Motorola Atrix

tommy_vercetti

tommy_vercetti

Skilled
Hi All,

Not sure if posting in the right place, I purchased a Motorola Atrix couple of weeks back, unfortunately the ear piece has stopped working, I tried contacting the Motorola Service Center in Mumbai, but they informed that since that model is not available they will not be able to help me, I need assistance in getting this repaired, I also contacted Motorola US and found that the phone is in Warranty till September 2012, they will repair it but need to send it to US with a US address, P.O.Box won't work

"Please be sure to include a shipping address that we can ship your phone back to you that requires a signature for delivery confirmation (NO PO BOXES); a contact daytime number we may reach you at regarding the phone in for service; and your email address so you can receive status inquiries regarding your repair."

Does anybody know anyone reputed person who can repair this phone as everything is perfect excluding the ear piece.

Thanks
 
I had seen some MobileStore in Kolkata have mobile service facility. I think this is a problem with the headphone socket. Does the headphone works when you plugin the headphone?

You can do these:
i) Download the Atrix disassembly video from youtube.
ii) Take the phone and the video in your laptop to the most busy mobile repair wala in your locality. I'm assuming busy means he is good at his work.
Wait for him to be free and tell him the problem. Ask him if he can replace the headphone socket if you show him the disassembly guide. If he agrees give him the phone and sit in front of him and watch carefully. If you find that he is lacking confidence at any stage tell him to stop.
If he is good he can easily replace the headphone socket or even repair it by shorting the internal contacts (in that case you'll not be able to use headphone but BT will work). I once got my HP IPAQ 6828 mobile in this way (the headphone socket was not available in iNdia and I had to purchase it from some HongKong site)

Headphone sockets have two movable contacts which are normally closed types. The sound signal from the phone gets routed to the speaker when they are closed (no headphone attached). When you insert the headphone jack, the jack pushes the movable contacts and touches them which then breaks the circuit to the speaker and the sound signal then gets routed to the headphones.

This three-conductor jack has two normally closed switches connected to the contacts themselves. This would be useful for a patch point, for instance, or for allowing another signal to feed the line until a plug is inserted. The switches open when a plug is inserted. A common use for this style of connector is a stereo headphone jack that shuts off the default output (speakers) when the connector is plugged in.
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Also post what you see when you go to settings>sound>media audio effects. You will see 'Wired Stereo Devices' and 'Phone Speaker'. If you plug headphones into the audio jack on your atrix you should the word 'connected' immediately pop up under 'Wired Stereo Devices'. Does it shows "connected" under 'Wired Stereo Devices' even when the headphone is not connected?

In that screen insert a headphone and remove - what do you see on the screen?

See this post and see if it can help you.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1241040

Here is a replace headphone socket for Atrix:

http://www.cellulardr.com/atandt-atrix-4g-headset-jack-connector-android-motorola-mb860-earphone-jack-plug-free-first-class-mail-shipping.html
 
As you can see from the picture there are leaf spring type contacts which gets pushed and connects to some pads on the PCB when you insert a headphone. I think in your case the spring type contacts either (i) got bent and are touching the PCB permanently or (ii) any of the contact broke or (iii) got shorted with another contact.
In any case it seems to be simple solution. Take a chance with the local repair man. In worst case you may have to buy a new headphone socket for 10$. Replacement is easy too - no soldering required.
 

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archat68 said:
As you can see from the picture there are leaf spring type contacts which gets pushed and connects to some pads on the PCB when you insert a headphone. I think in your case the spring type contacts either (i) got bent and are touching the PCB permanently or (ii) any of the contact broke or (iii) got shorted with another contact.

In any case it seems to be simple solution. Take a chance with the local repair man. In worst case you may have to buy a new headphone socket for 10$. Replacement is easy too - no soldering required.
Click to expand...

Excellent yar!!!!!awesome way of helping
 
Thanks for the excellent explanation, unfortunately it seems that the headphone socket is working properly and it seems the earpiece has died. I went through lot of disassembly guides, particularly liked this one Motorola Atrix 4G Teardown - iFixit

Now I have a doubt, there are flex cables with Camera and without Camera, I do not see any ataching cables on the flex cable, so is it as better option to get the flex cable with Camera or without it Motorola Atrix 4G Mainboard Flex Cable Replacement

Thanks
 
Earpiece died means you'll get sound when you attach the headphone. Are you getting sound through the headphone?

From the dis-assembly guide it seems that you choose the right one. There are two flex cables, one for the side volume buttons and another with the speaker.
 
@archat68, yes headphone works it's only the ear piece that is dead, so now I'm going to order a Torx T5 and then get my hands on the Atrix and replace it's flex cable, only thing I'm confused is where to buy the cable from ebay or various other sites... and whether to take with Front Camera or without the Front Camera
 
So finally received my consignment of OEM Flex Cable Ribbon Earpiece Motorola Atrix 4G MB860 yesterday with the Torx 5 screw driver. Carefully opened the phone removed the original flex cable, applied the new flex cable, assembled it back, and then tried to check the earpiece, unable to hear anything, restarted the phone and tried, viola, able to hear much clearly then before. Thanks to archat68 for pointing to the proper dealer. Phone working great, touch wood!
 
tommy_vercetti said:
So finally received my consignment of OEM Flex Cable Ribbon Earpiece Motorola Atrix 4G MB860 yesterday with the Torx 5 screw driver. Carefully opened the phone removed the original flex cable, applied the new flex cable, assembled it back, and then tried to check the earpiece, unable to hear anything, restarted the phone and tried, viola, able to hear much clearly then before. Thanks to archat68 for pointing to the proper dealer. Phone working great, touch wood!
Click to expand...

Congo man :)
 
archat68.. great help...
and tommy_vercetti i'm glad you got your phone done. Cause i have the same phone. And i saw the pctures of the OEM flex cable so can i increase the clarity of my front camera by purchasing a flex cable with a better camera?
i just am i love with my Atrix and hope it gets the official ICS
 
@aka007, I'm not sure if you will be able to increase the clarity of the front camera as it is the same as the original part, the front camera is a VGA one so the clarity is not that good, maybe if the light is better you could get a little better clarity, hope that helps
 
^^ Also just changing the camera with a higher resolution one doesn't solve the problem unless the software (ROM) is not modified to accept the higher resolution.
 
Reviving an Year old thread because i am facing the same issue or may b a bit ore complicated..
First my headset jack stopped working.Then in a matter of 3-4 days the earpiece also stopped wrking!!
The earpiece doesnt work 90% time and smtyms when pressed hard near the fingerprint sensor it works and stops again...
Pls help guys!!
Went thru the article and opened up the phn and placed a barrier betweeb headphone socket's movable cntcts so that they cant come in touch with the contact points.Still Not working...
 
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