when going to bed yesterday I might have accidentally killed my FP3. It fell off the bed and must have landed at a really unfortunate angle. I didn’t notice it at first, but when it was off and I couldn’t turn it back on I noticed there is a crack going through the frame from the Volume-up button all the way to the bottom screw in the top right, through the metaly-ish bit (assuming some PCB-part? IDK).
Tried to draw it on the iFixit teardown photos for reference:
I don’t know what exactly this is but today I managed to turn it back on, and I noticed the screen flickering, so it seems to me it might part of the connection for the screen?
I’m able to use it when the back-cover is off, but earlier when I put it back on I couldn’t turn it on anymore, maybe it’s putting pressure in the wrong place or something, I don’t know
Unfortunately the frame is one of the parts that can’t be bought in the Spare Parts store (which seems odd to me given that the frame is supposed to absorb impacts…), so I’m not sure what to do about this…
Any advise on this? I really don’t wanna have to buy a new one because everything else still works like the day I got it (except for a battery replacement earlier this year).
I think you have a good chance to find a used but fully functional rear module in this forum’s inofficial marketplace, for example from @Antoine’s FP3 spare parts sale. Basically every FP3 owner whose motherboard died could be a donor or seller.
From the support article it seems the rear module includes the fingerprint sensor.
Is that required or can I continue using the old one? If not, is there anything to look out for when swapping it out? Does it need to be re-calibrated with the system or anything?
I would strongly recommend to replace the whole rear module in one piece. The fingerprint sensor only “senses” your fingerprint and it is stored somewhere on the built-in internal storage, so the “new” (used) sensor should ideally recognize your saved fingerprint. However, it’s possible you might need to “re-record” your fingerprint with the new one. Still, replace the whole rear module, the complete fingerprint sensor is tricky to swap undamaged.
Seems reasonable, I wasn’t sure if the sensor part contained some cryptographic stuff for security but I guess that’s in the part on the motherboard then and the rear module only contains the physical peace to touch?
To be absolute honest, I do not know about the cryptic aspect for 100 % sure, but given Google only downgraded the FP3 fingerprint sensor last year, I doubt this one is a “super-clever” sensor Plus I have now seen many FP3s with a broken/fallen-off ring around the sensor, I’d still go for the complete replacement of the rear module.
Another related question while I’m here. As drawn on the images, the crack also goes through the frame around the buttons. Is that part of the rear module or otherwise replaceable as well?
The buttons are in the rear module. People here reported having been able to transplant them, but frankly I don’t really see a benefit in this when you can replace the rear module as a whole. Basically the rear module is everything that remains once you have removed the back cover, the battery, the display, the three small modules (top, camera, bottom) and the motherboard.
As @Urs mentionned, and for your information, I have 3 rear modules left.
Before that, have you tried dismounting and remounting the whole phone down to the removal of the motherboard, if you have a Torx 5 screwdriver, as mentionned by iFixit?
Because except for a broken and so shortened antenna, and maybe also the buttons connector, which is also replaceable, I don’t think you would’ve damaged much: the screen connection is only made through the golden pins you can see when removing the screen itself. Maybe there’s some dust inside or some misaligned connectors, causing a failure?
I was actually wondering about that… I saw the iFixit photos of a screen replacement so that part being part of the display connection didn’t make sense to me either. I’m just wondering why I’m getting flickering then though… It’s not constant, and it’s fine right now, it just seems to happen when holding it certain ways? I’m not sure. I haven’t put the backcover back on again but earlier the screen was off when I had it on, which is weird.
Actually I don’t really know if it’s just the screen beeing off or the phone shutting down, need to connect it to adb when it’s happening again.
No, as it only happened last night and I just now got time to post. I don’t have a repair kit with these screwdrivers but I think a friend of mine has an iFixit kit.
I really don’t wanna have to buy a new one because everything else still works like the day I got it (except for a battery replacement earlier this year).
Plus I have now seen many FP3s with a broken/fallen-off ring around the sensor, I’d still go for the complete replacement of the rear module.
