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iPhone 3g "almost dead" after back housing replacement

I

iphonoholic

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 20, 2010
3
0
After a "successful" replacement of the cracked back housing on my iPhone 3g, it won't start up.

Here are the symptoms:
- when not plugged into any power source it's just a black screen, neither of buttons combination (wake, wake+home, 10sec-60sec...) don't work, it stays black
- when connected to the wall charger, after pressing the wake button, the silver apple shows up for exactly 15 seconds and the screen goes black; again no other combination of buttons have showed any result
- when connected to the USB on a laptop: pushing the wake button the screen just blinks and goes dead with the LCD's pixels "melting down", as if it was forced to shut down.

I've already tried to go through iTunes (start iTunes, connect iPHone while pushing the Home button), it doesn't recognize it.
I tested the battery with a meeter, apparently it's in a "good health", it shows 4.09V though, but I guess it's in a normal range.

I'm a handy dude, having done such kind of surgeries a gazillion times (not on an iPhone though), so I'm aware of any physical damage I could have caused, however I am tempted to believe that this is not a hardware issue (short circuit, bad contacts etc), as the phone shows some signs of life.

Has anyone have ever experienced the issue described above (i.e. Apple logo for 15sec and then black screen)?
 
update

I was able to put it in DFU mode... iTunes recognized it. The update is being downloaded from inet. Will keep it posted.


UPDATE
The iPhone could not be restored. An unknown error occurred. Error 1601

That's what I get

Any ideas anyone?
 
iphonoholic said:
I was able to put it in DFU mode... iTunes recognized it. The update is being downloaded from inet. Will keep it posted.


UPDATE
The iPhone could not be restored. An unknown error occurred. Error 1601

That's what I get

Any ideas anyone?
Click to expand...

I have the same problem any ideas?
 
I took it to a technician yesterday. Will see what's his verdict and will post it here.
 
iphonoholic said:
After a "successful" replacement of the cracked back housing on my iPhone 3g, it won't start up.

Here are the symptoms:
- when not plugged into any power source it's just a black screen, neither of buttons combination (wake, wake+home, 10sec-60sec...) don't work, it stays black
- when connected to the wall charger, after pressing the wake button, the silver apple shows up for exactly 15 seconds and the screen goes black; again no other combination of buttons have showed any result
- when connected to the USB on a laptop: pushing the wake button the screen just blinks and goes dead with the LCD's pixels "melting down", as if it was forced to shut down.

I've already tried to go through iTunes (start iTunes, connect iPHone while pushing the Home button), it doesn't recognize it.
I tested the battery with a meeter, apparently it's in a "good health", it shows 4.09V though, but I guess it's in a normal range.

I'm a handy dude, having done such kind of surgeries a gazillion times (not on an iPhone though), so I'm aware of any physical damage I could have caused, however I am tempted to believe that this is not a hardware issue (short circuit, bad contacts etc), as the phone shows some signs of life.

Has anyone have ever experienced the issue described above (i.e. Apple logo for 15sec and then black screen)?
Click to expand...

Even though you tested the battery , this really sounds like a battery or battery connection to board issue . The way you describe your issues are common when a battery is not present . What you might want to try to do is re sit your battery into the back housing and make sure the battery is aligning correctly with the bottom of the board . This is a whole in the battery connector that should sit the battery in there correctly , then you have to place the board in correct . However to test you only need to insert one screw into the board which is the one above the do not remove sticker . you can then plug it into itunes or just put the front assembly back in and see what happens . At the end of the day , if this still happens , even if the battery is showing volts try replacing it and see what happens .
 
botched iPhone 3G back cover replacement

Something very similar happened to me last night.

Here's what happened: I gutted my 3G iPhone 8GB last night to install a new candy apple red back housing. When I purchase the iPhone a couple weeks ago, it had a broken home button and cracked back housing, so I thought this would give me a chance to escape my Macbook repairs and branch into iPhone repairs, too.

So, I purchased a new home button and back cover from eBay. I then followed iFixit tear down instruction to remove all components from back cover, and then reinstalled them in reverse order into the new back cover.

I then proceeded to tear apart the screen assembly to install the home button. Despite the home button be a little crooked, and that it doesn't really click properly, everything went back together okay.

Then after I attempted to reinstall the LCD assembly, the iPhone would not display anything. However, the vibrate button activates the vibration mechanism (with and without LCD assembly attached), so I know logic board is functional (or do I?) Also, when the LCD assembly was off, I removed the logic board connecter and reinstalled that repeatedly. When I did that, the vibration mechanism momentarily sounded.

Also, I did tinker with the on-off button and home button combo after assembly. Nothing turned on, though.

A friend suggested a new LCD. So, I figured I'd try swap it out with my wife's iPhone 3G 8GB assembly (nobody tell, please!!). Then after taking the LCD assembly off, installing another one still nothing displayed. Thankfully, when reinstalling my wife's LCD her LCD displayed as original.

So at this point is what I know:

1) The iPhone was fully operational before disassembly (minus home button)
2) The vibration switch activates
3) The vibration switch activates when removing/reattaching motherboard connecter (the silver attachment).
4) I got a cool looking back housing, but no iPhone yet!! LOL!


Questions I have a this point:

1) Is this a software or hardware related issue?
2) Is there a ground somewhere in the back cover assembly that failed to touch/connect when installing new back cover?
3) Is there some sort of reset I need to do after disconnecting motherboard?
4) Do I have to follow the numbers when dislocating/reattaching connectors?


Any assistance would be helpful! Thanks
 
I have almost the same problem. After reassembly, the display does work but its backlight is dead. Looking closely, I can see that the thing operates properly, only with zero brightness. And on another note, the earspeaker is dead but calls can be made using the bottom speaker.

Very strange...
 
Same problem

Hi, I have the same problem. Did anyone come up with a fix for this? I looked at the link at the bottom of the thread, but haven't tried anything yet. Just wondering if anything worked. I'll post up update if I find a fix. I thought I was the only one with this EXACT problem. All after I replaced a stupid case! :eek:
 
My Problem Solved!

Hello I fixed my iPhone!

I kind of want to explain my story so if you dont want to read all these junks
just read the bolded part :)

My iPhone 3G's screen was broken(? not really) during housing backcover,

I was replacing my back cover and battery at the same time

but the back cover that i bought was too poorly made from china

So in the middle of replacing I just decided to stick with my old back cover
however still changed my battery

after I was done tried to turn my iphone on

but nothing was on my screen

still strangely it was on and I could tell pretty much every thing else was working fine

I tried

flicking vibration button
calling my self with my brother's phone
connecting to computer

In my case all of these worked

So i thought my Line to LCD might be broken
or it may just not connected well

so i reconnected the 3 LCD lines but still not working

now i got really worried still rational

I took off the screen and looked at it closely
and tried to find the difference between video and photos that I used for
housing

and find out that I miss put one screw before the mother board

which means it was not connected

so i took off the mother board and took out the crazy screw
put motherboard back in and re screwed everything back!

and VOILA!

my iPhone is alive again!

yey

I will never take my iphone parts off
ever


I am attaching the site i referenced for housing
Even though it is in Korean (which i understands)
the photo qualities are the best I could find on web

http://haeinsammae.blog.me/120108457415

My problem was that on 7th photo from the top
one of the red boxed screw was not attached to the main board

which was the one right above numbered 5 screw...



I hope someone else get their iphone fixed with my answer!
because
I was going nuts when my iphone was dead!!
 
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