[homeboy#IM]

I have a ATT s4 with the screen completed cracked? My friend has a s4 sprint that he is selling. My question is if i buy the s4 sprint version and swap my att motherboard to the sprint will it work?

Posted via Android Central App

[gollum18]

I have a ATT s4 with the screen completed cracked? My friend has a s4 sprint that he is selling. My question is if i buy the s4 sprint version and swap my att motherboard to the sprint will it work?

Posted via Android Central App

No need to swap out the motherboard, doing so would ruin the phone anyway as the ESN/IMEI is hardcoded onto it (which is different for every phone). You can however switch out the screen, just be sure to swap the entire component (both the display and digitizer), otherwise you will end up with touch screen sensitivity issues.

It isn't that bad if you just swap the entire display unit, I'm pretty sure it just sits on the board and is basically plug and play with a ribbon cable or something similar. I'm unsure as I've never done so myself, but have seen others do it.

Sent from the stars...

[bpramod24]

What I heard is motherboard has all the Identification such as IMEI ESN Serial number ....are you sure that this identification is hardcoded somewhere else in the phone besides motherboard???

I was looking for a bad ESN galaxy s3 phone for a cheaper price to put my s3 phone motherboard into it as my phone has lcd/glass broken..thought just moving motherboard into bad esn phone would be enough... taking out glass and lcd screen without breaking is 99% impossible (atleast lcd screen).

[lee_michael_f92]

I have a ATT s4 with the screen completed cracked? My friend has a s4 sprint that he is selling. My question is if i buy the s4 sprint version and swap my att motherboard to the sprint will it work?

Posted via Android Central App

Just buy a new LCD digitizer. Or if you need just the screen you can buy that off trade for like 25.00usd+shipping.

Sent from where the wild things are.

[Mary Sharp]

And on what planet can you get an S4 screen for $25? Cheapest I've found is $208! I am currently trying to fit my AT&T motherboard onto a Sprint screen and there are some fitment issues!

[Shawn Vega]

I was wondering about the same thing, because I found a us cellular s4 for $150 and I have a t-mobile s4 with a broken screen.

[Benjamin Peacock]

Did this work for you?

- - - Updated - - -

What I heard is motherboard has all the Identification such as IMEI ESN Serial number ....are you sure that this identification is hardcoded somewhere else in the phone besides motherboard???

I was looking for a bad ESN galaxy s3 phone for a cheaper price to put my s3 phone motherboard into it as my phone has lcd/glass broken..thought just moving motherboard into bad esn phone would be enough... taking out glass and lcd screen without breaking is 99% impossible (atleast lcd screen).

Did this work for you?

[Mouelk]

Your ATT board will not fit into the Sprint housing, ATT is a GSM phone while the Sprint is a CDMA phone.

[metle_geek]

All you need to do is open the back take out the screws put the board in an anti static electronic components bag get a heat gun and a plastic spatchula small enough to fit in and hea the adheasive off of the frame and do the same for the sprint get some more adheasive and reapply the screen they sell kits for it you just need a heat gun to loosen the glue a hair dryer works too but it takes forever

from my wonderfully rooted gs4 woot

[metle_geek]

You simy need to transplant the screen but take out the mother board so you dont roast it with the heat gun

from my wonderfully rooted gs4 woot

[metle_geek]

http://www.etradesupply.com/catalogs...t/?q=galaxy+s4 they have genuine oem parts little pricy but its 100% authentic

from my wonderfully rooted gs4 woot

[sk8trix]

if youre still going to swap your motherboard i made this vid on how to take apart your galaxy S 4 so you dont end up breaking anything important.

[nvan7891]

No need to swap out the motherboard, doing so would ruin the phone anyway as the ESN/IMEI is hardcoded onto it (which is different for every phone). You can however switch out the screen, just be sure to swap the entire component (both the display and digitizer), otherwise you will end up with touch screen sensitivity issues.

It isn't that bad if you just swap the entire display unit, I'm pretty sure it just sits on the board and is basically plug and play with a ribbon cable or something similar. I'm unsure as I've never done so myself, but have seen others do it.

Sent from the stars...

