[Q]Tablet not turning on after digitizer replacement - Transformer TF300T Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

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!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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?
Click to expand...
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.

Related

[Q] Problem with Screen?

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.

[Q] Tablet DOA

A few days ago, I shipped my TF300 to the user who bought the unit off me through ebay. Today, upon its arrival at its destination, I received a message from the buyer telling me the unit is dead.
Before I shipped the unit, I used the factory reset function to erase my data, and upon the tablet rebooting to the welcome screen, I powered it off. As far as I am aware, the unit worked perfectly fine up to the moment that I packed it in its box and sent it away. The buyer reports no visible damage to the box or the unit itself, so I doubt that the unit was damaged in transit.
According to the buyer, the dock I shipped with it works and charges fine, and was tested on an acquaintance's tablet, both with the charger I provided as well as said acquaintance's. However, regardless of which cable and charger was used, and whether the tablet was plugged in solo or through the dock, the tablet seems to not want to charge. No charge indicator light on the power button, no apparent change in status.
My question is mainly this: is it possible that the battery or tablet as a whole had an adverse reaction to the cold temperatures during shipping (I live in Toronto, the recipient lives in Ottawa)?
If so, and even if not, what can I do, or tell the buyer to do in order to rectify the situation? All the guides here, as well as other sites say to charge longer or say to do the 'hold the power button fox X seconds' dance until something happens, but if those don't work, what do I do?
DinosaurBrutus said:
A few days ago, I shipped my TF300 to the user who bought the unit off me through ebay. Today, upon its arrival at its destination, I received a message from the buyer telling me the unit is dead.
Before I shipped the unit, I used the factory reset function to erase my data, and upon the tablet rebooting to the welcome screen, I powered it off. As far as I am aware, the unit worked perfectly fine up to the moment that I packed it in its box and sent it away. The buyer reports no visible damage to the box or the unit itself, so I doubt that the unit was damaged in transit.
According to the buyer, the dock I shipped with it works and charges fine, and was tested on an acquaintance's tablet, both with the charger I provided as well as said acquaintance's. However, regardless of which cable and charger was used, and whether the tablet was plugged in solo or through the dock, the tablet seems to not want to charge. No charge indicator light on the power button, no apparent change in status.
My question is mainly this: is it possible that the battery or tablet as a whole had an adverse reaction to the cold temperatures during shipping (I live in Toronto, the recipient lives in Ottawa)?
If so, and even if not, what can I do, or tell the buyer to do in order to rectify the situation? All the guides here, as well as other sites say to charge longer or say to do the 'hold the power button fox X seconds' dance until something happens, but if those don't work, what do I do?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Never heard that inside temperatures would do anything to the tab. It was fully charged when you mailed it, correct? Even if it gets drained somehow, it can always get the juice from the dock/keyboard. It's possible for the battery connector to come loose. However, for such thing to happen requires quite a shock which, under normal circumstances, would not fail on this model to shatter either the digitizer or lcd, or both.
Have you ever opened the tab? If yes, do you have a way of telling if anything has been tampered with? There's a warranty seal inside. If it's broken, someone has done something to it. If it's not, you can always resort to warranty. I doubt it's a software issue where the unit doesn't react at all to charging.
The power/volume assembly is separate from the mainboard, and connected thereto by means of a white cable. It consists of two brittle amber cables that tear easily. Additionally, If the mainboard crashed, no amount of holding will help. Lastly, if the tab has been opened, and the back cover has not been reassembled properly, the power button mounted on it will fail to switch the unit on. Correctly assembled will make the button click when you gently push on it. It's fragile too, so if you do it wrong and force it, you might break it. The charging light is conducted through a plastic reflector glued onto the power button. If you put it in the wrong way, you won't see the charging indicator.
In other words, there's no substitute for getting the unit back and do the inspection yourself, unless the buyer is somehow tech savvy. Sorry to hear.
graphdarnell said:
Never heard that inside temperatures would do anything to the tab. It was fully charged when you mailed it, correct? Even if it gets drained somehow, it can always get the juice from the dock/keyboard. It's possible for the battery connector to come loose. However, for such thing to happen requires quite a shock which, under normal circumstances, would not fail on this model to shatter either the digitizer or lcd, or both.
Have you ever opened the tab? If yes, do you have a way of telling if anything has been tampered with? There's a warranty seal inside. If it's broken, someone has done something to it. If it's not, you can always resort to warranty. I doubt it's a software issue where the unit doesn't react at all to charging.
The power/volume assembly is separate from the mainboard, and connected thereto by means of a white cable. It consists of two brittle amber cables that tear easily. Additionally, If the mainboard crashed, no amount of holding will help. Lastly, if the tab has been opened, and the back cover has not been reassembled properly, the power button mounted on it will fail to switch the unit on. Correctly assembled will make the button click when you gently push on it. It's fragile too, so if you do it wrong and force it, you might break it. The charging light is conducted through a plastic reflector glued onto the power button. If you put it in the wrong way, you won't see the charging indicator.
