My Problem

The mute button was flaking out and would randomly vibrate when touched very lightly. After doing some research online, the problem seemed to be a bad switch.

My Fix

The process took a little over an hour. I managed to drop two screws off the table on the rug, however they were recovered. I decided against the second beer as I quickly realized this task was going to require very fine motor skills (finer than my fine motor skills after a handful of beers, anyway). That turned out to be a very good idea...

My Advice

Don't drink if you are doing a difficult repair.

You MUST have the proper tools for this job, and in addition to the tools recommended by ifixit, I'd make sure you have a very small pair of tweezers handy and also a small (very small) magnet for retrieving screws that may get lodged in the phone case. Small tweezers are handy so you can place the screws into the holes. That part seemed to consume the most time for me.

It would be great if ifixit sold a plastic template of the phone that was threaded so you could screw the removed screws into it so they aren't lost and so you remember where they go back into the phone. I thought I was missing one screw near the mute button but I realized that one of the holes was supposed to be filled by a screw that holds the logic board to the case.

My Problem

I had dropped my phone cracking the screen. Still worked, just cracked. A friend gave me theirs which I dropped in a puddle, making the dock connector and home button not work, so I used the module from my phone. I then had a phone fully functional and one with a cracked screen and broken dock connector and (I would notice later after fixing) a torn ribbon connecting the camera.

My Fix

Fixed the screen and dock connector and, with the exception of the camera I still have to fix, works great! Looks like new with the screen.

My Advice

Keep aware of the camera ribbon when pulling out the logic board. Also, invest in a good case.

My Problem

I was actually fixing the iPhone of a friend of mine. The silver part of the mute switch of his phone had broken off, and he had to use a sharpened pencil to mute and unmute the phone.

My Fix

Surprisingly well! I was a little intimidated by the "difficult"-label this guide has on iFixit (esp. as this was my very first phone-DIY-experience), but things went very smoothly. Didn't take too long either (45 minutes or so).

My Advice

Three things:

1. the iFixit-guide mentions using a #00 screwdriver, but I found a #000 to be handier.

2. I found it to be unnecessary to take the volume button circuitry and headphone jack assembly completely out of the phone as steps 21-23 suggest: as soon as the volume button circuitry is loose, you can lift it just enough to take out the old mute switch and replace it with the new one.

3. Replacing the motherboard in exactly the right position is without question the trickiest part of this entire (dis)assembly!

My Problem

The mute button on my wife's iphone 3GS died and would cause the phone to vibrate randomly.

My Fix

The repair went smoothly. I followed the instructions to the letter and had no problems.

My Advice

Set all your screwed out in a pattern that matches where they were removed from.

My Problem

I had an issue with intermittent muting of the phone when mute was on. After reading the guide and responses, I decided to give it a try.

My Fix

The repair went great! Photos were very helpful and gave me the necessary help to replace the button.

My issue was actually due to a cracked housing that holds the mute switch on the inside of the phone, probably damaged in a drop. The housing sheared in half and caused a mis-alignement of the external switch ($4.95 part) and the internal mechanism. After installing the new part, aligning the internal switch, and reassembling it works perfectly.

My Advice

A few pieces that help you when working:

1) A mechanics magnetic bowl. You can pick them up at home depot for around $10 and work great for holding your screws. It reduces the chance of knocking them off of the table.

2) A screw driver magnetizer. It will help greatly when trying to align the small screws.

3) Definitely get the spudger and suction cup from fixit. A must have for undoing the connections and removing the screen.

My Problem

not yet

My Fix

not yet

My Advice

not yet

My Problem

The headphonejack, the mutebutton and the on/off switch were out of order.

My Fix

The process was quite clear (except the mute-switch) but to get those tiny screws back into place was terrible, used one hour for one screw near the muteswitch.. I found out that I needed a little magnet to let the screw hang under the philips screwdriver. I took the bike, full speed, to a hobby/model shop in my neighbourhood in Oslo and they gave me a tiny magnet, 4mm x 2mm x 1mm, I got it just before closingtime on saturday and I could finish the repair within half an hour. The magnet is small enough not to disturb and strong enough to make the screwdriver magnetic.

I could not repair the nutebutton, This part is complicated and the instruction and pictures could be better and more clear

My Advice

Together with the screwdriver you could sell such a little magnet. The screws are very easily to remove when taking apart and as easily to get back into place when the magnet sticks to the screwdriver just 1 or 2 cm above the screw. I would never have managed without.. ..or loosing my temper completely.

My Problem

Both buttons broke

My Fix

This is my first time I do some this like this but it went very well.

My Advice

Have patience

My Problem

The mute button in my iPhone 3G broke and, therefore, I was unable to move it away from "mute" and I was missing a lot of calls. Using a needle, I managed to put it back to "ring", but then it went off very inconvenently at meetings.

My Fix

Although the button is a small thing, the job is tough, as almost the whole iPhone has to be disassembled to reach it and replace it. Luckily the iFixit guide was very detailed and the "big" version of the pictures really helpful.

My Advice

I printed some of the key disassembly pictures and used them to leave the screws I was removing in their position as in the picture. This enabled me to reassemble everything without getting confused as to which screw goes where (there are many along the way).