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Hi,
a problem that many might have:
I need a camera free device to go to work with.
how hard is it to dismantle the camera? do I need a full open heart surgery?
or is it almost plug and play?
Eysham
You're better off taking off the battery cover and putting electrical tape over the camera, then putting the battery cover back on. That way you should be able to slide by. I read that the camera doesn't come off... you'd have to break it off, I guess.
i dont need the N1 bad enough to risk getting shamefully fired...
if security demands no camera i need to be with no camera. no playing around sliding with duck tape...
where did you read about the camera not beeing detachable? do you remember?
eysham
eysham said:
i dont need the N1 bad enough to risk getting shamefully fired...
if security demands no camera i need to be with no camera. no playing around sliding with duck tape...
where did you read about the camera not beeing detachable? do you remember?
eysham
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe it was in the Engadget hands on review... someone asked in the comments.
thanks, but couldn't find it...
Why not just get a cheapo phone with no camera for work, and when your off work just switch the sim card to the N1.
same reason I dont want to drive a cheapo beatup 1977 VW beetle to work and save my new R8 Audi (I wish...) to weekends...
and all just because there is a speed limit in the work place's internal parking lot...
eysham
It must be almost impossible to have a camera free phone these days. 5 years ago I worked for a company where cameras were banned (car industry, spy photos of future models are common but rather unhelpful to the companies) but it was when cameras were only just being added to phones.
If I was still there now I have no idea what phone I would have!
No phones that have cameras have "removable cameras". Some may have cameras you can remove, but you will have to at least partially dismantle your phone and actually cut out (or de-solder) a working component to do so. If you do that good luck getting any kind of replacement if it goes wrong.
The no cameras thing is tough with phones. I had a job a while back like that. It was tough to find a phone that didn't have a camera back then. We had to go with Blackberrys as they were about the only option. As for sneaking around with it. That wasn't an option the guys that were checking had guns and the ability to lock you away for a very long time for breaking the rules. I would have been lucky to only get fired.
there must be a way to detach it though...
eysham said:
there must be a way to detach it though...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The camera is not detachable because of the AF mechanism, it's surrounded by a metal casing that keeps the whole mechanism and sensor in place. Sure, you can remove it, but you won't be able to put it back.
You have 2 options
1. Leave the phone in the car ( should be safe in your compaies car park)
2. Get a small pin and drive it thourgh the lens, which will make the camera useless, and your employer can check if they wish.
Where do you work?
I'm thinking, a Cash center, at some air port, or some electronics company or a cleaner at MI5/6 / CIA
I think this link will confirm that there will be no way to remove it. The only option would be to destroy it.
http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Nexus-One/1654/2
I will asume there is a cord which connected the camera to the mainboard.
in most of the case, the camera is just a modul. you can remove it if you dissemble the device.
Hide the phone up your arse.
How?
If you remove the camera and get your phoe "legalized" at work, how easy would it be for you to bring a new phone with camera two weeks later? Will they check it each time?
If they dont, some security...
great!! thanks for the info....
now have to decide...
Eysham
Put an iPod Touch cover on it so they can't see it...
THIS LINK WILL HELP YOU
http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Nexus-One/1654/1
Hi,could anyone with knowledge confirm what component is it?
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
It fall off pcb,and i could not find it
Refreshing post
b.u.m.p #2
how do u know something is missing? maybe there was nothing there to begin with.... does the phone not work when u put it back together?
edit: after searching a bit i found a couple pictures that shows the HD2's motherboard and some show a black component there and some dont. see attached pics. so maybe yours didnt have anything there to begin with. these components are soldiered onto the board, components dont just fall off...
maybe it depends if your phone is a US or EURO model?
rlee
here you can buy a new one
go on cgi.ebay.de and put this following link behind
/Mainboard-Motherboard-For-HTC-hd2-leo-T8585-/260819122167?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cba07f7f7[/url]
tamerkilinc said:
here you can buy a new one
go on cgi.ebay.de and put this following link behind
/Mainboard-Motherboard-For-HTC-hd2-leo-T8585-/260819122167?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cba07f7f7[/url]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
does it has to be cgi.ebay.de?or can i use .com? bwwwwahaha,price is awesome
Well,component was stripped with screwdriver,not by me.
