HTC One M8 Motherboard Replacement

Written By: Michael Gonzalez

Comments: 19

Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

Time Required

25 - 35 minutes

Introduction

Use this guide to replace the motherboard on your HTC One M8.

Please note that your device may have a large amount of copper shielding and tape covering the back of the display assembly, as shown here. If this is the case, you'll need to gently remove it to get at the motherboard.

Tools

Parts

Step 1

Insert a SIM card eject tool or a paperclip into the small hole in the SIM card tray, located on the upper left hand side of the phone.
Press to eject the tray.
This may require a significant amount of force.

Step 2

Remove the SIM card tray assembly from the HTC One M8.
When reinserting the SIM card, ensure that it is in the proper orientation relative to the tray.

Step 3

Insert a SIM card eject tool or a paperclip into the small hole in the microSD card tray, located on the upper right hand side of the phone.
Press to eject the tray.
This may require a significant amount of force.

Step 4

Remove the microSD card tray assembly from the HTC One M8.
When reinserting the microSD card, ensure that it is in the proper orientation relative to the tray.

Step 5

Use an iOpener or heat gun to loosen the adhesive on the upper and lower speaker grilles.
Refer to the iOpener guide for info on how to use the iOpener.

Step 6

Use a plastic opening tool to gently peel up the lower speaker grille.
The adhesive is messy, and can be removed using Goo-gone.

Step 7

Use a plastic opening tool to gently peel up the upper speaker grille.

Step 8

Remove the two silver 3 mm Phillips #00 screws from the top.
Remove the four black 4 mm T5 Torx screws from the bottom.

Step 9

Work your way around the perimeter of the phone with a spudger and plastic opening picks to free the clips that secure the rear case to the display assembly.
A metal spudger is pictured, but it is best to use a nylon spudger to prevent marring the device.
Be careful not to lose the power button: it sits loosely in the top of the lower chassis.
Significant force may be required to pry the casing apart.

Step 10

Remove the two silver 2 mm Phillips #00 screws securing the battery connector to the motherboard.
Use a plastic opening tool to gently pry up the battery connector.

This caused a bit of grief for me on the reassembly. Be very mindful of the battery connector when installing the new battery. Look closely at the connector there is what appears to be a diode on the underside that needs to mate with proper contact to another diode on the motherboard. This is what actually allows communication between the phone and the motherboard. If this connection isn't mated properly you will get a 0% indicator on the screen and no charging occurring. Also the orange LED will flash 6 times and repeat. I suggest before placing the phone back together completely in the case to screw the motherboard back together and attach all ribbon cables and mate the battery. Then plug it in a charger and make sure you get proper battery communication and charging. DO NOT power on the phone at this point. Unplug the charger and put everything back together and you should be ok.

Jason Cobb - 10/01/17

I have 2 of these devices and both had Philips #000 screws holding the battery connector in this picture. If the screw doesn’t catch and turn easy then try #000 or else you risk stripping the head.

Stewart Diamond - 02/02/18

Jason Cobb’s tip is key. You saved me a lot of trouble, thank you! I didin’t get the connector mated properly at first, and that quick check let me find out. Got it the second time, the screen showed the battery percent and the normal charging screen.

Eric P - 17/03/18

Disassembly - pretty easy, don’t strip the screws and use spudger. The pictures do not show that you might have a small rubber gasket on the screw closest to the charge port…KEEP IT. I also had a white wire that attached just above the charge connector.

Assembly - as Jason said…the most frustrating part of assembly was getting that dang connector aligned into place. Put the white wire and gasket back in place before attempting. I gently used my fingernail until I felt it on the connector then had to give it a GOOD amount of force to pop in. then add the screws.

Ashley Keith (sc0rch3d) - 13/05/18

Extra note on assembly - as mentioned above, this is a great spot to stop and connect to charger without powering on. you should get a solid orange light and charging icon / percentage on the screen. make it quick with the connect and disconnect

Ashley Keith (sc0rch3d) - 13/05/18

Step 11

Use a spudger to disconnect the two (four) antenna cables.
Use the tip of a spudger to disconnect the seven ZIF connectors.
Use a pair of tweezers to gently pull the seven ribbon cables free of the connectors.