(Everything below applies to CDMA phones. I mostly deal with sprint, but most applies to verizon as well. I do not have much experience with GSM phones and networks, although the basics od swapping a MB are pretty similar. CDMA and GSM boards are NOT the same, and when getting a replacement, make sure you get the appropriate one, preferably one that was used on your same carrier. Even though this process is possible, it is not for everyone, and requires knowledge far beyond what is required for the simple flashing of roms.)

No. For clarity, no, it does not "ruin" the phone. If the replacement board has a clean ESN/MEID, it can be activated like normal. If the replacement has a bad ESN, then a migration of serial numbers (ESN/MEID/IMEI) from the old board to the new is required. If known, it helps to also move over the MIN, and account info etc, that way it can be activated without calling sprint. AFAIK, migrating your own good, clean ESN over to a replacement board with a bad one is not considered "cloning," or illegal. If you aren't careful, you can (with sprint) get an "Error code 16," with which you most likely wont have data, and will get an recorded error message when trying to call out. Just hang on the line and you are automatically connected to customer service. They typically don't ask anything beyond the account PIN, and will take you through resetting the phone.

The tricky part is really making sure the data (3G and 4G) works. It helps to keep it as simple as possible, know what you need to move, and how to move it before hand. If the old board is still functional, make full NV backups, as well as any other info you can manage first. Also, make sure you never have two boards with the same serial numbers on and active at the same time. They would be considered "cloned," and if the carrier notices they may flag your account. As long as you aren't actually trying to use two phones with one ESN, you should be fine, just be careful.

Successful MB migration can be achieved with a number of freeware programs like QPST, CDMAWS, QXDM, and DFS (my personal favorite). The actual process is too involved for me to spell it out, but all the info is available online. It mostly consists of backing up NV items from the original, and restoring to the replacement. I went through the process about twice before I really got it down. Only once did I have to use my riff box to recover a phone when I wrote an efs image to the wrong partition.

But again, just because you are very familiar with flashing ROMs, using odin etc, does not mean you can do this. They are very different processes, and involve a deeper understanding of how a cell phone operates. If you feel like you shouldn't be messing with it, you probably shouldn't. However, if it's something you're interested in, and just want to learn, go ahead and find a used phone with a cracked screen (the cheapest method of obtaining a replacement board, I have found. Try craigslist), and start reading up. If phones are your thing, gaining a deeper understanding of how they work, and learning to perform such tasks can be pretty rewarding.

What I heard is motherboard has all the Identification such as IMEI ESN Serial number ....are you sure that this identification is hardcoded somewhere else in the phone besides motherboard???

I was looking for a bad ESN galaxy s3 phone for a cheaper price to put my s3 phone motherboard into it as my phone has lcd/glass broken..thought just moving motherboard into bad esn phone would be enough... taking out glass and lcd screen without breaking is 99% impossible (atleast lcd screen).

No, the motherboard is the only thing that holds the serial numbers. The ESN/IMEI/IMED is printed on a sticker behind the battery, but that's just a sticker. It's not like a computer, the MB is the only board in the phone. Hard-coding serial numbers to the digitizer or the loudspeaker (only 2 other electronic parts in the s3) would just be silly, if even possible.

Really, a galaxy s3 consists of the screen/digitizer/casing, the motherboard, the battery, and the plastic back. The glass/screen/digitizer are technically separate entities, but they are all mashed up into the main "casing" of the phone. Then the board sets into that (which has all the ram, chips, storage etc attached), and then the back panel closes up the phone. Buying a used phone with a cracked screen on craigslist for the motherboard is usually much cheaper and easier than buying a new screen/digitizer combo. I've gotten replacement boards, 16gb and 32gb, for 50-80$ through craigslist time and time again by posting an add looking to buy used phones with cracked screens/cosmetic damage. If you have a good ESN, it's very simple since you dont need to worry about the replacement phone having a clean one. Just be sure the phone for water damage before exchanging money. From my experience, trying to buy a replacment phone or board off ebay is straight robbery most of the time.

Did this work for you?

- - - Updated - - -



Did this work for you?

It works if you do it correctly, and use a corresponding replacement board (CDMA (sprint and verizon) to CDMA, GSM to GSM) CDMA and GSM have actual hardware differences, and for all intensive purposes are not interchangeable.

