Keyboard & charger - Viewsonic ViewPad 7 & Variants

If you are traveling and need to use GPS, but maps are loaded on a external card and you have your viewpad charging on lighter outlet.
or (my case) you have some serious amount of text to write and you need the keyboard connected as well as your wall mount charger....
Is there any known way to connect the battery charger and a peripheral as keyboard or usb mass storage device at the same time?
I'm thinking about some surgery to the usb-to-miniusb converter that I use to connect my desktop type keyboard to the viewpad, but don't know what could happen to the usb device or the keyboard. Neither know which of the 5 pins (contacts) of the charger is the active one...
Any suggestions?
Tnx in advance.

anothe question....
Ok... since there is no answer over 24hrs, I'll make another question to make this a little more interesting for you people could help me...
Is there any chance to connect a keyboard (already working) plus a SD card at the same time??
I'm making some fun stuff with a keyboard and making some surgery I could install some kind of "external USB Port" on the keyboard.... but, should it work?? I mean, keyboard and flash memory together, connected to one-single miniUSB port....
Developers.... any suggestion??
Thnx again...
Forgett to say.... on Viewpad7 with FROYO 2.2.1

Another idea
Ok, easy people... That bunch of comments about my topic make s me feel kind dizzy...
Just kidding....
Making some research (on goggle, haha!!), I've found that USB port on a pc have a 5volt-500mA output... So, if that's nominal out and that power could charge the viewpad AND don't turn on smoke any peripheral, Then I just have to connect power out on a wall-mount charger to the 1st pin (wire) of a 5 contact miniUSB, regarding on the power out put on 500mA.
(thanks isIran for your assistance )
now... PLEASE SOMEONE STOP ME IF I'M HAVING SOME IDIOTIC, TABLET BRICKING, IDEA!!!!
Thnx again

Hi,
The Viewpad wall charger have a non standard conector, if you look in the contact part you will see double connection.
In the main charger body you will find the pinout:
Pin 1 & 6 +, pin 5 & 10 -
These pins (6&10) are longer than the data pins to ensure that the power connections mate first and un-mate last.
The wall charger is 2 A and the USB PC port only 0.5A (0.9A for USB3)
For this reason a wall charger change in 2 hours and a PC USB in 15 hours.
A dedicated USB charger should short the 2 data lines together. The device will then not attempt to transmit or receive data, but can draw up to 1.8A
for this reason the device know when it's connected to a computer or to a dedicated charger (like a Garmin GPS)
Probably modifiying a connector (or keyboard) to provide energy and data will work.
Did you try a USB hub?
Less us know the result of your experience.
cheers

You could solve the keyboard problem by using a bluetooth keyboard and you can charge the tab on the USB port at the same time.

ecossais said:
You could solve the keyboard problem by using a bluetooth keyboard and you can charge the tab on the USB port at the same time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right, this solve one problem, but is much expensive and less fun... Besides, didn't solve the flash drive plus charger issue...
About pins 6 &10... Just noticed that (in over a year never look that closer the charger pin).
I'll try usb hub, but I'm afraid to burn some flash drive or worst...
Thanx for your interest and helpful advice...

