Ive been plagued by the thought that the damn dock should...by all accounts have a USB out. Now I suppose that it may have came down to a decision point of "Which is the more likely scenario... audio out or USB to a computer out", but I find myself squarely in the "dont care about audio" side of that debate.
The idea would be to crack this little sucker open, see whats inside and (hopefully) take the micro-usb connection that it has out the back of the dock with a new tip.
Now that Ive opened it up, I believe I can get there. I'll tinker around with it in the next few days to verify things like theres no "control" (or similar) signal running through the USB connections from a power perspective and whatnot. If I can do it, it will be my intent to make it look as stock as I can and I'll be sure to post any walkthroughs, pics, etc that somebody else might want.
To open it up, you have to remove the rubber pad from the bottom. Its got a lot of adhesive on it and (at least in my case) looks like something that I can successfully stick back on.
Under that, you'll find what appears to be depressions in the plastic bottom. Take a utility knife (or similar) and cut around the edges of the depressions. They are part of a plastic film that I saw absolutely no reason to be afraid of removing.
Once the holes are exposed, you'll need a T4 bit to remove the screws. Then you can just open it up.
Thats the extent of my exploration so far...
Heres a pic:
While you are at it...
Would you mind checking which of the connectors for charging is (+) and which is (-)? If I am really trying to build that alternative charger connector then I'll need to know. Thanks man!
funnycreature said:
Would you mind checking which of the connectors for charging is (+) and which is (-)? If I am really trying to build that alternative charger connector then I'll need to know. Thanks man!
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Click to collapse
The power is run to the right pin, if you were just starring at the device from the front.
gigglebox said:
The power is run to the right pin, if you were just starring at the device from the front.
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Click to collapse
This will come in handy when the time is right! :thumb up:
as far as i can tell all you would need to do is make sure there is enuff room and put a male to female cable inside. No need to mess with the board inside.
I think you've got a great idea. Any Progress yet.
Thanks for posting this picture. I'm going to do a straightforward mod by simply drilling a hole out the backside of the dock, running the wire through the hole and soldering the leads together. This method keeps me from having to dremel an exact fit USB-A connection and providing an internal support for the port.
Oooooh yeah, mine will be ghetto rigged tonight. I'll order a female mini USB socket from digikey or somewhere to make it a little better in the future - but for tonight its getting hacked together.
Thanks for the pic, it was just enough encouragement to take it apart.
I'm tempted to buy the cradle, is there any way you can take a picture of the front and back of the PCB, I'm curious if there are existing pads for the USB cable.
I'm also curious about the possibility of adding a micro HDMI connection to the standard dock to make a "Swiss Army" dock, those pictures would help be get a better idea if I should buy this dock or the HDMI dock.
I don't understand why Moto didn't make a dock with power, HDMI, USB, and headphone. Then you can keep everything hooked to the dock and add/remove the device as desired. This is how most PC docks work. Is there a technical issue that would preclude all ports being brought out from the bottom connections (understanding the devices headphone jack is on the top)??
A design issue I see as far as wear and tear is the lack of docking "keys" built into the bottom of the device to aid in port alignment. It seems like getting the right alignment will be hit and miss and could put undo stress on the ports.
You were using a nail clipper to open it?
If I spend the cash for a moto brand dock, I am going to add a fullsize USB/HDMI and power to it. There is no excuse for not including these.
Do it and post the instructions, I want
Sent from my MZ604 using Tapatalk
ive modded my dock to have a usb in so i can use the dock and have my hard drive connected at the same time you can check it out @
forum.androidcentral.com/showthread.php?p=835069&posted=1#post835069
Hi, I'm bumping this thread to ask if there's any chip or so in the dock to control the audio? I would lika to make a microUSB to 3.5mm cable to avoid the distrubances from the wifi in the badly insulated headphone-port.
I imagine there must be since usb is a digital signal and headphones use analog signals. Maybe I should go all the way and make a pocket amp instead
Thanks
Related
http://www.mobilefun.co.uk/product/7862.htm
Wonder how securely it will hold the phone? If it's solid it would make a good car holder by sticking it to the dash and just clipping the phone in when needed.
Here too: http://www.expansys.com/product.asp?code=126238&asource=119353
Expansys USA just shipped a couple of these to me. I should have it tomorrow (Tue)
Ditto.
this looks nice, but wish it showed more pictures. It is only 18.95 on expansys-usa. Please let us know how you like it!
