[Q] Motherboard swap - Nexus 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi
Last week I had the problem with my Nexus 5 constantly rebooting on the "Google" logo.
I tried to find a way repairing the phone as I need the data I have on it. But I bought the phone on the Play Store and the LG warranty has ended because I had this phone since it came out.
So, I called Google and now a refurbished Nexus 5 is on it's way, and I have to send them back my phone that doesn't works. Now I need your help please, I want to know how can I recover the data on my older phone (I need to perform a nandroid, but the phone would last only 1 second inside the bootloader).
I thought swapping motherboards could work, but there's many things:
1- Am I going to have any problems with the IMEI ?
2- Does a Nexus 5 without it's adhesive in the inside at the bottom means "warranty void" to them ?
3- It is better to swap motherboards and make a nandroid then putting back my motherboard on the broken phone or just swapping motherboards and keeping my motherboard in the new phone ?
Thank you for helping me. Don't hesitate to answer me more information if you need or if my english is too bad.

As soon as you open the phone warranty is void. You most likely have a stuck power button on the problem phone. Try mashing the crap out of it for a minute or two. If you can get it unstuck your problem is solved.

Thanks for answering
I already tried to hit the power button for a long time, then hard enough to try unstucking it. I even broke the thin piece of plastic below the sim tray. But I did this before I realized the phone wouldn't try to start at all if it wasn't connected to the AC adapter. Then I saw a post from someone on reddit having the exact same issue, who replaced a defective part (he called this an integrated circuit) and has his phone working now.

ryancooper73 said:
Hi
Last week I had the problem with my Nexus 5 constantly rebooting on the "Google" logo.
I tried to find a way repairing the phone as I need the data I have on it. But I bought the phone on the Play Store and the LG warranty has ended because I had this phone since it came out.
So, I called Google and now a refurbished Nexus 5 is on it's way, and I have to send them back my phone that doesn't works. Now I need your help please, I want to know how can I recover the data on my older phone (I need to perform a nandroid, but the phone would last only 1 second inside the bootloader).
I thought swapping motherboards could work, but there's many things:
1- Am I going to have any problems with the IMEI ?
2- Does a Nexus 5 without it's adhesive in the inside at the bottom means "warranty void" to them ?
3- It is better to swap motherboards and make a nandroid then putting back my motherboard on the broken phone or just swapping motherboards and keeping my motherboard in the new phone ?
Thank you for helping me. Don't hesitate to answer me more information if you need or if my english is too bad.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know this thread is a little aged, however I am starting to have similar issues and I also had the Nexus 5 since launch. How did you get a replacement out of warranty?

Related

Flashing will kill your phone!!

Hi, help please. I been using these new builds and working very well, but now I just get 'The SIM card is missing', I have tried other SIM cards with the same message!.. please help
thanks
Help Help Help, please any ideas, my phone is still stuck on sim card missing!
have you tryed reflashing it with different rom?
Yes, flashed with 3 ROM's and also flashed with RADIO's ROM's, but still the same.
This phone is getting worse, with no phone working I still use it for TOMTOM, but now no sound or patchie sounds, music or phone sounds, I flash it back to WM5 still same and flash it back to WM6 but still no sound. Is there anyway to completey delete the phone so nothing on it then flash it.
Maybe it's because you've got an hardware problem ... so maybe you should see your "service after sale" !!
I would if it was still in contract, so I am thinking about taking the thing apart, and see if anything come loose?. any info would be nice, tried searching but nothing
This phone is very sick, if i put a SIM card in it I get a blank screen when it reboots, or if I take SIM out I may get the blank screen which I have to reset couple of times, took the back off but cannot see any connector off. So I have to pay alot of money to fix it or buy another PDA.
jowett69 said:
Hi, help please. I been using these new builds and working very well, but now I just get 'The SIM card is missing', I have tried other SIM cards with the same message!.. please help
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My only question is: What changed?
Is there something that you can think of that caused this to occur?
Have you dropped or bumped the phone? Liquid got to it? Charging when the power died or there was a lightning strike?
Without knowing this, there is very little that can be done.
As for pulling the device apart - I would recommend against this. Complex electronics like these have no user-serviceable parts, the most you can do is to look for physical damage (such as burnt components or broken legs on chips) or water damage. And then, even if you did find the damage, you would be able to do very little with it as the components can be hard to find (for any of the chips) and the soldering is extremely difficult (my father hand solders surface-mount components using special liquid-solder and a microscope).
If you want to repair it, find your nearest HTC (or I-Mate\Dopod\O2\etc) repair centre and give it to them. Keep in mind that you've already voided the warranty by installing a custom ROM (although you can just install the manufacturer's ROM and pretend you never used WM6...).
Hope this helps!
I use it every day with TOMTOM or I-go (lorry driver),so getting knock's vibration-yes. camera stop working and green went green-but after a couple of weeks it when back normal. never failed on flashing or stuck on bootmode. NO SIM started I just reset it then it was ok until next time. Then it went back normal for a couple of weeks, then NO SIM came on and couple more things happen(above posts). And that how it stands. So 12 months gone a passed (18 month contract). So its sent it to O2( big bill I think) or buy a PDA (cheap I hope). Or wait and see for upgrade brings
Update on my EXEC, It starts as followed, O2 screen comes up with it info at bottom right then the next screen is the windows mobile6 screen and then black screen, tryed mtty, also re flashed it....now its dead R.I.P...
I think I flashed it too many times so be warned!!!!
Been looking at other PDA phones, none of them comes near EXEC will apart from AMEO(thats nice but too much), so looks like another EXEC I think, and yes I will be flashing that one as well if I get O2 to part with one.
Hi, all tryed to get a new EXEC from O2, but sady they say they dont do it no more, so upgraded to the ORBIT( or should I say down graded). SO I like to say bye bye and watch that flashing because it will kill your phone.

