It started acting funny two nights ago -- none of the hard press buttons on the front (like "home" and "back" -- essential for navigating an Android) worked, but the slide keyboard was working. I was able to hobble around that way until last night, until the touchscreen stopped working. Okay, I thought. It's one of two things: hardware or software.
I'm about to get really nerdy here. I flashed my phone and reinstalled the ROM (basically wiped the internal memory and reinstalled the OS, in PC terms). That didn't work, so I knew it was hardware-related.
I've already had to disassemble and reassemble this phone at least five times in the six months I've owned it. 1) Replace the flex ribbon cable that connects the keyboard and other buttons to the phone, as it was worn out and every time I'd open the phone's keyboard, the screen would get all weird. 2) Took apart to let dry after I spilled soda all over it. 3) Replace the volume cable when I accidentally snapped it doing #2. 4) Replace the volume cable AGAIN after I snapped the replacement volume cable trying to put it back in. 5) Last night to see what the hell was going wrong.
Anyway, I found out the issue. Somehow the same flex ribbon cable that I replaced barely four months ago managed to tear on the side -- I'm guessing it got misaligned somehow and opening/closing the keyboard wore down the side. ARRRGGGHHH. As a last resort, I put the old flex cable back on (I'd rather have the touchscreen work than just the keyboard) to see if that fixed the issue. It didn't. In fact, the screen wouldn't even turn on.
I seriously considered doing this:
The good news is that I backed up everything yesterday when my hard press keys stopped working, because I knew it might try to self destruct. The bad news is that my new phone won't be here for another couple of days, so I'm back to using my old Nokia that no longer reads the SD card... which means no updated address book, no GPS, no Twitter client, no Solitaire games to play on the bus. #firstworldproblems, ha.
As much as it sucks to spend another $100+ on a new phone, I'm kind of glad to get rid of it. It's had a host of other problems that have required repair, and I think there are only so many times a cell phone can be taken apart before it says, "Dude. No more." (Especially when 5 of those times have been by a clumsy novice like me.)
Moral of the story: don't casually play surgeon on a piece of electronic equipment. :)
Post title song reference: "Spiderwebs" - No Doubt
It sounds like a new phone is just what the technology Dr. ordered, LOL. Hope you survive the couple days with the "old" phone. :)
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