Related
After I got my skyrocket, many of my friends and family also decided on the skyrocket Well, now it's up to me to make sure they're all in working order.
So one of my family members left her skyrocket in a bag of water for a while while she was at the beach, and it was completely unresponsive. I fully disassembled it (not my first time), dried out the majority of the water, then left the phone in rice for a few days. The good news is, the phone boots up and seems to work. The battery still works and it charges over USB.
The bad news is, the cellular radio does not work, IMEI comes up as unknown, bluetooth mac is "unavailable", front facing camera is also unresponsive. Really bad news: data/adb over usb does not register at all. A few more days in rice haven't helped.
The phone is completely stock. My first thought was that flashing a new radio might reset the cellular somehow, but not having cwm/odin makes that impossible. I can't seem to get the phone into download mode either because of the USB problem.
One thing that DOES work is the stock recovery. I can tell it to flash the official ATT ICS build, which contains a radio!
However when I try flashing it says.. "E: Short write of /tmp/sideload/package.zip (No space left on device) Installation aborted". Other zips "failed to verify whole-file signature"
Any ideas? My next step will be buying a used skyrocket with a cracked screen, and transplanting the working screen from this unit...
Tom
First off, please use the Q&A section for, you know, questions and answers. Don't create a new thread; I'm going to ask the mods to move this one instead.
Second, your issue is that the hardware radio is dead. The stock ROM only has a software radio included. To put it a different way, the stock ROM includes programming that tells the cell radio what to do. It can't fix the cell radio if it's broken, though. Unfortunately, based on the amount of damage you've got there, I'd say your phone is pretty much toast.
If you're completely stock, try to warranty it out. Just be up front with Sammy about what happened (because, in this instance, they will figure it out if you make up a story or play dumb), and the worst thing they can say is no. You might get a sympathetic rep who'll help you out. If they won't take it, you've already got your backup plan in the working SR.
T.J. Bender said:
First off, please use the Q&A section for, you know, questions and answers. Don't create a new thread; I'm going to ask the mods to move this one instead.
Second, your issue is that the hardware radio is dead. The stock ROM only has a software radio included. To put it a different way, the stock ROM includes programming that tells the cell radio what to do. It can't fix the cell radio if it's broken, though. Unfortunately, based on the amount of damage you've got there, I'd say your phone is pretty much toast.
If you're completely stock, try to warranty it out. Just be up front with Sammy about what happened (because, in this instance, they will figure it out if you make up a story or play dumb), and the worst thing they can say is no. You might get a sympathetic rep who'll help you out. If they won't take it, you've already got your backup plan in the working SR.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Meant to post this in Q&A, woops. Too many xda tabs open trying to figure this out. Sorry about that
I do know the difference between the hardware/software radios... My thought was that while the phone was turned on and submerged, the software radio could have become corrupt... A long shot perhaps
I'll try contacting samsung, but somehow I doubt they'll cover it. Sidenote, do you really think they have a more sophisticated way to check for water damage than the internal water-damage indicator sticker?
The question still stands though, if anyone is interested. Even without a cell radio, I'd like to be able to root it for other purposes
Thanks for the advice
Tom
dutchthomas said:
Meant to post this in Q&A, woops. Too many xda tabs open trying to figure this out. Sorry about that
I do know the difference between the hardware/software radios... My thought was that while the phone was turned on and submerged, the software radio could have become corrupt... A long shot perhaps
I'll try contacting samsung, but somehow I doubt they'll cover it. Sidenote, do you really think they have a more sophisticated way to check for water damage than the internal water-damage indicator sticker?
The question still stands though, if anyone is interested. Even without a cell radio, I'd like to be able to root it for other purposes
Thanks for the advice
Tom
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, based on the amount of things going wrong, it's hardware. If the software radio was corrupt, it would be because the internal storage had been corrupted, and your phone likely would not boot.
And yes, they can find water damage beyond the sticker. They can see corrosion plain as day when they open it up and look at the internals.
You can root it without USB working. Is your wifi working? If so, download GooManager off the market, then follow the instructions in the TWRP thread to get TWRP on your phone. Download a custom ROM to your PC, then transfer it to your external SD using an adapter/card reader so you can place it on the card directly (instead of going through the USB port). Use TWRP to flash the pre-rooted ROM onto your phone and viola. Unless there's a pre-rooted stock out there (and I don't think there is for SR), a custom ROM is the only way I can think of to do it.
Be advised, though, that because of the amount of damage done to your phone's internals, there's a better-than-normal chance that something won't work and you'll brick. I'm not responsible for your decisions or for the brick if that happens.
Long story short, just get a replacement SR.
