Galaxy S2 screen replacement photo tutorial.

Prostheta · Sep 8, 2011

Having stupidly cracked my screen last week I pulled the trigger on a replacement part from an eBay seller. Thanks go out to the people who graciously donated a few Euros/Dollars/Pounds/etc. to this cause. This tutorial is my thanks to you, and also to the wider XDA community for having provided me plenty of yummy Android fun ever since my first Galaxy S last July. Any subsequent donations are of course welcome (I have a bumper case to buy for obvious reasons) however thanks are also gladly received.

~~This tutorial will be completed progressively, hence the various edits and reserved posts. Do bear with me. So here goes!~~

Tutorial complete! Enjoy. I am happy to help out with any questions, although please respect the following rules:

1. If you quote posts, please remove references to images. These are hosted on my own shared hosting space at the moment and I want to keep bandwidth down. Please refer to pictures either by step# or by using a URL link.

2. Please read the tutorial through from top to bottom before attempting to do this to your own phone. Despite this, neither myself or XDA can be held liable for you not paying attention or asking questions before carrying out the repair.

3. Stay on topic! I will use this at my own discretion:

I hope this proves useful and helps recover some dead in the water S2s!!!!

Prostheta · Sep 8, 2011

1. The patient with the battery, SIM card and SD card removed.

2. The new donor part.

3. All parts, connectors and their ribbon cables were checked for kinks or other faults.

4. I removed the seven screws securing the body's back panel. I test fitted my selected screwdriver for "bite" as there are many easily-damaged microSMD parts and fine tracks around the various PCBs. A magnetic tip helped remove the screws.

Prostheta · Sep 8, 2011

5. To part the rear plastic part of the body, a thin but stiff plastic separator was needed. A guitar pick was idea for this. Carry out these steps in a clean and organised environment! The captive buttons are easily lost and they literally drop out when you remove the rear bezel.
** under no circumstances use a flat-bladed screwdriver! One slip and you could find yourself with one dead phone if it scratches a PCB track or hits a component. **

I started at the corner nearest the headphone jack....

6. Then I slid the pick down the side to the bottom corner....

7. Cracked open the bottom....(fnar)

8. Before working up the other side to the top....

9. The cover came off easily from thereonin.

10. I familiarised myself with the components needing to be transplanted across. This amounts to the main L-shaped PCB and the front-facing camera/proximity detector. Everything else is part and parcel of the LED panel unit.

11. Working anticlockwise, I gently popped the five ribbon connectors with my nail. I took care not to force these as the connector density and therefore fragility are both high.

12. I found that the antenna connector was actually the hardest component to deal with. Popping it was no problem....reconnecting it however....but we'll get to that later....

Prostheta · Sep 8, 2011

13. I removed the two screws that hold the main PCB to the chassis. Although I have not yet seen this yet, I believe that some i9100s have miniature hex screws. Mine are standard crosstops (heh) which made life easier. Again, I checked my screwdriver for bite. If there was any play instead of a solid engagement with the screw then I would have needed to find a better screwdriver! This was a €500 decision, right there. One slip and you can easily say goodbye to those SMDs.

14. The buttons were secured to the chassis with a thin sticky tape. I used my plastic tool to gently separate them from the back, then pushed the switches upwards from underneath. I found that my pick was maybe a little too thick for this job. Perhaps a 0.60mm orange Tortex would have been better (!). Patience is needed here as this is not an easy job to carry out.
** do not try to pull them from the body by pulling the PCB! **

15. The PCB can be lifted right out. The ribbon cables tended to catch whilst I was doing this, so I needed to poke them underneath a bit.

Prostheta · Sep 8, 2011

Almost finished the dissection!

16. The final part to remove is the front-facing camera and proximity detector. Firstly, I needed to remove the cover from the proximity detector which comprised a tiny metal plate and a small pad. This needed to be pried up from the top for which I used a knife. This was perhaps not the best choice, so a pin or a fine flathead screwdriver might have been better. After removing this, the camera and detector were lifted out carefully.

17. Next I replaced the old chassis and started the process in reverse.

18. Firstly, the camera and detector were fitted. The thin metal plate was replaced and clipped into place using a quick poke from the screwdriver.

I'M IN UR BASE REFITTED UR DOODS

19. The PCB was carefully fitted taking care not to trap any of the ribbon connectors underneath or to scrape the board on the chassis.

20. I manoeuvred the switches into place, and thankfully they still had the majority of the sticky tape left on them. I took care to position them as close as possible with the slots. I didn't want any problems with the buttons not working!! I pressed them in from the side to allow the adhesive to do its job.

21. The two PCB screws were then replaced.

Prostheta · Sep 8, 2011

22. This was probably the most difficult part of the job. Smooth the antenna cable down in the groove with your plastic tool and secure in under the PCB, bringing it up through the small notch in the side of the PCB. Apologies for the lack of focus in the photo.

