Database Users

Homemade Tablet? An Idea.

Ok, so here's my dilemma. I want a convertible tablet pc. Problem is though, I think all of the ones on the market are poop. They either run android (I don't see the point still) and iOS, or are clunky and rediculously expensive. But I had a extremley bright idea. Buy whatever laptop I like, slap a touchscreen on that *****, and be happy. Keep in mind that as a poor college student with no job, I will probably never be able to afford this
1. Take apart laptop completley, Rip out the green bullcrap.
2. Mod case to be suitable as a convertible...or just look cool.
3. Rverse USB port to face inside
4. Close USB off from the outside
5. Get a USB Touchscreen conversion kit, which im sure come in many different flavors (Capacitive, Multitouch, Resistive), or better yet use a connector designed for computer internals, making #3 and #4 useless.
6. Add 3rd party accelerometer for Poitrait/Landscape orientation
7. Find a suitable hinge (or make one) and replace it
8. Boot laptop, install drivers for touchscreen and accelerometer
9. Pat myself on the back for custom making a tablet PC?
In my opinion the hardest part would be modding the case to be suitable as a convertible tablet, which can't be too hard. I have access to MIG/TIG welders, sheet metal cutters, grinders, ect. and I know people who know how to use them, so working with metal shouldn't be too dificult. In fact, I probably could just build a case myself from scratch. I also have alot of experience with plastic, so that's not a problem although I'd prefer to use metal for structural parts.
Touchscreen conversion kits seem to be all over the internet with a quick google search, and it shouldn't be too hard to find high quality capacitive touchscreen panels.
Walcom Bamboo Stylus because I'm a G
Accelerometers that work with windows I don't know about, but it cant be too hard Amirite? You can find ANYTHING for sale on the internet.
If I do do this however it will probably be in the summer (when I have a job). The only probelm I might have is the internals, seeing as I've never handled computer internals before. My brother did build his computer though, and I have a friend who also builds computers. It dosen't seem too hard compared to the other stuff like modding the case. While the laptop is dissasembled I'd probably put the parts in ziplock bags to keep them away from dirt and debris while I'm not using them. As long as I'm careful I don't thinkim going to mess anything up.
Good idea or no?

Good idea. Just keep in mind that the whole thing would be much heavier than a regular tablet, so holding it in hand would be difficult.
I have seen an EEE PC modded with a touchscreen, but the keyboard part was still there.

Just get a transformer lol...
What is wrong with Android? What is it you need to do that it won't?
My other idea would be to tell you most android devices are capable of running linux too?
Sounds like alot of work..and there are suitable models on the market, but if you wanna do it?
By the time you get around to it I wonder where technology will be...
PS ziplock bags? NO! Get some static bags..ziplocs are crazy static-charged! Honestly though, sounds like you are a good deal away from being able to deconstruct and reconstruct a laptop..the integrated circuits are ridiculously small and fragile..
PPS The hardest part might be actually getting the accelerometer sensors to function..which is where android comes in..you have to actually write some code into your operating system that will recognize and react accordingly withing the right parameters in your code..devs on this sight have problems with accelerometers that otherwise worked on a stock rom on OEM machines, god knows what it would take to get one working on a machine that never intended to have one by design?
That is all

What's old is new again
It's funny we did something similar a few years ago to build PC's into cars and trucks. For that application and at that time it made sense. Today we essentially just make custom docks for COTS tablets so that they integrate with the car.
If you're opposed to Android and other mobile OS's my suggestion is to start looking around craigslist for convertible tablet/laptops like those from HP and Dell or look for a cheap HP slate. I've seen gently used Slates going for around $200-300 and they run windows 8 reasonably well. I've seen convertibles close to that price as well.
Unless you are just dead set on a fabrication project i'd strongly suggest taking advantage of off the shelf hardware and mass production pricing and spend your extra time and money learning how to get the most of of those components.
If you do go ahead with this then weight and cost will be your biggest issues. I think a better twist on this would be to figure out how to make a transformer type of dock for other popular tablets. If you can make them well and make them cheap then sell a few and buy what you really want.

The reason I don't like android is because It's not a desktop OS. I'll be building this tablet-y thing for graphics/image editing, word processing and a little bit of gaming in between and I'm not 100% sure about android graphics programs. I like to keep it simple and use MS Paint, then GIMP if i need a more powerful program. I'm also a windows fanboy and it's what I've been using ever since I was 2... I also like to build things.
I hate the transformer prime. I want a convertible tablet, not a tablet and a little dock thingy...won't serve my purposes.
I didn't know Ziplock bags are staticy by nature. Thanks for the tip.
As far as the accelerometer, I don't know much about them but if it's super difficult I'm probably not going to bother with it. I'll maybe install a switch?