Btw,it is US version
Empty places on boards are not unusual. Have a look on your PC's mainboard, I bet you'll find several of them there, too.
The reasons vary. At times it is because some feature originally was planned, but didn't make it into production. Redesigning the board costs much more than simply letting out some parts.
But most of the times it is due to variations of the hardware. Some chips need external parts while other, doing the same job, don't.
When you have to produce millions of a device, you have to consider that occasionally you can't use the exact chip types in all devices and partially have to use other compatible chips. So most boards are designed to cover several variants of equipment - where chip A needs this specific external piece, while chip B, which is soldered to your board, doesn't.
If your phone works flawlessly, then the empty space is ok, no reason to change anything.
If there really has been a chip on the empty place, there are explicit marks on the soldering pads. Are their surfaces clean and shiny? Then there has never been anything soldered to it, otherwise they have a rough surface, clearly showing that something was ripped off. This can happen if the soldering process was bad. But this happens really rarely, especially in upper class smartphones.
(Had this on a PC RAM some years ago, the EEPROM simply fell off the board... and some of the good old Nokia 6210 had problems with bad soldering, but this affected only a few pins of a single chip.)
So if you can post a macro pic of the empty place, I can have a look and tell you if there has been anything on it or not.
justmeandmyphone said:
Empty places on boards are not unusual. Have a look on your PC's mainboard, I bet you'll find several of them there, too.
The reasons vary. At times it is because some feature originally was planned, but didn't make it into production. Redesigning the board costs much more than simply letting out some parts.
But most of the times it is due to variations of the hardware. Some chips need external parts while other, doing the same job, don't.
When you have to produce millions of a device, you have to consider that occasionally you can't use the exact chip types in all devices and partially have to use other compatible chips. So most boards are designed to cover several variants of equipment - where chip A needs this specific external piece, while chip B, which is soldered to your board, doesn't.
If your phone works flawlessly, then the empty space is ok, no reason to change anything.
If there really has been a chip on the empty place, there are explicit marks on the soldering pads. Are their surfaces clean and shiny? Then there has never been anything soldered to it, otherwise they have a rough surface, clearly showing that something was ripped off. This can happen if the soldering process was bad. But this happens really rarely, especially in upper class smartphones.
(Had this on a PC RAM some years ago, the EEPROM simply fell off the board... and some of the good old Nokia 6210 had problems with bad soldering, but this affected only a few pins of a single chip.)
So if you can post a macro pic of the empty place, I can have a look and tell you if there has been anything on it or not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here,i added best macro i could get
Looks to me as if the pads are virgins, have never seen any solder. So if your phone doesn't have any malfunction, everything should be fine.
This component is smd female plug for led power thanks everyone for comments,maybe someone will have use of this...
Sent from my Milestone using XDA App
Are the PA for HTC Touch HD2 from Avago?
Possiblу is replacement of procesor QUALCOMM QSD8250 on HTC HD2 with dual core 1.5GHz procesor similar with mainboard and other components?I mean CPU of another smartphone.Thanks in adviance
I don't even know if its possible, but there would be so many problems caused by doing that that it really wouldn't be worth it.
Sent from my NexusHD2 using xda app-developers app
It's probably not possible.
Too long a response: what I've seen inside the Leo.
I have the remains of 3 disassembled HTC HD2 units in the fight lab (aka storage).
I will warn that these units are never able to be put back together exactly perfect as they were initially. This is because they are assembled like thin layers of stickers stuck on top of each other you need to peel apart. There are layers of copper shielding, plastic, thin metal, etc. all sandwiched together with adhesive. I've taken apart damn near everything I can, (a personality trait and/or symptom of a disorder, a gift and a curse) and I can say that disassembling an iPhone is cake compared to peeling apart HD2s which are a curse.
