MDA Vario II Dis-assembley

[Guest The Doctor]

Ok, so i got my MDA Vario II on Friday, and it's less than a week old so what do I do? Take it apart and write a guide for all you good people :D

Ok first things first, THIS WILL VOID YOUR WARRANTY

The device in question is an MDA Vario II but these instructions will probably hold true for all hermes varients (with maybe a little modification)

You will need the following:

• A HTC Hermes
  
• T6 Torx Screwdriver
  
• A small Philips Screwdriver
  
• Flat Blade screwdriver
  
• Case opening tool (old credit card will do)
  
• Decent degree of technical skill
  
• A need to void your warranty
  
• A LOT of courage :)
  

I'm working on the device face down at the start for reference.

Remove the back cover, battery, SIM, memory card, ariel bung.

Unscrew the four visble T6 screws (top left just below the ariel extention, bottom left below the battery, bottom right inside that silver lanyard attachment which will fall out after you've undone the screw, top right under the void sticker)

Turn the device over so the screen is facing you, slide the keyboard out and press down on the device on the bottom left corner, to the left of the usb and reset button, and slide your case opening tool into the opening youve made (there goes the adult content filter :)) and move it to the right and you will feel the sections come away, slide it up the length of the device making sure the casing comes away and up over the top (it gets tricky here as its quite tight) and round the other side so the back section of the casing can come away in your hand, the battery cover locking button will most likely spring out at this point so get ready to catch!

Turn the device back over so the exposed mainboard is now facing you. Cunningly hidden in the ariel (the big black thing at the top) is ANOTHER T6 screw so undo that, then on left hand side, in the middle is a small ribbon cable connector to the keyboard, disconnect that. Slide the screen halfway out (you MUST do this otherwise you could tear the ribbon cable connecting the screen) and then gently, using your flat blade screwdriver prize the mainboard out from the chassis from the top first then bottom.

Turn the mainboard on its side to the right and gentley remove the silver tape on the RF covering (silver bits) and the ribbon cable. Using a flat blade screw driver, gentley lift the socket connecting the screen off the mainboard. I recomend levering inbetween the plug and the socket ot avoid tearing the conacts off the cable.

You can remove the keyboard circuit board from the chassis by prising up one end and lifting the board away and unsticking the ribbon cable followed by the button pad.

You will also notice, to the right of the keypad 4 screws holding the screen assembley on, undo them using your philips head screwdriver. This middle section will now simply lift off.

Take the four screw out of the bottom of the screen section and run your case opening tool along the edges and the back should pop off after you have disengaged all the clips, you can now remove the keypad/screen camera if you so wish :P

To re assemble: do the exact opposite :)

This is my first disassebley guide so feedback is welcome :D

Pictures are coming when i have time/desk space :(

Enjoy

Phil

[Guest The Doctor]

Could a mod make this sticky if its deemed useful enough for the hermes comunity?

Phil

[Guest Pondrew]

Could a mod make this sticky if its deemed useful enough for the hermes comunity?

Phil

Done :)

[Guest schriss]

Pictures would be nice :)

I'm interested in taking a look at the back of keypad to see if anything can be done to make "T" key work when pressed normally (it works only if I press its upper-right corner, like something was misalligned underneath)

Also, my rubber grommet that holds the stylus fell out, I'd like to see where is it's place.

Edited January 30, 2007 by schriss

[Guest The Doctor]

Pictures would be nice :)

I'm interested in taking a look at the back of keypad to see if anything can be done to make "T" key work when pressed normally (it works only if I press its upper-right corner, like something was misalligned underneath)

Also, my rubber grommet that holds the stylus fell out, I'd like to see where is it's place.

Pictures WILL be coming SOON!

Unfortunately, i've been rather busy balancing college/exams/work/modaco/karate/sea cadets/sleep so i haven't found the time to take my hermes apart again (its a good 40 min (1 hour with photo's etc) work to disassemble/reassemble)

Will hopefully post tomorrow providing i can find a half decent camera (probably will be my c550 otherwise)

Phil

[Guest Tommy Squeaker]

Thanks for this, just put it into action, broke my screen earlier, just took it to bits to see what its like and put it back together. Just need to find a new screen now,lol.

Worst thing is as well, i have the alignment problems, ive put it off and off, cos i know t mobile would just swap it, cant now tho, cos ive voided it :)

Edit

Saying that on the final touches of putting it back together, im left with a part, oooops lol, it just popped out when i was moving stuff, didnt see where it came from and no idea where it goes, so if you could point me in the right direction,

the part is a small black rectangle, with 2 running either underneath or on top, one end of the rectangle is a small metal piece, a semi circle in shape, doesnt look like its broken off. So any idea or tip on where that goes would be great.

Thanks

Edited February 2, 2007 by Tommy Squeaker

[Guest The Doctor]

Thanks for this, just put it into action, broke my screen earlier, just took it to bits to see what its like and put it back together. Just need to find a new screen now,lol.

Worst thing is as well, i have the alignment problems, ive put it off and off, cos i know t mobile would just swap it, cant now tho, cos ive voided it :)

They wouldnt replace a broken screen under warranty anyway..

