Chosen Solution
Hi all, I hope you can help me with this one as I am out of ideas: iPhone 7 screen replaced. Back plate, home button and front camera flex transfered (as I have done in the past already multiple times with success). When powering up I end up in a reboot loop. Disconnecting front camera flex lets the device continue to its iOS without problems. Tried a new front camera flex without success. Tried another screen without success apart from one time when a new screen (with already attached back plate in-the-box) allowed a SINGLE normal bootup. Second restart gave bootloop again however (lucky stroke or Apple restrictions caught off guard?). Also interesting: when I plug in the flex when in iOS it disables the previously working home button but doesn’t provoke a crash/reboot. Very curious all this but the fact that flex worked once or hinders home button working let’s me suspect software, rather than a damaged flex or fpc connector :/ Oh yeah and a return to the original parts doesn’t help either… Thanks in advance for any ideas! @jessabethany: I’d sure love to hear your thoughts on this one :)
There is definitely an interaction between fcam flex and home button. The common fault is damage to the fcam flex combined with low quality replacement flexes out there.
After hours and hours of trying, testing and comparing/eliminating I finally found it… Or so I hope. The device now boots nicely with everything working well. Only the proximity sensor seems a bit demanding before going dark but that might be a personal feeling as I am used to iphone 6 models going dark instantly perhaps :) My lucky stroke had some help: another iphone 7 that was badly damaged was brought in and did not need a quick repair so I could ‘play’ and compare. Solution: I taped over the back plate with some kaptan tape on the bottom where it’s glued to the flexes, avoiding taping over the little hole in the plate but covering almost all of the glue residues. Also I straightened the camera flex. Everything now works great… Restarted multiple times. Seems like it was a bent flex or some false contact by means of the back plate. The other device I used for comparison & analysis also had a broken home button. Maybe this helped to better determine the cause… time will tell :)