So, upon peeling it apart, I encountered different CPU cooling techniques on the different units: yellow thermal compound on one, a thick red/orange thermal pad on the second, and a plastic piece stuck with a mystery compound (possibly even glue) on the 3rd. A faster chip will likely be even hotter.
Look into "reballing" when it comes to soldered cpu replacement. The complexities of the physical replacement are significant but the routing of correct functionality from the alien processor are what makes it a much more difficult project, but nothing is impossible.
One would have to have manufacturer schematics of the board, insider details of chips/other components if functionality is to be had even IF the physical removal and replacement of the processor was achieved. The physical install of a faster clocked chip I think we will see done successfully by someone, but the function of the hardware may be forever impossible unless what I believe is closed/unreleased code/info becomes public. If any device were to have it's complete wealth of detailed info released from company insiders/Dark Force Teams/Chinese anons/crafty work, et al, I'd bet it very well would be the Leo. (We can dream).
To be clear, I'm no chip alchemist at all, I'm just sharing what I've seen and been told by some professionals who know at least a little on what I generalize as computer hardware engineering. Having extensively researched (aka wasted too much of my life on) and even managed to discuss with some HP technicians about a tablet CPU upgrade of a soldered Dothan board, I learned that even if the CPU is successfully replaced (& it doesn't explode) it's more than likely the timings of the board may wind up very effed up. Being uncharted territory, there is no way to find out but to try. I appreciate it if I helped or something interesting came from my ramblings, I think clicking thanks helps me or something. Keep fighting and don't take apart your HD2 if you don't have another one handy!
If i change motherboard(cpu,ram and others) and replace them with another motherboard(with cpu,ram and others) but but outside HD2 is unchanged,with same display and buttons!This is a posable?Please tell me?
Drake Sanderson said:
If i change motherboard(cpu,ram and others) and replace them with another motherboard(with cpu,ram and others) but but outside HD2 is unchanged,with same display and buttons!This is a posable?Please tell me?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
er, replace them with what? a quad core and 4gb from your pc? and why? are you skilled in microsoldering and chip reprogramming?
how much space is inside your phone and what do you really think the chances are of replacing anything?
did you not read the post above yours by ComputerFight. he has seen the inside of an HD2 and lived to tell the tale
i would usually answer 'anything is possible' but i think this one has to be a no
Even if it was possible, i don't understand what would you acomplish with it?
HD2 is legend because of it's wide variety of OSs, roms etc, not because of its hardware.. at least not anymore.
I would rather buy an new phone or used HD2 if i feel like playing around with flashing different operating systems.
If you do even manage to successfully solder and re-wire new hardware onto the HD2, it wouldn't be usable because there are no drivers for them. Someone who have to build hardware drivers from scratch or port them from other phones then every HD2 Rom would have to be re-done to work with the new hardware. I'm no tech expert but I hardware isn't the main problem, it's software. It would be cool if we got tegra 3 and more ram on the HD2 though, that would give the HD2 2-3 more years in a chance to run future roms.
Still another smartphone to make the appearance as being an HTC HD2?Do you think it possible?
Would you recommend a dual core cpu to pull out another smartphone and puts htc hd2 (as htc sensation xl)?
Drake Sanderson said:
Would you recommend a dual core cpu to pull out another smartphone and puts htc hd2 (as htc sensation xl)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh my god....
Looks like it is totally unrepairable, even by HTC
http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/HTC+One+Teardown/13494/1
this simply will build even more admiration for the device
i want it even more now :laugh:
Also i think they have missed the point of simply removing the speaker cover to start the process
Simply put, it's crazy...
despite the score, the article is full of praise for the craftsmanship!
HTC has said over and over that they wanted to create a seamless product, and the absence of any exterior screws is a testament to that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Our diligent spudgering appears to have permanently mangled the plastic bezel surrounding the aluminum case. It's possible that prying at a snail's pace while applying heat could minimize this damage, but we're not too hopeful. This phone was not made with open-ability in mind.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The motherboard of the HTC One is pretty much encapsulated within copper shielding. Two flat pieces of copper adorn each side of the motherboard.
