Lobster has died

[Guest awarner (MVP)]

Thought I would grab the old lobster out of storage and give the DAB radio a go when I cycle to work.

Unfortunately it refused to boot, initially it gave me a white screen but now nothing at all.

Battery is fully charged and I also checked by using the C550 battery.

It's only been in storage for a year so I guess the next stap is to try to replace the internal battery.

[Guest awarner (MVP)]

Right started taking it apart to check the internal battery only to find it's spot welded in place to the solder tabs.

It's also a smaller battery than other devices I have taken apart.

[Guest awarner (MVP)]

Checked the battery voltage and getting bugger all out of it apart from a few mV

Sometimes I can get a white screen and other times the red LED is lit but apart from that I'm no closer to getting this thing working again.

[Guest just-saving]

How odd to see you have written exactly what I was about to write awarner. My Lobster got put away a few weeks back when I got an HTC S710 but today I just got the Lobster back out because I wanted to take off the photos which I had stored on it. Booted it up and it did start but then zippppp nothing but a white screen. Changed the battery as I had a spare...nothing. All there is is a white screen. i thought I was safe leaving the pictures on there until I could sync them over to my laptop but........now what? I do have a spare Lobster that I could take apart but I aint that good with phones!!! :D

Stoopid white screen! I'm a little upset...can you tell? :(

[Guest awarner (MVP)]

Problem is it's not the taking apart it's more trying to change the backup battery.

Here are some internal pictures I took, as you can see from the picture the battery bottom/left )first image) is not only soldered to board but the tabs it is connected with are spot welded to the battery making identification vary hard as the information are under the tabs.

Wonder if it's worth giving HTC a call for repair?

[Guest just-saving]

I dunno awarner..maybe getting in touch with HTC would be the next step. I'm just a bit peeved that I may now have to pay out goodness knows how much just to get a few photos off my Lobster and the pics might disappear during repair anyway, if they haven't already. Thing is I did buy another Lobby off eBay a while back for about £16 as a backup so I am not without a Lobster. Plus, I have a spare one to smash apart if need be as I broke my very first one accidently. I think this has made me realise just how important it is that I should always back up my pics and stuff....just incase of unexpected problems like this ..... :D

JS

Edited June 12, 2008 by just-saving

[Guest Mysterious Stranger]

Problem is it's not the taking apart it's more trying to change the backup battery.

Here are some internal pictures I took, as you can see from the picture the battery bottom/left )first image) is not only soldered to board but the tabs it is connected with are spot welded to the battery making identification vary hard as the information are under the tabs.

Wonder if it's worth giving HTC a call for repair?

Looks like the standard cell HTC use accross many models.

Panasonic ML414RM/F9A - DigiKey P003CT-ND

http://dkc3.digikey.com/PDF/C081/P2214.pdf

HTC will write the board off and quote for replacement. Seriously. :(

Backup batteries are not 'mission critical' to the phone booting though - nearly all my candybar HTC devices have a dead one and work fine I just need to sync everythime I change the battery / sim etc - what makes you think this is the issue?

I dunno awarner..maybe getting in touch with HTC would be the next step. I'm just a bit peeved that I may now have to pay out goodness knows how much just to get a few photos off my Lobster and the pics might disappear during repair anyway, if they haven't already. Thing is I did buy another Lobby off eBay a while back for about £16 as a backup so I am not without a Lobster. Plus, I have a spare one to smash apart if need be as I broke my very first one accidently. I think this has made me realise just how important it is that I should always back up my pics and stuff....just incase of unexpected problems like this ..... :D

JS

A white screen is usually a loose LCD ribbon. Again, not mission critical for the phone to boot. Are you sure the device isn't booting, you just can't see it? What about if you connect it to a comp.? Anything?

HTC will wipe the handset during any diagnosis / repair anyway. Dissassembling and checking connections would be your first bet.

M.S

[Guest just-saving]

Hi Mysterious Stranger

I did connect the mobile to my laptop yesterday but the sync wouldnt recognise/connect to the phone. Originally, the phone did start acting strange a couple of times, it would be ok then would then just show red/blue/green lines on the screen. When this happened I would have to reboot and it would start ok again. Yesterday when I got the phone out it started ok but then the screen flickered and went white. I could only turn it off by removing the battery and when starting it up again there is nothing except a white screen. So, I will see if I can manage to take it apart and take a look to see if I can see any loose ribbons or anything. :D

EDIT: Um, I am having trouble getting the phone apart. I undone the four funny little screws on the back but then after that was done I actually used brute force and all I can see is the front of the board which is attached by a ribbon. Luckily, I have tried this out on my totally broken one first but I know its not a wise move to now go ahead and do the same with the one I want to try to fix. Is there by any chance a step by step guide anywhere to show me how to take it apart?

