Hello.
I've been having some problems with my Galaxy S II recently.
When taking a few pictures, I noticed that there are several black spots that won't disappear. I've attached a picture to help you visualize.
Honestly, I didn't expect the phone's camera to be this horriffic. I've got both a big red spot that's clearly visible on every single photo that I take and several dots that just cannot be unseen.
Having done some research, I found out that there is as of now no way to fix the red-spot problem, as it is caused by some phones' hardware.
I have also used the search function and Google to find information about the black spots I'm also having problems with. Turns out the only way to get rid of them seems to be taking the phone to a professional, in my case T-Mobile.
Having rooted the phone to gain full access, I'd have to get a JIG stick (not a problem, a friend of mine has one) and reset the flash counter. Then I'd have to send my phone to them and wait several weeks for them to fix/replace it.
Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find another possibility. Is there a way for me to get the what I suppose is dust out of the area beneath the lense? Should I try using compressed air to blow it out?
And if I sent it to my provider and they replaced it, is there a chance of me getting a I9100G instead?
Tl;dr Is there a way to get the dust which causes the artifacts shown in the picture out of underneath the camera's lense that doesn't involve sending the phone to a professional and hope that they'll be able to fix it?
Thanks in advance!
haiyyu said:
Hello.
I've been having some problems with my Galaxy S II recently.
When taking a few pictures, I noticed that there are several black spots that won't disappear. I've attached a picture to help you visualize.
Honestly, I didn't expect the phone's camera to be this horriffic. I've got both a big red spot that's clearly visible on every single photo that I take and several dots that just cannot be unseen.
Having done some research, I found out that there is as of now no way to fix the red-spot problem, as it is caused by some phones' hardware.
I have also used the search function and Google to find information about the black spots I'm also having problems with. Turns out the only way to get rid of them seems to be taking the phone to a professional, in my case T-Mobile.
Having rooted the phone to gain full access, I'd have to get a JIG stick (not a problem, a friend of mine has one) and reset the flash counter. Then I'd have to send my phone to them and wait several weeks for them to fix/replace it.
Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find another possibility. Is there a way for me to get the what I suppose is dust out of the area beneath the lense? Should I try using compressed air to blow it out?
And if I sent it to my provider and they replaced it, is there a chance of me getting a I9100G instead?
Tl;dr Is there a way to get the dust which causes the artifacts shown in the picture out of underneath the camera's lense that doesn't involve sending the phone to a professional and hope that they'll be able to fix it?
Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd recommend no self-medication,you should un-root it and send it to T-Mobile. It's better that the professionals work on it rather than us. But if you still think you can do it then jsut open your phone with a screw driver? and clean it?
I have the same issue, one day on a boat tour in NY the camera suddenly got spotted with black dots. No warranty so I bought a eyeware repair kit and took it apart and cleaned thoroughly. No improvement. Dropped it in a toilet by accident 3 months later, took everything apart, cleaned more, left it in a bag of rice = still black spots. But its working nonetheless. I'm putting a case on my next phone.
I also noticed a big black spot on mine.
Cleaning lens, nope. Tapping on the back where the camera is, nope.
So I took the back off which was easy. Make sure you remove your sd and sim!!!!!
Take out the screws and use your nail to open. Start prying the back off. It will look and feel like a no go in the beginning but all of a sudden your nails will slide in between and you can work your way around to get it off. I recommend you start at about 2cm or like an inch above the bottom of the device and then go to the bottom corner. The volume and on/off buttons might fall out but no worries, easy to stick m back in.
I took a look at the inside of the cover but nothing that could cause a black spot.
Now when the back is off you can still attach the batt, just make sure you don't make sudden moves as it is not locked in. Also you do not need the sd and sim in to test.
Start it up by gently pressing the power switch with your nail. It boots up like that.
Now start the camera and you will see the spot(s). I would give it a bit of a blow, don't spit . If it is not moving or going away, like in my case, start tapping with your nail on the lens (no harm done). If you tap with the backcover still on you don't actually tap directly on the lens so there is almost no effect. In my case I could see the spot move. I tapped untill the spot was gone.
There was no 'void' sticker on mine and it took me like 10 minutes so if you feel adventurous I would give that a go.
Related
Hi all,
Has anyone experience with a problem when the touch screen intermittently works, especially when you press/hold hard on the sides of the face of the phone. Without pressing down on the side, the top menu (start... x) most of the time are either unresponsive or respond as if you press elsewhere on the screen.
I'm thinking of open up the phone later tonight to troubleshoot, guessing the screen digitizer is loose or, HOPEFULLY NOT, cold solder somewhere. But if you'd heard or faced this problem before or even have an idea on what has caused the problem, I'd like to hear from you. Please help!
