Friday the 13th, it seems today is my unlucky day. I dropped the phone on the asphalt today with the screen up. As it touched the ground the screen went black. First I thought that perhaps the battery got disattached as it fell into the ground.
So I removed the battery and put it in again and when I tried to start it I could hear a “brrrr” vibration. But that was it. The phone won’t respond more than that. If I hold the start button nothing happens.
If I remove the battery again and try to start it. I can hear the “brrr” again, but that’s it.
Any word of advice on how to pinpoint where it has gone wrong?
I think the most likely cause is that the connection between the display module and the core module got interrupted. You might want to check if you hear some clicks when you press the screen and the phone body together at the screen’s margins. If you hear them, it shows that the display module had gotten a bit loose from the body of the phone when it hit the ground (so “click” sounds are a good sign). The screen is attached both by several plastic clips and the 13 screws, so you might also want to check the screws. My own experience is that the clips (you can only see them when the display module has been removed) are at least as important for the connection as the screws.
If the vibration works, it means it’s probably a problem with the display.
Is there any visible damage? When you plug your phone or start in #dic:fastboot, does the LED come on?
Did you try disassembling the screen, cleaning the contacts and make sure everything inside is fine, then starting the phone again?
You could indeed contact a local #fairphoneangel to test spare parts, he/she might be able to help you. Otherwise if you know someone else who owns a FP3 you could test a working display module.
Thanks a lot. I haven’t yet opened it that far. I’ll try open it a bit more to check this in particular! I’ll definitely report back with my discoveries.
I’ve now taken a look and managed to dissassemble it to remove the screen. It didn’t look like it was damaged there, and I’m unsure of whether I could hear any click sounds. I think the next step is to try to find a fairphone angel and then see if I could try other parts to see whether that works…
My suggestion about the “click” sounds actually meant to make sure display module and core module are pressed together tight enough. So the plastic clips will only sound if they snap back into place.
Today the alarm went off on my phone that I thought was dead. So I think I will venture and just buy a display module. It sounded like the speaker might have gotten a hit as well…