[Q] Nexus S goes into some sort of fault state

My two months old Nexus S started to behave in a way that renders it pretty much useless - Freezing / Locked U
Freeze/Delay Between Menu and basically the phone is dead.
Very often when the screen is off, pressing power button powers up the screen with the screen lock, but the phone is not responsive so the screen just goes off again as it is impossible to slide to unlock it.
On top of that, leaving the phone with the screen off for a half an hour or so brings up some sort of warning sign and a small android (can see the screen shot here: http://yfrog.com/h3apmgqj) and the phone is effectively dead. The only thing to do in any of the two cases is remove and reinsert the battery, but that is no solution to anything. All this is while the battery is fully charged.
Did anyone experienced this before? resetting phone does not help.
Here is more info on this topic: http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Google+Mobile/label?lid=4e31a500f89fe575&hl=en
Are you using a custom recovery/ROM? That icon you posted isn't the stock image
Hi, no I do not - the image is actually from different phone but it looks exactly as it did on my Nexus S (little green guy with an exclamation mark). I never rooted my phone or done any custom mods to its system.
I actually sent it to Samsung and they are claiming that they found no problem, so they re-flushed the phone and are sending it back. I am seriously angry at samsung. It is arriving on the 11th so I'll let you know if that helped but I doubt it.
I believe this might be a faulty memory because I often received notification that the internal storage was unavailable or something of that nature as well, right before the problem would occur. Are the any tests I could perform for memory / storage?
just try to flash it back to stock
then do wipe data and wipe cache
see if that gets it back on its feet
Hey,
thank you, I thank that means I would have to root it first ehhh
Samsung told me they've done just that (flashed phone) so I am seriously hoping that my phone will work when it arrives on the 11th.
thanks!
Samsung supposedly is looking into this problem, please see link below:
http://www.google.com/support/forum...ad?fid=44db6d8e31129d4c00049e3b2a6db4d1&hl=en
Update:
I just received my phone from Samsung repair and of course, the phone is NOT fixed. On the side note, they also sent back my note that explains the problem meaning it was ignored completely.
I will be contacting @SamsungServic and calling but at this point I am not sure that they can fix the phone other then replace it.
Also,
I've spoken to Samsung and chat online and - yes they nice and throw back lots of promises and niceness back but they are NOT doing anything about it, for now at least.
I copy and paste the best answer on the google support topic to here:
I've been keeping a notebook to document my debugging of this problem. No app in particular is responsible, in my opinion. I have observed the phone lock up after a Factory Data Reset + USB wipe, and with no accounts configured. In fact, I have had it freeze after following this procedure:
1. Factory Data Reset + USB erase from Settings menu
2. Phone reboots.
3. Go through initial setup screens, skip account setup.
4. Power down phone.
5. Remove battery.
6. Remove SIM card.
7. Replace battery.
8. Power up phone.
9. Let phone sit for 15 minutes or more.
10. Phone freezes.
This is about as close to bare bones as I can get with this device.
I have also documented at least four freeze modes:
1. Phone is completely dark (both display and buttons). No combination of power button or other buttons can bring phone back. Battery removal required.
2. Phone display is dark, but the four "hard key" buttons are illuminated. No combination of power button or other buttons can bring phone back. Battery removal required.
3. Phone displays only a green android by a warning exclamation sign. Holding power button down, then volume up, then release volume up, will bring up the Android system recovery screen, from which phone can be rebooted.
4. Phone is frozen at the unlock screen. Sometimes this freeze occurs while swiping the unlock icon. No combination of power button or other buttons can bring phone back. Battery removal required.
I have observed the phone going from normal standby state (display and buttons dark) to state 2, and at other times to state 3, while it was sitting on my desk by the keyboard.
I'm just about ready to send it to Samsung. I just wanted to verify that the problem would be reproducible after a factory reset and without the SIM card.
I think it may be a hardware problem. It's also possible that part of the Android kernel or some device driver on my device has become corrupt. Unfortunately I can't reset the OS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did a factory reset from the stock recovery, too. Doesn't help either.
My phone arrived on Friday Samsung mobile repair in Texas. And like they did to ohter Nexus S devices from other users they will do the following to mine:
Reflashing the phone -> doing some functional tests ...
... and this is the crazy thing about it. The error we have is just appearing when the phone is in standby and because of this the phone passes the functional tests Samsung is doing at the end of the service. Phone goes back to user. A defective phone.
Some guy managed to keep the phone alive by setting the display turning off after 30mins. He is charging it twice a day
I got a reply from @SamsungSupport on twitter:
Thank you Fabian for again reaching out to us. We are aware of this issue as some of us have your same phone.
An evaluation is already being conducted to determine the fix. We don't have a timeframe of the resolution.
But understand it will be pushed to phones. We will advise once we have a timeframe.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The support team is friendly and to me it feels like they try to do anything they could.