All my connectors were covered in fibrous copper tape

Karl Horton - 06/04/16

In mine, there were also two cables connecting at the top left of the motherboard to the daughterboard above as well, and where there is only one antenna cable in the bottom left of the default image, there were two.

William Miceli - 25/12/16

Tape covered my whole assembly as well and the antenna cables were the same as previous poster.

Jason Cobb - 10/01/17

The two cables at the top of the motherboard near the camera, mentioned by commenters above, will have a small rubber pad on top of them. You may wish to keep that pad. Also not pictured here is the LED surround. It can easily come loose from the motherboard. Don't lose that either.

Alex LeDonne - 19/01/17

I accidentally broke the ribbon cable in the upper left that dives under the blue daughterboard. I'm not sure how, but it was probably trying to get the tape loose. The only problem it seems to have caused is that the proximity sensor (next to the front-facing camera) doesn't work and neither does the notification LED.

KC Baltz - 26/02/17

Hi im trying to locate on internet the ZIF connector for the digitizer but its impossible to know how many PINS does it have can you help ?

Pawel Pieta - 12/04/17

Mine was covered in tape as well. I gently pealed it off and managed to leave most of it intact for when I put it back together. Also had the two cables connected at the top left, they can be detached and reattached in the same way as the other two at the bottom. Just lift them off using a spudger when detaching then hold them in place with tweezers whilst pushing down on top with a small screw driver until it clicks in when reattaching.

Ian - 18/08/17

Disassembly - I was one of the lucky ones to have pretty much this ENTIRE SPACE covered in tape. I peeled off the middle pieces completely using spudger and tweezers. for the ones over the ZIF’s….i peeled enough off to get them free then I used tweezers to lift the excess tape and my straight edge razor to cut the excess. be careful especially around the volume cables if tape is on them. At this point, disconnect the black cable on the right at the bottom and fold it away, then tackle the disconnects. the top left disconnect will be your worst enemy b/c the cable is folded under the mother board. be gentle.

Assembly - use tweezers and spudger to get the connectors back in…double check all of them. I did the top left one first as i knew it would frustrate me the most. the rest went quick and easy.

Ashley Keith (sc0rch3d) - 13/05/18

Reassembly: Before screwing the motherboard back down, connect the top left ribbon cable back into its connector. This will save you a lot of heartache, because the top left ribbon cable is just too short to force into the connector once the motherboard is screwed in.

Daniel Handojo - 17/10/18

Step 12

Remove three silver 3mm screws using T5 screwdriver.

Disassembly - Before the screws, mine had 2 wires connected (black and white) connected to motherboard at the top left. remove those first and make note of which ones goes where. then take out the screws. thankfully these are longer than the previous t5 screws, so you won’t mix them up. I also had tape covering part of the LEDs and extending onto the black microchip to the top left.

Assembly - put the screws then the wires.

Ashley Keith (sc0rch3d) - 13/05/18

Step 13

Use an iOpener or a heat gun to loosen up the adhesive securing the motherboard to the display assembly.
Use a plastic opening tool to gently pry the motherboard free of the display assembly.
At this point, the bottom speaker is still attached to the motherboard. If you are only replacing the motherboard, refer to the bottom speaker guide to swap your existing speaker to the new motherboard.

Disassembly - did NOT use a heating element. GET THE ZIF WIRES OUT OF THE WAY at this point. I started at the top middle with a pick and spudger then worked my around the right of the motherboard. gently lifted it out from right to left using spudger as needed to remove from battery.

Assembly - placement is critical here between all the wires. I started by putting the motherboard bottom in place then laying it down watching each wire was positioned correctly as I went.

Ashley Keith (sc0rch3d) - 13/05/18

Oh C'MON,YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME

janecooper915 - 19/04/20