1. TBacker's Avatar
    I had to tear apart my Storm to fix an issue with the clicking, and took a lot of pics doing it.

    Also below is a fix for some screen click issues.

    Here are a few showing some detail on how the whole screen-click mechanism goes together...

    First, the back of the screen:

    Attachment 8880

    The backplate shown above mates to this midplate / button board (like a sandwich):

    Attachment 8881

    And to get your bearings, here is what is on the backside of the midplate / button board:

    Attachment 8882

    The SIM / media cards are on the other side of the mainboard. In "sandwich order" it goes glass screen, metal screen backplate (the first pic), the button board, the midplate, the mainboard (radios / chipset), then the SIM / media cards. The battery is the thickness of the mainboard and cards put together.

    The famous "loosen the screws to fix the click" fix allows this button board and midplate to spring up a bit, putting the button closer to the screen, leaving a shorter distance for the screen to travel and click.

    The flip side is every time you click, the button board and midplate flex the other way. Given time, in many cases the screws may need to be re-adjusted because this motion may loosen them further.

    Something dmcman73 found is that adding support behind the SIM/Media card (between the cards and the back door) is a better fix as it provides support directly behind the button. I refined his fix by using thinner material to support the same area without pushing anything out of it's natural position:

    Attachment 8884

    So, with the screws tight, and the above fix, the click is solid and consistent, and nothing moves or flexes unnaturally when the screen is clicked.

    On my phone, the screen click now feels very much like the click of the lower buttons.


    YMMV...
    Last edited by TBacker; 04-08-09 at 09:31 AM. Reason: typos and clarifications
    12-30-08 02:19 AM
  2. anon(34771)'s Avatar
    nice post! woot woot!
    12-30-08 06:37 AM
  3. moosc's Avatar
    wow very brave
    12-30-08 06:45 AM
  4. Skyys's Avatar
    awesome post. good job!
    12-30-08 07:05 AM
  5. TBacker's Avatar
    More pics of the storm undressed....

    Here is the mainboard:

    Attachment 8892

    Attachment 8912

    The metal cans cover the chips to keep RF interference low. As the WiFi conspiracists can see, there are no empty spots for the missing WiFi - RIM probably did run out of room!

    Here's where the mainboard sits on the midplate. The battery compartment is at the top of this pic.

    Attachment 8910

    Details of the camera / flash board (on the top of the midplate):

    Attachment 8915

    On the opposite side are the status LED's and light sensor:

    Attachment 8896

    A closeup of the layers of the screen assembly:

    Attachment 8897

    And the front bezel:

    Attachment 8903

    Enjoy!
    Last edited by TBacker; 12-30-08 at 10:24 AM. Reason: corrections
    12-30-08 08:57 AM
  6. blue rocket's Avatar
    nice, thanks for posting these!
    12-30-08 09:02 AM
  7. Roscopcoletrain's Avatar
    Thats pretty neat!
    12-30-08 09:05 AM
  8. rick911's Avatar
    what is used to seal the lcd screen and the top screen? how hard is it to pri them appart?
    12-30-08 09:06 AM
  9. TBacker's Avatar
    what is used to seal the lcd screen and the top screen? how hard is it to pri them appart?
    I didn't separate the digitizer from the LCD, but the adhesive / sealant is extremely thin. I would say that if you do separate them, you run the risk of never having a good seal after that.

    I would imagine it's some type of black silicone sealer, but were talking applying it with a syringe if you did it manually. It's likely applied by machine at the factory.

    Those with screen seal issues may be the victims of that machines adjustments (sealant quantity?) not being perfected yet.
    12-30-08 09:20 AM
  10. ghosthound's Avatar
    wow! thanks a lot for these detailed pix.

    Question,

    How do the ribbon cables from the screen attach to the mainboard?
    12-30-08 09:21 AM
  11. ghosthound's Avatar
    I didn't separate the digitizer from the LCD, but the adhesive / sealant is extremely thin. I would say that if you do separate them, you run the risk of never having a good seal after that.

    I would imagine it's some type of black silicone sealer, but were talking applying it with a syringe if you did it manually. It's likely applied by machine at the factory.

