Related
I have a Tytn II lying around gathering dust because there is simply no marekt value in it for trading. SO I have had a bit of a silly idea and wonder if it would work.
I have been interested in the idea of a Car PC for quite a while with a 7 inch touchscreen in the dash. Costs can get up there a bit once you have bought the screen, the pc itself etc. So I was wondering how easy it would be to use the TyTn II innards as the basis for a Car PC and somehow connect a 7 inch touchscreen to the Tytn II motherboard.
To me it would be a great solution for running satnav in car, and media.
What are your thoughts, do you think it would even be possible?
Cheers.
Yes, possible at least the video is, without wrecking your titan too, There's a cable you can buy that lets you send video from the titan to any screen with RCA Yellow input. I beleive it's available for PSP also. 'Mini-USB -> RCA Yellow AND white' They are on ebay.
From there you may somehow be able to port the touchscreen to the Tytns miniusb port but im not sure (as it willb e occupied by the video out). Perhaps you could splice both into one then code it to work somehow. Interesting project - good luck
According to androidtablets.net not only does the the nook color have a bluetooth chip but also a fm radio chip but with stock os you cant use it of course. Does this mean that with cm7 you can also access the fm radio ability like it allows you with bluetooth? If anyone knows please post below.
No, the FM chipset is not connected to any sort of antenna therefore it does not work, regardless of if your running stock or CM.
Midnitte said:
No, the FM chipset is not connected to any sort of antenna therefore it does not work, regardless of if your running stock or CM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok but could it be possible to add an wire antenna? Or could you add one like that of an android phone as someone did with an htcs speaker and added it to the nook or is it impossible?
Some phones use headphones as the antenna. I wondered this about the nook, but never cared to find out.
Good Question
colorfulnookie said:
Ok but could it be possible to add an wire antenna? Or could you add one like that of an android phone as someone did with an htcs speaker and added it to the nook or is it impossible?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have wondered about this myself. I bought and learned how to root my Droid 4 for the sole purpose of having the FM radio. I am working on getting my Nook Color to run CM7, and found your post when I searched. I know on my D4 I needed to have it rooted and installed Spirit FM, it works well with the headphones attached. I also found a way to make an antenna using a Radio Shack plug and the antenna off an old cordless phone handset, It works surprisingly well! I don't see why it wouldn't work for the NC, IF it has the fm chip, and IF we can access it. I don't know if Spirit FM has been tested with it or not, but it's worth looking into.
KrellaKrentoshi said:
I have wondered about this myself. I bought and learned how to root my Droid 4 for the sole purpose of having the FM radio. I am working on getting my Nook Color to run CM7, and found your post when I searched. I know on my D4 I needed to have it rooted and installed Spirit FM, it works well with the headphones attached. I also found a way to make an antenna using a Radio Shack plug and the antenna off an old cordless phone handset, It works surprisingly well! I don't see why it wouldn't work for the NC, IF it has the fm chip, and IF we can access it. I don't know if Spirit FM has been tested with it or not, but it's worth looking into.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This has been addressed many times, in this forum and others. To my knowledge no one has gotten anything other than static from any app (Spirit included) with any headphones at any time. I'd guess that there is no connection between the radio chip and the headphone socket, for antenna functionality.
I haven't pursued this in a while though, so there could be newer info out there.
Hmmm
tonestertm said:
This has been addressed many times, in this forum and others. To my knowledge no one has gotten anything other than static from any app (Spirit included) with any headphones at any time. I'd guess that there is no connection between the radio chip and the headphone socket, for antenna functionality.
I haven't pursued this in a while though, so there could be newer info out there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good to know. I will do a little searching in the morning and post any info I may find. Do you know if any guts tinkering has occured to make that connection? I am hoping for a simple, easy solution, like modifying an atrix lapdock to work for a Droid phone
KrellaKrentoshi said:
Good to know. I will do a little searching in the morning and post any info I may find. Do you know if any guts tinkering has occured to make that connection? I am hoping for a simple, easy solution, like modifying an atrix lapdock to work for a Droid phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Been doing some digging since I last posted, and the news, I'm afraid, is not promising.
I learned that the FM receive and transmit (!) antenna functions of the WL1271 chip are on different pins than the WLAN/Bluetooth antenna pins.
In addition, there are dedicated FM Audio Out L/R pins which I would suspect are not provided for on the Nook board/module. It's not clear to me if these are the only outlet for any FM decoded by the chip, though.
These, along with the fact that TI pretty much abandoned the FM feature of this chip in the OMAP implementation, (by their own admission) make the FM radio function for us... challenging.
tonestertm said:
Been doing some digging since I last posted, and the news, I'm afraid, is not promising.
I learned that the FM receive and transmit (!) antenna functions of the WL1271 chip are on different pins than the WLAN/Bluetooth antenna pins.
In addition, there are dedicated FM Audio Out L/R pins which I would suspect are not provided for on the Nook board/module. It's not clear to me if these are the only outlet for any FM decoded by the chip, though.
These, along with the fact that TI pretty much abandoned the FM feature of this chip in the OMAP implementation, (by their own admission) make the FM radio function for us... challenging.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Challenging isn't the same as impossible, and it must surely be easier than trying to get CM7 installed to SD card for my NC. I'm beyond stuck on that one, been trying off an on for a year. It seems to me that if the problem lies in the hardware, we should be able to correct that. BTW, did I see correctly, there may be FM TRANSMIT capabilities?! That would rock!! I would be blissfully happy just getting FM recieve to work. If the pins aren't provided for on the NC board, what would be a possible way to correct that?