It's hard to beat windows for functionality but you might check out paint.net as a free replacement for paint.
Over all though I get the idea that you're a little in over your head on this.
Sent from my HTC Flyer using XDA App

LexusFman said:
I hate the transformer prime. I want a convertible tablet, not a tablet and a little dock thingy...won't serve my purposes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you seen the Eee Pad Slider?
Also, Adobe photoshop for android = $10
https://market.android.com/details?id=air.com.adobe.pstouch&hl=en

LexusFman said:
The reason I don't like android is because It's not a desktop OS. I'll be building this tablet-y thing for graphics/image editing, word processing and a little bit of gaming in between and I'm not 100% sure about android graphics programs. I like to keep it simple and use MS Paint, then GIMP if i need a more powerful program. I'm also a windows fanboy and it's what I've been using ever since I was 2... I also like to build things.
I hate the transformer prime. I want a convertible tablet, not a tablet and a little dock thingy...won't serve my purposes.
I didn't know Ziplock bags are staticy by nature. Thanks for the tip.
As far as the accelerometer, I don't know much about them but if it's super difficult I'm probably not going to bother with it. I'll maybe install a switch?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dude, I've got photoshop, an office suite, and tons of games, I'd never have to touch a PC again..I am a graphic designer by trade! I can even watch hulu (something not supposed to be capable of on android platforms), I've got a nice stylus and a full qwerty keyboard and mouse- I'm working on the OG transformer not the Prime, as far as I can tell the Prime was pushed too quickly and has issues with all of it's radios due to the metal shell..the TF101 does not have these issues, and the TF700 (basically the prime with the GPS and radios fixed and better resoultion) is available if you don't want to go for the OG transformer.
Seriously sounds like you're trying feverishly to open a can of worms to get a windows tablet when in reality there is no need and windows is given a run for it's money with the new ICS android on the way. Trying to unlock a windows phone after unlocking a whole bunch of Android devices would quickly turn you off of Microsoft as an OS IMO, that's what made me an Android fanboy (I was a windows guy previously, now I'm leaning more and more towards linux/android for their open source code user-friendly programability). But, if you are determined to do something the hard way = the expensive and labor/time-consuming way, no one is going to stop you
Just remember- in the world of technology things are done: Right, Cheap, and/or Fast. BUT, you can only choose two..

I've done this already with a eeePC 700.
1. The resistive touchscreen. You'll need a stylus for that.
2. Typing with a stylus is horrible.
3. It was heavy. Even when it was only 7inch screen. The battery made it heavy. (but I had 9hours of battery life)
4. You couldn't navigate the boot menu (without an external keyboard)
5. Resistive touchscreen is crap for drawing, because you still want to support your hand on the screen while drawing, which you couldn't do.
6. Moving Items around sucked (no drag and drop)
and many more.
I used it in my bed, for browsing. was good enough, until the touchscreen cable snapped. (I didn't have an external keyboard, so I had to open the tablet, connect the keyboard, and navigate the boot menu when I had to)
Hope this helped. Though it was fun to build it and use it, it's not what you would call an 'every day' tablet

