Damaged mini USB port

caifalex · #1 (**permalink**) 05-26-2008, 05:41 PM

So I guess if you use any old USB cable it *might* damage your mini USB port by pushing the pins in. I had NEVER used the supplied connectors and would simply plug in the charger straight to the phone... I guess that damaged it! Sometimes it wouldn't sync with activesync and I had to wiggle it a bit... I guess 6 months of wiggling adds up and while trying to fix it I BROKE the tab that holds the pins!! OUCH! it hurt! I think out of the six pins (ground, hot, data in, data out, stereo left, right) I think only right speaker works!

My temporary solution is that I bought two spare batteries (1400mAh) off ebay and a wall charger that charges the battery without the need to connect it to a phone. That takes care of the charging (I can swap batteries when juice runs out at night). As far as syncing I only used it for contacts and it's pretty much just a one time deal (btw, how would I sync via bluetooth, or is there a folder I can just copy to my phone? I think I also damaged the computer's COM ports and can't seem tofind the drivers anywhere!)

For copying stuff (cab files, maps, etc.) I have a micro SD reader adapter I can use. Plus BT explorer!

Then I was thinking I'll lose the whole mp3 player thing since I can't use headphones, but then I remembered about bluetooth headphones!! hehehe I guess since I have never used them it hadn't occurred to me! I will have to search through the BT headphone

Anyway, I started this thread because I searched and found nothing on damaged USB ports (it sucks you can't search words less than three letters long, WHY is that?!??) and figured it might help other people in the same situation.

If anyone knows an effective easy way to switch the mini USB port please let me know... I found a tutorial on hack a day but it was for a different phone. Any help is appreciated (I'll try out the BT thing for a while, if it works out I won't even have a use for the mini usb port anymore!!

Hauk · #2 (**permalink**) 05-26-2008, 05:50 PM

At this point have two, well three options if you count do nothing as one, you can either take your phone down to a sprint repair center and pay up to 50 bucks to get it fixed, or try and do it yourself, if you can get a new port and are good at soldering, but opening up your phone yourself will void your warranty.

caifalex · #3 (**permalink**) 05-26-2008, 06:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hauk

At this point have two, well three options if you count do nothing as one, you can either take your phone down to a sprint repair center and pay up to 50 bucks to get it fixed, or try and do it yourself, if you can get a new port and are good at soldering, but opening up your phone yourself will void your warranty.

you think they'd fix it for $50 bucks? sounds too cheap for me since they usually charge an extraordinary amount *just for looking at it*... I say this because I didn't get the total equipment protection plan and it really isn't a factory defect (it looks like I beat it up!)

I AM good at soldering but I really don't want to mess with a 300 dollar phone! Also, are the mini USB ports universal (size wise) and just a matter of soldering the correct leads? I tried opening it up and took off the three hex/star screws and I still couldn't bust it open so I decided to quit that road!

sebo · #4 (**permalink**) 05-26-2008, 06:16 PM

no insurance? the $4/mo goes a long way especially on a $500 phone...

saving a few bucks on insurance always comes back and bites you in the a$$

superman1101 · #5 (**permalink**) 05-26-2008, 07:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sebo

no insurance? the $4/mo goes a long way especially on a $500 phone...

saving a few bucks on insurance always comes back and bites you in the a$$

lol... agreed, but doesnt sprint still service your phone without warranty?

GT! · #6 (**permalink**) 05-26-2008, 07:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sebo

no insurance? the $4/mo goes a long way especially on a $500 phone...

saving a few bucks on insurance always comes back and bites you in the a$$

Is it too late to purchase

-GT

superman1101 · #7 (**permalink**) 05-26-2008, 08:25 PM

actually now that i remember you can do a phone swap and get insurance on it...i remember because i got my touch from someone and simply replaced my old phone so my insurance transfered..i believe that if you do a swap you have a couple of days to get insurance on it..so you might be able to get someone with a sprint account to do a swap with you and then simply swap it back to your account and add insurance... im not completly sure if it works or not and the process will probably take a long time, has anyone else tried it?

storino03 · #8 (**permalink**) 05-26-2008, 08:45 PM

You have to add insurance within 30 days of phone activation or no dice after 30 days.

--James

MoTow · #9 (**permalink**) 05-26-2008, 08:56 PM

Sprint told me a week ago that I couldn't put insurance on my phone until 30 days had PAST.

caifalex · #10 (**permalink**) 05-26-2008, 09:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by superman1101

actually now that i remember you can do a phone swap and get insurance on it...i remember because i got my touch from someone and simply replaced my old phone so my insurance transfered..i believe that if you do a swap you have a couple of days to get insurance on it..so you might be able to get someone with a sprint account to do a swap with you and then simply swap it back to your account and add insurance... im not completly sure if it works or not and the process will probably take a long time, has anyone else tried it?

hmmmm sounds interesting... though I doubt it' possible... if it could be done I could easily do it through my girlfriend I find it highly unlikely...

and about the $4 insurance... well I didn't get it because before the touch I had a motorola v300 (through t-mo) not as functional but STILL cost me around that much ($250) and had gotten the insurance on it, used it once after a year and had already paid like 60 dollars and they still charged a deductible, so the replacement ended up costing me more than 100 bucks! (might as well had gotten a new phone!) but I how it is with insurance, it's the last thing you want... to actually USE it! lol The other reason I didn't get it was because I'm on the SERO plan and was paying $30 so I wanted to keep it low and if I got insurance it would drive it up, *sort of* defeating the purpose of the SERO plan.

I am also really careful with my phone and have never had it stolen or dropped any of my previous ones into the toliet or anything, figured the touch would not be the exception. Actually, if it wasn't for the mini USB thing it'd be in great shape... lol I guess that's where it would have came in handy!

Anyway, I think I'll stick with the ALL BLUETOOTH solution for now... I will take it to the sprint store to see if it can be serviced for *under* 50 bucks, if it's anything more than that there really is no point in getting fixed since I can buy a good pair of bluetooth phones for about that much... any other advantage to having the mini usb port? (if there is I wouldn't know of it since I only used it to sync my contacts once, copy files into sotrage card [can get a reader] and for the usual tethering, all of which can be done via bluetooth.

Thanks for your replies guys!

Ade