Galaxy S2 screen replacement photo tutorial.

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!!!!

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....

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.

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.

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.