[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Roshamboing:
I purchased my International Note in May and love it. It's an amazing replacement for my Dell Streak 5. A few weeks back I was charging it via my PS3 and it couldn't decide if it was unplugged/plugged in. At that point it would intermittently charge, and then things got worse when it would think it was plugged into the car dock or it would load the Samsung audio hub.

I did some research and narrowed it down to the USB hub (duh)... I tried cleaning the USB cable and port connections with no results. I figured out I could shut the phone off, plug in the USB and it would charge the battery but it would still randomly load and close the dock apps, or turn on/off the screen randomly. The phone was almost useless at that point.

If you are dealing with the above symptoms, all my research and experience points squarely to replacing the "Charge Connector Port USB Flex Cable" to fix these problems. From what I've read this problem is not an isolated Note problem, or even isolated to just Samsung and can be narrowed down to the 3rd and 4th pin.

Anyway, I found a few retailers on eBay selling the part I figured I needed for fairly reasonable prices. I bought one from a US based retailer, and one from one based out of China. Similar prices from both, and only one day difference in delivery days. I also purchased a iPhone tool kit on eBay for a whopping $5. You need a small Phillips screwdriver, a pair of tweezers, and a pry tool to pop off the flex cables. Oh, and guitar pick. We'll get to that later.

Tools and the Note

Ok, now, on to this tutorial type thing.

To get started - shut off your phone, and pop off the battery cover. Remove the pen, battery, sim and SD card and set them aside. At this point you'll see nine screws that secure the rear portion of the phone to the metal frame. I used the screwdriver to loosen them to the point of almost being free and then held onto them with the tweezers, then put them in a lens filter case. I lost one.

After the 9 screws have been removed it's time to use the guitar pick to separate the two pieces of the phone. Holding the phone with the screen towards you, slide the pick in on either the volume rocker side, or power button side. You can then slide the pick down towards the bottom of the phone. It may take a bit of work, but just be patient and take your time. Work the sides and bottom of the bezel and it will pop free much like the battery cover does.

Stairway to Heaven

Now, you will be greeted by the powerful innards of the Note!

At this point of the job you will need that nifty little pry tool and more patience. There are 3 screws located on the housing that the speaker is molded into that cover the USB port. Remove those screws, and you'll see the antenna cable attachment and flex cable. Initially I removed all the flex cables. I looked closer and realized all you need to do is remove the antenna cable mounted to the charge port and pop free the two flex cables at the bottom of the phone and one screw on the power button side of the phone.

Three screws to remove the speaker housing.

Once this screw had been removed you can slide the flex cable attached to the charge port free and remove the old part.

Take the new part, slide the flex cable under, bend it up and connect the two flex cables and antenna. Make sure these are secure, the smaller flex cable powers your capacitive buttons! Now, it is just a matter of working in reverse.

I found this to be a very simple job and better than that my Note is back to being awesome again. All of the problems previously mentioned are gone. The phone charges just as it should and everything is right in the world. ;)

And, just for your consideration I included pictures comparing the parts from the different suppliers to the OEM version. I am using the Chinese version as it seemed to be a better constructed piece. Search for them on eBay as "easytradingco".

Left - Chinese, Top right - OEM, Bottom Right - USA

If anyone has questions, don't hesitate to ask! Hope this helps!