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Thursday 24 October 2003

My Handspring Treo 180 has suddenly succumbed to the dreaded Dead Speaker Syndrome, or DSS. Sudden complete or intermittent silence from the speaker (which, when the lid is opened, sends sound into your ear, and when closed, phone rings and other alert sounds into the air) suggests DSS. The cause seems to be breakage in the wires which run through the hinge (which appears at the left of this image). (Yes, you do see the protective clear film covering the window; my Treo is that new. Sigh.)

What follows is a step-by-step guide to replacing said wire. This fix probably voids any warranty. Use your own best judgement when deciding to do this sort of repair work yourself.

The first step is to open the inner lid. I started with a small flat-head screwdriver, but a jewelers screwdriver, razor blade, or sharp knife blade would probably work just as well. Really sharp things can actually cut the plastic; anything metal can scratch the plastic. Be mindful of the cosmetics.

I started where you see the screwdriver, and worked with LITTLE, SLOW strokes to prevent any undue stress on the plastic. Slow and steady.

Here I'm continuing to pry up the plastic. Still working slowly, being aware of the wire beneath (which we'll be replacing) and the flex of the plastic. (Less flex is better. I'm keeping the screwdriver blade parallel to the lid.)

Now I've made it all the way to the top of the lid. There's a magnet just to the left of the speaker which may grab a ferrous screwdriver; ignore it, gently.

Now you see the end result of our first step: the inner lid is completely removed. The speaker (big disk), magnet (small disk), and wire are exposed and visible to us.

Now that we've done the most terrifying part of opening up our beloved phone, and survived to tell the tale, let's move on to the next step, opening the back and getting to the insides of the Treo 180.