First of all thank you in advance for any help in this regard.
The problem with my FP3 is that the screen started to kind of flicker at the beginning of the year showing vertical stripes and then the problem disappeared by removing the battery and restarting the device. 4 days ago the screen was not quite responsive anymore but restarting it or removing the battery helped it to be functional again. Unfortunately since yesterday the screen is not working anymore. At first I had some vertical stripes on the blue start screen, lines that went together with each letter of the word Fairphone, and then i could not enter the PIN because of the screen being unresponsive. After that i restarted and tried to start the phone in the safe mode and the problem persisted. Then I restarted it in factory mode and there were still a couple green stripes at the bottom left part of the screen with the factory menu being visible and working with the volume buttons.
After restarting it again it just vibrates as if it normally turns on but the screen remains off/black. I tried removing/disconnecting the display and clening everthing in the inside (with rubber gloves) but the problem persists and the screen does not turn on. The display has no bumps or scratches and the FP3 looks almost as if it was new.
I contacted the support but i guess it will take a couple of days for them to reply to my message.
The issue is a blocker, I cannot access anything on my everyday device. This happened after 2 years and 7 days since I first received the FP3.
My hope is that is something wrong with the screen and it can be replaced and there is nothing wrong on the mainboard side.
Since I live in Hamburg and there is a meeting next week I will try to contact some members of the Fairphone community and maybe someone is up to letting me test a different display that works to confirm or rule out the possibility of an issue with the display.
Thank you again for any thoughts on this issue,
Best regards
You might try to contact the #fairphoneangels in Hamburg. But I think that joining the meeting is as good as that because I hope that someone at the meeting will be able to swap a FP3 display with your device to analyze it further…
Have you had a look at the seam between the display and the main body of the phone to spot potential gaps (on the slim sides of the phone)? If you find any gaps, gently try to press them together to (usually audibly) close the gaps. The plastic clamps are just as important as the screws to hold the display tight to the core module.
Thank you very much for your promt reponses and support guys! I am going to send an email to the group of Fairphoneangels in Hamburg and maybe i am lucky to check if there is any problem with the connections between mainboard and the touch display.
I have a similar problem. My display started flickering a couple of months ago too, though I didn’t have the vertical stripes. Last week this got worse, not being able to unlock my phone using the display/on/off button. However, by entering camera mode I then could move on to my phone’s home screen.
As of yesterday there is no response at all on the home button, apart from the vibration when holding the button for some seconds.
The display flickering happend to me before, over a year ago and stopped after a software update. For me, not seeing the stripes at restart and being able to enter my phone through camera mode implies a problem with the mainboard rather than a problem with the display module. Is there anyone with thoughts or suggestions on this?
Hi Berend,
You should #contactsupport as soon as possible, especially if the phone is still under guarantee.
Could you fill in some details:
Current OS version (Settings > About phone > Build number)
Are you currently able to use the phone either through the camera or by using the fingerprint sensor (don’t forget this is can be handy when a fault develops with the Power button)?
When the flickering stopped a year ago, do you remember which update helped?
Are your data fully backed up? If not, now’s the time.
You might like to see whether there’s a #fairphoneangel near you, who might be able to give advice and help test components.
Thanks for your message, I’ll have to contact support I guess. I might try a factory reset through the boot menu, however I am leaving for holiday tomorrow. I probably wont be able to try this before hand…
Currently I am not able to reach any screen on my FP3. Entering home creen using fingerprint or on/off button stopped first. For a few days I was able to use my phone using camera mode.
I cannot remember which update fixed the flicering last year. It was OS update, however I cannot remember when this was.
A month ago I made a back up, so most data is safe. Luckily I am not depending on this data, so no panic on that part. The FP angels might be a good idea, I’ll try some other options first.
I am facing a similar issue, however slightly different as my screen did not get better better after a reboot.
I started witnessing some screen freezes and abnormal stripes on the screen a few days ago, and now it is randomly lighting up again (the screen) but most of the time it’s off.
Since I can hear the notification sound and I can call the phone (it will ring and vibrate as normal - but the screen will remain completely black), I am assuming that the touchscreen is the only defective part of my phone. However, it could also be the driver and/or the mainboard of the screen that are malfunctioning.
Is there anything I can do before buying a new screen and replacing it? Like cleaning with alcohol, retightening something?
If your phone is out of warranty you can dismantle the screen, clean the contacts and replace the screen, that’s all that may be required. If the phoen is less than two years old it would be wise to contact support officially before a DIY effort.
You can also see if there is a #fairphoneangel near you that can assist if you a simple clean etc. doesn’t work.
Thanks for your feedback. The phone is 1 year and 10 months old so under warranty, but because I live in Iceland, there is no support here so I went on and opened it, cleaned the screen and the inside of the phone with a PCB cleaner that I own.
It did the trick, so far the phone is working normally again, hopefully not failing again in the next few days.
Quick update a few days later:
The issue came up again in the first evening. I reopened the phone and did some more cleaning.
Since Thursday night, 3 days later, the issue hasn’t come back. Hopefully it won’t until I have a spare screen at hand.
Apart from cleaning ensure a) the pogo pins on the core module are ‘moveable’ and b) when the screws are tightened do those around the display connector first and when finally tightenig don’t overtighten.
And note it’s not a ‘screen’ but a ‘display module’ and before you order a spare or replacement see if there is a fairphoneangel near you that can swap the display.
Well it did work though. The screen has been working fine for months after that. I had the same issue again about a month later, and doing the same manipulation helped in the same way.
I live in Iceland so there is no Fairphone Community here, but I know enough about electronics to get by on my own.
I do have spares now anyway.
