[Ethan Kyne]

Two years ago or so, I dropped my S3 on a sliding glass door railing and broke the LCD beneath the actual glass display on the top. The display itself wasn't cracked, you could only see the crack beneath the glass on the LCD itself. The phone would not turn on and only the lights would appear, (vibration, sound, and LED lights all worked).

So after such a long wait, I attempted to repair the phone myself after much researching and observing from repair videos. I purchased a LCD Display + Touch Screen Digitizer Window unit that was compatible with my MetroPCS model, SCH-R530M.

I have successfully replaced the LCD and reattached the cables myself, following techguyz708's guide on YouTube: Samsung s3 screen replacement Tutorial LCD and Digitizer. I had no cracking of the new unit which I ordered, no cracks or scratches. Connected everything together and the screen turns on perfectly, no discoloration. It boots to my previous pattern-lock screen; but unfortunately my touchscreen is unresponsive and doesn't work so I cannot get through. I have read that resetting the phone to factory settings may work, but have heard many unsuccessful reports. (I would prefer not to have to hard-reset my phone because I have many cherished photos that I would like to recover somehow but have no idea if I properly backed up my files.)


Any suggestions or ideas?

[nahoku]

Wow, 2 years ago? You must have not been using it for that time if the digitizer was broken.

It sounds more like a hardware problem with either the new digitizer, or connection to the motherboard. Hard to say really. I've never replaced a screen, but is it possible to remove/reseat the digitizer connector without pulling the new screen off? If so, you might try that.

As far as backing up you data to your PC, you would need to download and install the Samsung USB driver...
Technical Documentation | SAMSUNG Developers

You could also install Kies to see if it can talk to your phone and back it up...
Kies