Guest
Rank: Apprentice
Rating: 0%, 0 votes
Most Companies have service technicians. If you send your device to them, they will repair or replace your screen, for a fee. If you are handy with electronics, you might be able to open up your device and remove your screen. Then, find a replacement screen on eBay or other websites. Replacing your screen is a simple enough process, but there are a few things to be aware of:
- Always make sure you are well grounded. Use a wrist strap for this.
- To access the internal components of your device, you will have to remove the back. Check for any screws holding it on. On the iPod, there are no screws. If this is the case, use a sharp scredriver to pry off the back of the case. On the Toshiba Gigabeat, there are five screws holding the case on. Remove them all and slide the back of the case off.
- Now it gets tricky. On most mp3 players, the screen in behind the Hard drive, main circuit board, and battery. Removing all of these is usually pretty simple, just remove any screws you may see, and disconnect the fragile ribbon cables VERY carefully. These can be a pain, and destroying them is not very difficult.
- Remove your screen by removing the ribbon cables. Also, be aware that throughout the dismantling process, there are usually clips and friction fits holding parts together, so you may need to remove those. Be careful, make no sudden movements or jerks, and if it does not come out with gentle handling, you are doing something wrong.
- Fit the new screen in and firmly connect the ribbon cables. There are usually tabs on the ribbon cable connectors that you need to lift to allow the ribbon cable to fit in the slot and make a secure contact.
- Put the hard drive, battery, and motherboard back, and connect all the ribbon cables firmly.
- Put the case back together, but before putting screws back in, power the device on. Listen carefully. If something is going wrong, you might be able to diagnose the problem by listening. If nothing happens, it may be the hard drive or battery. If you can see the screen lighting up, but cannot hear the hard drive spinning, then it could also be the hard drive. Or, if the hard drive is spinning but no screen action is present, then it may be the screen.
- Most of the time, unplugging and firmly reattaching the ribbon cables will fix this problem.
- If everything works, congratulations! You just fixed you device and saved a lot of money.
Note: This is risky business. While there is indeed a first time for everything, sometimes starting small is the way to go. The parts of an mp3 player are very vulnerable when not in their cases. Think long and hard before attempting this.