Dock connector information - Nexus 7 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

So I've got an idea for an accessory and am wondering if I can use the dock connector. I intend to try to patent the idea, so obviously no details as to what it is, but does anyone know where to find information on what's doable over the dock connector? Obvious from the fact that it's a dock connector, you can power the device over it, and from the leaked dock info it looks like you can do audio out, but is there any official statement as to what is doable?
It would make my day to find out that it's basically just USB...
TL;DR- Info on what's doable via the dock connector?

its all in the other Thread with multiple pages of post and testing . This includes images of pogo pin testing.
as far as what you want to do with it . The limit s usb audio and power.. so storage game controller keyboard / combination of all the above.
CUTE SECRET THOU.. ohh i forgot to mention external Battery

JBu92 said:
So I've got an idea for an accessory and am wondering if I can use the dock connector. I intend to try to patent the idea, so obviously no details as to what it is, but does anyone know where to find information on what's doable over the dock connector? Obvious from the fact that it's a dock connector, you can power the device over it, and from the leaked dock info it looks like you can do audio out, but is there any official statement as to what is doable?
It would make my day to find out that it's basically just USB...
TL;DR- Info on what's doable via the dock connector?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In the minute it takes you to think your idea is unique, 50 other people just thought of it. You might want to submit the patent like Apple does. Something like "its a thing that allows you to connect another thing to do something." That's about all the language they need, so you should be OK.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

Related

Will magnets mess up the phone? Making car dock

I just ripped some magnets out of an old hard drive and want to use them to make a car dock from a DIY I saw (http://forum.androidcentral.com/evo...completely-invisible-phone-vehicle-mount.html)
I am worried about putting a magnet on phone as it always been common sense that magnets + electronics = broken ****. Though, isn't it magnets in the commercial car docks that trigger car mode to pop up on the phone?
small magnets will not hurt - many phones have magnets as sensors - the blackberry determines holstered or not via a magnet in the holster. Other Moto phones determined if they are docked or not via magnets in the dock.
But, any magnet strong enough to keep the phone from bouncing loose could cause interference issues. I don't think you can do any permanent damage, but if things start acting wonky, it may be the magnet.
ok I ran a magnet over, stuck on a few points but car mode never came up. Know the right location/method?
be very careful of the speakers. I have a friend who tried to do the same thing and his speaker sounded really bad after that
riotburn said:
ok I ran a magnet over, stuck on a few points but car mode never came up. Know the right location/method?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as I've read, magnets trigger no dock on the Atrix.
It's thought to be resistances on the USB connectors that trigger different docks to come up.
Worst case scenario is that you create a shortcut on one of your homescreens that manually opens the car dock interface, which is extremely easy to do.
Speaker is ok. Plus I still have warranty and what not, thought id actually take some kind of risk considering all the hard work devs do.
So, FOR ME, rubbing the magnet over the back of the phone did not cause any noticeable harm yet. The magnet would center about an inch above the speakerphone speaker in the center.
SG Pillar said:
As far as I've read, magnets trigger no dock on the Atrix.
It's thought to be resistances on the USB connectors that trigger different docks to come up.
Worst case scenario is that you create a shortcut on one of your homescreens that manually opens the car dock interface, which is extremely easy to do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmmm, saw that for the multimedia dock. I dont see where to find the car dock program. I looked in apps and dont see it. Is it accessed from somewhere else?
riotburn said:
Hmmmm, saw that for the multimedia dock. I dont see where to find the car dock program. I looked in apps and dont see it. Is it accessed from somewhere else?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't have my phone on me at the moment (managed to forget it along with some other stuff as I left my house for class this morning).
I think its something like (this is with Launcher Pro):
Long press home
Create custom shortcut
Activities
Select Car Dock -> Cardock.main.cardockmainactivity
Name shortcut
If that doesn't work, I'll try it when I get home tonight.
SG Pillar said:
I don't have my phone on me at the moment (managed to forget it along with some other stuff as I left my house for class this morning).
I think its something like (this is with Launcher Pro):
Long press home
Create custom shortcut
Activities
Select Car Dock -> Cardock.main.cardockmainactivity
Name shortcut
If that doesn't work, I'll try it when I get home tonight.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried it myself and it works great, thanks.
Yup that works great. Thanks! Now to figure out how it turns on when put in a dock.
Wait so for the mount to work, you would have to setup the charger? that blows, the magnet turning on the phone is better.
riotburn said:
Yup that works great. Thanks! Now to figure out how it turns on when put in a dock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well, you would press the shortcut
What's really weird to me is that the other day Cardock was showing up in my app list all the time, now it has disappeared and I have to add it the way you listed above. What caused it to disappear?
natious said:
well, you would press the shortcut
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I meant figure out how putting the phone in the car dock makes the phone turn on. I understood pushing the button would start dock mode
The old flip phones (StarTac) would typically use a magnet to sense if they were open/closed. AFAIK there's nothing in the new phones that understands magnetism at all, much less is harmed by it.
The microUSB standard provides for "sensing" by means of placing a fixed resistance across the new fifth wire. Devices see a set resistance, look it up internally, and determine what device has been attached. I suspect Moto is using this sensing to signal what dock a phone is plugged into--all part of a standard.
FWIW, cell phones going back at least to the original Palm Treos have done something similar, they look at the impedance of whatever is plugged into the ear/mic socket, and then configure themselves for earbuds, mono ear/mic, and other different devices all plugged into the same socket. This is mature and invisible technology by now.

