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Thread for hardware mods
POSTING INTERNAL tf101 pictures
like 3g dongle ? internal sd cards? ssd?
removing the battery for 2 HDD 500go?
finding sd cards hubs? usb to sata cables?
? there is a place in the tablet for a 3g dongle?
there are 2 screws under the upper rubbers and the dock open easy
there is a lot of spaces avaible
My MIFI might actually fit in there, all I would need to do is supply it power somehow.
I'm no hardware engineer though, but if thats possible it would save you from the driver issues with a 3g dongle.
I wonder if it would be possible to check which pins from the adapter connect to USB - so we can make DIY USB adapter for those without a dock.
hmm adding an hdd would be very interesting, sata won't be very hard, powersupply will be.
Sent from my O2x with CM7
This is what I was looking for, looking to do some mods to the dock.
Thanks Markolino72.
Internally mount and wire a 32gb memory stick to the USB port so you get a 32gb hard drive added whenever you dock It might even have enough room for a portable USB hub so you don't lose use of the external usb port?
does anybody think it will be easy to make a DIY dock fix for those with battery draining issues like me?
It seems like it would be relatively easy - just make a switch to either connect or disconnect the cords coming from the docking point.
Or even better, maybe if you put the correct microcontroller in there you can have it switch the pins to floating, if it senses that there is no tablet connected (not sure about the details though)...
ydnality said:
does anybody think it will be easy to make a DIY dock fix for those with battery draining issues like me?
It seems like it would be relatively easy - just make a switch to either connect or disconnect the cords coming from the docking point.
Or even better, maybe if you put the correct microcontroller in there you can have it switch the pins to floating, if it senses that there is no tablet connected (not sure about the details though)...
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Have you seen the post in the General forum (2nd page now I think)? Posted by Asus_USA themselves, if you prove the 6 steps that your dock has the issue you can get a new one! I really do hope that I can get mine exchanged, waiting on a reply from my local service center..
Regards.
In regards to the hardware mods, that really looks amazing. Would love to put in my mifi there as well, attach it via USB to charge = your own 3g model Maybe a little modding you could get the mifi to power on only when the dock is connected (remove the battery of the mifi?) so that when it powers on it'll power on the mifi as well. Only a few thoughts.
Maybe a little modding you could get the mifi to power on only when the dock is connected (remove the battery of the mifi?) so that when it powers on it'll power on the mifi as well.
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it's a good thought but the mifi I have (novatel 2200) wont work without the battery, for some reason if the battery is bad or removed you cannot run usb, it must be the way they have the power run through the battery or charging. Not sure if all are like this or not.
andrewklau said:
Have you seen the post in the General forum (2nd page now I think)? Posted by Asus_USA themselves, if you prove the 6 steps that your dock has the issue you can get a new one! I really do hope that I can get mine exchanged, waiting on a reply from my local service center..
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I talked to the Asus service rep about it. They currently won't give you a new one since they have a hardware upgrade to fix it. If you wanted a new one you needed to do before they solved the problem. I'm waiting on the upgrade part to be delivered for for mine. Should in a few days.
A switch should theoretically work. The guy at the service center said the replace something that goes into the hinge of the dock. Looking at the teardown pics, you can see a wire goes into each side of the hinge, so I think they replace the wires and maybe make a new connection somewhere on the dock.
Surprising how much wasted space there seems to be in the dock -- it's nowhere near as tightly packaged as the tablet itself. Looks like Asus can optimize the size or fit some more features in future versions, if they want...
Let me see if I am thinking correctly...Your saying using something like mifi installed via USB wires (will it be always on?) then connect via WiFi on your transformer? So basically your putting the mifi in a case that can never be opened without a screwdriver? I guess one would always have access for your other devices as well as long as the TF is in the vicinity.
P.S. I think I think this is a good idea, not decided though. I like to think of it in a real world application.
there is another post with a guy putting in an SSD, but it bulges at the keyboard. A 32g SD card would be nice.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using XDA Premium App
typci said:
I talked to the Asus service rep about it. They currently won't give you a new one since they have a hardware upgrade to fix it. If you wanted a new one you needed to do before they solved the problem. I'm waiting on the upgrade part to be delivered for for mine. Should in a few days.
A switch should theoretically work. The guy at the service center said the replace something that goes into the hinge of the dock. Looking at the teardown pics, you can see a wire goes into each side of the hinge, so I think they replace the wires and maybe make a new connection somewhere on the dock.
