Cause & Possible Fixes for Whitescreen + D-Pad failures (a new thing to try)

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First, it'd like to thank

MikeChannon
for pointing out something important that narrowed down my testing.

Now, onto the problem Symptoms :

- D-Pad, IE and Email buttons cease to work
- Screen fades to white or comes back from standby as white
- Display is slight disaligned to the side, 1mm of left appears on right side.
- Randomness in all above symptoms.


Cause : It is the D-Pad connector.




Yes, the D-Pad connection DOES cause the whitescreen. It's odd and illogical, but this is the conclusion I have reached.

ALL the previous guides, such as sliding plastic between the screen and casing, were randomly moving things inside.

By CHANCE ONLY it'd affect the D-Pad connector positively. That is why such solutions only worked for a few people temporarely.


SOLUTION :

You will need to try variants of the following things :

- Tightness of the screws over the connector
- Disconnecting the plug and reconnecting it very carefully
- Pressure over the bibbon between the D-Pad connector and the screen.
- Pressure over the D-Pad connector itself
- Tightness of the screws over the D-Pad PCD
- Tightness of the screws closing the plastic casing of this part of the phone


To stress-test the variants, I ran a D-Pad intensive game (Skyforce) for 30 minutes or until the symptoms came back.

I've played around with all those, giving mixed results, but definitively making a difference.

My final and best result was by putting a thin foam piece over the blue parts in the picture below. (Ignore the red circles, original picture is taken from a website)



The foam I used was the typical foam sheets you find in packaging for fragile electronics such as motherboards, hard drives, graphic cards etc. It has to be super thing in other to close the casing without buldges.

There isn't a specific thing you can do that will make your D-Pad be reliable and the whitescreen to go away. You'll have to do several tests, so I recommend you keep your phone disassembled while testing. The connector is VERY VERY SENSITIVE. That is why I cannot be any more precise in how to fix this. However, you NOW KNOW what causes the screen to freak out and buttons to stop working.




What I did for testing :

I have tested my phone while it was completely disassembled. Meaning I had the back of the monitor open, as seen in the picture above.

That way, I could fiddle around and instantly test the result.

I've fiddle with the cables, the screen pressure, everything. Nothing returned the screen from being white or becoming white.

Putting pressure D-Pad connector's ribbon or actual pin caused the screen to either turn on white, or fade to white. (Results often noticed only after going in & out of standby)

It also caused my D-Pad buttons and the top 2 buttons (IE & Email) to either work or not work.

Oh and this is my testing setup. Elastic band to hold the battery in place, everything else opened. However, I had to place/remove the backcover of the screen part of the phone to test as it affects the pressure put on the connector.

wow. I don't have balls to break apart my 8525 like that.

Originally Posted by mutantblack

wow. I don't have balls to break apart my 8525 like that.

Well this fix is for those who got a big enough problem and can't return it under warranty.

Anyhow, taking apart the TyTN is quite simple, and the thing is sturdy.

Only and only the D-Pad connector is tricky. The big ribbon connecting the two halfs of the phone is quite solid and never caused problems.

guys... what/where can i get the screw driver to open this mofo... it looks like a hex allen wrench but that doesnt work...

i have had this issue for months now and will try anything to fix it but i need to know where i can get this screw driver and fast!!!!

So it is a problem with the connector itself or cause by flex in the cable?

Also, where are you putty pressure on the connector? Are you saying if the screws are too tight this is a problem as well.

Originally Posted by jwagman1

guys... what/where can i get the screw driver to open this mofo... it looks like a hex allen wrench but that doesnt work...

i have had this issue for months now and will try anything to fix it but i need to know where i can get this screw driver and fast!!!!

It's a TORX No6 screwdriver you need. Available online or from stores like Maplin who sell Phone screwdriver sets.

Check out links in the Wiki here or in my signature for internal pics, dismantling guides and to download the service manual (that also has a dismantling walkthrough)

Mike

Originally Posted by Vasichko

So it is a problem with the connector itself or cause by flex in the cable?

Also, where are you putty pressure on the connector? Are you saying if the screws are too tight this is a problem as well.

Seems to me there may be a bit of trial and error regarding the fix. The service manual points out that the d-pad connector must be precisely inserted and absolutely level. So both under-tightening the screws or over-tightening could distort the connection. If you have it apart, take out and reconnect the push in connector several times This helps to ensure there is no oxidisation on the contacts.

(PS. this is not my fix so I cannot testify that it will work for you, though I believe it is on the right track, at least for some cases of this problem)

Mike

It's really intersting to know I'm not alone to have this issue ...
Do you have a site who describe how to open the Hermes ?

Thanks

Originally Posted by mikechannon

It's a TORX No6 screwdriver you need. Available online or from stores like Maplin who sell Phone screwdriver sets.

Check out links in the Wiki here or in my signature for internal pics, dismantling guides and to download the service manual (that also has a dismantling walkthrough)

Mike

THANK YOU!! amazon.com overnight!!! woooo