I'm dying, i just bought my n900 and i loved it, now after 3 months my backlight doesn't work, everything else works (button backlight - the light when it's charging)...

I send it to Nokia and they said it's because of oxidation (WTF) and that they're not able to fix it and i have to pay 200 € to fix it... only because of the backlight... i can use the phone when i'm outside and if there's enough light, but at night i can't see anything...

Could you guys help me? What should i do now? i don't want to throw the phone away and either pay 200 € i bought it for 500 for christ sake ...

Thanks in advance guys...

if my screen would have been broken then Ok i would accept it and throw the phone away, but like this... only the backlight doesn't work ... damn

You'll need to replace the screen, the backlight's inside that.

Do note that the screen part of the phone is very hard to disassemble.

you can try my custom brightness first, pretty sure this will not solve the problem but it is just to be sure before you dismantle your phone.

Else:
You can replace the screen.

or

You can take the screen of and check if there is any "dirt" in the connection between the screen and mainboard (ribbon cable & connector)


The backlight in the screen is a LED and normally there is no way in hell it breaks before the LCD/Phone
Other then that if you are very unlucky then some power control transistor/mosfet on the mainboard is fried and this would be next to impossible to fix

But i will first recommend that you try the custom brightness
Then check the ribbon cable if it is just a little loose in the connector or any dirt on it, i have had the same problem with an N95 and here it was the ribbon cable that has a bad connection, so i clean it up and the N95 works fine.

Oxidation probably implies they think it is water damage.

The screen is not hard to dis-assemble. You just have to be patient and careful. Watch a teardown video, there is one on youtube.

Do as dr_frost_dk suggests. Take apart the screen, visually check the connectors for damage. After, re-assemble the phone, you may get lucky. It may have been a dodgy connection and it just might work.

If this is not the case get another screen on ebay, they are relatively cheap and as easy to install as taking the thing apart.

Report back when you are done!

Just one thing to consider, if you get to the point that you have to change screen, then do it in a air sealed room or something, i took mine apart (for no apparent reason, just to see how it is assembled) and i had a ignoring time trying to get the very small dust out, else you can see it quite clear between the touchscreen and the LCD screen, and it is so ignoring to look at.

I had the same problem with my N900 a while ago. The screen worked, but there was no backlight. In my case it turned out to be a damaged Motherboard Flex Ribbon Cable.

These cables are not that expensive and can be purchased online for about $25. I had purchased an LCD screen too, just to be on the safe side.

I replaced the damaged ribbon cable with the new one and everything worked fine. The repair was not difficult at all, but I have experience with these types of repairs.

This is a very cheap fix!!!!!

Also, if advices mentioned earlier fail, you may try to give it to unofficial service. They may have enough tools/skills to disassemble screen part and replace backlight - ho ever, there is no guarantee that they will screw everything completely, when trying to "fix" things.

Anyway, this is not single diode design, so if all diodes stop working at once, it may be that dr_frost is right and its some part on mainboard. Or just loosy/dirty cable...

I'm really sorry - i think no one can help you beyond that. Really wish you luck with fixing this - if you manage to, please remember to told us here how.

// Edit

People posting before me are more experienced at this - please use their advice first. If the screen part is not much harder to disassemble that in other LCD's, it's true that this won't be impossible fix.

By the Way, you're still on the guarantee time for your N900? If Yes, you should not let them implicate You bullsh|t about oxidation. They MUST fix it. This apply only if You're absolutely sure that Your N900 doesn't have trip into swimpole, of course.

Good info on this thread hence necro'ing.

My backlight is temperamental. It is more likely to work on full strength but tends to flicker randomly or not work at all.

I couldn't see any dirt in the socket/connector but didn't check that closely.

Would you have any different advice? Could the problem be closer to the mainboard (because that bit is sealed)?

got same problem with my n900. I bought a slider flex cable but it still dont have a backlight. i guess the problem is on the motherboard. anybody got a solution to this?