The difficult part is reattaching the antenna connector. I made several attempts at this, checking and rechecking the shape of the connector and failing to make it fit. This is a FRAGILE connector! Don't force it. When it mated, it needed relatively little effort. It was all an alignment job.

23. I finally reclipped all of the ribbon cables back together. Alignment was again of paramount important as the photos show. The force required to reseat these was no greater than the force it takes to press the volume or power button on the S2. Treat these with respect.

Prostheta · Sep 8, 2011

24. Reassembly of the case is made more difficult due to the captive buttons. Rather than trying to balance them whilst whanging the case back together, I progressively closed the case and slipped the buttons into the widened slots before closing the case around them. Far easier!

First, I clipped together the bottom corner of the "volume" side.

I then worked my way up to just below the opening for the volume button and slipped in the button insert.

The top "volume" corner was then closed.

Back at the bottom, I closed the "power" corner.

....then worked up to just below the button....

....slipped in the button....

....and cracked the entire case closed! Woo me.

Prostheta · Sep 8, 2011

25. I refitted the battery, SIM and SD card and powered up. 1% battery remaining.

....is this screenshot an advert?

TECK · Sep 9, 2011

Whoa mad skills. I would never be able nor have the time to do what you did.

Nyssa1104 · Sep 9, 2011

Mic covering?

Thanks for your tutorail nice clear shots. Could you post a close up shot of the mic on board (white cover) and if poss with out the white covering and a shot of the covering please.
Reason I ask is some reports that removing this covering improves the mic audio on the SGS2. Thanks once again.

d3sm0nd · Sep 9, 2011

Nice tutorial, thanks. How much did the screen replacement cost?

ZhuraYuk · Sep 9, 2011

You replaced whole housing with screen alredy attached, so this is not screen replacment. Rename thread.

Prostheta · Sep 9, 2011

£60 from ebay. Genuine SAMOLED+. I'll post a seller link when I get home. I'll have a look at the mic also.

Prostheta · Sep 9, 2011

ZhuraYuk said:
You replaced whole housing with screen alredy attached, so this is not screen replacment. Rename thread.

Wow. There's no pleasing some people.

Prostheta · Sep 9, 2011

This is where I bought my replacement:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180720196554#ht_500wt_1156

I've decided that I don't really want to go poking around inside my phone again at the moment. It isn't a difficult venture, however it is outside the bounds of the screen-replacement thing and I don't really want to go removing mine since I don't even know if it'll go back on, etc. The third picture in step 3 is pretty good, as is step 10.

The instructions on how to get to yours are up there also however! ;-D

frozenglaze · Sep 10, 2011

Wow I think I won't even bother to try to replace my screen myself if it meets a mishap. Don't have skills to carry it out

I think you found yourself a new vocation though ^^ To repair screens haha.. Could make some money that way~

Prostheta · Sep 10, 2011

It's certainly not a difficult job. This took me about 20mins including photography. I could replace a screen or whatever you want to call it in about 4-5. That antenna is the worst bit! I wrote this so anyone carrying out this work knows that it is not labour-intensive.

Demon_man · Sep 10, 2011

As I said before you my friend have balls, but if it came to it again having done it would you not just take it to a service centre ?? Im still awaiting mine after a complete screen shatter(through no fault of my own they dont fly) I have a feeling though it make come back repaired, on a scale of 1-10 how difficult would you say this is to swap the phone to a new housing, I would be swapping everything over, unless i go to my service centre round the corner

Edit Scratch that just rang me there posting me a new phone on Tuesday

Prostheta · Sep 10, 2011

On a scale of 1-37 (how arbitrary) I would rate it about 12 on the basis that ham-fister work with the screwdriver can render the phone deader than a dead thing if those SMDs get chipped. If you discount that hazard, I would call it a 5.

Actually, if your scale of 1-37 had "desoldering, replacing and resoldering an SMD Intel ATOM chip" at "37" and writing your name as "1" then the scale makes more sense. If you've ever worked with micro miniature pitch ribbon cable connectors before, then perhaps less than 12. It truly is an easy-to-fix device which puts Apple's stupid "pentalobular" screw crap and general "stay-outishness" to shame. There are no weird connectors, permanently locked plastic security tags, thread lock gunk, glued up pieces or anything. I can understand why it would become a magnitude more difficult if you had to remove the glass from the bezel or whatever, but this is really a noddy job. Simpler than replacing the heatsink on your PC processor (sorry Apple, you don't count), changing the wheel on a car or cooking a reasonable French velouté soup.

As for a service centre, no. Definitely no. Sonera charge €50 just to look at it first, then the repair cost on top. Not sure of other avenues, but self repair is far better.

Hunteres · Sep 11, 2011

my display its ok and i am taking care of it..but this tutorial couldnt make me stay calm...amazing job you have done here mate. pics are superb and even link provided... you are worth my 5 thanks today... i hope we will have more people like you around here and then i will become a part of service centre - just watching stuff like this - great ...

))

thanks again!!!!!!!

Galaxy S2 screen replacement photo tutorial.

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