KrellaKrentoshi said:
Challenging isn't the same as impossible,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True.
and it must surely be easier than trying to get CM7 installed to SD card for my NC.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had difficulty with that the first time, too. I can probably help, but either in PM or another thread; been running SD cards for about as long as you've been trying.
It seems to me that if the problem lies in the hardware, we should be able to correct that. BTW, did I see correctly, there may be FM TRANSMIT capabilities?! ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately, even though there are some great resources around (see the Novaports sticky above, for one) there's just not enough solid info yet to discover whether there's access to the necessary pin. The whole chip is about 1/4 inch square, containing about 115 contact sites in what's called a ball grid array, or BGA, all on the bottom surface of that tiny, "wahfer-thin" speck. This is married to a daughtercard which brings the necessary contacts out to the real world and has some more circuitry (most notably the chip which handles the wireless/bluetooth antenna switching). There's no way to tell from the pictures I've found whether they designed any access to the FM receive pin for the outside world. And I'd bet good solid money that there's no access to the FM transmit pins (separate Antenna and Audio L/R).
So, not impossible, but the real question is, how much would you be willing to spend to re-engineer a new daughtercard to gain access to these things (if, in fact, they're not accessible)? It would undoubtedly be more than the price of a brand new tablet which already contains all these things and more.
If they did bring the RX pin out on the daughtercard, then it should be possible to do some microsoldering and a lot of what I've just said is moot. But without disassembling one I have no way of knowing. If this were the case, then Spirit would likely be the way to go, as I ran across indications that Mike was doing some serious digging into this issue last year. There's also an infinitesimal ray of hope for drivers from a ROM that somebody put together for one of the Droids, which uses the same chip, that apparently has FM working.
I suppose one moderately simple test would be to load up Spirit, and bring a moderately powerful FM transmitter right up to the base end of the Nook, hoping for some leakage through all the shielding, and see if a signal can be picked up. Unfortunately, unless the result were positive, we'd be no further than we already are.
Oh. Ok
tonestertm said:
True.
I had difficulty with that the first time, too. I can probably help, but either in PM or another thread; been running SD cards for about as long as you've been trying.
Unfortunately, even though there are some great resources around (see the Novaports sticky above, for one) there's just not enough solid info yet to discover whether there's access to the necessary pin. The whole chip is about 1/4 inch square, containing about 115 contact sites in what's called a ball grid array, or BGA, all on the bottom surface of that tiny, "wahfer-thin" speck. This is married to a daughtercard which brings the necessary contacts out to the real world and has some more circuitry (most notably the chip which handles the wireless/bluetooth antenna switching). There's no way to tell from the pictures I've found whether they designed any access to the FM receive pin for the outside world. And I'd bet good solid money that there's no access to the FM transmit pins (separate Antenna and Audio L/R).
So, not impossible, but the real question is, how much would you be willing to spend to re-engineer a new daughtercard to gain access to these things (if, in fact, they're not accessible)? It would undoubtedly be more than the price of a brand new tablet which already contains all these things and more.
If they did bring the RX pin out on the daughtercard, then it should be possible to do some microsoldering and a lot of what I've just said is moot. But without disassembling one I have no way of knowing. If this were the case, then Spirit would likely be the way to go, as I ran across indications that Mike was doing some serious digging into this issue last year. There's also an infinitesimal ray of hope for drivers from a ROM that somebody put together for one of the Droids, which uses the same chip, that apparently has FM working.
I suppose one moderately simple test would be to load up Spirit, and bring a moderately powerful FM transmitter right up to the base end of the Nook, hoping for some leakage through all the shielding, and see if a signal can be picked up. Unfortunately, unless the result were positive, we'd be no further than we already are.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So I guess the best thing I can do for the moment is to get CM7 to boot and try Spirit on it. I can do that, and I have a transmitter that might work too. I will post the results.
KrellaKrentoshi said:
Challenging isn't the same as impossible, and it must surely be easier than trying to get CM7 installed to SD card for my NC. I'm beyond stuck on that one, been trying off an on for a year. It seems to me that if the problem lies in the hardware, we should be able to correct that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really?
have you tried this post?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1000957
because that's been around for quite some time...and it is rather easy...
and it's been around for well over a year....
just sayin...
yep
I have tried it, and 2 others, and im stuck.
KrellaKrentoshi said:
I have tried it, and 2 others, and im stuck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
okay...it's pretty simple...but i'll bite....where are you stuck? what exactly about the process is messing you up...
you get the CM7 image, burn it to your SD card using the program provided...insert it into the nook and press the power button...
plasticarmyman said:
okay...it's pretty simple...but i'll bite....where are you stuck? what exactly about the process is messing you up...
you get the CM7 image, burn it to your SD card using the program provided...insert it into the nook and press the power button...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
..........and watch the little blue android on the skateboard for the next 20 mins until i shut it off. It wont get past the blue dude's splashscreen. I'm working on it on another thread and PM. In the meantime, do ya think you could run the little experiment mentioned a few posts back please?
I made some progress today!!
tonestertm said:
True.
I had difficulty with that the first time, too. I can probably help, but either in PM or another thread; been running SD cards for about as long as you've been trying.