Same thing happened to my girls Atrix. She gave it a nice bath in Green Tea. After shutting it down and pulling it apart I gave it the rice treatment for 48 hours. Booted but returned a radio error. Her USB port was working so I was able to root it and install a few custom ROMs on it. No change. So I would bet you actually fried the chip. Call Sammi and get a quote to cover the repair which will be a new mobo. They pay shipping both ways and are usually pretty cheap.
hechoen said:
Same thing happened to my girls Atrix. She gave it a nice bath in Green Tea. After shutting it down and pulling it apart I gave it the rice treatment for 48 hours. Booted but returned a radio error. Her USB port was working so I was able to root it and install a few custom ROMs on it. No change. So I would bet you actually fried the chip. Call Sammi and get a quote to cover the repair which will be a new mobo. They pay shipping both ways and are usually pretty cheap.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Heh, this is my mother's phone actually. First she ripped the screen ribbon cable on a nokia E75. Then she smashed her Atrix's screen, tried to fix it herself with a new screen, and managed to rip part of a ribbon cable... so it no longer has a working touch digitizer. Now she left her skyrocket in a bag of water. The girlfriend managed to crack her skyrocket's screen, which I replaced... I've also had to fix 2x nokia N95's, an N97, and a bunch of water damaged dumb phones over the years...
FWIW, the skyrocket seems to have the best repairability / internal layout of any of the phones I've messed with
The cracked screen skyrockets on ebay seem to be going for more than I thought, so I'll be giving sammy a call for sure
I've always had an HTC phone everything from the EVO shift (yee yeah), to the Inspire HD, then got a Vivid, now I'm using this One X AT&T. I've been spoiled by Sense, I can't imagine having to use a Samsung. It's nice, fast yada yada but geeez its bubbly icons kill it for me.
This OneX I can't understand why the All the softkeys or home keys have been changed. The back key is for left hand people, Why does the recent apps button even exist and then put it in the most convenient place? No battery? What I mean to say is no extra battery. Ive always bought an extra battery so that if I don't have a plug-in or charger I got it covered.
Can someone give me any reason why the charge port is on the side?
No SD storage... This is probably the main reason Im done with HTC. A factory reset from the bootloader erases everything on your phone including backups. EVERYTHING ON YOUR PHONE! Not the recovery though...
Is there any way of securing the data so this never happens?
Now my camera has went out. No camera.. Ive tried everything, I even called HTC support they tried and they say "need new hardware". I really hate to tear into this phone.
I never write these vent posts.. I would fight someone lastweek if they talked trash about HTC phones. Maybe I got lemon, it's just One thing after another.
Although it seems like I'm trashing this phone I really love it. I just can't store anything important on it or take pictures, video.. I've read so many posts on replacing the camera but I just hate to tear into it. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I never knew how important it was..
No one can say anything bad about the screen on the One X. It's amazing..
Sound is great
Smooth running phone too..
I'm scared to spend money on another HTC product. Maybe there is a way to try out a phone for a couple days that would be great.
THOUGHTS?????
Sent using-
Sense5 HTC OneXL
unlocked, rooted, S-off
TurboCharged
Tampered like a mother f....er
You have the right to voice your opinion but this isn't really the place to do it. You're just knocking the phone. It's not a perfect phone, but it's really good once you get it rooted and all that. Stay respectful, everyone!
Sent from my evita
I'm wondering why you bought it on the first place.
Almost all of your complaints are hardware ones that you know about before buying the phone?
Personally I don't mind the hardware at all. External SD would be nice but not a big deal. And I like right side unlock buttons.
As far as the camera I think it was just bad luck or damage. Haven't heard about it happening much at all.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
My niggles:
They put pogo contacts on the phone... but couldn't be bothered to make anything that actually uses them.
9.xGB of storage when I was expecting the typical 14.xGB for a phone advertised with 16GB.
HUGE pain to get root early on, though partially att's fault.
The phone loses signal if I leave it face up. (really gotta find time to get that fixed...)
Other than that, it's been an awesome phone.
I think HTC could've improved more in the music department and camera, but I agree with RollTribe. It's not a perfect phone, and there will never be a perfect phone imo. For me it was the software and hardware (GPS works!!) that made me stay.
Overall I would consider the XL solid. I'm going to look past the HTC One, though, and wait for the next generation.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
I think the back button is in a perfect spot for right handed people, it is right in reach of my thumb when held in my right hand.
You complain about the recent app button, but I don't follow your complaint. It exists so you can multitask, you say it is in a convenient spot and I agree, easily accessed by the right thumb when held right handed.
Extra battery? I have never found myself wanting to buy extra batteries for any phone ever. I just charge mine when required. This phone lasts a full day easy if you are not playing games on it. I am a heavy phone user with maybe 30-50 calls every work day, sync an ics calendar every hour, use calendar, contacts, browser and email a whole bunch. The phone lasts the entire day. These days with my car dock I can play games all day without issue
Charge port on the side makes for easy landscape car docking, perfect for GPS. I slip mine into the car charger often these days, it is one of the easiest phones to get in and out of the dock as the charge port is on the side.
SD storage, again I use my phone for a whole bunch of things and have never gone close to using the full storage. I stream over Spotify via Bluetooth to my car head unit. I have about 20-30 user apps installed. I just can not fill the phone. I even have the 16GB model from Hong Kong while most around me who bought from Telstra have 32GB.
I have had my phone for 15 months now and the camera still works perfectly. My last phone(s) was a Nexus One and a Nokia E68(or something) I smashed the camera lens on the Nokia before 12 months, not sure how, but my One XL is fine.
Then the next user, Zodiac:
I like the unlock at the top, easy to reach with right index finger, but can not be accidentally pushed.
