VCC Board Repairs
Education • Science & Tech
The goal is to share solutions & techniques for microsoldering & data recovery repairs. I'll cover mostly iPhone & iPad motherboard repairs.
Interested? Want to learn more about the community?

Learn more first
iPad 7 Error 9 - Had no touch after. How I fixed it

This iPad 7 came in for Bootlooping/Error 9 after battery replacement.

Error 9 is really common after battery replacement. The theory is that a fully dead battery will kill the NAND when it's stuck bootlooping for a long time.

Although I can't say for sure that's why. But almost every Error 9 I see, has a history of a battery replacement right before it happened.

Error 9 requires a NAND replacement. In this case, the NAND was fully dead. I could not read it on my P14 Pro. (My JC P7 wasn't working at all either).

But I was able to at least get the original Serial Number when it was stuck in Recovery Mode.

I replaced the NAND with a 32GB NAND from an iPhone 7. I wrote a generic SYSCFG from an iPad 6 (2018) due to the P14 Pro software not having iPad 7 for some reasons. And I made sure to edit the junk SN it created & write the original SN, even though I didn't have the original WiFi/BT Address.

I then soldered the NAND onto the board, restored it & it was successfully booting, but No Touch & would not activate (due to wrong WiFi/BT Address).

I then used Purple Mode to "Query original factory code" which gave me the correct SN, WiFi, BT for this device within seconds. Maybe like 30 sec or so.

I also noticed in Purple Mode, the P14 Pro software had iPad 7 generic SYSCFG option. So I also clicked "Write standard bottom layer", then edit in the correct SN, Wifi/BT Address, also edited the Model from "CH/A" to "LL/A" for USA region. Wrote all that in and then restored the iPad one more time.

Then the iPad had touch & was able to activate. Unfortunately, I am currently waiting to hear from the customer for their iCloud info. But it should be fully functional now.

This was the first time ever I've seen a bad SYSCFG cause no touch. I was certain it was actually a CPU issue, as I had tested another known good digitizer & these iPad 7 are notorious for touch problems due to CPU.

I hope you found this helpful!

I

post photo preview
Interested? Want to learn more about the community?

Learn more first
What else you may like…
Videos
Posts
Which Thermal Cam Do You Have?

If you have a Seek Thermal Cam, you're missing out if you don't have a VCC Seek Stand: https://www.vccboardrepairs.com/buy-seek-stand

Injured Gadgets just got these back in stock, so get them while you can!

It can take us a while to build these out sometimes, so they're sometimes out of stock for a while, but we're working towards always having inventory ready to build more as they sell out.

This stand makes using a thermal cam so easy. So much better than any other thermal solution on the market.

It allows you to get real close up (using my Macro Lens), and easily find where the short is coming from.

Plus it's hard free, so you can have your hands free to try to boot the device from DCPS, while having an image that is in focus & not moving around.

You can even record a video through the app, while you inject voltage into the short, so you can go back & see exactly which component was it that was heating up.

Save yourself lots of time by getting a Seek Cam, Stand & Macro Lens! ...

00:00:12
If you do consoles, you need this.

Anyone who is doing game console repairs, knows how many screws you need to remove to access the motherboard.

Especially the PS5, with the 5,000 screws or so.

If you don't already have an electric screwdriver, GET ONE ASAP.

🌟 Cordless Screwdriver with T9 Bit: https://amzn.to/3E5duCj
🌟Extended T9 Bit: https://amzn.to/3c4YJac

It's rechargeable through micro USB and allows you to easily swap the tips out. You can also fold it to be straight or L shape.

Let me know below if you are already using an electric screwdriver 👇👇

00:00:03
Samsung S23 Ultra Data Recovery - When a CPU Swap Was the Only Option

Device came in water damaged after a previous repair attempt by another technician.

Board had scraped areas near the battery connector, unnecessary UV mask around multiple components, and incomplete inspection (main CPU shield was never removed).

Initial checks:

VPH power and VBAT lines not shorted

1V8 rail was hard shorted

Troubleshooting process:

Removed shields that were never taken off during the previous attempt

Removed charging IC due to questionable solder work

Removed a nearby IC that was still corroded underneath

Used DCPS + thermal camera to inject voltage and attempt to locate the short

Continued inspection and testing until no further progress could be made

At that point, proceeded with a full CPU swap:

CPU, RAM, UFS, and EEPROM transplanted to a known good board

Device booted and data was successfully recovered.

Full breakdown is up on YouTube. Link in the comments below

post photo preview
Can anyone explain this to me??

I got this S23 Ultra in for data recovery and some other tech already worked on it.

But this is what I found

They scraped a whole section of the board

Doesn't make any sense why

Plus, a ton of UV mask on the components next to the FPC lol

WHYYY??

I recorded the data job on this one, so i'll be posting it soon! Let me know if you want to see it in the comments below!

post photo preview
Finally back to editing 😮‍💨

Working on a new full length YouTube video right now, and it’s a good one.

iPhone 14 Pro Max – Water Damaged Data Recovery

This board was a tricky one with corroded caps & ICs and had a bunch of issues going on.

Not your typical “replace a part and it works” type of job.

I go through the full process step-by-step:

  • diagnosing the faults

  • finding the shorts

  • clearing the corrosion

  • and getting it stable enough to recover the data

Still editing it, but it should be posted soon ✅

If you’re into board level repair or want to learn how to troubleshoot stuff like this, keep an eye out.

Video link will be in the comments when it’s live.

post photo preview
Available on mobile and TV devices
google store google store app store app store
google store google store app tv store app tv store amazon store amazon store roku store roku store
Powered by Locals