Here's the thing about copper shielding. It dissipates heat and provides electrical grounding. However, copper shielding is a pain to deal with during reassembly—kind of like trying to straighten out aluminum foil once it's been crinkled.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The HTC One's 1080P, 468 ppi resolution rivals today's HDTVs and the 10.6" Surface Pro, but in a 4.7" size.
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There is no respite for the weary—even the rear camera is coated in copper shielding.
This is the HTC UltraPixel camera, a f/2.0 aperture, 28 mm lens unit with a dedicated HTC ImageChip™ 2.
It is not surprising to hear HTC bragging about camera specs, as their apparent Siri counter-marketing is Zoe, your personal photo assistant.
Manufacturing such a small camera that can do so much is a hefty task, and a shortage of these units is a big reason why HTC has had to delay the official launch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The daughterboard remains, but there is still a mystery left unsolved.
No phone operates without antennas, and antennas don't transmit signals well through metal walls. Considering that this daughterboard is on the receiving end of the motherboard's antenna cables and sits directly under the plastic bezel at the top of the phone, we're thinking it has something to do with wireless signals.
See those three spring contacts along the top of the board? They meet the rear case in an area obscured by the plastic bezel. If we had to guess, that's where HTC put the antennas.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HTC One Repairability Score: One out of 10 (10 is easiest to repair)
Very, very difficult (possibly impossible?) to open the device without damaging the rear case. This makes every component extremely difficult to replace.
The battery is buried beneath the motherboard and adhered to the midframe, hindering its replacement.
The display assembly cannot be replaced without removing the rear case—this will make the most common repair, a damaged screen, nearly impossible.
Copper shielding on many components is difficult to remove and replace.
Solid external construction improves durability.
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Click to collapse
---------- Post added at 08:51 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:32 PM ----------
Engadget: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/28/ifixit-breaks-open-an-htc-one/
Slashgear: http://www.slashgear.com/htc-one-teardown-proves-durability-a-top-priority-28275687/
yup still positive
If you were looking for the HTC One to be a device you were easily able to take apart for inner-bits replacement, you might not be all that pleased with the report appearing today. On the other hand, if you love it when iFixit gives a big shout out to the device you’re looking to buy for its immense durability, the HTC One might be the phone for you. It’s not going to be a device you’ll be popping open on accident, that’s for sure.
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Click to collapse
With the release of the HTC One, the manufacturer has bet a whole lot on the hardware as a proving point in their history. With this release, the company known as HTC says that they’ve done the best they’re able at the moment – this is the HTC One, and it’s named that for a reason. According to iFixit, this device is just about the most difficult smartphone to tear apart they’ve come across – but that’s not all bad news for you if you’re a general consumer.
The HTC One does not have a removable battery, nor is it able to take a microSD card. It’s got a body that’s made from one solid block of machined aluminum with a lovely pane of reinforced glass up front. A collection of awesomely odd bits and pieces can be found in the teardown, including this fun selection:
• Elpida BA164B1PF 2 GB DDR2 RAM
• Samsung KLMBG4GE2A 32 GB NAND flash memory
• Synaptics S32028 chip
• Cable for display labeled with DATE: 2012.11.30
That last bit proves that there’ve been bits and pieces of this device ready to rock for several months now – the back casing of the device can be seen to carry the date 2013/02/15, indicating that some of the parts have been added as recently as the middle of February (for this unit, anyway.)
Have a peek at the timeline we’ve got below of fabulous HTC One bits and pieces, and don’t forget to check out our full HTC One review as well. This is a device that’s set to either be a skyrocket-ready spaceship to the moon for HTC, or one of the biggest disappointments for the company in their history – if it doesn’t sell, that is. Have a peek at our full run-down now!
