I just removed this cable from my first gen (1g?, 2g?, how about pre-3g?) iPhone and it is an absolute bear. I am currently waiting on my new flex cable to arrive. In my case I believe I damaged the cable when trying to insert it back into the logic board without undoing the "latch" on the socket (doh!), such that my phone would not charge any longer.
In your case I would suggest:
Since the microphone AND the speaker AND the home button went out, MAYBE just removing and re-seating the flex cable into the logic board socket would fix this. If your phone did not fall into water, it seems unlikely that you could break all three devices at once. But on the other hand I would expect you to have charging and syncing problems as well, and it sounds like you do not. (Just don't forget to undo the little black latch on the socket when you go to re-seat the cable!!!)
If re-seating the flex cable does not do the trick, and you have to actually replace the cable, then like I said, it is a bear. You will probably want to buy a new microphone, since it is soldered to the cable, and very tiny. The speaker is also soldered to the cable, but it looks like this could be desoldered with some care. The plastic case assembly at the bottom of the phone that houses the button, mic and speaker has many plastic tabs and lots of double sided sticky tape holding the top and bottom covers in place. I broke several of the tabs opening it up. I do not know of a source to purchase replacement top and bottom covers, so I will just have to reuse my slightly mangled ones, but that should be OK.
It would be great if we could purchase a complete "middle chassis" assembly, with the mic and speaker and flex cable already installed, but I have not seen this for sale, only bare mid-chassis. Of course there is always the salvage phone route.
When I realized I had trashed the flex cable, I bought a replacement phone off of ebay. If I manage to fix my phone I will just resell my "new" phone on ebay. But this is not a quick repair if you are not already set up to do it.
[quote|johnbinsc]I just removed this cable from my first gen (1g?, 2g?, how about pre-3g?) iPhone and it is an absolute bear. I am currently waiting on my new flex cable to arrive. In my case I believe I damaged the cable when trying to insert it back into the logic board without undoing the "latch" on the socket (doh!), such that my phone would not charge any longer.
In your case I would suggest:
Since the microphone AND the speaker AND the home button went out, MAYBE just removing and re-seating the flex cable into the logic board socket would fix this. If your phone did not fall into water, it seems unlikely that you could break all three devices at once. But on the other hand I would expect you to have charging and syncing problems as well, and it sounds like you do not. (Just don't forget to undo the little black latch on the socket when you go to re-seat the cable!!!)
If re-seating the flex cable does not do the trick, and you have to actually replace the cable, then like I said, it is a bear. You will probably want to buy a new microphone, since it is soldered to the cable, and very tiny. The speaker is also soldered to the cable, but it looks like this could be desoldered with some care. The plastic case assembly at the bottom of the phone that houses the button, mic and speaker has many plastic tabs and lots of double sided sticky tape holding the top and bottom covers in place. I broke several of the tabs opening it up. I do not know of a source to purchase replacement top and bottom covers, so I will just have to reuse my slightly mangled ones, but that should be OK.
It would be great if we could purchase a complete "middle chassis" assembly, with the mic and speaker and flex cable already installed, but I have not seen this for sale, only bare mid-chassis. Of course there is always the salvage phone route.
When I realized I had trashed the flex cable, I bought a replacement phone off of ebay. If I manage to fix my phone I will just resell my "new" phone on ebay. But this is not a quick repair if you are not already set up to do it.[/quote]
