HTC Arrive.. disassembly

[TexasAggie97]

pbanky, to each his own. Good luck with the operation, looking forward to the complexities of it.

[pbankey]

WARNING: This should NOT be done if you don't know what you're doing. This WILL void your warranty, so use this as a last resort!

What you will need: Small Phillip's head screwdriver, plastic wedge (I used a guitar pick), ESD wrist strap (highly recommended); PATIENCE!




Step 1: Remove the back cover and battery. There are 5 screws on the outer shell which will need to be removed using a very small Phillip's head screwdriver. I used a glasses screwdriver for this. There is one screw that is "hidden" underneath a black film. You can access this screw easily, just gently scrap away the top of the screw head and it will peel away.






Step 2: Use a plastic wedge to gently pry away the outer shell from the back of the phone. Make sure to go slowly and gently as to not break or damage any of the parts that snap the back shell together.






Note above -- the outer shell separated.




Step 3: Note the locations of the screws and the moisture indicator. Unscrew all of them accordingly and you should be able to lift this second layer away without much prying with the wedge, remember to go slow and gently!





The outer shell, the second layer, and then the guts separated.




Step 4: There are 4 regular screws and 2 smaller screws for the guts. The small screws are indicated above -- the heads are the same size but the thread length is about half of the other screws. Note the location these go in for when you put the phone back together. Remove all screws and set aside.




Step 5: There is a copper metallic tape that covers the LCD ribbon connection as well as part of the MicroSD slot. Gently peel away the metallic tape as shown above to reveal yellow tape covering the ribbon connection and the MicroSD port.





(Optional) Step 6: If you would like to replace the MicroSD card, now's your chance. Peel back the yellow tape and slide the card out of the slot and replace accordingly. WARNING: I have not tried this, so I cannot verify that you can upgrade the memory just by sliding in a new card.





Step 7: This is the trick part. You need to disconnect the LCD ribbon from the port without tearing or damaging the ribbon. What I recommend doing is using the edge of a flat head and gently tugging outwards on the ends of the connector on each side. Remember to do this gently and slowly, working each end out a bit at a time until it disconnects. Once it's disconnected, you can remove that whole half of the phone.

If you were like me and wanted to replace the whole screen half of the phone, simply do all of the included steps with the phone you want to replace the screen with and swap it out. Reverse the disassembly steps to reassemble the phone. Don't forget to put all of the screws back!



The two halves of the phone separated, ready to be switched.




That's what I have right now to share -- I will post later this week going deeper into the screen half in case anyone is interested. I have to warn though, I strongly DO NOT recommend doing this. You'll most likely break the capacitor or the LCD, break the dust seal, and have a ruined phone.


By the way, feel free to email me with questions. I'm always happy to help someone with phone issues like this! pm me for email address (mod edit)