Many thanks

Edited June 12, 2008 by just-saving

[Guest Mysterious Stranger]

The red/green/blue screen is the bootloader. If this comes up either the software is corrupt or a key is stuck down on the side of the phone ( usually the camera button IIRC).

Try 'lifting' all the side buttons with your finger, put the battery in and see what that does?

M.S

[Guest just-saving]

The red/green/blue screen is the bootloader. If this comes up either the software is corrupt or a key is stuck down on the side of the phone ( usually the camera button IIRC).

Try 'lifting' all the side buttons with your finger, put the battery in and see what that does?

M.S

Nope, no buttons are stuck down MS. I am not seeing the red/green/blue screen anymore. That was happening just before I got my new phone and put the Lobster away for a couple of weeks. Its just a white screen and nothing more. I just connected it to my laptop again but its not detecting the phone at all. It wont switch off by the on/off button at the top so I have to pull the battery out and then restart it which only shows the white screen again. Once I know how to open it up without damaging it I will take a look inside. Thanks for your reply. :D

[Guest Mysterious Stranger]

Nope, no buttons are stuck down MS. I am not seeing the red/green/blue screen anymore. That was happening just before I got my new phone and put the Lobster away for a couple of weeks. Its just a white screen and nothing more. I just connected it to my laptop again but its not detecting the phone at all. It wont switch off by the on/off button at the top so I have to pull the battery out and then restart it which only shows the white screen again. Once I know how to open it up without damaging it I will take a look inside. Thanks for your reply. :D

Aaah, I have a similar thing with a US SDA ( Tornado) - intermittantly it auto-powers on to a white screen when inserting a battery - it gets very hot and drains a full battery in an hour. Removing the batt and holding in the power button as I put the battery in stops the white screen, it then powers as normal - until I remove the battery again....

It's been wet, the paper strip near the sim holder has gone red :-(

M.S

[Guest just-saving]

Removing the batt and holding in the power button as I put the battery in stops the white screen, it then powers as normal - until I remove the battery again....

M.S

Hmm, I wish that had worked for me too. Just tried the battery tip but it just doesnt wanna know! <_<

[Guest awarner (MVP)]

Looks like the standard cell HTC use accross many models.

I've only really looked closely at the MPX200 which is a much larger battery.

Wonder if it's worth sacrificing my C500 or an old SPV? haver to dig them out of storage but then again there is still no guarentee that this will fix the phone.

As for my thinking, it's more of a try and see incase they have done something strange with this device when they designed it.

I know my C500 battery is not good but I'm just thinking how damaged the battery may be as such.

It's just strange how this device gives the white screen you normally associate with a duff device flash and as above none of my PCs see it XP and Vista.

[Guest Koko DelFloko]

Thought I would grab the old lobster out of storage and give the DAB radio a go when I cycle to work.

Unfortunately it refused to boot, initially it gave me a white screen but now nothing at all.

Battery is fully charged and I also checked by using the C550 battery.

It's only been in storage for a year so I guess the next stap is to try to replace the internal battery.

upgrade ROM from link ftp://koxoguest:[email protected]/sp/ro...r_700_tv_os.rar

[Guest Bongmaster]

woh scary stuff :S

i'm still using my monet, and its been running well ever since i joined here :D

and i hope it continues lasting til i get a replacement that is either free or bloody cheap XD and is better than the monet/lobster :3

[Guest enoir]

woh scary stuff :S

i'm still using my monet, and its been running well ever since i joined here <_<

and i hope it continues lasting til i get a replacement that is either free or bloody cheap XD and is better than the monet/lobster :3

My Samsung Omnia has bit the dust so Ive had to go back to my Lobster. Its bloody ugly but damn reliable!!

Only problem is I cant find any replacement headphones for it :) B)

Anyone got ideas where I could get some?

[Guest hecatae]

I've still got my monet, but this thread does not fill me with hope in getting it working