Tag: iphone x

iPhone X Face ID Not Working Repair
With the diffused application of Face ID on iPhone X – 11 series, Face ID failure also appears at a high frequency.

As our previous Face ID teardown video has introduced, Face ID can be easily damaged and hardly repaired. If the problem is related to the flex cable, then it’s simple.

However, based on statistics of REWA chip-level motherboard repair service, Face ID failure is caused by damage of the Flood illuminator/Dot Projector in most cases, which can not be repaired.

Today, we want to share a case about ‘move iPhone a little lower/higher when setting up Face ID’ and show you how our technicians find out the fault in 3 minutes with the help of REWA exclusive repair tricks on Face ID troubleshooting. Let’s get started!

Face ID Not Working Malfunction

The phone keeps sending messages: ‘move iPhone a little lower/higher’ during the setting up process of Face ID. It means that Face ID cannot be set up successfully on the phone.

Face id not available troubleshooting

Now, let’s find out the fault step by step.

Step 1 Test The Flood Illuminator

Based on REWA exclusive repair tricks, let’s start with the Flood Illuminator. There are two important Face ID parts whose behavior relies on the support of the Flood Illuminator. In our daily repair work, we can test the Proximity Sensor and the Ambient Light Sensor to confirm whether the Flood Illunmunator is working normally.

Let’s make a phone call to confirm whether the Proximity Sensor is working.

During the phone call, cover the top of the screen with one hand.

We can see that the screen turns black immediately.

Judging by this, the Proximity Sensor is working normally.

Next, test the Ambient Light Sensor. Set the screen brightness to the lowest and then hold the phone under a bright light.

With the screen getting brighter, we can confirm that the Ambient Light Sensor is also working normally. Judging by this, the Face ID failure is not caused by Flood Illuminator.

Step 2 Test The Front Camera Parts

Let’s move on to the next step of face id not working – test the front camera parts.

Open the camera app and swipe to Portrait Mode. The background is not blurred, which is abnormal.

Step 3 Observing The Dot Projector

At the Portrait Mode, there is no flashing red light from the Dot Projector.

But the Dot Projector should emit flashing red light in normal status.

We can confirm now that the Dot Projector has malfunctioned.

This is the fault that causes the Face ID to set up failure. And the problem cannot be fixed.

Tips:

The three parts ( infrared camera, flood illuminator and dot projector) are paired to the phone. Damage of any one of them can cause Face ID failure and such an issue is irreparable.

Right now, Face ID failure has become a common problem in our daily repair work.

Whether the problem you are dealing with can be repaired or not is really an important thing for repair technicians.

Don’t worry! REWA exclusive repair tricks on face id not working can be a great reference for repair technicians to find out faulty positions and improve repair efficiency.

For details of this case, please check out the YouTube Video below.

Wanna learn basic knowledge about iPhone motherboard, master iPhone micro-soldering techniques, understand the work-flow of different iPhone circuits, master troubleshooting processes of different iPhone issues, and learn detailed screen/back glass refurbishing steps?

REWA Academy is a platform that provides repair technique learning, practical demonstration, and idea-sharing for practitioners in the electronic repair industry.

You can also click the course link below to know more!
December 2, 2019
iPhone X Keeps Restarting With Vertical Lines Troubleshooting
iPhone X features vertical lines on the screen and keeps restarting? How to narrow down the fault possibilities by ruling out one by one? How to confirm the fault and fix the problem? Let’s see how REWA engineer deals with it.

Tool List:
June 13, 2019
iPhone X Data Recovery From Dead Motherboard

iPhone X is “the future of the smartphone” according to Apple. There is no doubt that iPhone X brings many new experiences to users once again. However, users still can not avoid data loss in the process of using iPhone X. Of course, you can choose to restore from iTunes/iCloud backup to regain the lost data. Or you buy a data recovery software to regain. The premise of using these methods is your iPhone X can turn on normal. Many users usually ask that my iPhone fell in water and won’t turn on, can I get the data from a dead iPhone? So how to recover data when your iPhone won’t turn on?

As we all know, it is very difficult for repair technicians to extract data from a logic board that cannot be powered up, which requires precise operation with circumspection. And that’s what our iPhone X data recovery case is about today. The iPhone X won’t turn on after water damage. And the problem remains the same after several times of logic board repair. Well, let’s see what REWA can do…

Connect the battery connector on the upper layer with the Power Supplier and press power button to power on. Current reading on the ammeter is abnormal, so the PCB board might have been damaged.