Then, antichamp:
pogo pin issues( I initially really wanted to use the pogo pins aswell just for the gimmick until I realized they only seem cool)
1)The pogo pins are used on the desk dock.
2)The USB port actually "locks" the phone in to the car dock, the car dock requires a locking mechanism unlike the desk dock.
3)The pogo pins would cause scratch marks along the back as the pins drag along the case as you slide the phone in and out of a car dock.
4)The pins on the dock would wear out because of #3
5)What is wrong with the USB port?
The phone is easy to get root on. All issues are AT&T, the phone in EVERY other region is a breeze to unlock.
My gripe is weird data issues, where you sometimes need to give the phone a kick (eg via airplane mode toggling) to reset data (3g, 4g or wifi).
This was been improved dramatically though the updates but is still a niggling issue that sometimes crops up.
Also originally I disliked not having a hardware menu key and being forced into the Android 3 dot menu thing. Ofcourse HTC listened and fixed that issue in an update.
When you say sound is great are we talking about the same phone? Can barely hear my phone speakers from the back seat of my car.
That and spotty service/data issues are my only gripes on this phone.
Sent from my HTC One XL using xda app-developers app
cannonofcourse said:
Now my camera has went out. No camera.. Ive tried everything, I even called HTC support they tried and they say "need new hardware". I really hate to tear into this phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think I might be having the same issue as you. Does the camera app just freeze immediately and crash? Then says cannot connect to camera when you try to open it again. Happened to me on AOKP Milestone 2 (rohan said it was an issue in the mainline AOKP), but now I've run 3.18 RUU and flashed the latest CM10.1 nightly and had the same issue.
Sent from my S-Off, turbo injected AT&T HTC One X (evita), running AOKP 4.2.2 & using XDA Premium
cannonofcourse said:
A factory reset from the bootloader erases everything on your phone including backups. EVERYTHING ON YOUR PHONE! Not the recovery though...
Is there any way of securing the data so this never happens?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This only occurs after you have modded the phone, so you can't blame HTC for this. Factory reset from bootloader works fine on stock phones.
The way to secure your data is very simple: Don't factory reset from bootloader. Its been mentioned in countless places. So if you wiped your backups, its your own fault for lack of proper research.
Research? Lets just try and read before quoting...
redpoint73 said:
This only occurs after you have modded the phone, so you can't blame HTC for this. Factory reset from bootloader works fine on stock phones.
The way to secure your data is very simple: Don't factory reset from bootloader. Its been mentioned in countless places. So if you wiped your backups, its your own fault for lack of proper research.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would expect this kind of blasphemy if I posted a dumb video on YouTube, but the fact that this is a dev site full of "professionals". I posted a comment against my better judgement to try and find answers or suggestions about my phone. The first response is that
"This isnt the place for that" And then 2nd response is
"Why did you buy the one x, you should have known about these things"
First of all I dont think its constructive to rip someone down for a post when clearly alot of people are having the same problem. And I wish I would have found an honest review of this phone before I bought it. I wish I could have read my post before buying this phone. But for some reason Im a black sheep (to a few) for giving my opinion on very important flaws that anyone should be concerned with. I love HTC and have 6 devices prior to this one.
Im not sure who (the 5th reply) twist....? works for and to make statements like never having a storage issue and dont mind the internal card.? I never said anything about the storage. I am commenting on the fact you cant remove the sd card just to make sure the data is secure. And I would love to have a number of how many people use a car dock or computer dock.?? Maybe this guy works for a manufacturer/...///??
I always carry an extra battery and Im not the only person who does. To act like that is unreasonable is just ridiculous.
Of course not all phones are perfect Of course! Why would anyone feel the need to say that...
I love my ONE X It just annoys me that I cant take pictures of my little girl with it. Or store any important data on it. Ive had at least 5 people contact me about the camera issue and are having the same problem.
This last reply to my review and concerns and wanted suggestions takes the cake.
The last comment clearly says that if "you want to secure your data then dont do a factory reset from the boot-loader. It only happens on Modded phones". I have 6 HTC phones and none of them wipe the complete phone to include the external sd. NONE... I wanted to know if it was possible to lock the sd storage or "trick" it to thinking it had an external sd and dont wipe that. If you dont know the answer then fine. I dont see how that is irrational. And I dont think anyone comes to this site because they want to get information on "never modding or rooting there phone." This site is kinda geared towards people who enjoy learning and doing cool, great and ingenious things to make everyone's life better. Or awesome. But to get completely ripped by senior members and the comments being about something other than what I or other members even said is UN professional. This site encourages members to post on General Forumns. I think its 10 before I can move to the big boy pages. But at this rate what could I possible have to gain by it. If I make mistakes or brick my phone then why should I feel like an idiot for wanting people to know why and how it happened to save them a headache? I dont see how typing anymore will stress how childish most of the replies to my posts have been, cannonofcourse out...
You need to calm down. Redpoint was right.
