Hello everyone,
I understand that the GPS Dongle for the Prime occupies the ASUS 40-pin, which means it won't allow the dock to be used. I'm just wondering whether it is possible in the future to have a cable with compatible ends at both side? Of course it should be male/female to be used with the dock's left hand side female.
This way, theoretically, I would be a able to use my Prime, dock and the GPS Dongle all together while travelling. But I'm not sure that it's possible, even if such cable exists... sometime in the future.
Probably some of you out there have any opinions regarding this matter.
No cable for this currently exists.
However one could be made, if the connector is a straight pass through then it would work. If the connector however only utilizes certain pins then it would either need to be modified or replaced.
Either way it will take some experimentation.
The easy way for now is to remove the device form the plastic housing and plug it into the dock to see if it works.
flyingwolf said:
No cable for this currently exists.
However one could be made, if the connector is a straight pass through then it would work. If the connector however only utilizes certain pins then it would either need to be modified or replaced.
Either way it will take some experimentation.
The easy way for now is to remove the device form the plastic housing and plug it into the dock to see if it works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I understand that it cannot be done at this moment. But theoretically it might work, right? Or is there something in the dock prevents the GPS to get connected to the Prime? Such thing like, power line (charging) is more priority and is using the same pins?
suroboyo said:
Yes, I understand that it cannot be done at this moment. But theoretically it might work, right? Or is there something in he dock prevents the GPS to get connected to the Prime? Such thing like, power line (charging) is more priority and is using the same pins?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Theoretically time travel is possible, anyhing is possible theoretically,
But to answer your question, no there are no pins which share data/power.
The only worry is that the dock female connector may only be power and ground, no data, I know this to not be true as I rooted while in the dock, so all pins pass through from what I can tell.
It looks like for ease of manufacture all o the connectors are the same on the tablet, the dock and the dock plug.
A wire or new housing should be easy enough to fab up.
I will test this tonight.
flyingwolf said:
Theoretically time travel is possible, anyhing is possible theoretically,
But to answer your question, no there are no pins which share data/power.
The only worry is that the dock female connector may only be power and ground, no data, I know this to not be true as I rooted while in the dock, so all pins pass through from what I can tell.
It looks like for ease of manufacture all o the connectors are the same on the tablet, the dock and the dock plug.
A wire or new housing should be easy enough to fab up.
I will test this tonight.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
gps dongle doesnt work when plugged into the dock, i tried it and the dongle isnt recognized. The dock doesnt have the proper lines routed to the connector.
bjohnston115 said:
gps dongle doesnt work when plugged into the dock, i tried it and the dongle isnt recognized. The dock doesnt have the proper lines routed to the connector.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for testing this out.
This means we will need to open the dock and connect the lines that are not connected if we wish for this to work.
Though it seems to me that this may be a specific doc pin being recognized...
bjohnston115 said:
gps dongle doesnt work when plugged into the dock, i tried it and the dongle isnt recognized. The dock doesnt have the proper lines routed to the connector.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks a lot...
a little bit pity 'though, since I have a plan to use them all together on the road.
im currently in the process of tracking down which pins are used in the dongle, unfortunately i only have one dock and its too expensive for me to start ripping it apart however hopefully with the information im gathering and information others are gathering we can get a pinout for the dongle as well as the prime and dock to better understand how everything works
I am having difficulty with Asus support. Would like to buy a GPS Dongle if a member does not need it. Thank you.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=25705747#post25705747
mlee1999 said:
I am having difficulty with Asus support. Would like to buy a GPS Dongle if a member does not need it. Thank you.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=25705747#post25705747
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have an extra one i could prolly get to you, you would have to pay for shipping and whatnot.... check your PM's and send me an email.
more experiments
flyingwolf said:
Theoretically time travel is possible, anyhing is possible theoretically,
But to answer your question, no there are no pins which share data/power.
The only worry is that the dock female connector may only be power and ground, no data, I know this to not be true as I rooted while in the dock, so all pins pass through from what I can tell.
It looks like for ease of manufacture all o the connectors are the same on the tablet, the dock and the dock plug.
A wire or new housing should be easy enough to fab up.
I will test this tonight.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have one of the SD CARD adapters for the prime (I purchased while waiting for the keyboard). I plugged it into the keyboard power port with an SD CARD inserted and the prime did NOT see it.
I think the port on the keyboard is power only
Related
Thread for hardware mods
POSTING INTERNAL tf101 pictures
like 3g dongle ? internal sd cards? ssd?
removing the battery for 2 HDD 500go?
finding sd cards hubs? usb to sata cables?
? there is a place in the tablet for a 3g dongle?
there are 2 screws under the upper rubbers and the dock open easy
there is a lot of spaces avaible
My MIFI might actually fit in there, all I would need to do is supply it power somehow.
