Pro1, Ghost touches and other digitizer and display issues

[VaZso 1,998]

19 minutes ago, ToniCipriani said:

My only concern now is that if they are actually stalling it deliberately and weasel out of the claim, specifically the ghost touch problem I'm having. This response from @SCΛRECROW is bit concerning: Ghost touches and unresponsive area on lower screen - Page 11 - Support - F(x)tec Community (fxtec.com)

Sorry but I'm losing hope, but I hope I'm wrong.

Currently I am happy with my self-replaced screen bought at Aliexpress although it is not 100% perfect.

However, it is strange that most people reported better behaviour of ghost effect (including me) after smoothing the bottom part of display.
Below that part, there is a ribbon cable which comes from the display and I think its discontinuity (or increased resistance caused by the injured cable) is the source of the problem.

The root cause may be an impact, but I think imperfect gluing of that part of the display may also cause it to break.
Basically it is better if that part does not move and if there is no issues with gluing while this problem reappearing, some additional fixing of that cable may or may not help (if it can break more easily as a result).
As far as I saw, the original phone which had the very same display (Elephone U Pro) also did not have additional fixing of that cable (other than the display was glued on a very big surface) and we still does not know the number of phones affected, so if that number is high or low in relation of the number of units sold.

[ToniCipriani 194]

8 hours ago, VaZso said:

However, it is strange that most people reported better behaviour of ghost effect (including me) after smoothing the bottom part of display.
Below that part, there is a ribbon cable which comes from the display and I think its discontinuity (or increased resistance caused by the injured cable) is the source of the problem.

You have a pic or diagram to explain what smoothing you mean?

One thing I mentioned in the other thread was that for my phone, the current display works perfectly fine if I don't install it to the slider mechanism. Meaning if I just detach it, it works fine. But the moment I snap the display to the frame, it starts messing up.

This could be a potential fix for me instead of replacing the display.

[VaZso 1,998]

5 minutes ago, ToniCipriani said:

You have a pic or diagram to explain what smoothing you mean?

Usually this ghosting problem appears relatively often and there is an unsensitive part of the screen.
After touching / moving a finger near the bottom part of the display, maybe at a corner, it becomes temporarily better - it is not a fix as it is temporary but an experience.

8 minutes ago, ToniCipriani said:

Meaning if I just detach it, it works fine. But the moment I snap the display to the frame, it starts messing up.

Without attaching the display to the assembly, what happens if you gently move different parts of the ribbon cables (mostly near the bottom part)?
Also, is there any difference when you use a wire to connect the screen's conductive part to the assembly's conductive part (shielding / gnd) which the display is still not attached? (I mean to connect parts which are connected when the screen is in assembled state to see if it can be triggered electronically.)

I suspect you may have a mechanical problem (like a broken flex cable) or something is conductive where it should not.

[ToniCipriani 194]

13 hours ago, VaZso said:

Usually this ghosting problem appears relatively often and there is an unsensitive part of the screen.
After touching / moving a finger near the bottom part of the display, maybe at a corner, it becomes temporarily better - it is not a fix as it is temporary but an experience.

Without attaching the display to the assembly, what happens if you gently move different parts of the ribbon cables (mostly near the bottom part)?
Also, is there any difference when you use a wire to connect the screen's conductive part to the assembly's conductive part (shielding / gnd) which the display is still not attached? (I mean to connect parts which are connected when the screen is in assembled state to see if it can be triggered electronically.)

I suspect you may have a mechanical problem (like a broken flex cable) or something is conductive where it should not.

OK so basically the initial "massaging" thing I was doing on the corner initially.

Thing is my problem actually started with "dancing"... meaning if I tap anything on that strip, the phone would go crazy for a few seconds tapping random things above AND below that strip. It was to the point I couldn't unlock my phone after a reboot (or that dreaded "Too many attempts" message when I haven't even touched my phone once). That's when I found out when the phone works fine if the screen is not attached.

I took it apart and applied some electrical tape at random locations to experiment, and managed to got down to one tape down on the chassis side flex cable to stop the dance. Now the problem evolved to that one strip. And whenever I tap that strip, it activates a multi-touch top and bottom of the strip.

