My Problem
While playing Angry Birds with my 7-year-old grandson, the iPad fell from my knee to the carpeted floor. Sadly, my trusty iPad had a blank display with only a back-light working. I could reboot, but could never get a usable display. Complicating issue was, my editor had been using the iPad to review an ePub version of my latest novel (THE LOST DRAGONEER, coming to kindle in December). Couldn't find this exact iPad problem anywhere online, but in the process of searching, I found ifixit.com, and decided to order some tools to get inside of it.
My Fix
I used the on-line guide at ifixit.com to guide my operation. I broke six clips using the spudgers, mostly due to my sausage-sized fingers. Once open, I discovered the Display Data Cable had disconnected from the display--the fall must have jarred it loose. After removing the tape on the display's cable receptacle, I saw where the cable should have been connected, but I still was equipped with my over-sized phalanges. Probably should have used tweezers, but went ahead and made a single attempt. It worked! Managed to reassemble without have to replace the metal clips. Ipad working like a champ, Angry birds still works, and we managed to recover all the work isolated to the ePub in the iPad, thus preventing any production delay.
My Advice
Before uses the spudgers, exam the pictures in the on-line diagrams and try to project where the clips are, so as to minimize their damage during the disassemble phase of your repair. Broken clips pieces are shown in the image. Because there's very little room inside the clam-shell and cables are small, consider having some long tweezers for reconnecting cables. Final advice, if you at the point where you're about to throw it away--give fixing it a try. I wouldn't hesitate to order tools from ifixit.com or to follow their on-line advice, if I ever need them again.
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