So I just thought I would let everyone know of a project I just finished. It wasn't much of a project since it only took me about 10 minutes but oh well. If there has already been a post about this, I'm sorry but I never found it when I was trying to find out about docks for my Nexus S 4G.
I once owned a Samsung Epic 4G (of the Galaxy S, not GSII) and now I own a Nexus S 4G (I also own a Photon 4G but that has nothing to do with this post...). When I got my Epic, I also purchased the Samsung brand home and car docks for them. I liked the Car dock especially since it charges the phone while its in it.
Now that I own a Nexus S 4G, I went to buy the car dock for it and was rather bothered when I found out it doesn't have built-in charging. Yes, I know I could simply plug a cable into the phone while its in the charger but I wanted what my Epic had. So... I modified my Epic 4G dock to fit my Nexus S.
Here is how to do it:
1. Buy or own the Samsung Epic 4G Car Dock
2. Buy or own a Rotary Dremel or some other kind of high speed sander that has a tip < 1/2" in diameter.
I used this 1/4" Dremel Tip on a Dremel Stylus.
3. If you look at the dock's face closely, you will see a nice cut out for the Epic's camera. Essentially what we're going to do is enlarge that cut out to extend out to the three sides its closest to by sanding the surrounding plastic down. Don't go too far since you will likely sand right through the dock and break it.
It starts out looking like this:
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It will end up looking something like this:
The Nexus S 4G in the Dock:
The Epic 4G in the same Dock (to prove it still works for it, this is my wife's Epic):
SPECIAL NOTE: Yes, it charges the phone. No, the audio port in the back doesn't work (at least with the stock kernel and the CyanogenMod 7's kernel)
My next modification is to make holes for the speaker and the camera...
Awesome mod. I have two questions:
1.Will putting the NS4G in the dock automatically trigger the Car Dock mode?
2.Is there enough room in the dock to have a fairly thin case on the NS4G (it doesn't appear so)?
1. Putting the Nexus S in the dock does auto trigger the car mode, yea. I tested it with both the stock ROM and CM 7.
2. There is a small amount of room all around the device so yea, you could maybe fit a really really thin case on it while in the dock. You could actually shave off more plastic all around the phone to make room for a little bigger case. I would have done that but I had to leave my dock usable for my wife and her Epic 4G; the dock is hers after all lol. If you had like a sticker protector around the whole Nexus S (like a full body InvisiShield), it would fit in my dock.
I am going to try a few of the Kernels available for the Nexus S 4G and see if any of them will make the audio port work on the dock. I don't expect it to happen but I figured I would try. On my old Epic 4G, it was a kernel that made the port work before it was in the official ROM so I figure it would be the same for the Nexus S 4G.
Related
Has anyone tried this charging dock out? trying to decide whether to get the home dock or something like this
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This looks awesome...I guess depends on the price compared to the hdmi dock from Dell.
Sent from my Dell Streak using XDA App
Would have been good if it had hdmi out, unless it could be modified somehow?
Hi yosemite_sam,
Is that the one from Mobile Fun? personally i decided i really don't need HDMI out and as don't really connect my Streak to my computer that often so not sure i need one at all. What i have gone for so far is one of those Car Dashboard Silicone stand things that i found whilst going through E-Bay i think it was i n the iPhone4 section and also works as a desk top stand. It works like the Clingo thing but isn't as large or ugly IMO it is made of black metal with two large silicone pads one to fix it to the surface of the desk top or car dashboard and the other that the Streak fixes to on the stand . All i have to do is change the angle slightly to fit the charging sync cable in the Streak and so far I'm happy with how it works plus it was cheap to think it was only £7 or £8 delivered.
Marc
Hi Dogmann
can you provide a link to your car kit, I please? Was thinking of Clingo but no available date yet
thanks
AJed
Hi ajed
This is it and i was wrong it was even cheaper then i thought at just £6.05 delivered
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CAR-DASH-STAN...UK_Mobiles_Accessories_RL&hash=item1c136f9612
The large rubber pads although they attract dust can just be cleaned under running water and remain really stick. As i said its black metal with two large rubber pads and far lees intrusive then some of the other stands I've seen. Although i should mention i do only use it in Landscape on both my Desk and in car so it may not suit you if you want your Streak in Portrait.
Marc
Hi Dogmann can you show a photo of your streak on the stand that you posted?