I'm no hardware engineer though, but if thats possible it would save you from the driver issues with a 3g dongle.
I wonder if it would be possible to check which pins from the adapter connect to USB - so we can make DIY USB adapter for those without a dock.
hmm adding an hdd would be very interesting, sata won't be very hard, powersupply will be.
Sent from my O2x with CM7
This is what I was looking for, looking to do some mods to the dock.
Thanks Markolino72.
Internally mount and wire a 32gb memory stick to the USB port so you get a 32gb hard drive added whenever you dock It might even have enough room for a portable USB hub so you don't lose use of the external usb port?
does anybody think it will be easy to make a DIY dock fix for those with battery draining issues like me?
It seems like it would be relatively easy - just make a switch to either connect or disconnect the cords coming from the docking point.
Or even better, maybe if you put the correct microcontroller in there you can have it switch the pins to floating, if it senses that there is no tablet connected (not sure about the details though)...
ydnality said:
does anybody think it will be easy to make a DIY dock fix for those with battery draining issues like me?
It seems like it would be relatively easy - just make a switch to either connect or disconnect the cords coming from the docking point.
Or even better, maybe if you put the correct microcontroller in there you can have it switch the pins to floating, if it senses that there is no tablet connected (not sure about the details though)...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you seen the post in the General forum (2nd page now I think)? Posted by Asus_USA themselves, if you prove the 6 steps that your dock has the issue you can get a new one! I really do hope that I can get mine exchanged, waiting on a reply from my local service center..
Regards.
In regards to the hardware mods, that really looks amazing. Would love to put in my mifi there as well, attach it via USB to charge = your own 3g model Maybe a little modding you could get the mifi to power on only when the dock is connected (remove the battery of the mifi?) so that when it powers on it'll power on the mifi as well. Only a few thoughts.
Maybe a little modding you could get the mifi to power on only when the dock is connected (remove the battery of the mifi?) so that when it powers on it'll power on the mifi as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it's a good thought but the mifi I have (novatel 2200) wont work without the battery, for some reason if the battery is bad or removed you cannot run usb, it must be the way they have the power run through the battery or charging. Not sure if all are like this or not.
andrewklau said:
Have you seen the post in the General forum (2nd page now I think)? Posted by Asus_USA themselves, if you prove the 6 steps that your dock has the issue you can get a new one! I really do hope that I can get mine exchanged, waiting on a reply from my local service center..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I talked to the Asus service rep about it. They currently won't give you a new one since they have a hardware upgrade to fix it. If you wanted a new one you needed to do before they solved the problem. I'm waiting on the upgrade part to be delivered for for mine. Should in a few days.
A switch should theoretically work. The guy at the service center said the replace something that goes into the hinge of the dock. Looking at the teardown pics, you can see a wire goes into each side of the hinge, so I think they replace the wires and maybe make a new connection somewhere on the dock.
Surprising how much wasted space there seems to be in the dock -- it's nowhere near as tightly packaged as the tablet itself. Looks like Asus can optimize the size or fit some more features in future versions, if they want...
Let me see if I am thinking correctly...Your saying using something like mifi installed via USB wires (will it be always on?) then connect via WiFi on your transformer? So basically your putting the mifi in a case that can never be opened without a screwdriver? I guess one would always have access for your other devices as well as long as the TF is in the vicinity.
P.S. I think I think this is a good idea, not decided though. I like to think of it in a real world application.
there is another post with a guy putting in an SSD, but it bulges at the keyboard. A 32g SD card would be nice.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using XDA Premium App
typci said:
I talked to the Asus service rep about it. They currently won't give you a new one since they have a hardware upgrade to fix it. If you wanted a new one you needed to do before they solved the problem. I'm waiting on the upgrade part to be delivered for for mine. Should in a few days.
A switch should theoretically work. The guy at the service center said the replace something that goes into the hinge of the dock. Looking at the teardown pics, you can see a wire goes into each side of the hinge, so I think they replace the wires and maybe make a new connection somewhere on the dock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are getting the replacement part? bought mine on the US, but live in chile... would really like to somehow get the part that needs to be replaced and do it myself
tanguita said:
You are getting the replacement part? bought mine on the US, but live in chile... would really like to somehow get the part that needs to be replaced and do it myself
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's very little chance they'll give anybody the part, and nothing in the previous person's post suggested they're doing so for him.
Talk to Asus Chile and get it serviced by them:
http://www.asuschile.cl/
http://latin.asus.com/Static_WebPage/Service_center_chile/
knoxploration said:
There's very little chance they'll give anybody the part, and nothing in the previous person's post suggested they're doing so for him.
