[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] brogdonbr:
Hello everyone. Before I sell my Atrix on eBay as a broken phone for parts, I thought I would make see if anyone can think of anything I might have missed. I have an unlocked Atrix, using CM7, flashed to CM9, then back down to CM7 until the bugs get worked out. My wife dropped my phone, which caused some problems that have now bricked it.

Specifically...

When she first dropped the phone, I picked it up, turned it on, and immediately noticed that the headphone icon was on, even though no headphones were inserted into the jack. This effectively killed any sound on the device. I rebooted a few times, and occasionally the icon would go off and bring back sound. Then, it would go back.

I noticed that if I sort of twisted the Atrix (held it in my left hand, gripped the top of the phone with my thumb at the top right and my forefinger on the top left and squeezed), I could make the icon go off. It might come back on, but I could squeeze it and make it go away.

A few days of this went by, when I noticed that the headphone icon was staying off. However, when I went to actually insert headphones, they wouldn't register. However, it was at this time that I realized that the volume rocker was dead and unresponsive.

In retrospect, this is probably where I should have realized that I should leave well enough alone and limp along with my crippled, but 80% functioning Atrix until my next upgrade. However, I soon found out about the CM9 betas coming out, and quickly downloaded ROMs to flash. Flashing turned out to be tricky, as the only way I could get into recovery was by shutting down the phone with the command to go into recovery. Holding VOLUME + and power do nothing because the rocker is broken. Similarly, I cannot get into fastboot (presumably because of the broken rocker).

The first thing I noticed with the ICS build that I flashed was that the camera wasn't working. I first assumed that this was a software glitch, except that the camera seemed to be working since the first of February. I then flashed down to CM7. However, the camera still didn't work. It then dawned on me that I had not tried to use the camera since the drop. I then guessed that I just now noticed that my crippled phone is down to about 50% functionality.

So, last night I decide to flash up to a new CM9 beta. Not sure why. Guess it was boredom. The flash, however, didn't take, as my phone now is stuck on the boot screen. Ordinarily, I'd boot into recovery, wipe, and re-flash. Except with the broken rocker, I can't get into recovery without first booting into Android and then re-booting into recovery. So...it is effectively a brick now.

I decided to take it apart using iFixit's guide, but I didn't see any obvious damage. However, I'm guessing that there is some crack on the motherboard from the drop that is not discernible to my untrained eye. The fact that the camera and sound use the same ribbon cable is what is leading me to this conclusion.

So, now that you have the full story, what's the verdict? I'm guessing I need to sell it on eBay as a broken phone for parts. Someone can make good use of the housing, digitizer, and glass. I was thinking of starting at $75, but taking the first offer in the $50 range. Is it time to sell it for parts, or am I missing something?