In other words, there's no substitute for getting the unit back and do the inspection yourself, unless the buyer is somehow tech savvy. Sorry to hear.
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Click to collapse
First off, thank you for your detailed response.
In terms of the battery levels before shipping, it was at roughly 30%, if I recall correctly. I assumed that even with a full charge, the unit would likely be drained, or close to drained, after the trip and did not make an effort to charge it beforehand.
In terms of opening the unit, I never attempted it. As far as I was aware, the tablet was in completely functional condition inside and out, and in the six or so months that I had it I never encountered any hardware or software faults.
I forgot to mention in the OP that I no longer had all of the original packaging, and shipped the tablet connected to the dock, packed in with two soft tablet sleeves. The tablet/dock combo was slightly too large for the tablet box, so I had to put it in at an angle, with a soft sleeve filling the empty space above and below the tablet within the box to secure it (I made sure it was stable before I even left for the post office). The original box was the placed into a marginally larger box, with the cable, charger head, and a stylus placed into the empty space that was left after the tablet box was inside. I assumed, maybe mistakenly, that it would be able to survive the trip like that.
If something happened to the connector on the tablet, is there any way to fix it?
DinosaurBrutus said:
First off, thank you for your detailed response.
In terms of the battery levels before shipping, it was at roughly 30%, if I recall correctly. I assumed that even with a full charge, the unit would likely be drained, or close to drained, after the trip and did not make an effort to charge it beforehand.
In terms of opening the unit, I never attempted it. As far as I was aware, the tablet was in completely functional condition inside and out, and in the six or so months that I had it I never encountered any hardware or software faults.
I forgot to mention in the OP that I no longer had all of the original packaging, and shipped the tablet connected to the dock, packed in with two soft tablet sleeves. The tablet/dock combo was slightly too large for the tablet box, so I had to put it in at an angle, with a soft sleeve filling the empty space above and below the tablet within the box to secure it (I made sure it was stable before I even left for the post office). The original box was the placed into a marginally larger box, with the cable, charger head, and a stylus placed into the empty space that was left after the tablet box was inside. I assumed, maybe mistakenly, that it would be able to survive the trip like that.
If something happened to the connector on the tablet, is there any way to fix it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
IMO, only excessive brute force would damage the battery connector. If it is, resoldering the thing is a pain, not to mention the impossibility of getting a new one. But you don't want to get into that part just yet as it involves breaking the seal. You want to get the unit back for inspection first. If the seal is broken, there's a chance the motherboard has been worked on. If it's not, then send it to Asus while you can. A bad motherboard will cost you more than you think. I don't want to implicate foul play, but it's not like it has never happened before.
graphdarnell said:
IMO, only excessive brute force would damage the battery connector. If it is, resoldering the thing is a pain, not to mention the impossibility of getting a new one. But you don't want to get into that part just yet as it involves breaking the seal. You want to get the unit back for inspection first. If the seal is broken, there's a chance the motherboard has been worked on. If it's not, then send it to Asus while you can. A bad motherboard will cost you more than you think. I don't want to implicate foul play, but it's not like it has never happened before.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After considering what you mentioned in your previous post, I was starting to think that there may have been some poor handling on the buyer's behalf, and if not him, then definitely Canada Post. I am absolutely use I did nothing to damage the tablet before I shipped it, and made sure to pack it in a way that would ensure a safe transit from my residence to the buyer's residence.
I think I am going to ask for pictures of the tablet connector to see if there is any obvious damage. These tablets, while still fragile, are not made of tissue paper, so if there was damage on part of the seller, I should be able to see it.
Also, how would one go about checking if the seal on the tablet had been broken?
DinosaurBrutus said:
After considering what you mentioned in your previous post, I was starting to think that there may have been some poor handling on the buyer's behalf, and if not him, then definitely Canada Post. I am absolutely use I did nothing to damage the tablet before I shipped it, and made sure to pack it in a way that would ensure a safe transit from my residence to the buyer's residence.
I think I am going to ask for pictures of the tablet connector to see if there is any obvious damage. These tablets, while still fragile, are not made of tissue paper, so if there was damage on part of the seller, I should be able to see it.
Also, how would one go about checking if the seal on the tablet had been broken?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wouldn't trust the buyer to do anything at this point. Then again, it's your call. Go to this THREAD for reference. In order to see the seal, you have to remove the back cover. If you don't know what you're doing, you might scratch or even crack the digitizer. If the buyer is committed to buying the piece, s/he wouldn't shy away from the transferable warranty, no matter who claims it.