Related

Sync/Charge usb cable

Friend: The standard mini usb cable (most popular) can be used in extUSB on D2 (Topaz) : Charging is OK and Sync is OK.
Note: I discover It after buy a 2nd cable
Well, I have so many 'standard' USB to mini USB cables I have never even taken the HTC item out of it's box.
However, the pin out on the mini port of the TD2 does allow for other things other than just sync and charge and then a specificaly wired cable would be required.
Common Mini usb works for other stuff too.
Where i live i have no high speed internet so i use my HTC pure as my internet source. Recently (after 3 weeks of use) my data cable began to come apart...
fearing i would have to buy something i couldnt afford and being mad that i have like 50 mini usb cords that i thought were useless, i found this thread and decided to test other features of the standard cable. So far I have found nothing that the cord cannot do.
my 2 cents.
geraldf80 said:
Where i live i have no high speed internet so i use my HTC pure as my internet source.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Question: are you then using the HTC as a modem? If so, have you ever tried using it as a modem via Bluetooth? I have never managed this and nobody in the General forum has any advice. I can only use it via usb.
No I havent sorry. My laptop don't have bluetooth so the option never presented itself. perhaps searching for bluetooth internet sharing or making a post would be more helpful.. sorry.
On the TD2 you first need to pair your phone to your PC with Bluetooth
And then there's a program called 'Internet Sharing' on my TD2 menu, you just need to pair your phone and change what the internet sharing is going to (BT in this case) and away you go.
I've heard some carriers disable this and make you pay a surcharge for tethering, which I've heard you can get round with a registry hack
(i can't post links but I did google Touch Diamond 2 Bluetooth Internet Sharing)
Another quick and easy way to do it wirelessly is to use a program like WalkingHotSpot, which converts your TD2 into a WiFi hotspot which is my preferred method if i had to go down this path
Good luck!
The additional contacts in the original connector are for the headphones. Not used in USB & Charging.
e.g. the original car charger comes with a default USB/minUSB cable, not th especial connector as added to the TD2.
GeScha said:
e.g. the original car charger comes with a default USB/minUSB cable, not th especial connector as added to the TD2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is true. I have been searching for a TD2 car charger with its specially profiled connector but could not find one. I am afraid that the standard mini USB connector will damaged the TD2 connector after prolonged use just like what had happened to my 838Pro. You need a little help with the wires and connector when charging or ActiveSync to get them connected.
Whoa this thread is a life saver. I'm in the middle of nowhere and lost my cable so couldn't charge my phone was looking for somewhere to order online it would have cost me at least 2 weeks.
Now i'm using my camera's standard usb cable.
Thank You.
I have all the normal!
Wow, I was kind of shocked, when I tried it - it worked!!! I have bought already 2 special htc oem cables - 1st one was already broken, and have never tried the original mini usb cable since now. It works perfectly too But I suppose if the mini usb cable is used, you have to be more careful for the connector, because there is some free space inside.
i'm using oem hp camera's cable. working fine on my diamond2
Thanks friends.

