Bangle.js 2 touch screen does not work

[allstone]

Yesterday suddenly my watch stopped responding to touch screen. It would seem it senses "something" and "sometimes". I have managed to reset to the recovery screen only to get this error:

Uncaught Error: I2C Error: Arbitration (start)

I have found and read these threads:
https://github.com/orgs/espruino/discussions/3375
https://github.com/orgs/espruino/discussions/7294
https://github.com/orgs/espruino/discussions/4293
https://github.com/orgs/espruino/discussions/7700

So I have tried:

Bangle.on('drag',print);
Bangle.setLCDTimeout(0);Bangle.setLCDPower(1);Bangle.setGPSPower(1);Bangle.setHRMPower(1);Bangle.setCompassPower(1);Bangle.setBarometerPower(1);
Bangle.setLocked(0);
Bangle.setLocked(1);Bangle.setLocked(0);
Bangle.setLocked(1);
Bangle.on('swipe', print);
Bangle.on('tap', print);
D36.read(); <------- always returns true
E.getBattery();
setInterval(function() { print("Battery: ",E.getBattery()); }, 5000);
Bangle.setLocked(0);
Bangle.touchRd(0xa7); <------- always returns 255

So I managed to drain watch completely (would not turn on) and charge back to 100%. As well as factory reset and recover. And I also downgraded to v24 from v25 firmware. No changes - touch screen does not work.

I have recorded several videos to see whats happening: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ZCy_dhXOc5cKt7jnxOAAJTgCGKyYVC97?usp=drive_link

Anything else I could try.. or is it a hardware issue and the touch is cooked?

[gfwilliams]

Hi - thanks for trying all of that. The fact that it's showing the I2C Error but only when you press implies that the touchscreen is working but it's the communications between it and the Bangle that are broken. The IRQ line would be being asserted but when the Bangle goes to read from the I2C bus it can't find the touchscreen (as evidenced by your touchRd).

I'd be pretty sure that's a hardware issue I'm afraid. It's rare this happens, but usually when it does it's a sign that the inside of the Bangle has got wet somehow and the connections have started to corrode. Could it have got submerged it water recently?

If so it'd be well worth leaving it somewhere warm and dry for a week, and see if that improves matters at all. It might actually be enough to bring it back to life.

Otherwise it might be that there's corrosion on the connector between the touchscreen and the PCB and just re-seating that connector would fix it, however removing the screen is quite a difficult process.

[gfwilliams]

Wow, thanks for trying all that - I'm sorry it didn't work. What country are you in? And when did you buy your Bangle? We do have spare LCD display+touch assemblies that aren't super expensive (£12) but I can't say for sure that it would fix it or not - the touch IC is directly on the flex PCB to the screen, so short of a hardware failure in the chip it seems unlikely it would be a failure there.

The "tap" events you're seeing there come from the accelerometer (not the screen) so that's what you'd expect I'm afraid.

If you're in the UK I'd be happy to send you a screen just to try out and you could send it back if it didn't work - but outside the UK the postage costs would be too high. Otherwise what I've been doing is where a Bangle has broken, if it's not in warranty I've been offering a new one for half price.

[allstone]

Np. I just wanted to fix it if possible. If I cant then I cant I guess. Just strange that upon tap it feels it and returns error, so its interesting what is actually here at fault.

touch IC is directly on the flex PCB to the screen

ah, I see I see..

If you're in the UK

Im afraid Im in Lithuania. Just for trying out new screen assembly and seeing if it works, for the sports it would be interesting, but not sure not sure.

Otherwise what I've been doing is where a Bangle has broken, if it's not in warranty I've been offering a new one for half price.

Hm, Ive bought the watch on 08/07/2023 order #9012 so its still under 2 years, so should still be under warranty. But you think then the main pcb is at fault right? Well.. if it is so, most likely I need a new watch anyways.. But maybe I could get it wrapped/taped outside with screen not glued yet, so that I could at least try with the current one, just to see whats really at fault here. But maybe thats not suggested, a.k.a. maybe my old watch could fry new screen if main pcb is at fault or smth. But its sooo strange..

[gfwilliams]

To be honest by the time we've sent a screen to Lithuania and returned it here the postage would come to close to what a half price Bangle would cost. It's hard to know whether the issue is LCD or the PCB though, but I guess it's one or the other.

Yes, EU warranty is 24 months for manufacturing defects, although I believe a lot of manufacturers place the bar for repair/replacement quite high after 12 months. If you're happy to send the old watch body back then we can try and replace the screen here or if that doesn't work get a replacement out to you though?

[allstone]

here the postage would come to close to what a half price Bangle would cost.

postage and customs surely will calculate vat, at least on one said, but could be both custom offices.. We could try return hts codes and temporarily import forms, but still would need to mark repair and replacement costs, So most likely you will have to pay upon receiving. On my end, declaring and providing custom documents here could also cost 20-30eur just for providing documents. So it might get more or less expensive, depending on different factors I guess.

So maybe lets arrange for a replacement.

Otherwise what I've been doing is where a Bangle has broken, if it's not in warranty I've been offering a new one for half price.

Even if its in warranty, I like what youre doing and want to support you, so I dont mind paying half the price anyways. So if you could just arrange a replacement before it got out of hand with the returns, customs or frying any other replacement and whatnot, I think that would be the best way to go in this case. I see only black color is available and black is awesome btw so it can be black :)

[gfwilliams]

Thanks! That's great! Please can you email gw@espruino.com and link this thread and I'll email you back a discount code for the shop. If I'm shipping anyway it won't cost any extra to put in a spare screen too so I'll do that, and then maybe if we're lucky you can recover the old Bangle as well. If not there are still a few things you can use the old Bangle for (remote temperature/pressure sensor, door open sensor, etc) even if the touchscreen doesn't work.