Help OG Droid Touchscreen mystery

mwolfson

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Hi,
I want to keep my original droid until August, recently I have had a worsening problem where the touchscreen will not respond.

I don't think it is completely a hardware problem because occasionally I will reboot the phone and it will work.

Facts:
The phone was rooted.
I had a series of ROM installed (CM7, Bugless Beast, SnkBitten, Sourcery 2.2.2) twice I have wiped everything and re installed 2.2.2. The same problem persists. Froyo or Gingerbread or stock ...

Currently, I unrooted it with RSD lite - and the problem is still happening - so much so that the phone is useless.

Once every 5-6 reboots I get it to work and then when I turn the display off and go back to the lockscreen five minutes later, the touchscreeen is completely frozen.

The phone is working, I still get notifications of emails, if I pull out the keyboard, the display will not turn off ... if I don't turn off the display and keep the phone active it will be fine it is just when I let it go inactive and the display shuts off - it will lock up again.

Anyone have any sense of what is going on? Any details I can provide that will give you more of a diagnostic clue?

Any suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks
 

hAHAha Halo

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If I'm understanding you correctly, you mean that a portion of the screen is not responding to touch? And if I'm also correct, it's a vertical area that doesn't respond? I had this same problem with my OG, and I had some problems prior to this with the touchscreen. It is a hardware issue, and the only fix for it is a screen replacement of some sort from a website that you send your phone in by mail and they'll repair or replace phone parts and mail it back to you. The Screen replacement for the OG is priced at $99 though, and it actually might be better for you to get a new phone for that price with an upgrade if you can. Prior to having the screen not respond to touch, the screen would actually have a "ghost finger" as most people describe it, where the screen does whatever it wants to and goes nuts and clicks on things, even though you're not even touching the screen. I thought that the phone was overheated or something so I popped it in the freezer and it had no effect when I took it back out.

Basically, it's either a $100 screen replacement or a new phone. I went over to the Bionic when the quarter of the screen that didn't work turned into half of the screen, and I just checked Verizon and conveniently you can get the Bionic for $100, but we're also getting jipped on a lot of things like ICS and features and updates, I'm sad that I'm admitting this but it'd be better probably to get a RAZR or a D4. Of course these are actually $200 phones, but they're getting more updates and getting ICS a lot faster than the Bionic (by the time the Bionic gets ICS Jelly Bean will already be out) and even though the Bionic came before the D4 and the RAZR, we're getting ICS after them. Anyways, Hope this helped a little bit!

My OG was put to rest on November 14th, 2011.
 

hAHAha Halo

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MissionImprobable said:
If the screen needs to be replaced you should be able to do it yourself.

Very, very wrong.. Yes it's possible, but should not be attempted without the proper tools. And the OG is one of the frustrating-complex phones. A screen replacement on the OG like most phones, you must take EVERYTHING apart, working your way from the back to the front using special tools and being careful with the ribbon cables or whatever they're called. I'd actually prefer it if my Bionic had the touch screen problems than my OG because for one, I miss my OG, and secondly because the Bionic was made simple: 11 screws! That's what's holding the back of the phone together, not some expensive and fragile ribbon cables. But still, you would have to work your way from the back to the front as well.

There are videos for taking apart the OG, but I'm pretty sure they all are using special phone tools. Good and by the way, I think it would cost $100 to buy a screen replacement anyways, or cheaper maybe. Now I'm interested in finding a video of taking the Bionic apart..
 

MissionImprobable

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So again, he can do it himself. I don't see the point in having this great tech if you're afraid to get a little dirty with it and have some fun. Worse case he breaks it. Needs to be replaced anyway so what's he out? Not much. My D2 keyboard got messed up, I repaired it myself. No point in living life scared :happy3:
 
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