Sent from my Evita
Bottom line, you want perfect stability, Don't root.
cannonofcourse said:
The back key is for left hand people,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm right handed and it really doesn't bother me. I can sympathize with having to get used to differences on devices. It always takes a while for me to get used to things.
cannonofcourse said:
No battery? What I mean to say is no extra battery. Ive always bought an extra battery so that if I don't have a plug-in or charger I got it covered.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I find that external battery packs are way more convenient. You can pick up a 10,000 mah Anker pack for under $50 and it'll charge your phone several times. And it works for any other devices that you might have that charge via USB. And it will work on the next phone that you buy.
cannonofcourse said:
Can someone give me any reason why the charge port is on the side?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No idea. It does however work very well with the iBolt car dock. Quick and easy to put the phone in and lock it.
cannonofcourse said:
No SD storage... This is probably the main reason Im done with HTC. A factory reset from the bootloader erases everything on your phone including backups. EVERYTHING ON YOUR PHONE! Not the recovery though...
Is there any way of securing the data so this never happens?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I found this out the hard way as well, but anything on my phone exists other places. I don't consider my phone to be a place to store unrecoverable files. My photos are automatically backed up to G+, contacts and email are on Google, anything else doesn't really matter.
cannonofcourse said:
Now my camera has went out. No camera.. Ive tried everything, I even called HTC support they tried and they say "need new hardware". I really hate to tear into this phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That just sucks. I had to get a warranty replacement at one point due to a bad SIM slot, but the AT&T service center swapped it out no questions asked, didn't even notice that the bootloader was unlocked.
With all of that said, I really do think that people here are trying to help.
cannonofcourse said:
I would expect this kind of blasphemy if I posted a dumb video on YouTube, but the fact that this is a dev site full of "professionals".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So if anybody disagrees with you, its "blasphemy"??? Nobody here is a professional. Professionals get paid. If you mean courteous and polite, I don't see any responses to the contrary. Yes, several of us have disagreed with you. But not in any way that can remotely be considered a flame, personal attack, etc.
I was simply pointing out a FACT that the factory reset from bootloader bug exists due to the phone being hacked. HTC could have not have predicted every way user-implemented mods could harm the phone. You have some legitimate criticisms of HTC and the phone. But the factory reset issue isn't one of them.
You asked for our thoughts. We gave them. Or maybe you just wanted to hear from people that agreed with you?
I'm done with HTC as well if motorola steps up its game with the X but frankly i'll support anyone except samsung. I just want to see android evolve to more than just 1 oem (samsung).
I don't hold the past against any oem. If i like the new phone, i'll buy it.
twistedddx said:
Then, antichamp:
pogo pin issues( I initially really wanted to use the pogo pins aswell just for the gimmick until I realized they only seem cool)
1)The pogo pins are used on the desk dock.
2)The USB port actually "locks" the phone in to the car dock, the car dock requires a locking mechanism unlike the desk dock.
3)The pogo pins would cause scratch marks along the back as the pins drag along the case as you slide the phone in and out of a car dock.
4)The pins on the dock would wear out because of #3
5)What is wrong with the USB port?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no desk dock for this phone...
For the international version there is, regardless of it's mediocre reviews.
I recently discovered the unfortunate truth of your 2nd point (I'm trying to make my own car dock).
On three and four, wouldn't that indicate a poor design of the phone? (blame the user ala apple's "you're holding it wrong")
There's nothing wrong with the usb port, I just think it would be convienient to both charge the phone and get analog audio out without connecting both the usb and 3.5mm jack.
fleabeard said:
I had to get a warranty replacement at one point due to a bad SIM slot, but the AT&T service center swapped it out no questions asked, didn't even notice that the bootloader was unlocked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm, bad sim slot you say?
If I don't leave my phone face down it loses service. I have to restart it upside down and shake it before it will come back.
Think I could have the same problem?
It's possible. Or it could just be the SIM carrier.
Sent from my One X using Tapatalk 4 Beta
Well....
fleabeard said:
I'm right handed and it really doesn't bother me. I can sympathize with having to get used to differences on devices. It always takes a while for me to get used to things.
I find that external battery packs are way more convenient. You can pick up a 10,000 mah Anker pack for under $50 and it'll charge your phone several times. And it works for any other devices that you might have that charge via USB. And it will work on the next phone that you buy.
Actually I bought one of the "power on the go" packs from radio shack and broke it apart, replaced the battery with a 3600mah I ordered for my evo on accident. It cost about 8 dollars (plus the cost of the extra battery 12 bucks I think) and it charges my phone incredibly fast and about 3 times before I have to charge it back.up. Nothing worse than hearing that beep noise when your trying to get something done.
No idea. It does however work very well with the iBolt car dock. Quick and easy to put the phone in and lock it.
I found this out the hard way as well, but anything on my phone exists other places. I don't consider my phone to be a place to store unrecoverable files. My photos are automatically backed up to G+, contacts and email are on Google, anything else doesn't really matter.
I do try to back up everything to the cloud, via Google drive or I have a media server but it always seems like the one thing I needed is gone forever. I just found out the hard way that a reset from the bootloader took out my whole phone. It just sucks not being able to pull the card out and hold it.
That just sucks. I had to get a warranty replacement at one point due to a bad SIM slot, but the AT&T service center swapped it out no questions asked, didn't even notice that the bootloader was unlocked.
It seems like a certain set of serial numbers are having a hardware issue. I hate to go without my phone to get it fixed but I guess thats what I have to do. Thats the price we pay to have it all wrapped up in one little cool device.