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You are getting the replacement part? bought mine on the US, but live in chile... would really like to somehow get the part that needs to be replaced and do it myself
tanguita said:
You are getting the replacement part? bought mine on the US, but live in chile... would really like to somehow get the part that needs to be replaced and do it myself
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There's very little chance they'll give anybody the part, and nothing in the previous person's post suggested they're doing so for him.
Talk to Asus Chile and get it serviced by them:
http://www.asuschile.cl/
http://latin.asus.com/Static_WebPage/Service_center_chile/
knoxploration said:
There's very little chance they'll give anybody the part, and nothing in the previous person's post suggested they're doing so for him.
Talk to Asus Chile and get it serviced by them:
http://www.asuschile.cl/
http://latin.asus.com/Static_WebPage/Service_center_chile/
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Well I ended up calling them. I would have to ship the dock to "someone" in the US, have them ship it to the repair center, fix it, ship it back and then ask that "someone" to ship it back to me... sooo, I'm basically screwed... I ended up with a nice 150US paperweight (not even considering the horrible light bleed on the transformer).
tanguita said:
Well I ended up calling them. I would have to ship the dock to "someone" in the US, have them ship it to the repair center, fix it, ship it back and then ask that "someone" to ship it back to me... sooo, I'm basically screwed... I ended up with a nice 150US paperweight (not even considering the horrible light bleed on the transformer).
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Yeah, actually, I hadn't realized that but it does say it clearly on the product warranty page:
"Brazil and South American countries don’t support global service"
http://support.asus.com/warranty.aspx?SLanguage=en&p=20&s=16&m=Eee Pad Transformer TF101
took mine apart also and there is quite a bit of room.
i plan on putting a 128gb usb flash drive inside the dock and soldering onto the usb connections once i get all the bits in.
Any bigger pictures? Are the screws under the rubber feet?
just two screws under the rubber feet near the hinge then it just pulls apart from the top
had to take mine apart as the spring/clip mechanism for the sd card wouldnt lock the card in.
now the card is stuck in with no nails haha a simple fix.
This is good news. I hacked a Crystal HD decoder card (pcie), USB wifi dongle, a logitech nano receiver, and a 4 port micro usb hub (from a touch screen setup) into a Dell mini 9 and there was absolutely no room compared to this.
They even have covers for the USB ports, so if you remove a header and solder wires up you just have to hot glue / epoxy that cover from the back and you are money. Looks clean and stock.
I have an old 64 GB thumbdrive that might find a new home. Maybe a 1.8" usb HDD would fit in there with the battery, without the battery who knows.
It seems like the keyboard should be able to connect to the tablet via blue tooth when it's not connected to the tablet.
I wonder if there is anyway to mod it be a blue tooth keyboard?
There are times where it's nice to use the transformer as a tablet, but during that time the keyboard is totally useless.
Can the keyboard even be connected to the tablet via cable to use the battery but without having to hold up the extra bulk and such?
No, if you want a simple keyboard buy one. This dock is a dock, not simply an external keyboard. Bluetooth would just rape the battery on both and limit the functionality of it.
tazmeister said:
It seems like the keyboard should be able to connect to the tablet via blue tooth when it's not connected to the tablet.
I wonder if there is anyway to mod it be a blue tooth keyboard?
There are times where it's nice to use the transformer as a tablet, but during that time the keyboard is totally useless.
Can the keyboard even be connected to the tablet via cable to use the battery but without having to hold up the extra bulk and such?
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In one word...No
There are lots of bluetooth keyboards you can find if you want one. As they say ...it is what it is.
I still use mine as a tablet. I usually plug the charger into the dock when I'm using it as a tablet only.
You can pick up bluetooth keyboards for cheap. Doesnt hurt to have several options.
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it's really diapointing to see how little thought went in to the few responses.
does this sort of lack of thought and imagination really epitomize the general population here?
has anyone heard of the idea of a dual or multi-use tool?
and what about an on/off switch for blue tooth?
oh well, dead topic at this point
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using xda premium
tazmeister said:
it's really diapointing to see how little thought went in to the few responses.
does this sort of lack of thought and imagination really epitomize the general population here?
has anyone heard of the idea of a dual or multi-use tool?
and what about an on/off switch for blue tooth?
oh well, dead topic at this point
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using xda premium
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Click to collapse
so you made a thread asking if people agree with your opinion; they don't, and you call them dumb?
