Bonnie Baxter

Darla, I routinely do this when replacing ports, especially Samsung. Obviously it has to be done carefully, but I find that even brand-new ports are somewhat loose and can be tightened this way. It could be done without replacing the port. I remove the circuit board from the tab or phone, insert a micro USB cable (that is NOT attached to power!), and then carefully and gently use a pair of pliers to compress the port toward the board from both top and bottom. Then I check tightness and adjust accordingly. If your port is really loose, this may not help. You may need a replacement, which requires soldering under a microscope. But if it’s only somewhat loose, it may be enough, at least for a while. I am a phone/tablet technician who does microsoldering, and has replaced many Tab A ports.

Elena, iFixit is a large community of: users who want to fix their own devices, semi-professional and professional technicians who come here offering advice and sometimes seeking it, and a small core of employees who keep the site up and running, do the tear-downs and run the store, etc. It’s not intended as a place to find a repair technician to fix your phone (although many of us probably could) but rather as a resource if you want to fix it yourself. If if you are seeking advice, please provide more information. What type of phone? How long have you had it? What is the problem, exactly? How did the problem first arise? Was it dropped, exposed to water, or anything else that might have triggered the issue? Did it stop working all at once, or gradually over time? If you’re looking for someone else to fix it, you’re better off searching for a local repair shop or a mail-in provider (they’ll want the above information.) Be sure to ask questions before handing over your phone, and to do a complete backup of...

Marc, I don't remember for sure, but I think that what solved the problem for me was replacing the digitizer with a new one from a seller that I trust. I am not sure why my digitizer worked beautifully at first and then failed. Possibilities include small rips, kinks, or slightly bad/dirty connection points at the end of the cable. Or slightly incomplete insertion into a connector. This last is worth checking: open the latches on both connectors, carefully push the cable in with tweezers as far as it can go, and close the latches. In my case, possibly there was damage to the cable that was only revealed when the assembly was tightly closed. I think that I did insulate the edges of the digitizer with Kapton tape, as has been suggested elsewhere, and that did not help in my case. Another possibility if it is not the digitizer, is that one of the connectors is faulty. If you have a microscope or even magnifying glass, inspect the solder joints between each pin and pad, making sure that they look good and have...

This sort of thing just happened to me on an iPad 4 digitizer swap. I know the digitizer worked beautifully—right up until the final reassembly. I tested it numerous times by dragging an icon all over the screen. And it was removed from a well-working iPad (that was on someone else’s account whom I can’t reach, so its usefulness was limited.) The digitizer worked well before removal, after motherboard swap…everything except the final step of sealing it up. I took it back apart and re-seated the cable, but no good. So I’m very interested to any answers to Michael’s question, or the original. The most likely thing I can come up with is a very slightly damaged cable. I’ll test it with the broken glass digitizer next, if I can do so safely. It’s taped together and essentially intact. For that matter, I can also test it in the other iPad, to see whether I’ve caused a digitizer or motherboard problem…

Dell Inspirons have terrible placement of their cooling fans, IMO. (I have one too, which I inherited when its fan overheated and broke and was too expensive to repair...I repaired and upgraded, then inherited it...) The fan is at the bottom, blowing air down (?!?). So if it's sitting on top of your lap (i.e. like a laptop...) often the fan is almost completely blocked by its contact with your lap. It's a bad design. I'm quite surprised at how long it has remained that way. The only real solution that I know of is to prevent a snug fit between your lap, or any surface, especially soft one) and the underside of the computer. Prop it up on something so there is airflow to the fan vents onthe bottom. Otherwise, as you've observed, it gets extremely hot. The next step is for the fan's motor to burn out. This is one of the most common failures for the Inspiron; it requires replacement of the fan. It's a cheap part, but repair involves taking almost everything out of the case to get at the fan. (An aside: this...