With all of that said, I really do think that people here are trying to help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know there are plenty of people that do a fantastic superhuman job. Just hours of searching to find out if someone has or is working on a fix or if I can provide info to contribute seems like so many people just lashing out for no reason.. But maybe Im being defensive.
Thanks
Unfortunately I highly doubt the issues you've brought up can be "fixed".
But...
I'm pretty sure you can change the location of the back button on certain aosp ROMs though.
Using battery case should mitigate the need for a removable battery.
The fact that doing a factory reset from bootloader wipes your phone can't be changed, but a little research on here warns of that in numerous places. And I don't think that's necessarily HTC's fault. It's up to us to educate ourselves about the risks we face when altering our devices.
For instance: TWRP 2.6 has an advanced wipe feature which makes it very easy to wipe your sd card while wiping the usual system and caches. I did that myself just recently, accidentally checked the wrong box and wiped my sd. I lost everything. Without a backup. So many photos of my kids gone for good. But I don't blame TWRP for making it easy to do that. I blame myself for working too fast and not being careful enough.
Sent from my Evita
cannonofcourse said:
I know there are plenty of people that do a fantastic superhuman job. Just hours of searching to find out if someone has or is working on a fix or if I can provide info to contribute seems like so many people just lashing out for no reason.. But maybe Im being defensive.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did the factory reset thrrough bootloader cause your problems??
If so, all yous gotta do is plug yer phone right into your computer and let windows detect it. Once it finds it, it will send you a window that says something along the lines of having an error with the sd card, from there click the button that says fix errors, and your all set. This happened to me before and I couldnt play music, store or access anything, or use the camera. But now it works perfectly.
And as for the extra battery, the portable chargers provide more battery life with less money. It makes more sense to buy a portable charger even if we did have removable batteries. :good::good::good::good:
Hi All.
My beloved Samsung S3 suddenly did a few random reboots on its own, and then bricked itself. I have tried flashing several ways but it won't take anything at all. After reading several posts, I think it suffered "sudden death" and has the NAND memory issue and the fix is unclear.
Anyway, I quickly replaced the phone as I needed one.
However, I see I can get quite a lot of cash for a broken S3 via online offers.
Question is, I am worried about personal data on the phone that may be possible to recover by someone fixing the phone. I can't boot it in any way so am unable to delete anything.
I bought a phone before once, that even though was "factory reset", I found a lot of the previous owner's documents in a folder.
I'm pretty much leaning towards losing £80/90 to be sure my docs are safe, but I'd be interested what other people have done in the same situation?
Master12345 said:
Hi All.
My beloved Samsung S3 suddenly did a few random reboots on its own, and then bricked itself. I have tried flashing several ways but it won't take anything at all. After reading several posts, I think it suffered "sudden death" and has the NAND memory issue and the fix is unclear.
Anyway, I quickly replaced the phone as I needed one.
However, I see I can get quite a lot of cash for a broken S3 via online offers.
Question is, I am worried about personal data on the phone that may be possible to recover by someone fixing the phone. I can't boot it in any way so am unable to delete anything.
I bought a phone before once, that even though was "factory reset", I found a lot of the previous owner's documents in a folder.
I'm pretty much leaning towards losing £80/90 to be sure my docs are safe, but I'd be interested what other people have done in the same situation?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most androids save everything to a micro SD card, if you take that out then its basically clean(what I did for a Motorola Atrix 2,bricked it)
If you dont want anyone recovering it(if its bricked its basically impossible , depends which brick though) . Open it up and break a circuit on the board , put it together and its unrecoverable(may sound silly but it works.)
[Q&A] WiFi stuck on turning on; MAC 02:00:00:00:00:00; G2 G3 G4 G5 Nexus5 Nexus 7 etc
Hi!
If you are reading this now, you are probably one of the unlucky fellows who's WiFi (and Bluetooth) stopped functioning, and if so, you are probably deperately searching for a solution/fix. I might have something for you, but first:
*** DISCLAIMER/WARNING ***
You yourself are exclusively responsible for whatever may (or may not) happen to your mobile device, to yourself or others. I am only giving hints/advices here that *MAY* help, but I will not take any responsability, nor will I provide any support, in absolutely *ANY CASE*, including, but not limited to: your problem not being solved or/and your mobile device becoming partially or completely broken. Let me be very clear: If you do anything to your device rendering it useless, destroying it, seriously or fataly injuring you or others, and then come blaming me or/and cry for help, I will point my index finger at you and laugh at you. Period.
If you are a impatient person and want to get straight to the point, jump right to section 6.
Table of Contents
0. Foreword
1. Description of the problem
2. Urgent advice
3. Things that didn't work
4. There is little hope
5. My most obvious advice
6. LET'S GET SERIOUS!
6.a Sellotape / Scotch tape
6.b Refrigerator / Freezer
6.c Oven
0. Foreword
Two or three months ago, one fine morning, the WiFi/BT of my LG G2 suddenly stopped working. Initially I thought this would be only one stupid annoying minor thingy, that I’d be able to solve it fast. I was wrong.