romitkin said:
Good idea. Just keep in mind that the whole thing would be much heavier than a regular tablet, so holding it in hand would be difficult.
I have seen an EEE PC modded with a touchscreen, but the keyboard part was still there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think it would be much heavier, in fact I think the idea is perfect for modification of a netbook. It would probably be cheapest. since so much case modding is required and so many enclosure fabrication resources are handy, to put together a frankenstein out of 2 or 3 broken netbooks. Find someone who smashed the screen of one netbook, another one who fried the board of theirs, find a total-loss broken tablet PC (like dropped in lake michigan level of total loss so it will cost pennies) and get the ribbon cable and swivel element from there. I think if this idea is applied to a netbook it would be excellent in size and weight as well as functionality. And with the x86 version of android's progress, it could even be running android like a tablet in screen out mode, and change to webtop mode when its swiveled. Put a netbook mobile broadband card in there, many netbooks have open card expansions under the screw-out panels underneath, if not you would have to choose between wifi or taking the wifi expansion out in favor of a mobile broadband card, and certainly make sure that the card is supported by your wireless provider if you choose to go the mobile broadband route. With verizon or sprint you will most likely have to acquire a mobile broadband card out of a netbook that was originally sold by the company, but be sure to check and make sure the MEID is clean before paying anything for one, if the seller defaulted on a contract they used to acquire it, you might as well flash the thing to cricket or metroPCS and use them as your mobile broadband carrier. With either wifi or mobile broadband, as well as bluetooth, don't forget the antenna! yeah that thing you have to unhook from the other side of the card to take it out, you need that. (oh yeah, bluetooths are included as expansion cards sometimes too, if so you could always remove this to make room for the mobile broadband if you don't use bluetooth. I sure don't and probably wont until they drop the rediculous prices of non-audio bluetooth interfaces to acceptable and competative levels.)
That project actually sounds pretty freakin cool, the type of thing I'd do if I wasn't already swamped with projects. Definetly keep us posted if you decide to go through with it, as I pointed out, if you build it from netbook parts it should be well within your budget, netbooks run much cheaper then notebooks already, but a netbook is comperable in power to most current android devices and thus is suitable to handle most things you'd use a tablet PC for, just not high powered stuff like compiling code or rendering animation or playing 3d online games.
Edit: I'd like to add and point out that as a regular user of an acer netbook running ubuntu, it is wise to refrain from excessive multitasking, the atom had to sacrifice a bit of things we've become accustomed to in notebooks to meet the low power consumption and operating temperature requirements, and a lot of those things are things that mostly benefit multitasking. You will not be happy if you try and run a jillion programs at the same time.
That being said ubuntu's new primary UI, I forget what it's called evolve or something like that, it is an excellent UI for netbooks, perfectly space-optimized, especially in the vertical range which gets filled quick on lil netbook screens. I'm not sold on it and prefer to go with gnome or xfce on desktops and normal-sized notebooks, but it is top-notch on a netbook. I'd also recommend not messing with the accelerometer at first and including it later as it may be a pain to implement correctly in comparison to the limited amount of functionality it brings to the table. I'd rather have something that works personally that I can make additions to then pull my hair out trying to throw everything in the first time right.
---------- Post added at 10:14 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:47 AM ----------
Will_nonya said:
It's hard to beat windows for functionality but you might check out paint.net as a free replacement for paint.
Over all though I get the idea that you're a little in over your head on this.
Sent from my HTC Flyer using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have to LMAO @ this comment. If users would ever actually push developers to release for the linux platform, especially hardware manufacturers (which is ridiculous since all they would have to do is release their code open source, or even just parts of their code and the community would do the rest. Doesn't matter much tho, it's mostly crappy chinese hardware that isn't supported by linux, and their HQs more then likely don't speak enough english to be able to request anything, beleive me I've tried to contact MSI before.... most hardware worth running is fully supported tho)
But point is, I feel like it is extremely cumbersome whenever I'm forced to use windows, apart from trying to use unsupported hardware or cross-platform software (although wine and mono have made GIGANTIC leaps in usability). I pretty much never have to deal with drivers, updates to all software happens automatically, it's become so self-maintaining that I'm ashamed of how lazy of a linux user I've become. When I actually do have to do something even remotely advanced I have to think for a minute about it. Usually the only thing that really requires a lot of getting under the hood that I ever have to do is when I set up my audio-production setups which is even a lot easier now that they have dedicated repositories for them, and when set up correctly the real time preemptable kernel will run circles around any windows or OSX setup latency-wise. I was pulling lower latency with computers recording with ardour, and sequencing/synthesizing/sampling with seq24 amSynth, and qsampler, 5 years older then any PC I would test it against running windows with Reason and Protools. the Jack audio drivers that allowed software to plug audio inbetween applications directly across the PCM was just icing on the cake.
Windows is good software, but linux has certainly surpassed it by leaps and bounds. Windows still rules for gaming because of directX and industry unwillingness to port to linux, but the period of time right after Microsoft declared it was removing directX support from XP on further releases saw linux catch up with windows for a little while as they rushed wine to support the newest directX making it actually possible to actually run new releases under windowsXP even. Curses microsoft, foiled again! And off topic, but furthermore, I can't believe people still pay so much money for that god damn talking paper clip, openoffice.org ftw!
As I said windows isn't bad software, I said before in these forums actually that if windows ran a microsoft controlled repository to distribute all software for windows through, like linux, it would have similarly non-existant problems with viruses. Having people go around the wild-west of the internet downloading and installing programs from there without even thinking about it is just asking for the malware and adware problems windows experiences. Windows is good software, linux is just much better software.

Too complicated...
On a second thought how about moding a cheap Tablet with better parts. Is it even possible like are the parts such as a processor, camera, or the radio chip available for tablets and phones.

Why dnt you get a transformer?

