Atrix Inductive Charger? - Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Just wondering has anyone tried/thought about the feasibility of modding a Palm Pre touchstone charger for use in an atrix? would it be extremely difficult to do so?

thantos said:
Just wondering has anyone tried/thought about the feasibility of modding a Palm Pre touchstone charger for use in an atrix? would it be extremely difficult to do so?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As per post on engadget it's not so complicated

thantos said:
Just wondering has anyone tried/thought about the feasibility of modding a Palm Pre touchstone charger for use in an atrix? would it be extremely difficult to do so?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
xboxexpert posted a tutorial for this on a nook color here . Looks easy enough and the same method should apply.

Hmmm.. interesting.. only wished someone would have tried previously to know if it'd fit inside the battery cover...

After looking at the iFixIt teardown for the Atrix I'm not thinking this would be a straight forward process.
http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Motorola-Atrix-4G-Teardown/4964/2
Boards aren't my strong point but it looks as though the +/- may be under the usb connector housing.

mtnecho said:
After looking at the iFixIt teardown for the Atrix I'm not thinking this would be a straight forward process.
http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Motorola-Atrix-4G-Teardown/4964/2
Boards aren't my strong point but it looks as though the +/- may be under the usb connector housing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Need a better shot, but it looks like you can still hit the resistor between the two ground posts. Going to need some thin wire though.

I am curious to know if anyone will attempt this.

vmiku914 said:
I am curious to know if anyone will attempt this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't think I'm going to sacrifice my Atrix to the hardware mod gods. Enjoying it too much and not terribly interested in dropping the money to replace it if it doesn't work out.

I don't know if I will be doing the mod, but these are some of the tips I would follow if i decided to. If I do it I'll post pictures..
1st:
Be sure to use the Palm Pixi's back cover with the smaller circuit board - this one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
2nd:
You might wanna consider buying this case since its thicker and you can dig a little bit if the circuit doesn't fit the standard battery door.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
3rd:
In many phones the metal that keeps the memory card in place is the ground (-).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
4th:
I'm sure there's an easy (+) pin you can solder to - so far i haven't found one, but many people cut a usb plug to fit inside the usb female socket and route the cables somehow (Watch the first video below). You have to remove the cut usb in order to use it with computer, also its quite ugly. The best, but very hard way is to solder the (+) wire directly to where the usb socket is soldered to the phone's circuit board .This I'll leave to a jewelry craftsman, I know, with lots of experience. MAKE SHURE YOU KNOW WHICH PIN IS THE POSITIVE!!! For polarity of the palm pixi's circuit boat refer to the first picture.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know its a bit difficult, but... that's the way it is.
Useful links:
Galaxy S Mod.
First HD2 Mod.
Same mod but with extended battery (Not good looking)
You have probably seen this.
A lot of people forget to do this.
YOU ARE WELCOME!!!

I bought some of the pixi components and will try this out without the requirement of soldering.. I've been thinking.. is there any way to use the leads from the battery as the connection point as opposed to soldering directly to the port? Or is there a voltage regulator that I'd have to go through first...

First, you should try if it's really charging Atrix (batt's percentage going up), because it needs more current than standart phone.
But i'm thinking of modyfing my own, but with less invasive method

I wouldn't take apart my atrix again. I may have killed my first one getting my screen out. Those ribbon cables are a pain, and well, you might not need to remove the flex cables (the black flat ones), but if you do, you are most times pulling up the temp sensor too, and that thing never goes back!!
Just make sure you are good at what you do

Why not solder the the inductive piece to a chunk of mini usb cable first ? Completely non invasive and you'll be able to prove it works before you solder to the phone.

That was what I was considering. Unfortunate that the variances for the attrix are so tight.

mobileweasel said:
Why not solder the the inductive piece to a chunk of mini usb cable first ? Completely non invasive and you'll be able to prove it works before you solder to the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're going to do that, you may as well just buy one that's already made.

I meant to do that as proof of concept. If it charger, take it apart and hide it under the battery cover.

Does anyone tried the Palm inductive charger with Atrix? Does it really work?

I just got mine in - will try it soon.