Talk to Asus Chile and get it serviced by them:
http://www.asuschile.cl/
http://latin.asus.com/Static_WebPage/Service_center_chile/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I ended up calling them. I would have to ship the dock to "someone" in the US, have them ship it to the repair center, fix it, ship it back and then ask that "someone" to ship it back to me... sooo, I'm basically screwed... I ended up with a nice 150US paperweight (not even considering the horrible light bleed on the transformer).
tanguita said:
Well I ended up calling them. I would have to ship the dock to "someone" in the US, have them ship it to the repair center, fix it, ship it back and then ask that "someone" to ship it back to me... sooo, I'm basically screwed... I ended up with a nice 150US paperweight (not even considering the horrible light bleed on the transformer).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, actually, I hadn't realized that but it does say it clearly on the product warranty page:
"Brazil and South American countries don’t support global service"
http://support.asus.com/warranty.aspx?SLanguage=en&p=20&s=16&m=Eee Pad Transformer TF101
took mine apart also and there is quite a bit of room.
i plan on putting a 128gb usb flash drive inside the dock and soldering onto the usb connections once i get all the bits in.
Any bigger pictures? Are the screws under the rubber feet?
just two screws under the rubber feet near the hinge then it just pulls apart from the top
had to take mine apart as the spring/clip mechanism for the sd card wouldnt lock the card in.
now the card is stuck in with no nails haha a simple fix.
This is good news. I hacked a Crystal HD decoder card (pcie), USB wifi dongle, a logitech nano receiver, and a 4 port micro usb hub (from a touch screen setup) into a Dell mini 9 and there was absolutely no room compared to this.
They even have covers for the USB ports, so if you remove a header and solder wires up you just have to hot glue / epoxy that cover from the back and you are money. Looks clean and stock.
I have an old 64 GB thumbdrive that might find a new home. Maybe a 1.8" usb HDD would fit in there with the battery, without the battery who knows.
Seems to be a perfect fit for the ASUS 40 pin connector.
Now we have to decide WHAT to make. I was thinking about a few items, but your suggestions needed.
Wheeeeeeee....
Note: There may be other places to get it, but this is the first place I found it.
Mouser Part #: 571-2129276-1
Manufacturer Part #:
2129276-1
Manufacturer:
TE Connectivity
Description: I/O Connectors 40P CABLE MNT PLUG CHAMP DOCKING
Stock: 1,070 Can Ship Immediately
Pricing (USD)
1: $3.49
10: $3.14
25: $2.85
100: $2.71
PS: These are very small connection points, so you need to have special soldering equipment (sub-mm tips).
Well, maybe start with USB Host?
My suggestions:
- USB-Hub like Soundsurfer said
- Infrared adapter to control your home cinema (i saw that the new sony tablet s has it built in. maye we can port the software?)
- DVB-t
greetings
SoundSurfer said:
Well, maybe start with USB Host?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great idea. I like it a lot.
I ordered a couple of these ACT4060 items:
ACT4060A SOP-8 ACT4060 Wide Input 2A Step Down
The idea is to take 15V from the tablet or charger and step down to 5V to power a USB hub, similar the the ASUS USB host device (same part).
I also thought to add a 5.5mm female barrel socket for charging with a 15V power supply, like these: Power Supply DC 15V
Note: Many other power supply are available from 12V-15V with 5.5mm barrel plug.
---------- Post added at 03:26 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:22 PM ----------
w04g005 said:
My suggestions:
- USB-Hub like Soundsurfer said
- Infrared adapter to control your home cinema (i saw that the new sony tablet s has it built in. maye we can port the software?)
- DVB-t
greetings
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great, thanks!
I do not think the HDMI output is on the 40 pin cable, but I could be wrong. There is audio available, because it is on the TF101 Desktop Stand.
Any links to an infrared control?
Bob Smith42 said:
Any links to an infrared control?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry,
i have no link for infrared control. I only have seen the video with infrared remote from the tablet s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbYzckPXJ2Q&feature=player_embedded
But we can try to combine a standard usb infrared adapter with the 40-pin connector. Maybe it doesn't work because of the lack of drivers (if they couldn't get extracted from the sony tablet). But i have to say that i'm neither a electronic technician nor a programmer. Only wanted to suggest my wishes ;-)
Maybe this can help:
http://www.irdroid.com/
greetings
Can you make a regular USB cable with this connector ?
question: do you have the pin out of the 40-pin connector?
w04g005 said:
- Infrared adapter to control your home cinema (i saw that the new sony tablet s has it built in. maye we can port the software?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This would be a great idea - this sort of feature makes the Sony offering stand out in an otherwise fairly homogenous tablet market. Don't know anything about how to do this though, but will post back if I manage to find out anything useful...