In my opinion, it would just be better to settle for an table, prices are gonna drop really soon. The market for Eee PC's alike has diminished since the release of the ipad.

This is a wonderful opinion. The things mentioned are unanimous and needs to be appreciated by everyone.

A lot of things to doo, better start with a simple tablet and try to upgrade it if possible... dont know if its possible btw.

I did something almost like this.
Took apart a dirt cheap acer aspire one with a small 8 GB SDD.
Small 280 Atom 1.6GHz cpu and cheap intel GMA gpu.
Inverted the screen
Added a extra 512MB ram and inserted a 16GB SD card.
My battery however did not stand up to the task so i ordered a 9 cell pack.
It ran quite stable with 6 days standby or 12hours of heavy usage.
The lack of a accelerometer however made it a pain for quite a few games.
But i did have a vague plan to get value's from it into the android OS using a AVR and a few other cheap parts.
Many manufacturers still produce cheap atom notebooks like these.
But hardware specs have gotten better and better, so you should be able to pick one up for cheap still.

http://www.axiotron.com
Soooo 2008...

I'm doing this with an old pentium 3 thinkbook. I know its not really that great of a computer but it at least redeems it as a usable device.

sounds interesting will looking forward for it....

Good Idea!

Building ARM PC from old qualcom boards?

Sometimes good ideas come from bad situations! Yesterday my girlfriend accidently kicked my lg optimus v into a glass of ginger ale. This is really putting a damper on my kernel development projects.
Anyways to see if I could save the phone at all to use till the replacement gets here I had an idea. Why not reuse the working board and build a mini arm pc with embedded linux on it.
So I'm wondering if anyone out there knows if qualcom will give you chipset schematics and data sheets there site seems fairly sparse. I need schematics for the msm7627. See I figured you could replace the charger with a five port hub then bypass the battery and connect a power supply to the board. You can easily build keyboard mouse support into even the android kernel. But I'm wondering how to connect a monitor maybe if you knew the lcd pin layout you could connect a vga screen to the old socket for the lcd. This is where I think I need schematics unless the pin layout is standard?
I have so many qualcom arm phones with screen damage why not make them into low powered desktop arm dev systems or server, routers, embedded toasters?
Sent from my SPH-M930BST using XDA App

Qualcomm? Schematics for Qualcomm CPUs? Hah! Sorry, forget it. It's probably harder to get than sourcecode of current version of Windows.
There are leaked parts of schemas/manuals for older SoCs. Also if you can find ARMLinux (Android) kernel for such qualcomm CPU - You can build whole new system basing on SFRs description and deep analyse of mainboard. But without schemas it's hundreds hours of blind shots.

I think the biggest issue your going to face is the fact that Qualcomm has never been keen on giving out architectural sheets on their chipsets. Since most newer chipsets incorporate improvements from older models, it would be akin to them giving their competitors access to some very guarded information.
The odds of them giving the design to you without you representing a company that is licensing their chipset for use in a phone, greatly decreases your chances even further.
On a positive note, bypassing the battery should be relatively simple, however, as with all lithium batteries there is a voltage control mechanism built into the phone that you will need to adapt to function properly with a different type of power supply.
As for the monitor, the odds of you being able to adapt a VGA/HDMI cable to a system that is designed to read input from the touchscreen/digitizer is another chore, and would require you to pioneer something from scratch.
I would say your work is cut out for you.
If you really want to do something like this, buy a Raspberry Pi when they hit. It'll be much more adaptable to what your looking to do.
~Jasecloud4

Yap, why going for stuffs like dat? It will blow the entire time u have got to work with roms.
About supply, yap u can manage it.
About chip spec. , its hard
About external/internal display, its nearly impossible unless u have VGA/HDMI o/p.
Sent from my HTC HD2 using xda premium

Well my primary device is is trashed from it beimg totally drenched in soda so all my kernel development is at a schreeching halt basically. Hopefully it will be replaced in the next few days so I can get back on track.
As far as building a little workstation goes that dream is dead lol. I bypassed the battery and hooked the board up to a power supply that was 3volts at 1300ma and it smoked the board. I have plenty of other qualcom phones with bad screens but I didn't realize that they were so closed. I was just tryin to make crap into something usefull lol.
Sent from my LGL55C using XDA App

[email protected]
this rasberry pi thing is exactly what I was looking for and its just the right price! Seriously this is goning to be an awesome little system to vnc into and build arm based assembly. The only thing qualcom has over this is that there are obviously kernel supported drivers for it to use the multiple arm chips and dsp chips so I'm assuming the low end msm 7x qualcom boards are a bit faster although idk they said this thing will push q3 at 1080p. I'm also looking at the beagleboard but this has such a nice price price 25 bucks is right up everyones ally. I smell an android port!
Sent from my LGL55C using XDA App

If you're looking for something with good open source support AND open documentation - check out the BeagleBoard and PandaBoard.
PandaBoard ES has the same CPU as the GNex.

rwgast said:
....So I'm wondering if anyone out there knows if qualcom will give you chipset schematics and data sheets there site seems fairly sparse....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unlikely. Qualcomm considers the information proprietary and requires you to contact support. See Where are the datasheets?