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Considering its sleek, primarily aluminum construction we never thought the HTC One was going be easy to crack open.
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Click to collapse
hamdir said:
If you really intend negativity from your post
i dont think you have succeeded, this simply will build even more admiration for the device
!
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Click to collapse
Not at all, simply a statement of fact. If you send 'one' to HTC for a warranty repair it looks likely that you will get a new unit back.
packetlos said:
Not at all, simply a statement of fact. If you send 'one' to HTC for a warranty repair it looks likely that you will get a new unit back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes jsut crazy but again
i feel they were too intimidated and simply failed to figure out how to open it
ie: speaker covers
hamdir said:
If you really intend negativity from your post
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The negativity is implied based on a one out of 10 repairability score. How much do you think it's going to cost to repair/replace a display out of warranty? Or replace a unibody damaged in a fall? Ifixit could give a crap about one manufacturer over another so they have no bias in their reporting. What they are reporting is that the One will be a very expensive phone to repair based on its design. No matter how much the following is true.
the article is full of praise for the craftsmanship!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Meanwhile, what do you think the sides are made of based on this? It looks like some type of trim applied to the unibodyfor it to bend that way.
we already know the device can be opened from its speaker, so i dont know what were they smoking
and i didnt say iFixit is implying negativity, i was asking the poster if this is his intention, relax lol
have a look at the drop down test it will answer few questions
if iFixit is true and its not a fixable device, than HTC intend not to fix them at all and simply replace it
but like i said i think it has a way to open form the covers
hamdir said:
So really i dont know what to say? are you in full intentions to simply spoil the fun of HTC owners?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Huh? Kind of shooting the messenger, no? Since the One's unibody was first shown off I've been curious about how it's held together because it's a very unsual design no matter who built it. Drop tests and tear downs give a lot of insight in to questions I'm sure I'm not alone in having. Sorry if the answer's aren't "fun" and I have nothing to do with the outcome of any tests the One or any other device are subjected to. I'd be just as shocked if another brand's device had a repairibility score of "1." And as I said in another thread, devices get the forum's they deserve. If once in people's hands the One is a "happy" device that's what the forum will reflect. After a year of sticking your fingers in the holes in the dyke that was the One X forum you should know that by now.
And "aluminum" as a material isn't what determines repairibility it's engineering and design focused on facilitating it to keep repair costs down. Here's how the "other" aluminum phone did.
BarryH_GEG said:
If once in people's hands the One is a "happy" device that's what the forum will reflect. After a year of sticking your fingers in the holes in the dyke that was the One X forum you should know that by now.]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One X owners are happy, go ask in their thread
the one x been flying and great device every since the software issues were fixed with the 2.17 update and defects cleared TWO MONTHS after release
you are in fact extremely patronizing and insulting
comparing to the iPhone is useless if the device like claimed by iFixit was not intended to be repaired!
hamdir, do u have any idea how to remove the speaker covers? ifixit looked like they butchered the phone with an axe, there must be another way to have a simpler break down
BTW ifixit said it was all "A"s after the back was removed, meaning removing the backplate was the hardest part
jngtt said:
hamdir, do u have any idea how to remove the speaker covers? ifixit looked like they butchered the phone with an axe, there must be another way to have a simpler break down
BTW ifixit said it was all "A"s after the back was removed, meaning removing the backplate was the hardest part
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes the speaker covers are currently falling out on their own in defected units and in drop test its flying easily, so really they didnt need to butcher it like this
they acted under the impression that the entire device is uni body and hence started with the screen, if you notice all the way through the tear down they never removed the speakers
its all hilarious really
Yea i noticed them saying the zero gap phone had a gap when they removed the screen. As far as I am aware the zero gap is to do with the back of the phone and the plastic surround after watching htc's video on how it's built.
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
BarryH_GEG said:
The negativity is implied based on a one out of 10 repairability score. How much do you think it's going to cost to repair/replace a display out of warranty? Or replace a unibody damaged in a fall? Ifixit could give a crap about one manufacturer over another so they have no bias in their reporting. What they are reporting is that the One will be a very expensive phone to repair based on its design. No matter how much the following is true.