Seems to have dropped in price already to £5.65.... thanks
This would work for me, as I don't need HDMI out, and I'm not ready to pay for Dell's high markup on their home dock.
Thanks for the link Dogmann. Looks perfect for dashboard or desk. I'm getting one
This is perfect. i need 3 of them. I didn't want to pay the high price and have no need for the HDMI out.
does this use a standard mini usb cable, or does it require the Dell streak cable?
the site was confusing.
any other desktop options?
As far as I can tell, it only uses the mini USB for syncing. There is a separate round pin socket for charging. There are also HDMI and line out sockets on the dock.
Has anyone actually got one of these Docks from Superetrader? It isn't clear whether it is actually available?
If so, what's it like?
This dock would be great if someone would please enable the full HDMI for Dell Streak.
Anyone know of a charging stand with a microUSB plug at the bottom that you can use as a dock?
None that I've seen as of yet.
I considered rigging up some sort of charging dock using the NOOKcolor box and the bundled usb charger, but I'm too lazy.
I would be suprised to ever see one given the difficulty many have insert the cable in there.
It'd also be unwiedly I would think to have that thing standing up in a cradle.
I was thinking of drilling a hole in the bottom of the box that the nook came in for a dock. lol
timmyjoe42 said:
I was thinking of drilling a hole in the bottom of the box that the nook came in for a dock. lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its hacky, but it works... I made the opening on my hack job big so no stress will be placed on the usb jack...
First thing I did was drill a hole in the box to set my NC there to charge the first night. Then moved it to the kitchen. It is a touchscreen music player and recipe file now. While I am eating I look at news. Then while listening to music I drop a cookie for the Koi fish on my live wallpaper. I love my NC!
I am thinking a 2x2 block of stained oak with a dove tail groove running down the middle would with felt lining would work well. it may need a rear buttress, but it should work well.
I am looking for the same thing, I don't think there is any, but I have made custom dock before and I'm planning to do it again for the my nook. you can follow my guide for my fascinate custom dock bellow. If you buy the small bottle of pellets you can spend as little as $20 total.
Wow that's a cool Saturday project. The Friendly Plastic stuff looks awesome.
nadafinger said:
Wow that's a cool Saturday project. The Friendly Plastic stuff looks awesome.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes it is, Look at the reviews on amazon. You can do so many things with it. The only thing I would warn people about is that once the plastic hardens the finish might not look good (depending how good you are at getting it smooth while is still pliable), you will probably have to add plaster like I did or car putty for scratches and such, once that dries you can sanded down and pain. That would give the best result.
I got a Heritage charging station for xmas and it has iPod, micro/macro usb, usb and one other type of connector on it. The Nook Color actually can stand in it but I use it horizontally to only charge the NC. The included micro-usb will charge my N1 but won't charge the Nook Color at all. The hole in the back of the station for the power supply was able to accommodate the Nook Color's plug without any alteration.
Here are some pics
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It's sold at Frontgate.com.
Does anyone know if this will work with the D4? Seems like a pretty good deal if it does! http://1saleaday.com/wireless/
Looks like with some mods it should. A quick search on xda and its been done with the Razr and a guy on android central claims to have done so with the D4. I can't post the link but it turned up pretty quick on search.
Apparently, the mod is super easy and involves 2 screws and shaving some plastic.
Hell, for $65, shipped why the hell not? Trigger pulled.
kwyrt said:
Does anyone know if this will work with the D4? Seems like a pretty good deal if it does! http://1saleaday.com/wireless/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow...that's a REALLY good deal the mod does look really easy. According to what the other site says (I googled 'atrix 4g lapdock with droid 4' and found it), the hdmi and usb ports are in the right place, but flipped upside down. all you have to do is unscrew them, square some plastic, and flip them.
The poster does say that a 'media center' app is missing, but I'm sure that with a bit of hunting, one could find it or a replacement.
thanks!
Over on the droid forums a guy is using the bionic lapdock with his D4 just sits a little off center but no mod needed. Its $80 at bens outlet shipped. I would expect the mod for the atrix version will void the warranty.
It works for me
Send a pm and I'll show you some pictures
Sent from my DROID4 using Tapatalk - with modded atrix lapdock
I'd like to see your pics but I can't seem to PM you.
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Notice the round sticker that covers the screws. One on each side.
Remove this retainer that is molded for the Atrix, it is not needed, nor will it fit the D4.