That's why I was looking at if I could experiment more padding and I might get a fully functional screen again while waiting for the replacement.

Edited August 22, 2021 by ToniCipriani

[Rob. S. 1,661]

@ToniCipriani @VaZso A couple of days ago I had a similar but different effect, the screen recording taps and moves all over the place no matter where I was actually tapping; I was told that could come from badly shielded power adapters and/or cables and some other devices were sensitive there, too. Then I noted it only happened when the phone was connected to the charger, and it stopped after I put that specific charger and that specific cable aside. Do you perhaps see a difference in behaviour between connected and not connected to a charger? Even though the charger/cable will probably not be the root of what you're observing, it might help somewhat to eliminate their effect on the matter if there is one...

Edited August 22, 2021 by Rob. S.

[ToniCipriani 194]

3 hours ago, Rob. S. said:

@ToniCipriani @VaZso A couple of days ago I had a similar but different effect, the screen recording taps and moves all over the place no matter where I was actually tapping; I was told that could come from badly shielded power adapters and/or cables and some other devices were sensitive there, too. Then I noted it only happened when the phone was connected to the charger, and it stopped after I put that specific charger and that specific cable aside. Do you perhaps see a difference in behaviour between connected and not connected to a charger? Even though the charger/cable will probably not be the root of what you're observing, it might help somewhat to eliminate their effect on the matter if there is one...

Nope, not ground related if that's what you're referring to. All my tests were done away from a charger, so 100% just the phone itself.

[zetalight 20]

Welp, I'm sad to report myself as a new victim of this issue.

I've submitted a support ticket with a screenshot of the ghosting.

Really hoping this can get fixed quickly...

[auvo.salmi 135]

On 8/22/2021 at 6:59 PM, Rob. S. said:

@ToniCipriani @VaZso A couple of days ago I had a similar but different effect, the screen recording taps and moves all over the place no matter where I was actually tapping; I was told that could come from badly shielded power adapters and/or cables and some other devices were sensitive there, too. Then I noted it only happened when the phone was connected to the charger, and it stopped after I put that specific charger and that specific cable aside. Do you perhaps see a difference in behaviour between connected and not connected to a charger? Even though the charger/cable will probably not be the root of what you're observing, it might help somewhat to eliminate their effect on the matter if there is one...

I do have recognized the ghost touches issue to be more "aggressive" sometimes when the phone is being charged. But on my device the symptoms usually fluctuate; so also when the device is not charged, sometimes the ghost touches render the device virtually unusable, and then sometimes I may have days of no ghost touches (the blind horizontal line stays still all the time).

I got a spare display from Aliexpress, but now I am waiting for the replacement camera module which Fxtec has actually sent to me (already got tracking code). I guess I'd handle the screen replaement on my own, but the camera module replacement scares me off, so I have thought that I'll offer the both jobs for a local phone mechanic.

[EskeRahn 5,460]

8 hours ago, auvo.salmi said:

I do have recognized the ghost touches issue to be more "aggressive" sometimes when the phone is being charged.

Indeed, using a charger with no ground-wire connected usually makes touch input almost impossible on mine.

For some chargers rotating the power-plug helps. And charging through a (grounded) pc I never have the issue.

[Val 75]

Another one bites the dust. 

Ghost touches, bottom half of the screen, most of the time unusable. I can't find a pattern, because it seems that it "starts" by it's own.

I didn't contact yet FxTec support, but I will. Based on the response time, I preffered first to buy a screen from aliexpress. Anyway, I'll ask FxTec to send me a screen so I'll replace it myself, to avoid the back and forth delays ans costs. If it'll arrive after the one I've bought, it'll be a spare.

Because the phone has a mind of it's own when clicking trough the apps and menus, it managed to disable my speakerphone function. The other party hear me, but I can't hear anything. All volumes are maxxed, of course. Any ideas?