To recover data, we need to transplant CPU, Baseband CPU, EEPROM, NAND and baseband EEPROM on the original motherboard onto a new motherboard that can turn on the phone normally. Attach the upper layer to the PCB Holder, Heat with the 858D Hot Air Gun to remove black adhesive around the NAND flash chip. Continue to heat and pry up the NAND flash chip with a specialized knife.

Next, let’s detach CPU, EEPROM, Baseband CPU and Baseband EEPROM from the board with the same steps.

Now, we need to reball these detached components

Apply tins to the tip of the Soldering Iron, then clean tins and black adhesive on the NAND flash chip and clean with PCB Cleaner afterwards. Get the BGA Reballing Stencil in position, then Smear Solder Paste evenly on the stencil with BGA Scraper and heat evenly with the 858D Hot Air Gun. So that all solder balls can solidify completely. Once completed, wait for 1 minute. Then separate the NAND flash chip from the stencil.

Continue to reball the baseband CPU, CPU, EEPROM and baseband EEPROM with the same steps. Please be noted that the WiFi module is bound up with WiFi address stored in the NAND flash chip. So our next move is to unbind WiFi. Connect the PCIE NAND Flash Chip Programmer with computer and have the WiFi unbound. We have talked about iPhone keeps searching for signal and iPhone no service with hardware fix solution.

Now, we need to solder these detached components of the original motherboard to the new motherboard

Apply some BGA Paste Flux to the bonding pad of the NAND flash chip, get the reball finished NAND flash chip in position, solder with the 858D Hot Air Gun.

Continue to solder CPU, EEPROM, baseband CPU and the baseband EEPROM with the same steps. Once done, clean with PCB Cleaner.

Next thing we do is to solder the two layers together, we need to test the two layers before soldering. Attach the upper layer and the lower layer to the Holder. Connect the upper layer and the lower layer with the display assembly. Connect the battery connector with DC Power Supply to power on. Current reading on the ammeter is normal this time, the phone can get access to the home screen normally.

Then, we need to reball the lower layer, once completed, wait for 1 minute. Then apply some BGA Paste Flux to cylinders around the edge. Attach the reball finished lower layer to the heating platform and get the upper layer in position.

Set operating temperature of the platform, with the upper layer sinking and Paste Flux flowing, continue heating for 1 minute. Then detach the motherboard from the platform after cool down.

Now we can assemble the phone and test. Get the logic board and display assembly installed, connect the battery and press power button, the phone turns on normally. iPhone X data recovery completed successfully.

Warm tips: get the phone full assembled after confirmation of fault clearance

Our REWA offers the iPhone data recovery service, but the CPU, NAND flash and Baseband CPU mustn’t be damaged. Details please check REWA iPhone Data Recovery Service. Now, let’s watch the video for more details of iPhone X data recovery from motherboard.

January 10, 2019
Troubleshooting iPhone X Face ID Issues after Screen Replacement

Recently we got many messages about Face ID not available after screen replacement from our clients, which surprised our technicians greatly.

Since the screen replacing would not affect face ID function at all according to our practical verification.

However, REWA has done some further researches and will share you the detailed analysis and solution for iPhone X face ID failure caused by damage of flex cable after repair here.

How does face ID work?

First, let’s understand how face ID works.

The whole functional area is dubbed the “TrueDepth camera system”, which is made up of flood illuminator, infrared camera, front camera, dot projector, proximity sensor, ambient light sensor, speaker and microphone.

Speaking of which, have you read iPhone 8/X Ambient Light Sensor Issues ?

Every time you glance at your iPhone X, the flood illuminator detects your face with infrared light and forms an image.

Then the dot projector will project out over 30,000 invisible infrared dots over your face to create a 3D map.

Last, the infrared camera reads this map and sends the data to neural networks to create a mathematical model of your face.

Your iPhone X will check that mathematical model against the one that you’ve set up and stored on your device to see if it’s a match, and if it is, it will unlock your phone.

How do we repair?

According to the description, this iPhone X was dropped once.

However, the face ID is in normal status.

It fails to work until a replacement of screen assembly. With all the knowledge, we begin our repair.