Unfortunately, even though there are some great resources around (see the Novaports sticky above, for one) there's just not enough solid info yet to discover whether there's access to the necessary pin. The whole chip is about 1/4 inch square, containing about 115 contact sites in what's called a ball grid array, or BGA, all on the bottom surface of that tiny, "wahfer-thin" speck. This is married to a daughtercard which brings the necessary contacts out to the real world and has some more circuitry (most notably the chip which handles the wireless/bluetooth antenna switching). There's no way to tell from the pictures I've found whether they designed any access to the FM receive pin for the outside world. And I'd bet good solid money that there's no access to the FM transmit pins (separate Antenna and Audio L/R).
So, not impossible, but the real question is, how much would you be willing to spend to re-engineer a new daughtercard to gain access to these things (if, in fact, they're not accessible)? It would undoubtedly be more than the price of a brand new tablet which already contains all these things and more.
If they did bring the RX pin out on the daughtercard, then it should be possible to do some microsoldering and a lot of what I've just said is moot. But without disassembling one I have no way of knowing. If this were the case, then Spirit would likely be the way to go, as I ran across indications that Mike was doing some serious digging into this issue last year. There's also an infinitesimal ray of hope for drivers from a ROM that somebody put together for one of the Droids, which uses the same chip, that apparently has FM working.
I suppose one moderately simple test would be to load up Spirit, and bring a moderately powerful FM transmitter right up to the base end of the Nook, hoping for some leakage through all the shielding, and see if a signal can be picked up. Unfortunately, unless the result were positive, we'd be no further than we already are.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got my NC running CM 7.2.0. Turns out I needed to rename the ROM and also something was bad on my SD card. I have been happily exploring CM7 and getting my google apps on my NC for 2 hours now. Among the apps I downloaded is Spirit FM, the free version for testing. It loads well, I plugged in headphones and an antenna and can't get a signal, not even static. I will look for my transmitter tonight/tomorow and see what happens then. Thanks for all the encouragement and support on the CM7 thing yall!
Yay!
KrellaKrentoshi said:
I got my NC running CM 7.2.0. Turns out I needed to rename the ROM and also something was bad on my SD card. I have been happily exploring CM7 and getting my google apps on my NC for 2 hours now. Among the apps I downloaded is Spirit FM, the free version for testing. It loads well, I plugged in headphones and an antenna and can't get a signal, not even static. I will look for my transmitter tonight/tomorow and see what happens then. Thanks for all the encouragement and support on the CM7 thing yall!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looking forward to your results. And, Enjoy!
I did the test.....
tonestertm said:
True.
I had difficulty with that the first time, too. I can probably help, but either in PM or another thread; been running SD cards for about as long as you've been trying.
Unfortunately, even though there are some great resources around (see the Novaports sticky above, for one) there's just not enough solid info yet to discover whether there's access to the necessary pin. The whole chip is about 1/4 inch square, containing about 115 contact sites in what's called a ball grid array, or BGA, all on the bottom surface of that tiny, "wahfer-thin" speck. This is married to a daughtercard which brings the necessary contacts out to the real world and has some more circuitry (most notably the chip which handles the wireless/bluetooth antenna switching). There's no way to tell from the pictures I've found whether they designed any access to the FM receive pin for the outside world. And I'd bet good solid money that there's no access to the FM transmit pins (separate Antenna and Audio L/R).
So, not impossible, but the real question is, how much would you be willing to spend to re-engineer a new daughtercard to gain access to these things (if, in fact, they're not accessible)? It would undoubtedly be more than the price of a brand new tablet which already contains all these things and more.
If they did bring the RX pin out on the daughtercard, then it should be possible to do some microsoldering and a lot of what I've just said is moot. But without disassembling one I have no way of knowing. If this were the case, then Spirit would likely be the way to go, as I ran across indications that Mike was doing some serious digging into this issue last year. There's also an infinitesimal ray of hope for drivers from a ROM that somebody put together for one of the Droids, which uses the same chip, that apparently has FM working.
I suppose one moderately simple test would be to load up Spirit, and bring a moderately powerful FM transmitter right up to the base end of the Nook, hoping for some leakage through all the shielding, and see if a signal can be picked up. Unfortunately, unless the result were positive, we'd be no further than we already are.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Houston, we have a problem. I have a stock nook running cm7 on sd card. Spirit FM Free with superuser permissions granted couldn't pick up the transmitter. :crying: I even put the transmitter right up against the nook and didn't hear anything, so it's not looking very good. I know on my droid 4 I had to have it rooted in order for the FM to work, I wonder if that is the case here? Anyone got a rooted nook to try this experiment out on? Once my warrenty is up I will try "nooting" and see if FM works then. If it is the daughter card, I am at a loss. Anyone got an idea about what we can do next? tonestertm, I can't find your Novoports sticky. Can you repost the link please?:good:
KrellaKrentoshi said:
tonestertm, I can't find your Novoports sticky. Can you repost the link please?:good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No need for a link, the Novaports thread is the third one down from the top of this forum.
Hi Folks,
I have created this thread to both discuss the possibility of and working to add back, the original 5MP rear camera to the Asus nexus 7 tablet that Google had Asus remove from the retail device.
This is essentially a continuation of the posts I started in the Asus ME370T Schematics thread .