Thanks!
Adding info
Oh yeah, did I forget to say that not just the top of the screen, the middle part as worst. The only part of the screen is still responsive is the bottom. If I press down or punctual around the face of the phone tightly enought(?), I'd be able to have the good touch screen for a little while (5... 10 minutes) before it gone weird again.
Fixed... for now
Well, I jammed a couple of thin plastic to the bottom of the screen within the housing facelet behind the t-mobile logo... and it works... for now.
I still intend to disassemble the dawn thing as soon as I realize such quick fix has become unpractical or no longer work.
I will check back to this post again, so if you are interested, don't hesitate to reply, I'll try anything when desperate.
How long have you had the phone?
How do you carry it around?
If you got the phone recently and started carrying it around by putting it in your pants pocket, then you find the screen sometimes doesn't work well, those facts are related. A couple of years ago people used to always complain about this, and some recommended rubbing your finger firmly around all edges of the screen for a temporary fix. Others recommended forcing a business card under the metal at the edges of the screen. I got a leather belt case for mine, and the problem went away.
If you've had the phone for years and it just now started acting up, the problem might be related to a cable, connection, or something. There is a wizard service manual online. I've used its instructions to replace a screen, with no bad issues.
Good luck with your phone. The wizard is a bit old, but still pretty nice.
So it happened this morning when my alarm went off and it vibrated. I heard a plastic part vibrating also. The sharp loud noise was disgusting. I shut off my alarm thikning it was my cheap SGP case.
Later today I played around trying to find out if the silicone had a hole or something where the plastic frame was touching the SGS2 phone itself. Nope. I took the whole case off. Each time it vibrates it sounds like... ahh what the hell. I will film it for you guys now.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GoIrBmMC1U
WTF is that? I took the cover off. I took the SIM card out on another occasion too. It sounds like something on the upper left. If I push my finger down on the panel, it stops. If you notice the few seconds it is sitting on the table flat, it's fine. Just a little weight seems to calm it down. Not sure if its the vibrating motor itself because it is vibrating properly. Sounds like something is loose inside though...
Anyone experienced this before? Should I go for RMA?
Second part of the question:
Obviously being an XDA-er I'm rooted. I will flash back to stock and unroot. I bought this off of Expansys-USA so I should get *some* reasonable attempt by them to send it back. What are the chances that my warranty gets denied? I don't have a USB jig to reset the counter, but I'll of course get rid of the yellow triangle.
*grrrr... I need to dig up my Nexus S now if I have to go through warranty... I'm guessing I'll be phoneless for weeks*
I don't know if it would invalidate the warrenty or not (technically rooting/custom roms is supposed to), but when I had a problem with my stereo jack not working rather than risking it I just replaced the part myself.
The vibration motor, stereo jack and earphone speaker are all on the same part.
(I got it from this guy on ebay for about $7 if you're curious.)
Random6 said:
I don't know if it would invalidate the warrenty or not (technically rooting/custom roms is supposed to), but when I had a problem with my stereo jack not working rather than risking it I just replaced the part myself.
The vibration motor, stereo jack and call speaker are all on the same part.
(I got it from this guy on ebay for about $7 if you're curious.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see. I'm not sure whats broken really. When I shake my SGS2 I hear something rattling inside. I'm just afraid to open the thing up... is it difficult?
Just watched your video. It sort of sounds as if somehow the vibration motor came loose from its proper spot and is now moving around vibrating against the plastic. Its normally held in with some adhesive (basically double sided tape) within a cutout area.
When I had mine apart I actually took a photo, http://i.imgur.com/fgN9F.jpg, if that makes it any more clear.
I actually recorded the process of me reinstalling the new part (excluding the disassembly, there are lots of clips of that from other people on youtube) but havent gotten around to uploading it yet since my internet connection sucks and the file is nearly 2GB.
Edit to add:
No it wasn't really all that difficult to dissassemble, it was actually pretty easy. That said I enjoy taking things apart and trying to fix them. This was the first time I've dissassembled anything as small as a cell phone, but I'm used to taking things apart and trying to fix them when they break. If you don't have any experience taking apart electronics you might want to think twice or just pay someone who fix's cell phones to do it.
If you're thinking about it, heres a video where someone shows taking it apart to get a rough idea of whats involved.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKztg1ra4-0
I decided to try and upload the video I took, once it finishes (in about 2.5 hours) it should be viewable here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ud1upGzLBs
Random6 said:
I decided to try and upload the video I took, once it finishes (in about 2.5 hours) it should be viewable here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ud1upGzLBs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thank you for your detailed writeup. im going to try this. ive taken apart my macbook pro to install an SSD before, and a few other electronics, but i'm not the very best (i feel clumsy sometimes), but i'm willing to give this a shot.
