My Problem
After 3 years, my iphone 4s dock connector finally got too damaged and the phone would no longer charge or connect to itunes for backup. Of course it became very dead.
My Fix
The repair went well by following your almost perfect online instructions - with one exception described below. My iPhone works perfectly again and even though the phone was COMPLETELY dead, all my information was still there once it charged (thank you flash memory!).
My Advice
This is the reason I'm telling my story. The instructions are very good, except the part about the microphone! Step 18 details removing the mic from the phone case. Step 21 has a secondary sub section about the mic case and reassembly, but it's not a "step" so I somehow missed it, and it doesn't have the necessary detail anyway. Therefore I didn't realize the rubber "case" holding the microphone was a separate piece until I had already put the new dock assembly in the phone. It would be SO much easier to put that rubber case on the mic BEFORE installing the dock in the phone! IMHO this should be a separate and last step, because it is important to a successful project and isn't (at least to me) obvious. You DEFINITELY want to install that rubber case onto the mic chip before you put the new dock in the phone because the mic chip has a glue strip to hold it in place within the rubber case, and it's rather difficult to get the mic aligned correctly in it's case with the glue strip sticking as you slide it in, all while working within the very tight confines of the phone case. I did it the hard way, because I didn't want to remove the just installed new dock assembly, thereby weakening the glue strips that hold it in place. My mic seems a little muffled compared to before, but I'm not sure. If there is a difference in quality, this is almost certainly the reason, as I couldn't tell if the mic "hole" on the chip was lined up with the hole in the mic case from the angle I had to work at with the dock in the phone case. For ADD people like me who don't necessarily read every word and like pictures, please add a separate step for the mic case installation at the end of your otherwise great instructions.
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