yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] phonymike:
I saw a guy with this mint 8525, he had a white screen. I figured it was a loose connector, and gave him $45 for it. disassembled it, reconnected everything inside, still no change. found this forum, saw that this connector was to blame, tinkered with it a little more. after nothing worked, I fluxed the connector and ran my soldering iron down the sides. put it all back together and it worked beautifully. updated the rom, all the goodies, even played bejeweled for an hour. next day I go show my buddie my new phone, and white screen. intermitten white screens, I can make it appear or disappear by pressing where the connector is and powering the device. after 2 days it was shot. slapped the sim card back into my original phone, wasn't that big of a loss.

desperate, I removed the connectors thinking there's a better and more permanent solution, I was going to solder them direct. after much searching, I found this panasonic connector. by looks they are identical, and use the same pcb pattern. parts AXK7L40227G and AXK8L40125BG. I cannot find any place that sells less than 6000. I have found similar connectors that might work as a replacement on molex.com, not a direct replacement, but they might work, possibly even hirose. I'll call htc tomorrow and see if they can throw me a few pieces or something, maybe some samples from panasonic. replacing these is not easy, please don't attempt unless you've done such work before.

if anyone else can find some info on the connectors, please let me know.
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] Dillsnik:
These are my symptoms, anyone that has specific advice before I open up my phone PLEASE tell me!!

When my phone fails out it's a pretty similar experience every time. here is what happens:

My phone doesn't always go to white screen when the failure happens, but the Dpad frequently doesn't work, and whenever Dpad goes I also lose the IE and Mail buttons at the top as well. Also, i notice that the dpad led's stay lit the whole time and if i look underneath the cracks at the dpad i can see a bright white light always lit. I can't charge it and if i power down or reset it will then usually come back with white screen and the same symptoms.

I have more than one battery, so what i have been doing that seems to work for now is wait till the one dies completely and then try to put the other one in. If i put it right in it it usually goes to white screen. if i keep battery out for an hour maybe, it usually will power up with the splash screen and work ok, except the usual dpad failure is usually there.

I've been dealing with it this way for now but want to try the suggested connection fix...anyone have any idea why the top buttons & charging go with the dpad? is it just the dpad connection or both or something else??
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] YorYor:
Well, my Dopod suffered the same fate, and this time no amount of padding/reseating of the connectors could salvage it.

I swapped over the whole screen assembly of the spare 8525 I had and it continued to work.

I wasn't prepared to do extensive testing (swapping flex cables etc etc) for fear of my working LCD assembly conking out at the same time.

So now I have a spare 8525 which had a faulty screen. I guess the only thing I can do is to hold on to it and try to locate a unit with a failed radio rom but working screen assembly.

The LCD assembly which failed gave no warnings whatsoever - it just started doing it all of a sudden. Sometimes when it woke up from sleep due to an incoming SMS or call, the display would be fine, but when I woke it up using the power button it would be WSOD. It was working fine for around 2 months after I had changed a cracked LCD with an OEM one from eBay.

I wonder whether it's possible to have a remote control/display software cooked into a ROM and have it startup every time? Might try to use it as a BT modem or what.
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] dublus:
Worked for me... temporarily.

I put in some backing at the connector and along the bottom of the PCB just like the instructions said. Worked great for about two days, then the white screen came back intermittently. I thought maybe I didn't put it thick enough so put a little more material to the point that the plastic cover was slightly bulging. Once again, worked for about two more days.

Up until that time, with the unit taken apart and held together with a rubber band, I could get it to turn on by pressing down directly on the PCB. Now I had to put the tip of my finger at a certain spot near the connector and pull up on one corner of the PCB causing it to bow to make the screen work correctly. No amount of padding could possibly hold the PCB in that position. It seemed like there must be a crack in the solder of one of the components at the spot where I had to push my finger.

I took the PCB to work and looked at it under the microscope. Nothing. I even had one of our failure analysis guys who does this all day look at it and he couldn't see any cracks either. From there we took it to the x-ray machine because sometimes it's the only way to see certain types of cracks. Again, nothing.

So I had to conclude the PCB had a separation somewhere inside it between the layers, probably at one of the vias that joins one node to another between layers.

At this point I could surrender in good conscious, knowing I had given a good fight.

So, I bought a replacement PCB at that place in Glendale, CA on San Fernando Road (about 30 minutes from my house) and put it in. My 8525 is as good as new.

As a side note, the guy at the pda store said they sell ALOT of these PCBs. He wouldn't even loosen one of the screws for me even though he had the tool a few feet away. Seems like he should charge a couple bucks to loosen a screw or two (or just have some tools at the counter attached to some wire).

