Ipad Mini and Error 21

[blazzing]

Hi all. My ipad mini had stop charging so I figured maybe it needed a new battery. Purchased one and installed. Upon turning on the mini, it got stuck in the apple logo loop. Found out about the iTunes fix. Followed the procedure and went into iTunes. ITunes recognizes the mini and said that IOS needed updating. Choose to upgrade. However, at the point when iTunes is about to update the min, the mini doesn't respond and iTunes gives a error2. Same thing when I try to restore. Now mini is stuck in recovery mode. I see some software online that may help. But is there another solution?

 

[Brian 244]

I'm going to guess that you have a iPad mini 1 , black. If you do it's the power management ic that's the problem , not the battery. It's rarely ever the battery. Another possibility is the charge port.

 

[blazzing]

Hi Brain. It's my daughter's. She has it for several years now. Not sure if it's a (1) but it's black. How can I tell if it's a (1)? I looked at the port externally where the cable goes in and it looks fine. Maybe it could be the ports assembly needs replacing. Is there a fix for IC problem?

 

[blazzing]

It's a mini 1. Model A1432. Very fine print on the back.

 

[Brian 244]

Are you still able to open the ipad? If yes, lift the screen and LCD up but leave the connectors attached. Remove the metal shield between the LCD and the battery. On the right side is the logic board. You will see a heat shield covering the circuitry above the section where the battery and LCD/digitizer plug in.

Now plug in the ipad to a charger. After about a 30 seconds start touching the heat shield on the far right side about 1/4 of the way up. You should feel a warm spot there. If you do, that means it's the Power Management IC. Unfortunately the PMIC is very hard to replace and is really not economically worthwhile as the most shops that can do this, charge more than the value of the ipad.

 

[brixtonboy]

I was hoping you were going to say, if it's the Power management IC then switch it off buy one for €7.50 exchange then with rubber gloves on. Job done.

Guess life doesn't always work out that way

 

[blazzing]

HI Brian and Brixtonboy. Check PMIC as you suggested and it's not even warm even after 10 minutes. Think I will try replacing the charging port since the battery I now realized it not charging.

 

[Brian 244]

Replacing the charge port on the mini requires soldering. Are you experienced in micro soldering?

 

[blazzing]

Yes. I have done it twice before on other circuit boards but not on an ipad.

 

[Brian 244]

If you're interested, check out the above for more info on the PMIC and charge port replacement

 

[blazzing]

Ok, thanks a million. Will update you as soon as I get a chance to tackle this.

 

[blazzing]

Surprising update. I took off the heat sink to access PMCI. Then decided to do one last check on its temperature since now I have direct contact. Check battery voltage and got 2.2 volts. Plugs in ipad and touched PMCI and got no change in temperature to notice. So, I decide to try the ITunes fix one last time and this time when iTunes signal the ipad its responded and the progress bar came up under the apple log. Ipad is back to life and back to normal. Not sure what happened. I had disconnected and reconnected the battery several times before and that didn't work. Maybe the heat sink was grounding out something. My daughter did drop it a couple of times before it went dead. I am going to reinstall the heat sink later and see what happens. Will update accordingly.

 

[Brian 244]

That's good news, keep us posted.

 

[brixtonboy]

Better than micro surgery

 

[blazzing]

The latest. I disconnected the battery and removed the heat sink. Reconnect the battery and ipad don't respond. I disconnect and reconnect the battery several times and still not responsive. Plug in charger with battery connected and I get the flashing logo. Unplug charger, disconnect battery, reconnect battery and ipad came alive. Strange or is this typical when disconnecting the battery? Its there a particular procedure or wait time? If I disconnect and reconnect the battery, the ipad doesn't respond. If I repeat this procedure for random times, maybe 4 times, or 6 times or 8 times, it responds. Any explanation? It doesn't matter if heat sink is on or off. So, no interference from sink. Is it the PMCI going bad?