Funny: One guy got a replacement device. But then no one other. Just reflash...
I think they will do something but on the other hand I'm worried that they will do nothing. But time will tell....
Maybe it would help us if Google will be aware of the problem, too. Ok maybe they allready know it, but I don't know that.
So if some of you here do have some connections... please do us a favor and forward this topic or the link to the google support topic. Feel free to forward this topic to any website you think it would write a news about it. Maybe Google will throw a eye on it. My phone is 8 weeks old and yeah this so anoying. And of course all my friends who are iHippster are trolling me like hell.
It don't want to flame or blame Samsung\Google for this.But our phones are in warranty. The error hits only a few devices and so they should replace it. My 50cent about it... this is not a Google expierence they talked about...
I also had the same problem and sent my phone into Samsung. They only re flashed it, which didn't fix the problem. I immediately called Samsung to inform them that the issue was not fixed and they just told me to send it back for "double checking." Do you think it is better to send it back in or just wait for fix to emerge?
I will be sending it back and demand replacing the phone, also making sure they just don't re-flash again. I guess anything but re-flashing could work.
Remember that I've mailed my phone with one page letter explaining the problem. Their response was flashing the phone and sending it back - with my letter.
Here is note from the support team:
----------------------------------------
Original Problem:
Technical Inquiry
Phone Freezing / Locked U
Freeze/Delay Between Menu
Problem found:
NO TROUBLE FOUND
SW,PRL,OTSL RESET
Solution:
Passed All Functional Testing
--------------------------------------
@Samsungservice did not even acknowledge it officially that this is a problem.
Yeah i wrote a letter too explaining the issue and how to recreate it (the first time). They told me that it passed their quality assurance inspection after re-flashing it, which must be very poor because my phone shut off again 15 minutes after receiving it. Just dropped it back off at UPS today. Can they replace the phone because of this issue? I know one person had success, but it doesn't seem anyone else has.
Nexus S faulty
Samsung may not be able to reproduce it after reflashing; as this issue does not seem to occur when connected to a PC/computer via USB. Their automated testing could be over USB.
Looks like more and more people are facing this issue as the day goes by.
Search for "Nexus S fault state" on google and you'll find the google support forum thread discussing it
Guys,
Did anyone have tried to flash a custom rom to see if this will solve the problem ?
cheers !
No, but this problem is not ROM related.
discr said:
Samsung may not be able to reproduce it after reflashing; as this issue does not seem to occur when connected to a PC/computer via USB. Their automated testing could be over USB.
Looks like more and more people are facing this issue as the day goes by.
Search for "Nexus S fault state" on google and you'll find the google support forum thread discussing it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I figured that was why they couldn't recreate the shutdown. Made sure they knew that it has to be unplugged. Mine always shuts off within 10-15 minutes if untouched.
I have same problem.Only remove battery helps. I have been having nexus s for 2 and half months and this problem just came last week. I don't know how to solve it. I tried reflash firmware but didn't help.
welcome to the club. you have to send it to USA to get it serviced (make a extreme detailed problem description and make sure the support worker writes it down 1:1 into their ticket system). they provide a 2day ups shippment label, BUT only to locations in USA.
I can recommend FedEx. They helped me a lot with this duty stuff for shipping to USA. That's not so easy . I paid €50 to get it shipped to a friend of mine in USA.
You have to send only the foreparts of the device. No battery and back panel, no charger and so on. But they will give you all informations at the end of the service request.
or: wait for a hotfix. which maybe never will come.
Update:
I just mailed my phone again... they told me they do not replace phones (not sure what that means yet). The Rep was arguing that if I want the phone replaced then I need to talk to T-Mobile - it does not make any sense.
Anyway, I explained the problem as much as I could and did not mail any notes this time as they obviously do not care for it. But I made sure he included every detail in his notes.
I am very skeptical but still hoping....
Also,
About the part when the phone does not freeze when plugged in or charging. I had my Nexus S charging overnight and it was frozen in the morning.
Update:
Also, I've contacted @SamsungServic via Twitter and asked if their team recognized it as a problem, but I've got no response.
On the other hand if you report the problem to them, they will respond that they will look into it - which means nothing, but if enough people asks the same question them they will have to.
-thanks
I've got some sort of responce via Twitter from @SamsungService, here is what they wrote back:
@SamsungService
Thank you for reaching out to us. We are aware of this issue as some of us have your same phone. An evaluation is already being conducted to determine the fix. We don't have a time frame of the resolution, but understand it will be pushed to phones. We will advise once we have a time frame. Thank you. ^Mary
@Keinam
Does this mean we should stop sending our phones back for repair and just wait for your OTA update? If it happens?
@SamsungService
Many issues can be resolved with warranty service. Regarding the issue you've referred to,It is my understanding that a fix if being worked on which would be sent out OTA. ^Mary