[Q] Pin outs?

Hey guys,
I'm not sure if this is the right place to put this, but I really really would love it if someone could supply me/us the pin outs for the A500's dock connector!
I understand its proprietary, but I want to extend the tablets' connector into my car at some stage in the near future...
I will be purchasing a dock for this tablet over the next couple of weeks, and when I do, I'll open it and try and trace the audio and power lines, but it will be interesting to see if there are any other interesting pins we can use... USB host anyone? haha.

Contemplating using N7 as car head unit/nav system

As the title says I am very interested in using this tablet as a head unit replacement. I still have plenty of researching to do, but before I get too deep into it, I think there is one problem that should be addressed.
I wouldn't consider myself an audiophile, but I do like my music. So using the 3.5mm jack for audio simply will not do. I have seen a video of someone using a Turtle Beach audio adapter to get usb audio out of the N7, and then into the stereo/processing unit. This would be perfect for me, however I also need to be able to hook up an external drive for additional storage.
So my question is if it is possible to hook up the usb audio cable, and an external drive simultaneously to the N7. My idea right now is to hook up an OTG cable to the N7, then plug in a small non powered usb hub which would have both the external drive and usb audio cable hooked up to it. I am just not sure if this setup is possible, and before I purchase all the components I would like to have some confirmation that it will work like i think it will.( I will be using a rooted N7 with stickmount installed, I believe that is all I need to allow Host capabilities)
On a side note, I also plan to use the pogo pins to charge the device. I saw a video of someone using a hacked usb cable to charge the galaxy nexus with it, so i think that should work. (I just read a thread saying that the galaxy nexus can't charge through a pogo pin dock while having a OTG cable plugged...My dreams are being crushed.)
If you would like any more info about the specifics of the setup, I would be happy to share my ideas.
Sorry for the length of the post, I just want it to be clear what I am trying to do here.
Any information, or tips would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
I think my dreams are also crushed, I believe the pogo pins are a pin-out extension of the usb port, not a separate port, therefore using OTG would ****-block charging, which is disappointing.
You could however use one of these in your car http://www.slashgear.com/seagate-goflex-satellite-wi-fi-hard-drive-gets-android-app-01168797/ which would provide 500GB of storage accessible whilst your nexus 7 is charging, combine that and a pocketwifi device to act as a router and provide internet access it would be perfect
if you had an AC power inverter or appropriate power supply for DC to the unit (saves inverting then converting again), you could use this one http://www.ccpu.com.au/show_prod.php?class_id=disk-ext&prod_id=STAM1000200
would be very awesome, looking forward to updates.
Thanks for the info.
That is deeply saddening that you can not use both at the same time, although I guess it does make sense for the purposes of a dock. So it looks like now the only way I can still use a plugged in external hdd, usb audio, and be able to charge the device at the same time is if I can do all of that through the mini usb port in conjunction with a usb hub...but i think that is unlikely. does anyone know for sure?
And thank you for bringing up those wifi hard drives. I didn't want to use them, something about having it plugged into the device directly just makes me feel better...although now I will have to seriously consider them.
Also, if anyone has any info regarding tablet install you think may be useful, feel free to post the link. Even if it is not directly related to the N7, it could still be useful info, and maybe get some gears turning in our heads.
I just became a member so I am not allowed to post links yet :silly:
I will still keep my hopes up about using this device, though! It is my favorite 7 inch tablet by far.
What about usb powered hubs?
Wololo7 said:
What about usb powered hubs?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can the Nexus output digital audio, charge, and read an external HDD, via powered usb hub from its one micro usb port? If it could then all my problems would be solved! Until I encounter my next problem, of course. :silly:
Sounds very interesting indeed. I look forward to seeing what can be done.
Wololo7 said:
What about usb powered hubs?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope. Did not work for me.
I thought about using the Nexus 7 as my car nav system as well. I stumbled across an issue where I want to mount external USB drive AND charge the tablet at the same time. I could not get the tablet to charge with a powered USB drive. I believe the tablet is going into host mode to read the USB drive, and thus disallowing any kind of power to charge itself.
Please someone prove me wrong.. I really like this tablet. It is the perfect size for the car.
Another issue I found... Using polarized sunglasses + nexus 7 (landscape mode) = completely black screen. This may or may not convince you to continue with this project. I am certainly looking at different options..
Im thinkin about this too. But not to completly replace my headunit but only to slap it on for long drives
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2
voidshado said:
Another issue I found... Using polarized sunglasses + nexus 7 (landscape mode) = completely black screen. This may or may not convince you to continue with this project. I am certainly looking at different options..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I noticed this, too. Disappointing. My HTC EVO View works fine, though.
Very interested in this. I've actually been working on this very project. I'm near completion (sort of) actually, but I'm having a separate electrical issue currently so its been on hold for the last week or so. At this point I've run sound via the 3.5 mm jack, but if a USB solution is found, I'd be all over that. I guess I settled for the 3.5 mm jack as previously, I tended to stream Pandora and various music through the aux jack on my phone anyways. Probably more than 90% of the time actually. I may look into the Seagate GoFlex Satellite WiFi HDD for external storage since charging and USB OTG at the sime time at this point seems impossible/difficult. I have a pair of polarized oakleys that i usually wear, and havent noticed the screen blacking out yet, but I'll have to see when I get home tonight.
On charging & usb host mode at the same time..
Has anybody tried this:
1. Setup a powered USB hub plugged into the Micro OTG cable
2. hack the cable from right after the OTG cable to where it plugs into the hub, so that the voltage pins are exposed
3. solder in the voltage pins to a usb connector so you can plug in a normal charger [5V 2A]
4. check to see if you can use the USB hub and charge at the same time
I currently have a Asus transformer TF101 and the primary use is watching clips off a 500GB usb HDD. I really, really want to get a N7 and sell my TF101, but if charging & simultaneous host mode is not possible, I would be slightly hesitant to buy it, even though it is really a awesome tablet from what I hear.
so if anyone has any info on that, I would greatly appreciate it!
ahavens17 said:
At this point I've run sound via the 3.5 mm jack, but if a USB solution is found, I'd be all over that. I guess I settled for the 3.5 mm jack as previously, I tended to stream Pandora and various music through the aux jack on my phone anyways.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know a lot of people that the 3.5 mm jack for audio. And It really does sound just fine. It is just that I am planing on investing a lot in amps/speakers, so I don't want my weakest link to be my inputs right out of the gate. Although, this tablet is making it pretty difficult to not use that jack.
I would be interested to see your project whenever you finish, or if you have information up of of the process now, that would be interesting to look at.
Thanks again everyone for all the info! I still have a shred of hope for using this tablet in my car!
pikachu2000 said:
I know a lot of people that the 3.5 mm jack for audio. And It really does sound just fine. It is just that I am planing on investing a lot in amps/speakers, so I don't want my weakest link to be my inputs right out of the gate. Although, this tablet is making it pretty difficult to not use that jack.
I would be interested to see your project whenever you finish, or if you have information up of of the process now, that would be interesting to look at.
