iPhone 3GS Front Panel Replacement

Hello everyone -- what kind of adjustments, if any, can be made in this step to ensure that the display sits flush with the bezel around all edges when installed? On my iphone, the display is a tiny bit uneven when installed, i.e. the glass is ever so slightly higher than the bezel on the left side, while the glass it just a hair bit lower than the bezel on the right side. Thanks!

Success!

Zitat von Bespin:

Hello everyone -- what kind of adjustments, if any, can be made in this step to ensure that the display sits flush with the bezel around all edges when installed? On my iphone, the display is a tiny bit uneven when installed, i.e. the glass is ever so slightly higher than the bezel on the left side, while the glass it just a hair bit lower than the bezel on the right side. Thanks!

i had to spend quite a bit of time (30 minutes) on the hair dryer/heat up step to gently heat then gently loosen the adhesive holding the front glass to the rather fragile frame.

after successfully removing the glass (and shards of glass from my broken screen) i also had some clean up to do to remove the excess glue and adhesive from both the top and bottom sections and also the rails. i used the "leaf" end of the metal spudger (not the oar shaped end) for awhile scraping up stray bits but also used a Q-tip dipped in some isopropyl ("rubbing") alcohol which helped dissolve some of the goo left in the corners and the crevices of the rails.

perhaps your screen sits a bit akimbo because you still have some goo in those rails?

I did every step but the screen doesn't work. Phone calls come in and its charging cause I hear the sounds. What might be the problme?

My screen was to busted-up for the suction cup to adhere, so I stuck a piece of (wide) clear packing tape to the front of the glass, which provided sufficient surface area for the cup to create a solid seal.

Time to complete the repair: ~60 minutes

Zitat von slidellboy:

I did every step but the screen doesn't work. Phone calls come in and its charging cause I hear the sounds. What might be the problme?

Try connecting the phone to iTunes and doing a restore. I had the same problem and that fixed it

Hey guys in step two they used a suction cup to remove the screen. Yet my iphone screen is shattered all through out and the cup who stay due to air coming through the glass. Any ideas or work arounds?

Duct tape or 3m double sided tape should do the juob. I had the same problem and solved it with taking a piece of duct tape folding it onto itself and leaving about and inch still undone. I pushed the ens own onto the glass and used the center as a handle. Imagine two capital L's back to back to get an idea of what I am talking about.

Zitat von streak1232:

Hey guys in step two they used a suction cup to remove the screen. Yet my iphone screen is shattered all through out and the cup who stay due to air coming through the glass. Any ideas or work arounds?

The number one reason for removing the digitizer and LCD assembly is if the digitizer is smashed. Removing the broken glass from the mid frame is a delicate procedure and can be very tedious and time consuming. The rubber gasket and home button can be easily damaged if you are overzealous with a heat gun. The mid-frame section is now readily available as an orderable spare part and in my opinion you’ll get a much neater, cleaner repair if you replace this part too.

Zitat von yosarian:

When reassembling the display and bezel, how should one install the gasket? What happens if the gasket is damaged while the phone is being disassembled? Is there a replacement or some other fix?

Hi all,

I have completed the step by step guide as above. I have assembled back together but the phone wont turn on? i can hear the beep when i connect a charger but im not getting anything on the display?

Any help appreciated

i have tried everything but the screen will not budge, i have tried using the tool and also my suction cup and even tape nothing will work to seperate the screen! what should i do??

All went well, but I should mention that the force required to pull the screen off is much higher than I expected. I kept one hand wrapped around the top of the phone to make sure it didn't fly apart and damage the connectors to the logic board. The other trick is to get the suction cup as close as possible to the button to increase the leverage. In the end I taped over the home button so I could use the suction cup at the very bottom. Keep an eye on it and after a while of constant heavy pressure it should start to separate.

It is easier to separate the glass from the frame at the non cracked/broken end first. I kept my fingers near the end I was heating up - this is a good way to ensure that you are not overheating the plastic. I also used the low setting on the hair drier. This step wasn't too bad, it just takes time and care.

A final tip is there are some small spring contacts behind the home button that look easy to damage. Be careful not to catch these and bend them, especially when working to separate the glass from the frame. If these get broken the home button won't work.

Zitat von slidellboy:

I did every step but the screen doesn't work. Phone calls come in and its charging cause I hear the sounds. What might be the problme?

try either cycling power or reinstall the cables to the display where they connect to the main board. cables weren't seated correctly for me and i experienced the same issue.

Zitat von JJ246:

i have tried everything but the screen will not budge, i have tried using the tool and also my suction cup and even tape nothing will work to seperate the screen! what should i do??

Make sure the 2 screws are out of the bottom of the phone on either side of the dock connector. If they are, keep trying. Make sure you are lifting from the bottom end of the screen toward the home button. Does take a little bit of force but you'll get it. Keep in mind the connectors for the screen are toward the top end of the phone so don't let it get away from you or you could damage them. Just lift up like you're reading a book, using the top end as a pivot point.

I tried removing the assembly and only got the glass to come up along with cable #3 coming disconnected.. Therefore i cannot get anything connected! Please help!!!!!

I had exactly the same problem. I persisted and found that, after the connectors were properly seated, I had to 1) completely install the screen, including the screws and 2) perform an iPhone reset. To perform the reset, hold the wake/sleep button (on the top) while at the same time holding the home button (on the screen). Hold them until the apple logo is displayed on the screen (approximately 10 seconds). After the apple logo came on the screen, everything was look'n good! I hope this works for you; i was bummed, not becuase i would have had to spend another $99 but because ATT automatically extends one's contract every time one buys a new iPhone, even if it's a replacement. Good luck!

CAUTION! My 16GB 3G has a cable glued to the bottom left side of the LCD. This cable is marked with a 4 in step 3. There is no way you can open the the screen 45 degrees if your cable is the same!

