I have already contacted support but I thought I’d ask here too, in case anyone has experienced the same issue.
So I received my fairphone a few days ago and I have not been able to turn it on :-(. The red LED turns on when charging but the screen always remains black. The phone seems to be doing something however, since I can sometimes hear sounds, or make it vibrate by touching the display, and the music came on the first time I plugged it in.
It would seem to me that the phone is working but the display is faulty/disconnected, I think I will take it apart to have a look, after all it’s made to be opened.
Hi @planglois, that’s such a shame! You’ve finally got your phone and now you can’t use it I haven’t heard of this issue before. However, I want to warn you before opening it up, because in some cases I think that can make your warranty invalid, and if it needs repairing you’ll have to pay. My advice would be to wait until you have heard from Fairphone support.
I’ve got the First Edition one - and exactly the same problem.
It seems to work/start - but the screen remains black.
Would love to know if there’s kind of an ‘easy fix’ before sending it in.
I do have the same problem, but only after my Fairphone got wet. It would be very interesting for me to hear what happened to your phones. Was it just badly connected or did you havve to replace the screen? How was your experience with the fp-support?
I took it apart, dried everything with cotton buds and reassembled it - it was some work but it was worth it! My screen works perfectly scince. The only thing I’m missing is the gentle vibration when touching the screen, but it’s not necessary.
You find a description how to do it on ifixit. I used a mini screwdriver and a sharpened plastic card/old credit card.
Go into Settings and then Audio profiles.
Next to the General audio profile, there’s an icon with the three sliders. Tap it.
In the next screen, scroll all the way down. The last option is “Vibrate on touch”. Enable this setting and you should have your vibration back.
same happened to my FP in september 2014. I wasn’t able to get a warranty repair ticket. i got a lot of question, for example if the battery is charged and so. Gave it up and bought a nokia dual sim 730, which is much better and cheaper. in this way it seems to me much fairer too.
Have you been luckier ? Have you got your phone repaired ?
I have the same problem. Very often the screen goes blank and to get it working again, I have to remove the battery. Lately, it goes to the blank screen state very soon after reboot.
I’ve already reported this problem half a year ago. Then I got the suggestion to do the updates, but doing all the updates or leaving out all the updating does not seem to make a difference. I expect this is a hardware problem.
As far as I’m concerned, they will solve the problem. I’m really fond of this initiative, but I’ve paid enough for it.
Have you tried a complete reset (“hard reset”) of your phone (not just updated a possibly already corrupted installation)? Please report back here, if it helped, or not.
I haven’t heard of this issue before. However, I want to warn you before opening it up, because in some cases I think that can make your warranty invalid, and if it needs repairing you’ll have to pay. My advice would be to wait until you have heard from Fairphone support.