1. Description of the problem
When turning on the WiFi, it would just stay in "Turning on..." forever. Similar thing for Bluetooth: It would stay on for a few seconds and then turn itself off again after. (But then, who needs Bluetooth anyway, WiFi ist probably 100 times more important...). I have thoroughly searched the internet, and I found quite some videos with exactly the same problem (remove the two blanks from the links to watch):
h ttps://w ww.youtube.com/watch?v=fRGnQz1zUmw
h ttps://w ww.youtube.com/watch?v=4W8YJMDFM88
h ttp://w ww.dailymotion.com/video/x2cuyjt_nexus-5-turning-wifi-on-frozen-problem_tech
2. Urgent advice
I want to prevent you from wasting countless hours searching for a solution - I wasted so much of my time already, no need for you to repeat that. Therefore: *Please* be aware that there is a VERY HIGH PROBABILITY that this issue is being caused by a hardware defect. I can not speak for all devices of course, but keep in mind that the main reason I wasted so much time, was me beliving it was some software issue! See the next section for a glimpse of stuff I have tried without any success:
3. Things that *DIDN'T* work
01. Restarting WiFi/Bluetooth several times
02. Rebooting the phone
03. Turning airplane mode on/off several times
04. Slapping/hitting the phone (this was indeed suggested in a forum)
05. Using WiFi-Fixer apps
06. Resetting to factory settings
07. Upgrading to newest Android version
08. Fully drained the battery and left it uncharged for several hours
(Rooted the phone)
09. Deleting the /data/misc/wifi/wpa_supplicant.conf
10. Deleting the whole /data/misc/wifi folder
11. Creating a file named ".bdaddr" in /persist/bluetooth containing a MAC-Address in hexadecimal format
12. Creating a file named ".macaddr" in /persist/wifi containing a MAC-Address in hexadecimal format
13. Flashing several custom ROMs to it (CyanogenMod, ParanoidAndroid, ...)
14. Going back to stock ROM
15. etc. etc. etc.
16. Several combinations and permutations of the above
4. There is little hope
Again, as the cause of the problem is most likely a hardware issue, I don't recommend going through all the steps as described in the previous section; however, though none of the steps worked for me, this doesn't mean that none won't work for you neither; you might be luckier than I was. In that case, enjoy your restored WiFi and be happy.
5. My most obvious advice
You need to replace the motherboard (main board) of your device.
Honestly, if you can afford it and it doesn't cause too many inconveniences to you, you'll be better off by simply buying a new device. If you don't want to buy a new device, send it in for repairs. If you don't want to do that as well, you'll have to fallback to a DIY solution:
I. Buy a new main board for your device. Be careful to get exactly the right component for your specific model. If you dont find any shop selling those, there are plenty of individuals out there that own devices with broken displays. You dont need the displays, you need the motherboard. Buy one such broken device, and you'll have your main board replacement.
II. Replace your main board or let someone else do it for you
Continues below.
continuation
6. LET'S GET SERIOUS!
If you are reading this, you either didn't read or you decided not to follow my most obvious advice in section 5. So be it. If you want to carry on from here, be sure to re-read my disclaimer at the top of my post.
There are 3 DIY possible fixes for the WiFi problem - none is guaranteed. I will describe them from the most harmless to the most kamikaze/deadliest. All of them will require you to open your device; if you are not careful and damage any of the components inside, you will end up with a worse device than before - but hey, don't say I didn't warn you.
At this point we assume that the cause of the problem is a faulty solder joint of your WiFi IC. The goal is to try to restore that solder joint. To do that, you will have to:
I. Open your device
II. Find your main board and separate it from all connected plugs
III. Find / identify the WiFi IC chip on the main board. I recommend searching for a service manual for your device, or/and searching for a disassembly video for your device; you need to know which one of the chips on the main board is the WiFi one.
Once you have identified your WiFi chip, you have 3 options, which you may combine with each other, but I recommend to try them out one-by-one as follows:
6.a Sellotape / Scotch tape
You need to make sure that your WiFi chip is pressed against the main board (ideally, this ensures the broken contacts touch each other, solving the problem). The best way to achieve this, is to attach a series of tape strips on the top of the WiFi chip, causing it to be pressed against the main board by the surrounding cover/hull once you reassemble/close the device. The tape strips are just a suggestion, do whatever you find convenient as long as you ensure that the chip is pushed against the board at all times.
This method may solve the WiFi problem already. When you turn your device back on, give it some time (5-10 minutes) and reboot it a few times if the problem still persists. My own WiFi didn't function right away, but after a while it finally recovered - hurray!
6.b Refrigerator / Freezer
Instead of using the tape as described in 6.a, you may first try to put your motherboard in a fridge for a few hours/days. But make sure to put it there in a plastic bag, and avoid moisture as much as you can, specially when taking it out of the fridge. Make sure its completely dry before reassembling your device!
By the way, try the refrigerator option BEFORE you try the freezer option!
6.c Oven
If everything else fails, the oven might be your last chance. This is not a joke, but as you probably can assume, it is "All-In" i.e. highly risky. The theory behind this is that high temperature will cause defective solder joints to reflow, reconnecting and thus fixing the problem.
