Database Users

self repair universal

Hi, I broke my universal last night :.(
I was using a charger that came with my gps, and it fell 30cm off the bed table and hit the floor, striking the charger cable. The gps charger is longer, so without the rubber collar to absorb the shock, the usb plug twisted inside, and broke the usb connector off the motherboard.
pics: http://boldra.com/images/universal/
I use my universal very heavily, so I want to get it fixed as soon as possible. I've done simple repairs on laptops and phones before, including soldering on a power connector in a dropped vaio. How would people rate the difficulty of this one?
The first issue will be to get hold of a suitable screwdriver, but I'll also have to source a new usb connector.
Has anyone got any experience or tips they could share?
Thanks!
Boldra

Boldra said:
Hi, I broke my universal last night :.(
I was using a charger that came with my gps, and it fell 30cm off the bed table and hit the floor, striking the charger cable. The gps charger is longer, so without the rubber collar to absorb the shock, the usb plug twisted inside, and broke the usb connector off the motherboard.
pics: http://boldra.com/images/universal/
I use my universal very heavily, so I want to get it fixed as soon as possible. I've done simple repairs on laptops and phones before, including soldering on a power connector in a dropped vaio. How would people rate the difficulty of this one?
The first issue will be to get hold of a suitable screwdriver, but I'll also have to source a new usb connector.
Has anyone got any experience or tips they could share?
Thanks!
Boldra
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi first of all, based on my experience with opening universal - when you start opening PLEASE READ OPENING INSTRUCTIONS on FTP - there is PDF file for this. And second one - try ty find a cheam MP3 player with same USB connector - you will never belive what is inside of those tousands MP3 players - I even find inside one a DiskOnChip for universal

Thanks, they look like two very good tips! I was actually going to check out the second hand shop for old cameras with mini-usb connectors, but mp3 players sound like a good idea too.
Boldra

I had the same problem. I fixed it myself too. I just used the USB connector that was broken off and soldered it back.
I don't think a new connector is going to be needed. More likely your biggest problem will be broken off tracks on the motherboard.

Thanks Patrick, I love the net! I've never personally met anyone with the same device, but now here I am talking to someone who's actually had exactly the same problem!
I've now opened the case up (after downloading the beautiful maintenance manual), and it looks like there are indeed a couple of bits of the mobo broken off and stuck to the connector.
I've had a look with a magnifying glass, and it looks like the 4th connector in particular is going to be difficult to match up. I've been checking out the USB spec, and, if I'm reading it right, this connector is only used for a usb hub. I think on the universal it's not actually connected to anything. Really, I'll just be pretty happy if I can just get connectors 1 & 5 joined up again, so I can recharge!
The other thing I'm worrying about is how I can firmly attach the connector back onto the board so that it doesn't easily break off again. I'm considering a drop of superglue to fix the usb connector onto the mobo before starting the soldering. How did you solve this problem? Are you relying entirely on solder to take the load?
Boldra

Boldra said:
The other thing I'm worrying about is how I can firmly attach the connector back onto the board so that it doesn't easily break off again. I'm considering a drop of superglue to fix the usb connector onto the mobo before starting the soldering. How did you solve this problem? Are you relying entirely on solder to take the load?
Boldra
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't even think about it !!! If you put some glue there you can say goodbye to your device if it brokes again you cannot protect device from this - is more cheap to repair him again

You should put this warning up:
Warning, HORROR pictures ...
must be over 21 to watch ...

Boldra said:
Thanks Patrick, I love the net! I've never personally met anyone with the same device, but now here I am talking to someone who's actually had exactly the same problem!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you search the forum here you will notice there are hordes of people with the same problem. It's safe to say this is a design flaw of the Universal.
Boldra said:
I'll just be pretty happy if I can just get connectors 1 & 5 joined up again, so I can recharge!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here. I stopped messing with it when it started charging again. It doesn't connect through USB anymore, but I can do that via bluetooth as well.
Boldra said:
The other thing I'm worrying about is how I can firmly attach the connector back onto the board so that it doesn't easily break off again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I put some extra solder on the large pads on the side. I have a feeling that that helped put it on the board more sturdy. I also changed the way I use the Universal. Before I would use it with the charge cable atached so the battery would stay full. Now I never move it around when the cable is attached. So now when the Universal is charging, the first thing I do is take the charge cable out and then open the unit and switch it on.

superglue will not work. you must solder it back on.
from those pics it's impossible to estimate the damage.
open it up and take some new pics.

HTC Apache Cradle Disassembly

Can anyone tell me what type and size etc the four screws on the bottom of the Apache charging cradle are? One of the six sprung pins on the cradle has stuck down and, as a result, the spare battery charging feature has stopped working. I'm guessing I need to disassemble the cradle to free it. Any non-invasive ideas also would be welcome.

