Iphone 3g home button not working help!!!

home button not working after repairs

This is not that uncommon with iPhone DIY repairs. in most cases the home button contacts get torn, bent or are not properly position during the the placement of the glass/digitizer/LCD assembly.

The first thing you want to do is open the iPhone up again and check that you can see both of the home button contacts and that they are both in their original shape. They should appear to resemble small circular contacts when viewed from the side. If they are flat or compressed...you will need a new home button flex cable.

In some cases, the home button flex cable contact pad slides out of position and is unable to make contact with the mating strike plate on the dock assembly. You will also want to make sure there is no adhesive residue or other foreign material on or covering any portion of the contact pad on the dock assembly.

Hope this is helpful.

 

I am having the same issue (home button doesn't work after replacing the back housing of my 3g iPhone).

My contacts are still in great shape, although I don't know how I can test if they simply aren't making contact due to something being out of position... any way that I can test that?

As I didn't really touch the top half of the phone I don't think the issue could lie with the home button itself and was thinking there might be a problem with the bottom assembly instead (the one that has the microphone, speaker, dock and cable #4)... I just don't know how to test this out. Any ideas would be much appreciated!

 

Home buttons positioning

If you have removed the dock in an iPhone 3G and have not disassembled the top half ( glass/digitizer- LCD assembly ) then you will want to be sure the dock is properly aligned and sitting so the home button contacts will hit their gold contact pads on the dock connector assembly. Sometimes if you over tighten the dock into the rear case it actually lowers the dock assembly to the point the contacts ... dont make contact.

In addition make sure cable 4 is properly snapped into its mating connector. This can be easily tested by just plugging your iPhone into sync cable attached to your computer and determining if your computer can recognize your iPhone. If it does...your dock is connected correctly.

But this test will not tell you if the home button contacts are hitting their respective pads. I don't have a trick for this one as it takes the phone to be completely reassembled to test the home button :-(

Hope this helps.

 

My dock was working when connected to a computer so that definitely helped narrow things down to the issue not being my #4 cable. I ended up putting some folded up paper beneath the circuit board on the lower assembly to prop up the connectors and this allowed my home button to work.

I think you are right about the dock part simply being tightened too much. If you look at the dock port, it doesnt seem to line up properly and looks like that whole assembly is too far towards the back end of the phone. Going to try loosening some screws or possibly putting something in behind the lower assembly to prop it up a little bit.

Thank you so much!

One other question, is there any specific type of glue or adhesive you would recommend to get the chrome bezel to stay attached to the lower housing?

 

on the home button make sure both pins are not flat or mines......check on the dock to make sure is damage or dirt build up on the connectors...........as far as the chrome bezel goes a little super glue at the 4 corners should help it stay in place

 

Home button issues after replacing back housing

Simply put , if you exchanged the back housing and the home button is now not working , the usual problem ( as explain by someone up top ) is the front now aligning with the dock connector . The typical problem is usually with the back housing replacement as the fit isn't 100% the same , if you noticed your phone probably feels tighter than before or maybe has the feeling like its bulkier or pushed out a bit at the top . Anyhow start by pulling up the front assembly and replacing it back down , if you notice the flex cable for the home button has a two piece connector that aligns with two metal parts on the dock connector , these must be aligned and touching properly . If that still doesn't fix your problem then go back to the dock connector , a lot of people just throw these in there and force the fit , you should not do that , there is a certain way they should be placed and for knowledge always make sure the metal parts ( where screws insert ) from the dock connector are above the metal parts on the bezel , ive seen people put them under , that is incorrect . THey should never feel forced ( the parts installed ) There should always be a good fit feel when you do it .


As far as bezel , the other guy is correct , super glue works fine or if you don't have you can use adhesive strips on the sides and corners , however i recommend super glue out of the two , when you use adhesive you will typically get a raising part , and also when you use super glue , id recommend to put it on its front and sit something heavy on the back for a bit and let it dry for a few , if it still raises a bit , this should be fixed once you install all of the parts .