Poll: Have you had charging or USB problems with your N900
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Have you had charging or USB problems with your N900

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Posts: 1,359 | Thanked: 1,292 times | Joined on Oct 2011 @ Tartus.Syria
#2491
hi men please i need help for a little problem at first i was depending on ovi pc suit for updating my n900 frimware but now when i connect the device in pc suit mode i dont have the updating option or "if you are facing problems reinstall it " and when i connect my friends one the reinstall option is showen what can i do to have it again thanx.
 
Posts: 1 | Thanked: 0 times | Joined on Feb 2012
#2492
Originally Posted by Bengt View Post
Nokia N900 repaired!

Hi all! My daughter had this problem with her Nokia N900. The USB connector got loose and she couldn't charge it. As usual I disassembled the phone (it was surprisingly easy, at thought such a phone should be complicated to disassemble!) and soon I could see the problem. The USB connector have loosened from its pads. I tried to solder it down again but I realized that the copper foil have loosened from the laminate at the small pads under the connector so it didn't help. They were also impossible to investigate without desolder the entire connector. Trying to do so I found it extremely difficult to solder. All heat just flooded away into the copper planes. At that point I started Googling and found this forum. Very interesting but no solutions!

What is the problem? Regardless what some have said the reason to that the connector is getting loose is a bad design of the pads. The designer have put tens of laser vias into each pad and that leads away all the heat down to the planes. Especially one side of the connector have bad soldering. The very close shield box is another reason. So this design made it impossible to get a through soldering of the connector during the manufacturing.

Repair? I desoldered the remaining parts, it was so difficult that I ended up cutting it to pieces. Now I could see that the small pads inside the connector was directly connected to inner layers through laser vias. Impossible to solder again. There was a little crater in each of the pads down to inner layers. Therefore the only solution would be to put cables from the connector to somewhere on the board IF I could find such a place. I managed to dig down into the laser vias using a sharp tweezer and could start searching with the multimeter.

YES, there are test pads for the entire USB connector elsewhere on the board. So, I bought a new connector, soldered very small cables to it and connected them to test pads. (Using a high end professional soldering station). I covered some of the broken pads with isolation paint because underlaying conductors have been freed. Just to make sure nothing got short cut. I used another, very high power soldering iron to solder the new connector. This time, with more power, it worked. One pin in the corner of the shield box was impossible to solder so I soldered it directly to the shield box instead!.

Tested it and it worked perfectly!

I have uploaded two images. One of the free pads and one of the repair. You can see the pads on the mother board that i used. For GND I used the original pads after putting a small wire from the pin to the connector case.
Is it still working??????
 
Posts: 54 | Thanked: 6 times | Joined on Feb 2010
#2493
I had some problems with the USB port approximately half year ago. Charging was not possible at all. The local Nokia support was able to fix the problem (I think they resoldered some points). Four weeks ago the same problem occured again. I can't charge the battery using the original charger as well as the original car charger. Fortunately I can charge the phone using the orignal USB cable. So the phone is not useless at all...

I have sent the phone to the customer care (w-support.com). They wrote an email today saying my phone ran out of warranty. Their estimation of cost for changing the entire transceiver really shocked me: 551 €. I will let my phone send back unrepaired...

What I do not understand is: Why do wall-/car-chargers do not charge my phone, but using the USB cable does? And is there a trick to make my phone charge in my car, too? (navigation consumpts a lot of power)

Hope to find some answers here...


EDIT: I have uploaded a picture of w-support.com showing some damage, which they have not specified. Can someone see the problem?
Attached Images
 

Last edited by redhotfoo; 2012-02-22 at 22:02.
 
Posts: 5,795 | Thanked: 3,151 times | Joined on Feb 2007 @ Agoura Hills Calif
#2494
I don't know, but it superficially seems to me that you don't have a real problem at all. Just get an external charger and use it to charge batteries. It is cheap and better and easier than charging by connecting your N900 anyway.
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Posts: 234 | Thanked: 160 times | Joined on Oct 2009
#2495
Lately I've been having problems charging via USB. Most cables don't seem to work. The wall charger which I have used in the past acts like it is charging, but it doesn't charge. The only thing that really works is a mini-to-micro adapter, but even then I struggle to get a data connection.