[Val 75]

So... one little update. I've contacted FxTec regarding the display and this is the response they gave me:

"While we do offer display replacements, unfortunately, our Pro1 displays are currently out of stock and we expect them to be back in November this year. You can either order a display from us for £149 GBP, or you can order a third-party display with quicker shipping at https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001300088859.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.4b6b295d5hlQAY&algo_pvid=adde8213-b7ad-4115-927b-2c3dbecfba66&algo_expid=adde8213-b7ad-4115-927b-2c3dbecfba66-8&btsid=2100bddf16231558140824462e5bea&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603_ 

Please note, the Aliexpress displays will need you to swap the camera and the proximity sensors on the display to the new display, while our original displays come with a new set of cameras and sensors. The third-party displays require a little more involvement sometimes.

You can find a video on how to replace the display at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZHf-kyJWM20qemaSB-L1DVSXGFes9Ofd/view?usp=sharing. 

Please let us know which option you prefer."
 

I've received my phone in February 2020 and it was bought with 2 years warranty. Some of you know how and when the warranty was "reduced" to 1 year and the FAQ section was "updated", but my purchase was before this magical update moment.

I've just asked for a screen under warranty so I can fix it myself and provided video proof of the problem. Less hassle and costs for FxTec with repairing, shipping etc.

Right now I'm having a WTF moment... I've replied and asked about the warranty. I'm very curious about their response.

[Rob. S. 1,661]

2 hours ago, Val said:

Please note, the Aliexpress displays will need you to swap the camera and the proximity sensors on the display to the new display, while our original displays come with a new set of cameras and sensors. The third-party displays require a little more involvement sometimes.

Does anyone know what this is about the camera and the proximity sensors? I didn't do anything to the camera and it was still there after the last of several screen replacements (this time doing it myself), but now, thinking about it, the proximity sensor has long since stopped to function on my device? 

[VaZso 1,998]

23 minutes ago, Rob. S. said:

Does anyone know what this is about the camera and the proximity sensors? I didn't do anything to the camera and it was still there after the last of several screen replacements (this time doing it myself), but now, thinking about it, the proximity sensor has long since stopped to function on my device? 

I think this is about the "bare metal" screen alone vs. complete screen assembly.

F(x)tec sends a full display assembly including the camera and proximity sensor while we may purchase the display alone and swap the faulty and new displays on the frame which contains the camera and proximity sensors.

Anyway, it also contains a black sticky grid in front of the speaker which should be removed from old display and installed to the new one.

As of the non-functioning proximity sensor, it can be a sensor fault but if I remember well, there is also a rubber cover installed on that sensor. So if the cover is not at a right place, it may has faulty input and lost rubber cover may also cause problems.
Theoretically, it is a two-in-one sensor which has an IR transmitter and IR receiver and if receiver senses the transmitted signal, then something is there, so it is the "close" signal while if the receiver does not sense transmitted signal, it should be the "far" signal.
If it could measure elapsed time between transmitted signal and received signal, it could also calculate distance based on the speed of light.

Anyway, how many times had you replace your screen?
I have a theory of the inappropriate fixing of the bottom part of the display, but since my second replacement, my display still works perfectly.
The fixing of my first replacement was worse than the original and it was not took too long.
I have tried to do it much better second time and so far it is good while it is being in daily use.

[Val 75]

6 hours ago, Val said:

I've replied and asked about the warranty. I'm very curious about their response.

They've finally acknowledged my warranty as (still) valid and promised to send a display (don't know if a bare one or a complete one) as soon as they'll receive the parts from China, the end of november. I'll keep you posted.

 

 

[Rob. S. 1,661]

6 hours ago, VaZso said:

Anyway, how many times had you replace your screen?

If I remember correctly, I had it replaced twice and replaced it myself one more time (always just the bare screen like they sell it on Aliexpress). I don't think there's any sticky grid or rubber cover left now in my phone. To make up for that somewhat, though, I did leave the camera window protection film on the inside of the new screen, now giving me a nice soft focus effect...! 

Other than that, everything works well, and I don't miss the proximity sensor's function that much, so I'll leave it like it is for the time being. But is seems like I should try to get one of Fxtec's complete screen assemblies at some point...

Edited November 4, 2021 by Rob. S.

[ToniCipriani 194]

So I sent another follow up to support since they were looking at "a large batch of screens" in October. We're half-way through November yet more radio silence from F(x). They didn't even bother replying at this point.

