[GUIDE/DISCUSSION] How to Disassemble Prime / GPS, WiFi, Light Bleed "Fixes" - Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime

[GUIDE/DISCUSSION] How to Disassemble Prime / GPS, WiFi, Light Bleed "Fixes"
HOW TO DISASSEMBLE THE ASUS TRANSFORMER PRIME​
!!!DO NOT APPLY A HEAT GUN TO YOUR PRIME!!!
Erusman said:
...glued down using
two sided foam tape. Not hot glue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Original credit to Erusman and his bravery to be the first among many to disassemble his Prime in search for the answers we all want. Click his name, keep up with OP, and give THANKS!
Additional credit to jdudb, wgr73, Doktaphex, jupppo, Wordlywisewiz, aznmode, and all other commentators and contributors.
THIS IS FOR EDUCATIONAL/DISCUSSION PURPOSES ONLY! MYSELF AND ALL CONTRIBUTORS TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY DEVICES HARMED WHILE TRYING TO RECREATE THE FOLLOWING SCENARIOS/MODIFICATIONS
I DID NOT PERFORM NOR OTHERWISE CONTRIBUTE TO ANY OF THIS WORK - PLEASE GIVE THANKS WHERE IT'S DUE
I think the correct way of opening is from the bottom first. Unlatch the 2 bottom latch first then work your way up from the side.
The catches are operated through the dock slots and are there for all to see.
Video courtesy of aznmode.
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aznmode said:
I think the correct way of opening is from the bottom first. Unlatch the 2 bottom latch first then work your way up from the side. If you look at the top tabs they are longer than the sides to secure the top better. Making it difficult to snap on if you close from the bottom first. When I closed it up I started from the top by sliding into the tabs rather than snapping it in. Snapped the side and then locked the latches on the bottom.
...
So initially prior to me posting this I had a hard time snapping the top because I followed the original video how to open and just reversed the procedure to close it. Turned out when I eventually shut the top last some of the tabs broke. So again follow my post to do the top first when closing it back up then sides lastly the bottom latches. I notices the tabs were longer so that's when I posted but only looked at the center ones. I reopened since and was following my own precedure to close it. that's when I notice the outer ones broke from when i closed it the orginal way before.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
jdudb said:
The catches are operated through the dock slots and are there for all to see.
...
I think you will find that those pins do hold the bottom of the prime together and as for the tool, any small thin rod would work such as a tiny screwdriver.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Doktaphex said:
First of all I used a tiny torx screwdriver to release the internal catches at the bottom of the Prime. Look in the docking ports on the left and right, there are two small holes. They move with a satisfying click and this IS what holds the base of the Prime together.
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After just releasing one, I see the arrow. It is pointing in the locking direction.
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There's a tiny amount of adhesive tape just by the 40-pin connector but there is no more than what is at each corner of the device also. Just be gentle and you can ease it apart.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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Erusman said:
Made myself some plastic tools for the job.
It opened up so easy!!!!
...
I didn't really think it was going to be
that easy to open up. Trick is starting from the top and using nothing but
plastic tools. (Wedge method of pry and move further down).
...
What you want to do is position first plastic tool center top of prime. Jam it
right in the seam, between black bezel and aluminum frame. Push it down
in there hard. This will give you enough room
to insert other plastic tool in and lift the bezel up. Then its just a matter of
working down the left and right top. When you get to a corner just pry up
very slow... wedge it. Foam tape will slowly give in.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Videos courtesy of Doktaphex.
The following videos are "reverse," Doktaphex's laptop automatically recorded as mirror.
jupppo said:
I tried it by myself and the prime is really easily opend and can be closed without any scratch! First I used my fingernail to widen it a bit then I used a sharpend plastic handle from a scalpell to open it.
I put a cable on the pogo pin and... bang. I had GPS signals! I never had any before.
It also explains why pushing on the left side helps the signal: While you push left you lift the board on the right side slghly up, that the pogo has better connection.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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LIGHT BLEED "FIX" - THIS MAY OR MAY NOT ALLEVIATE YOUR LIGHT BLEED ISSUES
Erusman said:
While I was in there I took and tightened the screws for the display.
Guess what the small amount of lightbleed I had in the lower left hand corner
is 90% gone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
wgr73 said:
As far as light bleed goes
Guys when you remove the back shell, you have total access to the screen! The bleeding is caused by the screen being stressed/too tight, flexing, ect. It can mostly be adjusted out almost 100% I noticed that mine is virtually gone now too. I'll play with the LCD panel some more as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To reiterate, THIS MAY OR MAY NOT ALLEVIATE YOUR LIGHT BLEED ISSUES
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WHAT TO DO IF YOUR SCREEN BECOMES UNRESPONSIVE OR DISPLAYS STATIC
Erusman said:
The ribbon cable came out partial. That is when the lines appeared.
Be sure to turn off your prime. See OP and picture of the dip switch that turns the power off to mobo. Take the ribbon cable completely out. Take a small eraser from a pencil and VERY carefully go over the connetions on the ribbon cable. This will basically clean them up a little. (same process you do on PCI card copper etching to clean up the connection). Find yourself a very sharp point. I have a some soldering picks that I used. Place the ribbon cable in the connection level. DO not use your fingers to jam the ribbon in. On the side of the ribbon cable is small little notches. These notches are for the tools that the factory uses to place the cables in. Use your sharp pick and puch down on either side with notches. You will see a fine white line. And you may hear even a slight snap when it goes in. But that white line should be flush with the connection on LCD. I hope you get it working again. Let me know. PM me if you have any more problems.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
​