Power on the phone and it shows “unable to activate Face ID on this iPhone” . So we resort to resetting face ID. Go to Settings > Face ID & Passcode > Reset Face ID.

We get the message “Face ID is Not Available, try setting up Face ID later” .

Our initial judgment is that the unavailable Face ID might be caused by misoperation in the screen replacing process.

Therefore, next thing we do is to check flex cables that are related to Face ID.

Disassemble the phone.

And check the Infrared camera and dot projector module under Microscope first. Nothing goes wrong.

Then move to the Flood illuminator module on the earpiece speaker assembly.

Check the connector and flex cables carefully. Still, nothing goes wrong.

Then remove screws. And detach the earpiece speaker and front sensor assembly from the phone.

Be careful not to damage flex cables in the process since the Flood illuminator module is bonded to glass lens with double-sided tape.

We can see clearly that the flex cable where locates the Flood illuminator module is fractured at the edge.

Since the Flood illuminator module is an essential part for Face ID circuit, damage of the flex cable can result in not working of it, which can absolutely affect normal working of Face ID.

Also, as flex cable repair is difficult, we can solder the Flood illuminator module to a new flex cable.

To replace with a new flex cable, we need to separate the earpiece speaker and the ambient light sensor module from the earpiece speaker and front sensor assembly first.

Heating with Soldering Iron, the ear speaker was separated successfully.

Then, secure the flex cable in the place with High-Temperature Protective Tape for further separating the ambient light sensor module flex cable.

Soldering Iron and Hot Air Gun are required to remove this flex cable.

Once done, remove excess tins on the flex cable with Soldering Iron and clean with PCB Cleaner.

Now the fractured flex cable is separated completely.

Next thing we do is to replace with a new flex cable.

Remove the Flood illuminator module on the flex cable first.

Prepare a new flex cable. Apply some Paste Flux to the bonding pad.

Align the Flood illuminator module in place with the new flex cable.

Be careful with the direction.

Then solder with Hot Air Gun. Remove residual glue on the module afterward.

The repair part is almost over right the moment.

Next thing we need to do is to re-solder the ambient light sensor module and earpiece speaker.

However, the soldering of the ambient light sensor is the most difficult part of this repair. Whatever, let’s do it. Apply some Paste Flux to the bonding pad of ambient light sensor module.

Then apply tins to the bonding pad with Soldering Iron .

Clean with PCB Cleaner.

Apply some Paste Flux to the bonding pad again.

Get the detached ambient light sensor module flex cable in position.

Secure the flex cable with one specific position soldered by Soldering Iron with curved nozzle first.

Then use Soldering Iron with cutter nozzle to complete the remaining soldering process.

Clean with PCB Cleaner afterwards.

Now we need to solder the earpiece speaker back to flex cable.

It’s time to get the earpiece speaker and front sensor assembly assembled to the display assembly.

Re-assemble the phone and test.

Press power button to power on. Go to Settings > Face ID & Passcode > Set up Face ID .

Face ID can be set up successfully.

Press the power button to lock the screen. Press the power button again. The screen lights up. Glance at the iPhone X.

The screen can be unlocked automatically. Fault cleared.

questions about iPhone X Face ID Not Working After Repairing Tutorial, welcome to comment below.

Click below if you are interested in the Tools & Spare Parts used in the video. For more details and latest price please feel free to contact sales@rewatechnology.com

* Integrated Mobile Phone Repair Platform

* Tri-wing Screwdriver – Type 2

* Straight Tweezer – Type 3

* 4x Optical Microscope – KS7045

* PCB Cleaner – 250ml

* BGA Strip Flux Soldering Paste

* Anti-static Plastic Pry Bar

* Heat-resisting Adhesive Tape – 5.0mm

* 100g Solder Wire – Type 1

* iPhone X Replacement Parts

Visit REWA online shop for more parts and tools.

I wanna learn basic knowledge about iPhone motherboard, master iPhone micro-soldering techniques, understand the work-flow of different iPhone circuits, master troubleshooting processes of different iPhone issues, and learn detailed screen/back glass refurbishing steps——You can visit REWA Academy.

July 26, 2018
iPhone X Aftermarket OLED Screens Comprehensive Guide
Here comes iPhone X Aftermarket OLED Screen! With iPhone X Aftermarket LCD Screen springing up in the market, much attention had been paid to iPhone X Aftermarket OLED Screen.

