I-Mate SP5 Stick not responding

[Guest Killian]

Hi Guys,

I've had my SP5 for about 5 months now and all in all its great. The problem is, lately, the joystick on it is just playing around. Sometimes it refuses to work for a while but now left and down seem to have packed in all together! If I keep bashing them they eventually work but its starting to annoy me now.

Has anyone else had this? I don't know if theres anyway it can be cleaned maybe?

Any advice would be great!

Cheers,

Killian

[Guest loki_f]

Sounds like the same issue as the SP3i had. My advice is get it down to the repair centre while it's still under warranty.

[Guest team_edition]

Out of interest have you put the latest firmware on the device?

I ask because my SP5m joystick was fine for about the same 5 months. Since doing the upgrade it has become very sticky in the down direction and also to the left or right (can't remember which) but it's so intermittent that I was thinking it was a bug rather than a physical problem with the joystick. Sometimes it works fine and sometimes it doesn't.

Since doing the upgrade I've noticed so many bugs with the phone than before it but that's another story.

[Guest Killian]

I didn't install the update no, activesync would never sync my contacts and I didn't want to go through all the hassle of it again.

Where would I actually take the phone though? Do I have to send it to HTC or is there an actual shop I can take it to? I live near Birmingham if that helps.

Thanks for the quick reply aswell.

[Guest pter]

I have also been using my phone for about five months without having any trouble with the stick. Now with AKU2 installed the stick shows the same symptoms as yours do. I hoped that the AKU would contain some improved functions such as implementing all the good stuff users have put together to fix the most obvious software problems, but all I've seen this far is that I can't use the device lock for autolocking anymore since the new ones doesn't support one-letter-passwords. What kind of developers deal with this crappy code? It's not user friendly at all.

[Guest loki_f]

I personally think that the timing of AKU2 and your joystick being borked are coincidence.....

It's a shame as this sort of thing makes me not want to go near i-Mate as a manufacturer...

Edited May 7, 2006 by loki_f

[Guest kam_]

It's a shame as this sort of thing makes me not want to go near i-Mate as a manufacturer...

I-mate aren't a manufacturer, they just sell HTC phones under their brand.

I've had similar problems before and a reboot usually fixes it. I suspect for most people its a mechanical fault, but i can confirm that with mine it definately was a software fault fixed by reboot. The problem repeated itself over the last 3 months and still happens sometimes.

[Guest loki_f]

I-mate aren't a manufacturer, they just sell HTC phones under their brand.

I've had similar problems before and a reboot usually fixes it. I suspect for most people its a mechanical fault, but i can confirm that with mine it definately was a software fault fixed by reboot. The problem repeated itself over the last 3 months and still happens sometimes.

so how come the joystick problems happened with only the i-mate SP3i, not the QTek 8020, the XDA Mini SP or any other varient of the same device that should also have been "manufactured by HTC"? How come that you have to get them repaired by i-mate too?

[Guest kam_]

it DOES happen on the qtek variants, you probably just havn't heard about it.

You have to get it repaired by i-mate because they sold it to you, and they want to make any money in repairs. HTC makes the devices but doesn't get involved with end user selling, repairs or marketing. If they wanted to deal with the hassle of end users they wouldn't need i-mate or qtek!

[Guest Snooginsguy]

Hi Guys,

I've had my SP5 for about 5 months now and all in all its great. The problem is, lately, the joystick on it is just playing around. Sometimes it refuses to work for a while but now left and down seem to have packed in all together! If I keep bashing them they eventually work but its starting to annoy me now.

Has anyone else had this? I don't know if theres anyway it can be cleaned maybe?

Any advice would be great!

Cheers,

Killian

I did a goofy thing with my 2125 that seems to have fixed my Up direction - I grabbed the joystick with my fingernails (with the keypad locked so you aren't inadvertently scrolling around the screen) and twisted it as though it was a doorknob, about a dozen times. Not too hard as to break things, but hard enough where I could feel a slight click each twist. After that, it seems to be working 100%! I don't know if it reseated the stick to hit the contacts properly or what, but it really did improve the performance. Worth a try, I'd say. I also pulled off the face of the phone and got a look at the joystick itself, and it didn't look like something I'd want to tear apart and clean, but I'm not a huge electronics expert either.

[Guest kalas]

The same issue with my qtek. The joystick worked fine at beginning, however than I was loosing left and up for ever increasing period. At the end I lost up and left completely. Actually I've got it repaired but I don't know how long it will last. They said, a whole keybord module has to be replaced.

[Guest Killian]

Hi guys,

I've finally given up hope with my phone so I'm gonna send it to be repaired. I've found the manufacturer's warranty but its not quite clear on 'who' I should actually send the phone to. I take it it's I-Mate but it doesn't contain any information on the location.

I live in the West Midlands so if anyone could provide me with details on who to send it to and in what method then I'd be extremely grateful.

Thanks alot in advance!

Killian

[Guest iainmann]

This is what I did.

First you should contact tech support at IMate

[email protected]

Explain your problem and that it's under guarantee and they should organise for your phone to be collected by a company called SBE Ltd who carry out repairs for them in the UK

www.sbe-ltd.co.uk

[Guest Killian]

This is what I did.

First you should contact tech support at IMate

[email protected]

Explain your problem and that it's under guarantee and they should organise for your phone to be collected by a company called SBE Ltd who carry out repairs for them in the UK

www.sbe-ltd.co.uk

Thanks Iainmann, I'll do that tonight. Just need to find my receipt and stuff now..................... wish me luck!

lol

Thanks again!

[Guest Killian]

Good news!

They finally came and collected my phone today. They didn't give me an estimate on how long it will take though, does anyway know from experience maybe?

I'm using my C500 at the moment, at factory settings as the USB seems to be messed up.................. is depressing, I want my SP5 back!!!!!!!

:)