---

MODIFICATIONS (& DISCUSSION THEREOF)
Please do not try using the cover as the antenna as it's gounded - even if it wasn't, this device was not made with that in mind
BEFORE ANY SOLDERING OR OTHER HARD TAMPERING, PLEASE TURN THE POWER TO YOUR MOTHERBOARD OFF
ANYTHING CLOSER THAN 1/4" TO 1/2" TO THE BACKPLATE OF THE PRIME WILL EXPERIENCE THE SAME SIGNAL DEGRADATION AS OUR CURRENT STOCK ANTENNA - BE IT INTERNAL OR EXTERNAL
xach said:
Hi all,
i've another method of fixing this wifi/gps issue without any soldering work. Basically i slotted in a small thin piece of plastic under the wifi/gps PCB (where the gold plate is) to get a better connection with the pogo pins. However, this can cause the PCB to be slightly bent and im not sure if there are any long term ill effects.
After this i'm getting better WIFI signal than my HTC Desire and managed to lock on to 9 GPS satellites (previously ZERO) in a semi open place.
The increase in signal is also the same as when i attach a wire to the pogo pin. WIFI performance at long range is still sucky but this definitely helped with the GPS signal.
Insert plastic tab as shown in red circle..i pushed it all the way in until the white piece of plastic cannot be seen. Did it for all three gold plate connectors (WIFI MAIN, AUX and GPS)
sorry i dont have a screenshot of GPS signal yet.. will post it in when i do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Transformer Prime slightly open (pogo pins not connected)
Transformer Prime closed and assembled.
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dpwhitty11 said:
Here's the dpwhitty11 method:
Solder a thin wire onto wifi pogopin (which in my case got rid of the pogopin.... lol whoops. Doesn't matter though). Then route wire out thru mini HDMI-out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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Erusman said:
Concept in my mind atm is drill
hole through back of prime to meet pogos. Solder on some antenna.
My prime is always in leather case so that would be cool.
Or play around and solder connection to factory wifi antenna. Bypass the
pogos.
...
Alright guys. Just got done doing a bypass of the pogos. I soldered some
wires to the pogos directly to the wifi antenna. Did a cold reboot. snap shut.
First thing I tested was GPS, using GPS test. It sat there for 60 seconds
and I still had 0 birds in view. Took it outside and it did start to pick up
some sats but they came up slow. Must be the aluminum backplate
blocking the signal.
Wifi worked better than it did before. (lol probably because the primary
wifi antenna was now connected.) I think the secondary was the only thing
working on my prime before. I actually got 32mbs and 5mbs! Same
as all my other tablets. HOWEVER, soon as I started to walk away from
my router the signal degraded. Speedtest results went down the further
I walked away.
I took the prime outside in the same spot about 50 feet from router as I did
with the alligator clips connected the other night. I did have one bar. Instead
of full bars the other night. Speed was around 8-9mbs and 800k 1mb with
speedtest.
You can draw your own conclusions on what is going on....
Aluminum backplate is interfering with GPS and Wifi...
It works but the signal is weak.... WHY? Asus put the wifi antenna in a spot
that doesn't see its way around the aluminum backplate.
Pogo pins.. hopefully they will use soldered wires instead of pogo pins next
time. I can see these little things not connecting to copper plate so easy.
But nothing compares to the Wifi/GPS PCB (printed circuit board) flaw!
I laughed for hours after seeing how the copper etching wasn't even connected
in the PCB.
Alright well good luck everyone! I am not going to do a final mod for myself.
I usually have my tablet in a leather case all the time. So i am just going to
put some external antenna on this thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Erusman said:
Well what the hey. Finish my mods and prime is back together. I was just
going to wait to this weekend to finish it. But I wanted my prime back! Its
sitting all pretty in my leather case working great! Sorry its late and I didn't
take pics.
I just removed the PCB wifi in it. Removed the pogos. Drilled some holes
in backplate. Solder some solid gauge wire to GPS, Primary and secondary
wifi. Wires went out back. (about 5 inches in length).
While I was in there I took and tightened the screws for the display.
Guess what the small amount of lightbleed I had in the lower left hand corner
is 90% gone. (lol that must be the issue with the lightbleed!) I am too tired
to go back in and fiddle with it. Someone else can play with it.
Wifi is awesome. Walked all around my house and had three bars. GPS
worked and was fast. (maybe do a road trip in few days).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
wgr73 said:
If I were you I'd trim your wires just 1-2mm outside of the case. It looks like they are hanging out several inches. Your signal will not change if you trim them, as long as the wire is exposed out of the rear case. I have tried different lengths and they have no effect outside of the case (also, you don't need the alligator clips on the ends).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Erusman said:
***Update***
Ok I finished my final mod. I made myself some mini wifi antenna and placed them in my case. The mini wifi antenna are composed of a thin straw surrounded by heat shrink tubing. Capped with a plastic hole plug. Wires that come out of my tablet are inserted in the straw. Heated with lighter and sealed.
The mini wifi antenna I can pull up or down out of my case to extend the WIFI range. I am pulling three bars at more than 50 feet away. Amazing!!
I had to laugh a little because my prime kinda looks like a little android with the antenna stickin out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Erusman said:
Ok, I just finished up another mod to my prime. My goal was to be able to mount the prime in a vehicle and use it on the road. So i needed the best WIFI and GPS I could get. And I did it!
Meet Optimus Prime
...
I replaced the old mod with external SMA male connectors and was able to mount on some external WIFI antenna. Large ones atm. But I have some small 2.4ghz stubby antenna on order.
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I still need to mod my leather case to be able to insert the SMA connectors in it. However, I noticed with just the SMA connectors sticking out and NO WIFI antenna attached I still get good WIFI
(Both Factory WIFI PCB removed with soldered connection to SMA's)
The WIFI range on this thing is AMAZING! Full bars every place in my house and even out in my yard! 50+ feet away from my router. I think its limited to the range of my router more than anything now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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RipplingHurst said:
But I'm thinking rerouting the antenna to the headphones would work. Could the headphone wires work as the antenna, similar to the alligator clips?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wordlywisewiz said:
Another idea would be to for an extreme antena would be to desoder the connections to the headphone jack then put a small wire from the wifi antenna to the headphone jack and sorry it lol then you can make a custom antenna with a standard 3.5mm connector
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
wgr73 said:
More data guys. So I've wired my gps connection to the headphone jack, close the prime and the results are below:
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Prime closed, GPS connected to my earphone jack. Results = not the best by any means but its getting there. I will try alternate points.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
wgr73 said:
I can manage 11-15 sats (12 locked) with my headphone mod
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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janaha_ said:
Don't know what I hooked up to here, but it is ground.
5-6 birds and lock in about 10 sec with gps status.
Will test some more, and do a more permanent solution if it works OK.
If I remember correctly someone here asked if the pads that contact the antennas are conductive.They are on mine.Goes to backpanel.Ohm meter showed few ohms, but diode tester beeped.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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wgr73 said:
So guys I was able to get 16 satellites in view indoor and 18 outside. What I did was unsolder the pogo pin and solder a wire directly to the board! Check out the pictures.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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janaha_ said:
The connector pins are the same used on wifi cards and are not related to GPS (I had a pigtail? connector laying around and it didnt't improve my signal, nor wifi)
I too struggle with no gps birds and not the best wifi when moving away from the router.
Like others the wlan/gps PCB is faulty, with no connection on the wlan part.
I didn't want to solder anything in case I wanted to return it, so I used copper wire and tape
Wifi improved, but didn't go through the roof (maybe 2-3 mbit)
GPS found no birds(tried for an hour last night with no success.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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Erusman said:
look at this picture of Wlan antenna. Now look very closely at
what i circled in red!!! OMG! no wonder my wifi wasn't working!!! PCB has
design flaw!!! Its not even connected to the so called antenna! I used volt
meter to test as well. NO CONNECTION
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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Erusman said:
This pcb is glued to front half of prime. Pogo pin pushes against copper pad
circled in red to make connection on this pcb. The connection suppose to
follow all the way up to the top of those thin soldered on copper antenna.
It DOESN'T. There is a gap in the design of the PCB. GPS side is completely
connected. Wifi side is not.
...
One thing is for certian. That PCB of the Left side Wifi is flawed. Never made
a connection. So that is why so many primes wifi suck. Only secondary
antenna on right side was working. Asus knows what primes (serial numbers)
have the flawed wifi pcb. They need to issue a press release and statement of