Mazzini_NZ said:
Can anyone tell me what type and size etc the four screws on the bottom of the Apache charging cradle are? One of the six sprung pins on the cradle has stuck down and, as a result, the spare battery charging feature has stopped working. I'm guessing I need to disassemble the cradle to free it. Any non-invasive ideas also would be welcome.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The screws are micro-TORX. You can find a driver at Sears. Red handle with multiple bits.

You might want to just try daubing a little bit of contact cleaner or alcohol Kor even WD40) onto the stuck springy-pin. That and a little jiggling might free it up enough to work.
I recently rescued a malfunctioning after-market wireless Xbox controller with a few drops of WD40 worked into the joystick micro-pots.

Its a T-6 I modded one so I could use it with both my 6700 and my hermes

Electrical (what seems to be) contacts on battery cover. Why?

I just noticed that there is a pair of contacts on the inside of battery cover and matching spring loaded contacts in the housing, next to the lower left and right corners of the battery. Anybody knows what are they for?
If they are really electrical, is it possible to detect from software if the bettery cover is removed? Not that this could be used for anything useful, but just curious if that's possible.

vponomarev said:
I just noticed that there is a pair of contacts on the inside of battery cover and matching spring loaded contacts in the housing, next to the lower left and right corners of the battery. Anybody knows what are they for?
If they are really electrical, is it possible to detect from software if the bettery cover is removed? Not that this could be used for anything useful, but just curious if that's possible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm just guessing but I know that the first version of the car kit involved replacing the back cover....so...I'm guessing it relates to having the car kit plugged in and just putting the phone in the kit without needing to attach a cable in the phone each time.
Did I mention that I'm just guessing.

n11 - Good guess.

Thanks for the tip. So, from what I understand, these contacts are for power supply, correct?

vponomarev said:
Thanks for the tip. So, from what I understand, these contacts are for power supply, correct?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well...since Mega Maniac has given such strong support to my guessing ability I'll answer this way: Yep, I guess the contacts are for the power supply.

The contacts are probably for proper grounding since the battery cover is metal. It would be bad to have a static charge differential build up on the cover take out the circuit board. Or it may be that the cove is the antenna. But I doubt that. Just my opinion.

I was thinking within the same line, but more like bettery cover being a shield to prevent any external radio interference. But power connector theory sounds more reasonable. I'm NOT going to verify this theory by applying 5V to these contacts.

vponomarev said:
I was thinking within the same line, but more like bettery cover being a shield to prevent any external radio interference. But power connector theory sounds more reasonable. I'm NOT going to verify this theory by applying 5V to these contacts.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm now guessing that you are a very smart person...grin.

Just for the record I dont have the HTC navigation car mount, but if you are talking about the teo connections either side of the back cover then I cant see what else it would be. Essentially my opinion is as much of a guess as n11, but I would bet my HD2 on it, because there is just about nothing else it could be.

I'd like to know for certain what these are for as well.

Grounding
These connectors are probably grounding, if you see on the cover the paint is striped away where the connectors meets the cover.
If this was in anyway connected to the battery for charging it would short out the battery since the cover is made of metal.
Just Checked With my multimeter and there is a direct connection between the two points, and also between the screws and the two points, so grounding it is.

My Mod: Extended 2400mah battery with induction charging

I didn't buy the HTC extended battery but one from amazon sold by Karen Deals. Link is below
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0..._m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0NVM3EA1B2VE9HN3AKMA
Battery
Model No: cs-ht8585xl
Part No: 35h000128-00m, ba s400
Rating: 3.7v 2400mah
Lithium Ion
Induction Unit
Palm Pixi charging back with Palm touchstone charging dock
Operating System
Shubcraft 1.4d
Video:
Images are attached below!
Induction charging has the same charging speed as plugging it into a wall outlet. Very fast!
Sidenote:
I tried using a multimeter with the 3 contacts located under the battery and could not get it to register anything (with and without the charger plugged in). I then tried shooting 5v through it using 6 different combination (2 plugs for 3 contacts) and still couldn't get anything. If anyone knows a way to use these 3 contacts for charging please leave feedback. Also if anyone can find a minature microusb male connection that'd be great.

Well done, it's a really nice mod!
The 2400 mAh is a bit too bulky for me, though the extended uptime must be awesome. I'd even consider something similar, were it not that you're using the microusb to charge. If only you could connect it straight to the battery, would be so much more convenient. It'd still work in for instance car kits and attached to a pc.
Never the less, well done.

Looks great, i would try this myself but i cant stand the bulk of extended batteries and the stock metal back would almost defiantly interfere with the current. Where did you get the decal from?

