I'm curious if anyone here could share their experience performing a DIY screen replacement while running grapheneOS. Were there any hiccups or gotchas? Was data lost / encryption keys lost for any reason? Any reason a factory reset or flashing the stock OS was required?
Thanks!
DIY screen replacement
guy_758
I recently replaced a screen on a 5a. The screen has nothing to do with the data, keys, or OS, unless there was a big messup and other hardware was damaged during the work.
Even though you said DIY, someone else might find the following info useful: One way where having GOS could affect a repair is if you take the device to an Android repair shop. I tried that and when talking with their tech, I mentioned a non-stock OS, and they said they couldn't touch the device. Their response sealed the deal for me to go DIY.
ifixit.com has excellent tutorials and had a good price on the parts I needed.
may your hands be steady.
mucr Thanks for the info! I'm also working with a 5a. I take it the screen calibration went smoothly while running GOS?
Also, can I ask what prompted you to replace the screen? I am curious since I'm hopeful my issue is with just the screen but I'm not 100% confident. My issue resulted from a drop. The screen displays no image and is not responsive to touch, but shows no physical damage. The rest of the phone generally seems to be working from what I can tell. Perhaps you were in a similar situation?
Update: My screen came in today from ifixit. I followed their instructions, and everything went smoothly. No issues with GOS instead of stock OS. All my phone data is still accessible. Thanks!
Good.
But generally doing it DIY has too many risks and not worth the $ savings. Better pay a professional some money to do it with pro equipment.
This has been discussed before.
- Edited
I disagree with User2288. Screen replacement isn't rocket surgery. "Professionals" have proven repeatedly they won't touch non-android OS devices.
Matter of fact, guy_758 and I are proof DIY works.
User2288 But generally doing it DIY has too many risks and not worth the $ savings.
As with anything else, it depends on the capabilities of the person who is doing the work. Some people should definitely not try doing this themselves, others will find it a trivial task. So my suggestion is that for anyone interested in doing this, they should take a peek at the available repair instructions and videos, and judge whether or not they can actually do the work.