Somewhere (not on this forum) there was a pretty detailed article that described how to replace a touch panel of the Pinephone - or perhaps the whole LCD assembly - with a third-party one from AliExpress instead of from Pine64. AliExpress alternative was much cheaper, had more shipping options and didn't have any availability problems (i.e. at the moment a Pine64's Pinephone LCD replacement - is "out of stock" for a pretty long time).
I had this article saved somewhere in my bookmarks, but now I can't find it anywhere - and extensive googling does not help yet. Two things that I remember:
If you have stumbled upon this article and have it saved somewhere, maybe in web archive (I don't know if this website is still alive), please let me know.
Alternatively, this knowledge may be re-obtained because we know it is possible and where to "dig" (i.e. check how the alternative panel's pins are routed)
EDIT: some keywords may involve "Goodix" "GT917S" "I2C" (Goodix GT917S touch panel's controller talks with a Pinephone over the internal I2C),
of course the replacement touch panel should be based on the same controller in order for it to work without any software/firmware modifications;
a similar-enough Goodix from the same "GT9xx" family - like GT911 or GT915 - may also work as a substitute
EDIT 2: there also may be some way to fix an existing touch panel, like using a gas lighter's quartz igniter - it works for some people, but may be dangerous:
I had this article saved somewhere in my bookmarks, but now I can't find it anywhere - and extensive googling does not help yet. Two things that I remember:
- it turned out that Pine64 changed the pinout of touch to make it more "proprietary" (maybe so that everyone is forced to buy this replacement part from Pine64), two pins were switched - but I don't remember which ones
- this article was a couple of years old
If you have stumbled upon this article and have it saved somewhere, maybe in web archive (I don't know if this website is still alive), please let me know.
Alternatively, this knowledge may be re-obtained because we know it is possible and where to "dig" (i.e. check how the alternative panel's pins are routed)
EDIT: some keywords may involve "Goodix" "GT917S" "I2C" (Goodix GT917S touch panel's controller talks with a Pinephone over the internal I2C),
of course the replacement touch panel should be based on the same controller in order for it to work without any software/firmware modifications;
a similar-enough Goodix from the same "GT9xx" family - like GT911 or GT915 - may also work as a substitute
EDIT 2: there also may be some way to fix an existing touch panel, like using a gas lighter's quartz igniter - it works for some people, but may be dangerous:
Quote:Buy a two dollar lighter that uses a piece of quartz as an ignition source... Electrical discharge... Not the type with a piece of flint inside. The main difference and clue you have the right one is, the flint one has the rollers on top you run your thumb across as you press down on the button/trigger to release its gas for ignition. The lighter you want has just one button/ trigger. First vent or empty butane gas... Release valve on bottom. Then remove the quartz igniter from the lighters housing and place on you phones dead screen click/ press it a couple of times..for me three times. Dead zone/dead bar fixed.. no more ghost touches either. Fixed... 2.00 dollars... but keep igniter around in case screen goes dead again but after a couple of clicks screen permanent fix for me. For a detailed youtube video of the process, search keywords screen fix quartz iginiter.... the error is a digitizer fault, often due to your phone overheating for long periods at a time. The quartz igniter generates around 350 to 400 volts to the lcd screen and attached digitizer ..harmless to your phone and you... this electrical discharge that awakens the dead zone like magic. No costly repairs of digitizer and LCD screen