Those of you who end up with no screen probably ripped the ribbon cable just as I did. This is a huge omission!

I have pictures of the ripped cable if anyone needs clarification.

Clarification to the note above.

On further inspection, cable 4 wasn't glued to the back of the LCD. It just bonded itself there after a year of use.

If this happens, you'll need to replace the dock connector as well.

Good luck!

It strange for me, i opened my iPhone 3G and found something that doesn't apear on your descriptions, on the bottom of the screen just after opening it, there seems to have a connector, maybe it is only some glue that makes it stick to the screen or maybe it realy is a connector which is why i don t want to go any further without asking.

Could anyone help me?

Zitat von postnospam:

CAUTION! My 16GB 3G has a cable glued to the bottom left side of the LCD. This cable is marked with a 4 in step 3. There is no way you can open the the screen 45 degrees if your cable is the same!

Those of you who end up with no screen probably ripped the ribbon cable just as I did. This is a huge omission!

I have pictures of the ripped cable if anyone needs clarification.

I have the same problem. I change my husband`s iPhone lcd but i also cannot see anything but i can hear that it`s charging. I tried to open it again just to be sure that its connected. but still not working.Anybody can help?

Zitat von pbrookei:

Everythig works fine except the GPS. After the repair my gps is not working like it was before. Now rarely gets a constant signal, and the most part the signal is week. Maybe i have damage the antena ?

Not sure if you are still following this thread, but I came across this while trying to fix a buddies phone. We found out when we re-opened his phone after replacing the glass that the GPS antenna had gotten disconnected when he did the repair. We simply snapped the connector back on, and VOILA, GPS works again. I hope this helps. The connector is in the top left corner of the board, and on his phone was labeled connection 6.

or try the suction cup of you iPhone-carkit (i used a navigon carkit) - worked out quite well!

Just did this last week for my GF iPhone awesome results. only problem i found so far is the new adhesive for the front panel wont stick very well. dont know if its a let it set type of adhesive but if i have to replace it again i dont know if ill be able to get the front panel/lcd frame out of the phone.

I replaced my cracked screen and my damaged LCD screen and after I put it all back together, the iPhone turns on and the screen looks great, but the touch screen does not respond at all. I opened it up about 3 more times and unhooked and reattached all the connectors to the motherboard but still no luck. Does anyone know what I should do??

Gotta question. Can i remove my digitizer from the screen and attach it to another glass? ( Digitizer works ) just dont want to buy another one

Zitat von Miroslav Djuric:

Using a metal spudger might damage the bezel and/or screen. It's definitely doable to separate the two without a metal spudger - I did it myself with no problems - but other iPhone display assemblies may be tougher than the one I took apart.

Sometimes using the metal spudger is necessary-- my screen was entirely too shattered for the suction cup to hold. I slowly pried it open, and yes, there was slight damage to the plastic.

Put tape over any part of the screen that is cracked. This will keep the glass from falling out and keep your work area neat and clean.

When I applied the suction cup, the screen came loose from the display assembly, the display assembly remained in the phone (the screen had been replaced once before, so probably the adhesive used then was not as strong as the original adhesive). I had to use the metal spudger to separate the display assembly from the phone. Worked fine.

the lifting of the front assembly from the silver bezel would be easier if you are heating the silver bezel with an hair dryer carefully.

because at older IPhones some mess will stuck between the bezel and the gasket AND if glas would be broken it will be a little bigger as the unbroken glas.

And heating the front assembly carefully makes it easier to peel of the glas from the assembly

Be sure the silver bezel stays attached to the bottom plastic "tub"; if it is pulled up, a 2 wire thin film around the lower left will sever.

I had a lot more joy using a sharpened bamboo skewer that all of the different shaped spudgers I bought from Menda Tools. My home made spudger is thinner and fits into the confined spaces in the phone better.

The connector pops up vertically away from the board.

Zitat von Splzeug:

You must understand that there is a tiny ribbon keeper (for lack of a better name) that prys up from the direction shown in the picture... If you didn't see it you probably got the ribbon out by pulling, instead of lifting the keeper tab. Look very closely and you will see this tab... lift it up as shown in the picture and insert the ribbon cable, then press the tab back down which locks the cable in place.

Thanks for the reply. Now that made more sense the original directions.

Zitat von BigMikesWilly:

what if the micro small plastic clip breaks off? as mine did.. :( what do you recommend?

My plastic tab was white. I couldn't get it to rotate up, so I just pulled the cable out. And then of course I could not get it back in. So I tried to rotate the tab up again using a small flat screwdriver. For my first attempt, I stuck the screwdriver in where the cable is supposed to go and gently lifted up. That just broke a little of the plastic off the tab. For my next attempt, I stuck the screwdriver under the side of the tab and gently lifted. Again, the plastic just started to break. I quickly pushed it back down with my thumb, pretending nothing had happened. I pictured myself walking back to the apple store to buy a new iPhone. :-( The stress was making me burn up. I actually had to take my shirt off at this point. Then I spent the next 5 minutes slowly carefully wiggling the cable back into place without lifting the tab. I put cables 2 and 1 back in and put the phone back together. I crossed my fingers and pressed the power button. It worked.

Thanks, I just used this tutorial to fix my phone. The screen was popped out at the top edge, and I really didn't want to drive to the Apple Store. www.ifixit.com rocks.

PLEASE READ:

Do not try prying anything from the top or sides.

Ribbon #3 slides in from the TOP (the black end), but the lock is on the BOTTOM (the white end).

On the BOTTOM, you can open the lock easily by lifting the bottom edge upward... it flips straight up.

With the lock open, insert the ribbon cable into the top, black end. You may need to push slightly (I used a tiny flathead) to get it in as far as possible.

Then, just rotate the lock back down into place. You might need to use a small tool, but it's very easy.