The chosen answer is not quite correct for the 8.0" 350. In step 8 of the motherboard replacement guide for the 8.0" Galaxy Tab A 350, there is a protective cover plate for the USB port that is removed via two 3 mm screws. There is no flex cable. (It does appear that other Galaxy Tab models do have flex cables, probably hence the confusion. The YouTube video cited is for a different model: also a Galaxy Tab A, but the 9.7" T555 rather than the 8.0" T350, I believe.) HOWEVER: once the protective cover is removed, what is revealed is the back of a standard USB port, with its four soldered anchor points. Once the motherboard is completely removed (see my comments on this procedure--some connectors need to be disconnected first that are not mentioned in the guide), and flipped over, the USB port is seen to have seven pins as well as the four anchors, which must be microsoldered to their pads. Only the middle three of these are really small; the other four are (relatively, for microsoldering) fairly large. But...

The yellow stuff is presumably Kapton (heat-resistant) tape, and it looks like there’s a heat gun off to the right. I’ve never seen Kapton tape used like this—my guess is that the technician is attempting to blow hot air between the connector and the flex without melting the plastic on either. But if the hot air is correctly applied (which takes practice), the heat will go to the metal and solder and not the plastic, and the plastic won’t melt.

One other comment: unless the SE is different, it’s an understatement to say “you don’t need to use a new home button.” If you DO use a new home button, fingerprint sensing won’t work. It relies on hardware that is underneath the home button itself, and is paired to the motherboard (the CPU, I think). If you can splice flex cables, you can cut the home button away from its original flex and splice it on to a new flex, retaining fingerprint sensing (at least I’ve seen this done on YouTube). Otherwise I think you’re out of luck.

…before attaching the LCD, in fact.

To go a step further in caution, leave the backing on the adhesive strips, attach all the cables (and replace the tape over them if you like), making sure all of the motherboard screws are in place. Then lay the LCD on top (without screwing it down), lay the glass on top of that, and TEST. Make sure you have full LCD and digitizer function. If not, do a hard reset and test again. If still not, dismantle everything and re-check the cables—they should be fully inserted (usually the white line should not show at all), with their latches down and no sharp crimps. It’s surprising how small a change in digitizer insertion can make a black screen suddenly function just fine.

Incidentally, you have also very likely removed the ambient light sensor (which allows automatic adjustment of the screen’s brightness according to ambient light. The sensor (in the iPad 4, at least, and it appears extremely similar in the iPad 2) is the module attached above the camera, and has its own tiny hole in the iPad’s glass, just above the one for the camera’s lens.

The module is held securely to the camera by adhesive, and given the small cost of replacing the assembly, it seems most expedient to just remove and replace the camera as well. I have confirmed that doing so restores ambient light sensor function to an iPad 4 (WiFi) that lacked it. I haven’t tested this on an iPad 2, but since the module appears very similar, I surmise that its function is the same.

One caution with the iPad 2 is that the microphone assembly has a similar sensor. To make an educated guess which one is the light sensor, determine which lines up best with the tiny hole in the iPad’s glass, just above the one for the camera.

Incidentally, you have also very likely removed the ambient light sensor (which allows automatic adjustment of the screen’s brightness according to ambient light. The sensor (in the iPad 4, at least, and it appears extremely similar in the iPad 2) is the module attached above the camera, and has its own tiny hole in the iPad’s glass, just above the one for the camera’s lens.

The module is held securely to the camera by adhesive, and given the small cost of replacing the assembly, it seems most expedient to just remove and replace the camera as well. I have confirmed that doing so restores ambient light sensor function to an iPad 4 (WiFi) that lacked it. I haven’t tested this on an iPad 2, but since the module appears very similar, I surmise that its function is the same.

One caution with the iPad 2 is that the microphone assembly has a similar sensor. To make an educated guess which one is the light sensor, determine which lines up best with the tiny hole in the iPad’s glass, just above the one for the camera.

Incidentally, you have also very likely removed the ambient light sensor (which allows automatic adjustment of the screen’s brightness according to ambient light. The sensor (in the iPad 4, at least, and it appears extremely similar in the iPad 2) is the module attached above the camera, and has its own tiny hole in the iPad’s glass, just above the one for the camera’s lens.

The module is held securely to the camera by adhesive, and given the small cost of replacing the assembly, it seems most expedient to just remove and replace the camera as well. I have confirmed that doing so restores ambient light sensor function to an iPad 4 (WiFi) that lacked it. I haven’t tested this on an iPad 2, but since the module appears very similar, I surmise that its function is the same.