We got samples of iPhone X Aftermarket OLED Screen from the factory at the first sign of production and carried out a series of tests afterwards.

The Aftermarket OLED Screen performed well with no function problem, which has met the product standards of usage.

Now, let’s take a close look at iPhone X Aftermarket OLED Screen with test results.

The IC on iPhone X Aftermarket OLED Screen and OEM Screen get high similarity.

iPhone X Aftermarket OLED Screen and OEM Screen also share the same textures on LCD flex cable.

Aftermarket OLED Screen and Aftermarket LCD screen feature with the same textures on Touch flex cable.

Aftermarket OLED Screen and Aftermarket LCD screen also share the same 3D Touch flex cable.

Check the thickness of iPhone X OEM Screen, iPhone X Aftermarket OLED Screen and iPhone X LCD Screen.

Since the 3D touch module of iPhone X Aftermarket OLED Screen is thinner, it will be slightly thinner when measuring, Yet the bezel much thicker than iPhone X OEM Screen, so it will little higher after installation.

Besides, iPhone X Aftermarket OLED Screen features with four golden contacts which is highly similar to those on iPhone X OEM Screen.

Function Test

Since the LCD panel of iPhone X Aftermarket OLED Screen and OEM Screen share the same production process, the vertical line issue due to bonding procedure can also be frequently seen with our test samples.

Still, these imperfect screens can be screened out in subsequent quality inspection.

Also, because of the vertical line issue, there is no brightness test in our video today.

First, run touch function test, the phone performs with normal touch function.

Yet the screen is not running smoothly because of glass lens material.

We believe that this will be improved when it comes to full production.

Continue to run 3D Touch function test, the phone performs with normal 3D Touch function.

Run the multi-touch test in game mode, the phone performs normally.

Conclusion

Within a few days of trying out the iPhone X with Aftermarket OLED Screen, our technicians carried out a series of tests under the condition of excluding the impact of the vertical issue.

The Aftermarket OLED Screen of iPhone X performed well with no function problem, which has met the product standards of usage.

Please stay tuned and we will pay close attention to the product in the future.

For more iPhone X Aftermarket OLED Screen test details please view our Youtube video here:

REWA cell phone repair replacement parts:
May 31, 2018
iPhone X Won’t Turn On? Fix It with Logic Board Repair
When your iPhone won’t turn on, what can you do?

The first step is to find the reason of iPhone won’t turn on, there could be any hardware or software issue related to your device.

Such as physically damaged or dropped in water or some other reason, and there are many solutions form internet, such as charge your iPhone, restart, Hard restart, use software to fix… for these solutions, you can have a try, but here we will provide a high level and professional solution to fix iPhone won’t turn on.

iPhone X, with its super-sized display, latest biometric technology – Face ID, most durable glass, wireless charging and so on, hits the heart of the majority upon its release in October 2017.

However perfect it is, it shows malfunctions as time goes by.

In the beginning, it has malfunctions of unresponsive touch, stuck screen, and other display issues. Lately, some logic board malfunctions show up. For example, iPhone X won’t turn on etc,.

If you get to know the structure of iPhone X logic board, you should know iPhone X logic board was folded in half, and the two layers then were soldered together – the upper layer is the main board, and the lower layer is the signal board.

Which made our repair much difficult to proceed.

Today, we share a repair case of iPhone X won’t turn on logic board repair. Let’s see which is the hardest part.

Disassemble

Disassemble the won’t turn on iPhone X. Take out the double layer motherboard.

Here comes the first difficulty – separate the folded motherboard. which requires severely temperature controlling.

Excessively high temperature would damage the components around, but too low temperature cannot separate them. With patience and time, we separate the logic board successfully.

Diagnosis

After the logic board was separated, connect the upper layer with DC Power Supply.

The reading current is abnormal. So we locate the fault to the upper layer.

To continue our diagnosis, we measure power supply voltage of the upper layer with Multimeter.

And find out there is no voltage value on C2771 and C2770.

Measure with Multimeter and we can confirm that the inductor L2770 is damaged.

Maintenance & Test

So we need to take down inductor L2770 and replace with a new inductor.

Firstly, attach the upper layer to the PCB Holder.

And stick High-Temperature Adhesive Tape on components around L2770 for protection.

Then re-solder with a new inductor.

After cooling down, measure the current value again via connect it with DC Power Supply.