Also, yes, we are the epitome of the general population (...lol, wut?)
but to answer your question, the keyboard could have been a Bluetooth keyboard as well as a dock. no one is denying that. could it have been better if it were, probably. would it cost even more, most likely. would the additional cost justify the very limited uses of bluetooth-mode (uses that can't already be accomplished by the dock, in a close-range configuration) ?
nope.
so in conclusion, no.
I think the dock should have bluetooth so the keyboard could be used even when the tablet is detached. It's a shame, they didn't think of it.
@finalhit - the dock already is overpriced. I think they could easily added bluetooth without changing the price.
Get an ipad. It's probably got the most number of choices for bluetooth keyboard.
IRT the topic title: no.
Why? The Bluetooth stuff is in the tablet. To use the keyboard dock undocked via Bluetooth would be a cool feature, even if the battery drain would surge.
Versus how much that feature would increase the cost of the dock, I don't think it is a good idea: versus letting people buy a seperate Bluetooth keyboard if they need that sort of thing. My Transformer's dock is a pretty cheap piece of equipment, few moving parts if you please. The most expensive thing is probably the battery/charging stuff.
$150 extra for the dock makes a very good ROI versus just getting a standard netbook or tablet.
Spidey01 said:
IRT the topic title: no.
Why? The Bluetooth stuff is in the tablet. To use the keyboard dock undocked via Bluetooth would be a cool feature, even if the battery drain would surge.
Versus how much that feature would increase the cost of the dock, I don't think it is a good idea: versus letting people buy a seperate Bluetooth keyboard if they need that sort of thing. My Transformer's dock is a pretty cheap piece of equipment, few moving parts if you please. The most expensive thing is probably the battery/charging stuff.
$150 extra for the dock makes a very good ROI versus just getting a standard netbook or tablet.
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agreed, why would i want to rape the dock which is essentially a back up battery? makes no sense
tazmeister said:
it's really diapointing to see how little thought went in to the few responses.
does this sort of lack of thought and imagination really epitomize the general population here?
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Click to collapse
No, I thought about it. I just thought it was a stupid idea. I like the way the dock works now (actually, I should say my girlfriend does since she stole mine and I haven't used it in months).
Go into the hardware mod and do it yourself, I dont want to add $50 for a feature that would drain both batteries faster and I would never use. How hard is it to have the TF in the dock if you are using the dock? I dont see a need to have the TF across the room while typing on the keyboard dock.
Magnesus said:
@finalhit - the dock already is overpriced. I think they could easily added bluetooth without changing the price.
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Been hearing this since day 1, asked for someone to produce evidence (or product) of something that does the same for less, still haven't seen one example. Only bad examples of USB keyboards that don't provide the USB host control, SD card reader, stand and 6 hour battery functionality (with pass through charging).
I'm sure it is possible with enough effort to take a Bluetooth keyboard, replace the bottom with a custom module that provides mounthing for hard drive, card reader, battery, etc; or perhaps fashion a custom USB 3 hub you can rig for docking+charging.
In the end, unless you're the kind the get hackish at a work bench (I wish I had one), just using the dock when you want a keyboard, is a good idea. Much further away then docked somewhat minimizes the utility of a TOUCHSCREEN as well, unless you go bluetooth rat as well.
I think most people don't understand what we want - the dock should work as intentended when attached but switch to bluetooth when detached (could be switchable to preserve battery). There is no reason it would be in any way worse than it is now. Cost - as I said, it's already overpriced, so adding bluetooth doesn't have to increase it.
What value do you see in doing it that way? From what I can think of, I'd still opt to just pay less for the dock.
I could see the dock having bluetooth when detached beneficial when the tablet is hooked to my TV and I want to control it from my couch and the tablet is across the room hooked to the TV. Does someone make a bluetooth remote that can do this?
Magnesus said:
I think most people don't understand what we want - the dock should work as intentended when attached but switch to bluetooth when detached (could be switchable to preserve battery). There is no reason it would be in any way worse than it is now. Cost - as I said, it's already overpriced, so adding bluetooth doesn't have to increase it.
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No, we understand. We just dont agree with either the usefulness or your judgement about them being able to do it without any cost impact.
if its that easy put it in yourself.
