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Repair information and guides for the Apple iPhone 5s that was announced on September 10, 2013. Model: A1533, A1453, A1457, A1528, A1530, A1518

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LCD off but works in boot

I bought a 5s from an eBay seller a couple of weeks ago. Excellent condition w/box etc.

Last year, I replaced the battery in my old iPhone 4 with an extended life (gold) version with satisfying results.

I decided to do the same with the 5s.

Currently, if a power cord is plugged in, the boot screen appears briefly, as usual, then the screen is almost black but noticeably on. Specifically, the screen gives off a dark blue light but no icons or other shapes ever become visible, even dimly. The desktop never appears. Turning the silent switch does not activate the buzzer and I can't locate the phone with Find My iPhone using the iPhone 4, however, the phones are on separate accounts; but I checked the Apple iCloud website and the activation lock is on.

When I changed the battery, I popped the fingerprint and battery connectors but not any of the display connectors.

I just put in a new battery I got in the mail today.

Odd. The first thing I did was plug the charger in. I got the low charge screen, the one with the charger cable connector and battery icons. The existing charge was less than 7%, I think.

I thought, "Great, I'll leave the phone to charge for awhile then boot it."

Wrong.

When I picked up the phone, the same behavior was back.

I'm almost sure the lcd is not turning on. The dark-but-on screen follows the white-with-black-apple screen. If the charger is not in, the screen turns off; no glow whatsoever. If not, unlike the 4, the screen never turns completely off.

The phone is booting and waiting for keycode entry. When that doesn't happen after a few seconds, the phone shuts off as it usually does, unless, of course, the charger is in. I didn't see the low battery charge screen when I installed the extended (gold) battery because the battery was probably fully charged.

I would think the lcd is bad except for the low battery charge screen I saw when I first plugged in. If I had a way to safely drain the battery, I could check again, for the low battery screen.

If I had not seen the low battery screen, I would have thought the lcd is bad.

Any ideas?

One thing : I did not replace the two battery cover screws or the two pentalobe screws. Would that effect anything? I realize some company's designs use screws to electrically tie two circuits together.

Thank you,

Jim Julian

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Your phone is auto-booting into DFU mode. You can try to restore from iTunes. My guess is that iTunes will recognize your device in recovery mode.

I would also eliminate the variable of the new battery. Those gold ones are usually crap.

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Thanks JessaBethany

Hello,

Thanks for responding.

The battery variable was eliminated when I put in the third battery which was also the second replacement battery. The original battery was destroyed in removal.

I don't see the DFU mode screen; the one with the charger plug and iTunes icons.

When a 4 shuts down, the screen appears to go dark except for the busy signal icon which turns for awhile. The screen is actually on and if the brightness is on max, the screen glows dark blue, when the signal disappears, the screen actually does turn off. It is that state that occurs. The normal desktop never does.

Whatever state is represented by the dark blue glowing screen is probably a useful clue into what is, or is not, going on.

I believe the motherboard is doing everything expected but that the display is not functioning.

I'm beginning to think I may have loosened one of the front cover cables during opening.

iTunes recognition : I don't keep a desktop/laptop.

Thank you,

Jim Julian

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Hello again JessaBethany.

I did some reading on the web. I understand a blank screen shows during DFU mode. Is that a turned off screen or a dark screen?

If I turn brightness to max in DFU, will the screen glow? If so, then I may be in DFU mode.

Are there any DFU mode detection steps that do not involve a computer?

Thank you,

Jim J

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DFU mode is different than recovery mode. In recovery mode, you'll see the connect to iTunes logo. In DFU mode you will see backlight-no image. i.e. you will see the dark blue glow of the backlight only.

What you describe in your problem is very consistent with a phone that is auto-booting into DFU mode---which usually happens from corruption of the NAND chip by pulling a screen without disconnecting the battery first. You do need a computer. Plug it in, and see if iTunes will see the phone as a phone in recovery mode (iTunes does not make a distinction between recovery mode and DFU mode--both are forms of recovery mode). Then click restore and your phone may be fine.

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