Meanwhile, what do you think the sides are made of based on this? It looks like some type of trim applied to the unibodyfor it to bend that way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The plastic sides look similar to pvc cladding without the "gel"? Coat, ie look at the endgrain of the cladding strip.
Chipworks didn't seem to have near as much trouble with their teardown.
http://www.chipworks.com/blog/recentteardowns/2013/03/28/inside-the-htc-one/
delete
Hamdir: Do you have the proper disassembly guide then? As it is, this will be impossible to take apart to replace the battery or screen.
jngtt said:
BTW ifixit said it was all "A"s after the back was removed, meaning removing the backplate was the hardest part
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you look at the pictures for that quote, you will see that they are talking about the QC from the factory who had written all over the interior of the case. Your meaning, while probably true, isn't what they meant.
BarryH_GEG said:
The negativity is implied based on a one out of 10 repairability score. How much do you think it's going to cost to repair/replace a display out of warranty? Or replace a unibody damaged in a fall? Ifixit could give a crap about one manufacturer over another so they have no bias in their reporting. What they are reporting is that the One will be a very expensive phone to repair based on its design. No matter how much the following is true.
Meanwhile, what do you think the sides are made of based on this? It looks like some type of trim applied to the unibodyfor it to bend that way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I like how HTC has tried to make the One more sturdy for customers. However, I doubted how the production can make a large amount of aluminum body, and now I'm sure it's even harder with this kind of assembling. Not very good idea for production
Gotta think about this one
hung2900 said:
I like how HTC has tried to make the One more sturdy for customers. However, I doubted how the production can make a large amount of aluminum body, and now I'm sure it's even harder with this kind of assembling. Not very good idea for production
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Chipworks didn't say anything about the level of difficulty with dissembling. Nothing I saw anyways. This puts a little doubt in my mind looking down the road a couple of years. In 2-3 years it will be time to replace the battery...then what? WE HAVE SOME GREAT LOCAL REPAIR GUYS, BUT WILL IT BE POSSIBLE TO REPLACE THE BATTERY WITHOUT WRECKING THE PHONE? Good question huh? How much would a 2-3 year old HTC ONE be worth, if anyone were to consider buying a used ONE?
My current phone, an ATRIX 4G, now 3 years old, had a couple of problems last year. The volume rocker mechanism broke and had to be replaced. I'm also not on the original battery. I have 3 spare batteries just in case. Carrying around a small 10,000mah charger from Ebay
(for $24.95) is an option. But really if something goes wrong with the phone (out of warranty) you may just have to buy a new phone. This means that you cannot count on any trade in value on the phone. If you can live with that, OK. But you still need insurance in case there is a problem along the way.
Just food for thought guys.
This is great! This confirmed my speculation that HTC is just using a single modem for Asia, EU and all other variants of the HTC One! Thanks to the MDM9215M chipset it has!
What it means is
LTE:
EU: 800/1800/2600 MHz
US (AT&T): 700/850/AWS/1900 MHz
US (TMO): 700/AWS MHz
US (Sprint): 1900 MHz
Asia: 1800/2600 Mhz
is only 1 single phone.
So yeah we could cross flash basebands to unlock certain bands. US carriers could purchase the HTC One from Europe then when S-Off is already available they could just flash a baseband of the US model then they should have LTE instantly. Or better yet it's already a world phone by default. Since they are using the same modem chipset with the likes of Xperia Z & ZL.
Lol, to me that only means "don't try it at home":good:
Hi everyone,
I own a Priv and can't do without a keyboard. Seeing that (as of today) no new portrait slider has been announced, and modding the motherboard itself is unrealisitic, I've decided to find a motherboard and screen off a newer phone and sort-of slap them on a spare chassis I've got lying around.
Feel free to add suggestions and comments below, I need all the expertise I can get. Hit the like button if you're interested, so i can get a head-count. If you guys and gals are interested, I'll post pics as I go along.