The whole purpose of the dock is to bring netbook like functionality and portable to the tablet. Using the dock/keyboard with bluetooth would defeat that purpose. Imagine sitting on a bus or train and trying to support the tablet and use both hands to type on the keyboard. You wouldn't be able to do it, unless you have extra arms, but as far as I know, I only have two.
Same thing with connecting the dock to the tablet with a cable. Defeats the whole portability the Transformer was made for. Portability is one of the Transformer's major selling points. And let's be honest, do you really need 16 hours of life on your tablet? Mine is off the charger from 7 am to around 11pm when I go to bed, and since I hardly use it at school, it can still have 85% battery when I plug it back in.
---------- Post added at 10:14 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:07 PM ----------
Magnesus said:
I think most people don't understand what we want - the dock should work as intentended when attached but switch to bluetooth when detached (could be switchable to preserve battery). There is no reason it would be in any way worse than it is now. Cost - as I said, it's already overpriced, so adding bluetooth doesn't have to increase it.
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Click to collapse
Again, Bluetooth defeats the whole point of the dock. The dock wasn't meant to be used detached from the tablet. If that's the case, Asus would've just installed a little touchscreen LCD where the touchpad is and let it run HC as well. That's like saying a car should be able to run on apple juice, even though they are built to run on gas -.-
You think a keyboard that gives you USB ports, an extra 9 hours of battery (?), and the ability to add another 128GB+ to your tablet is overpriced at $100? Wow.
jimbobalu said:
I could see the dock having bluetooth when detached beneficial when the tablet is hooked to my TV and I want to control it from my couch and the tablet is across the room hooked to the TV. Does someone make a bluetooth remote that can do this?
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FWIW I saw this and thought it might be useful to you; didn't have time to look at the thread very closely though!
I thought of the same thing and even posted this idea to the Design Team of Asus. But I didn't get a response.
It would be a brilliant idea. I even tried to connect a BT dongle and see if they could pair up. Didnt work.
Suppose I want to read a book and didn't fancy swiping across the screen - I could use the dock remotely and turn the pages.
That still makes little sense? Who reads a book on this thing without holding it in their hands or having it in their lap?
About the only scenario that has made any sense at all was the one using the TF to power the TV with the dock remotely connected but even then I doubt 99.999% of the users would ever do that (ive only even powered a TV twice. once to test and a second at a friends house to show them something).
Do you think it's possible?
NotablyNice said:
Do you think it's possible?
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I I think the easiest way is for a manufacturer to release a case like that that also included wireless charging capabilities. You're not going to be open up your OG and install the needed hardware yourself without serious modification, though.
EDIT: Actually, I take back what I said about not modifying the OG's hardware. http://lifehacker.com/5923977/mod-your-iphone-for-wireless-charging-no-bulky-case-required
Seems like if you have the will, it might be possible.
Yes it is possible...
I was able to put the coild and little magnets in the back of my phone case... so now it sticks to my touch stone... I have not soldered any wires to 5v or grnd on on the phone at all.. That is beyond by ability currently i will look into it. Looks like the nexus 4 has simple prongs already there (for the orb) but they did not include those prongs in the optimus g sprint or att. so either me or someone that is far more skilled will need to figure out where those points should connect to before doing so.
Sorry guys didnt take picture i was a little early to work this morning and did it at my desk before work started. took about 30min. (remember no wiring just simply put coild and magnets in my phone so it at least sticks to the touch stone in my car)
Akop87 said:
Yes it is possible...
I was able to put the coild and little magnets in the back of my phone case... so now it sticks to my touch stone... I have not soldered any wires to 5v or grnd on on the phone at all.. That is beyond by ability currently i will look into it. Looks like the nexus 4 has simple prongs already there (for the orb) but they did not include those prongs in the optimus g sprint or att. so either me or someone that is far more skilled will need to figure out where those points should connect to before doing so.
Sorry guys didnt take picture i was a little early to work this morning and did it at my desk before work started. took about 30min. (remember no wiring just simply put coild and magnets in my phone so it at least sticks to the touch stone in my car)
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Yeah, they have done it on the N7, and several Samsung phones (much easier with removable backs). Not sure how the OG looks under the hood, but maybe someone could try.