HOW TO: $15 stand alone powered USB dongle for touchpad

I made a USB dongle that plugs into the USB port on the touchpad and provides a powered female USB-A port. It is basically a portable USB charger/battery with an OTG cable soldered to the USB port. Attached is a quick pdf showing the process. It's much smaller and more portable than using a y-cable and powered hub or battery pack.
The charger is $13 on Amazon with free prime shipping and OTG cables around $2 on ebay.
It's nice because it's small and I can secure it to the my case with a rubber band, providing a quick connection to a keyboard/mouse or usb flash drive. The particular charger charges via any powered USB port with a provided cable.
This is the battery pack I ordered, note the picture on the amazon page is not 100% accurate:
http://www.amazon.com/T-Mobile-Port..._1_1?s=wireless&ie=UTF8&qid=1325984238&sr=1-1
This is the cable I purchased, there are cheaper ones, but they ship from China:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Micro-USB-O...ccessories&hash=item1e69fbb3c5#ht_1336wt_1398
Would that be powerful enough to power external portable hard drive like WD Passport?
gedas5 said:
Would that be powerful enough to power external portable hard drive like WD Passport?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately, I don't have the power specs on the battery pack. If I come across a USB-powered hard drive, I'll test it.
scarletwahoo said:
I made a USB dongle that plugs into the USB port on the touchpad and provides a powered female USB-A port. It is basically a portable USB charger/battery with an OTG cable soldered to the USB port. Attached is a quick pdf showing the process. It's much smaller and more portable than using a y-cable and powered hub or battery pack.
The charger is $13 on Amazon with free prime shipping and OTG cables around $2 on ebay.
It's nice because it's small and I can secure it to the my case with a rubber band, providing a quick connection to a keyboard/mouse or usb flash drive. The particular charger charges via any powered USB port with a provided cable.
This is the battery pack I ordered, note the picture on the amazon page is not 100% accurate:
http://www.amazon.com/T-Mobile-Port..._1_1?s=wireless&ie=UTF8&qid=1325984238&sr=1-1
This is the cable I purchased, there are cheaper ones, but they ship from China:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Micro-USB-O...ccessories&hash=item1e69fbb3c5#ht_1336wt_1398
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that looks nice.. but you re saying that its plug and play?..
you dont have to mount/unmount?
why didnt you get one w/ more usb ports?
your pics are clear.
i wonder how easy it is to do the battery hub like yours but w/ 4 usb ports
Nicely done, very good solution and tutorial. again excellent!!!!
amkaos said:
that looks nice.. but you re saying that its plug and play?..
you dont have to mount/unmount?
why didnt you get one w/ more usb ports?
your pics are clear.
i wonder how easy it is to do the battery hub like yours but w/ 4 usb ports
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://www.amazon.com/Solar-Powered-Battery-Charger-Adapter/dp/B006DVMW92
This hub has 4 ports, a battery plus solar charging. That said, if I buy it I'll probably just plug it directly into the OTG cable rather than solder them together. Then again my soldering can be a little rough.
- Sent from a Prime terminal using a friends account
So can we only use the Micro Usb OTG host to connect to a USB drive/keyboard?
tpcm said:
So can we only use the Micro Usb OTG host to connect to a USB drive/keyboard?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes plus 10char
Deserves sticky, love mods like this even if not always practical.
Cant believe they didnt give the touchpad a powered usb host. I guess they figured people would have issues with not enough power or drain the battery too quick with it.
So I think when I have some spare time I may mod your mod and show how to make a powered usb host that plugs into the wall charger so when your "docking" somewhere to charge you can hook up a keyboard and use it without restriction and even be charging the touchpad at the same time.
Probably don't even need to be too creative a proper Y cable may do the trick out the gate. Just to track one down.
Probably a stupid question, but it wouldn't be my first one...
Could you simply use a USB male-to-male cable to go between the battery pack and the OTG cable? Eliminate the soldering that way?
Or am I missing something?
I found a cable that I think will work perfectly for my idea of doing this from the charger instead of from battery: http://www.dealextreme.com/p/usb-fe...gb-tf-card-card-reader-kit-for-xtc-clip-82289
You can do it much cheaper with adapters and a regular y adapter though, and you may want to do so, so that you can have a longer cable from the charger to the y split, but yeah I will try this out sometime soon and let you know how it works.
The charger probably gives enough power to easily run things like a external HDD and such while the battery pack may not.
@Vicious ... couldn't that possibly put too much power to a USB device? Just saying since it is probably meant to be hooked up to a regular USB 5v port and (I don't know the specifics but) the touchpad USB power adapter has a high AMP output (might be talking sht here).
Nothing to worry about a device only "pulls" the amperage it needs so you can have extra with no harm to the device. It is the voltage that needs to match and usb is standard 5v.
Having too little amperage can actually cause a device harm due to malfunction, like a head crashing on a 2.5" hdd during use or a thumb drive failing to flash properly corrupting a sector.
I feel anybody that uses the touchpad in a docked setting that wants to use a keyboard may very well make use of my idea, that I of course got from the OP's idea.
I'll part it out for the cheapest way to make it without any cutting/soldering and test it soon enough.
mountaindewmi said:
@Vicious ... couldn't that possibly put too much power to a USB device? Just saying since it is probably meant to be hooked up to a regular USB 5v port and (I don't know the specifics but) the touchpad USB power adapter has a high AMP output (might be talking sht here).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That cable will work fine. I wasn't doing anything special, only eliminating the y-cable. I mainly wanted a small form factor way of adding a USB port to my case for portability. Now I can put a movie on a usb drive and watch it on the go.
You generally don't have to worry about using a supply that is to powerful. As long as the voltage output is 5 V, the device will only draw a certain current and consume the corresponding amount of power. The rating on a constant voltage supply is simply the maximum current it can provide, the amount it provides depends on the properties of the device.
Say you have a device, it states it operates at 5 V and draws 100 mA of current. That means the impedance of the device is R = V / I = 50 ohms. So if you use a 5 V supply rated to at least 100 mA, the device will only draw 100 mA. The supply can be rated for 100 mA or 1000 amps, it does not matter. (Although you wouldn't want to use 1000 A source as if something breaks or shorts it can draw a higher current)
Wikipedia "ohms law" if you are not familiar.
I tried to do this but can't get it to work, the touchpad shows the charging battery icon only it's not charging, and running dmesg it say source=charger mA=100 and usb otg exited low power mode and then right after says it entered low power mode... Not sure what the issue is...
edit: I'm thinking it may be my soldering work, gonna give it another pass...
joenathane said:
I tried to do this but can't get it to work, the touchpad shows the charging battery icon only it's not charging, and running dmesg it say source=charger mA=100 and usb otg exited low power mode and then right after says it entered low power mode... Not sure what the issue is...
edit: I'm thinking it may be my soldering work, gonna give it another pass...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You may have the two data pins shorted together. To the best of my knowledge, this tells the touchpad to go into charging mode. The touchpad charger does this, because in order to charge, it must draw more power than USB ports are designed to provide.
You need to remove the two resistors circled in the PDF. These keep the data pins shorted together as well.
This is a really great idea I think I might try it and your tut is very well explained thanks for taking the time out to put it all together
Thanks
Mouse works fine, keyboard hasn't been tried yet. How do you access a flash drive through this? What are the steps?
If you just cut out the resistors in the battery hub, could you just use the TP's regular cable to plug into one of the ports on the hub?
tpcm said:
Mouse works fine, keyboard hasn't been tried yet. How do you access a flash drive through this? What are the steps?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stick mount works great
Sent from my CM9 TouchPad

Otg and power same time

I thought I'd throw this out here to whoever is interested in a similar install.
It's been a long while trying to figure out how to get my nexus 10 working otg without draining the battery. So, what I did was eliminate the battery all together and run it with a regulated power supply soldered to the positive and negative pins inside where the battery clip would normally go. Everything ran smooth without any errors whatsoever, then came time to test it all out by plugging the otg cable. what do you know, it worked flawlessly.
I'm able to run a usb hub with 3 flash sticks and 1 ssd hd. Hub must be powered separate with the power plug. This is a perfect setup for my situation since the tablet is installed in my truck and I wasn't too happy with the idea of having a lithium battery inside on hot summer days.
I'm pretty sure this method could even work while keeping the battery installed inside connecting the leads to a double throw relay along with a separate plug that would separate the two power sources.
Testing also passed while plugging it to the pc foe file access and debugging mode.
Hope this helps some people. Don't be shy if you need to ask any questions on this project.
Later
A pc usb port puts out 5v 500ma wich barely keeps the Nexus10 battery level
The ac charger puts out 5v 2amps
I hope your power supply is putting out same amps..
Sent from my Nexus 10 using XDA Premium HD app
Asylum01 said:
I thought I'd throw this out here to whoever is interested in a similar install.
Hope this helps some people. Don't be shy if you need to ask any questions on this project.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello Asylum,
I'm indeed interested in your setup, since OTG+charging is not possible with traditional methods (even pogo cable doesn't work along with OTG).
If I clearly understood, you opened your nexus, removed the battery and directly soldered cables + and - ?
Is it a complex operation ? (in particular to open the nexus and close it without tearing it down).
Do you have a photo of your installation ?
Thank you for your help :cyclops:
LeDuke
I'm also interested in this setup and would love to see pics!
Not to sound like a d1ck or anything, but I have a alternative. Just make a otg cable with a male and female USB ends and just hook up the male end to power lines. Them you can just use a regular USB wallwart to profile power to your drive.
I used this method to run a 1tb external HDD.