such! Its only right.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Erusman said:
I just want someone to test the gapped WIFI / GPS PCB. I have a feeling this PCB is doing NOTHING for WIFI.
I can't because I removed both my WIFI PCB on top and pogos.
Both WIFI PCB are glued down and DO come out very easy. You just have to take your time.
1.) Record WIFI db with WIFI analyzer and Speedtest) Factory.
2. ) Remove the right WIFI PCB. (One that doesnt have GPS with it and not gapped.)
This will leave the gapped LEFT wifi antenna still in tablet.
3.) Close up your prime and record results of only using the left PCB WIFI / GPS.
I can bet that you will get NO bars for your WIFI and you will get next to nothing with WIFI results.
Conclusion. Left WIFI/GPS PCB is not doing nothing for WIFI and the gap in the copper etching is a factory flaw.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Doktaphex said:
I guess everyone missed it when I mentioned that I had done a test with the main WiFi antenna connection covered with electrical insulation tape.
What happened in this situation was that I got almost no wifi signal whatsoever. So actually the Main antenna is pulling almost all of the signal and the AUX connector is just boosting it a tiny little bit.
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yesterday I covered the connection to the main WiFi PCB with electrical insulation tape. When testing WiFi after this with only the AUX antenna, I got almost no reception whatsoever.
Therefore, the main WiFi antenna is working correctly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Erusman said:
Thank you Dokaphex!! Then there it is. I bet you will find if you cover both sides of the WIFI PCB's with tape you will get same result. The LEFT WIFI PCB is doing nothing. Because with bare pogos not touching anything. You still get some WIFI. (I am talking no bars on WIFI bar) but like 5%.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ruprect said:
Erusman, you need to get this through your head .... RF signals do not need a piece of copper to get from A to B. Propagation, for example, is the fact that there is a big gap between the tv station transmitter and your tv antenna. yes the tv transmitter has megawatts of power behind it but the signals jumps the gap yes?
THAT GAP ON THE PRIMARY ANTENNA IS NOT A FACTORY FLAW
It is designed that way because that gap has one side of it at ground and the other side of that finely tuned gap will 'see' a carrier wave of a predefined band of frequencies. When combined with the other circuitry in the wifi signal reception, it delivers an adequate signal to be further processed down the line.
IT is Designed that way, please drop the faulty pcb talk, it is ridiculous.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Erusman said:
Like i said I am layman when it comes to electronics. Thanks for the RF instruction. HOWEVER, I find it hard to believe you got WIFI from the Gapped PCB when others have not. Others have covered the RIGHT WIFI PCB all together and had nothing but the LEFT WIFI Gapped PCB working. They had no bars on their WIFI fan. Was getting minimal WIFI. WHY? Because the Left WIFI PCB is not working. I have taken out both PCB and I still had some WIFI as well. I was getting no bars with both WIFI PCB and same results as when only the LEFT WIFI PCB was left in. (Approx 5% of WIFI signal... NO bars on WIFI fan. Speedtest 1.8mbs 500k vs 32mb 5mbs) These are the tests we have done. I thank you for your input.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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micaman said:
OK, I am once again stating that I have no technical background with this stuff so call this theory ridiculous if you like but I think its the GLUE. Yes the amount of glue that is used to secure the PCB in place Its seems like it would be the only variable in everyone's tablet. The amount of glue and the placement (flow) of the glue would be very difficult to control in the manufacturing process, thus the variable in everyone's prime.
Now the amount/placement of glue is either causing variances to
(a)the physical separation from the aluminum backing or
(b)compression causing a better connection to the pogo pin.
In essence the glue is causing the same effect as the shim some are using.
Considering some have already tried bypassing the pogo and soldering directly to the PCB I'm thinking its (a)
Pics of the backside of the PCB would be great.
...
I lean towards (a) not (b).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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jdudb said:
Since there seem to be many theories why there is poor antenne performance once lowered into the recess of the back, I might as well put my theory forward. I think that there is just too much radio noise from the circuits and it is drowning out the signals from both the GPS and WIFI. Maybe the latest tegra chips have excessive electrical noise? Has anyone else thought of putting a grounded insulated shield between the antenna and the main board with holes for the pogo pins? Say a sheet of aluminium foil covered on both sides with sticky back plastic and a small portion left bare so that it can contact the edge where the copper tags are.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ruprect said:
small piece of ESDS bag, I thought of using, but now I`ve by passed the pogo pins, I no longer subscribe to this theory
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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Erusman said:
The copper loops on top are the antenna. And they are not grounded. Look at this pic. Where the copper loops on top go they have some felt material against the aluminum so it doesn't ground.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
wgr73 said:
This has me thinking. Seems as though the OP has a bad PCB (Op, check the back side to make sure there is no trace going following the rear). The OP could do 1 of 2 things to fix his PCB, use a fiberglass pen to cut away at the PCB and jumper the contacts, or just solder around the PCB.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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Erusman said:
I hooked up two red clips to wifi pogo's.
I hooked up one black clip to gps.
I ran various tests. Wifi and GPS on. Everything is on par with all my other
tablets. 32mb 5mb wifi. GPS is up and running all birds 5 to 10 seconds.
...
Yep. My GPS didn't even work. Connected wire to pogo pin and had
all 15 birds in view with GPS test app. Took less than 10 sec.
...
Bluetooth? Well, bluetooth still had problems
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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jupppo said:
Well, some bad news. I was assuming a bad connection to the pogo pin was the reason for the bad reception. This is certainly not the cae for my prime. I know also assume it is the back plate.
I cut a 9,5cm (half GPS wavelength) cable an connected it to the pin. Great reception, even better than before, although I am inside and no other GPS gets signal here..
As long as the cable was outside the case it was great, but then I put the cable in the case and the signal decreased.
When I even closed the case. The signal was completly gone until I opened it again.
Looks to me that the aluminium back side shielded the signal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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mystkrh said:
I have a GPS repeater in my hanger at work, and I placed my transformer prime right under the unit with my phone in that spot all gps signals are ~50 in GPS tester. You can see in the pictures one is ok, I personaly think there is an AGC problem in the GPS receiver, and to test it I padded the signal with a anti static bad (we use this method to troubleshot gps antennas on aircraft) and when I did that you can see the 2nd photo of the best signal I think anyone has ever seen on a prime.
...
i just placed a static bag over the unit, I didn't put it in a static bag
AGC is Auto Gain Control its adjust the gain high at low signals and lowers the gain at high signals. If you have a strong signal with to much gain the signal will become unusable. I'm a avionics tech, I deal with radio's, gps rx's and that kinda stuff alot.
The pogo pin connection could be a problem but, but I really doubt it, they are getting a bad wrap in this whole thing. They really are not that bad of a connection as long as they compressed slightly when making contact.
The thing I worry about is the affect of the exposed signal with no shielding on the pogo pin at 1575mhz it doesn't take much to have a problem with reception.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
clackity said:
Automatic Gain Control. It applies gain to the incoming signal to try to achieve a predetermined (or optimal) signal strength. But anytime you apply gain, you increase noise. The trick is to improve the signal more than you increase the noise.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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dpwhitty11 said:
Whoever it was who drilled the holes in his Prime, what kind of bit did you use?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Erusman said:
Just a normal metal cutting bit. The aluminum is very soft. Be sure you are careful with the shavings when you drill. You want to make sure you use a can of compressed air to get the metal shavings out of the tablet. Bit size was 7/32. You can go smaller if you want. Just depends on what kind of rubber gourment plug you want to use, and size of your wire.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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Doktaphex said:
So I've been making different antenna all day, but what I hadn't done was just sit the antenna in the open case whilst testing, I decided to do that. Results here:
...
As you can see, even with the antenna just sitting there in the case the connection is useless, same happens when connected to WiFi antenna, in the case, nothing much, move it out to the side, excellent connection in dB.
My current thought is to somehow stick an antenna where the speaker grill is already. At least that would save busting things up too much.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
micaman said:
OK now watching that video (thanks by the way) i have to return to my initial theory that it must be the aluminum case that is causing an electrical interference with the antenna an not just blocking the signal. If the degraded signal was solely caused due to the antenna just sitting in the aluminum backing why did the signal improve whilst it was sitting on the keyboard which is also made of aluminum?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Videos courtesy of Doktaphex.
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Doktaphex said:
My latest idea is running a wire the entire way round the Prime, basically where the screen sits in the case, so far so good. I have a loop of wire attached to the GPS pogo pin. In theory, it could replace that black plastic surround that's about 1 mm thick on the screen.
It was a pain in the ass to install as a quick dirty mod, but doing it properly with tape and such like would make it a breeze. So far it's looking pretty good.
...
All of a sudden though, from having good birds in view I've got nothing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This has been confirmed to not work. I'm not sure about newer models or their claims to better WiFi.
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Erusman said:
Other option you guys might try which i am toying with is adding these Tyco Wifi Antenna. They are used in laptops but extremely thin. Heck i dunno you might not be able to drill any holes and place these powerful boys someplace in tablet and get excellent wifi. I have a few on order already.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...00_i00_details
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green750one said:
What about using an antenna like this ... it's 2mm thick and might fit inside the case. Have no idea what reception would be like but it seems bit more designed than the stock antenna?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://www.mightygps.com/oem/dielectricantenna.htm
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PersonOfKnownOrigin said:
I wonder if this could be useful
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://www.sti-co.com/antenna-produc...ransparent-gps
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Erusman said:
You could probably even cut yourself some copper strips and be fancy with the design and fit them around the entire plastic bezel on front. Then solder a connection to the pogos.
However, its all about if the signal is going to get in there. It may not matter how big of copper strip or Tyco antenna you but in there. The aluminum backplate may block it and you will get same results as factory antenna.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
jchipper said:
i just ordered a PCB Copper FR4 Circuit Board .025" x 12" x 36"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://www.ebay.com/itm/36037716592...:IT&_trksid=p398 4.m1439.l2649#ht_1295wt_1139
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junrider said:
I think with my idea of buy a thin copper sheet that is very filmsy. measure the the size of the contacts on the board, now double it. So if the contacts where:
[||||] you would need a copper strip of [||||||||]
fold the copper strip in half to form a <
Then take the outer end of the copper and put a light solder film, put some rosin flux on the contact, then take the side with the thin film of solder of your copper strip and place it on the contact and press the soldering gun on the strip and thin film of solder should bind the copper strip and contact without the mess of excess solder.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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Lock-N-Load said:
Really though, in the end, it seems if someone wanted to get really hardcore, they could dremel a slice out of the back that is tall yet narrow, go to home depot and get some plexiglass, sand it down to obscure the view into the device, and epoxy that in place and place the wire into that as a window. Totally possible IF you wanted to kick it up a few levels now that the hard work is done and shows an antenna wire can hep. Essentially steal Apples' idea but keep it simple and make it home grown.
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RipplingHurst said:
Now im wondering if we couldjust unplug the camera and use that opening where the wires would end. I could easily sacrifice the camera or the flash for such.
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buxtahuda said:
Here is a terrible drawing of my own personal idea for an internally retractable antenna similar to the straw-method that Erusman adopted as his final mod with his Prime/case combo. I'm currently just looking around and gathering my thoughts, but I hope to find a fairly compact, flexible, and lightweight telescopic antenna and place one or two of them just along the MoBo (underneath the bezel of the screen, but attached to backplate) with a hole cut out and insulated so that only the top two or three inches of the antenna will leave the Prime and without making contact to the backplate.
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Really, I don't think this would do well. You'd really need antenna large(thick) enough for the GHz frequencies.​