Let me ask you guys this...
1) Whats the point of all this?
Really? What is the point? The cool form factor? Bragging rights? It seems like
a big inconvenience for me, especially when you will need to take your charger somewhere.
Anyways, seems like a lot of work for just the convenience of not plugging in a mini usb cable.
Anyways, good luck and I hope you guys have fun

Perhaps you are right about it.
But whats the point in buying a lapdock or media dock when you can just get a laptop? What's the point in rooting or unlocking your phone? You could easily just leave it stock and most of the functions will work just fine.
Call it a hobby or challenge or a convenience or whatever. I made this thread merely asking for technical help. Not snide commentary that is counter productive.

Related

Cant Charge XDA UPDATE: I FIXED IT!!!!!!!

Hi there...
i cant charge my XDA anymore. First i thought it was the battery, so i bought a new one...a 1800mAh...but still .. no chance to charge...i tried the cradle and an additional sync cable that i bought. i think the charging circuit might be dodgy, but i cant say for sure....any ideas? Sync works perfect btw.
Charger?
Charger works?
maybe its charger not battery fault?
Well i tried 2 different ones...one of them is USB sync and charge...the other one the standard cradle.
the XDA itself works perfect....but the battery will run out soon....
What it says when i try to upgrade the OS is that i should plug in the power...so the phone wont reckognize that power is connected.
i have no idea what to do. i think the guy who owned it before killed it by using a non-original powersupply. he charged it with 1,9A. Might be too much and fried some stuff...strange that everything else works.
im stuck in a RS Upgrade now that i cant finish. not enough power...
pretty expensive piece of trash.....
i hope someone out there has an idea
I took the XDA apart and measured the components while having USB Power connected....apparently there is a SMD part called FO, made of transparent material, could be a fuse. input on that part is 5V but there is no voltage on the other side...so it might be broken.
i wanna try to brigde it, but im not sure what excactly this FO part is.
its close to the power/data connector....
i would be thankful if someone could tell me what it is....
I bridged the FO with a lil wire....now the XDA charges again...
but i will keep looking for a new FO...want to do a proper job...
if anyone want pics, i made some of the part and the solution...
cheers folks, another problem solved
aquasesh said:
I bridged the FO with a lil wire....now the XDA charges again...
but i will keep looking for a new FO...want to do a proper job...
if anyone want pics, i made some of the part and the solution...
cheers folks, another problem solved
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Excellent work!!!
The O in FO is really a zero: "Fuse zero". If you open it again, could you make a few pictures so we can all see where it is. This may help quite a few others who have a non-charging XDA... You shouldn't be too worried about it, and unless you can read the writing on the SMD part, you won't know the rating of the fuse to replace it with. Detailed photos might help someone here identify the proper fuse.
XDA Charge Fault
I too have the same fault. Can you show where exactly this FO fuse is on the board please? Thanks very much for your time.
Hello... thanks for the praise, but it was more a shot in the dark and i was just lucky. Fortunately i made some pics straight away. Unfortunately i hade trouble with the macro and the focus...but i guess i have some pretty nice shots.
Anyway...you can see where i soldered and what the part looks like.
Sorry for the bad soldering...but its just temporary
XDA Charging Fault
Thanks for those great pictures. I eventually found the F0 fuse you described. I put a multimeter over it and found there to be continuity!
My charger is of a USB type and kicks out 4.9volts. Do you think this is enough to charge the xda?
It is a Brando sync charger and was only cheap. I haven't got a 240volt charger cos i brought it off ebay.
Do you think that if i bridge the wire out like you have then maybe it might charge?
From the looks of your picture the F0 fuse looks ok (no broken link) this is why i ask!
Thanks for your time and well done!
I found that you have to make sure you measure minus on ground...otherwise it wont work...just pick one of the lil round ground points or the thick copper border surrounding the PCB and hold the minus of your multimeter on that.
you might see that the input of F0 has 4,7-4,9V, but the output has 0V.
if thats so you have to either replace or bridge F0. you can do that like i did...or you solder it out and just bridge the contacts.
My F0 has no broken link either...
The battery itself is a 3,7V battery type "35H10008-80"...i replaced mine with a 1800mAh which gives me 10,5h of PDA fun or 2 weeks standby...so you USB charger will do just fine...i myself charge it with USB....did the USB Cradle mod...but the charging over USB takes longer because the USB provides only 500mAh instead if the 1000mAh of the original charger....
as soon as i find out what F0 actually is (specs), i will post it...and of course replace mine...
i hope thats enough information....
Soldering...
aquasesh said:
as soon as i find out what F0 actually is (specs), i will post it...and of course replace mine...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Excellent pictures, and thanks for posting them.
The soldering job itself. Well... Ehm... How do I say... My estimate is that with your present skills the risk of future damage by not having a fuse there is smaller than the risks of further damage if you go in there again.
Soldering wires becomes way, way easier if you first tin the ends of the wire before trying to solder the wire to anything else. After tinning the ends, you can clip them with wire cutters so that they're only as long as you need them to be.
In this particular case, I would have tinned a tiny and much thinner piece of non-insulated wire, cut it to the length of the fuse, held it in place with something and quickly touched the ends with the soldering iron.
For jobs like this, if you have the luxury of a temperature-regulated soldering station, you may want to experiment how low you can set the temperature to still melt the particular type of solder used on a board, and use the smallest tip you have.
(No worries, I was absolutely lousy at soldering until I had a true electro-wizard as a roommate for a few years.)
Thanks for the advice...im really lousy, my old man is electronic engineer...he would kick my ass if he would see what i've done..lol
well...i guess i have to open it again and redo the whole process...but maybe i just wait til i get a new F0 and solder that in...i soldered some SMDs in the last weeks, so i hope i wont srew that up...
can someone tell me what this F0 is, and how can i find out what specs it has?
XDA Charging Fault
Thanks aquasesh for your help it looks like that's where my problem lies!
Cheers ,
MJ