fisha21 said:
This would be a great idea - this sort of feature makes the Sony offering stand out in an otherwise fairly homogenous tablet market. Don't know anything about how to do this though, but will post back if I manage to find out anything useful...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, i assume 2 or 3 pins on the 40-pin connector are for audio signals because the dock has an audio out! we could connect some irda leds to the pins like shown in this project:
www.irdroid.com
But i have to say that i read today about a new logitech product called: logitech harmony link
www.logitech.com/en-us/remotes/universal-remotes/devices/harmony-link
i think i will buy these to replace my harmony one.
greetings
Matthias
how about a mini usb cord? So I could plug my DSLR camera into it and download the pictures on the fly?..or even a micro to plug the phone in...but if it was a USB hub, it would work as well..just a longer cord.
w04g005 said:
Ok, i assume 2 or 3 pins on the 40-pin connector are for audio signals because the dock has an audio out! we could connect some irda leds to the pins like shown in this project:
www.irdroid.com
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Quick look on Google shows up this serial IR transceiver made by IguanaWorks. I'm afraid my electronics knowledge is very limited, but could the serial connector be replaced by these Asus-compatible adapters. I suspect the main problem might be the way the transceiver draws charge from the serial port to charge up the capacitor? According to the website, it uses LIRC so either the Irdroid or Androlirc apps might work (Androlirc requires an audio-IR device, so may need some tweaking, but is apparently open-source).
The other option might be the Newkinetix Re - whether it would be possible to replace the iThing connector with the ones you have located. Of course, the app is only for iOS, so yet another stumbling block.
I'm only feeding back the results of my digging, lack any of the required skills to make any of this work, so forgive if it all misses the mark completely.
w04g005 said:
But i have to say that i read today about a new logitech product called: logitech harmony link
www.logitech.com/en-us/remotes/universal-remotes/devices/harmony-link
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of course, this does also look pretty good, if you don't mind the IR extender "spiders" ... and the fact that the TV guide feature is only available for iPad (grr!)
I thought this thread would be more popular. If the plug didn't cost so much to ship to my country I'd be building a wall charger with a long lead and a car charger.
Sent from my u8800 using XDA App
That's a nice find! Now if only we knew some technical details about the connector pin-out.. I guess a good start would be looking at what both docks have inside and the connector routings, I doubt they use any external electronics, so should be quite easy to do cool things.
EDIT: at least now we'll be able to do another cable.. buy a standard USB 3.0, cut one end out and solder the new connector. A bit of cleaning everything up and ready to go.
PatrickVogeli said:
That's a nice find! Now if only we knew some technical details about the connector pin-out.. I guess a good start would be looking at what both docks have inside and the connector routings, I doubt they use any external electronics, so should be quite easy to do cool things.
EDIT: at least now we'll be able to do another cable.. buy a standard USB 3.0, cut one end out and solder the new connector. A bit of cleaning everything up and ready to go.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I finally got my USB Host Kit for the TF, so I can work on the connector pin out. The USB Kit did not work (for me) on the dock 40 pin socket, so apparently there are differences between the Dock and Tablet 40 pin sockets.
Can anyone can confirm the USB Kit does/does not work on the dock 40 pin socket?
Thanks
fisha21 said:
Quick look on Google shows up this serial IR transceiver made by IguanaWorks. I'm afraid my electronics knowledge is very limited, but could the serial connector be replaced by these Asus-compatible adapters. I suspect the main problem might be the way the transceiver draws charge from the serial port to charge up the capacitor? According to the website, it uses LIRC so either the Irdroid or Androlirc apps might work (Androlirc requires an audio-IR device, so may need some tweaking, but is apparently open-source).
The other option might be the Newkinetix Re - whether it would be possible to replace the iThing connector with the ones you have located. Of course, the app is only for iOS, so yet another stumbling block.
I'm only feeding back the results of my digging, lack any of the required skills to make any of this work, so forgive if it all misses the mark completely.
Of course, this does also look pretty good, if you don't mind the IR extender "spiders" ... and the fact that the TV guide feature is only available for iPad (grr!)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems many people like infra-red controls. Here is some pics of the I-Got-Control device for the iPod/iPad/iPhone.
There seems to be only a few lines connected to the Apple 30 pin connector. Does anyone have the pin-out for Apple 30 pin connectors?
I think this might be easily attached to the Asus USB Host or SD adapter.
Thanks!
a backpack style add-on for the TF would be neat...something that adds a battery/usb/etc at the cost of making it a bit fatter and maybe taller..
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using xda premium
Any updates on this?
Amazed at how hard it is to find a 30-pin connector pinout, seems Apple tweaked it a bit as new generations came along.
This is the kind of thread I love to see, on Android+TF!
Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk
If I were to solder every connector point through a wire, would connecting the dock from the side through the 40 pin connector to the bottom slot of the TF give the same communication as if the TF is docked? Been wanting to "dock" the tablet without actually having them together.
