Vibration motor issues
 

So for some reason my n900 has been having vibration issues.
Vibration seems very random. Sometimes it vibrates normally. Sometimes it's just a high pitch. Sometimes its a very low vibration. Now it's just not working anymore. Did the motor fail? Or? Sounds fixable?

Re: Vibration motor issues
 

I have same problem. No idea what is the problem

Re: Vibration motor issues
 

Damn. I just hope it isn't permanent damage... It would suck to have to replace this phone so soon...\

EDIT; welp, now it isnt vibrating at all, after setting it to vibrate for an hour straight.

Re: Vibration motor issues
 

lack of lubrication on motor?

Re: Vibration motor issues
 

had the same problem, first it would vibrate just here and then, then later it would vibrate only if i shook the device when receiving a call.. after a while it stoped vibrating at all. so i sent the phone to repair and they replaced it with a new one. so i guess the vibration problem can't be fixed.

Re: Vibration motor issues
 

well maybe the little motor just failed...i dont know where it is on this phone, but my last phone was a Nokia 6680 and the vibrator was in a very easy place, easy to change... maybe see some disassembly videos of the N900 to see where it might be and if its easy to change or not.

Re: Vibration motor issues
 

I checked videos, couldn't find any obvious vibration parts...
Unfortunately I bought this second-hand, so I lack warranty priviledges, or else I'd have sent it in... :(

Re: Vibration motor issues
 

Damn, my N900 is being repaired right now because of broken USB-Port and I forgot to mention that it has this issue with the vibrator too! :mad:

Re: Vibration motor issues
 

mine seems a bit random too.

Re: Vibration motor issues
 

From what I can tell, (looking at the level 1 &2 service manual) the motor is fixed directly to the underside of the mainboard.

You can get the service manuals from: N900 Service Manuals and check it out.

Re: Vibration motor issues
 

Nokia keeps records of when each device was manufactured, if it was less than a year ago you can probably get it repaired under warranty anyway. May be worth going to Nokia's website and checking.

Re: Vibration motor issues
 

I had a similar problem, and that happened when I change some settings on the governor. I chaged them back, but the problem was still there. I had to reflash and the problem dissapear. I advice you to do the same:)

Re: Vibration motor issues
 

It happens even when running Android, so I don't think it's a software issue, right?
I'll look into the service manual... I hope it isn't too risky to open it up?g

Re: Vibration motor issues
 

I get this issue every now and then, a decent shock to the phone seems to fix mine. I tend to just drop it on my carpetted floor and vibration works again.

Don't know if any of you are brave enough to try that though.

Re: Vibration motor issues
 

It got dropped down a flight of stairs since, but it didnt fix it :P
i checked the service manual, and I couldn't find anything that looked like a vibration motor =/

Re: Vibration motor issues
 

I have the same issue right now. This phone have near a year of use.
I just noticed sometimes the vibration just vibrating in some other frequency. Not regular. Now it is like sliding.

I just dissasembled this phone one time ago just for curiosity and noticed that yes there are a vibrator in a place near metal shields. But I don't think it is easy to replace but I think we can use some glue in order to stick the piece. But anyway I don't think that is an easy work.
The vibrator is very little and it is in a small space.
The unbalanced piece (what makes the vibration) is very little and is like the same size as the axis of the motor. So we cannot simply use a clamp to fit it newly. But we can try.

Just when I had my phone dissasembled I was thinking that the vibrator just can fail. Because it did not seem robust enought.

Bad for now, it is just failing. And more bad: I'm in travel and here don't have tools to repair it. So I must use it damaged as is.

But the good news are that: What if you get damaged another part of the phone because it vibrates? Really this phone support so strong vibrations? The camera lens supports the vibrations?

I prefer not to use vibration for that. Instead I prefer a more weak vibration. It is possible? How? How to modify the motor for that? Can we use another motor or it is software controlled speed?

Here are a image of PCB where the vibrator is (marked in red).

Re: Vibration motor issues
 

i doubt that you have disassembled your device before :rolleyes: cause if you do they you will realize that the vibrator has been soder tight to the mainboard...a glue will not make the vibrator stick cause once you have replace it you need to soder it back just like before...if you don't then the vibrator will never works if you use glue....
the best way to replace it is by sending it to a mobile repair shop but don't be shock after replacing it cause the new vibrator will be stronger than the original one....

Re: Vibration motor issues
 

I have disassembled it but I don't remember all the things. And just because it is a fragile device I just don't want to touch it too much. So I disassembled and assembled it in a time.

I mean puting glue in the mobile metal piece not unsolder it entirely, why? I don't think it can be unsoldered because all the pieces in the pcb are assembled like "if something fails, change the entire pcb". No apparently interchangeable components. Just the copper layout are apparently between two "glued" pcbs. I had never seen that kind of pcb without copper layout in sight.

I try to help, why you put in doubt what I did? I don't come here to lie. I come to help and try to get help too.

Anyway as I said before for now I don't take care about the vibrator because it can damage the camera mechanics (I don't have tests about that but I have suspicions). I prefer a working camera vs a working vibration.

Bye and thank you anyway for your comment.

Re: Vibration motor issues
 

I had this "high pitch" issue a few times. The high pitch does not seem to be indication of vibration motor permanent damage. The motor just get stuck (maybe because of dust). Each time I solved it by:
1. Start vibration by script (it is somewhere in d-bus wiki).
2. Hold the device and hit with it my second hand with various positions.
3. Repeat until high pitch is gone and vibration is strong.
4. Stop vibration by script.

Re: Vibration motor issues
 

I had this same problem (high pitched noise and no vibration), but was unable to solve the problem with the vibration script method outlined by dwaradzyn. I opened up the device and was able to remove the lint manually. Works great now! Thanks to everyone in this thread for sharing your insights.

Re: Vibration motor issues
 

Hi guys, today I finally opened up my N900 to do the fix-it-before-it's-too-late soldering to the usb port and I was able to fix the vibration issue, too.
I had already tried both scripts described in this thread but they didn't work.
Today I switched on the phone while the case was still open (holding the battery in place with my hand!) and the pcb exposed. I ran the script described here while manually rotating motor's eccentric and after some manual turns it started spinning! :D
Hope this may help someone else!