[Q] Cigarette lighter mount for RHOD210

Has anyone come across a cigarette lighter mount for the GSM TP2 that will also charge the device? It has to be for the GSM version as the CDMA ones have their usb port mounted slightly to the left of center where the GSM versions are mounted.
I found two different ones so far. One is a universal one made by Arkon and seems to be less sturdy than it should be. It has a pass-through 12v port to plug in a charger to it. It only concerns me that the way it is made, it seems to not be sturdy enough based on the reviews.
The other one is made by iGrip and is pretty nice. It is made for the TP2, but it has no power option at all. If this would have a charging port on it, it would be perfect.
Anyone else seen any other options?
here in the netherlands you can buy them and they support paypal if im correct
http://www.mytrendyphone.nl/shop/htc-touch-pro2-54906c1.html
shatred said:
here in the netherlands you can buy them and they support paypal if im correct
http://www.mytrendyphone.nl/shop/htc-touch-pro2-54906c1.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, but I didn't see any mount for the Rhodium on the linked page. Thanks anyway.
cajunflavoredbob said:
.
Anyone else seen any other options?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use this: http://www.bracketron.com/products/universal-usb-power-dock
I got it from Radio Shack with a 1 year warranty just in case. I did have it break on me but that's because I wasn't using it right. I was within the 30 day return period so i returned it an got a new one. If you do get it make sure you press the red button when adjusting the angle. I would still recommend ti since it has everything I was looking for. I doubt you'll be able to have the keyboard open, but why would you need it open while driving?
howhi50 said:
I use this: http://www.bracketron.com/products/universal-usb-power-dock
I got it from Radio Shack with a 1 year warranty just in case. I did have it break on me but that's because I wasn't using it right. I was within the 30 day return period so i returned it an got a new one. If you do get it make sure you press the red button when adjusting the angle. I would still recommend ti since it has everything I was looking for. I doubt you'll be able to have the keyboard open, but why would you need it open while driving?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm still searching for something similar. I like that one, I'm just worried about having the charging cable hanging out of it. The plug only needs to be a standard USB plug. I would imagine there would be another phone or device that would require something of this sort. Also, I don't need the keyboard open while using this.
cajunflavoredbob said:
I'm still searching for something similar. I like that one, I'm just worried about having the charging cable hanging out of it. The plug only needs to be a standard USB plug. I would imagine there would be another phone or device that would require something of this sort. Also, I don't need the keyboard open while using this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea that's what I initially wanted when I set out my search but ended up settling for this. My apologizes on accusing you of wanting to use the keyboard while driving. After re-reading your op I didn't see that mentioned like I thought I did before. For charging my phone I use one of these pretty good quality and it comes with a micro usb adapter which i liked since a lot of newer phones are using this. Best wishes on your search!!
howhi50 said:
Yea that's what I initially wanted when I set out my search but ended up settling for this. My apologizes on accusing you of wanting to use the keyboard while driving. After re-reading your op I didn't see that mentioned like I thought I did before. For charging my phone I use one of these pretty good quality and it comes with a micro usb adapter which i liked since a lot of newer phones are using this. Best wishes on your search!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmmm..... That combined with the universal mount you posted might actually work nicely. I was concerned about my current HTC car charger as it has a rather long cord. This would likely eliminate that mess. I'll give it a shot. Thanks.
Anyone know where I could find a short miniUSB to USB cable. Something like 2" or so would be fine. This might be able to complete the homebrew mount I'm working on.
Short USB Cable
Amazon.com has a 1ft cable (can't post links yet) and 3 ft cables, although I haven't seen any 2ft cables. If you need 2ft you could pick up a gender changer (also available on amazon) and link two 1ft cables together.
kastg1 said:
Amazon.com has a 1ft cable (can't post links yet) and 3 ft cables, although I haven't seen any 2ft cables. If you need 2ft you could pick up a gender changer (also available on amazon) and link two 1ft cables together.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's a 2" (inch) cable I am looking for. Thanks anyway, though. I'm hoping I won't have to make one. Making USB cables is not fun.