Yeah, it would work, but instead of soldering better find connectors and a cable. I'm thinking of doing it to my USB adaptor (which is very badly done, completely loose).
Bob Smith42 said:
Does anyone have the pin-out for Apple 30 pin connectors?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Isn't that available all over the net?
pinouts.ru /PortableDevices/ipod_pinout.shtml
Cheers!
-M
Xda member since 2007
I have the official samsung dock and it only charges the phone. If i pull the usb cable out of the dock and connect to the phone it will allow mount of SD and copy / sync of files.
I'm sure a small wiring / circuit change inside the dock is all I need, and I'm pretty sure someone has blazed this trail before. I just can't find their notes on the forums or web.
Any assistance appreciated.
papashex said:
I have the official samsung dock and it only charges the phone. If i pull the usb cable out of the dock and connect to the phone it will allow mount of SD and copy / sync of files.
I'm sure a small wiring / circuit change inside the dock is all I need, and I'm pretty sure someone has blazed this trail before. I just can't find their notes on the forums or web.
Any assistance appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which dock? If it's the one that has audio output - no you can't use it to sync because it uses D+ and D- for audio L/R.
If you wanted to use it to sync you'd have to remove the ID resistor and reroute D+ and D- back to the USB cable.
Thats what I'm talking about. Are those changes documented somewhere? I don't care about audio out (the dock does have that output jack).
Sent from my SGH-I777 using XDA App
Easiest way to do it is to break off the bottom part and just use the standard cable directly to the phone.
If you were interested you could always try this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/SAMSUNG-GAL...475010?pt=PDA_Accessories&hash=item1c1e2ee8c2
I ordered one, I havent received it yet but will post results when I get it.
K Rich said:
If you were interested you could always try this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/SAMSUNG-GAL...475010?pt=PDA_Accessories&hash=item1c1e2ee8c2
I ordered one, I havent received it yet but will post results when I get it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I saw many of those docks for the 9100 also. When I pressed the vendors for 777 compatibility the answer was always "NO". Probably because they just don't know enough for a definitive "YES". Let us know how it goes.
I may just have to break out my kids legos and build something around the plain cable
(that way it can accomodate a case)
The description says it can be used to charge/sync. For $10, I'm willing to take that bet.
It'll be nice to actually have my phone sitting in something while charging over night instead of just laying on my desk.
Our phones are pretty much the same as the international version (with slightly rounded corners and 2nd mic placement) but theoretically the bottom should be exactly the same, so I don't see why that wouldn't work.
Ok, i know theres a sticky for the GPS dongle but this isnt one of those "Wheres my dongle" or how to sign up threads so i thought it diserved its own thread. If you have questions about how to acquire a GPS dongle or want to say you got yours or whatever this is NOT the place to do it. See the sticky. kthxbie.
Still with me? Awesome! In having multiple primes i have recieved multiple GPS dongles. Since i rarely use one as it is, let alone them all at once i was wondering what sort of tweaks / hacks / mods have people tried (or wanted to try but were too afraid of screwing up their only dongle) that i might do on my extra one?
I already plan on doing a full teardown, taking highres macro pictures of the connector as well as unsoldering the shielding on the PCB and seeing whats underneath. Anything else you guys can think of?
Im not too worried about ruining the device if it means i can try something cool! Lets hear those ideas!
UPDATE: isolated the dock connector. Thus far with my tester these pins are grounded: (back view)
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ G _ G
G _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ G
I know theres an official dock connector thread here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1630300 but im not sure which pins according to that thread match what i have here.
UPDATE 2: removed dock connector, looks like only the bottom row goes to the dongle, not sure yet if any of the top row go anywhere inside the dongle or if it terminates at the connector. Will continue to test.
UPDATE 3: Ok, uploaded my work for tonight, traced a few of the connections just to see where everything is going. There WERE a couple that were coming out the top row, the two resisters on top, that MIGHT be the trigger to tell the prime its connected to an external device? who knows. anyways, its very late here, i will continue to test as i have time and as people show interest.
UDATE 5/5/2012
Ok, been doing some research and testing and whatnot, i have some very bad news. In order to attach any kind of connector to charge the tablet with the dongle attached it would mean soldering a wire to four of the pins on the connector on the TABLET SIDE of the pcb, UNDERNEATH the connector (the really fine pitch pins). Maybe i will have to take a picture to show what is needed.
Suffice to say chances of a mod that can be completed by most people out there is very low. I will continue to try to find a solution.
The red square shows which pins would need to solder the 15v+, the ground could be soldered to any of the grount points. (+5v to each of the three pins or +15v to all three)
Additionally, i have been doing some work on the pinout, trying to clean up the information we currently have. No offence to bjonston115 but his thread is confusing since every source has pins labled differently and there is info scattered everywhere. Bear with me as i try to sort the mess out and make something we can all use
You are so lucky. Wish I had a spare. My main hope is to determine who makes the connectors (if possible), and what pins are used inside that connector, along with how it's mounted.