I disassembled the phone to see if I have the loose USB port problem, and it seems to be solidly attached. One thing I did notice, tho, is that it looks like the inside connector might be slightly chipped, since I see a couple of exposed traces.

Unfortunately, my phone is out of warranty. I did buy an extended warranty from Squaretrade, so I might call them to see what they can do. In the meantime, I'll listen to ideas as to what to do about this.
 
Posts: 478 | Thanked: 101 times | Joined on Feb 2010
#2496
Not sure if this has been mentioned before but it's a really good idea to read up on EU legislation regarding warranties etc. Companies will refuse to repair/refund products becasue they know we don't know the full extent of the law...

A quick google produced this, Im sure there's lots more info out there

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/b...ty-EU-law.html

"Under UK law, buyers in England and Wales can get a partial refund or full repair up to six years after the purchase was made (five years from discovery in Scotland). The refund should take into account how much use the customer has already had of a product. Ultimately, a county court would decide this."

or try this

"The EU directive in question is 1999/44/EC. The full wording is contained here (open the word documtent and scroll to page 7) but the important bit is this: 'A two-year guarantee applies for the sale of all consumer goods everywhere in the EU. In some countries, this may be more, and some manufacturers also choose to offer a longer warranty period."
 
Posts: 234 | Thanked: 160 times | Joined on Oct 2009
#2497
One thing I forgot to mention. Those who don't have a loose port issue and are having problems, try cleaning the port. Last night I worked it over with Deoxit and a toothbrush, and this morning was able to get one of the cables that wasn't working to work.

I'm still concerned that I have a problem, but I might also take a better brush to the contacts again to see if that is the issue.
 
Posts: 54 | Thanked: 6 times | Joined on Feb 2010
#2498
Originally Posted by geneven View Post
I don't know, but it superficially seems to me that you don't have a real problem at all. Just get an external charger and use it to charge batteries. It is cheap and better and easier than charging by connecting your N900 anyway.
I am driving a lot and therefore need Sygic Mobile Maps, which dramatically reduces battery life. Carrying a second battery is unpractical. My phone can charge battery via USB Data Connection, but refuses to load from usual wall or car charger. Now is there a way to cheat on my phone and "emulate" a USB Data connection? Or is there a better solution?

Still hoping to find some answers...
 
Posts: 3,617 | Thanked: 2,412 times | Joined on Nov 2009 @ Cambridge, UK
#2499
Originally Posted by redhotfoo View Post
I am driving a lot and therefore need Sygic Mobile Maps, which dramatically reduces battery life. Carrying a second battery is unpractical. My phone can charge battery via USB Data Connection, but refuses to load from usual wall or car charger. Now is there a way to cheat on my phone and "emulate" a USB Data connection? Or is there a better solution?

Still hoping to find some answers...
The micro USB charging standard requires the data pins to be shorted. Unfortunately most 3rd party chargers don't do this, so the N900 won't charge with them. You may be able to open them up and short out the data pins (the middle two) or, if they're using a separate USB-microUSB cable, modify a cable to short those two lines out.
 
Posts: 54 | Thanked: 6 times | Joined on Feb 2010
#2500
Originally Posted by Rob1n View Post
The micro USB charging standard requires the data pins to be shorted. Unfortunately most 3rd party chargers don't do this, so the N900 won't charge with them. You may be able to open them up and short out the data pins (the middle two) or, if they're using a separate USB-microUSB cable, modify a cable to short those two lines out.
I am using orignal Nokia wall charger and original Nokia car charger. BOTH already have shortcutted D- and D+ connections. My phone only charges from PC/Notebook using orignal Nokia USB cable. So what I need is a possiblity to charge my N900 in my car without the need to carry a Notebook. That's why I ask for a charger which emulates USB connection... or a different idea for solving the problem!
 
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bad design, broken, charging, failure, hardware, loose, microusb, microusb port, n900, nokia, part, port, repair, return, surface mount, usb, usb port, warranty

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