[rich scheurich]

there is nothing stored anywhere else concerning the esn or imei except for on the logic board. that is a fact. the only other identifier is the word on the cover...lol. That is fact. If you need to swap boards from one s3 to another, the only thing to consider is that say and sphd710 will not perfectly fit in an say sght999. they are both s3, s and the dimensions of the board are the same, but the raised ares that surround the camera compnent is different...hole is in same place but boarder is a little different in that area. I took a dremel, smoothed that are out, and it worked beautifully on one i did at a friends request for him...but if you are putting and sght999 from one provider into a case from another provider due to a screen issue, or any other model s3 into another providers case...it will simply be identified by the information on the transplanted motherboard. This is absolute fact. If you have any other questions, feel free to message me and i am more than happy to help. I enjoy repairing these phones as a hobby and always like helping when i can.

Rich.

[michael khaliq]

so if i have a verizon s3 mother board would it only work in verizon s3 or would i be able to put it in a sprint s3 as well? does the sprint phone model matter?

[metle_geek]

Hmm I would try to get a teardown semantic to know for shure

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using AC Forums mobile app

[dave6100]

Rich

Do you know how to get pics saved to a Samsung S4 device (not on card) off the device with a pswd if the LCD is bad and can't key in the pswd. I tried to use Kies but you have to key pswd only on the device (not in Kies software) and cant on ph due to bad LCD.

Any ideas how I can get my pics

Thanks

Dave

[Jon-Paul Davies]

i have a at&t s4 I 5337. Will an s4 zoom c101 lcd and screen fit onto my broken one?

[Korissa Faulkner]

Oh god, finally, I took a Dremel to mine aswell and it closes fine but ......... My s4 doesn't read sim card it has a circle with a line threw it. By the way I had a broken screen on a T-Mobile and a bad esn on a sprint. I don't know which antenna I'm supposed to use after putting back together. Aside from the dremeling what else must be done to get service on my soon to be t-mobile s4?

there is nothing stored anywhere else concerning the esn or imei except for on the logic board. that is a fact. the only other identifier is the word on the cover...lol. That is fact. If you need to swap boards from one s3 to another, the only thing to consider is that say and sphd710 will not perfectly fit in an say sght999. they are both s3, s and the dimensions of the board are the same, but the raised ares that surround the camera compnent is different...hole is in same place but boarder is a little different in that area. I took a dremel, smoothed that are out, and it worked beautifully on one i did at a friends request for him...but if you are putting and sght999 from one provider into a case from another provider due to a screen issue, or any other model s3 into another providers case...it will simply be identified by the information on the transplanted motherboard. This is absolute fact. If you have any other questions, feel free to message me and i am more than happy to help. I enjoy repairing these phones as a hobby and always like helping when i can.

Rich.

[Lyanne Laven]

I have that exact same issue. I broke my s4 from tmobile. but i found a us cellular etc. for a way cheaper price. I want to test it to see if it'll work but i don't think anyone has come to a conclusion if it really works or not by switching mother boards.

The only time I'd typically switch the mother boards is if one has a bad esn or imei.

[Eric Stiffler]

I am very familiar with swapping out motherboards.

[Eric Stiffler]

I'm on a name-to-name basis with the merchant to my digitizers.

[Eric Stiffler]

These kind of videos seem like a sure way to get hits on YouTube.

[Don Kleppinger]

I had a galaxy s2 that had a bad system board. My wife had a s2 that she cracked the screen on. So I took the mother board out of the phone with the broken screen and put it in the phone with a good screen. It booted right up and I was able to make a call and it seemed like everything works. If I display system info it shows the correct ESN number for my wife's phone that is still printed on the back of the old cracked screen. I'll have to try and get the label off because the label now has the wrong ESN

[Sodiya Samsamey]

Oh god, finally, I took a Dremel to mine aswell and it closes fine but ......... My s4 doesn't read sim card it has a circle with a line threw it. By the way I had a broken screen on a T-Mobile and a bad esn on a sprint. I don't know which antenna I'm supposed to use after putting back together. Aside from the dremeling what else must be done to get service on my soon to be t-mobile s4?

I have a broken screen at&t s3 i747 and will like to place the mother board in either sprint or verizon.Please,will it work?