Here is a picture of the connector.

And here's another picture of just the circuit board, top of the phone is on the left.

You should be able to see the connector for #3, but it's not labeled.

http://s1.guide-images.ifixit.com/igi/ZC...

And in this picture of the 3GS, the colors are inverted... the top is white and the lock is black.

http://s1.guide-images.ifixit.com/igi/hs...

Failed :(

I didn't found the way to lift and broke in 2 the connector for #3. I try to connect 1, 2 &3 but iPhone doesn't start anymore.

Very nice sunday indeed...

Zitat von BigMikesWilly:

what if the micro small plastic clip breaks off? as mine did.. :( what do you recommend?

Just like mine :(

Zitat von Splzeug:

You must understand that there is a tiny ribbon keeper (for lack of a better name) that prys up

Noooooo, this is for 3GS only. dont try to pry the 3G ribbon holder, it will break. ask me how i know :(

That comment should be edited in bold "3GS only" before more people break their connectors

Zitat von PileOfMush:

PLEASE READ:

Do not try prying anything from the top or sides.

Ribbon #3 slides in from the TOP (the black end), but the lock is on the BOTTOM (the white end).

On the BOTTOM, you can open the lock easily by lifting the bottom edge upward... it flips straight up.

now I understand.. the pic is of the 3GS, but this is correct for the 3G. Hard to visualize, but the lock is opposite of where the ribbon went in. Doh.

I successfully completed the project, but have one issue. Looking at the iPhone 3G (vertically) the whole right side of the screen linearly about about a quarter of an inch from the edge, will not respond to my touch. Thus, making letter 'o','p', 'l', and 'back space' unresponsive when pressing.

This is entirely a new issue...even with a cracked screen like my original was, it still responded to all touches.

My only guess is that the ribbon wasn't all the way in, but from the looks of your diagram, I believe it is.

Any help would be great. Thanks.

Hi there.

I think I also got a problem with reversing step 6. Tab is open and I tried to get in the ribbon cable. How far back in do I have to push it? There is a white line with an arrow. Is that how far? I tried and tried but can't get it back that far... and now the display remains black. The phoen does sync with iTunes when attached to my Mac - so I guess that I only have a problem with the display.

Please help!

Thank's

Zitat von Phil:

I can even take a screenshot (Home and Sleep) and download it to iPhoto. It is a black pic...

HELP!!!! PLEASE!!!!

OK, this information might help some of you. My problem is solved. What happened?

I turned on my iPhone by accident during repair. So it was switched on when I reatached all the connectors. My guess is that the display of the iPhone is simly no "plug and play" component that can be attached while the device is running.

As I wrote in my previous postings: the Phone was running after repair, but the display remained dark. Home and Sleep buttons worked and so I waited until the battery was empty and the Phone turned itself off. After that I charged it and then I already saw the "low battery" screen - I never was so happy to see this screen in my life before!

When the iPhone was ready with all the booting it worked perfectly again.

What a nice day after all the tears.... :-)

just finished the whole process and finally got it to work. By far the hardest part was getting the #2 ribbon to snap back in & know where to place the #3 ribbon. Just trial & error, and it finally worked.

FYI. Instead of using a spudger I gently pulled the glass top from the bottom (after I had removed the 2 bottom screws & gotten the 2 pieces separated) & ribbons 1 & 2 just popped out. I thought I had broken or torn them at first since I didn't see that might happen. I had that 'oh crap' moment u get when something happens that's not specifically mentioned in the directions.

at first when i put it all back together after the glass was replaced it came on and the home button worked, as did the on/off button & sound. But could NOT use the touch screen. So I had to figure out how the 3 ribbons worked. The #1 ribbon snapped in without a problem, but I had to keep sliding around the #2 ribbon and pushing down gently until it felt secured.

A suction cup is the best way to get the glass off the casing. I had a pry tool but didn't need it. This job is not easy & is not for the faint of heart.

Zitat von Danfog:

Just like mine :(

OK I broke the little black 'ribbon lock' off too. (sinking feeling). Then I tried to wiggle ribbon three in to the white connector - - then I realized it goes UNDER the white connector. I was trying to wedge it on top of the white connector, and under the black ribbon lock. I managed to get it under the white connector as securely as I could. Then I had to even-more-carefully put connectors 1 & 2 back on. Voila. Power up - - - almost everything works. Only thing still questionable is hearing phone thru the earpiece - - have to use speakerphone . . .

Zitat von bobroch:

OK I broke the little black 'ribbon lock' off too. (sinking feeling). Then I tried to wiggle ribbon three in to the white connector - - then I realized it goes UNDER the white connector. I was trying to wedge it on top of the white connector, and under the black ribbon lock. I managed to get it under the white connector as securely as I could. Then I had to even-more-carefully put connectors 1 & 2 back on. Voila. Power up - - - almost everything works. Only thing still questionable is hearing phone thru the earpiece - - have to use speakerphone . . .

i have exactly the same as you, i hope the speaker does not rely on that small connector!

Zitat von tommy williams:

i have exactly the same as you, i hope the speaker does not rely on that small connector!

does anyone know if this is vital, if so where can you get the small ribon keeper from?

I would ask if someone can reply ASAP as my iPhone is unsuable really!

Many thanks

Tommy

Zitat von Phil:

OK, this information might help some of you. My problem is solved. What happened?

I turned on my iPhone by accident during repair. So it was switched on when I reatached all the connectors. My guess is that the display of the iPhone is simly no "plug and play" component that can be attached while the device is running.

As I wrote in my previous postings: the Phone was running after repair, but the display remained dark. Home and Sleep buttons worked and so I waited until the battery was empty and the Phone turned itself off. After that I charged it and then I already saw the "low battery" screen - I never was so happy to see this screen in my life before!

When the iPhone was ready with all the booting it worked perfectly again.

What a nice day after all the tears.... :-)

Thank you for this post! :)

Same thing happened to me. Accidentally turned on the phone during the repair and I didn't understand why it wouldn't work after I attached the screen. Came on here and read your post. My phoned was hooked up to iTunes so it could see it was working. Did a hard reset (power and home button held until I could see iTunes dropping connection to the phone, then let both buttons go). Waited a sec, powered on and held my breath. After 2 seconds, the familiar apple logo popped up. Man, I'm so happy now. Was my first iPhone screen replacement :)

Replaced the the touch screen and now the phone earpiece no longer work. everything else works but not the ear speaker. A cable might not be connected. any advice.

Zitat von bobroch:

OK I broke the little black 'ribbon lock' off too. (sinking feeling). Then I tried to wiggle ribbon three in to the white connector - - then I realized it goes UNDER the white connector. I was trying to wedge it on top of the white connector, and under the black ribbon lock. I managed to get it under the white connector as securely as I could. Then I had to even-more-carefully put connectors 1 & 2 back on. Voila. Power up - - - almost everything works. Only thing still questionable is hearing phone thru the earpiece - - have to use speakerphone . . .

I have that problem but did not break anything. the cable slide out as the instruction and slide back in need advice asap.

i had a problem with step 6 - during taking off the ribbon cable 3 i happen to brake the locking lach, actually the right side of the frame. now the iphone is not starting. is there anything i can do more??

When you remove the display/digitizer assembly from the phone, handle it carefully, ensuring that you do not touch the two bent metal tabs that are part of the button. They are extremely fragile and will break off if pushed down.

I have to agree. Step six is not easy to "reverse." I had difficulty getting ribbon 3 in place, and I understood where to place it. I grasped the ribbon with some forceps to slide it in, but given the tiny space, this was tricky. I'm not sure if it is in place properly, or scratched, or what. But the earpiece does not work properly, and I cannot reliably place or receive calls now (bad signal?). What sort of tool would help get this little piece in place properly??

I tried several times to manually plug the ribbon cable #3 without success. But what worked for me was using tweezers, pinching not the golden end part but the black flat cord and pushing it quite firmly (but of course in the hole).

The locking latch swivels up, away from the board. The ribbon pulls up towards the top of the phone. When putting the phone back together, if this ribbon is not in all the way, the small speaker at the top of the phone will not work (the speakerphone will work, because that uses different speakers). Getting the ribbon to slide in all the way was difficult. I had to use a pair of tweezers to slide it in all the way.

all the videos out of the 32 GB old bootroom model, white. Have no idea what happened because I have changed screens and assemblies over 8 times on 2G, 3GS 3xs and 3G 4xs. I really need the data inside the phone, is there any way possible to retrieve it? Does the logic board or another part need to be replaced? I should have left the broken screen, at least it was working perfectly, but now it's just awaiting some compassionate people that understand what could have happened, I even put back the broken screen and that's not working either. Maybe because it was on this al, happened but it would turn on w/o any probs the 1st couple times, just the darn home button, oh and I booted into safe mode turned on Skype by accident and could not get out of the safe mode, so the phone 3GS is non responsive in safe mode ): I really need to get the data out of there. Never thought that changing the screen would give me so much trouble. If anyone can help me out, bless you all eternally, if not,it had to be this way....

On iPhone 3GS no black strip along side.

If the tape is in poor condition, replace with black PVC electrical tape. By sticking the PVC tape to sticker or book covering adhesive backing paper, it can be more easily cut to size/shape as desired.

I think the tpae may haev a role in dust sealing and anti-vibration noise. I put extra tape in the spots where I think dust has penetrated under the glass by keeping my iPhone in my pocket. (Will have to double check if there a spots earthing contact is needed.)

Also, be VERY careful separating the LCD from the glass. Even though I worked extremely careful (at least I thought I did), it still got damaged probably by applying a little too much force with the spudger to separate the metal rails. It's till working, but one can clearly see the damage that looks like a crack. Other than that, the replacing worked well.

I didn't have a metal spudger, so very gently used a small flat blade screwdriver under the metal screw hole tab at the bottom of the lcd to lever the lcd out. It didn't need a lot of pressure, but too much and the tab may bend.

Quite frankly the hardest part about this process is removing the old adhesive. Take your time!!!

We used the hair dryer and heated the glass side and pryed as I went and it all came up.

Another thing that was not in the manual, that really should be in the manual. I powered off the phone before the install, and then powered it on at the last step of attaching the cables, to verify all was connected fine. Then powered off again, closed up the case and powered on again.

BUT the display was clunky and unresponsive, which was strange to me because it was perfectly functional with the shattered glass. I had to power off and on to get it to respond, and even then pressing buttons on the screen was still clunky and unresponsive. Finally I went to troubleshoot the display at Apple (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1737) where I reset it and then reset all settings. After that the display responded perfectly. I basically followed these steps from the above link:

If iPhone won't turn on, or the display freezes or doesn't respond

See iPhone and iPod touch: Frozen and unresponsive for information on addressing these symptoms.

iPhone OS 2.x and earlier: Press and hold the Home button until the application quits.

iPhone OS 3.x and later: Press and hold the Sleep/Wake button until the red slider appears, then press and hold the Home button until the application quits.

If that doesn't work, turn iPhone off and turn it on again. Press and hold the Sleep/Wake button on top of iPhone for a few seconds until a red slider appears, and then slide the slider. Then press and hold the Sleep/Wake button until the Apple logo appears.

If that doesn't work, reset iPhone. Press and hold the Sleep/Wake button and the Home button at the same time for at least ten seconds, until the Apple logo appears.

If iPhone continues to freeze or not respond after you reset it

Reset iPhone settings. From the Home screen choose Settings > General > Reset > Reset All Settings. All your preferences are reset, but no data or media is deleted.