You should only try this as a matter of last ressort. Be warned that you may fully destroy your main board, and there is a high chance that you will. Also, you may cause serious injury to yourself or others. Make sure you make backups of your data first. DO NOT BAKE THE WHOLE DEVICE, ONLY THE MAIN BOARD. DO NOT BAKE THE BATTERY!!
If you are still reading:
I. pre-heat your oven to 385° Fahrenheit (196° Celsius)
II. put your main board in the oven, bake it there for 7 minutes
III. remove from the oven, let it cool down until every component of the board has room temperature
Finally, here is a video of a guy doing a similar thing, but with a heat gun:
h ttps://w ww.youtube.com/watch?v=A4n0j3uaS7E
Ok, this is all, I hope I could help you.
Good luck!
Summary
Hello all,
first of all, I want to thank brysclar and xbing6 for their valuable feedback! Thanks a lot guys! :good:
Now, in an effort to update this thread and in an effort of trying to summarize it in fewer words (my disclaimer above applies!):
- The described problem seems to affect mainly (all kinds of) LG devices
- The issue seems to be caused by a defective soldering of the Wi-Fi chip on the main board
- The defect seems to be induced by dropping or/and overheating the device; recharging the battery, big/long app or android updates or the flashing of custom roms could cause excessive heating
- brysclar pointed out that replacing the battery might solve the problem (I haven't tried this out myself, so I can neither deny nor confirm this)
- My recommended solution is 6.a - applying pressure on the Wi-Fi chip, pushing it against the main board, using tape stripes
- There is a video of a brasilean guy doing some similar, but using pieces of an old credit card instead of tape strips: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJkdva2iOag BUT PLEASE NOTE THAT HE IS APPLYING THE PRESSURE ON A RANDOM SPOT, NOT DIRECTLY TO THE WIFI CHIP! It *may* work for you, but if it doesn't, find/identify your Wi-Fi chip and apply the pressure there
- If everything else fails, and only as a matter of last ressort, you may try what I have written in 6.c
So... this thread has over 500 views, but not one single reply.
Guys... what has your experience been? Have you tried anything out from the posts above, and if so, what was the result? Did it help you? Do you recommend anything? Has something else, not written here, worked for you?
There are a lot of people out there having the same problem. It would be great if you could give any feedback, share anything that helps the community.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I honestly didn't see this post before. You really covered every detail very well. So far, returning my G3 to stock and replacing the battery has fixed it for me. Weird. I know. I did try 90% of the things on your "things that don't work" list and you are correct. They don't work.
wlanmac 02/00/00/00/00, Bluetooth is OK
Hey, i just got an LG LS990 with same Wifi issue and i'm ready to try so WITNESS ME!
Thanks for an amazing and detailed post lml
Simply awesome.
I have similar issue with my Nexus 5x. It is QCA6174 hw 3.2 chip, lspci does not detect this chip any more. I am going to do a little bit investigation from device driver (cnss) perspective. It enables one GPIO to provide power to this WiFi chip, I will try read back this GPIO status to see if it is enabled. I do not have the schematics, I do not know how to check if power is supplied to this wifi chip.
lspci used to show below:
$ ./lspci
00:00.0 PCI bridge: Airgo Networks Inc Device 0300 (rev ff)
01:00.0 Network controller: Atheros Communications Inc. Device 003e (rev ff) (this is qca6174)
If kernel driver investigation does not reveal anything helpful, I will ask other guys to replace the chip.
I thought it is because of vendor partition is accidentally wiped out, maybe it is unlikely.
---------- Post added at 08:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:40 PM ----------
As Bluetooth can not be turned either, I am tending to think this is hardware related as well. As described previously, I will see if I can check that gpio status.
investigating
xbing6 said:
I have similar issue with my Nexus 5x.
(...)
I am going to do a little bit investigation
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi xbing, and thank you for your feedback! :good:
I am really curious and looking forward to hear the results of your investigation! I believe that in your case, too, the Wi-Fi/BT chip is not being supplied correctly due to a defective soldering. Note that I don't think that the chip itself is defective, only the contacts between the chip and the main board. So, before replacing the chip, I'd recommend to first try what I've written in 6.a (or check my update/summary above).
Keep us posted about everything you find out!
Sprint declined to fix my LS990 due to "water damage" being the reason for it not working, and wanted to charge me a $150 deductible for a $100 phone. Shimming the WiFi chip against the metal covering with some thermal pad I had lying around and adding a bit of sticky foam on top of the ribbon cable for the camera worked great! Much thanks!
Tomcat5 said:
Sprint declined to fix my LS990 due to "water damage" being the reason for it not working, and wanted to charge me a $150 deductible for a $100 phone. Shimming the WiFi chip against the metal covering with some thermal pad I had lying around and adding a bit of sticky foam on top of the ribbon cable for the camera worked great! Much thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any idea if thermal paste/grease could work?
unlikely
NavHur said:
Any idea if thermal paste/grease could work?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi NavHur,
since the problem is mostly caused by a loose Wi-Fi chip, respectively a defective solder joint, using thermal paste or grease is unlikely to help; again, what you need to do is to have your Wi-Fi chip pushed against your main board. You can use your imagination on how to accomplish this; what Tomcat5 described he did ultimately led to exactly having his chip being pressed against the board.