Here are some! Hack away!

Hardware for Android Device

Hey guys,
Recently I have been seeing companies releasing devices for Android that are not phones e.g.
Android USB Sticks:
techland.time.com/2012/05/18/pc-in-your-pocket-74-android-stick-goes-on-sale/
or more recently a game console:
kickstarter.com/projects/ouya/ouya-a-new-kind-of-video-game-console
I'm in University now studying Electrical Engineering and I've had an interest in electronics since I was young, so now I thought it was possible for me to design my own device. But so far my only luck with getting anywhere was drafting designs of the device and finding development boards online. Sure i could start off with development boards to test software (which i'm planning to do) but I am quite lost as to where I should go next. For example where to I get a manufacturer to produce my device or where to purchase a processor/motherboard that is custom designed for my project.
It would be really great if someone could point me in the right direction,
Scott

that's an ambitious project, I've just finished 2 degrees in EE and in the long term i'm looking to do similiar projects, but right now it is beyond my capabilities. But what i have done is buy a very cheap dev kit from STmicroelectronics with their ARM m4 chip onboard. (STM32F4)
this chip should be powerful enough to get started on and all the pins are broken out, plus the device includes a programmer and is powered over usb.
It was less than €20 but is still sat in its box as I've a lot to learn before cracking it open.
Have you any experience with RTOS for ARM, Keil offer a free trial version of their well respected uVision MDK software, it supports the above board directly and removes the need to configure a tool chain etc. Personally i'm trying to get eclipse on ubuntu to program it bit Keil uVision will allow me to blink LED's etc so long as my program is under 4Kb.
I too am only starting down this project but i hope the little i know has been of some help.
As for custom devices, well thats a whole other ball game, you will need to make out a schematic, then a board layout, then gerber files. After that you need a small run on a pick and place / reflow line. It's very rare these work out first time round, attention has to be paid to details like noise sinking, pull up resistors, matching logic levels and optically isolating external devices etc.
It's great that you are looking beyond your course material, I've learned much more from personal geekery rather than just taking notes from a lecturer. Anything you do outside the course will benefit you in a better degree at the end.

I've never been designing device from scratch, and I'm also just first grade student. Anyway I could imagine how this might look for small company or single person:
1) Decide what do you want to build-up. Easiest todo is custom dev-board, it can be always redesigned and packed into tablet case. The hardest to-do is mobile phone, and it's nearly impossible to create such thing due to high level of embedding everything, and need to sign pretty serious agreements with RF CPU (and other things like transceivers, antennas, duplexers) supplier like Infineon or Qualcomm.
2) Think what main components you'll need, like LPDDR, SoC (CPU), PMIC (SoC manufacturer usually recommend PMICs to be used and provide reference board schemas for using both), battery fuel gauge, charging controller (both might be built into PMIC, depends on model), screen+touchscreen (there are dozens of such, one might want to decide its size already, but in case of dev-board like build it usually can be replaced by some smaller/bigger with small HW modifications or without modifications at all), sensors like gyro, compass, pressure, light, whatever.
3) Search through suppliers websites and decide what models of ICs you want to use (I'd pick only open hardware), order engineering samples and get reference schemas, rather start from SoC(OMAP4460 for eg.)+PMIC pair, then decide about the rest.
4) Don't forget about extension slots like USB ports, DC supply, serial converters, whatsoever.
5) Start designing PCB board. IMO it's impossible for begginer to project any usable PCB for embedded system, I'm begginer and I'm failing with simplest boost HF DC/DC converters (like 10-20 parts on board), while such board would have thousands of elements on it, and multi layer board to fit it everything in some rational size.
6) Find company that will make prototype for you - they should make board + solder all the components you provide them - one with no professional (and very, very expensive) soldering stations is not able to solder BGA components at home.
7) Test it out.
Relatively, assuming that main components are free engineering samples, this might be not so money-expensive way to create some useful stuff. But for sure it's very, very time expensive, and begginer alone will nearly for sure fail.
//edit:
I just re-read my post and figured it might be pretty demotivating. I'm not saying it's impossible, but I'd suggest you to start from something easier - ARM dev board is the thing you need. As Quiggers stated above.