If that doesn't work, reset iPhone. Press and hold the Sleep/Wake button and the Home button at the same time for at least ten seconds, until the Apple logo appears restore the iPhone software. See Backing up, updating and restoring your iPhone and iPod touch software.

Step 14 is missing: insert small spudger or screwdriver on left and right sides to separate the display panel from the metal backing plate.

I have been repairing iPhones now for 2 years. This procedure is a waste of time and money, spend the extra 15 bucks and get the glass with the digitizer, you don't have to spend 3 hours to replace your broken glass because you spent 2 of them separating glass from glass. by the way, good luck getting the new glass on with out a scratch or piece of lint/dust in between.

Zitat von DAR:

I have been repairing iPhones now for 2 years. This procedure is a waste of time and money, spend the extra 15 bucks and get the glass with the digitizer, you don't have to spend 3 hours to replace your broken glass because you spent 2 of them separating glass from glass. by the way, good luck getting the new glass on with out a scratch or piece of lint/dust in between.

So my iphone decided to get the "white" screen of death. I have opened it up and cant find anything to be broken. What or how could I diagnose the issue in an attempt to purchase the right parts?

Zitat von FFPENGUIN:

So my iphone decided to get the "white" screen of death. I have opened it up and cant find anything to be broken. What or how could I diagnose the issue in an attempt to purchase the right parts?

Mine too. Does your iPhone still work?

Mine got wet and I dried it for days in a bag of rice. Eventually it started working again and I managed to have iTunes recognize my iPhone once more. I restored it and now the phone works again. Calls etc. all sound brilliant, but it has got a bright, white screen. Underneath I can make out the clock and all the symbols, and it recognizes my finger gestures instantly, but the screen remains bright white with gray horizontal lines/flickerings. I opened up my iPhone yesterday and this didn't resolve the issue. Would this be an LCD problem or can someone tell me what to do?

Zitat von bcs909:

Another thing that was not in the manual, that really should be in the manual. I powered off the phone before the install, and then powered it on at the last step of attaching the cables, to verify all was connected fine. Then powered off again, closed up the case and powered on again. BUT the display was clunky and unresponsive, which was strange to me because it was perfectly functional with the shattered glass. I had to power off and on to get it to respond, and even then pressing buttons on the screen was still clunky and unresponsive. Finally I went to troubleshoot the display at Apple (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1737) where I reset it and then reset all settings. After that the display responded perfectly. I basically followed these steps from the above link: If iPhone won't turn on, or the display freezes or doesn't respond See iPhone and iPod touch: Frozen and unresponsive for information on addressing these symptoms. iPhone OS 2.x and earlier: Press and hold the Home button until the application quits. iPhone OS 3.x and later: Press and hold the Sleep/Wake button until the red slider appears, then press and hold the Home button until the application quits. If that doesn't work, turn iPhone off and turn it on again. Press and hold the Sleep/Wake button on top of iPhone for a few seconds until a red slider appears, and then slide the slider. Then press and hold the Sleep/Wake button until the Apple logo appears. If that doesn't work, reset iPhone. Press and hold the Sleep/Wake button and the Home button at the same time for at least ten seconds, until the Apple logo appears. If iPhone continues to freeze or not respond after you reset it Reset iPhone settings. From the Home screen choose Settings > General > Reset > Reset All Settings. All your preferences are reset, but no data or media is deleted. If that doesn't work, reset iPhone. Press and hold the Sleep/Wake button and the Home button at the same time for at least ten seconds, until the Apple logo appears restore the iPhone software. See Backing up, updating and restoring your iPhone and iPod touch software.

I thought my wifes phone was a goner - the reset you advised did the trick. Thanks

if your gentle you wont need any heat source. I was able to remove my old screen without any heat. THAT SAID BE VERY CAREFUL.

Also a question for everyone... Any ideas how to get the screen to sit flatter (if thats a word). I have replaced the screen however the glass (when re assembled) seems to sit a bit higher.

My Screen was totally white... the only thing working was the digitizer. I ended up replacing the LCD after some help from a guy at the local ATT Store (we trouble shot the LCD... he had extra go figure). I would probably say look into just the LCD or the entire top assembly (glass, digitizer, lcd, ect). I dont know for sure but I would thing that water probably destroyed something in there.

Zitat von Daan Zijlstra:

Mine too. Does your iPhone still work?

Mine got wet and I dried it for days in a bag of rice. Eventually it started working again and I managed to have iTunes recognize my iPhone once more. I restored it and now the phone works again. Calls etc. all sound brilliant, but it has got a bright, white screen. Underneath I can make out the clock and all the symbols, and it recognizes my finger gestures instantly, but the screen remains bright white with gray horizontal lines/flickerings. I opened up my iPhone yesterday and this didn't resolve the issue. Would this be an LCD problem or can someone tell me what to do?

I changed everything but the mother board on my iPhone and when I turn it on it gets stuck on the apple logo. I think I may have done something wrong when putting the screen together because when I pull a complete screen assembly off a working iPhone and put it on the one I am repairing, everything works fine. I tried pinpointing the problem to see which part might be not functioning. I pulled the new LCD and put it into a functioning iPhone and it booted up fine. Can it be that the ribbon on the digitizer is messed up? Is my connection faulty?

I totally agree with you. When removing the glass, you risk breaking a rubber seal which will allow dust to penetrate. If you get that combo of digitizer+glass and all the frames in one, you get new home buttons, flex cables, speaker and sensor as well. I am going for that one as I feel this step is too laborious.

Zitat von DAR:

I have been repairing iPhones now for 2 years. This procedure is a waste of time and money, spend the extra 15 bucks and get the glass with the digitizer, you don't have to spend 3 hours to replace your broken glass because you spent 2 of them separating glass from glass. by the way, good luck getting the new glass on with out a scratch or piece of lint/dust in between.