[Q] Help screen not responding

Hey guys i hated my tf300 untill i put a custom ROM(hydro) on it.I have loved it ever since...unfortunately i dropped it and now the screen just doesnt respond anymore..screen still looks perfect no crack or scratch..i have tried full reset and everything i can....should i get i new digitizer??
will that fix it please help..
rchremi said:
Hey guys i hated my tf300 untill i put a custom ROM(hydro) on it.I have loved it ever since...unfortunately i dropped it and now the screen just doesnt respond anymore..screen still looks perfect no crack or scratch..i have tried full reset and everything i can....should i get i new digitizer??
will that fix it please help..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cracks are not always visible. But if they're not there, I'd suggest you open the back case and try to reseat the ribbon cables at the touchscreen PCB. While at it, check the flat silver cable connecting that board to the mainboard also. Make sure nothing is jarred loose by the drop.
graphdarnell said:
Cracks are not always visible. But if they're not there, I'd suggest you open the back case and try to reseat the ribbon cables at the touchscreen PCB. While at it, check the flat silver cable connecting that board to the mainboard also. Make sure nothing is jarred loose by the drop.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanx for responding...i did exactly what you said ..i disconnected both cables (silver and brown) and put them back..more than half of the screen started working, the other part was just dead and those parts didnt work even when i tilted the screen.. like 5 minutes later the entire screen is dead again......do you think its the digitizer?
rchremi said:
thanx for responding...i did exactly what you said ..i disconnected both cables (silver and brown) and put them back..more than half of the screen started working, the other part was just dead and those parts didnt work even when i tilted the screen.. like 5 minutes later the entire screen is dead again......do you think its the digitizer?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry for the late reply. I've run into this problem before. When you have a digitizer that works for a few minutes then stops as the tab warms up, (1) more likely than not, there's a crack somewhere or a tear on the ribbons, visible or not, or (2) the new screen boycotting the old firmware. No new screen points to faulty hardware. However, it doesn't hurt to eliminate possible software causes.
The best test I can think of at this point would be to first check the physical connections again (check the connectors and ribbon ends under a magnifying glass, make sure they aren't damaged, bent or stripped), then re-flash the firmware following instructions in another thread, then turn on "show touches" in settings. If you still see "ghost touches" after a few minutes, the digitizer is likely ass-kicked by the drop.
I've had a digitizer on a TF act "leisurely" because of a crack across the width of the bordering black strip that couldn't be detected with the naked eye because it severed the circuit on just the underside. The surface was totally smooth. As the crack spread, it became obvious.
If I had access to your glass, I could've tested for you. Too bad.

[Q] Digitizer is cracked, unsure if I need to replace the LCD as well.

The person who had this device, gave it to me, telling me I could have it but that it had display issues. The display would intermittently cut out. He tried showing me how he would get it to come back on was by, flexing the device... He showed me a couple of times and I thought, to myself, I may be able to fix this. Then on one of the times, he must have flexed it too much because it cracked top to bottom. While it was working, I noticed it did display the desktop fully, leading me to believe that the LCD ribbon may have become unplugged. I was unable to find any information on replacing the LCD for the TF300T on YouTube, so where is it?
Also, the previous owner opened the device and lost the power button, so he would use a toothpick to turn it on. Is there a cheaper option than $11 USD on Ebay?

[HELP!] Photon Q display suddenly faulty

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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.

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