Hi - so recently I repaired a damaged Zen Xtra (classic headphone connector problem - was an eaxy fix). But I had one problem with it after fixing it - the backlight no longer works! This is a fairly common problem apparently. Now here's the really strange thing - the backlight still worked after I finished soldering. It only stopped working when I put the board back into the case. The backlight is an EL backlight. Can anyone lend me some advice as to how to troubleshoot this thing? Thanks!
If it only works out of the case then it is probably either a loose connection or something is shorting out. You can try to put it back in the case, run it for awhile, and feel if there are any hotspots that appear to be out of the ordinary.
Oh I forgot to mention - I pulled it out of the case again and it doesn't work out of the case either anymore
I guess the only way to trouble shoot it would be to take your multimeter and measure down through the circuits until you find the break where the current flows and the current does not. Something like: 1. Measure backlight taps 2. Measure traces from taps to inverter 3. Measure inverter outputs 4. Measure inverter inputs (power input) 5. Measure... This way you could probably tell where the break is and then address it from there. Hope that helps.
I'm an ex-zen xtra owner (go iPod!!), and did a load of research on this subject. Basically, if you damaged that copper foil near the headphone jack, then the backlight is probably dead. I don't think its possible to repair the xtra's backlight.