My desire, is to procure a connector, to add to the dongle shell, and the wiring, so I can permit the tablet to be charged while the dongle is in use.
When I drive 14 hrs to FL, my battery will run out, mid trip. So far, my only solution is to carry an external GPS to use while the TP charges.
Looking forward to your teardown.
Bob
Images. Took as many pics as i could as i was removing bits n pieces. If you want a picture of a specific part let me know. Pictures uploading, give me a minute or two...
I think a power mod should be straightforward. The dongle shell looks "thick" enough to accomodate a USB female Type A connector, mounted orthogonally. You'd want one with right-angle contacts similar to the one below, so you can let it "bottom out" against far side of the dongle shell. For aesthetics, I'd dremel the opening at the back side of the dongle rather than front, but this depends on your car mount.
The next step is to solder jumper wires from USB's power and ground pins to appropriate pins on 40-pin connector. Since USB adapter for TF101 is same for Prime/300, we can assume pin-out for USB functions is still same. Somebody already posted partial pin-out in another thread.
Soldering to the USB contact isn't a big deal, but to the finer-pitch 40-pin connector would take a bit of finesse.
Note: TF101/201/300 can charge with [email protected]
@pileot: Suggest taking a caliper and measure inner and outer thickness of dongle (ie w/ and w/o the shell thickness).
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1PCS-USB-sh...ale-socket-Connector-PCB-Socket-/260991770971
unfortunately i dont have access to calipers, far as i can measure outside thickness is about 3/4 maybe slightly less, inside thickness is about 1/8 inches. sorry i cant be more accurate.
im assuming you want to throw a USB on the PCB? im not exactly sure how you want to connect that usb female connector, or what the purpose would be to do so.... Mind explaining just a little more?
Mount: Use dremel to create a rectangular hole (12.5mm x 5.2mm) at the back (or front) of the dongle. Use a short-body USB connector w/ right-angle contact like the previous, and mount it orthogonally, eg perpendicular to dongle facing. I think the short-body one has a length of about 0.5" so it should flush-mount. But if not, having it sticking out a bit isn't a big deal.
Purpose: To charge tablet w/ either [email protected] or [email protected] I would go with the second, since USB car chargers for it are widely available (that's what the iPad uses).
e.mote said:
Note: TF101/201/300 can charge with [email protected]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know that the PC USB charge @~500ma takes forever and the TP has to be shut off, but what would the deal be with [email protected]
Would I be able to continue to use it as it charged, or would it need to be shut down too.
I'd probably use a USB 3 connector in place of the pictured USB 2
Thanks for the idea...I never thought of that....now all I got to do is to wait till I get my dongle.
Bob
ahh! makes sense.... sure would be nice if we had a full connector port. Maybe i could make a trip to an electronic component store and pick up some USB connectors.
If you just want to use it for power then dont we just need any sort of connection to the charging ports and the outside of the dongle? It doesnt have to be USB it could be anything as long as you have a male and female connection
pileot said:
unfortunately i dont have access to calipers, far as i can measure outside thickness is about 3/4 maybe slightly less, inside thickness is about 1/8 inches. sorry i cant be more accurate.
im assuming you want to throw a USB on the PCB? im not exactly sure how you want to connect that usb female connector, or what the purpose would be to do so.... Mind explaining just a little more?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is a neat tool in Google Play called Smart Tools. Possibly you could get better measurements of the items you want to measure by using the tool, and laying the item right on the screen. I have it installed, and think it was a well done app.
Bob
>I know that the PC USB charge @~500ma takes forever and the TP has to be shut off, but what would the deal be with [email protected]
No idea. That's something you can find out afterward. Having the mod in place won't hurt anything.
My guess is that it should be good enough to at least maintain battery level while on, which would be all that's needed in a car.
>It doesnt have to be USB it could be anything as long as you have a male and female connection.
You can use barrel power connector. But you'd have to make your own power cable, as opposed to using a standard USB cable to connect to the charger. Edit: On second thought, you can use a [email protected] car charger, then get a mating barrel connector.
http://google.com/search?q=12v+1.5a+car+adapter
from what i understand if you have the tablet on and try to charge with 5v it wont even maintain the current battery level. The tablet charges with 15v or something... having a barrel connector would ensure you dont accidentally plug a prime charger into another USB device frying it.