Thanks again everyone for all the info! I still have a shred of hope for using this tablet in my car!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm running 4 Polk 6" speakers that replaced the stock ones in my car (just replaced them all last year when I blew one of the stock ones), and a cadence 4 channel amp to power the speakers. Nothing top of the line, and no subwoofer or anything as of yet. Picked up the cabling from monoprice, with all of it being their "premium" selection. It all seems pretty heavy duty and solid. Only ran me around 30 bucks. I just have an 02 Mitsubishi Lancer that I'm putting this in. The dash is originally a single din so it's taken quite a bit of modification to get it to fit. More than I originally anticipated. Just a hobby project I've wanted to do for sometime and when the nexus 7 came along I jumped on it. I'll post some pics when I have a chance but at this point it looks far from professional. lol.
Also, I pulled out the Nexus 7 last night and had my polarized glasses on, no screen blackening that was mentioned previously for me. Maybe a little distortion/filter over the screen at certain angles, but still viewable.
I think this thread is great. I'd love to see/hear what other people are doing or what ideas come about from this.
Thank you, I am really glad this thread has spiked some interest, and that other people have similar ideas. I will start up my research again and come back to post any new info when I can. Gotta keep this thread going strong!
pikachu2000 said:
I would be interested to see your project whenever you finish, or if you have information up of of the process now, that would be interesting to look at.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I created a thread with the few pictures I took along the way, as well as the semi-finished project. The only thing I believe I still need to do at this point is get a screen protector. (Tablet still has the plastic cover on it from when it was in the box!) Other things may come up in the future, (such as adding an OTG cable if someone figures out a way to charge simultaneously) but this is it finished for the time being.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=29824916#post29824916
Thanks for making a thread! That is very cool, I like your setup a lot. Is the tablet meant to stay in the car permanently, or do you plan on taking it out often?
Alright, I haven't had much time to find much new information. But I was just thinking if I can't have it charge from the usb port and run usb audio out at the same time, then maybe I could take off the rear cover of the N7 and cut a hole in it, where the camera was supposed to go, and route positive an negative wires directly to the battery...then I could use a hacked usb cable to charge it...? Just the thought of that is scary, but I don't plan on taking out the N7 ever, it will always stay in the car.
Just a thought, let me know what you think.
Additional info: I am going to be putting this in an 02 e46 BMW 325xi. And I will use a modified double din face plate. In my head the final setup looks beautiful, but we'll see how it turns out. As for the time frame, I have a list of parts I want to get for the car, and I want to do most everything at the same time. It will take a good 3 or 4 months before I can get everything and then installing it might take another month(assuming everything goes smoothly) I just want to get all of my preliminary research out of the way. Sorry if you guys were expecting pictures soon.
Thanks
pikachu2000 said:
Alright, I haven't had much time to find much new information. But I was just thinking if I can't have it charge from the usb port and run usb audio out at the same time, then maybe I could take off the rear cover of the N7 and cut a hole in it, where the camera was supposed to go, and route positive an negative wires directly to the battery...then I could use a hacked usb cable to charge it...? Just the thought of that is scary, but I don't plan on taking out the N7 ever, it will always stay in the car.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What about the pogo pins? Aren't they for a [future] dock? I wonder if you can charge the tablet via the pogo pins and use USB OTG simultaneously? This would indeed be good news, because I will primarily use my N7 [when it arrives] for videos on a USB HDD, so it would wear out the battery to be constantly charging and discharging the battery every day.
mvmacd said:
What about the pogo pins?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Earlier in the thread we had thought of that, turns out you can only use one at a time, and it's a hardware limitation so no way around it.

