In this tutorial I will show you how to disable the N95 camera red light non destructively [It has been confirmed that it works on 8GB version].
Beware! There are other methods around the web that suggest to cut wires and permanently damage your phone (here or here). This is not the case here, the method presented in this post is fully reversible. This is not an easy process and requires to disassemble your phone; tho it is not so difficult. It took me around 15 minutes in total.
Here is what you need to complete the process (a paper trimmer or any kind of blade(surgical type) good enough to be able to cut with precision, a T6x50 precision screw driver, tape and a N95!)
Here are the steps to follow:
To start with remove the battery cover and battery.
- Next remove the back cover of the phone. You can do this by hand, just try to pull the cover from the front right side and then remove (gently!).
- Then remove the four screws as shown on the following image (including the power-on/power-off plastic cover at the top):
- Remove the Keyboard and then remove the two (usually black with a spring around them) screws at the lower bottom of the N95:
Locate the six pads that the camera flashing light is connected on the main PCB. It is a 6-pad array located at the left-top of the PCB.
Cut a small piece of tape around 1mm wide and place it on top of the middle pad closer to the phone’s camera. Be very careful not to cover anything else, you might disable the flash light etc)
Reassemble the phone by following the above steps in the reverse order.
if everything went right then the red light is now off!
Good luck.
Here is a video showing the disassembly process: (removed by Nokia!)
– Portuguese version here
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Thanks for the great tutorial!
Great info!
It took me 15 minutes to complete the whole process.
For those who are lost on where to get the T6 driver, you can get them at SEARS for $4.
Be careful not to lose the screws because they are pretty hard to find.
I had the misfortune of losing one of my T5 screws while fixing the slider. And if you are like me, as in when something small falls onto the floor it’s gone, don’t screw around with the screws!
Unfortunately, I do not own a n82 but I guess it will be a similar process; if you manage to locate the camera light pads of course ;)
Do you know how to do the same thing with the N82 ?
This is a great tutorial. It worked like a charm.
As mo. says, BEWARE of the chop it out method, you will damage your phone!
TC: yes there is a possibility that different PCB versions exist. If you have any pictures of yours I will happily post them here.
Kagetsuya: Yes it is possible for a very thin tape to break off by the connector pin. It was wise to wait. Purposeful permanent damage is not generally a good idea!
greets
Great mod..just tested it on my N95 8GB.. at first the tape I used was too thin.. I added another layer (cause I was using some cheap tape from the office) and it works great! I don’t even take that many pics..but it bugs the hell out of me when a company does this.. Anyway thanks a bunch.. I was considering doing the “Cut” method but was holding off this your post came :P
OK, my N95 8GB is Asian Version. It’s the opposite middle one as shown above. Maybe Asian one is different!
Yes, no problem. If you have any comments, alternatives etc. do not hesitate to post here too.
Thanks for the info, if you dont´t disagree, I´ll put a link refeering this post in some spanish forums about N95.