At that point if we could just get the barrel plug right to the power pins, fitting it in should be too hard....I am really interested iin this because I have 2 dongles coming tomorrow annd planned on hacking one....(I got two because one was RMA and they sent me a new one back 2 serials=2 Dongles)
BSMan1011 said:
At that point if we could just get the barrel plug right to the power pins, fitting it in should be too hard....I am really interested iin this because I have 2 dongles coming tomorrow annd planned on hacking one....(I got two because one was RMA and they sent me a new one back 2 serials=2 Dongles)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See edited first post. Because the top row does not go to the back of the PCB and i believe thats where the power is, it would be hard to throw a charging circut in there. I am still working on locating where all the pins in this thing go but it is very tiny, even with my finest nodes to test these circuts its very delicate work.
In the mean time, i will upload what i do have before i go to sleep tonight (maybe in another hour or so) so stay tuned!
Okay I will try and keep updated... if we could get a charging circiut in maybe a true car mount might be a project... at least for me, I already have a tablet window mount and with some changes I could affix a modified dongle at the bottom and just slide prime in for GPS + charging (again if we can get it to work)... I get mine today and disassembly will soon follow so I will post anything else I can to help progress
pileot said:
UDATE 5/5/2012
Ok, been doing some research and testing and whatnot, i have some very bad news. In order to attach any kind of connector to charge the tablet with the dongle attached it would mean soldering a wire to four of the pins on the connector on the TABLET SIDE of the pcb, UNDERNEATH the connector (the really fine pitch pins). Maybe i will have to take a picture to show what is needed.
Suffice to say chances of a mod that can be completed by most people out there is very low. I will continue to try to find a solution.
The red square shows which pins would need to solder the 15v+, the ground could be soldered to any of the grount points. (+5v to each of the three pins or +15v to all three)
)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay first off...have we all decided to stay low until we progress, i don't want this thread to die so soon...secondly...though I am sure you have done you research I still must ask, Are you sure? if we can provide any charge to the prime it will at least help a bit...also does anyone one else have other ideas other than charging?...
one idea I literally just thought of so it is not very thought out is, what if we remove the dongle case( as we have done) and integrate it into case.... we will need one of the 40-pin cables to wire onto it but maybe it could fit into some cases.
I will continue to try to think of more uses and mods and will update, meanwhile I hope that we can get some more input
Hmm, you've made quite a bit of progress there. I really wish I wasn't lazy haha, I need to learn to really work with electrical stuff.
So, then the dongle uses some of the pins that would be used for power from the dock? If the dock can pass power without changing the Prime, I should think the dongle could somehow. I mean, only certain pins are used for data right, so the dock and dongle should use the same ones?
Ok, firstly. Yes, im sure. Im sure of the pin placement and based on the best available information scattered around the internet, i know which pins the charger uses and i know where they are located on the dongle. I also know there is very little access to them (as seen in the pictures in OP)
as to integrating the dongle INSIDE the prime casing you would, essentially, be succoming to the same problem the internal antennas have: Metal blocking the signal. Sure its a more powerfull antenna however its encased in PLASTIC not metal, the signal it recieves is a lot stronger and there is less EMI caused by the metalic back plate. Short: Yes you can, no you dont want to.
Finally, the pins the prime uses to draw power are different than the pins the charger uses to supply power. Think one lane dirt road vs a 6 lane highway. On the highway you have dedicated lanes for traffic going in different directions. this is similar to how the prime dock connector works, the prime can turn off power to different connections depending if there is something plugged in reducing the chance of a short, spark, or power drain.
Hopefully this addressed your concerns, maybe when i have apropriate tools handy and a bit of time i may try soldering a connection to the dock connector and see how it functions but as you can see its REALLY tight. I will do my best, no promises.
I also plan, in the near future, to locate more of the data pins, see whats going on, maybe we can make a USB adapter for the dongle and use it in other devices as well! who knows, im thinking it just uses a standard USB interface but it will take more digging.
Subscribed as I see no need for the dongle unless you have enough power.
Though I was pretty sure you were sure I just wanted to ask.... but you did misinterpret my idea, I do not mean the Prime's casing but rather integrating the gps into a case which holds the prime...This is not to say that the gps is big or in the way but just an idea i had to help people with cases and a use for the gps, but since the usb uses different pins that looks unlikely as well i guess...well I will stay updated and if I learn anything I will post.
I would be more interested in adding a power jack of some sort to the dongle. So you can charge while using navigation. I already can not use my dock while plugged into the dongle. We need power!
Anyone tried to fit the Amaze 4G on a lapdock? Can't find any posts via search
Those Lapdocks (eg Atrix Lapdock) go on sale for ~$50, basically a display, keyboard, battery and trackpad.
Below is someone's hack for raspberry pi on the lapdock.... since amaze 4G has HDMI out, only thing to do is to see if we can get the cables to fit properly, and the USB functionality(keyboard+trackpad) to work, and the software
http://www.theverge.com/2012/6/21/3105822/motorola-lapdock-hacked-raspberry-pi-rikomagic
So I did a bit of digging...
