A Cingular 2125 Disassembly How-to

[Guest Brcobrem]

Hi Modaco & Forum Users !

Please find attached my article that presents one way to do a Cingular 2125 disassembly. The "article" is titled "A Cingular 2125 Disassembly How-to". Please find it attached to this post as "A Cingular 2125 Disassembly How.pdf" (Adobe 5.0 or higher required). The file is 1.78MB.

What can I say, but a lesson learned the hard way. . .

Thank you agian Modaco for hosting this fine forum.

Regards,

Brcobrem

5/4/2006 Note: I have removed the copy and print protection from the pdf that was turned on by default. Printing for personal use is perfectly acceptable. Thanks Rob for the heads-up.

10/23/2007 Note: I have added new helpful information and pics supplied by RichardR to the pdf. Thanks RichardR !

1/31/2012 NOTICE: THIS IS THE ONLY AUTHORIZED PUBLIC LOCATION FOR THE FOLLOWING COPYRIGHTED PDF DOCUMENT. IT HAS COME TO MY ATTENTION THAT SEVERAL MOBILE PHONE SPECIALTY WEB SITES AND DOWNLOAD ARCHIVE SITES HAVE COPIED THIS MATERIAL ILLEGALLY. AS SUCH, I CANNOT GUARANTEE THAT THE DOCUMENT AT THOSE ILLEGAL SITES HAS THE LATEST REVISIONS, HAS NOT BEEN ALTERED, TAMPERED WITH, OR IS FREE FROM MALWARE.

A_Cingular_2125_Disassembly_How__Rev_10_23_2007_.pdf

Edited January 31, 2012 by Brcobrem

[Guest Snooginsguy]

Well done! A few questions - on the old SMT 5600, there was a screw under the "Bluetooth" sticker that, if unscrewed instead of the Void sticker screw, would allow the phone to be pulled apart without destroying the warranty sticker, did you happen to see that screw? It held the keypad to the face of the phone. Also, did the screen have any type of border to keep dust out of the inside of the display? That was a pretty big problem with the 5600. And finally, it has been belabored on this site numerous times, so to put the debate to rest, is there a WIFI chip inside the phone?

Again, well done on the dismantle, I may have to resort to it myself before too long (definitely after the warranty runs out.)

[Guest Brcobrem]

Thanks for the kind words.

I didn't see a "Bluetooth" sticker anywhere.

Also - I didn't notice a border of any kind around the screen. I did however use an air duster can on the glass/plastic to blow out some debris that I probably introduced.

Again, sorry I do not know which chip would have been a WIFI chip. I can now pull the phone apart pretty quickly, if I know what to look for.

Btw, next to the camera, there is brass/gold thing with a small tube with a hole in it, that fits up into the rubber/silicon plug that you can see on the back (to the right ok the "self portrait mirror"). Any idea what that is?

[Guest Snooginsguy]

Thanks for the kind words.

I didn't see a "Bluetooth" sticker anywhere.

Also - I didn't notice a border of any kind around the screen. I did however use an air duster can on the glass/plastic to blow out some debris that I probably introduced.

Again, sorry I do not know which chip would have been a WIFI chip. I can now pull the phone apart pretty quickly, if I know what to look for.

Btw, next to the camera, there is brass/gold thing with a small tube with a hole in it, that fits up into the rubber/silicon plug that you can see on the back (to the right ok the "self portrait mirror").  Any idea what that is?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That is a plug for an external antenna. It can be very handy, but it's a pain to get the rubber plug out. I had a cheap $11 antenna to use with my 5600, and it boosted the signal by at least 2 bars really consistently.

[Guest Brcobrem]

That is a plug for an external antenna.  It can be very handy, but it's a pain to get the rubber plug out.  I had a cheap $11 antenna to use with my 5600, and it boosted the signal by at least 2 bars really consistently.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks for the explaination of the purpose of the rubber plug. Yes, at first I thought there might be a screw under there, and yes it was very hard to get that darn plug out. Good to know about the antennae though.

Anyone know what the WIFI chip might have printed on it so I could see if it is there?

[Guest Brcobrem]

Hi Madaco & All,

I had the following message sent to me today. I posting it so that others may see the fixable issue with the "sticking" keyboard / keypad when the 2125 gets dropped. The message follows.

Rggards,

Brcobrem

Message:

Man, you're a life saver! Or should I say phone saver?

Your guide on how to disassemble the 2125 was of great use to me. I dropped my phone on the corner, and the 9 and # keys were "stuck"...they worked but i had to push hard and there was no tactile clicking when i did push them.

Unlike with your experience, mine did not go away when I had gotten to the point of removing the circuit board from the front cover, but removing the keypad and jiggling it around (and spraying it with compressed air) to the point that it fixed the problem was pretty easy to figure out.

The hardest part was getting the first connector back into place before clicking the phone back together, but after much time and squinting, it's back together and works perfectly!

I just wanted to drop you a line and show my appreciation; I had been looking on the internet for a service manual of some sort for this phone for a long time to no avail. Your guide was great in description, and even though the pictures are of pretty low quality, they really helped me fix my phone without breaking it.

Thanks a million!!!

-Matt

[Guest russt4]

Hey guys, thanks a lot!  Using your disassembly guide I was able to replace the cracked LCD screen in my dad's 2125.  

With regards to replacing the screen, here are a couple pointers:

1) the LCD ribbon cable has a bit of see-through orange adhesive tape that sticks on top of the motherboard connector.  It's 

necessary to lift this tape (with a screwdriver or somesuch) before you can pull out the ribbon cable.

2) the adhesive tab is also very useful when you're inserting the ribbon cable for the new screen.  I grabbed the tab between my

thumb and forefinger in order to pull the ribbon cable into the motherboard connector.  First time around I didn't do this, was unable

to get the ribbon cable fully inserted, and just ended up with a white screen when I turned the phone on.  Tried it again, got it

fully inserted, and now the phone works perfectly.

Thanks again!

-Russ

[Guest russt4]

Oh yeah, the replacement LCD was from ebay for $25 including shipping.

Cheers, -Russ