Zitat von DAR:

I have been repairing iPhones now for 2 years. This procedure is a waste of time and money, spend the extra 15 bucks and get the glass with the digitizer, you don't have to spend 3 hours to replace your broken glass because you spent 2 of them separating glass from glass. by the way, good luck getting the new glass on with out a scratch or piece of lint/dust in between.

This guide is how to separate the glass from the frame. The glass has the digitizer on it. We aren't separating glass from glass.

Zitat von FFPENGUIN:

So my iPhone decided to get the "white" screen of death. I have opened it up and cant find anything to be broken. What or how could I diagnose the issue in an attempt to purchase the right parts?

Check cable number 1

Before you part the rails & slide the LCD out, ALWAYS check you have all the screws out. I accidentally left one in and as a result the lcd twisted slightly on this & was ruined. (bleeding around area of screw & white screen on rest). Never apply too much force or twist LCD as you slide it out as its VERY fragile and expensive to replace.

Read the steps before, do NOT memorize them!

Be prepared. RIGHT tools, parts, proper workspace, no disturbance for the next hour.

Patience!

Be "OCD" cautious and systematic!

Study carefully the positions of every little tabs, holes, screws, cables... Take notes, mark your screws, etc...

Proceed like a neuro-surgeon. Very gently, but firmly, precisely. And do not improvise! Follow the steps as described!

Be extra carefull on your way back to rebuild:

*At step 7, there is a small black metallic tab that should go UNDER the metallic screw hole tab. Invisible before you remove the metallic plate holding the LCD.

Consider that before screwing back anything from step 10 onward to step 1.

Inserting the FPC connector at step 6 is easier when you aim externally, from where you can see the top edge and the glass plate, holding the casing and the glass plate at a 90deg angle from one another. Between these two parts, with a proper lighting, it is easier to see where to insert the connector.

Tweezers are helpful here.

This guide does not mention the step needed to separate the front glass from the rails. If you have a broken screen and have placed tape over it to hold it together, make sure you don't tape over the home button. It is attached to the part you are removing and you will tear the ribbon cable if it is taped to the front.

OMG - that was freakin hard! Make sure you don't burn yourself. I agree with satanders and ridges comments. Heat from the outside and use the spudger to prise the cover. And make sure you don't harm the button!

At least one YouTube video shows using a spudger to try and free the parts from the glue after heating. The spudger is shown being used close to the flex cable (the yellowish flat plastic thing) for what I believe is the speaker. There is a risk you will damage the flex cable. You might want to be really careful not to damage it. Let us suppose the phone was working okay except for a cracked screen before you began the replacement procedure. If something goes wrong with your installation and you need to reassemble the phone for any reason (such as realizing you need a new front screen in addition to the digitizer), and you have damaged that flex cable, you probably won't have any sound in the phone.

i held the corners up to my stove burner on low heat. worked quickly and easy.

For mere mortals who don't have a heat gun lying round, a desk lamp with an old-school incandescent bulb puts off a crap-load of heat, especially a 100W.

Tip for dealing with a badly shattered screen:

I placed a piece of packing tape over the broken glass before trying to remove it. This kept it all together when prying it away from the plastics instead of having to remove each broken shard individually.

How's this for homespun? The hairdryer was taking FOREVER. I put masking tape on the the shattered outer screen surface (great suggestion!) and used a teflon coated electric griddle to get the plastics off! I set it to the lowest setting (WARM) and moved the tape covered surface around on the griddle for even heating. After about two to three minutes of intermittent heating and checking for effect, the plastics pretty much peeled off top to bottom with little to moderate effort. Plastic was warped about 5mm maximum afterward but nothing show stopping. All went together afterward and works fine. Probably should be wearing some protective eye wear for this and be careful of glass shards.

Great tips, thanks! Gas stove on low heat worked perfectly. Used an oven mit to hold the display with one hand and the other hand to slide the spudger around the whole seam. I did manage to tear a very small piece (< 1/8") of the rubber gasket off so be very careful.

Zitat von satanders:

the heat gun step took me the longest, but i actually used a hair dryer. i had to get the assembly quite hot before it would budge at all -- hotter than i could comfortably handle with my bare fingers. i set the entire thing on my jeans-protected thigh while heating the assembly's edges, then trying to pry, then heating, then attempting to pry again.

i seemed to find a bit more success heating from the glass side (the front side) than from the back with all the electronics and whatnot in the way.

i might recommend safety glasses here at this step because when the adhesive gave, it gave quickly and i ended up spreading quite a few very tiny pieces of my broken screen glass everywhere.

It should be heated to any temperature with the heat gun? And how many inches the glass? Thanks

When I did this repair, everything went to plan until step 15. My original front panel glass was severely broken, and it was quite hard to get the touch screen plastics and front panel separated. The result was a non-working touch screen after putting it all together again, but the LCD and Home button was all working perfectly.

So I'm considering buying the front panel assembly in stead, since I don't have to dismantle the whole front panel there.

Btw, great product and quick delivery. From iFixit to Norway in four days without additional costs of taxes, etc. Thumbs up :)

It's kind of hard to see which pieces are being separated in these photos. I found it helpful to separate the sides first (shown in step 16) by pressing outward on the glass while holding the metal edge. This allows you to see what you're separating and makes it easier to separate the top and the bottom.

You probably want to avoid scraping off the rubber coating around the edge.

Gloves and eye protection are a really good idea for the next few steps. You want to keep from getting glass splinters or burnt fingers. Maybe I'm not as talented as the ifixit guys, but heat guns and separating things with my fingernails just don't mix well for me. I used a pair of very sharp tweezers.

Be careful not to damage the rubber lining around the edge of the front panel. This rubber lining creates a "recess" into which the front glass panel is "seated".

