So pressing, or clicking on the ball to select an option (equivalent to ENTER key on the keyboard) no longer works. I could only assume now that the membrane is broken.
1) I tried taking out the ball and cleaning the insides with alcohol.
2) I tried taking out the battery while the phone was on.
3) I tried replacing the ball with a brand new one.
4) I tried pressing on the membrane with the phone on without the ball (which concluded my tests).
After some more searching on the forums, I've read some people have purchased a PCB Keyboard (which can be found on eBay) but I didn't see any follow-up reply that this really fixed the problem. So I'm asking again in hopes if someone has had this experience or a situation similar to this. Or do I just need to purchase a new phone now?
TIA
Added note: It randomly started working again, but another symptom was it would double click for every single click. So, I switched phones waiting for a new keyboard pcb.
Since I can't post links yet, do a search for the author Hyperhifi. He has a post of a link to a website that will download pdf instructions on how to clean the thing underneath the trackball mechanism.
I had the exact same problem and turns out its the contact points underneath the orange film, under the trackball. I found a guy who has a 'how to' on another site listing the same problem
and apparently I can't post links if im a new member so add the "www" to the following address:
