Changing battery in Iphone.

Framar

WOW Framer
Joined
Jul 24, 2001
Posts
26,422
Location
Buffalo, New York, USA/Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada
Some kind soul gave me their old Iphone 4. Now the battery is completely dead - when I plug it in - it just burbles at me. I have never connected it to any plan to use it as a phone - I have a perfectly good flip phone for that - I use this thing for movies and photos.

So I sent away for a new battery which came in a kit along with two blue scoopy/pry tools, two eensy screw drivers, one triangle-shaped thing-that-looks-like a guitar pick, one thing that looked like a real guitar pick and a suction cup. Is this a joke or what?

Needless to say - no written instructions. Should I attempt to accomplish this battery change meself or should I take it to a repair shop? And no way am I going near the Apple Stores in the area - I hear they are absolutely horrid - plus they are both located in huge horrid malls. I have not been to a mall in 20+ years.

When I first received the thing I dutifully (and I might add painfully) registered it with Apple and got a password and everything, which included the usual security questions. (Relating to high school best friend's name, name favorite singer in high school, name of first boss, etc.) The first time I tried to sign in it asked me what my favorite color was. Seriously. That is when I decided to just use it as a camera (like I need another camera, I know - right?).

Any suggestions? ;)
 
Go to a kiosk in a mall. Try to find one that advertised they can replace the cellphone screen. You have to dismantle the phone and undolder the battery. Should be in the $60 range. Nowhere near the cost of a new phone.
 
Or find the procedure on Youtube.

Everything's on Youtube.
 
Apple is usually notorious for making their products so they're not user serviceable or upgradeable, but the iphone 4 was an exception. It looks pretty easy to do from this video.

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If youre feeling brave :)
 
Wow - thanks, Mike! I have every tool she mentioned, including the weird screwdrivers. But what are the guitar picks for? I do have a guitar but I never used a pick . . .

So now I guess I just have to wait for the logo to go away because even though it won't turn off, it won't power up either.
You rock!
 
The thing finally turned itself off. I had been starting to worry because it seemed kinda warm and I thought it might burst into flames. But now, watching the video - she says something about the making sure the "silent switch is activated" - wot that mean? The thing did not come with any instructions - but it has always had sound. I don't know where the sound switch is.
 
I did it! I did it! Didn't even lose those minuscule screws or anything! Thanks, Mike!!! You just saved me $55!!! :)
 
Did you Youtube yourself?

And great work, Mar!
 
Oh yeah, like I'm gonna record meself fumbling around with and swearing at those eensy screws.. I was impressed that the miniature screwdrivers were magnetized, though - that helped some. :)
 
I did it! I did it! Didn't even lose those minuscule screws or anything! Thanks, Mike!!! You just saved me $55!!! :)

We're gonna make you into a techie, yet!!! :)

Congratulations
 
Mar that is awesome! I took an iPod apart, that was no problem, but the battery was soldered in. Got the solder off, eventually but never got the new one put back in. I just gave up after a while and put the iPod into the bag the battery came mailed in and "gave" it to a techie student of my wife's :)

If you get a iPhone mailed to you with an extra battery it is from me! You are my new iProduct goddess!
 
Mike, I have come quite a long way, haven't I?

Although all it takes is one cat strolling across my keyboard and I can be lost in the cyber wilderness again. ;)
 
Well. I guess I bragged too soon. The new battery charged up nicely and the screen lit up nicely, I went to my photo program and set it to video - made a bad video of Mama Lucy, viewed it once - and the screen froze. Could not get away from that page. Finally the thing went black. Charged it back up again, tried to look at the video - screen froze and eventually went black.. Now it has been charging for over 12 hours and the screen is still black. Light is lit on the charger - can I assume it is working properly? Maybe I'll try the car charger on the way home to see if that makes any difference.

*grump*
 
If it makes you feel any better, this young, fairly tech-savvy (IMO) 52 year old wouldn't have attempted it.

Kudos for at least giving it a shot!
 
Perhaps it has a more serious issue than just the battery. Have you considered doing a full system reset, which will wipe the unit back to its factory settings? (it will probably erase everything you put on the phone, as if it was just purchased and opened from the box)
 
Oy. I will keep it plugged in for a longer period of time, see if I can get the screen back and maybe transfer any photos I have not already. What a remarkably annoying gadget!
 
On my droid I can hold down the power button and force the phone to shut down. That might be all you need to do to get it to restart clean.
 
If I ever get it to wake up I will try that to put it back to sleep. Thanks!
That's when I force mine to sleep.
I've had mine lock up too, and then I make it reboot. Once it reboots you could try going to settings and see if there is an update that is due. I have noticed that my wife's phone stops accessing the home wifi when there is a system update that she has been putting off.
 
Once you get it working, you may want to consider connecting it to your wifi and to a cloud or dropbox type account. That way, your pictures will automatically back up to the cloud and be synched with your pc, mac, tablet, and other devices.

You'll be able to use the device for online chats, email, web browsing, etc. (all via wifi) There are even apps for making calls via wifi. All of the above should work without paying for phone service.
 
After being plugged in for days and not charging, I took it apart again and checked to see if it looked any different inside. When I unscrewed the metal clamp for the battery, the metal part came free from the little black thing that connects to the battery. So I stuck it back in and screwed it back in, plugged it in and it is now charging. I'll see if I run into the same problem. Maybe the $5 battery I bought was not exactly new. *blush* If it doesn't hold a charge I'll order a proper one, from the source in the video Mike posted. *fingers crossed*
 
Well. It seems to be holding the charge, loaded all of the photos and videos onto my laptop (just in case) and updated the time and date from April 1970 to today. So far so good.
 
Excellent!

Can log into your wifi, too, if you want to use the other features it can do.
 
I have tried to connect it to my home wifi - it is asking for some password I have never heard of - and I have about a dozen different passwords for my stupid home system already. It is a good camera.
 
I have tried to connect it to my home wifi - it is asking for some password I have never heard of - and I have about a dozen different passwords for my stupid home system already. It is a good camera.

It wants the password for your wireless router. There is only one password for the router. Any device that wants to use the router wirelessly needs to know this., Many WiFi routers have the factory set password (not admin/password) printed on the sticker on the router. Tell use what router you have and maybe we can help you.
 
It is a 2Wire Gateway router - and there is a 26 digit number under the Bell 180 line, plus a S/N number, a P/N number and a MAC number. Is it one of those?
 
Depends on whether this is an anatomy question or a technology question. :p
 
I am afraid to ask - Peter, what is a personal hotspot?

Thanks for making me choke on my coffee today :) Hey some of the terminology is just odd, especially if you haven't heard it before.

A 'hotspot' is a device or APP that takes your cellular data plan and makes it into a router, to share your wifi with other devices (like a laptop or tablet). I have been using my smartphone for that for years, at trade shows. It was the primary source of internet for FrameFest last year, and at WCAF for a couple booths. (and in our room, instead of paying the hotel)

Since you said you don't have a wireless carrier, using it as a wifi hotspot isnt an option.

However, you can connect it your own house wi-fi if you can remember the password :) If the cable/fios/dsl provider gave you the equipment with the antenna, check for a sticker on the device with SSID and password. SSID would be the name of the network.

You can also usually sign into the device from your computer, to change the password, too.

It is often one of these, to access the devices internal settings menu:

http://192.168.1.1
http://192.168.0.1

For many devices the login will be admin, with password of password Some are admin for both prompts. The login info and address is likely printed on the same sticker mentioned above. If you cant figure it out, tell me the brand and model number and i'll give you the default settings most of them came with.

Mike
 
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I think my family's cell phone bill went through the roof because, when the university's wifi went down at my son's residence, he set up his cell phone as a hotspot for all other kids in the room.
 
That would be easy to do! Our plan was unlimited until last summer, so now I have to keep an eye on it to keep below the 6gb monthly limit. I'm at 85% currently, for this billing period. ha (because of WCAF) At Framefest, I did go over. It was being used to print registrations, tickets, receipts, etc from a remote server and a network of 4 computers at the front desk.
 