Bump. anyone brave enough to see if the Samsung Note 2 or S4 Wireless charger pad's will fit in our phone? here sure would be sweet if it was as easy as opening it up and installing something like this
so picture you have a 10.1 inch tablet. (or any tablet for that matter) that has WI-FI built in. this tablet also has (for simplicities sake in explaining what im talking about) a gigabit port inside the device. the actual port is at the end of a 1" tunnel. This tunnel resembles a stylus tunnel on the note 3.
inside this "slot, slides a 1" wide , 8mm thick "cell phone" the phone has a simplistic screen, and a keypad, enough ram and processing power to get calls/text done. But it also has a radio. it also has the ability to interface with the tablet ( think lan cable) giving the wi-fi only tablet radio signal.
The idea behind this is that oyu have a practically fully functional tablet, but you also have a "cell phone" that you can drop in your pocket, or take with you on a quick grocery run, etc. flip phone style. you would charge the phone when inside the tablet, or via a stand alone charger.
the second part of teh idea is that the port would be standardized across all hard ware, so that the basic "radio" would fit in multiple devices. or you could keep your phone and buy a new tablet, or vice versa.. maybe you have a cell but no tablet, and your friend does..
Is this feasable? is it a bad idea? I constanlty find myself not wanting to take a 6" screen with me everywhere, or it just much simpler to pull the sim card and stick it in a dumb phone when you need to do rough work.
I guess its a terrible idea then eh? LOL
no such thing as a terrible idea
There is no such thing as a terrible idea, having said that, it probably isnt viable to manufacture as everyone wants slimmer smaller toys not ones with things built in that may slip out break or get stolen. Probably just needs to be built either in CAD or similar and see if you can work out whats wrong and whats right. It would stop a lot of duplication with products, having two or more things doing similar jobs. Why not also then have a connection slot built into your car that you just slipped the radio unit into and you then have full use in the car while it is charging and then take out as you leave to have full phone. Just give me 2% when you get it built. good luck:good:
Ok, let me start out by saying that I'm not posting this in the Q&A section because it's not really a problem that I am seriously thinking about fixing, I just want to get some of ya'lls opinions on it.
Heres the thing: I bought the TF201 the day it came out, along with the keyboard dock, spent something like 700 bucks (leanred a very valuable lesson on that one). About 6 months after that, on day, the black plastic peice that I later learned "kept the charging pins inside of the charging port on the tablet separte and straight" just fell out. Upon further research I discovered that a few others had been experiencing this, and it was apparently a design flaw that would happen if you didn't separate the tablet from the keyboard perfectly straight (i.e. separate one side of the tablet from the keyboard, then at an angle, pull the other side out.) Now, I realize how dumb it was that I was even doing that in the first place, but what can I say. So here's where i'm at now: About 6 months ago, the actual charging usb cable that came with it just completely fell apart. I ordered two new ones. These are not "exactly" the same as the original one and I cannot get it it plug into the tablet directly (probably due to the fact that there is no plastic peice keeping the pins in place, and I dnon't want to push to hard becuase if I bend those pins it's game over). I can, however plug the cable into the keyboard, and the tablet WILL plug into the keyboard quite effortlessly and charge that way. Also, as a side note, nothing on the keyboard works, not a single button, not the track pad, nothing, the only thing it does is charges the tablet, and the keyboard itself will also take a charge.
Whew, ok, if you're still with me after all that, here's what i want some opinion on: Is this thing worth trying to salvage, I would like to get the keyboardworking as well as somehow replace that peice that fell out of the tablet charging port. I honestly do love the tablet, I have a slight weekness in wifi signal but no big deal, and the screen is amazing. so, any thoughts?
I'd say you're screwed :/
Sent from my GT-I9300 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Makrilli said:
I'd say you're screwed :/
Sent from my GT-I9300 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
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Yeah, Thats what i'm thinking. I mean, I still use the tablet all the time, I just can't charge it directly from the port, I have to use the keyboard, the biggest issue I have is that I really wan tthe keyboard to work. Maybe I should just try to pick on up cheap, I don't know....last time I'm buying ASUS though.
vballrkc said:
Yeah, Thats what i'm thinking. I mean, I still use the tablet all the time, I just can't charge it directly from the port, I have to use the keyboard, the biggest issue I have is that I really wan tthe keyboard to work. Maybe I should just try to pick on up cheap, I don't know....last time I'm buying ASUS though.
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Firstly, i would like to inform you that i'm one more person that i had problem with the charger and that the main reason that i don't use my Asus so much is that his wifi signal is really disappointing.
Concerning your problem, you cannot use your keyboard while you charge your tablet through it, right?