My SGS2 Vibrate is messed up!

[dmo580]

So it happened this morning when my alarm went off and it vibrated. I heard a plastic part vibrating also. The sharp loud noise was disgusting. I shut off my alarm thikning it was my cheap SGP case.

Later today I played around trying to find out if the silicone had a hole or something where the plastic frame was touching the SGS2 phone itself. Nope. I took the whole case off. Each time it vibrates it sounds like... ahh what the hell. I will film it for you guys now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GoIrBmMC1U

WTF is that? I took the cover off. I took the SIM card out on another occasion too. It sounds like something on the upper left. If I push my finger down on the panel, it stops. If you notice the few seconds it is sitting on the table flat, it's fine. Just a little weight seems to calm it down. Not sure if its the vibrating motor itself because it is vibrating properly. Sounds like something is loose inside though...

Anyone experienced this before? Should I go for RMA?


Second part of the question:

Obviously being an XDA-er I'm rooted. I will flash back to stock and unroot. I bought this off of Expansys-USA so I should get *some* reasonable attempt by them to send it back. What are the chances that my warranty gets denied? I don't have a USB jig to reset the counter, but I'll of course get rid of the yellow triangle.

*grrrr... I need to dig up my Nexus S now if I have to go through warranty... I'm guessing I'll be phoneless for weeks*

 

[Random6]

I don't know if it would invalidate the warrenty or not (technically rooting/custom roms is supposed to), but when I had a problem with my stereo jack not working rather than risking it I just replaced the part myself.

The vibration motor, stereo jack and earphone speaker are all on the same part.
(I got it from this guy on ebay for about $7 if you're curious.)

 

[dmo580]

I don't know if it would invalidate the warrenty or not (technically rooting/custom roms is supposed to), but when I had a problem with my stereo jack not working rather than risking it I just replaced the part myself.

The vibration motor, stereo jack and call speaker are all on the same part.
(I got it from this guy on ebay for about $7 if you're curious.)

I see. I'm not sure whats broken really. When I shake my SGS2 I hear something rattling inside. I'm just afraid to open the thing up... is it difficult?

 

[Random6]

Just watched your video. It sort of sounds as if somehow the vibration motor came loose from its proper spot and is now moving around vibrating against the plastic. Its normally held in with some adhesive (basically double sided tape) within a cutout area.

When I had mine apart I actually took a photo, http://i.imgur.com/fgN9F.jpg, if that makes it any more clear.

I actually recorded the process of me reinstalling the new part (excluding the disassembly, there are lots of clips of that from other people on youtube) but havent gotten around to uploading it yet since my internet connection sucks and the file is nearly 2GB.

Edit to add:

No it wasn't really all that difficult to dissassemble, it was actually pretty easy. That said I enjoy taking things apart and trying to fix them. This was the first time I've dissassembled anything as small as a cell phone, but I'm used to taking things apart and trying to fix them when they break. If you don't have any experience taking apart electronics you might want to think twice or just pay someone who fix's cell phones to do it.

If you're thinking about it, heres a video where someone shows taking it apart to get a rough idea of whats involved.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKztg1ra4-0

 

[Random6]

I decided to try and upload the video I took, once it finishes (in about 2.5 hours) it should be viewable here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ud1upGzLBs

 

[dmo580]

I decided to try and upload the video I took, once it finishes (in about 2.5 hours) it should be viewable here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ud1upGzLBs

thank you for your detailed writeup. im going to try this. ive taken apart my macbook pro to install an SSD before, and a few other electronics, but i'm not the very best (i feel clumsy sometimes), but i'm willing to give this a shot.

The only thing I'm worried about is that I could potentially mess up the phone in other ways in disassembly such that my warranty won't be honored if I need to resort to that... We'll see tonight. It looks like you used two screwdrivers? Which ones will I need? I have a #000 that I see will be needed for the back plate at least...

 

[dmo580]

k. opened my phone up.

i just took the screws out and the backplate. i pushd around to make sure things are tight, and they seem to be.

put it together and the vibrate thing happens VERY rarely now..

I shook my phone around and still heard something shaking (please tell me if this happens).

I opened up my phone and the camera module seems to be loose. Is it supposed to be glued down?

 

[B97]

Just to let you know, you say you don't have a USB jig so your Flash counter may make your warranty void, but, if you flash to an ice cream sandwich ROM (Cyanogenmod 9) you can install an app called 'Triangle Away' which will basically get rid of the Flash count and yellow triangle - it needs root by the way. (search it up on XDA, it's by chainfire')

Then you can flash stock and send in for warranty.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA

 

[Random6]

k. opened my phone up.
I shook my phone around and still heard something shaking (please tell me if this happens).

I opened up my phone and the camera module seems to be loose. Is it supposed to be glued down?

I don't remember it being glued down. Its been a few month since I fixed mine but if I recall correctly it just fit snugly in place between some plastic fitted walls.

This is the camera module you mean right?

Edit: I also don't hear anything shaking with mine, did you mabe leave a screw loose inside?

 

[dmo580]

I don't remember it being glued down. Its been a few month since I fixed mine but if I recall correctly it just fit snugly in place between some plastic fitted walls.

This is the camera module you mean right?

Edit: I also don't hear anything shaking with mine, did you mabe leave a screw loose inside?

Yeah. Camera module. That's the one. The main 8MP shooter. It's not glued down or anything. It shakes around inside. I definitely did not leave a screw inside because I only opened the back panel and I put all the screws back in.

It's weird because something making noise while shaking the phone has been documented here:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1254520

And I noticed that when you activate camera it goes away. Quite strange but as an engineer this makes me wonder HOW that even happens? Shrug.

I'm waiting for my Samsung Focus S phone to come from the Windows Phone challenge and I'm contemplating using that for a month while my i9100 goes out for warranty. Of course I can always use my Nexus S as a backup, but part of me wants to force myself on a new platform for a month and see how that goes... Hahahaha.

 

[MauFerrusca]

No it wasn't really all that difficult to dissassemble, it was actually pretty easy.

Hey Random6, did you happen to find that after replacing the vibrator motor with a new one, the intensity is now less than when new? I used double sided tape, but with 1.5mm, I guess the motor won't vibrate AT ALL.

Also I found that if I don't screw the one that seems to be closest to the vibrator motor all the way in, it obviously vibrates harder, but not hard enough.

I also used two very thin copper plates to sandwich the motor between the plastic plates, but once again, that was too much and the vibrations were not transfered to the phone's body, but I could hear it doing its job.

Any suggestions?

Thanks!