[Q] Broken pin on USB Need Solder Location On Board

Hello , When I first Purchased my Evo 3D, I noticed that any usb cable attached to it would never fit snug it always had movement like wiggled alot. I should have exchanged it but didn;t think it would eventually lead to serious damage until now, well, somehow the first pin on the right broke off and checking online with research it apparently is the +5 of the usb. Which basically screwed me.
I don't have much of an issue with no longer having the usb data sync ability since I can just use a micro SD adapter, and I have an External Battery Charger from Radio shack which helps because I can just charge the batteries with that and insert in my evo3d But the issue I have now is I realize i rely on the 4G tethering ability which i use constantly and it has become a pain to have to run and switch over batteries so my wifi tethering can maintain my computers online.,
Anyway so noticed a few evo 4g mods online where the person would solder two wires one to the negative and other to the 5v positive where the usb is located and then shape the wires nicely and make a custom usb hole somewhere else on the phone and eventually have a usb charging ability similar to one of the attached pictures ( for evo 4g of course not for the 3d)
So anyway i would like to try something similar where i can just locate some solid solder points on the phone and wire up two 5v and ground wires and relocate a custom usb slot somewhere else on the phone, Below is also some zoom closeups of the evo 3d board so my question is any advice to where I can solder the 5v and ground to, I am clueless to where and what points i should try the underside of the usb slot is all metal so seems like not able to solder there maybe on one of the little chips or something perhaps
,, thanks for any help
in reference to the attached images:
the one with the 5v writing is for an Evo 4g Not 3d But Im putting this picture i found online just to give a similar idea of what i need to find on the 3d
the one with the wired shell mod us just Another photo online of what I want to do but once again need the solder points
the other two are the best closeup pictures I could find of the 3d which maybe someone can just point out to me the locations by looking at it, I will take clear zoomed in photos if needed when I have access to a camera at home
thanks anyone for your help!
Why don't you just take it to Sprint and have them repair it? They'll do it for free.
Not from I heard. They charge 100 to fix it. And not even sure they would give me a loaner phone in the meantime. Also , I went into RADIOSHACK and showed and.spoke to one of the reps and he.told me.I wouldhave to pay unless I had their extended warrantee.. I noticed a resistor like chip above.and in front of where the 5v pin is.I wonder if I can solder on that
Sent from hell
suddene said:
Not from I heard. They charge 100 to fix it. And not even sure they would give me a loaner phone in the meantime. Also , I went into RADIOSHACK and showed and.spoke to one of the reps and he.told me.I wouldhave to pay unless I had their extended warrantee.. I noticed a resistor like chip above.and in front of where the 5v pin is.I wonder if I can solder on that
Sent from hell
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Call sprint and talk to a supervisor. They will send you a new phone or set up repair for free. Call and hang up twice, then call again to get sent directly to a supervisor.
Unfortunately me being a tinkerer ended up breaking off the ground pin and was not able to get serviced , even tried the supervisor and no go, I tried another radioshack and sprint store and of course they noticed it was opened so screwed me out...
anyway,, I taken some fair quality images of the board surface. maybe a +5v location can be pointed out from the images? thanks again
suddene said:
Unfortunately me being a tinkerer ended up breaking off the ground pin and was not able to get serviced , even tried the supervisor and no go, I tried another radioshack and sprint store and of course they noticed it was opened so screwed me out...
anyway,, I taken some fair quality images of the board surface. maybe a +5v location can be pointed out from the images? thanks again
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know this is old. But did you ever figure it out? I need a 5v+ location as well. I want to do the inductive charging mod on the 3D.