This is what I've done so far:
- Purchased a Nexus 7 with a cracked touch surface as my hardware hacking device. It works with a usb mouse just great :laugh:
- Purchased a used Asus TF-101 5MP rear camera module from Ebay
- Studied the Nexus schematics (available here) and created small schematic sub-sheets specifically for the camera and power circuits
- Inspected both the camera module pins and the rear CON3 connector pins on the Nexus PCB - they match 100% electrically
- Recovered a connector from an old DVD drive for installation at CON3 - (Newark wants $15 S&H for a $2 part)
What needs to be done next:
- Remove the shields from the Nexus PCB and determine if there are any surface mount components that are missing that will prevent the rear camera from working.
- If parts are missing - use the available schematics (Nexus and other) to make an educated guess of what parts are missing and install them.
- Check the system logs to see how the front camera shows up when detected.
- Install the connector at CON3
- Boot the device and verify the front camera still works
- Install and verify the camera module is seated properly and there is a proper electrical connection to CON3.
- Boot up the unit and check the system logs to see if the rear camera is detected.
- Determine if the front camera still works.
At this point, since there is no driver for a rear camera in the Nexus 7, I will need to find the driver for it from the TF-101 ICS or JB ROM in addition to determining what configuration files need to be modified/created.
These are the schematics and photos I have so far and have attached below:
-rear camera (CON3) pinouts, camera power circuits, picture showing the TF-101 5MP module beside CON3, front camera pinouts
Please note
- I am NOT willing to modify any on else's Nexus if this works. I'm in Canada and it's too much of a hassle (and expensive) to ship stuff around up here. Besides, the front glass is just too fragile on these devices.
- This project is not for the weekend experimenter - I use a microscope and special soldering equipment when working on devices like this. If all you have is a solder gun/pencil, this project is not for you.
- I make no representations of fitness for any particular use and if you attempt to 'play' or modify your Nexus 7 following any details provided in this thread, you will be totally responsible for everything (good or bad) that happens to your device. That is why I purchased a partially broken device ($50 on Ebay) specifically to play with.
So, who IS this project for?
- It's for all the experienced hardware hackers out there who are able to work with devices like the Nexus 7 without destroying anything and want to 'play' with their toys!
- It's also for any software types who would be happy to help with the driver and config files to get a rear camera functional. Your assistance would be greatly appreciated. I'm a hardware guy - always have been - always will be.
The Camera Module:
The current REAR camera module as specified in the schematics is an OV5650. There has been some talk of using an OV5640 or OV5642. The FRONT camera module is an Aptina 1040.
The issue with this is the modules need to have the exact same electrical pinout as CON3. Maybe someone can find a source for replacement TF-101 rear camera modules out of Asia?
There was also some talk of the front 1.2MP camera using the same electrical (MIPI) interface with 24pins but having a different pin assignment for the data lines. If that's the case, then theoretically, one should be able to re-wire an additional front camera to CON3 and you should be able to use both.
Another item of note is the camera configuration file in /system. It appears that one of the directives in addition to 'front' & 'rear' is 'USB'.
Does that mean with the right driver, USB camera and OTG connector we can use external cameras with the Nexus 7?
If indeed we can, then we don't need to hack CON3 and instead, use an external high-res USB camera.
Unfortunately, the device uses USB v2.0 so an external camera would probably suffer from a slow frame rate - or would it?
This is what this thread is about - playing with the Nexus 7 to add either a rear camera internally or externally.
Comments? Questions? Additions? Drivers?
Very neat. Following this thread
Use an iPhone 4 rear 5MP camera module?
Now this is interesting....
The ME370T schematics for the Nexus 7 specify the rear camera module as being an OV5650.
This document claims the iPhone 4's rear camera module is ALSO the OV5650 as do a number of other teardown reports.
In addition, the iPhone's module has an LED flash!
Ebay has a pile of vendors that sell the iPhone 4 rear camera module very cheaply.
In fact this vendor has them new for $2.50 as of Nov 13/12.
Of course you need to remember that the pinout is completely different.
Anyone have the iPhone 4 schematics for the rear camera?
bigbop said:
Now this is interesting....
The ME370T schematics for the Nexus 7 specify the rear camera module as being an OV5650.
This document claims the iPhone 4's rear camera module is ALSO the OV5650 as do a number of other teardown reports.
In addition, the iPhone's module has an LED flash!
Ebay has a pile of vendors that sell the iPhone 4 rear camera module very cheaply.
In fact this vendor has them new for $2.50 as of Nov 13/12.
Of course you need to remember that the pinout is completely different.
Anyone have the iPhone 4 schematics for the rear camera?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would not waste time on a ovt module for the iphone. It very likely is a custom module with who knows what inside. If you get lucky, you will get the sensor up and running, but forget about the AF VCM and the DSP operation. The module might be labeled 5650, but I guarantee you that it was a custom job for Apple. If you look at the grouper kernel source tree, there is ov5650.c, but this driver is bare-bones. All it has the inits for the different resolutions and read/write gain and exposure functions.
My suggestion is to first try to integrate a lower-end ovt module that has a public driver and that you know the pinout to. If I find sombody local in socal that can solder the surface mount for me, I will try to integrate the ov5642 because I have the full schematics and the driver already written. After that the next step will be to try to integrate a higher end module, most likely something based on the imx105 from Sony.
If you comfortable compiling drivers, take a look at the ov5642 for a DellStreak5. The kernel that has been open sourced by Dell, has the full driver including the firmware for the micro that controls the AF VCM.
