Database Info

[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.

Touchscreen isn't working after being in a pool

Hi,
Earlier today I was in the pool, I grabbed my Z3 and started taking pictures. (of course I checked twice that all the flaps are closed).
After 10 minutes, I put the device on the table near the pool to dry.
I went out for watching the pictures but I was surprised to find out that the device doesn't recognize my touchs.
I already tried restarting the device using the power + volume up buttons, but I can't see any change.
Important to mention that all the buttons work well, the same goes for the speakers, the microphone, the light sensor, LED light etc.
Do you have any idea what should I do?
Thanks and sorry about my grammer mistakes.

I got quite the panic attack the first time I experienced the same thing. For me waiting a while worked, and it came back to life. I still have trouble a couple of hours after soaking it when it comes to sound, though. Sometimes it thinks that I have a jack connected, for instance. I'm guessing you just have to wait for it to dry properly.

owid408 said:
I got quite the panic attack the first time I experienced the same thing. For me waiting a while worked, and it came back to life. I still have trouble a couple of hours after soaking it when it comes to sound, though. Sometimes it thinks that I have a jack connected, for instance. I'm guessing you just have to wait for it to dry properly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
same as me! It also thought I connected my headset, for some reason.
when you waited a while, the device was turned-off or on?

I never turned it off. Might be a good idea to try to connect a useless headsets jack (I take no responsibility for whatever might happen though. I have no good concept of whether this might be a bad idea or not) to try to clean it.

owid408 said:
I never turned it off. Might be a good idea to try to connect a useless headsets jack (I take no responsibility for whatever might happen though. I have no good concept of whether this might be a bad idea or not) to try to clean it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have connected a headset already and it worked fine. I will let the phone to dry until tomorrow.

Very strange. I get my phone wet a lot and never had any issue. Of course touch does not work well when phone and hands are wet. But after a couple of minutes, it is good to go.

If your phone stops working properly after being immersed in water then it is defective and water got inside of it. Bring it to a service center, they will test it and if they find a leak with flaps closed they will replace under warranty.
I've immersed mine in water a few times and I never had any problem (not pool, mostly in the sink for cleaning purposes and to test the waterproofing). If water goes and stays into the headphone jack the phone will detect headphones, but you just have to blow the water out of it or shake it a bit to get the water out. Underwater the screen will not work and it will detect fake touches if a lot of water is still on the screen, but it should work perfectly as soon as you dry it with a towel or something.
If you experience a malfunction after drying up your phone with a towel and getting residual water out of the jack then water got inside and you should get it replaced ASAP. It doesn't need any drying period, drying it with a towel is enough.

[Q] Screen stops working intermittently, seems to be hardware related, help?

So I've been having a ton of issues with my phone lately, to the point I can't use it anymore. I'll list them in case they may show what the problem is. First, the charging port went out. I swapped out for a new flex cable on ebay and all was well again. Next the speaker stopped working unless I would squeeze the bottom of the phone, and then stopped working completely (Not sure if this was the speaker itself or if it was making poor contact with the new flex cable.).
Up next, and the worst problem of all, is the screen stopped working intermittently. I seemed to be able to get it working better when I would squeeze the phone, which seemed strange to me. This kept happening until it stopped working altogether!
So, thinking it was the flex cable, I just swapped it for another new one from a different seller, and it still isn't working. If I reboot the phone the screen works perfectly fine unless I put light pressure on the back of the above the "s" in nexus, then the screen shuts off and won't come back on again until I restart the phone again. As soon as I reboot the phone the screen works great again until I tap that spot.
I'm a bit at a loss to what I should be looking for, or what I need to replace? Is there some sort of short? Is a connection poorly made? It's a brand new flex cable and the old one seemed to be doing the same, and I've double checked the connections and they seem to be fine.
If you have any ideas, I'm all ears, just about to tear apart the phone to check where it might be making shorts around that area! Thanks everyone!