[Q] HTC Surround Frozen?

Okay, googled, and bing'd the crap out of this and it looks like so far everyone who's had this issue has had to send their phones in for repair, but before doing that I thought I'd ask here aswell to see if anyone has been able to solve this problem.
I've had my HTC Surround for about a month now and this morning when I went to use it I noticed I couldn't read my emails, it said something like "Oops we were not able to retrieve your email." I thought no problem I'll just restart my phone. I turned it off, and turned it back on. Ever since then the phone has been stuck on the white HTC start screen. I've pulled the battery four times and tried restarting it. I've restarted it holding the volume up and down buttons and I get a bootloader screen (no option to hard reset). I can plug it into my computer on the bootloader screen and the computer recognizes the device as an HTC SD card. (This is nice to know seeing as I can, if I ever get the phone working again, load files on the phone's SD card that Zune won't let me) however this is bad because Zune will not recognize the phone.
Sooo, anyone else had this problem and been able to fix it themselves? I don't want to have to send it to HTC because I have no warranty. I bought the phone used. Any thoughts would be appreciated!
And this is running 7004, I have no unlocked the phone or tampered with it in any way. (yet)
Have you looked in the development forum for your stock ROM and tried flashing it from the bootloader?
I couldn't find a rom to flash. Maybe I will just use this as an opportunity to switch to Sprint and buy an Arrive. That way I can be done with ATT's crappy service.
I'm on my third surround now, with both previous ones dead with the exact same situation you have described. I called ATT, had them replace them on warranty for free. I'm waiting for this third one to die so I can get a different model
P.S. I tried flashing the stock ROM, hard resetting, and everything else trying to get both phones back to life but I ended up just having to warranty them. Call up ATT and have them send you a new one.
Thanks, I was able to do a warranty claim. Technically I wasn't allowed to because I bought the phone outright (used) on craigslist. But since the person at ATT was lazy and didn't check when I went in the sent me to my local device support center and I was able to walk out with a new phone in 5 minutes.
Hope this doesn't keep occurring though. If they were to ever check how the phone was purchased I'd be screwed.
doejohn531 said:
Thanks, I was able to do a warranty claim. Technically I wasn't allowed to because I bought the phone outright (used) on craigslist. But since the person at ATT was lazy and didn't check when I went in the sent me to my local device support center and I was able to walk out with a new phone in 5 minutes.
Hope this doesn't keep occurring though. If they were to ever check how the phone was purchased I'd be screwed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the same problem with my Surround a few months ago. Then I had another one that kept losing the data off the device. I'm on my third one now and it has been holding up for three months.
I also noticed in the store that all the display models of the phone were having the exact same issue.
I think they changed something up, as this new one seems to be hanging in there much better than the last two.
hi
i am new , post post post