Cool...Nice to hear that,Good luck mate for ur success.
my two cents
would it be possible to flip the front cam around or something? like take the front cam then make a cable or resolder the connector on the other side, something like that.
you might also be able to make something like the vainworks stand but that makes a back cam, not front; or something.
I dont really know, just throwing out ideas here.
good luck!
thejrcrafter2 said:
would it be possible to flip the front cam around or something? like take the front cam then make a cable or resolder the connector on the other side, something like that.
you might also be able to make something like the vainworks stand but that makes a back cam, not front; or something.
I dont really know, just throwing out ideas here.
good luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I looked at the full schematics again and it appears the front camera uses 1 serial data pair whereas the rear uses 2 serial pairs. It might still be possible to use a front camera on the rear but since the TF101 camera is already the one that appears to be a drop-in, I'll stick with that for now.
Set from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
raf1hh said:
I would not waste time on a ovt module for the iphone. It very likely is a custom module with who knows what inside. If you get lucky, you will get the sensor up and running, but forget about the AF VCM and the DSP operation. The module might be labeled 5650, but I guarantee you that it was a custom job for Apple. If you look at the grouper kernel source tree, there is ov5650.c, but this driver is bare-bones. All it has the inits for the different resolutions and read/write gain and exposure functions.
My suggestion is to first try to integrate a lower-end ovt module that has a public driver and that you know the pinout to. If I find sombody local in socal that can solder the surface mount for me, I will try to integrate the ov5642 because I have the full schematics and the driver already written. After that the next step will be to try to integrate a higher end module, most likely something based on the imx105 from Sony.
If you comfortable compiling drivers, take a look at the ov5642 for a DellStreak5. The kernel that has been open sourced by Dell, has the full driver including the firmware for the micro that controls the AF VCM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I understand, but at $2.50 ea, I ordered one to play with.
One trick I've developed to interconnect devices that use flex cables is to use an intermediate flex as an adapter.
That is to say, I grab a flex cable used in a DVD/CD drive, slice it down to the correct pin width and then create offset solder tabs along the cable by scraping off the protective plastic covering. See photo below.
Yes, I may probably get signal reflections ocurring if the data rates are high, but that is the chance I'm willing to take. It just makes interfacing so much cheaper and simpler. Again, you need a very fine soldering tip (0.3mm) and a microscope to work with this.
I've also included photos of the TF-101 5MP camera for the part numbers.
As I mentioned previously, it would be nice to find an inexpensive source for the TF-101 5MP camera modules.
Hopefully, someone will be able to identify the module from the part numbers below.
UPDATE: I just Googled the flex number and up pops the module, for sale from Asus in Europe of all places. A little pricey though:
CAMERA MODULE 5.0M PIXEL
Product Info
Order number: 04G625000810
Type: CAMERA
Description: LITEON/10P2SA511
Price Info: 37.03 Eur
Hi,
is it possible to create a video input (HDMI or Composite) instead of rear camera??
audiophile1 said:
Hi,
is it possible to create a video input (HDMI or Composite) instead of rear camera??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That would require making a new thread at the risk of becoming off topic.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
I was hoping that this thread would show up eventually. I added a front facing cam to my Vibrant, but it looks like this might be a little more complicated.
Good luck, I'm interested in seeing where this goes.
Does anybody have a N7 with a broken screen that they would like to sell to help the cause? I have a mint conditions N7 and would rather keep it that way
Thanks
Gotta love that XDA community.
raf1hh said:
Does anybody have a N7 with a broken screen that they would like to sell to help the cause? I have a mint conditions N7 and would rather keep it that way
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1997273
Check with this guy, he broke his screen, maybe he'd be willing to sell it.
raf1hh said:
Does anybody have a N7 with a broken screen that they would like to sell to help the cause? I have a mint conditions N7 and would rather keep it that way
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check out Kijiji and Ebay - I picked up one from each for an average of $60.
Both are 16GB units with cracked touchscreens.
Everything else works on them and I've been using them with USB mice.
You just need to be patient.
In the last week, Newark Electronics has reduced its shipping charge to Canada from $15 down to $8.
This means I will now order the proper 24pin FPC connectors I need for CON3.
In case anyone else is thinking of ordering these connectors, they are here.
The connector needs to have the pins inside along the top, not the bottom.
I'm going to wait until Black Friday though as Newark a bunch of other stuff on sale I need.
bigbop said:
Check out Kijiji and Ebay - I picked up one from each for an average of $60.
Both are 16GB units with cracked touchscreens.
Everything else works on them and I've been using them with USB mice.
You just need to be patient.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I got one of ebay yesterday for 71 bucks. I also found a shop that will do the surface mount connector for me next week.
raf1hh said:
Thanks, I got one of ebay yesterday for 71 bucks. I also found a shop that will do the surface mount connector for me next week.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All you need now is the 5MP rear camera module from a TF-101 tablet.
I scored one on ebay for 99 cents (but $8 shipping).
Remember that you need a connector that has the internal pins across the top, not the bottom. Look at the photo of the camera module in my 1st post. The flex cable pins face up when the module is mounted.
I had hoped to sell my busted screen N7 (8 gig) for $75-100....
Might not be realistic though. I am buying a new tablet, and this broken one needs a good home... I only used it for 4 days before it broke.
bigbop said:
All you need now is the 5MP rear camera module from a TF-101 tablet.
I scored one on ebay for 99 cents (but $8 shipping).