Well, there's a SSID and a "Key" underneath it but now I cannot find the page asking for the password. I give up.
 
Ya know, I just thought of something. When I first received this phone I was able to get on my home network as well as a couple in Buffalo. When I uploaded photos from the phone to my computer I was asked no questions about whether it was a "trusted" computer. Could it be that somehow permissions have gotten changed? Is there such a thing? After I did the battery the second time it picked up an array of stupid sounds which I have finally managed to turn off.
 
Go to the settings-icon and tap "Wifi" Than set Wifi networks at "automatically" and "ask me for joining".

Than every time you enter a Wifi-zone, the system will ask you if you like to join a network. To join (as your own network) simply tap the network and enter the (asked) password. The phone later will automatically switch into that network(s) again without asking.

When your home Wifi network is down, or you are traveling with an other device/laptop and you need a better view at the internet, go to the Settings menu and choose "Personal hotspot" and switch it "on". The open your Wifi-prefs at the other device/laptop and choose the shown iPhone hotspot. iOS will automatically ask you to confirm that the other device is trusted and provide you a code for that device. After the first your you can automatically choose it again, without the security-steps with the same device.
 
Important tip: Use trusted networks only and avoid "open" networks as well.
Second tip: Switch "Bluetooth" off. (In the Settings-Menu) It is standard"on" and just uses power and makes you "vulnerable" for "skimmers".

We have Wifi-skimmers active over here as well. This is a method to detect you with shopping to follow and store your tracks. This is a method to analyse your shopping movings to lead you to "your personal" advertisings. I know they practice it and our government is making a law to forbid it. But I never heard the "results".

An interesting subject is augmentation. It can be funny to enter a shop with augmented services or a library with augmented services. You can use the camera of your phone to look around to see what items/objects are augmented and can provide extra information/service or offers. In this system you can be followed as well. But it's cool!
 
OK. I hoped you should have a Mac in your home. When you have a UTP-connection to the internet and no Wifi-router in your home, you can simply use that Mac (even a G4) as a Personal Hotspot as well. Than you safe yourself from using data from your phone-provider. And yes, it works as simple as I noted above, but adjusted in the prefs of your Mac. With iOS 8 running on your iPhone you are "modern" enough to do all "modern" tasks at the internet, that older computers can't.
 
Photo's is a different subject. Sending to photo's to an other device (without authorising that device) is usual. But sharing a network or iCloud, is an other subject and asks authorisation in every step. Now you have the iPhone you can simply setup iCloud (5GB for free) to sync your mail, agenda, bookmarks, notes and alerts. Data changed on the phone will automatically changed in your PC/Laptop and also vice versa.

Go to your iPhone settings again and switch "iCloud" on. It will ask you to make an account. You have to to make a new username (f r a m a r @ iCloud.com) and your new password. Than you can choose to store a backup from the most important data on your iPhone into iCloud too.

To activate this on your PC/laptop, install iTunes and switch all automatic clutter about Apple Music etc. "off". Connect your iPhone (with the cable) to the device and the icon will come up in your Photo-program and in iTunes. Simple import the photo's and go in iTunes to the menu of the iPhone to switch "Syncing calendars etc." between the device and the iPhone "on". Also activate to allow syncing through Wifi. It works from Windows 7, but not with older Mac's.
 
Once again, the hotspot advice doesn't apply. She has an old iphone and is using it without a carrier. It cannot be used as a hotspot without a signal to share. :)

But wifi is fair game. The SSID on that sticker is the name of your network, which you'll see on the device when you go into the wifi networks menu. The KEY is the password associated with it. (a prompt will come up to ask, one time only)

The cloud is a great idea. Whether its icloud, dropbox, or any one of the many others. Itll get the pictures in a safe place, and can be shared with your pc's seamlessly.

Mike
 
Mike, so if only asks for the password once and I entered the incorrect one when it did ask - it won't ask again?

Peter - I do have a cell phone but it is a non-smart one (its a cute little red flip phone) and I turn it on when I need to make a call. I am amazed it works in both the US and Canada and all for $20 a month! ;) It is all I need.
 
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