How to : build a wire trigger/remote for the NST (and maybe glowlight?)

Hey everyone, I just made a device for my nook that allows me to "sit back and enjoy" my book with my hands free (nearly free)
This was my chance to be a little useful on this board for once, so here is the detailed article about it, I hope you enjoy it.
spoiler : if you do what I did you actually get to bypass the matrix using a phone
I hope this link pointing to my own blog is not against forum rules by the way, please tell me if it's the case and I'll fix it.
Cheers
K.
Nice work! You're even lazier than I am. :laugh:
I have a foot pedal set up like that using a scrounged keyboard.
I use the PAGE_DOWN codes (which wasn't formalized until after our Android 2.1).
I didn't bother tracing out anything, besides, I only had the tiny PCB itself.
I just ran a shorting wire over stuff until I saw the right keycode on UsbMode.
You may have noticed already, we need to do some work on getting USB host mode to use less current.
Right now, it uses a lot, between 50 mA and 150 mA.
That's a lot, considering that the idle current is less than 10 mA.
Haha thanks I knew you must have built something along those lines already!
The foot pedal was on my list too, did you build the pedal yourself or did you use something?
Yes I did notice the drain... That's really a shame, I was shocked to see my nook completely drained after one night on host mode (I forgot to set it back to peripheral)
Which takes me to a question I planned to ask you
Do you know if it's possible to charge the nook while in host mode? it would solve the drain problem for me, but that would probably be too good to be true...
EDIT : just found that :
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=32724951&postcount=8
How to
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1828032
It's pretty basic... Just connect Vcc and ground to the rest
have you tried something like that ?
cheers
K.
The foot pedal thread is here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1709914
Instead of using a Y cable I use a "back-powering" hub.
Making a back-powered hub is here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=22956658&postcount=103
@Karibou3 What is the mount on the back of your Nook?
Renate NST said:
@Karibou3 What is the mount on the back of your Nook?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh it's an ugly and hasty modification of the original one (first picture in my post) I basically cut off the hinge, put an elastic band between the two remaining parts (you may have noticed it holds and bent the end of the the pincers (if that's the adequate word)
it's ugly but it does the job for now. I'll try to make up something more elegant later (probably involving rubber and claws to make use of the indents, I tried that before to fasten my book LED to the nook and it works well)
Thanks for your advice on the back powered hub, I think I might modify one later but for now I'd like to add power to this particular build (trying to keep it simple) I tried to tap into the Vcc and GND of an USB cable connected to my computer, while it charges the nook in "peripheral mode", no luck with the host mode... So I can't use my remote and charge the nook at the same time
Am I doing something wrong? what are your settings you use with your hub (should be the same right?)

Is this the OTG + Charging solution some have been waiting for?