Remember that you need a connector that has the internal pins across the top, not the bottom. Look at the photo of the camera module in my 1st post. The flex cable pins face up when the module is mounted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm hoping to reuse an existing ov5642 module + flash board that I have laying around. Hopefully my new tablet will get here next week so I can get started on this project. Btw, did you probe your board already, are the schematics valid?
I know there are a couple threads out there concerning this cable/adapter. Most were of suggestions but no feedback. Anyone find a good one out there that works with flash drive? I know some people mentioned that the cables they found blocked the head phone jack, did anyone find one that didn't? Any information would be appreciated thanks!
http://dx.com/p/otg-connection-kit-w-usb-sd-tf-card-reader-for-samsung-i9100-i9220-black-135480
i grabbed this. works perfectly. has sd, micro sd AND usb ports. I find it to be awesome to have the choice.
Go on ebay and use the following search phrase:
otg micro cable left angled
Look at the pictures carefully though in order to make sure that a) it ends in the desired USB female connector, and b) the left angle is truly left. There are some listings that are still right-angled even though the description says "left angled".
Oh, and you'll likely have to wait for shipping from China.
Also on Amazon if you search for:
SANOXY Micro USB Host Mode OTG Cable Flash Drive SD T-Flash Card Adapter
The first one in the results looks like it's angled correctly. Also from China.
funkdoobi said:
i grabbed this. works perfectly. has sd, micro sd AND usb ports. I find it to be awesome to have the choice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That sounds awesome but unfortunately its sold out right now !
I'll try the ebay option too but we all know how trustworthy dealers are on email with electronic components. I am not in too big of a hurry for the item since Google hasn't even shipped out my Nexus 10 yet.
funkdoobi said:
http://dx.com/p/otg-connection-kit-w-usb-sd-tf-card-reader-for-samsung-i9100-i9220-black-135480
i grabbed this. works perfectly. has sd, micro sd AND usb ports. I find it to be awesome to have the choice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is amazing. I didn't know this existed? I had seen a model from Japan that didn't have the wire at all, and kinda just sat flush with your device. (Not too flush, still jutted out quite a bit.) But either/or is good for trips when you need some extra space.
Thank you! Ordering one as soon as these mofo's go back in stock....
DTB
DonToolBag said:
This is amazing. I didn't know this existed? I had seen a model from Japan that didn't have the wire at all, and kinda just sat flush with your device. (Not too flush, still jutted out quite a bit.) But either/or is good for trips when you need some extra space.
Thank you! Ordering one as soon as these mofo's go back in stock....
DTB
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know its awesome. They have plenty of those for the samsung galaxy tabs (some withe even 5 different ports) made by Samsung. However the 7 pin adapter doesn't work the nexus. I'm hoping samsung does the same (with an audio jack) for the Nexus. Kind of infuriating that there is no support from Google or Samsung insight for accessories. Especially since these attachments are what separates them from their competitors (IPad can't use a flash drive because of the power limitation)
I wonder if this might work sense the 1 above appears to be sold out:
http://www.amazon.com/Koolertron-Samsung-I9220-I9250-Reader/dp/B008ZXRCEG
Are you among the many people to buy a fancy new Nexus 7, only to realize that the wifi reception on the tablet is comparable to a potato's? Or maybe you tablet took a tumble and now your bars have left you for dead? Well if either of these are are your case look no further.
This is a guide on how to fix the crappy wifi reception and transmission on your nexus 7.
What you'll need:
-Electronics opening tool (The kind meant for disengaging clips)
-Some small wire (I used 30 awg single-strand)
-Solder (And also preferably flux)
-Intermediate soldering skills
This guide will show you what I did to fix my Nexus 7's terrible wifi reception. One the tabs on my nexus was broken, causing a bad but still present wifi connection. Doing this will help you go from 1-2 bars to 3 or 4. For those more technically informed around 30-40db to 60-70db. When I look at my connection in dd-wrt the connection has gone from peaking at 20% to stable at 45% (the same as my laptop's connection mind you)
The magic thing to this fix? Soldering the points on the motherboard to the points on the case where the antenna is located. Normally this connection is with 2 gold tabs the touch the points on the back.
Start with the guide on ifixit.com. I tried to add a link but was not allowed too because I am a new member.
This is extremely easy to open and you would almost have to try to mess it up.
Once you have the tablet open you will see a few spots where there are the golden tabs that stick up. Also on the back there are contact points where these tabs meet. You will be joining the tabs to the pads with wire instead of just surface contact. Here you can see the side of the tablet where the wifi transmitter is. It is right of the battery and below the sticker with some barcodes. All you need to do is cut a couple wires an inch to two inches or so, and solder them to the tabs and then their corresponding pads on the backing.
I broke off my second tab as my first tab was already broken and no where to be found. I also added a little bit of hot glue to secure the wires and also to stop them from bridging the points.
This took me about 15 to open, do, and close up. When you are closing up the case just gently push the wires indside the case so they are not in the way of the clips.
I am not responsible if you mess up your device doing this. If you have any doubts please just send your tablet in for repair. That being said this is very easy and was of great benefit to me.
I tried to add pictures in the guide but since this is my first post I am not able too. I have them attached
Very helpful! Thanks a bunch for this!