The measured current value on the ammeter is normal this time. Fault cleared.

Reassemble

Guess what? Here comes the most difficult part of the repair – to remove tins from the two layers separately.

We transfer the direction for 5 times and finally finish the tin removing process.

Then another difficult part – to reball the lower layer.

We actually made it only at our second attempt.

Eventually, we got re-solder the two boards and reassemble the phone, the iPhone X won’t turn on the issue was finally solved.

Please refer to the video for more details.

Tool List:
April 18, 2018
iPhone X Screen Refurbishing – Glass Only Repair
As our previous post iPhone X OLED Screen Total Teardown Analysis has explained, iPhone X screen is a new product of OLED combined with 3D Touch function. The laminating process of iPhone X OLED screen is also much more complicated than LCD screen of previous iPhone versions. So we can totally imagine the difficulty of iPhone X screen refurbishing. Still, after several attempts and failures, REWA LAB is honored to present you our hard-earned success with iPhone X screen refurbishing. Check the LATEST iPhone X screen refurbishing technique NOW!

iPhone X Screen Refurbishing Guide

Screen Testing

Run function test – Display; Touch; 3D Touch and Swipe-up. All going well.

Bezel Removing

Place the OLED Screen Assembly on the Heat Platform. Remove bezel slowly with Pry Piece and Glue Cleaner.

Cut out the top bracket with Cutting Nipper. Then separate bezel from the screen with Cutting Nipper. Be careful with flex cables when removing bezel in the flex cable area.

Once done, test the screen again. Run function test – Display; Touch; 3D Touch and Swipe-up. All going well. By now, the most difficult step during iPhone X screen refurbishing has been completed.

Glass Separating

Place the OLED Screen Assembly on the Heat Platform. Separate the glass lens from OLED with Cutting Wire. Test again after separating. All going well.

Glue Removing

Glue removing for iPhone X screen can be applied with hand tearing.

OCA Laminating

Embed the OCA rubber block aligning mold into the base. Then place the OCA rubber block into the corresponding position of the mold. Tear off the first layer of the three-layer OCA protective film and place OCA into the corresponding position of the OCA aligning mold.

After that, embed the OCA aligning mold into the base and apply pressure to fit the OCA against the rubber block.

Prepare a new glass lens and place the new glass lens into the glass lens mold. Clean the glass lens first. Then tear off the second layer protective film of the OCA and embed the glass lens mold into the base.

Place the whole mold into the laminating machine and press “OCA laminating” button. The machine starts to work. Once laminating finished, detach the glass lens mold and take out the glass lens.

OLED Laminating

Remove the OCA rubber block and aligning mold. Place the OLED assembly into the OLED mold.

Place the OLED rubber block and embed the OLED mold into the base. Apply pressure to fit the OLED with the rubber block.

Clean with alcohol or N-hexane first. Then place the OCA laminated glass lens into the glass lens mold. Tear off the third layer of the OCA protective film and embed the glass lens mold into the base. After that, place the whole mold into the laminating machine. Press “LCD laminating” button. The machine starts to work.

Once laminating finished, detach the glass lens mold and take out the OLED screen. With bubbles inside, we need to continue with bubble removing process.

Bubble removing

Put the screen into Bubble Removing Machine for 15 minutes. Once finished, take out the screen.

Bezel Attaching

Prepare a new iPhone X bezel. Apply B7000 glue evenly on bezel and back of the screen. Then press them against each other and leave to rest for 10 minutes.

Refurbished Screen Testing

Buckle the screen and power on. Run function test – Display; Touch; 3D Touch and Swipe-up. All going well.

iPhone X screen refurbishing completed perfectly.

Notice

This iPhone X screen refurbishing guide is made for refurbishing technique exploring and sharing only. For those who have no professional refurbishing skills, no clear idea of refurbishing technique details, key points and difficulties, please look before you leap.

For more details on iPhone X Screen Refurbishing, please go to REWA YouTube channel.

Tools & Parts
- Apple iPhone X OLED Display and Touch Screen Digitizer Assembly with Frame Replacement
- LCD Cutting Wire
- LCM Cleaner
- Easy Tear Sticker
- Bezel Removing Machine
- Manual Separating Machine
- Glue Removing Machine
- OCA&POL Laminating Machine
- Glass Laminating Machine
- Bubble Removing Machine
December 27, 2017