Keyboard & Interface:
In an ideal world, I'd be using the priv's existing (and exquisite) PKB which also has touch capabilities for scrolling and moving the cursor. Unfortunately I've not yet found the pinouts for that (and is more complex to interface). I have however found a website where a good soul published info and diagrams for a Q10's Keyboard and then connected those to an IC using a board with a Hirose connector (which he then connected to a raspberry pi project). My plan is similar. Since I don't know at which point in the motherboard I can make an input for a keyboard, the best strategy is to wire the keyboard's interface chip into the USB connections, as Android natively supports USB keyboards and mice. I can then use a microswitch (mechanical or magnetic) to disconnect the keyboard's signal when the slider closes.
If someone does know the pinouts of the Priv's connector, do let me know, it would be great to be able to use it!
Motherboard & Screen:
First thing that springs to mind, is that since the screen will be sliding a couple of inches, the phone off which I'll take the screen and motherboard needs to have a long flex-ribbon, usually found when a motherboard is on the top, and the screen connects on the bottom (such as the oneplus 5). This also means the charging port would also be nice to be a separate unit. I'm not too worried about cooling as there's a nice big metal slider frame to which all this will stick on, but failing that, i could also make a metal back with shallow fins to dissipate heat. The less features there are directly on the screen, the less things are likely to fail.
Requirements:
So the basic point of all this is to have the keyboard hooked up to the motherboard of a rootable system which can be easily modified. Phones like Xiaomi, Oneplus ... fit this bill well. First thing that springs to mind is a Snapdragon 8xx as performance is of course, vital. The camera also needs to work although the resolution is not critical. NFC, Fingerprint sensor, SD card slot, GPS with Galileo, Wireless charging and other niceities are highly desireable, but I might give some of them up to accomodate other things depending on how critical they are. Unfortunately not many flagships have 5.4" screens or less, so the metal slider will be modified to accomodate this.
I'll choose a nice, big battery and place it in the bottom, right below the keyboard as the CoG needs to be really low to make the phone comfy to type on without letting it tip over.
Finally, a plastic or metal cover can be modelled to fit all this, and will probably be cheap to make. If the screen is bigger than the frame, i'll also have to make a second cover around the border, secured to the main slider frame.
The Q10's keyboard has arrived. The connector seen in the middle with a black ribbon has 24 contacts (plus 4 contacts in the extremities which are not counted, probably used for grounding). By comparison, the Priv connectors (male on top, female on motherboard) has 20 contacts despite the priv's trackpad function.
For those of you curious about the BB Passport, I've had a quick look inside and the connector is identical to the Q10's keyboard, although it works like the Priv. Rather confusing.
I'll be mapping the pinouts once the PCB and connectors arrive, unfortunately that's gonna be a long wait as they have to come to Germany from the U.S.
I finally have enough parts to start putting the encoder together. It is an SK5126 keyboard encoder from Sprintek. At just 7 x 7mm with 0.5mm pitch, it was not easy to solder on, but definitely doable with a bit of practice and common sense. The chip itself is not expensive (15usd a pop) but being in Germany, I had to pay through the nose for shipping and shameless customs. Sprintek's sales dept. have been very helpful though. Once I wired the PCB to an old USB cable (and a couple of resistors & capacitors), it was very much plug & play. I'm pleased.
Now it's time to wait again for the next bit of PCB and female connectors for the keyboards... It's at times like these that I regret the EU not having a trade agreement with the US.
The adapter PCB and Hirose female connector for the keyboard finally arrived today, but that's where the good news ends. Unfortunately the seller did not solder them together so I had to do it myself. That's when an obvious fact hit me in the face: the connector's melting point is lower than the solder paste's melting point. The first connector simply folded in a mess of molten plastic under the hot air. I tried the reballing method on the second (and last) connector, which simply pulled the individual legs of the connector apart.
