Hello! A newbie here (new to both FP repair and repairing stuff in general), and I ran into a puzzling issue. So, I dropped my phone, cracked the screen something awful, so I’ve bought the replacement, an iFixit screwdriver (from the FP website), and got to work following the tutorial.
The thing is, one of the first steps, unscrewing the old screen, says to “unscrew the 8 black screws”.
I can only see 6 of them, though.
There are 6 phillips-headed black screws and 2 silver screws of a different head shape. Of course, my new screwdriver doesn’t work on those. (to my despair, neither does any other screwdriver in the household, nor the one I bought today to address the issue)
I’m adding a picture based on a direct screenshot from the instruction video that I’ve captioned for my friends to illustrate the issue. Forgive the typo and the censored expletive, please. It’s a tired, quick, vent image, but I think it shows my problem really clearly.
One other thing I want to add is what screwdrivers I’ve already tried:
So, my questions are:
- Have you ever successfully replaced your F4’s screen?
- If so, did you find the missing black screws?
- Do they exist?
- If not, if it really is the silver ones I’ve been fighting for 3 days, what screwdriver did you use on them?
- Am I stupid for not being able to find 8 screws?
Thank you for any insight. I’m starting to feel I’m screwed.
Welcome to the Community Forum.
I just had a look at the inside of the FP4 I have here, and screws 7 and 8 (from your picture) are black in the device I have here. I was able to unscrew all 8 (black) screws a couple of times before (and back in). Perhaps at one stage other screws were used on your screw holes 7 and 8 (however, the other visible silver screws on the FP4 are usually the same Phillips 00 type).
On a different note: Should you be able to solve the screws 7 & 8 mystery, have a look here to avoid further trouble later: Broken screen BTB connector - #8 by urs_lesse
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hello and welcome to the community
I do not have the FP4 so perhaps someone would have a better guess but it seems to me your phone has got two screws replaced. Have you purchased it directly from the fairphone website?
I have checked the video you linked and the schematics and clearly there should be eight screws in the places suggested
Source
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One more thought: IF for whatever reason someone placed Torx screws (instead of Phillips 00) in your holes 7 and 8, my very recent experience with Torx T5 screws on a different Fairphone was that there I had more luck with a T4 driver 
Better fit for FP6 screws: T5 or T4?
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Thank you! I’ll try a T4 next! I cannot vouch for the two mystery screws really being torx, but that’s the shape they resemble the most. I’m worried about having damaged them, too, since I first chalked up my problem to a skill issue and simply kept trying and trying with the wrong screwdrivers.
Another idea. There is indeed a small number of Torx T5 screws in every FP4. You can see three of them in the 
-marked core module cover – in @Meaghan’s picture, they seem to be silver, in my FP4 here these are black. Perhaps in the assembly of your device, someone mixed up these with the Phillips ones.
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Thank you!
Yes, my phone is directly from the website, and I’ve never opened it before. I’m thinking of two possibilities!
- Mystery screws (torx?) are, indeed, not the black phillips ones described in the tutorial. Assemblage error?
- They are originally black phillips screws as described in the schematics, but I cast my incompetence beam on them and with amateur handling managed to scrape the black paint off the heads and also cause mechanical damage to make them resemble the star-esque torx instead of phillips.
It would be great if I could send a photo, but I don’t have any other camera available than that on my phone. If I’m still at war with the screws once I meet up with any smartphone-having family member, I’ll post photos!
For now, I’ll try more screwdrivers and see!
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True! I’ve noticed that there were torxes where the casual user wasn’t probably meant to go and phillipses on the replaceable parts. The mystery torxes (?) around the edge seem really out of place.
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Do you have any Phillips screws in places where torx ones should be expected?
Honestly, I don’t think so! It would’ve been great if I could provide a photo, but unfortunately, I don’t have any devices around that could do that apart from my phone.
Anyway, other replaceable parts seem to have silver phillips screws. 6 black phillips screws are around the edge accompanied by 2 problem silver screws that I strongly suspect are torxes, because they look identical to the torxes in the heart-labeled part.
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Okay. I have bad news - I’ve tried the T4 screwdriver. It’s probably about the right size - I can finally see the tip of the screwdriver turn inside of the screw’s drive and not on it, but unfortunately, it doesn’t move the screw. I must’ve been wrong thinking they were torxes.
But! Somebody finally lended me their smartphone, so I was able to take pictures at least! I hope they’re visible at least a bit. My hands are shaking, and I can already see the photos came out… not super crisp. I’m so sorry.
To me the worn two screws appear to be (at least originally) black, so I guess they might be just the same (Phillips) type as the others. Luckily, I have never struggled with a worn out screw on a Fairphone myself yet, but others here have – I think @Mixigodo previously recommended a rubber band in between driver and screw head (Mixigodo, feel free to correct me if got that wrong, or even better – explain the recommended approach if you find the time). Other than that, consulting a regular phone repair shop might make sense, they certainly have some experience with worn out screws.
For others reading along, I had another look at the FP4 I have here. In the above photos it might appear like the screws were protruding, but at least in the FP4 I have this is unfortunately not the case – right the opposite: the screws are actually submerged, so pliers are not an option in my eyes.
@MiloslavTerry I have put all your four photos in the first of your photo posts from today.
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I deleted the 3 extra posts because of this.
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