if I turn it off, the phone will boot up by itself, BUT...
I had it recognized by my laptop a couple of minutes ago and able to move files from and into it. Just as if everything was fine.
It came down again because of the crazy behavior of the port.
I would undoubtedly say that this is a hardware issue. I'll go buy some pressured air today to blow the port and make sure it's clean and dry.

Had the exact same issue
In Addition to battery drain, unexpected MTP app pop apps with USB connecting sound (that could go on and on for minutes). and not being able to connect USB mass storage (PC complains on device malfunction...)
After reading quite a lot forums I found out that this is a well known issue (at least for the users). I called samsung they didn't want to take any liability for the issue, and even worse they said my device is non-US device, thus I can't get support even if I wanted to pay for it.
I figured it is a HW issue, and did a little study on what replacement part are being sold on the market, short analysis showed display (well that is true for most devices, cause we tend to break them, ain't we?) and USB PCB. the latest matched my suspicion on USB HW defect. I bought the PCB for 7$ replaced it and tadam: that fixed my phone.
Samsung should check themselves, people pay 600$ for the device, if there is a manufacturing issue, they should recall and fix, just like big companies do, just like Intel did with Pentium and just like Toyota did with braking systems. nevertheless they should find an arrangement to give their customers service anytime everywhere! or better make their products not requiring service

and the problem is...
i have the exact same issue, and when i contacted samsung about it not only they did not took any liability on this matter, but they said that the warranty was voided because they found sodium residue on the usb port at the bottom of the phone, and for those of you who do no know sodium = salt = sweat, so according to samsung i voided the warranty on my gs2 because my hands sweat. not only is this complete nonsense because it is an exposed micro usb port but because this will be in contact with sweaty hands when you are holding the phone in landscape mode, so after i did some research about this problem i found that the issue is not only that the usb port is exposed but that the usb flexor and the port that it connects to are very lo quality cooper(which should be gold plated) and can very easily have corrosion problems, so the solution is to clean the usb port if detected early, but if you have been having the issue for a long time like me you need to change the usb port, flexor and the port that the flexor connects aka "the usb chip", as well as the battery since having over voltage on a battery for an extended period of time can ruin it.

mystery problems solved by replacing flex cable

I got a used SK4G pretty cheap on eBay because "phone doesn't power on". I took a chance because sometimes it turns out to be something simple, and I got it for less than the cost of a replacement LCD+digitizer.
Anyhow, I opened it up and gave it a good long stare. Nothing obvious. (But, man, those Samsung engineers did a great job of making a phone that is very, very simple to disassemble and work on.) I put it back together and it had moved on to the condition of "stuck at the sidekick logo" on power-up, which at least told me the LCD was good. It also got fairly warm and drained the battery pretty fast.
My suspicion was some kind of corrupted firmware. I was able to get to download mode, but when I plugged it into a PC to do some flashing razzamatazz, I couldn't get past "USB device not recognized". I considered doing the UnBrickable hardware mod, but my old eyeballs can't cope with those surface-mount resistors.
Luckily, I had another working SK4G on hand and was able to swap parts back and forth. When I put the problem motherboard into the other chasis, it booted just fine.
Hmm, time for more intense staring! I finally noticed a bit of a nick on the flex cable that connects the main unit to the LCD. It's a bit of trouble (but nothing outrageous) to swap out that flex cable. Bingo! Everything worked fine. (Once I got things apart and got a better look at flex cable, I saw that it had close to a half-inch gash on it. I wish I had been able to see that earlier.)
The moral of the story is that the flex cable can be the source of all kinds of mysteries. Replacements can be had in the US for $15 or so, and information about tearing the phone apart is readily available.

[Q] Dropped phone, now charges only on a whim and no OTG

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?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.

I flashed the MOAR rom, everything was great for almost 2 days, and then this...

Just as the title says. A couple of days ago, I flashed the MOAR rom, everything was great with it up until last night, when I went to look at my phone and it was doing this. I cannot restart the phone using the "simulated battery removal" method of holding vol down + power button. Any ideas? Do I actually need to take this sucker apart?

Let the battery die completely is the first step. Plug it in to charge holding the buttons to start Download Mode/Recovery. If that works try (if you boot to recovery) and wiping the cache/davlik to see if that does anything. If not then a factory reset and then if not a full odin.

I'm under the impression that it's using very, very minimal battery. Thus, letting it drain may take days. But you may be right, maybe I'll just have to live without it for now.

To speed the process up, you could take the device apart and manually unplug the battery from the board. Its not the most difficult device to take apart, but that is coming from someone that takes apart phones for a living. If you're willing, and have the tools available, that would be the quickest way to get the phone to at least boot into recovery (if it will) and try an reflashing MOAR/stock.
edit: and you could also check and see if the board connection to the display is not loose as well if you go this route. If you do not feel comfortable, and you have Total Equipment Protection, you could take it in to a Sprint Service & Repair location and they can take it apart as well (or at least should be able to). I cannot speak for their level of competence when it comes to taking apart devices, but all of my technicians are well aware of how to take the Note 5 apart without causing any damage.

Get an usb otg cable and charge something from the phone lol that'll kill that battery
PS: This is just me being nosey, but it looks like your phone has "seen some things" aka it looks a little rough lol. Has it been dropped in the past? I used to be a phone repair technician for sprint and I saw this same thing, it ended up being that the cable from the digitizer had barely become wiggled loose on one side. There was another occasion where the GPU had toasted itself (this was an htc one) and we had to send it in to be repaired.
So im interested to know if a reboot solves your issue.

I took the phone apart at work, and from what I can tell, the main board has gone bad. I believe that simply because I've disconnected every non-essential component from the main board and it's still doing the same thing. I'm going to part out any good parts on ebay and scrap some cash from it.

The display should fetch a pretty penny. Enough to get yourself Nexus 5X without having to pay too much out of pocket, seeing as a Note 5 outright is pretty pricey.
If you have TEP, you can always go through the store and get a new one ordered for you. If you do not, a $75 fee occurs, but at least its a cost effective route for a bad board, if you do not want to part it out.