    Those with screen seal issues may be the victims of that machines adjustments (sealant quantity?) not being perfected yet.
    ive taken the screen apart, its more like a thin foam double sided tape gasket.
    12-30-08 09:22 AM
  12. zookeper3's Avatar
    Impressive...
    12-30-08 09:26 AM
  13. TBacker's Avatar
    Question,

    How do the ribbon cables from the screen attach to the mainboard?
    Tiny flat multi-pin plugs. Easily damaged if not aligned well before pressing them down.
    12-30-08 09:27 AM
  14. TBacker's Avatar
    ive taken the screen apart, its more like a thin foam double sided tape gasket.
    Which further explains the possibility of poor seals on some phones.

    A couple of the plastic shell pieces have double sided adhesive strips to help keep them attached, and I saw two that were poorly applied (bunched up).

    I can imagine if that happened on some screens with similar tape.
    12-30-08 09:29 AM
  15. changal's Avatar
    great pics. i reinforced the seal between the digitizer and lcd by placing a strip of electrical tape across the seams. should help keep dust and moisture out. as a side benefit, it also eliminates light leak and reduces screen wobble.

    full instructions here: http://forums.crackberry.com/f133/it...3/#post1261337

    Last edited by changal; 12-30-08 at 09:45 AM.
    12-30-08 09:30 AM
  16. zookeper3's Avatar
    Which further explains the possibility of poor seals on some phones.

    A couple of the plastic shell pieces have double sided adhesive strips to help keep them attached, and I saw two that were poorly applied (bunched up).

    I can imagine if that happened on some screens with similar tape.
    That would def explain the dust getting under there. Shame on VZ saying this wasn't a manuf defect
    12-30-08 09:31 AM
  17. hpfanatic's Avatar
    Wow, you're a brave soul.
    12-30-08 09:35 AM
  18. GmrPnm21's Avatar
    Well I gotta say, you guys have some balls to take your storms apart like that!
    12-30-08 09:35 AM
  19. TBacker's Avatar
    I'm a broadcast engineer by trade.

    This is tiny compared to a lot of my daily work, but I've got the tools and had an excuse (stuck screen).
    12-30-08 09:38 AM
  20. weizilla's Avatar
    very nice!
    12-30-08 10:20 AM
  21. minigts's Avatar
    Any chance you found a hidden WiFi antenna on that thing? Or possibly a place to connect one? :wink: :wink:
    12-30-08 10:38 AM
  22. JRSCCivic98's Avatar
    Ya know, that black wire antenna sure looks mightly close to a wifi antenna to me.

    What if (for the sake of argument), RIM made one hardware model for the Storm (9500) and controlls the hardware via software branding for each model 9500/9530/9520? We already know that the 9500 and 9530 are identical in hardware inside and out... software (not OS) controls the capabilities of the radios. How badass would it be if they all have the same capabilities, but we're just locked out based on what model number branding we have? Ouch!

    I guess we'll know once the 9520 comes out. If the Hardware ID states 9500 in the #HELP* screen, then this is most likely true.
    12-30-08 10:41 AM
  23. Jesson's Avatar
    WOW...amazing!!!! u are brave
    12-30-08 10:46 AM
  24. TBacker's Avatar
    Any chance you found a hidden WiFi antenna on that thing? Or possibly a place to connect one? :wink: :wink:
    It's difficult to say. With the exception of the bluetooth, the antennas for all radios are built into the chin piece so it's tough to tell if there is one on there for the WiFi frequencies. While it is possible I guess that a WiFi radio is on board, there is no definitive way of telling without ripping open the RF shield cans over the chipset and looking up the chip numbers.

    I will say that this board is pretty full with the exception of one empty spot that has no circuit traces near it. If I had to venture a professional guess, I would say that there is a different revision of the mainboard for WiFi, for WiFi with GSM, for CDMA, etc. At these frequencies, the part locations are going to be totally different depending on what's on board.

    As to the tiny coaxial cable possibly being for WiFi, the antenna that it leads to is too tiny for WiFi wavelengths and distances. It's for short range, and that's why I think that is the bluetooth antenna.
    Last edited by TBacker; 12-30-08 at 10:50 AM.
    12-30-08 10:47 AM
  25. boravr6's Avatar
    wow thanks for the post! very informative
    12-30-08 10:54 AM
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