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I like the Card printer test card.. Looks like a Fargo DTC515 or 525 or a Magicard test card
Just so people know that card is 30mils thick CR80 card stock

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How did u fix the lightbleed?

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xxgmon3yxx said:
How did u fix the lightbleed?
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Getting there, sorry. After disassembled, just reseat the screws surrounding the screen and only tighten them enough to hold. The usual issue is too much/uneven pressure.
*EDIT: And I didn't!!!! Lol, credit given at top. Will edit so no one could possibly miss who to really thank

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LOOKS great so far. Also try to add in pics showing close up of pogo pins and the pics showing the different ways they attached/soldered the wires to pins/PCB OG test. Maybe also along with those the screenshots showing how much better the signals increased from doing it. DIFFERENT theories n findings people had the seem very plausible.
Very important, add a disclaimer at the bottom saying this is a do at your own risk. You or others involved with compiling info for this thread assume no responsibility for any possible damages. If you proceed to try this, do with extreme caution and if you don't know what you doing or not confident, best not to try this at home

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demandarin said:
LOOKS great so far. Also try to add in pics showing close up of pogo pins and the pics showing the different ways they attached/soldered the wires to pins/PCB OG test. Maybe also along with those the screenshots showing how much better the signals increased from doing it. DIFFERENT theories n findings people had the seem very plausible.
Very important, add a disclaimer at the bottom saying this is a do at your own risk. You or others involved with compiling info for this thread assume no responsibility for any possible damages. If you proceed to try this, do with extreme caution and if you don't know what you doing or not confident, best not to try this at home
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For the reserved Taking my time, but I'm having to go through the entire thread two more times to ensure accuracy, and proper quoting/credit. It will certainly be done before midnight (10 PM now), so keep refreshing and you'll see me changing it lol

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Great job..Appreciate it!
buxtahuda said:
For the reserved Taking my time, but I'm having to go through the entire thread two more times to ensure accuracy, and proper quoting/credit. It will certainly be done before midnight (10 PM now), so keep refreshing and you'll see me changing it lol
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Thanks for putting all of this together. I would have but as you see you've done it alot faster than I could on the prime alone with no dock. Once the bulk stuff or initial stuff is done, it'll be easy to update. The other thread could be the research thread n this one the actual guide n findings from research.

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demandarin said:
Thanks for putting all of this together. I would have but as you see you've done it alot faster than I could on the prime alone with no dock. Once the bulk stuff or initial stuff is done, it'll be easy to update. The other thread could be the research thread n this one the actual guide n findings from research.
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Lol, it's no issue. I've no life, so my Androids keep me company; gotta do 'em justice
Plus, the easier it is for you all to find and understand the easier I can get help also understanding lol
*EDIT: And two 22" monitors can help

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demandarin said:
Thanks for putting all of this together. I would have but as you see you've done it alot faster than I could on the prime alone with no dock. Once the bulk stuff or initial stuff is done, it'll be easy to update. The other thread could be the research thread n this one the actual guide n findings from research.
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Awesome job! Thanks buxtahuda!
Now I can concentrate on drinking beer and watching the Super bowl

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Erusman said:
Awesome job! Thanks buxtahuda!
Now I can concentrate on drinking beer and watching the Super bowl
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To quote a famous philosopher:
Beer, beer, beer.... bed, bed, bed!
Homer J. Simpson

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Okay. Bulk work done, pictures all resized and just waiting for the site to update them.
Please let me know if anything's out of order/missing or if something can be scratched. I'll of course be keeping up with this thread, and will also be monitoring the original.
Good luck everyone, and thank you!

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Cool thread, this really combines all of the test data. I should have some more btw pretty soon.

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wgr73 said:
Cool thread, this really combines all of the test data. I should have some more btw pretty soon.
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Wonderful! Can't wait! I'm tearing mine down this afternoon.
Be sure to keep using Erusman's original thread for your general R&D, we'll use this to post it after and hopefully help spread the load of questions from over there.
Soon as I've got this laptop all put together and a bill ready for it, I'll hop back on to look over what's been being discussed.

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Just to add to this, my prime doesn't seem to have any GPS issues.
Indoors (ground floor)
Indoors (First Floor)
Outside

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I admire your work and would try this if I had crappy WiFi but mine works great. I don't have GPS but if I ever use my prime for navigation I'll use my BT GPS receiver. I just can't put my $500 tablet under the knife at this point
GOOD JOB! I'll definitely use this if I grow a set of stones to take my Prime apart.

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Veeerrryyy tempted to tear this thing apart. Thanks guys for your bravery
TF201 | XDA Premium

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This is a pretty "ballsy" move to make... and I approve of this message... and of the methods used here to disassemble our tablets.
Sent from the last remaining Prime; Leader of the Autopads.

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Just bumping to keep up top, can't imagine anyone really wanting to go through 50+
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda premium

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Updated to the latest page of the thread, will soon start putting in links to the products underneath those latter pictures of antenna.