How to: Replace your Droid a855 Keyboard.

As we all know, these things are not built to last forever (yeah, still waiting for Godot... uhm Froyo here) Software wise, but also the hardware likes to show it's weaknesses over time. My personal nemesis is the hardware keyboard... As I'm a bit of a bulk-email-on-the-go-typer, my keyboard (the rubber-bubble-plastic-thingie) showed "slight" signs of exhaustion...

crap.
As you can see, I've got the shitty bubble-version and I bet, it is the most shitty variant ever. Yeah, you can better distinguish the keys from each other, but you also "shift" the keyboard around while typing and when the phone gets warm due to high usage, the glue softens and you get these wrinkles in the keyboard. It is not pretty but the worst thing is the "sucking" sound you hear each time you push a button. Annoying as hell...

So, I got a replacement keyboard for a few $/€ 10$ on eBay from a guy named "eaysworldwidetrading" it was really cheap and shipping was cheap and slow.. very slow (not the guys fault. took 4 weeks or something)

EDIT: @Bao was so friendly to post a link to the keyboard he purchased for his repairs -> Find it here: on ebay.nl (Netherlands.. but It should work if you just exchange .nl with .com like that)

It came properly packaged with a set of tools (not necessarily needed for exchanging the keyboard, but good if you want to take this thing apart).

I already popped the bubble-wrap.

There are 2 sets of tools, because I ordered 2 keyboards. You know, I'm typing.. a lot.
As you can see, the keyboard is self-adhesive and sticked to a clear plastic carrier, you dispose before you glue it on the beast!

it is just the plastic covering, not the closing contacts.

Ok, so lets get started...

First: Remove the battery

Phew, that was close. Rocket science.

So much for the easy part.

I used one of the tools for sliding under the shitty-wobble-rubber-crap-thing and carefully slid along the edges, lifting it inch by inch.

BE CAREFUL: It sticks to the EL-foil (the pink thing which illuminates the keys and carries the contacts) like hell, DON'T LIFT THE PINK FOIL WITH THE KEYPAD! Double and tripplecheck, I almost did that! You might have to use some force, but watch out, otherwise you have to order the next sparepart!

When you are done and your panic if you might have ruined the phone wore off (like in my case), the phone should look like this:

See that crappy thing? it even bends all by itself.

The black thing there along the edges is... you might have guessed it... lots and lots of sticky, crappy glue. Now is the time, that you might check if you still have a working keyboard and illumination. Put back in the damn battery and boot that thing... after pressing a few buttons and checking illumination (Don't forget that you have to cover the light-sensor, so the keyboard illumination activates), you are sure that you won't need an extra shopping tour on ebay, so switch the thing off again and remove the battery.

Next step: Get rid of the glue, so the new keyboard fits properly. I did this by "pushing" the glue in one direction using the flat side of the tool I also used to lift the keyboard and now and then removed the sticky glue-balls that form during this highly scientific and complicated process.

Awesome.

(you should pay a little attention, don't be too rough to your pink baby girl, she's the light of your life after all)
If you are awesome like me, the result should look somewhat like that:

look, shiny like new!

So, now the time has come to proof your real talents! Remove the plastic carrier from the new keyboard and use BOTH HANDS to move the keyboard in place. (I had to hold a camera too ) The black notches give you an idea how to position the keyboard.

Caution: Sticky.

Be careful and not drunk, because if it sticks to the pink panther, repositioning is a real pain in the ass. Shove it in as far as you can (use your brain, brainiac) and then slowly and steady lower the keyboard, starting from the top (black notches) to the bottom.. both sides at the same time. Check if you positioned it straight and if you have enough space to completely place it within the black frame (and not ON the frame)

Apply pressure simultaneously on both sides with both hands so you get an even keyboard (yeah dammit, I had to hold the camera..) and when you are done and Jesus loves you, it should look like that:

I like the spare keyboard more than the original ones, because it is way easier to type on... My opinion, but it's a matter of taste. Downside: I only found the US Version of the keyboard, but as I'm only using US roms... I don't care... So much... (there might be some QWERTZ layouts too, but they are already almost vanished from the market)

And now you can take this crap and send it back to Motorola... or burn it.. or whatever.