So, if you've definitely narrowed the problem down to the PCB and the padding trick doesn't work anymore, you can spend $60 (plus gas/shipping) to get a new one.
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] zuffen:
white screen test

I recently bought a 8525 and passed my old one to the wife. I promptly unlocked the new one and rom'd schapps 4.30.

Was messing with that rom for a day and decided to try Storm.

After Storm things started to go wrong. Now honestly I think I might have used the wrong something at some point as I was really being experimental and wasnt following any set procedure.

White screen would occur at random and on cue.

Text from sleep.

wake up from sleep after hot

all sorts of various points.

left softkey and power from sleep would cure the white 3/4 of the time on the first attempt and usually successful by the second. softkey was set on flashlight.

I tired various combinations and actually romed it back to the cingular wwe. The phone seemed more stable and didnt white screen for the hour i left it that way. I then went to shapps 4.30 wm6 pro. And the white screen came back but near as furious. I read the forums and other sites , to be sure I didnt reinvent the wheel.

I've come to the conclusion at this point that software can affect the phone but there is still a physical condition causing the white screen as previously reported here.

By the way prior white screens were always solid white with Storm. after the cingular then to schapps loads the screen would be white with blue bands but you could still see the base image. That is why I feel various roms have an affect on video board and the dpad code

The Dpad while on full white screen would stay lit.

So next step was cracking open the phone. For the squemish, it really no big deal, to get to final plug that has already been mentioned in this forum. Four screws, carefully pry the cover, then one more screw slip up and lift, then 4 for the slider and 4 more screws for the screen and carefully lift the back cover of the screeen. And then two screws for the plug. Takes less than 10 minutes. And probably 5 after you have done it one time. There are a few things to watch out on reassembly.

But to the nefarious plug. My plug was not seated well. I coudl see it was off ever so slightly. i removed the screws and lifted, I believe it wasnt seated well. I went ahead and magnified the socket and plug and saw no issue. So I carefully reset the plug and pressed evenly from one end to the other and the plug had a even distance on all edges (gap) so I added the screws and did one more half turn after i met the same (relative) torque when I removed the screws. I could see some contact on the housing from the plug but the contact wasnt even. So I added one strip of adhesive electrical tape cut to width and length to cover the plug and screws. This was the thicker tape and might be one mm thick.

the additional strip mentioned in the earlier part of this forum , I just didnt see a need for it. Not saying it is a bad idea but why not try something different

Well I will repost any findings in a few days. I have to thank everyone who puts the time and effort into this forum.
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] eadon:
:) Works!!! Thanks to this fabulous forum :)
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] YorYor:
Well... my whitescreen suddenly fixed itself.

It was always on white and fading to black slowly all the time... and then this afternoon it jumped to life by itself!

I was remote controlling the device using MyMobiler123 and trying out the BT DUN thingy... so I've now 2 working Hermes all over again. Nothing more to ask for! :)

I was suspecting the flex cable is the one faulty, as the d-pad was still functioning alright. I just hope it's not an intermittent component on the d-pad's PCB.
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] e-slice:
Worked for me!!

After 3 weeks of cringing everytime I turned on my 8525, researching it all over the internet, calling the HTC, ATandT, and phone repair folks, and trying to find the best deal on a tilt, I added the foam padding an it worked. I put a double layer of the this foam padding over the d-pad connector (mine would come back from a soft off if I squeezed in that area) and a single layer toward the bottom as described in the original posting about adding foam.

Thank you to all who posted the info and the UPDATES so I knew it could be more than a 1 or 2 day solution.
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] jamesangel:
Had same problem... after replacing the ribbon, and talking to some techs... found out the common problem is a bad solder connection of the chip on the the board. Had to have it re soldered using an infrared soldering station. Sent the board to these guys for the re soldering. They also have the screen and parts for the tytn.

www.pocketpctechs.com
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] jamesangel:
Forgot to mention this problem causes the buttons not to work and can give you a white screen
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] mrdja:
Wow... Ingenious... Really :)

Will try it tommorow... Thnx!
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] jay-dub377:
front buttons

i had the problem with the witescreen occassionally and all front buttons not working. opened it put the foam in and vioala!!! no more whitescreen and buttons worked. everything has been fine for bout a month now. but the last week or so my soft keys,windows,ok,send,end,messaging,and IE buttons dont work!!!(d-pad and center button working still) tried opening up again and putting new foam in with no luck. they just dont work all the time:eek: BUT i can hard reset still!!!!:confused: not understanding why they still work for hard reset but dont work for anything else:confused: any suggestions?
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] gmenelau:
I havent try to put a foam but i remove one screw like i show in the pic below and the monitor start working fine. When i but the screw pack white screen again i remove it and the screen was ok .... i dont know why . But the pad thing was that it last only for 10hours after that white screen againg. any one Can look in to that ??>
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] YorYor:
One more thing to try for those who still have a white-screener lying around.

Mike, don't mind me re-using your image.