The Amaze uses a MHL connector (see wiki) which allows for access to HDMI and USB over one connector. The lapdocks seem to have two connectors to plug into the Motorola phones. It doesn't seem like a big issue to replace the cable from the lapdock with a MHL one that you could probably buy off ebay.
Double check which pin corresponds to which wires on the MHL and also on the USB and HDMI cable from the lapdock, cut the wires, re solder, heat shrink, close the lapdock back up....profit???
That's as far as I can tell regarding connecting the hardware the phone. I'm willing to bet that the HDMI will output directly to the screen fine without any software adjustment. But I'm unsure about the keyboard and trackpad.
Thoughts?
I'd be willing to give this a try if there's interest.
derpTastic said:
So I did a bit of digging...
The Amaze uses a MHL connector (see wiki) which allows for access to HDMI and USB over one connector. The lapdocks seem to have two connectors to plug into the Motorola phones. It doesn't seem like a big issue to replace the cable from the lapdock with a MHL one that you could probably buy off ebay.
Double check which pin corresponds to which wires on the MHL and also on the USB and HDMI cable from the lapdock, cut the wires, re solder, heat shrink, close the lapdock back up....profit???
That's as far as I can tell regarding connecting the hardware the phone. I'm willing to bet that the HDMI will output directly to the screen fine without any software adjustment. But I'm unsure about the keyboard and trackpad.
Thoughts?
I'd be willing to give this a try if there's interest.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
from looking at the raspberry pi and other stuff(laptop/wii connected to the hdmi port), you'll get a "mirrored" display... the keyboard/trackpad depends on the usb connection/driver/OTG Kernel, dunno about that
Youll need
Lapdock: $20-$60 (i'd suggest getting the atrix/bionic versions, not the motorola 500 one)
http://www.all4cellular.com/product/motorola-atrix-4g-laptop-dock-hdmi-upgrade-kit.html
http://slickdeals.net/f/5035746-Lapdock-ATRIX-4G-60-and-Droid-Bionic-90
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=29994146&postcount=16
MHL connector for HDMI: $10-$35
Official http://www.amazon.com/HTC-Adaptor-Jetstream-Tablets-Package/dp/B005LSOPN4
Unofficial, may need USB cable for power http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10833&cs_id=1083314&p_id=8675&seq=1&format=2
->I can't get any clear indication that the USB data from phone passes through to the USB connector on the MHL adapter
maybe some HDMI cables/connector (HDMI male from MHL connector to miniHDMI female on the lapdock)
I have a tablet and a netbook too, so don't think I'll be attempting this for now
the 35Whr battery(from googling), people say it can charge your phone a couple of times over(your phone's battery is 4Volts*2AmpHr = 8Whr)
I'll see if I can find a cheap one here in Canada.
It's a rather interesting concept.
It kinda reminds me of this.http://www.ubuntu.com/devices/android
Definitely interested in this, would be cool to have this setup.
Live and Die on this day....
went to a radioshack nearby, they didn't have it..
bascially, i would only get one if its around $20 (since you can charge phone with it, $20 for a large battery is worth it, though not for the laptop form factor)
The only docks I can get my hands on are $50+ from ebay. This idea is such a niche product...I'm trying to think of a time where this could be useful.
derpTastic said:
The only docks I can get my hands on are $50+ from ebay. This idea is such a niche product...I'm trying to think of a time where this could be useful.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
commute on a train/bus, could watch video on a larger screen while charging your battery
if we had the software to support it as well (like the ubuntu-phone posted earlier or webtop options), could compose email or edit code on the go...
Isn't that why we have laptops?
derpTastic said:
Isn't that why we have laptops?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if you want to spend more than $200, a laptop
if you want just one device that has everything loaded, and customizable(via the lapdock), maybe a netbook or this lapdock
i guess that's why the Atrix Lapdocks are selling at a discount... the manufacturers couldn't find a good way to advertise this expensive device (MSRP is $300 or so)
it's available for $40 on bensoutlet
http://slickdeals.net/f/5501414-AT-T-Motorola-11-6-Lapdock-40-FS
http://bensoutlet.com/products/lapdock-atrix
1% in stock left...
I got one, will play with it
We don't have hdmi
I took the dock section apart n tried to plug in my amaze to the built in hdmi but no go with netflix. I'll try something else and report back.
Living life in reverse....
chozyn said:
I took the dock section apart n tried to plug in my amaze to the built in hdmi but no go with netflix. I'll try something else and report back.
Living life in reverse....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
amandez said:
We don't have hdmi
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes we do, via the ExtMicro / MHL port
http://androidforums.com/htc-amaze-4g/500285-clearing-air-mhl-hdmi-adapters-amaze.html
I heard that the Amaze 4G is picky about which MHL cable it accepts, and the kernel/android build on it must support HDMI out
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