Updating this thread (hopefully for the final time) for archival purposes in case anyone else comes across this problem.
Bullet points for what anyone else with this problem should take away
If you happen to also have this problem with your 1020, feel free to PM me and I'll see if I can help.
--- Original post below ---
Today may be a very sad day for me. I just got word that my beloved 1020 may be broken beyond repair. It all started 2 weeks ago.... came back to my phone when it was just sitting on the kitchen table and noticed the LED light on the back was stuck on. It was literally just sitting there untouched and somehow decided to go haywire. Certainly wasn't from a drop or anything like that.
No matter what I did, I couldn't get it to shut off. Soft reset. Nope. Hard reset. Nope. Full device wipe. Nope. Recovery via WPRT. Nope. Even let the battery die down and unfortunately, the light still stayed on (I only ran it down to the point where it was "dead" according to Windows... let it run for another several days and it still was on, but very faint).
Because it was out of warranty, I sent it in to Palco, Nokia's sole authorized repair center in the US. I just heard back from them and the prognosis isn't good:
If they say it can't be repaired, not sure what else to do at this point. They're the only authorized repair center in the US and since it's out of warranty, Microsoft wants pretty much nothing to do with it. I bought this off-contract the day it came out. Do I now have a $650 paperweight? Has anyone else had this problem and been able to get it fixed? Is there any part I could buy somewhere to attempt to do the repair myself?
Bullet points for what anyone else with this problem should take away
- First, if your phone is still under warranty with MS / Nokia, obviously go that route. You'll probably get a refurbished phone in return, but it's probably the simplest route to go
- If you're in the US, don't even bother with Palco (the only authorized service center in the US). I sent mine in and they said they couldn't fix it because it was some problem in an IC and returned the phone to me. In the end, I was only out $35 for that, but it was kind of a waste of time. Knowing what the fix is and how simple it actually is, it's obvious to me they just didn't want to try to fix it. Also, when it was returned to me there was a giant fingerprint on the inside of the lens. Fortunately it was easily cleaned off, but that's just unacceptable
- The only solution as far as I can tell is to replace the flash module. I completely discharged the battery and even did a factory reset, but that did nothing
- Purchased a cell phone disassembly kit off of Amazon and followed the directions from the video linked in post #7
- For the flash module, search eBay for "Nokia 1020 Flash" and look for ones that say they're OEM modules. They'll likely be used ones, but much to my surprise, there are 3rd party replacements being sold that don't seem to work
- The first one I bought was a 3rd party one that only worked for about a day and only fired at full power. The seller I bought the knockoff one from was "ctpbuycolimited168". I'm sure there's more, they just happened to be the one I bought from. The reason I'm posting them specifically as a "stay-away-from" is because they also sold my email address off to some 3rd party people as well (they apologized when I confronted them about it), so I think that in of itself is reason to avoid them
If you happen to also have this problem with your 1020, feel free to PM me and I'll see if I can help.
--- Original post below ---
Today may be a very sad day for me. I just got word that my beloved 1020 may be broken beyond repair. It all started 2 weeks ago.... came back to my phone when it was just sitting on the kitchen table and noticed the LED light on the back was stuck on. It was literally just sitting there untouched and somehow decided to go haywire. Certainly wasn't from a drop or anything like that.
No matter what I did, I couldn't get it to shut off. Soft reset. Nope. Hard reset. Nope. Full device wipe. Nope. Recovery via WPRT. Nope. Even let the battery die down and unfortunately, the light still stayed on (I only ran it down to the point where it was "dead" according to Windows... let it run for another several days and it still was on, but very faint).
Because it was out of warranty, I sent it in to Palco, Nokia's sole authorized repair center in the US. I just heard back from them and the prognosis isn't good:
The technician has returned your phone to me as it cannot be repaired. The failure is related to the combo memory IC chip and that is a part that we cannot change or repair.
If they say it can't be repaired, not sure what else to do at this point. They're the only authorized repair center in the US and since it's out of warranty, Microsoft wants pretty much nothing to do with it. I bought this off-contract the day it came out. Do I now have a $650 paperweight? Has anyone else had this problem and been able to get it fixed? Is there any part I could buy somewhere to attempt to do the repair myself?
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