Once you pop off the piece of plastic that holds the connectors, flip them upside down and put them back in. That being said, I took the tip of my pocket knife and carefully carved an appropriate shape for the connector. The holes are stamped or molded to only fit one way, but with a sharp tip, and only a small amount of pressure, you can shave that away enough.
The connectors (USB/HDMI) stay in their same spot, but are just upside down. Now carefully put the wires back in place, and replace the plastic cradle piece, and replace the screws.
I did not take a picture of that step, but I wish I had. If it is requested, I could tear this down again for that picture. Happy modding!
Note: unfortunately, this lapdock does not recognize two finger gestures like the 100 and 500 does , but it does allow for tap and hold to drag things around, like screen touch or moving windows or items, etc. And it is a bigger screen than the 100, but smaller than the 500. No front facing camera as the 500 does.
Sent from my DROID4 using Tapatalk - on a modded Atrix lapdock
Droid 3
Would this work on a Droid3? It looks like the ports are in the correct place, I am just not sure of the compatibility with the dock though? I saw the write up on TechRepublic. Thanks for the information, I love being able to get more out of my phone (even though the 3 sux)!!.
I could not find anything close to what I wanted, so I took some spare parts and made one.
I have the Best Buy Platinum case with holster and an old HTC Evo 3D car dock.
1. Heat and mold the holster so that the phone can be put in it screen facing out. Pretty simple using a kitchen torch and a spoon. Looking at it you would be hard pressed to see it was changed, but now the phone will fit either face in or out (we need it to face out for this purpose).
2. Remove the Evo 3D holster from the Evo 3D car dock. Simple enough, its just clipped on.
3. Remove the rotating/hinged micro USB plug from the Evo 3D car dock because it needs to be turned around the opposite direction of what it is. This took just a little effort as the actual hinged piece needed to be modified slightly and then the circuit board with the plug on it needed to be hot glued back in to the hinged piece. Put it back and and make sure it still swivels/rotates GOOD TO GO.
4. Now put the SGN2 in to the Platinum case that we earlier modified and "plug it in" to see where the holster and car dock need to be joined. I used a single short fat screw and JB Weld to attach the SGN2 holster and the EVO 3D car dock. I used the 5 minute set stuff, so it needed to be put in the correct position quickly. This stuff really is set in 5 minutes!
I also had to slightly modify the upper retaining hinged clip on the SGN2 holster because of the phone being reversed. The phone is held in VERY snuggly. It plugs in the the micro USB quickly and correctly every time. I added an NFC chip on the inside of the holster to launch my Car Home Ultra application.
Here are a couple pictures. I personally think Samsung would make a killing by doing this. But in the end, this cost me nothing beyond what I had previously spent.
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Being both cheap and a tinkerer I had heard of folks modifying Bionic desk docks to fit the RAZR M but had not heard of anyone who had done this with a Bionic Car dock. Some of you might say "But there is a perfectly good dock for the Razr M available"; however, at $31 on Amazon it was quite a bit more coin than the bionic dock for $6.
So I took the plunge and last night performed the minor surgery. Turned out pretty good. The plastic is pretty soft so I just used a utility knife (carefully) and lengthened the micro usb hole so I could slide over the plug. Had to trim off other stuff that holds the micro usb tip in place but the gutting was pretty easy. Then I had to secure it in its new position since I had to cut away all the mounting plastic so a couple drops of crazy glue to hold it where I wanted it and a good helping of hot glue and its secure.
Works great. Audio out through the combo cable is great. Phone goes into "car mode" when in it.
Pretty happy for $6.
Nice job! I'll be doing this before my next road trip!
Sent from my XT907 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
vrmcbeigh said:
Nice job! I'll be doing this before my next road trip!
Sent from my XT907 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just a note for anyone doing this, 4.2.2 ROMs don't have working audio through the dock yet (at least none I have found so far). So if you want to reap the benefits of a dock, stay on stock or go to Clean Rom 1.1.
It is a good mod. A chore to say the least. I did it in a way to allow space for my favorite case. You have to mod the new also if you want the same.
Edit some moldable epoxy, crazy glue & black sharpie help.
Mountek nGroove
The best dock I've used is the Mountek nGroovel; price point its not terrible at like $20 and it utilizes the CD slot not the windshield.
Personally I hate taking up real estate on my windshield and the height that this dock puts my phone at is perfect IMO. It rotates and you still have access to charging and headphone jack, it also works for garmins, etc. as well
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atison
can you take some photos of modification?