Saying that on the final touches of putting it back together, im left with a part, oooops lol, it just popped out when i was moving stuff, didnt see where it came from and no idea where it goes, so if you could point me in the right direction,

the part is a small black rectangle, with 2 running either underneath or on top, one end of the rectangle is a small metal piece, a semi circle in shape, doesnt look like its broken off. So any idea or tip on where that goes would be great.

The only small black rectangle i can think of is the rubber microphone covering :D

Any chance you could take a photo? Might recognise it then, if not i'll take my hermes apart and find it myself and take some photos for the guide in the process.

I get this problem alot with laptops... I can strip and reassemble phones/smartphones/ppc's with hardly any trouble. When i do it with a laptop, i get a pile of 'optional bits' at the end :D Its mostly screws and small bits like that :D

Phil

[Guest Tommy Squeaker]

They wouldnt replace a broken screen under warranty anyway..

The only small black rectangle i can think of is the rubber microphone covering :)

Any chance you could take a photo? Might recognise it then, if not i'll take my hermes apart and find it myself and take some photos for the guide in the process.

I get this problem alot with laptops... I can strip and reassemble phones/smartphones/ppc's with hardly any trouble. When i do it with a laptop, i get a pile of 'optional bits' at the end :D Its mostly screws and small bits like that :D

Phil

Yeah will do thanks.

Warranty was meant to get rid of the mis alignment issues.

Anyone know where i can get a screen from????????????????

[Guest The Doctor]

Yeah will do thanks.

Warranty was meant to get rid of the mis alignment issues.

Anyone know where i can get a screen from????????????????

A guy called wellcomchina on ebay had some 2.8" QVGA ppc screens not so long ago, none atm however

http://feedback.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...id=wellcomchina

Phil

[Guest Tommy Squeaker]

A guy called wellcomchina on ebay had some 2.8" QVGA ppc screens not so long ago, none atm however

http://feedback.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...id=wellcomchina

Phil

Its ok, ive gone for the easy option and its going to HTC repairs on Monday.

Ive got pictures of the unidentified part, not sure how to post them tho, may have to email them to you if i can?

Also, obviously my phone is going in to be repaired, my screen is broken so i cant see anything, but ive got a few risque text messages id like to keep personal :) is there anyway of removing them from the phone, or wont they be there without my sim? Will a hard reset do it? How do i do a hard reset as i cant see what the screen says and what sounds do you get on a hard reset?

Again thanks

[Guest The Doctor]

Its ok, ive gone for the easy option and its going to HTC repairs on Monday.

Ive got pictures of the unidentified part, not sure how to post them tho, may have to email them to you if i can?

Also, obviously my phone is going in to be repaired, my screen is broken so i cant see anything, but ive got a few risque text messages id like to keep personal :) is there anyway of removing them from the phone, or wont they be there without my sim? Will a hard reset do it? How do i do a hard reset as i cant see what the screen says and what sounds do you get on a hard reset?

Again thanks

You could just attach them to the post here, or my email is phil*DOT*martin*AT*mail2web*DOT*com

As for getting rid of the aforementioned (love using that word) text messages, hold the two soft keys down and poke the reset hole with your stylus. then after about 3 seconds release the buttons and press R on the slidey keyboard

Phil

[Guest Tommy Squeaker]

You could just attach them to the post here, or my email is phil*DOT*martin*AT*mail2web*DOT*com

As for getting rid of the aforementioned (love using that word) text messages, hold the two soft keys down and poke the reset hole with your stylus. then after about 3 seconds release the buttons and press R on the slidey keyboard

Phil

Its ok, i took it apart again to send to an ebay seller, to see if they are the same screen, only thing is cant find the seller now dohhh

But the bit i didnt know what it was, i found out what it is, it clips into the rear case, near where you plug the battery in.

Thanks for ya help tho

[Guest UndeadDevil]

Are the pictures ever coming? I'd love to see the insides of my MDA Vario II

[Guest The Doctor]

Are the pictures ever coming? I'd love to see the insides of my MDA Vario II

I'll make a point of doing it tomorrow :rolleyes: I'll add some annotations as well, stuff like Wi-Fi antenna, bluetooth antenna etc so its also a complete guide as to whats inside your hermes :P

Phil

[Guest waroffice]

supprisingly easy to disassemble.

thanks

[Guest haznick]

Hi all.

I just replaced my damaged screen with help from this thread. All was well and the screen worked fine.

Only problem is I can't get any service from my SIM card now. Everything on the phone works as it did before except I can't seem to get any signal from T-Mobile. The SIM card looks seated correctly and the pins look ok.

Is it possible I could have damaged the SIM pins or ariel during dis/re-assembly? The ariel's all enclosed in that big black thing so I'm not sure. The SIM is fine btw as I've checked it in another phone.

I did update my radio version a few weeks back, but that surely wouldn't make any difference would it? The phone doesn't revert to any previous settings or versions if the battery has been out for a while?

Any ideas or suggestions would be welcome.

Thanks, Nick.

[Guest haznick]

Anyone?

[Guest Mike Channon]

Anyone?