Make sure not to bend the home button contacts. These are just two pieces of exposed metal pieces from the home button that make contact with pads on the main board on the phone when the phone is assembled. When I had put my phone back together again, the home button didn't work. After opening it up again I realized that one of the home button contact points had gotten bent.

This was challenging. An Ikea Espressivo desk lamp was my saving grace. I think it would help to have a photo of some of the intermediate steps of gradually wedging the part off because I wasn't sure what I was trying to do at first...the best I can describe it is that the whole thing you're trying to remove is a sort of wrap around frame holding the glass in place. I think I screwed up the rubber edging a little...won't know how it looks until I put it back together...the tape was a good way to keep most of the glass together but I still had to use a spudger to scrape out the last little bits of glass and adhesive.

Like others here, I used a hair dryer on a low/medium setting. I kept my finger in the airflow as a temperature monitor and heated both the front and the rear of the assembly by regularly turning it around. I found that this just takes a lot of time. You have to allow the heat to travel through the plastic and glass into the glue. You then need to allow time for the glue to soften. Just be patient - it took me at least 20-30 minutes to get the two parts completely separated. If you have to protect your skin from burning you're getting everything FAR TOO HOT and you risk damaging (or even melting) some of the components of your lovely iPhone!

Just be prepared to take this VERY slowly. Allow the glue to soften, use your fingernail to initially find the join between the two components and gently, VERY GENTLY, keep the heat going and prise them apart. Once they're starting to part you can use a plastic spudger instead of your fingernail, but don't force it - be GENTLE. If you have any doubts, just continue to use your fingernail until it's started to separate all the way round the screen.

Be careful not to damage the rubber-like seal on the glass side of the assembly. Despite using my fingernail very carefully I inflicted (albeit minor) damage on a very small area of the seal. In the long term this might allow dust to find its way in between the glass and the display. If you can avoid damaging the seal you'll reduce the risk of dirt and dust ingress.

Initially I was clueless as to what part was supposed to be separated from what. It only became clear when I looked closely at the complete assembly edge-on. Even with my less-than-perfect eyes I could see that there was a join about half way through the edge. Heating it in the corner (as per the guide instructions) and gently pressing in a finger nail fully revealed the join. Once it starts to come apart, just work your way round the edge and you can eventually separate them enough to get a plastic spudger between the two parts to help prise them apart. NEVER force it. Just keep gently heating it (with your finger in place to tell you if things are getting too hot) and the glue will melt giving you a clean separation without risk of damage to either component.

An earlier poster suggested that a good way to start the separation of the two parts is to hold the rail and push on the glass on one of the long edges of the iPhone. I found this worked very well. If you have difficulty starting the separation in the corner (as per the guide), try this approach, but don't push too hard on the glass - especially if it is already broken.

A) This is the step at which you wish you had paid a pro $75 to do this for you, or at the least bought the entire display, rather than try to pry the glass off.

B) You need a very strong & thin tool to wedge between the glass and the plastic panel of the frame. The spudger is too thick. I used a high quality paring knife. An Exacto knife may break. I suppose I could have melted the glue more so that the two pieces separate easier, but the heat made me nervous about damaging the electronics.

C) There is a thin rubber gasket that wraps around the outer edge of the two pieces you're trying to pry apart. It's nearly impossible to not damage this while prying the two pieces apart in this step. However, I think people should be advised to run a pin along the edges of separate the gasket from the glass, and then try to pry the glass off only after the glass edge has been separated from the trim. The new glass has to nestle back inside the rectangle formed by the gasket.

To get the glass off the frame easily & safely, I removed the earphone assembly & speaker, and the home button, then soaked the screen assembly in near boiling water and detergent - after a while, was able to prize apart using a credit card. After cleaning off old tape & then rinsing in deionized water and drying, reassembled - works fine & no hot hair guns or melting!!

I placed this piece in a toaster oven on the middle rack and set the temp to warm, a temp where my hand could comfortable be in the oven and not feel hot. I shut the door so some heat could escape and every two minutes pulled the piece out and started pulling from the sides. After 3 times doing this I could tell the adhesive was releasing and just kept working it, placing in oven, pulling out and repeating. I used a razor blade to remove the adhesive and shards of glass. Most came off in big strips. Make sure to keep temp very LOW and watch the ribbons for any curling. This worked great.

i did the repair, and now the screen wont turn on. It will receive texts and calls (I know because the sounds are audible) but the screen will not work. I feel I have tried everything. I assume this is an issue with ribbon 2?

JUST USE A GLUE REMOVER , BETTER WITHOUT HEAT PROBLEMS .!

Zitat von diem74:

Be really super careful when you use a heat gun on the bottom as it melted my home button :-( Fortunately ebay had the part.

I did the same thing! Do you have to take the whole phone apart again to replace the melted button with the new one?

Zitat von chrisbatten:

i did the repair, and now the screen wont turn on. It will receive texts and calls (I know because the sounds are audible) but the screen will not work. I feel I have tried everything. I assume this is an issue with ribbon 2?

Zitat von chrisbatten:

i did the repair, and now the screen wont turn on. It will receive texts and calls (I know because the sounds are audible) but the screen will not work. I feel I have tried everything. I assume this is an issue with ribbon 2?

Iphone should be off or sim should be removed b4 you take glass screen apart. This sometime causes the screen to be blank when reassembling the iphone.

possible fix is that you will have to SHut the iphone off ( like holding home & power button down for a few seconds.

I melted my iphone home button with heat gun. so I had to borrow the assembly glass/digitizer/lcd/home button from another working iphone to perform the power RESET. If your button is ok. just reassemble and do the power reset IE...holding power and home buttons down...