Of course you are free to try whatever you want - if you find new solutions please post some feedback.
Good luck.
NimbleWeasel said:
Hi NavHur,
since the problem is mostly caused by a loose Wi-Fi chip, respectively a defective solder joint, using thermal paste or grease is unlikely to help; again, what you need to do is to have your Wi-Fi chip pushed against your main board. You can use your imagination on how to accomplish this; what Tomcat5 described he did ultimately led to exactly having his chip being pressed against the board.
Of course you are free to try whatever you want - if you find new solutions please post some feedback.
Good luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks you so much, I placed a small piece of plastic above the wifi chip and one next to the camera lens. Now the wifi works fine. However my screen was pushed up so it bended a little. The faulty thing was my battery, not the added plastic. I compared mine with the one of a friend, mine was 1 mm bigger. (also with the battery of my friend's g3 the screen was fine)
I'll be changing it soon.
same problem as u but sometimes wifi works(mainly fully charged) and sometimes dont
i have lg g2 D802 model. It had a wifi problem as u shown in your videos,my phone also behaves same like yours but sometimes it works normally like while charging,works like 2 or 3 times a day(for 5-10 min).please tell me whether my phone got ic problem or software issue
Pratap94 said:
i have lg g2 D802 model. It had a wifi problem as u shown in your videos,my phone also behaves same like yours but sometimes it works normally like while charging,works like 2 or 3 times a day(for 5-10 min).please tell me whether my phone got ic problem or software issue
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Pratap94,
nobody, neither here in this forum nor elsewhere in the internet, will be able to give you a reliable answer without having a *physical* look at your phone. Nobody.
However, I can give you my opinion, based on the stuff you wrote: The fact that it works normally sometimes, specially while charging (probably it heats up in the process?), indeed seems to indicate a hardware issue. I believe you have a loose Wi-Fi chip i.e. a defective solder joint, like I had on my LG G2 D802 as well. I solved my problem by doing the stuff I described in 6.a.
Good luck.
Thank you so much
NimbleWeasel said:
Hello all,
first of all, I want to thank brysclar and xbing6 for their valuable feedback! Thanks a lot guys! :good:
Problem solved good bless you!! the problem is fix in that youtube video XD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sadly step 6.a did not help me. Well, it worked for first 5-10 minutes and then back again.
Olzhas18 said:
Sadly step 6.a did not help me. Well, it worked for first 5-10 minutes and then back again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Olzhas18,
that might be an indication that your WiFi chip is still a bit loose and is not sitting tight enough on the main board. On LG G2, it is difficult to push the chip against the board because it's covered by a metal cover...
Also, did you check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJkdva2iOag ?
Good luck!
NimbleWeasel said:
Hi Olzhas18,
that might be an indication that your WiFi chip is still a bit loose and is not sitting tight enough on the main board. On LG G2, it is difficult to push the chip against the board because it's covered by a metal cover...
Also, did you check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJkdva2iOag ?
Good luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you this tip and this whole thread. I have seen this video, but still the same effect. 5-10 minutes, I can rean some news and back to flashing. I'm going to buy Huawei Honor 8 soon, it was the last chance to recover my G4. I doubt I will purchase any other phone from LG.
Same boat
But bluetooth working
In cm roms also wifi tethring can be onn
But u cnt turn onn wifi
I had the same issue, can't turn on Wifi after factory reset.
I turn off my device off after one hour and reboot wifi was OK but when I want to upgrade some apps iwifi turn of again and my phone reboot with no SIM card.
I do "6.a Sellotape / Scotch tape" + a creedit card cut with this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_0jzp65eLY#t=73.319872
My LG G2 works fine
HI
My wife's phone (i9300 galaxy S3) has gone wrong and it went off without battery.
I found a new battery, but it lasted only one day. I thus decided to take it for repair,
as I think that this is the charge connector that is broken, but actually, the tech told me that it was probably the motherboard,
as when it used a tool to plug it to the direct charge ports on the side, the phone only bootlooped.
Thing is:
My wife's phone wasn't using cloud or external SD,
it was not rooted.
I tried some android toolkits to connect it, but odin or adb don't detect it, so I have no chance to try and put some new kernel on it.
It has no recovery mode, and when in download mode (1st screen), it actually doesn't last long before it reboots anyway.
Choosing some option will also make it reboot.
So I think it is failed beyond software repair.
But if you have suggestion for this (the tech was at a small street stall and I don't expect him to be high level, no offense, but he seemed to only perform two repairs, screen and charge flex boards, so not much more able than me if he can't go beyond this), feel free?
So my second question is :
Does anyone know how to retrieve the internal storage of the phone without breaking it, and reinstall it in a working way on a new motherboard?
Or alternatively, on an emmc reader such as those used for raspberry cards and so on? (I don't want to put some link, I don't want my message to be filtered)
The photos on this chip are priceless for us, and I would even pay professional to retrieve these (I would prefer not having to, because money doesn't exactly come cheap to me, but I guess I won't be able to make it alone.
So if you know some repair service in Europe that would be able to perform such task, I would be grateful for your sharing of such knowledge.
I saw an alternative in malaysia, but it feels a little too far for being able to do something in case of problem.
Thanks for your attention and time.