The only thing I'm worried about is that I could potentially mess up the phone in other ways in disassembly such that my warranty won't be honored if I need to resort to that... We'll see tonight. It looks like you used two screwdrivers? Which ones will I need? I have a #000 that I see will be needed for the back plate at least...
k. opened my phone up.
i just took the screws out and the backplate. i pushd around to make sure things are tight, and they seem to be.
put it together and the vibrate thing happens VERY rarely now..
I shook my phone around and still heard something shaking (please tell me if this happens).
I opened up my phone and the camera module seems to be loose. Is it supposed to be glued down?
Just to let you know, you say you don't have a USB jig so your Flash counter may make your warranty void, but, if you flash to an ice cream sandwich ROM (Cyanogenmod 9) you can install an app called 'Triangle Away' which will basically get rid of the Flash count and yellow triangle - it needs root by the way. (search it up on XDA, it's by chainfire')
Then you can flash stock and send in for warranty.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA
dmo580 said:
k. opened my phone up.
I shook my phone around and still heard something shaking (please tell me if this happens).
I opened up my phone and the camera module seems to be loose. Is it supposed to be glued down?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't remember it being glued down. Its been a few month since I fixed mine but if I recall correctly it just fit snugly in place between some plastic fitted walls.
This is the camera module you mean right?
Edit: I also don't hear anything shaking with mine, did you mabe leave a screw loose inside?
Random6 said:
I don't remember it being glued down. Its been a few month since I fixed mine but if I recall correctly it just fit snugly in place between some plastic fitted walls.
This is the camera module you mean right?
Edit: I also don't hear anything shaking with mine, did you mabe leave a screw loose inside?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah. Camera module. That's the one. The main 8MP shooter. It's not glued down or anything. It shakes around inside. I definitely did not leave a screw inside because I only opened the back panel and I put all the screws back in.
It's weird because something making noise while shaking the phone has been documented here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1254520
And I noticed that when you activate camera it goes away. Quite strange but as an engineer this makes me wonder HOW that even happens? Shrug.
I'm waiting for my Samsung Focus S phone to come from the Windows Phone challenge and I'm contemplating using that for a month while my i9100 goes out for warranty. Of course I can always use my Nexus S as a backup, but part of me wants to force myself on a new platform for a month and see how that goes... Hahahaha.
Random6 said:
No it wasn't really all that difficult to dissassemble, it was actually pretty easy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey Random6, did you happen to find that after replacing the vibrator motor with a new one, the intensity is now less than when new? I used double sided tape, but with 1.5mm, I guess the motor won't vibrate AT ALL.
Also I found that if I don't screw the one that seems to be closest to the vibrator motor all the way in, it obviously vibrates harder, but not hard enough.
I also used two very thin copper plates to sandwich the motor between the plastic plates, but once again, that was too much and the vibrations were not transfered to the phone's body, but I could hear it doing its job.
Any suggestions?
Thanks!
Hey everyone,
I noticed a small dark spot on the left of the pictures I was taking with the phone, and ignored it. This was about 2 months ago.
But just today, I turned on the camera and saw a large smiley face dark patch on the camera. iv tried cleaning it with compressed air, rubbing alcohol, restarting the phone, reflashing the stock firmware. Nothing is helping.
Im really really annoyed, for a phone so expensive why is it plagued with so many problems? Nothing is stopping me from tossing this thing and getting an HTC or something because I am getting a bit fed up with the pink spot, usb port problems, grey spot etc etc. Anyway, enough complaining.
For now, any suggestions?
http://i.imgflash.com/plb.jpg
I'll give you $20 for the phone.
Didn't realise this was a sale thread...
It's not. When people throw tantys along the lines of 'I'm going to throw this phone against the wall & get a <insert brand/model of phone here>', most people on here roll their eyes and/or laugh. And tend to ignore the person posting same.
Now...To your issue.
It may well be a physical issue with the camera/lens. There may be something trapped inside the glass covering the lens (maybe at manufacture), or it could be a scratch/blemish of some sort on the glass itself.
If it's that much of an issue, I'd send it in for warranty service. Obviously if it's an issue around a scratch or blemish on the glass covering the lens that has developed after you bought the phone, you might well have problems getting it fixed under warranty.
The other thing you could try (you didn't give us any info about rom) would be to go back to stock if you're currently not running stock to rule out a firmware issue, though you did say you noticed it two months ago & let it slide.