For the connector on the D-pad PCB, use a tiny screwdriver and push the pins SLIGHTLY inwards, on both sides.

For the strong ones, please be very careful not to exert too much strength.

If you damage the pins while doing this, you're gonna have to buy a new flex cable assembly!

My Hermes was showing a white screen, but all the keys were working, and I could use them normally by mirroring the LCD display using MyMobiler123.

Tried reseating it countless times, but never any joy.

Just as I was about to give up, I decided to try it. Pushed all the pins inwards slightly to make the fit with the ribbon connector very much tighter.

Next moment, it was eureka!

Remember, try this only if you have nothing to lose, and after you've tried everything else.
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] phusio:
I have a AT&T Tilt bought from ebay with the white screen since a week ago (suddenly out of the blue) . Do you think it also has to do with a dpad connector? Im not afraid to take it apart as i have done it already, first thought that the lcd connector was loose. please help me on this.
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] YorYor:
First, install MyMobiler123.

Second, determine if the D-pad is still functioning by using MyMobiler123 to see if the PDA is responding to the D-pad.

Third, if the D-pad is functioning, then it is possible that you have a faulty LCD (happened to me), or it could be the connector connection requiring padding as highlighted by mike, or needing some "tightening work" as in my post above). If the D-pad is not functioning, then it is very likely to just be a connector connection issue requiring padding to press it down.
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] phusio:
Hey thanks for the clearly info. The Dpad is responding when i use it with mymobiler123 (very nice tool) . I already ordered a new lcd last week , should arive somewhere in this week.
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] jamorgan2008:
Like beam files, wireless bluetooth stereo headsets, and CUT n PASTE! Common Apple make a smart phone not just another pretty ipod with a phone built in...
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] phusio:
Unfortunatly i had no luck with a new lcd for my AT&T Tilt still white screen, ordered a new ribbon cable.
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] schizo:
Okay guys, just to share my experience now that my unit has been returned from repairs last saturday (it took 3 months just to replace the ribbon cable - sux :mad:). So when I received and tested it in the service center, all works well, the d-pad ok, no whitescreen.

But my happiness is not long lasting, only after 1 day, the d-pad has started to back to its old bad habit - ceased to work. Funny, I still can make it work after use the scroll, like I used to. Use D-Pad - locked - scroll - use d-pad again - locked again... damn. :mad:

Yet I notice the difference is now it only locked itself after I pushed d-pad down direction one time, it will go down one time and then it locked. All other buttons in d-pad won't make it locked, only this particular down button. But as you realize, down and up is the most used navigation button in almost all application right? So almost everytime it come to this locked status.:(

Another funny thing, this behavior ceased to exist whenever I connect to activesync and use MyMobiler....!!!! No matter how many times I pushed the down direction button.. only 1/10 of time it come to locked. Isn't it weird?

Maybe someone can has an opinion about this? I really really have had it with the service center, so I'm planning to do the steps described in this thread. However, I'm still hoping that I don't have to, since my hands is not so well behaved when doing micro / tiny detailed little thingies.... I'm afraid I can't follow the steps very well and damaged my Hermes even more.
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] qldfisherman:
alkizmo and mikechannon thank you for your time and effort!! My beloved tytn would not be working at the moment if it wasn't for you (I hope it keeps working.) Taking it apart would have been imposable, but you have made it fairly easy. Funny thing, followed all directions but put it back together before testing, turned it on, white screen, frustrated but fairly gentle tap of the phone on the table and it sprung back to life.

Thank you
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] cool2bdave:
Xilinx chip is the problem on my phone

Hi,

After reading many of the posts, I took the phone to bits. I plugged it together without the shell giving me access to the D-pad button board. I tried squeezing connectors, the chip etc while it was powered up. None of it seemed to help.

I then had a close look at the board, it is very thin and is flexed when you press a key. The xilinx chip looks like some kind of ball grid array (BGA). As the buttons are pressed the board is flexed and some of the solder pads under the xilinx chip must have become detached from the xilinx chip itself. This would explain why adding foam and squeezing parts of the board worked for some. (With foam, the BGA would have been pressed against the pcb improving the contact of the broken balls)

How to fix this?

I peeled the button plastic from the board wilth the top parts of the buttons. (Comes off quite easily)

I put lots of liquid flux under the xilinx chip

I used a heat gun with a fine tip to reflow the solder under the device. I went round the edges fairly quickley until the flux had boiled off. (All broken contacts were fixed.)

I stuck the button plastic back on and put it back together and it all works.
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] schizo:
Hi.. it just struck me...

I think everyone with this kind of problem (d-pad or whitescreen) must have at least dropped his Hermes at least Once.

I did it, a 40cm drop into a carpeted floor.

But at that time, the one thing broken is the vibrator. Replaced easily and quickly by the service center.

