SE z520a camera fix
phe...@gmail.com
taking pictures in their purse or pocket, due to the external camera
button that functions even with the clamshell closed. My bride and I
having had the same problem, I decided to find a fix. The usual
warranty disclaimers, blah, blah, apply.
The semicircular camera button sits in a little recess, and, when
pressed, pushes against a microswitch inside the phone case. Getting
rid of the button gets rid of the problem:
1. Turn off the phone, slide the battery cover off, and remove the
battery and SIM (just to be safe)
2. Loosen or remove the 4 screws using a Torx T6 driver. Don't lose
'em.
3. Slide a knife or other thin tool into the gap just above the
button, where the hinge appears to meet the back/antenna. Wiggle.
Gently. Excessive digging will tear up the appearance of the bezel
edge. BE GENTLE! The keypad bezel will pop up a little bit from the
back of the phone. There's another 'snap' point on the bezel about
halfway down the keypad. Gently pop this open if you need to.
4. The plastic camera button can now be removed from its track. Keep
this button in a safe place - you never know when you might change your
mind. There's a bit of white plastic underneath, protecting the
microswitch. The microswitch is recessed enough so that it would be
very difficult for something to poke the camera switch by mistake.
5. Gently snap the bezel back onto the phone, and replace/tighten the
4 screws. Reinstall the SIM and battery, and you're back on the air.
The camera can still be accessed from the main phone menu, with the
left soft key used as the Capture. Note, though, that by disabling the
outside button, you can no longer do the clamshell-closed self-portrait
thing using the external display. Big deal.
Finally, I repeated the opening process and reinstalled the button,
just to make sure everything would still work if I changed my mind, or
didn't like the appearance of the phone without its button. All is
well.
Hope this is useful to some of you z520a owners.
pete