Just noticed these - cheap and powerful dev boards:
http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Allwinner_A10#Other

Custom design
I'm looking to do the same, has this worked for you? I'm looking to build a custom android based mobile device as the original poster. I haven't had any look finding the correct electrical or device engineer to provide me any assistance. Are you available to assist?
Quiggers said:
that's an ambitious project, I've just finished 2 degrees in EE and in the long term i'm looking to do similiar projects, but right now it is beyond my capabilities. But what i have done is buy a very cheap dev kit from STmicroelectronics with their ARM m4 chip onboard. (STM32F4)
this chip should be powerful enough to get started on and all the pins are broken out, plus the device includes a programmer and is powered over usb.
It was less than €20 but is still sat in its box as I've a lot to learn before cracking it open.
Have you any experience with RTOS for ARM, Keil offer a free trial version of their well respected uVision MDK software, it supports the above board directly and removes the need to configure a tool chain etc. Personally i'm trying to get eclipse on ubuntu to program it bit Keil uVision will allow me to blink LED's etc so long as my program is under 4Kb.
I too am only starting down this project but i hope the little i know has been of some help.
As for custom devices, well thats a whole other ball game, you will need to make out a schematic, then a board layout, then gerber files. After that you need a small run on a pick and place / reflow line. It's very rare these work out first time round, attention has to be paid to details like noise sinking, pull up resistors, matching logic levels and optically isolating external devices etc.
It's great that you are looking beyond your course material, I've learned much more from personal geekery rather than just taking notes from a lecturer. Anything you do outside the course will benefit you in a better degree at the end.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Technexion
I have used OMAP3530 CPU. The TAO3530 is a good starting point and you can get a Tsunami board.

s8500 board with tablet touchscreen
hi dudes,
i have an old wave s8500 but the screen is broken. and i have an old tablet screen 7" from herotab8/dropad8.
can i use the tablet screen with the s8500 board? is not drivers necessary for the touchscreen? and where will i get the drivers?
and do i not need the datasheets of the pins to connect?
)

What we REALLY need is for someone to make a SoC that's basically like the one in the Raspberry Pi, but substitutes a FPGA for the GPU that's big enough to re-implement GPU functionality... long after the chip has left the fab & gotten soldered onto an open-ended generic ARM stick with no specific purpose, and thus manages to officially avoid getting infected by DRM-mandated licensing terms (ie, anything *officially* licensed to support h.264 or HDMI) that keep making totally open drivers nearly impossible. After all, if the drivers were 100% open source, there's no way they can stop you from commenting out the part responsible for implementing Cinavia, or lying to endpoint devices (like your home theater amp) about HDCP compliance
To deflect infringement claims, a company that made Android boards from the FPGA-equipped SoCs could make it with a soldered-on DVI port instead of HDMI (HDMI connectors are encumbered by viral licensing, DVI isn't), and put a reference design on their website for a wacky octopus cable that used the DVI-A pins to output unbuffered 3-bit pseudo-VGA, and used the remaining pins as a high-density breakout connector for a bunch of half-duplex RS-485 ports and GPIO lines that just *happened* to use DVI/HDMI logic levels
Of course, you'd never be able to legally sell a product based upon that board to end users in the US with the taboo technologies supported "out of the box", but other companies outside the US not subject to our self-inflicted wackiness could, and hopefully WOULD, buy enough of those boards to drive the price down enough to make them cheap for American hobbyists to buy on eBay and use for our own guerrilla Android-powered hardware projects.
In theory, the Xilinx Zynq 7000 series sort of does this... but at the moment, they're so ungodly expensive, you could almost buy a half-dozen Nexus 7 tablets for the price of their Android-capable dev board.

sounds great dude

Nice
Nice post

Hardware for Android D
Its not even turning on now...guess i will have to take it to a computer shop now, are you sure it has to be major things like "dead hard drive to a burned up chip to a bad motherboard."?

[Q] How Can These 2 Be Combined?