Nevertheless, some two or three months later I began to experince the d-pad and whitescreen problems.

Please confirm whether anyone of you has not even dropped his Hermes at all, but having this kind of problem?

Just to want to have a sort of "root cause" analysis, though.
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] ryaske:
Yes, I have dropped my Hermes about 4 times (bad drops).

I was estatic that the phone always worked afterwards.

But just this morning, I was leaving for work

Looking all around for my phone

Wasn't at the charger , wasnt on my desk

Turns out it was in my bed. I slept with it. Probably ON it for a period of time.

I take it and head out to work.

Sitting in traffic, About to send an "Sorry guys, running late" email,

WHITE SCREEN!

I remember I've had it once or twice before... but today sucked. It is now to the point where it won't even boot. Just turns on to a white screen. Even after removing the battery.

So yes, I dropped my hermes (then slept on it)

when I get home , I will try these suggestions and see what I can come up with... hopefully I can get it working again :(

Can anyone post an image of the chip that may be causing the problem?
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] ryaske:
there is no hope for my phone. I did everything listed here ... no juice. It was weird , in the course of one day the problem got worse and worse until now I cant even use the phone.

For the record, last time I dropped it was over a month ago.

Time to research the latest and greatest from HTC..
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] schizo:
Sorry to hear that, m8, I feel the same way too.

Anyway, anyone to confirm that you have this kind of issue EVEN without ever dropping your Hermes?
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] ab8a:
8525 White screen

I freaked out whith my 8525 when i got a blank white scree. It did work and made sounds and calls but the screen would not work. I slided the screen open and squeezed it realy hard, opened and closed real hard and guess what?!?!.... It is back to normal!

pheeeeeeeeeeeewww!!!!
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] ryaske:
Just so you know ... your problem is very likely to return, be prepared for it.

Backup EVERYTHING on your phone right now. Youll thank me later
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] JBZg1:
where do i start unscrewing my thing >.<

sorry im noob
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] ryaske:
start by reading this thread.

then if you're still clueless, search.
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] deniz75:
How I fixed the white screen problem (no issues with D-pad) - Cingular 8525

Thanks to the guy who provided with pictures on how to try different methods on the D-pad.

Symptoms: I dropped the phone a couple of times in the past. Time has put some mileage on the phone itself and there it went one day I started having white screen issues. It got annoying over time and here's how I solved it after using the know-how on this forum and an excellent video on You-tube.

You have to take your PDA apart to get to the screen circuit and see where the problem is. To take it apart, here's an excellent video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsljpn74SW0

I tried everything around the D-pad connector, but that wasn't the root-cause of my phone's problem. It was the lower left corner of the LCD screen which was loose. It took me some time to finally figure that out. when I pressed hard on the lower left part of LCD screen on the circuit itself, the white screen went away.

To fix it, I put an extra plastic layer on that corner and taped it. Closed it down tightly and everything is fine now.

I wanted to thank all of you here which helped me a lot in my journey of fixing my own PDA.

Best,

D
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] chrisakak9:
WSOD!!!!!!!

hi all thanks to everone for solutions in this fix.

unfotunatly i have tried various methods to fix my G4 wizard, with not a lot of joy. i found this a little difficult as the inner of my G4 does not match the pics as the D pad cable is soldered directly to the board and does not have a connector. ??????

i only get the WSOD in the position of the screen covering the keyboard, (no probs with screen up, can use for hours without probs) and mostly when i have a program with a white backgound open, eg IE, Mail and file explorer. is this the same with most people?

altho i have noticed that before it whitescreens, the black text on the screen fickers, if i can squeeze the phone intime this stops the WSOD.

is this that ive not foamed the thing right?

do people find the problem to be more in the screen section or the keyboad section?

please help.

NB

i have no probs with D pad, does not WSOD during splash screens (????) and works aftor taping power button off and on again but only if i more to screen up position
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] Zero Sparks:
White screen fix for me

Hi, just thought I'd add how I fixed my hermes with white screen issue. As per the instructions provided here I opened my unit and removed the d-pad board. Then using a pencil tip soldering iron I retouched all the pins of the connector and most of the components around the d-pad connector. Put it all back together (no foam added) and have not had this issue again (2 weeks and counting). I think the real solution would be to use a reflow oven to reflow all the components on this board. I used a magnifier and microscope to make sure I didn't leave any solder bridges. I don't recommend this unless you are skilled with a soldering iron. Hope this helps. Thanks, everyone who posted info in this thread.
[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] chrisakak9:
ahh, forgot i came to this off a link from wizard forum.

still is anybody able to help with my prob?

i tried foam and now my wizard whitescreens evertime i turn it on in screen down possition or change to the screen down possition.

i still find it amazing strange that it does not WSOD during splash screens in this possition.