Somehow I broke one of the two springy contacts that connect the home button from the front assembly to the main/back. (You can see them in the upper left corner of the step 17 picture.) I've got it working again mostly, by soldering in a bit of metal to bridge the gap. Unfortunately it isn't springy so I'm not sure how long it will last. I guess I might be able to solder in some tiny wires to connect them, or maybe some different springs. Ugh. Great guide, wish I wasn't such a goof!

thank you! quite simply one of the easiest fixes i have come across lately.. follow the directions i.e, (be CAREFUL not to melt the home button) and a bit of common sense i.e,(the heat gun will be plenty hot to melt plastic, follow the directions in reverse to put back together.. like plug the cables back in??) will go a long way here.. all in all very happy with the purchase. directions good..saved me 125.00 bucks doing it myself.. thanks again!!

tip 1: try to keep the plastic tape around the display as intact as possible. It keeps out dust at the edges.

tip 2: you can affix (stick) the replacement screen to the upper and lower part without removing the protective plastic on the inside of the panel.

Remove the plastic on the inside just before you re-afix the lcd panel. Thus you get a dust and particle free LCD and touch panel.

tip 3: use the suction cup to place the new screen.

Good luck, WernerT

Used this guide to replace my home button. Worked great. I have a heat gun but opted to use a hairdryer and had no issues. i used a utility knife to separate the glass from the frame and that made it really east. make sure to tilt the sharp edge toward the frame and not the glass or you can scratch the black paint off the glass. Longest step was removing the old glue. Rubbing alcohol seemed to work good. Thanks for the how-to!

A heat gun is really overkill. I used a hairdryer on LOW heat and a spudger. It worked very well, just have faith... It feels like an impossibly strong bond for about a minute or more and then the adhesive warms up and it just pops.

If the screen is shattered over an area where there is adhesive under it, plan on a lot of time picking at little pieces of broken glass. If you can get a spudger under the old piece of adhesive and peel it off a big pice with many shards stuck to it it saves some work. Be super careful if it's shattered right over a component like the home button cables. Mine was shattered over the proximity sensor to the right of the earpiece and I came way too close to stabbing it, hard, with one end of a shard of glass while I lifted the other.

But my phone is good as new now. You'd never know it had been repaired. Yeay!

Yes!!! It is work !!! Thank you all :) !!!

Great instructions, everything seemed to go very smoothly. However something is wrong, the unit buzzes if i flip the hold switch, but no display, nothing. Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks

I had the same thing happen with mine, per the quoted item below. Broken in all the wrong places. I'd probably add that in addition picking out the glass, it's not a bad idea to get an exacto knife and spend some time peeling up the old residue.

The frame on mine was pretty torqued by the time I got all the glass out (it was pretty shattered). Amazingly the tape wouldn't quite hold the corners down, even with a fair amount of pressure. That's strong tape but it just wouldn't sit. A couple of droplets of superglue and some clamps on the corner and everything secured down just fine. It's not coming apart if the screen goes again, but by that time the 4G should be out and it's time for a new phone anyway.

Zitat von peterjb:

A heat gun is really overkill. I used a hairdryer on LOW heat and a spudger. It worked very well, just have faith... It feels like an impossibly strong bond for about a minute or more and then the adhesive warms up and it just pops.

If the screen is shattered over an area where there is adhesive under it, plan on a lot of time picking at little pieces of broken glass. If you can get a spudger under the old piece of adhesive and peel it off a big pice with many shards stuck to it it saves some work. Be super careful if it's shattered right over a component like the home button cables. Mine was shattered over the proximity sensor to the right of the earpiece and I came way too close to stabbing it, hard, with one end of a shard of glass while I lifted the other.

But my phone is good as new now. You'd never know it had been repaired. Yeay!

I reassembled mine, but before i snapped my front glass into place and putting in the final two screws, I tried to verify everything was working. All worked except the home button. Long story short, I believe that the the front panel has to be snapped into place for the home button to work (something on the front panel seems to contact the back panel for the home button).

Was pretty sad that although i did managed to change to a new home button with new contacts but it's still not functioning well, i will still have to press very hard for the button to function. Anyone has this problem?

I used this tutorial to replace the glass in my iPhone 3G last August. Everything works great. The only problem I have had is that dust is collecting between the lcd and the new glass. I guess the rubber gasket isn't secure anymore. I am probably going to take mine apart again to clean away the dust. I wonder if anyone has tried a little rubber cement or something similar to reseal the rubber gasket in place. Any ideas?

I was considering using black silicone to seal it.

I ever use this silicone to seal the gap on my car bodykit,just worry about the heat of the melted silicon but maybe this can help to keep the dust out.

Zitat von bjelliott:

I used this tutorial to replace the glass in my iPhone 3G last August. Everything works great. The only problem I have had is that dust is collecting between the lcd and the new glass. I guess the rubber gasket isn't secure anymore. I am probably going to take mine apart again to clean away the dust. I wonder if anyone has tried a little rubber cement or something similar to reseal the rubber gasket in place. Any ideas?

Zitat von ebay7795:

iPhone should be off or sim should be removed b4 you take glass screen apart. This sometime causes the screen to be blank when reassembling the iPhone.

possible fix is that you will have to SHut the iPhone off ( like holding home & power button down for a few seconds.

I melted my iPhone home button with heat gun. so I had to borrow the assembly glass/digitizer/lcd/home button from another working iPhone to perform the power RESET. If your button is ok. just reassemble and do the power reset IE...holding power and home buttons down...

Zitat von jera lynn whitlaw:

I DID EVERYTHING PUT THE iPhone TOGETHER BUT NOW THE iPhone DOESN"T WORK THE PANEL IS ALL WHITE.

Be cautious! Or you could "spudger" your home button circuit in two at this point!

I used a hair dryer, not a heat gun. If you can't hold the screen with the hot air blowing on your hand then reduce the heat, lower fan speed, or move the hair dryer a little farther away. If you can stand the heat you probably won't melt the plastic.