No problem. I was so frustrated with my tablets WiFi before I looked inside, and wanted to help others avoid the same difficulties. I think the tab was actually just wedged in place between the contacts,but still was broken. PS if you WiFi already works well this isn't going to help a ton. My friends nexus 7 has always had 4 bars in my house and mine use to only get 4 within a foot of the router. But if your tablet has bad WiFi this will most likely help.
Will keep that in mind. This should be stickied.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
No, please do not stickie this. What the cats meow has done is to de-tune the output of the wifi amplifier.
To put it simply, he should have just bent out the clips slightly to make better contact with the wifi antenna on the inside of the back cover.
By adding this wire, not only has the wifi RF amplifier been de-tuned due to some randome wavelength of wire added, but the reception will also suffer. It's also no longer FCC type approved and could be radiating spurious RFI around not to mention picking up RFI generated from the CPU and power supply circuits (around the area to the left in the image).
In layman's terms, the wifi radio is designed to transmit maximum power and receive maximum signal using the antenna connected via those two clips. It's a very specific match for this to happen. Modifying the connection by adding a length of unshielded wire screws up this match and can cause the output stage of the wifi transmitter to actually cut back its power due to this mis-match.
Any device that transmits radio energy in the US has to be FCC type approved and the testing is quite strict to ensure equipment doesn't radiate signals in a way that will affect other radio systems.
Owners of Nexus 7 devices should NOT make this mod. Just bend out the clips slightly and clean the contact on the antenna strip to ensure good contact. The contacts are made of phosphor-bronze and they can break easily if bent too much.
I almost agree with that de-tuned FCC mumbo jumbo
But I kinda did the same thing... But added an SMA connector and have hooked it up to huge 19dBi panel antennas and pulled WiFi signals from over a mile away....even posted a thread about it here.... And it works beautiful... With all sorts of antennas...
I agree that his method of adding unshielded lengths of wire isn't the "best" way to go about your business but with the broken pin he had in there he did the best he new how and made it work
Yes, you used shielded coax and assumed the impedance of the external antenna is matched. Big difference with what thecatsmeow did.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
I understand the reasoning with the unshielded wire picking up interference and also the timing being off. Your are right, one should just bend the pins to get better contact with the pads on the back of the casing. That's actually what I set out to do. Even though technically my WiFi is now miscalibrated, the fact is that it is a drastic improvement over what it was. I am just trying to show people what I did to fix my problem. I will edit your information into my post and recommend that people try to bend the tabs if at all possible. However, being that my nexus 7 is 1 week old and I haven't even dropped it I am probably not alone with a having a broken tab.
See for me I stopped reading the op when he stated the signal went from -30-40 to -60-70. That statement shows a loss in rf signal.
If you had -30-40 to begin with you wouldn't have any WiFi problems.
Not a good idea to do this mod. Just the soldering and dissimilar metals alone make for impedance mismatches.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD
I have that listed the wrong way. I had -60-70 but now I have -30-40. No one said you had to do this mod. But for some like me who have a broken connector this could be helpful. The impedance of air is a lot more than the impedance of lead and copper.
An antenna is a closed loop. Impedance matters !
You would be better off finding the exact part needed for repair.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD
And where you can find these parts?Mr smart pant!
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD
Seeing as its so new, what stopped you returning it for a repair under warranty
I has broke 1 of 2 golden tabs, but i still keep it. How can i reconnect this tab to the Nexus 7? Using glue? Is it a good idea? My wifi is very bad now...
I wonder if the people having issues with wifi, might be due to having to many neighbors broadcasting on the same frequency and many on the same channel.
I recently bought a new wifi router just for this reason (shame the n7 doesn't have duel band, but my n4 does)
This has solved my issue completely, except for YouTube but I am suspecting g that might be out of my hands.
Anyone looking around for a new router I got this one from newwegg
Never heard of the brand but it's been great
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833315100
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
BrianDigital said:
I wonder if the people having issues with wifi, might be due to having to many neighbors broadcasting on the same frequency and many on the same channel.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Possibly - but it's way off-topic for this thread. The OP (and others) did repairs of broken devices where the external antenna was effectively disconnected. Nobody should regard the methods of this thread to be a way of *improving* their signal strength unless they are sure they have a broken device (or are planning on modding their device to add an external directional antenna)
For reference purposes, my (correctly functioning) N7 WiFi + WiFi router exhibit the following line-of-sight signal strength (observed using farproc's "WiFi Analyzer" app on the N7) :
-22 dBm @ 10ft
-33 dBm @ 20ft
The above values are the best-case that I observed; at the same locations I can observe up to 10 dBm attenuation simply due to orientation changes of the tablet. (That is expected as neither the router nor the tablet have isotropic antenna gain patterns - both amplitude and polarization)
The point of this is that even if interference is present, it won't effect the observed signal strength - and nobody should be using the hardware mods in this thread unless their signal strength is terrible - even when very close to the router.
The points made by bigbop earlier in the thread are well worth reading. The mod proposed by the OP should only be used in dire circumstances.
nhutquang972012 said:
I has broke 1 of 2 golden tabs, but i still keep it. How can i reconnect this tab to the Nexus 7? Using glue? Is it a good idea? My wifi is very bad now...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes... "glue" which is made from 100% solder.