(long time lurker and flasher of Nook HD+ roms, first time poster...)
Like a few others scattered around the subforum, I'm looking to do an in-car tablet install. Like others I hit the "Can't charge and use OTG at the same time, you need an ancient nexus and Timur's" just as old but revered ROM." wall.
https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=site:https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-tab-a+otg
Then a hole in the matrix appeared and I saw this post on a different device thread:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/tab-s2/help/usb-otg-charge-t3588019
The second post there, refers to a vendor LAVA whom "LAVA is the only manufacturer of adapters for Samsung tablets that allows that since Samsung doesn't sell anymore their hubs" (from that post).
Confirmed that the Compatability list shows SM-T580 (the device amazon has factory refurbs for 200$):
http://lavalink.com/samsung-tablet-adapters-support/compatibility-list/
Would it be possible this is the device to make the magic happen? http://lavalink.com/samsung-tablet-adapters/
EditToAdd: Tech Spec sheet here for the meaty innards: http://lavalink.com/wp-content/uploads/manuals/sts_product_family_manual.pdf Main takeaway for me was don't extend the cable to the tablet.
Also found the "cheap" lol single port on amazon with a wide swing of reviews: Encouraged by the long one that says it is working with external DAC: https://www.amazon.com/SimulCharge-1-port-Adapter-Samsung-Galaxy/dp/B00MOQFUQM
Also this mini-writeup shows one in use in 2015 with DAC, am I missing something on why this was a wall for many?: http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum...-usb-hub-samsung-galaxy-tablets-charging.html
Thanks for any help,
AoB
On the (i hope) tail end of the first version of my dash tablet install, and after my research and work over the past few days, I will try to answer my own question -- just for others. no pity for me. OTG-Host was not a "must-have" (yet).
My big mistake (i think) was not being aware of the distinction between OTG-Accessory and OTG-Host. The Lava-link hub/cable in my OP allows OTG-A and charging the device. OTG-H seems to be a different animal,.. something that the kernel and maybe the hardware has to support? I have flashed Extremely ROM on my T580 and a USB keyboard plugs in to OTG cable and is detected, but a USB RLT-SDR device is not detected (nor powered).
So I guess back to the beginning, still need Kernel support for OTG-Host? Correct?
AfraidOfBears said:
(long time lurker and flasher of Nook HD+ roms, first time poster...)
Like a few others scattered around the subforum, I'm looking to do an in-car tablet install. Like others I hit the "Can't charge and use OTG at the same time, you need an ancient nexus and Timur's" just as old but revered ROM." wall.
https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=site:https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-tab-a+otg
Then a hole in the matrix appeared and I saw this post on a different device thread:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/tab-s2/help/usb-otg-charge-t3588019
The second post there, refers to a vendor LAVA whom "LAVA is the only manufacturer of adapters for Samsung tablets that allows that since Samsung doesn't sell anymore their hubs" (from that post).
Confirmed that the Compatability list shows SM-T580 (the device amazon has factory refurbs for 200$):
http://lavalink.com/samsung-tablet-adapters-support/compatibility-list/
Would it be possible this is the device to make the magic happen? http://lavalink.com/samsung-tablet-adapters/
EditToAdd: Tech Spec sheet here for the meaty innards: http://lavalink.com/wp-content/uploads/manuals/sts_product_family_manual.pdf Main takeaway for me was don't extend the cable to the tablet.
Also found the "cheap" lol single port on amazon with a wide swing of reviews: Encouraged by the long one that says it is working with external DAC: https://www.amazon.com/SimulCharge-1-port-Adapter-Samsung-Galaxy/dp/B00MOQFUQM
Also this mini-writeup shows one in use in 2015 with DAC, am I missing something on why this was a wall for many?: http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum...-usb-hub-samsung-galaxy-tablets-charging.html
Thanks for any help,
AoB
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i did a car install on my eclipse usb charged headphone jack to amp and bluetooth to obd2 interface for gauges i used an app called auto power off or something like that. and it mimicked a cars gps system prety good it would wake up screen and keep awake til key shuts off counts down 30 seconds click here to keep awake or shut down but it only put tablet in low power state i drove that car every day it was long enought to keep it charged all the time
N
AfraidOfBears said:
On the (i hope) tail end of the first version of my dash tablet install, and after my research and work over the past few days, I will try to answer my own question -- just for others. no pity for me. OTG-Host was not a "must-have" (yet).
My big mistake (i think) was not being aware of the distinction between OTG-Accessory and OTG-Host. The Lava-link hub/cable in my OP allows OTG-A and charging the device. OTG-H seems to be a different animal,.. something that the kernel and maybe the hardware has to support? I have flashed Extremely ROM on my T580 and a USB keyboard plugs in to OTG cable and is detected, but a USB RLT-SDR device is not detected (nor powered).
So I guess back to the beginning, still need Kernel support for OTG-Host? Correct?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See post above
I had to rig in the mount since a eclipse console is so small. I didnt want a 5 inch or 7 inch screen i wired a switch to the factory amp for remote turn on and a headphone jack to the fro and rear left rite of the factory amp as the eclipses some have a fac amp under the seat to the factory stereo used the fac stereo power wires for a 12 volt usb charger in the dash to turn tablet on with the key and my fancy little led toggle for the amp power

Categories

Resources