Angelusz said:
Well done, it's a really nice mod!
The 2400 mAh is a bit too bulky for me, though the extended uptime must be awesome. I'd even consider something similar, were it not that you're using the microusb to charge. If only you could connect it straight to the battery, would be so much more convenient. It'd still work in for instance car kits and attached to a pc.
Never the less, well done.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can't plug in directly to the battery since the battery doesn't have a balancer board on it and it would explode if it were to be overcharged without one.
JJbdoggg said:
Looks great, i would try this myself but i cant stand the bulk of extended batteries and the stock metal back would almost defiantly interfere with the current. Where did you get the decal from?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got the decal in the automotive section of Walmart. It came with 2 big/4small stickers for 7usd
UPDATE: Made the microusb head smaller! Letting liquid electrical tape dry then I'll post pics.

this is a really nice mod. what about the possiblly of going via the nav panel connectors instead of micro usb. this would as far as i know leave the usb port free and also not have the disadvantage of having a usb connector attached which can be easily damged.
Personalyu i wouldnt do this mod as i use my phone to tether a hell of a lot so it seems pointless to me, but being able to just sit your phone down and have it charge is awesome.
Great work!!!!

veda_sticks said:
this is a really nice mod. what about the possiblly of going via the nav panel connectors instead of micro usb. this would as far as i know leave the usb port free and also not have the disadvantage of having a usb connector attached which can be easily damged.
Personalyu i wouldnt do this mod as i use my phone to tether a hell of a lot so it seems pointless to me, but being able to just sit your phone down and have it charge is awesome.
Great work!!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tired the navpanel connections with no success. If anyone has a multimeter please try to do it to theirs (with charger plugged in).

that is really odd....only think i can think of is manye theres something that needs to happen with the middle pin.

nice work i think that decal are very cute indeed!

PPL this is knowed from a long time! This pins are used for example with Car Kit like CU s400: http://www.slashgear.com/htc-hd2-cu-s400-car-kit-gets-priced-detailed-coming-december-1360143/
This car kit is in two versions: like this on 1st photo - use other battery cover which use this "mysterious" pins to run NaviPanel and charging battery and 2nd version with charging via microUSB port.
I hope this helps a bit.
veda_sticks said:
that is really odd....only think i can think of is manye theres something that needs to happen with the middle pin.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This "odd" middle pin you can find in every phone battery too. If you depart any battery you can find there a little electronic circuit.
I think, that this pin is used to metering battery charge, but i can be wrong - im not advanced in electornics.

I'm well aware of the existance of these products but cannot figure out what the three contacts below the batteries are.

Maybe some users having one. In that case he/she can make photos of all connectors or better - check it with multimeter which connector is +, - and this middle one.
Maybe some service manuals can tell something more abt this. I searched for it and i did'nt find nothing useful.

FRANQ_23_PL said:
Maybe some users having one. In that case he/she can make photos of all connectors or better - check it with multimeter which connector is +, - and this middle one.
Maybe some service manuals can tell something more abt this. I searched for it and i did'nt find nothing useful.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also did a search on google and xda but with no luck. I don't think it inputs 5v into the machine since I did shoot 5v into the 3 connectors using different combination.

Hi all,
The contact closest to the center of the phone (looking along the longest axis of the phone) is the +5V, the one furthest from the +5V is the ground, and there's a small voltage on the center contact, positive to ground. These +5V voltage shows up (on my phone) only when the mini-USB charger is plugged in.
I've got the +5V terminal of the Pre plate attached to the +5V contact on the phone, and the other one attached to the GND contact. Inductive charging works at 341ma (as measure by the hardware and read by BattClock) at maximum, which is probably not coincidentally also the limit set on USB charging, at least from my laptop.
I tried hooking the Touchstone up to a Apple ~1" cubed charger, didn't get any charge. I haven't read the USB power specifications, but according to the people at the Palm forums you have to have a USB spec power-capable charger to initialize the Touchstone, and the USB ICs signal this by connecting the two data lines. This can be approximated by clipping a USB cable and twisting the data lines together on the Touchstone side of the cable. This allowed the Apple charger to power the Touchstone.
The HTC stock charger works fine, as does an 800ma Verizon charger I had laying around. I tried hooking the Touchstone up to both a [email protected] switching charger and a 5V 8A supply, the Touchstone still charged at 341ma. I'm guessing this is software, firmware or hardware limited, just like the computer USB connection. I would speculate that if you shorted the middle pin to the ground pin, it might remove this restriction. Or fry your phone, I didn't try it.
There's a guy on the Pre forums who got the Touchstone to consume about 1.02A (http://forums.precentral.net/palm-p...b-adapters-touchstone-dock-2.html#post2020491) so the thing can, apparently transfer some power. I don't know how long it would last at those wattages, but I'm going to read a bit on the USB power spec and see if the 341ma limit can be lifted.
It's kind of nice to use the internal connector, because it leaves the microUSB port open. If anyone has any questions feel free to ask. With the relevant portion of the Pre cover stuck to the back of my phone, there are no wires out of the chassis and the added part doesn't add any considerable bulk to the phone. It protrudes less than the camera.
Anyways, hope this isn't a thread-jack or too long, but I figured it might help anyone that's going to take the time to do this.
Thanks to the community here.