xkravenx said:
I know this is old. But did you ever figure it out? I need a 5v+ location as well. I want to do the inductive charging mod on the 3D.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Instead of making a new thread, I figured I would add to this... I too am trying to mod mine with inductive charging, unfortunately my hands are a little too shaky to solder to the point that I discovered to be continuous with the +5v on the usb port.
I can't really find a clear picture of the PCB anywhere otherwise I would show you, but its about a centimeter or two down from the top left when you open your phone, run your multimeter through those points and you'll find it.
I guess I came here looking for another point..
suddene said:
Unfortunately me being a tinkerer ended up breaking off the ground pin and was not able to get serviced , even tried the supervisor and no go, I tried another radioshack and sprint store and of course they noticed it was opened so screwed me out...
anyway,, I taken some fair quality images of the board surface. maybe a +5v location can be pointed out from the images? thanks again
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
xkravenx said:
I know this is old. But did you ever figure it out? I need a 5v+ location as well. I want to do the inductive charging mod on the 3D.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
bronx623 said:
Instead of making a new thread, I figured I would add to this... I too am trying to mod mine with inductive charging, unfortunately my hands are a little too shaky to solder to the point that I discovered to be continuous with the +5v on the usb port.
I can't really find a clear picture of the PCB anywhere otherwise I would show you, but its about a centimeter or two down from the top left when you open your phone, run your multimeter through those points and you'll find it.
I guess I came here looking for another point..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
PLEASE PM me.. those fo you with a broken port, I might have solution for you (nothing shady promise just trying to help where I can, I'll explain once I'm PM'ed). The other guy if all your trying is inductive charging sorry LOL
bronx623 said:
Instead of making a new thread, I figured I would add to this... I too am trying to mod mine with inductive charging, unfortunately my hands are a little too shaky to solder to the point that I discovered to be continuous with the +5v on the usb port.
I can't really find a clear picture of the PCB anywhere otherwise I would show you, but its about a centimeter or two down from the top left when you open your phone, run your multimeter through those points and you'll find it.
I guess I came here looking for another point..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm thanks. I will try it when I open the phone. The soldering point should be bigger than the micro-usb pin I would hope.

Xperia S/ Palm Touchstone

Has anyone tried modding a touchstone into the xperia S. I would think you could put one under the removable cover and solder the line onto the existing connector.
I'm not sure it can works ...
I "worked" on it but with the NFC antenna I don't want to try
If someone can help I'm interested too !
TrOxY said:
I'm not sure it can works ...
I "worked" on it but with the NFC antenna I don't want to try
If someone can help I'm interested too !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I wouldn't mind trying. Not sure if there is enough space under the battery cover although there might be enough space under the nonremovable piece. Ill have to check it out. It would be nice to get it to work.
I really think this might be possible. If one were to add the inductive charging coil to the lower part of the phone you might be able to not obstruct the nfc. Also the Galaxy Nexus mods doesn't obstruct the NFC and their antennae is in the battery itself. My only reservation is figuring out where to put the wires connecting to the coil. On some of the other touchstone mods it is easy to see the usb connectors but on the Xperia S i am confused. Anyone have any knowledge on this?

(Q) Is wireless charging mod possible?

Do you think it's possible?
NotablyNice said:
Do you think it's possible?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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

Categories

Resources