My Core Question:
WHY do no Android tablets have video INPUTS on them, so they could also be used as portable HD screens?
(or better yet as portable HD, multi-touch screens)
Basic Idea: I want an Android Tablet that can ALSO do what the GeChic on-lap 1002 can do (even if that didn't include touch). The on-lap 1002 is a highly portable 10" 10-point touchscreen that plays video from any HDMI source (or vga with included adapter). It is powered by USB plugged into either a usb-charger style wall adapter or directly into a PC. The best part is that if it is plugged into a PC, it not only draws power there but also sends touch commands to the PC through the USB at the same time. Great for portable gaming or a second screen BUT they are about $250 for the 10" and about $400 for the 15.6" and they have no OS, or stand-alone capabilities at all. I want a tablet that is always useful as a stand-alone, but when the situation calls for it, can also do the on-lap's job! (If on-lap still isn't clear to you then here is a video of it's big brother the 15.6" version).
I realize that adding a feature can increase the price and/or size of a tablet, but MOST of the parts that they both use overlap, so I don't think that the increase in either would be all that big. An HD 10-point capacitive touch screen has to be the biggest part and single cost in both (so making one screen do both functions only makes sense for size and cost) and the same USB components could be used, same body, bezel, buttons, etc. Admittedly, some components would probably have to be modified like the screen control board. That might cost a bit more/be a little bigger as a combo item, but still shouldn't be anywhere near double sized or double cost... so go ahead and add a little bit of cost or a few millimeters of thickness if that's what it takes! I would gladly pay an extra $50-100 (and probably willingly pay a fair bit more) for a tablet to add this feature and that certainly SEEMS attainable.
I have done literally days worth of Googling and have read MANY threads (some in this forum) with people asking IF there are any tablets with an HDMI input. At this point I am 99.999% convinced there are NONE (but I would be VERY HAPPY to be proven wrong). In order to be 100% sure and let my brain rest... I just have to have some idea WHY doesn't it exist? I am hoping that some of the hardware experts and creative-minded modders that frequent this forum can help me understand what I'm missing or better yet help make it happen. THANKS IN ADVANCE TO ALL!!!
Some Clarification:
1.) I just want to re-enforce that I am asking about INPUTs, not outputs. You wouldn't believe how much confusion there was about the difference in a few of the threads I read on some DSLR sites
2.) HDMI seems like the logical choice, so I may use it in examples, but my question is really about ANY video input regardless of port-type.
3.) I know that video ports only serve as EITHER a video input or output, not both from the same port (Some day a single port that did both would be nice, but for now) couldn't a tab easily have 2 ports, one in and one out or am i missing something simple?
4.) There is one answer I DO NOT BUY. Which is that 'there is not enough demand for anyone to bother adding an input to a tablet'. I have read several threads that have asked if it exists since 2011 for everything from DSLR photographers, gamers, car-PC builders, RaspberryPi fanatics, techs that want a portable workstation to connect to servers etc etc etc. Whole product lines or even companies (like GeChic) are based on portable screens, so I don't accept the premise that there is no demand. Besides, even if there WERE small demand, that would explain why they DON'T ALL have it, not why NONE have it. All I can conclude is that I am missing something and it must be a much bigger hardware challenge than I realize.

That'd be SWEET!
duckdodger24th said:
I want an Android Tablet that can ALSO do what the GeChic on-lap 1002 can do
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Click to collapse
Well thanks... I want that Too... NOW! haha.
In fact, I might actually buy one of the "on-lap"s you talked about for traveling (thanks for culling me into them!). But it would be awesome if my Nexus could just do it! Or better yet, if they would put some droid guts and a battery in that 10inch on-lap (I have decided too late that I like 10" tabs way more than 7s)
Unfortunately, I don't have the chops to answer your question. In fact, I'm with you that it seems awesome and yet reasonable. But there are some brilliant modsters on here, so I hope you get some help because it's a great idea. Good Luck!

sizes itedqun
DigMyDroid said:
thanks for culling me into them!
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Click to collapse
Your Welcome... Assuming that was meant to say "clueing" you in
I am thinking about doing an in-dash car install of a table. But I would LOVE it if it doubled as a monitor that I could also use for a more elaborate windows7 car-PC for a possible later project. That is what made me first want it. I think I have some work-around ideas to fit those specific needs... but once I thought about it I couldn't help but think of how versatile it would be and a whole laundry list of potential uses!

duckdodger24th said:
Your Welcome... Assuming that was meant to say "clueing" you in
I am thinking about doing an in-dash car install of a table. But I would LOVE it if it doubled as a monitor that I could also use for a more elaborate windows7 car-PC...
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Click to collapse
HAHA yes! that WAS meant to saying "clueing"... But... Ya know... typos happen... Unless, of course, you actually ARE planning to install a "table" into your car's dash, rather than a "tablet"!