Did you dremel and hotglue the plastic case to the metal case? Interweb highfive from me to you!
Can you post pictures of the inside wiring please?

I did. I basically cut out a square from the HD2 back large enough to hold the coiled length of wire that is needed to allow the back to be removed and articulated. Then I used Super Glue to fix the section of the Pre back containing the inductive coil and circuitry to the HD2 back.
If you're trying to maintain your warranty I might suggest DigiKey part number 478-4687-1-ND, it's from the AVX "MOBO Spring Contact Interconnect Solutions" catalog under battery connectors (I can send you a .pdf copy of the catalog, it's too big to upload to forum). This is a 3mm pitch connector that should mate well with the internal connector - but - I don't have calipers so I would measure before ordering. I just soldered the wires to my HD2.
I'll post some pictures soonish.
And yeah, high five for sure. Thanks for pioneering this. My last phone was retired when the power connector became flaky, so it's nice not to have to worry about the contact wearing out.

Ur mod is on a dutch popular website!
http://tweakers.net/nieuws/69360/mod-maakt-draadloos-laden-mogelijk-op-htc-hd2.html

Right angle micro-usb
I'm looking to do the same thing with my Vibrant and have been searching for a similar connector. I just did a quick google search and found these angled connectors:
http://www.usbfirewire.com/u_microb_cables_angled.html

I tried soldering it your way with no sucess
Soldering pins are as shown
(If viewing vertically with top up)
(leftside of hd2) negative x positive (center of hd2)

bumping an old thread to see if you've taken pictures of the contact points yet.

Sorry it took me so long to reply. Two pictures, the first is the terminal with the wires soldered in, the second shows how I got the cables from the Palm coil/board through the cover. The terminals as you look along the longest axis of the phone with the microUSB plug closest to you are GND, something, and +5v.
So from left to right: 1 GND / 2 ? / 3 +5v.

Asus Padfone 2 (A68) and its battery + back cover

Hei all
After 3 good years of using my phone it sadly "died". 1 of those micro usb pins broke off and another one bended.
At the moment I can't really fix the micro usb port (missing the tools for it at the moment) and repairing it costs almost $100 (usd). I could buy the micro usb dock part myself buuuut....
So I went ahead to tear the back cover off and took out the battery to charge it directly. So far so good. No problem at all actually (of what I know of)
Now, the battery port has 4 holes: ID - P (minus) - TH - P (plus).
What is ID and TH? I am guessing the ID gives out a number, whereas the TH is a corresponding value to it, or perhaps just the temperature?
I am thinking of using my arduino board to make something fancy. But perhaps it isn't necessary? I don't know if I can just keep charging the battery all night long with a 5V - 1A / 2.1A charger?
Moreover, found something strange on my back cover. It has a copper plate on it? Was thinking it might be an antenna or something, but even without it I got WiFi, 4G, 3G and 2G. Anyone have an idea?
Tried to post some images, but I ain't allowed to do so since I am new here (or I am using this forum wrong)
However, if u search on "asus padfone 2 battery" on Google, then it should show u the battery port and the back cover.
Thank you all. Sorry if I am posting the wrong place.

crazy-p said:
Hei all
After 3 good years of using my phone it sadly "died". 1 of those micro usb pins broke off and another one bended.
At the moment I can't really fix the micro usb port (missing the tools for it at the moment) and repairing it costs almost $100 (usd). I could buy the micro usb dock part myself buuuut....
So I went ahead to tear the back cover off and took out the battery to charge it directly. So far so good. No problem at all actually (of what I know of)
Now, the battery port has 4 holes: ID - P (minus) - TH - P (plus).
What is ID and TH? I am guessing the ID gives out a number, whereas the TH is a corresponding value to it, or perhaps just the temperature?
I am thinking of using my arduino board to make something fancy. But perhaps it isn't necessary? I don't know if I can just keep charging the battery all night long with a 5V - 1A / 2.1A charger?
Moreover, found something strange on my back cover. It has a copper plate on it? Was thinking it might be an antenna or something, but even without it I got WiFi, 4G, 3G and 2G. Anyone have an idea?
Tried to post some images, but I ain't allowed to do so since I am new here (or I am using this forum wrong)
However, if u search on "asus padfone 2 battery" on Google, then it should show u the battery port and the back cover.
Thank you all. Sorry if I am posting the wrong place.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ID Ibelieve is similar to BSI. It is connected with the GND through a resistor and helps the phone to identify what type of bettery is installed.
TH is probably the thermistor for identifying that temperature is OK.