RMA a slightly damaged phone

Hello, So my Nexus 5 began going into bootloop and random reboot since last december and I could usually fit it by tapping around the power button. This problem is well known and the only real fix is to change the power button. Since my phone is out of waranty by a couple weeks I opened it up and when looking at the power switch I thought .... No way I can change that, ill just try my luck with tech support ...
Luckilly they agreed to send me an RMA right away I'm just a little concern because the back cover now does not fit like it used to and the phone is missing a plastic tab on top of the sim tray. Do you think google will charge me ? Anyone had a similar issue before ? I really don't want to play for that rma ...

N5 repair in shop

I left my Nexus 5 in for repair a week ago to a local phone shop, it had the faulty power button problem which was causing a bootloop.
Fast forward, they tried replacing the button with another but said the new button did not work,
They now say that its likely the motherboard and have ordered one for the phone ?
Does this sound like a genuine explanation or have they possibly damaged the motherboard by a botched job at soldering ?
Cheers
I would suggest getting it back and doing a visual inspection because a new motherboard is expensive.
9 days later , I Phone the repair shop today and they said my phone cannot be fixed , worse still they don't have it but its "on the way" from a courier someplace.
Very poor service that they took it in the first place saying "no problem , we can fix that in a few hours"
The phone was still working when i left it in but now im afraid when it comes that it will be totally unusable , my suspicion is that they may have messed up the soldering.
The guy has apologized over the phone but said i need a new phone and offered me another phone (they dont carry nexus) at a discount. but I'm still fuming.
Not sure what to do.
Not sure if they did screw it up or whether there is a problem in addition to the power button.
You may as well wait until you get the phone back Definitely check the imei if possible to make sure the company returns the correct phone. Examine it closely for any other potential damage/changes from the original.
audit13 said:
Not sure if they did screw it up or whether there is a problem in addition to the power button.
You may as well wait until you get the phone back Definitely check the imei if possible to make sure the company returns the correct phone. Examine it closely for any other potential damage/changes from the original.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for that, any particular things i should look for ? Im thinking of taking it into another place for a second opinion, the phone was working intermittently before i left it in , meaning i was getting a few days of good use than maybe an hour or 2 of constant rebooting that was definitely the power button .
Also do you think i should ask for any compensation from the company ? its hard to know.
I would definitely look for stray solder, damaged ribbon cables, damaged motherboard connectors, and broken clips. If the repair shop did something to brick it, there may be no signs of physical damage.
Rather than send it out again, you could look for a used N5 with a smashed screen and working motherboard. This way, you could just swap out the motherboards and you'll have a few spare internal parts.
audit13 said:
I would definitely look for stray solder, damaged ribbon cables, damaged motherboard connectors, and broken clips. If the repair shop did something to brick it, there may be no signs of physical damage.
Rather than send it out again, you could look for a used N5 with a smashed screen and working motherboard. This way, you could just swap out the motherboards and you'll have a few spare internal parts.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks again, I had a look online at the teardown video and it seems fairly straightforward to swap out parts (i previously had changed the battery myself) .
I just don't understand why they could not fix it, especially when he said they will put a new motherboard in it. surely that would have sorted it . just dosent make sense, perhaps they just cant be bothered ordering a new part.
A new motherboard? That should completely solve any problems since nothing on the motherboard can be replaced by a cell shop, even lg, unless the shop damaged something on the lcd.
Yes he mentioned changing the motherboard for a new one, you dont think even the power button can be replaced on it ?
Sorry about my confusing post.
Yes, the button can be replaced, but that is about it. There are only three solder points for the power button I believe. The wifi chip, emmc, and sim reader cannot be replaced.
Hopefully, it will not cost too much for the replacement motherboard.

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