I think it unlikely it's the aerial connection, but you could just check the gold pin is seated in it's push in gold clip. Here it is inserted:

and here disconnected:

Mike

[Guest Mike Channon]

Additional dismantling guides.

http://michael-channon.spaces.live.com

And here’s another pictorial guide (text in Russian but pics are clear):

http://www.pdacenter.ru/razborka/razbor_hermes/

Or here:

http://inuchanbt.blog54.fc2.com/blog-entry-100.html

or here:

http://www.howardforums.com/showpos...842&postcount=1

Mike

[Guest dittie]

Additional dismantling guides.

http://michael-channon.spaces.live.com

And here’s another pictorial guide (text in Russian but pics are clear):

http://www.pdacenter.ru/razborka/razbor_hermes/

Or here:

http://inuchanbt.blog54.fc2.com/blog-entry-100.html

or here:

http://www.howardforums.com/showpos...842&postcount=1

Mike

Hi Mike,

I managed to take my Hermes apart and replace my Touchscreen. When i detached the touchscreen I had to take this orange connectors off, they were held in place with see through tape. One for the touchscreen about 1 cm wide and another one (my guess is the backlight ?!). I did so and It think maybe a bit to rough/unhandy. I replaced the Touchscreen and tried to connect those orange connectors again with some tape. Put my whole phone together again. Now I do not have backlight anymore and my touchscreen is not working... I think some pieces of the connection of the orange connectors stayed on the phone and some on the connector itself so it cannot make contact anymore...

What is the way to reconnect those orange "connectors"? Maybe it needs soldering?

On the picture you can see one of them.

[Guest dittie]

Additional dismantling guides.

http://michael-channon.spaces.live.com

And here’s another pictorial guide (text in Russian but pics are clear):

http://www.pdacenter.ru/razborka/razbor_hermes/

Or here:

http://inuchanbt.blog54.fc2.com/blog-entry-100.html

or here:

http://www.howardforums.com/showpos...842&postcount=1

Mike

Hi Mike,

I managed to take my Hermes apart and replace my Touchscreen. When i detached the touchscreen I had to take this orange connectors off, they were held in place with see through tape. One for the touchscreen about 1 cm wide and another one (my guess is the backlight ?!). I did so and It think maybe a bit to rough/unhandy. I replaced the Touchscreen and tried to connect those orange connectors again with some tape. Put my whole phone together again. Now I do not have backlight anymore and my touchscreen is not working... I think some pieces of the connection of the orange connectors stayed on the phone and some on the connector itself so it cannot make contact anymore...

What is the way to reconnect those orange "connectors"?

On the picture you can see which connector I mean, there is another one next to that. The conntection you see on the picture is still fit, however the part where the tape was put is disconnected and I cant get it fixed I wonder how to fix it, maybe it needs soldering?

Edited October 11, 2007 by dittie

[Guest Kippax]

Cheers for the guides...... most useful.

One question.... I have one component which I am unable to figure out the location of.

Its made from rubber and has a small slot in the right hand face as you look at the image that looks as though should accommodate some sort of lug. It also has the number "27" on it.

Anybody help ???

Edited October 24, 2007 by Kippax

[Guest nicotine]

Cheers for the guides...... most useful.

One question.... I have one component which I am unable to figure out the location of.

Its made from rubber and has a small slot in the right hand face as you look at the image that looks as though should accommodate some sort of lug. It also has the number "27" on it.

Anybody help ???

It's microphone rubber cap, you'll find rectangular componet with a hole in the midle of it. cap the rubber

[Guest Mike Channon]

It's microphone rubber cap, you'll find rectangular componet with a hole in the midle of it. cap the rubber

I'm not absolutely convinced that is the rubber cap for the microphone - although the microphone cap does fall off very easily. (It looks slightly the wrong shape to me, but I could be wrong).

You can see the rubber microphone cap here - though there is a bit of shadow around it unfortunately. It's in the centre at the extreme right side of the picture.

Mike

[Guest Mike Channon]

Hi Mike,

I managed to take my Hermes apart and replace my Touchscreen. When i detached the touchscreen I had to take this orange connectors off, they were held in place with see through tape. One for the touchscreen about 1 cm wide and another one (my guess is the backlight ?!). I did so and It think maybe a bit to rough/unhandy. I replaced the Touchscreen and tried to connect those orange connectors again with some tape. Put my whole phone together again. Now I do not have backlight anymore and my touchscreen is not working... I think some pieces of the connection of the orange connectors stayed on the phone and some on the connector itself so it cannot make contact anymore...

What is the way to reconnect those orange "connectors"?

On the picture you can see which connector I mean, there is another one next to that. The conntection you see on the picture is still fit, however the part where the tape was put is disconnected and I cant get it fixed I wonder how to fix it, maybe it needs soldering?

@dittie

Those connectors are normally just "push in" connectors. No soldering needed. You need to be sure they are WELL pushed in and straight / level. When they are in they should not be loose. The slot you push them into should grip firmly. Try to push it in evenly and firmly and try not to let it bend when you are pushing it in.

Sorry it's taken so long to reply and I hope you have got it working by now.

Mike

Edited November 8, 2007 by Mike Channon