Upon putting the PCB of the Encoder and the connector next to each other, it's clear that part of the success i had with soldering the encoder chip lied in having a footprint with nice long exposed contacts which allowed the surface tension of the solder to pull everything in place. That could not work on the much shorter footprint of the connector PCV. I've ordered some more connectors, it's gonna be a long wait, though I've yet to think of a proper way to solder without melting the connector.
So I've finally had a breakthrough. Some new PCBs arrived from Hong Kong and after a few molten connectors, I've managed to perfect the technique enough to not get any shorts. From there on, it was pretty straightforward. I mapped the keyboard's pinouts (red pcb) to the correct Row/Coloumn inputs of the encoder (green pcb) using the thin wires. It looks a bit messy until i figure out in which position the PCBs will sit inside the chassis.
I'm tempted to also try mapping the Priv's original keyboard, unfortunately, that's tricky, as there's no info about it online. It has a 20-pin connector (as opposed to 24 on the Q10) which also transmits touch input via a Synaptics microchip. I'll try going through it with a multimeter, if i can at least map out the button-matrix, then finding out the synaptics output will be a tad easier.
In the meantime, another issue is on my mind. I've been looking at teardowns of various snapdragon 7xx and 8xx phones and it's clear that some components (mostly the prox sensors) on most, if not all models, are soldered directly on the motherboard, which makes it difficult if I plan on putting the screen on the sliding portion of the chassis and the motherboard on the fixed portion of the chassis. I'm going to have to rethink the whole idea. If i put a lot of components on the sliding part of the chassis, then i risk making the phone top-heavy and thick. Unfortunately I do not have the technology to change this.
There is probably going to be a compromise somewhere, and I need to decide where to draw that line before I order more expensive parts.
very (!) interesting idea(-s) !!
I am incredibly curious to see the outcome, afraid I cannot really provide any help.
it is a real shame that blackberry didnt even provide some use-at-your-own-risk stuff to boot unsigned code...
maybe you want to try shopping for parts in china directly, I almost never pay customs (value below ~€20) for stuff.
cheers!
elchmartin said:
very (!) interesting idea(-s) !!
I am incredibly curious to see the outcome, afraid I cannot really provide any help.
it is a real shame that blackberry didnt even provide some use-at-your-own-risk stuff to boot unsigned code...
maybe you want to try shopping for parts in china directly, I almost never pay customs (value below ~€20) for stuff.
cheers!
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Click to collapse
Thanks mate.
I already buy a lot of parts from China, however 1 thing I couldn't find online from there was an easy-to-use, low power encoder. I had to get it from Sprintek in California. Their products are really good and the price is also good. Unfortunately i had to pay a lot of money for customs (which of course is not Sprintek's fault). The encoder chips themselves cost me around $15 each, the programming software is free and the chip responds right away as soon as you plug it into the pc. They also have a good after-sale assistance.
Kyle M. said:
Thanks mate.
I already buy a lot of parts from China, however 1 thing I couldn't find online from there was an easy-to-use, low power encoder. I had to get it from Sprintek in California. Their products are really good and the price is also good. Unfortunately i had to pay a lot of money for customs (which of course is not Sprintek's fault). The encoder chips themselves cost me around $15 each, the programming software is free and the chip responds right away as soon as you plug it into the pc. They also have a good after-sale assistance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are living in Hamburg, Germany?
Maybe try looking for parts at pollin.de
They served rather rare items for me some times...
Project continued on https://hackaday.io/project/168387-physical-keyboard-for-any-android-phone
I can finally update with some good news. After ironing out all the issues (most of which concern the pesky Hirose connector which connects the keyboard to the PCB), I took the 2 boards off the metal frame and made myself a little box from PVC sheets which I then glued to an old Xiaomi phone cover. The reason I am testing it this way rather than just building the slider I wanted to build is to prevent having to mod the Xiaomi phone while testing (I've grown quite attached to this phone despite having bought it cheap).
I have also put a small switch on the side which directly cuts off the power to the chip (this way it saves power and seems to work pretty fine).