What you should try to do is to create a fix that re-creates the missing "golden tab". It needs to be very conductive (that's why most glues are completely out of the question), and it should be ideally no bigger than the original. A very short piece of small wire could be used - emphasis on "short", as in mm, not cm. The further you depart from the original geometry, the worse your fix will be. (But even a bad fix will be better than what you have now - which is no antenna at all).
good luck
[Edit]
Here's an idea that might work - using a Fuzz Button. They have built-in compliancy and are manufactured in a variety of lengths and diameters. I suppose you could even solder the periphery of one to the remaining pad. No clue where to go to buy two or three or a dozen, though. Mouser Electronics maybe?
bftb0 said:
Yes... "glue" which is made from 100% solder.
What you should try to do is to create a fix that re-creates the missing "golden tab". It needs to be very conductive (that's why most glues are completely out of the question), and it should be ideally no bigger than the original. A very short piece of small wire could be used - emphasis on "short", as in mm, not cm. The further you depart from the original geometry, the worse your fix will be. (But even a bad fix will be better than what you have now - which is no antenna at all).
good luck
[Edit]
Here's an idea that might work - using a Fuzz Button. They have built-in compliancy and are manufactured in a variety of lengths and diameters. I suppose you could even solder the periphery of one to the remaining pad. No clue where to go to buy two or three or a dozen, though. Mouser Electronics maybe?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I went to welding shop and everything was solved, even wifi is better than before. Thanks for your help.
Sent from my Nexus 7 running Cyanogenmod 10.1 - Android 4.2.2 - Franco kernel r47 using Tapatalk HD
bftb0 said:
Possibly - but it's way off-topic for this thread. The OP (and others) did repairs of broken devices where the external antenna was effectively disconnected. Nobody should regard the methods of this thread to be a way of *improving* their signal strength unless they are sure they have a broken device (or are planning on modding their device to add an external directional antenna)
For reference purposes, my (correctly functioning) N7 WiFi + WiFi router exhibit the following line-of-sight signal strength (observed using farproc's "WiFi Analyzer" app on the N7) :
-22 dBm @ 10ft
-33 dBm @ 20ft
The above values are the best-case that I observed; at the same locations I can observe up to 10 dBm attenuation simply due to orientation changes of the tablet. (That is expected as neither the router nor the tablet have isotropic antenna gain patterns - both amplitude and polarization)
The point of this is that even if interference is present, it won't effect the observed signal strength - and nobody should be using the hardware mods in this thread unless their signal strength is terrible - even when very close to the router.
The points made by bigbop earlier in the thread are well worth reading. The mod proposed by the OP should only be used in dire circumstances.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
so i should read those points even though i no plans to hot glue some wires to my tablet. it might be off-topic for this thread, but since someone might read the general "fix bad wifi" topic thought id like to give me experience
can i ask you then why do routers have different frequencies they broadcast on, since everyone can be on one and not cause an issue then
i attached a screen shot, the one at the most left is my original wifi network the one at the most right is the new one, the middle one is my next door neighbor, and it will lower in DB while mine drops spuratically. now my new router is in teh exact same spot as the the old router.
Just saying sometimes some one doesn't need to reinvent the wheel when its not going to help
BrianDigital said:
so i should read those points even though i no plans to hot glue some wires to my tablet. it might be off-topic for this thread, but since someone might read the general "fix bad wifi" topic thought id like to give me experience
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure what you mean by the first sentence, but I will agree that the thread title is quite misleading, and possibly the reason why the thread got down voted.
@OP if you are reading, consider changing the title to "Broken WiFi Antenna Contacts Fix"
BrianDigital said:
can i ask you then why do routers have different frequencies they broadcast on, since everyone can be on one and not cause an issue then
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But in fact devices talking to the same router do interfere! A single radio channel is a shared medium analogous to an old-fashioned coax Ethernet or Ethernet hub - a collision segment. There is only a total bandwidth available for sharing amongst all devices on the segment/channel. The only reason that two clients talking to two different APs on the same radio channel is worse than two clients talking to a single AP is that in the single AP case, the clients are better synchronized in time by virtue of sequential ACK packet pacing by the AP (in addition to other AP coordination mechanisms). That coordination does not exit between unrelated APs on the same radio channel. So that's why there are multiple frequencies: to get away from your neighboring APs!
The other thing which is quantitatively different about shared radio channels in comparison to old-fashioned collision segments (hubs/thin-net coax, etc) is that the signal amplitude range in WiFi is huge: -25 dBm to -85 dBm is a factor of one million in signal strength. So, where even a tiny overlap/collision on an old-fashioned Ethernet collision segment would be fatal (all devices are nearly the same amplitude), that's not quite as true with WiFi: if both ends of an AP<->client station see each other at 30dB higher than all other stations on the same channel, so long as the packet has already started, the nearby signals literally smash the far away signals.
BrianDigital said:
i attached a screen shot, the one at the most left is my original wifi network the one at the most right is the new one, the middle one is my next door neighbor, and it will lower in DB while mine drops spuratically. now my new router is in teh exact same spot as the the old router.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't doubt that some WiFi routers do a better job of their antenna design / matching than others. The thing to be aware of when making measurements is that RF propagation is a squirrelly thing - it is easy to get a 10 dB change in signal strength without even altering the distance from the AP - rotate your tablet slowly though different axes with that WiFi Analyzer app running and have a look. And of course, huge variations from place to place within your residence. ( If you were seeing BIG drops with your old router - say more than 20 dBm - then either it has hardware troubles, or possibly you are seeing a measurement artifact from non-WiFi radio interference (ISM band devices such as microwave ovens, portable phones etc) )
good luck