To me, that sounds like it's either a hardware problem with the camera/sensor or that lens/glass issue I mentioned.
I too got a spot on the top right hand corner if I use the camera, not otherwise. It's very annoying and now my s2 is NOT in warranty period. What should I do? The upper glass on camera is clean without any scratches.
Hey guys, first time poster but long time reader here. I'm having a problem with my galaxy note 2, my s-pen is not working at all, and using a different spen does not solve the problem. Here's what I did, I had to replace the bezel because i dropped it and it was badly damaged, and prior to that it was working just fine. I took the battery, sd card, sim card and the spen out and then removed and replaced the bezel as carefully as possible, I then replaced all of them and turned on the phone as normal. I did not tamper with the screen itself in any way.
Well, immediately after turning the phone on, I noticed the spen is not working at all. The only response I get from it is when I take it out of the holster and the phone makes a noise and vibrates. I am on a custom rom (alliance), and have switched to another rom just to make sure that it isn't the rom's fault.
I have no idea what to do now, I'm really hoping you guys can help me out. It is still under warranty, so should I just return it to stock and take it to verizon? For anyone with experience, if I do end up taking it to verizon, will they swap out the phone with a new one on the spot or will they send me one of their "pre-owned" devices instead? Thanks for the help.
I took the bezel off to see if anything looked out of the ordinary, and I actually found the problem! In my own stupidity, I let a connector come loose when I was swapping bezels. If you're looking at it from the back of the phone, it is in the top left corner, next to the camera, it's a gold rectangular connector, apparently it goes to the wacom digitizer. I'll see if I can find a picture of it later to post.
So bottom line, if you are having to replace the bezel like I did, make sure to check your connections before putting the screws in, because that connector is easy to knock loose.
Thanks anyway guys, I'm very sorry for wasting your time, but I hope this will help someone else in the same position.
the same problem
i have the same problem. i has replaced the screen and the s-pen do not work any more. can you post a picture showing this connector? because the screen spare part that i buy has only one connector. thanks.
(Thread moved, because i'm honestly a noob at forums)
Before you burn me at the stake, I know the title is vague, but I do have a few questions I need answered if possible.
First things first, I have an Alcatel Pop One Touch C7. You're probably not familiar with the phone but I don't think it actually matters in this case.
Now, I dropped my phone a couple of weeks ago, and while the screen didn't crack, it is definitely not working properly. What I think happened is that the cable connecting the display to the phone is slightly dislodged. The screen shows washed up colors and seems to lag when trying to display a new "frame", for example when I type in something and the screen slowly fades in said something. I'll post pictures as soon as I can.
I tried opening the phone, but when I unscrewed the back, I saw this sticker going from the battery slot all the way to the board.
I watched a few videos showing how to "unstick" the sticker, but I don't have a heatgun or tool that can help me do so.
My question is:
Do you think this sticker is important to the phone, or can I just rip it out or cut it?
Thanks in advance
shadyeversince said:
(Thread moved, because i'm honestly a noob at forums)
Before you burn me at the stake, I know the title is vague, but I do have a few questions I need answered if possible.
First things first, I have an Alcatel Pop One Touch C7. You're probably not familiar with the phone but I don't think it actually matters in this case.
Now, I dropped my phone a couple of weeks ago, and while the screen didn't crack, it is definitely not working properly. What I think happened is that the cable connecting the display to the phone is slightly dislodged. The screen shows washed up colors and seems to lag when trying to display a new "frame", for example when I type in something and the screen slowly fades in said something. I'll post pictures as soon as I can.
I tried opening the phone, but when I unscrewed the back, I saw this sticker going from the battery slot all the way to the board.
I watched a few videos showing how to "unstick" the sticker, but I don't have a heatgun or tool that can help me do so.
My question is:
Do you think this sticker is important to the phone, or can I just rip it out or cut it?
Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First, no, don't cut or rip anything. In my opinion, you may have cracked your display in the drop. If you have access to a UV flashlight, turn the phone off and shine the light on the display and see if you see any cracks. If you can get a hair dryer, use that in place of a heat gun. I look at it like this, it's in the phone for a reason, therefore don't break anything.
Evolution_Tech said:
First, no, don't cut or rip anything. In my opinion, you may have cracked your display in the drop. If you have access to a UV flashlight, turn the phone off and shine the light on the display and see if you see any cracks. If you can get a hair dryer, use that in place of a heat gun. I look at it like this, it's in the phone for a reason, therefore don't break anything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sadly, I won't be able to do anything about the screen given two of the screws are chewed up.
I'll probably just get a new phone and leave this one around for an emergency.