DigMyDroid said:
HAHA yes! that WAS meant to saying "clueing"... But... Ya know... typos happen... Unless, of course, you actually ARE planning to install a "table" into your car's dash, rather than a "tablet"!
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Click to collapse
Touché Sir!

Building your own android "head unit"

Hi,
I am sorry if this is the wrong forum, I don't know enough to put it else where. I have a GMC full sized van. My DIN opening is actually larger than 7", I could fit an 8" screen in there if I wanted. I also have other options and tons of room. I could cut the dash, go as big as 15, or even 19". I could have a console where a large screen lifts up with some servo or mechanical assembly. Or just simply a flip.
I bought a Hui Fie (sp?) head unit that matches the van. I like it, the colors match perfect, it's the higher res, with a quad core. However there are few things I'd like to improve. I could almost lose the buttons and relocate key ones, like the "home", "return", "navi" etc for a larger screen. Also, I find the buttons feel rather cheap compared to even the GM ones. And the GM ones are nothing high end, but they feel right.
Is it feasible to build a carputer and run android in it? SW controls possible? Are the keys I mention above possible? Canbus? Or would there be another route available by using the head unit I have and attaching to it to a larger screen? One thing I wish these units had was hdmi in and out, and an RJ45 connector for hardwiring a network.
I have a lot of projects on the go, money I should be spending elsewhere, and time that just doesn't... seem to leave me with the right energy and mindset, but I'd like to know if these things are possible. Of course with money and time, but for an average or a bit over average determined person, can they set all this up hardware wise? Is there other directions to find these means? I could literally do anything, it's just time and resources of learning to code new languages and source parts, etc. that limit me. If we were all rich and retired, many of us could do amazing things.
For me, it's a distraction, a hobby and a way to improve my work life. As long as I get the project done. That's the other downfall, you start on a path of perpetual upgrades that never end. But it's enjoyable.

Some head units (the NU3001 for example) are nothing more than an android box attached to a double din screen and buttons. If you can find a monitor that will fit you can pretty much plug in the android box anywhere.

Hi,
Well, I kind of figured that much. I guess you're the only person I've communicated with that confirmed it. However, how would you manage hooking up a larger LCD? You'll most likely have a ribbon cable to connect and you will be limited to the same resolution right? Some of my ideas envision the box much further from the LCD screen. So even if the ribbon cable and drivers work with the larger LCD, it's a physical problem.
The buttons, I don't think they'd be too difficult. You could either solder a tacky solution with wires to extend the location, or you could use SW controls to a button layout with the same resistance values. Seems simple enough. I'd like to know if a car computer is possible in any highly simple way. I can't deal too much with software and drivers right now, too involved for my head with all the other things. But it would be nice to drop in add ons, have an rj45 connector, hdmi in and out.
Maybe my plans are too excessive. Actually, I know they are as of Friday, some priorities have changed and need to reduce things for the time being. This is just an exercise for thought and a potential path in the future.
I do like that radio. I actually wished I bought it after using mine for a little while. Same specs I believe, but the layout actually suited my desires better. Knobs are good, for the size of mine, I'd rather either have one larger, or none. The home and return are necessities to me now.

dberladyn said:
Is it feasible to build a carputer and run android in it? SW controls possible? Are the keys I mention above possible? Canbus? Or would there be another route available by using the head unit I have and attaching to it to a larger screen? One thing I wish these units had was hdmi in and out, and an RJ45 connector for hardwiring a network.
I have a lot of projects on the go, money I should be spending elsewhere, and time that just doesn't... seem to leave me with the right energy and mindset, but I'd like to know if these things are possible. Of course with money and time, but for an average or a bit over average determined person, can they set all this up hardware wise? Is there other directions to find these means? I could literally do anything, it's just time and resources of learning to code new languages and source parts, etc. that limit me. If we were all rich and retired, many of us could do amazing things.
For me, it's a distraction, a hobby and a way to improve my work life. As long as I get the project done. That's the other downfall, you start on a path of perpetual upgrades that never end. But it's enjoyable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With limited time available, I think the answer is no.
Maybe within 1-2 years, with more "community experience" and threads etc., it may be more feasible for people with limited time.
I think the closest you can get right now is to install an Android tablet. This won't, in and of itself, provide hardware buttons, nor other things you desire.
All you want is technically possible of course (with lots of time/work), and I'm sure several home-built Android HU projects that go beyond installing a tablet will arise over the next few years.
For anyone who disagrees, note that OP does not have time to "mess around". If you still disagree, point me to a project thread or blog etc. where somebody has already done all that OP asks about and which won't require too much time to duplicate. Lets say,... 16 hours maximum.