HELP - screen black, but phone still working

Can anyone help? My Fairphone screen has gone completely black and I cannot get it to work. The phone still rings but I can’t use the screen at all. The little green light is flashing in the top right hand corner but there are not other signs of life. I have tried using the instructions in the “Black screen on reboot” article but this didn’t work. The phone was about 50% charged when the screen went down. I didn’t drop it or get it wet - it was fine when I put it in my jacket pocket and the screen was completely black when I took it out. I’ve had the phone about a fortnight. Thanks!

Have tried taking the battery out, then putting back in and trying to boot the phone up as normal? If so what happens when you do this?

THANK YOU - that worked and it’s all back up and running perfectly. Phew!

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Glad it’s sorted. I’ll leave this topic open for a little while, so if it happens again post back :smile:

Much appreciated. It’s been brilliant so far so I was horrified when things seemed to have gone wrong!

Continuing the discussion from HELP - screen black, but phone still working:

I am having the same problem. Taking of the battery and restarting worked once. But now the problem is back again. Screen is black and can’t use the phone. When rebooting, nothing happens. I reset the factory settings last week when my phone was behaving strangely while plugged to charge (keyboard was messed up, couldn’t write properly). So now that I have reset the phone, reinstalled everything, I’m getting a black screen… should I do a hard reset?

PS. tried to call myself and it rings and I can respond, so phone is working. But can’t see the screen so can’t see texts, can’t call people or use phone.

Hi,

sounds for me like a hardware defect. Maybe a loose contact or something like that.
The problem is what can you do if I’m right? The only Idea I have is to disassemble and reassemble the screen. Checking all connections by doing this. But I don’t know if I would be brave enough to try it.

regards,
Shiny

PS: Of cause only if the screen keeps absolutely black in every situation.

Did you try the Touch screen test?

Do you even see anything in factory mode?

Thank you! Factory mode worked. Could see the screen, test everything and all OK.
But then, after phone screen got locked, then it stayed black when I wanted to wake him to see a message. Right now, after clicking several times on the power button, I managed to see the screen (although less bright than usual).

Ok, at least the hardware is not broken! Phew! :slight_smile:

I somehow suspect an app / background process, which is locking the access to the power button, when you want to wake the screen. Did you install an app before this started to happen? Please think hard about the last app you installed.

Last night I went to pick up my phone and it was making the clicking noise that tells you to enter your password to decrypt it, however nothing was showing on the screen. The buttons on the bottom where also making the phone vibrate slightly. After closer inspection I saw that there is a slight light coming from the bottom of the screen. Any manipulation I try (eg. taking the battery out or factory mode) doesn’t produce any more image or light than this…

My phone has a similar problem. Screen is black and the phone doesn’t seem to respond to the power button, but answering a phone call was still possible (by guessing the answering swipe). Taking out the battery and reboot the phone seemed to work a few times, but after a minute or so, the screen went black again so I couldn’t continue booting. I tried to access the factory mode, which initially seemed to work, but again, after a while, the light dimmed, screen went black and I couldn’t start actually testing anything. I didn’t manage (yet) to enter the factory mode again. Does anyone have any clue how to find the problem?

I think you need a new display unit. Screens should be back in stock soon.

A post was split to a new topic: Still blackscreens and microphone issues after repair