One caution with the iPad 2 is that the microphone assembly has a similar sensor. To make an educated guess which one is the light sensor, determine which lines up best with the tiny hole in the iPad’s glass, just above the one for the camera.

In removing the front-facing camera at this point, you have likely also removed the ambient light sensor (which allows automatic adjustment of the screen’s brightness according to ambient light. The sensor (in the iPad 4, at least, and it appears extremely similar in the iPad 2) is the module attached above the camera, and has its own tiny hole in the iPad’s glass, just above the one for the camera’s lens.

I have confirmed that replacing the front camera and its attached module restores ambient light sensor function to an iPad 4 (WiFi) that lacked it. I haven’t tested this on an iPad 2, but since the module appears very similar, I surmise that its function is the same.

This is somewhat less clear on this particular model than the others I’ve looked at, though, since the microphone assembly also has a similar module. One way to make an educated guess is to see which module is closest to the device’s glass and lines up with the tiny hole above the one for the lens of the camera itself.

Incidentally, you have also very likely removed the ambient light sensor (which allows automatic adjustment of the screen’s brightness according to ambient light. The sensor (in the iPad 4, at least, and it appears extremely similar in the iPad 2) is the module attached above the camera, and has its own tiny hole in the iPad’s glass, just above the one for the camera’s lens.

The module is held securely to the carema by adhesive, and given the small cost of replacing the camera itself (which is virtually always sold with this module attached) it seems more expedient to just remove and replace the whole camera/module assembly. I have confirmed that doing so restores ambient light sensor function to an iPad 4 (WiFi) that lacked it. I haven’t tested this on an iPad 2, but since the module appears very similar, I surmise that its function is the same.

If you remove the front-facing camera at this point (and replace it with a new one when you re-assemble), you will also almost certainly have removed the ambient light sensor (which allows automatic adjustment of the screen’s brightness according to ambient light. The sensor is the module attached above the camera, and has its own tiny hole in the iPad’s glass, just above the one for the camera’s lens.

The module appears to be removable from the camera, but this author’s attempts were unsuccessful. It is held on securely by adhesive, and given the small cost of replacing the camera itself (which is virtually always sold with this module attached) it seems more expedient to just remove and replace the whole camera/module assembly. I have confirmed that doing so restores ambient light sensor function to an iPad 4 (WiFi) that lacked it. I haven’t tested this on an iPad 3, but since the module appears identical, I surmise that its function is the same.

Incidentally, you have also almost certainly now removed the ambient light sensor (which allows automatic adjustment of the screen’s brightness according to ambient light, if it’s enabled by the toggle switch in settings/display and brightness. The sensor is the module attached above the camera, and has its own tiny hole in the iPad’s glass, just above the one for the camera’s lens.

The module appears to be removable, but this author’s attempts were unsuccessful. It seems to be held on just by black tape on black tape, but it’s held on securely, and given the small cost of replacing the camera itself (which is virtually always sold with this module attached) it seems more expedient to just remove and replace the whole camera/module assembly. I have confirmed that doing so restores ambient light sensor function to an iPad 4 (WiFi) that lacked it. I haven’t tested this on an iPad 3, but since the module appears identical, I surmise that its function is the same.

Incidentally, you have also almost certainly now removed the ambient light sensor (which allows automatic adjustment of the screen’s brightness according to ambient light, if it’s enabled by the toggle switch in settings/display and brightness. The sensor is the module attached above the camera, and has its own tiny hole in the iPad’s glass, just above the one for the camera’s lens.

The module appears to be removable, but this author’s attempts were unsuccessful. It seems to be held on just by black tape on black tape, but it’s held on securely, and given the small cost of replacing the camera itself (which is virtually always sold with this module attached) it seems more expedient to just remove and replace the whole camera/module assembly. I have confirmed that doing so restores ambient light sensor function to an iPad 4 (WiFi) that lacked it. I haven’t tested this on an iPad 3, but since the module appears identical, I surmise that its function is the same.