Seemed to be an issue with the flex cable connecter to the motherboard. When I added pressure to the connector the screen would work, as I let off pressure the screen quit. I ended up adding a few layers of electrical tape to the back of the connector so when I put the backplate housing and cover back on it would add some pressure. Seems to be working great now (knock on wood).

DallasW said:
Seemed to be an issue with the flex cable connecter to the motherboard. When I added pressure to the connector the screen would work, as I let off pressure the screen quit. I ended up adding a few layers of electrical tape to the back of the connector so when I put the backplate housing and cover back on it would add some pressure. Seems to be working great now (knock on wood).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats a common experience you had. The connection between the USB cable and the motherboard for some reason can go bad. I suspect overheating may be the primary cause. The careful placement of double stick electrica tape appears to help fix this problem. I had to do it myself. The speaker not working can be caused by poor connection to the USB flex cable. There is an excellent youtube by "LE55ONS" on the disassembly/assembley which shows everything in great detail. It's worth a look.
Glad you got everything working
Blacksmith5 in Plano TX

Touch Screen work after water submersion

Hello, ladies and gentlemen (and those inbetween, too)!
I will try to keep this as short as possible. If you want less details, tl;dr section at the end. EDIT: i.... didn't quite think this through
My girlfriend has an Xperia Z3 which she bought from a random seller from Germany (am UK residents). Everything about the phone was great, it was brand-new albeit it has been, apparently, been the display device; but other than that it worked perfectly. We even tested out the waterproofness right after setting up the device and charging it up to see if it works. Back then, it did.
Now, this friday (frikkin' Friday the 13th) she had some sort of an art project going on, which she wanted to do underwater. She does have a GoPro for it, but for some sample shots before finishing out, she decided she could just as well use her Xperia. Now, I was sleeping at the moment so I did not get to witness how she did it, but she assures me she closed the flaps extra carefully. However, after she tried submersing it into water, the screen started blinking randomly, as if there is some problem with LCD matrix of some sorts.
We put the Xperia into a bowl of rice and left it that way overnight. After turning the phone back on, the screen showed first "Sony Xperia" logo, then completely went blank. Just a random look-around on the Internet showed me that for extra help it would be best if you take your water-exposed phone and leave it upside-down while it is drying out. I was hopeless, but I didn't want to disappoint her so I said it would work. I was sure it would work since at times, when turning the phone on, some images did work out (like the charging icon when it's turned off and charging) so most probably the phone is not damaged yet, its just still exposed to water.
Next day, after leaving it just standing there upside down, the screen worked as normal, and normal touch functionality returned as well. Not for long however.
My final hurdle is this: When you turn on the phone (after being in vertical upside-down position) and hold it properly (as in, again, vertically, but upright-down) , the touch functions work very well. For a couple of minutes. After that the touch functionality artifacts (faulty touch detection, ultrahigh sensitivity etc) return. It appears that the water is still there somewhere, and as you hold the phone correctly, it goes down back a bit and impairs functionality.
Now, the question is: What can I do to completely remove the water from the device, seeing as keeping it in rice for 2 days did not remove the impairments from internal water exposure entirely?
So far I've tried only rice. Was bad call, but I did not think of anything better and used a bit of hairdryer at the very beginning of the issue, and yes, I now know that it was a stupid idea.
I think I will leave it in one-two more days upside-down in rice and see how it goes from there. Before turning on, I also thought about using the vacuum cleaner method of attempting to suck the water out of it through available holes.
Any other suggestions, tips and ideas? Would seriously want for things to go back to normal, considering now I do not have a phone (gave mine to girlfriend in place of her ill Xperia).
Thanks for your attention and I hope your devices stay healthy and safe!
tl;dr exposed Xperia Z3 to water with problems, turns out the damage was reversible and everything works well so far but touch functionality is faulty, still water stuck inside the phone that impairs touch screen, tried drying it by leaving in rice, gonna leave in rice for a day or two more and use vacuum cleaner on the holes right after, anything else that I could do?

[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.