[GUIDE] [UPDATING] USB Host Mode and Charging

OUTDATED, Do not follow this guide, stay tunned through I am about updating it and giving you a ready solution.
Hello XDA beasts and XDA leechers!!
Today I am breaking my leecher's bounds by writing my first unique How-To for Nexus 6P (might work on every device with OTG support and Marshmallow).
This guide is done using USB 2.0 hub and wall charger and a USB 3.0 Type-C adapter I already had.
If you are a electricity engineer please pay attention and help me moving this glitch to the next level!
I am not responsible if you burn your smartphone or home, we're talking about low electricity through I do not think there's a danger.
Okay, things you'll need:
x1 Scissors to cut wires
x1 Electrical tape to insulate the wires you connect
x1 Lighter to remove the plastic from the wires
x1 OTG Cable (Type-C to female USB)
x1 simple USB 2.0 Hub
With simple I mean the following: it just worked with my Chinese cheap non-wall-powered one, I do not know more information how
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
x1 USB male cable
Will be needed for its +/- wires (If you have a charger you are not using, or a USB mouse, take your s)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
x1 USB 2.0 keyboard or mouse for test
x1 USB Wall Charger with high Amber output
2A will be cool I guess but not sure yet, I am using it with 0.6A wall charger at the moment and I am getting 0.1A on the phone (I can see it using an application named "Ampere", used for things like this, battery related) because a keyboard and a mouse are getting the rest (0.5A i guess)!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
(Optimal) x1 ON/OFF switcher
see the attachment photo on this topic, you can find one easily on a old toy or something
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
x1 Nexus 6P (your phone)
Here is the guide, if it is unclear what to do, I also give to you a screenshot of the final thing/hack:
(When I am saying connect the wires, I also mean tape the wires, so if you follow step by step the guide, use tape right when you connect)
Start of HowTo
1.1. Cut the "connect-to-otg" USB cable from the hub, you are about to reconnect it so keep that in mind.
1.2. Cut the USB cable and keep the USB male with its wires, we will use ONLY the black and the red (+/-) wires and this cable is going to charge our phone and power the whole hub.
1.3. Revert the step you've done at step 1 by connecting back the wires and also connect on red and black wires the red and black of the USB male cable of step 1.2.
(Almost ready, you now have a "complicated" cable that have 3 endings 2 of them are USB 2.0 and the other one is connected to the USB Hub)
1.4. Connect the black wire to the one side of the ON/OFF switch and the red wire to the other.
End of HowTo
You are ready, here's a example of how to make it work:
2.1. Connect USB of step 1.2. to the wall charger
2.2. Connect the other USB to the phone through OTG cable
2.3. Power ON the ON/OFF switch and turn it OFF
Glitch is done !!!
2.4. Connect a USB Device on the HUB, it should work, if not move to the next step
2.5. Repeat the step 2.3. once.
Keep in mind that your USB Hub still works without plugging it to the wall charger, but if you also want charging you are going to connect to the charger the USB obliviously, and ON-OFF that tricky switch we added.
If you know more about electricity, let us please know if this is safe for our phone, I think the only downside is the overusage of phone's battery, but let us know, is this hack dangerous for the hardware?
Have a nice day,
George.
Here is what you are about to create, a wall charger powered HUB with a switcher that 'touches'/connects the +/-, sounds dangerous right?
It works through!
Does sound a little dangerous, wouldn't it be less so using electrical tape instead?
RoyJ said:
Does sound a little dangerous, wouldn't it be less so using electrical tape instead?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True hahah, let me edit the topic, that is a must, I also used it but forgot to mention it.
(I am currently using my Nexus 6P as a computer with this mod (mouse, keyboard and "usb soundcard") and the help of a chromecast, battery is still going down even through it is charging, using a USB 2.0 port of my rooter, the metter of Ampere shows 1750mAh (1.75A) ... Searching for a way to set phone's brightness to 0, absolutely zero, to get the advantage of the amoled screen while still keeping the touchscreen).
Have a nice day!
EDIT:
Here is some information for electricians, using the demonstration of this guide, you can also see the first post on this topic for a screenshot.
1. My wall charger: 600mAh, 5V
2. My Nexus 6P gets about 150-200mAh charging power, according to Ampere application for Android.
3. As I can see/guess the USB devices are getting powered by both smartphone and charger, not sure through because of limited knowledge about electricity and simple circuits.
4. This trick is glitching the Android by making it using MTP (Media Transfer Protocol) while charging, so it happens to reveal that it is POSSIBLE to charge and be in host mode, I am not sure through if it is a placebo and in reality the phone is actually charging only when no key is pressed of keyboard or mouse and MTP goes to standby mode, not sure if what I just said exists in MTP.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Worth the bump,
I found a way to tweak the creation of this guide, clearly SPLITTING the charging of the phone and the powering of the usb devices!
Soon I will update the topic making it the best case scenario guide for "USB Host Mode and Charging on Nexus 6P, while casting to a Chromecast".
Also let me inform you that you are about to charge your phone with a simple/classic USB wall charger of 2.0A electricity while having it connected on a chromecast (via wifi) and a DIY self-powered USB HUB. You have a portable pc in your pocket indeed!
(The trick was to create a stand with a case fan (16V) to cool down that heat monster snapdragon 810 and let the phone charge instead of losing energy even while charging.)
More info soon, there are still cool and kinda safe things to do with your "old" device ^_^,
Have a nice day, George.

Charging device (tablet) at the same time as using a OTG device (same port)

Hi guys, looking for some help here. My goal is to use a tablet with a seek thermal USB camera plugged into the charging port. It's going to be mounted in a semi-permanent location and running non stop, so I'll need to keep power to the tablet at all times. Is there a solution for this? Is there a way to plug power into the charging port while also allowing the OTG item (Seek Thermal) to work simultaneously? I've looked at some connectors on Amazon but it's very unclear if they will only Power the OTG item but not charged the tablet or both. I thought about using inductive charging for the tablet, but I'm failing to find any tablet that has an inductive coil built-in.
I'm going to purchase a new tablet for this so I'm open to whatever model works. Right now the Seek Thermal is a micro USB connection but I have a micro USB to USB-C connector just in case the new tablet uses a USB-C connection.
Thanks so much in advance!
@Fit101
Read here.
Thanks @jwoegerbauer, do you know if there's anything pre-made available? Some of the items linked in that post are no longer available. Thx

Categories

Resources