[Chris2 7]

Hey guys,

unfortunately I am facing the ghost touching issues since two days making usage of the phone almost impossible. So I will contact the fxtec support. Does anybody know how to figure out if I still got warranty? I'm not sure if I have 1 or 2 years. There is no information on that on the invoice or in my account...

[OKSun 103]

32 minutes ago, Chris2 said:

Hey guys,

unfortunately I am facing the ghost touching issues since two days making usage of the phone almost impossible. So I will contact the fxtec support. Does anybody know how to figure out if I still got warranty? I'm not sure if I have 1 or 2 years. There is no information on that on the invoice or in my account...

Given the number of such cases, it is clearly a flaw in one of the components of the device. I understand that fxtec is nicely providing replacement screen to all persons facing this issue,  who have requested one replacement screen. This shows one more time that they are a reliable company. If this does not happen this way, please let us know.

Edited November 21, 2021 by OKSun

[Hook 3,020]

2 hours ago, Chris2 said:

Hey guys,

unfortunately I am facing the ghost touching issues since two days making usage of the phone almost impossible. So I will contact the fxtec support. Does anybody know how to figure out if I still got warranty? I'm not sure if I have 1 or 2 years. There is no information on that on the invoice or in my account...

I believe any Pro1 has the two year warranty since the change to one year was made somewhere around March 2021 and I don't think any Pro1s were being supplied at that time.   In my case (my touchscreen stopped working ), they agreed that, since I took reception of my Pro1 in December 10th, 2019, I was still under warranty.

Just be aware that you will have to be patient as while they will likely agree to the screen replacement, you will have to be patient as they have no screens in stock and likely won't until the Pro1x becomes available.

[Chris2 7]

Thanks for your answers. I just contacted the support. I received my phone last year in August, so they should agree. Hopefully, the replacement of the screen won't take to long.

[ToniCipriani 194]

So my replacement screen that I ordered a week and a half ago on Aliexpress came in. I'm very convinced at this point F(x) is just trying to weasel out of granting the warranty, if some random parts supplier can get me the screen this quick from China...

 

[Hook 3,020]

32 minutes ago, ToniCipriani said:

So my replacement screen that I ordered a week and a half ago on Aliexpress came in. I'm very convinced at this point F(x) is just trying to weasel out of granting the warranty, if some random parts supplier can get me the screen this quick from China...

 

It's a little bit apples and oranges,  AliExpress is a large distribution expediter that can afford to keep all kinds of parts stocked in large quantities.  FxTec doesn't have the capital to keep large volumes of parts on hand and I'm pretty sure they have ordered/are ordering all the parts at once for assembling the Pro1x (including all the spare screen assemblies they need and which have been ordered on IGG) to minimize their costs.

I should point out that I don't actually know this is what is going on, but it would be my guess.

Edited November 21, 2021 by Hook

[VaZso 1,998]

31 minutes ago, Hook said:

It's a little bit apples and oranges,  AliExpress is a large distribution expediter that can afford to keep all kinds of parts stocked in large quantities.  FxTec doesn't have the capital to keep large volumes of parts on hand and I'm pretty sure they have ordered/are ordering all the parts at once for assembling the Pro1x (including all the spare screen assemblies they need and which have been ordered on IGG) to minimize their costs.

I should point out that I don't actually know this is what is going on, but it would be my guess.

Additionally, they may be in contact directly with manufacturer and Aliexpress has a lot of not really controled resellers.
Moreover, they may need to order high quantity and I think a better price (mass order) and finally, they need to also add display frame ad internal PCB which they may also need to manufacture in mass...

As far as I know, F(x)tec has never sold displays directly but a complete outer part of display frame.

[ToniCipriani 194]

But as an end-user, all I know is I had to pay out of my pocket to get something that was promised to be warrantied, and it was constantly pushed back and never delivered. It's a poor user experience, end of story.

[Rob. S. 1,661]

By the way, to me it seems some (if not most or even all) of the cheap screens which come through Aliexpress have a minor flaw in that the lower (seen in portrait orientation) two corners of the screen are not fully active, a small outermost part is blackened. While some of us might not even notice let alone care (only some sellers even mention this), it's something the manufacturer might not want to accept. And screens without such small faults might indeed be difficult to get for anyone at this point, not just FxTec. 

Edited November 21, 2021 by Rob. S.