A pretty simple cradle. It has a single USB port jack that accepts either a USB connection (which also charges the Universal) or the AC/DC jack. But doesn't replicate any of the other ports (for example, the headphone jack is covered up when in the cradle). It also has a notch to allow you to access the stylus if it is still in the unit while cradled. But it is still difficult to pull out. There is also a hole to balance your stylus in when not in use.
It has a single blue light on the front whose sole purpose appears to be to tell you if the cradle is plugged in. This light is on all the time and doesn't change (so far). The lights on the Universal itself still determine charge status.
The Universal lays flat in the cradle. However, you have to be careful when pushing it in. The height of the USB port on the Universal and the recepticle in the cradle are off by about half a millimeter. You kind of have to look at it and maneuver it while guiding the USB pieces together. You can't really just lay the cradle in and push.
It costs $19 US and, well, is worth about that. Useful to keep your Universal from flopping around your desk while connected (which, to be fair, is pretty useful considering how much the Universal costs), but not much more than that. Nothing fancy.
Mine arrived today. Deeper than I thought. fixed with 2 double sided tabs.
Any ideas how to hide the cable? It's a company car and I don't want to hack it about.
Is it really ok to drive about with the flip cover open? I suspect long term bumps from the road may damage it prematurely. Any thoughts?
k_kirk said:
Is it really ok to drive about with the flip cover open? I suspect long term bumps from the road may damage it prematurely. Any thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I like it but it does need some sort of "spring" to absorb the bumbs. Looking at it, a piece of (stainless) steel bent like a "U" would help give it some spring - depending on the gauge, that is.
I just wanted to share my car install experience. Notice that I only used the holder portion of the mount, and I cannot swivel to landscape mode. This works for me since I already have built in Acura navigation, and I mainly use my Tbolt for streaming MOG radio which is portrait mode only. This install location works perfectly for lack of glare, cable placement, accessibility, and allows me to keep my focus on the road.
** note: I used an agressive mounting tape capable of holding up to 5lbs and dealing with high temperatures. This is available at Home Depot in the paint department for $4. I mounted the car holder directly to the fake black wood panel that has a glass finish gloss surface. PLEASE do-not blame me if you ruin the $95 panel should removal cause the fake wood to crack, etc.
1- The car mount is at Verizon stores & online part # HTC6400MNT for $29.
2- The micro USB port on the mount has two metal dimples that are evil and require WAY too much force to install & remove the Thunderbolt. I recommend using a single edge flat xacto blade to remove as much of the dimples as possible. Once removed the Thunderbolt slides on and off the mount properly.
3- ******* Before mounting!!! Attach the micro USB power cable & route the audio cable and choose a location that allows the mount to remain flat against the surface & gives the audio cable enough play to be connected & removed.
4- Prep both surfaces with alcohol to remove any surface contaminants.
5- Remove the double side adhesive mounting tape covering and carefully align and lightly press the mount on ONE tiny leading edge only... allowing you to slightly adjust alignment prior to fully pressing the mount into place. **It's strong adhesive and you only get one shot so be careful.
This process has worked perfectly for my needs, and the mount is rock solid. I have a full view of the screen from my seating position, easy reach to the display, and as much as I wish the micro USB port on the mount passed audio.. it's really not a big deal dealing with the audio plug.
I hope this helps and streaming 320Kbs from MOG's 10 million database of music over 4G is such a thrill. They currently have a major Android player bug but an update will release soon.
Wow.. looks good!
Dude MOG on Android has sucked since day 1. Hopefully they will get it straightened out one of these days, I gave up.
Nice job - looks very similar to mine except I went horizontal down by the AC controls (Explorer) and switched to the Google Car Home - it is sweet. I like the 90 degree cable - where is it from?
6 foot 3.5mm male to RCA male cable
I got very lucky and found this at Radio Shack... even the inept sales guy kept saying it didn't exist... then I located exactly what I needed on his rack It might be easier to find it online & get it shipped. If I can pull the package out of the trash I'll replay to this thread with the Radio Shack part number.
The clearance between the car mount plastic & the 3.5mm jack of the Thunderbolt is very tight. Fortunately this cable has a thinner section closer to the base of the metal jack allowing it to clear the plastic of the mount.
Re: MOG... yes I'm relaying email to their Android staff daily. Fingers crossed as the audio quality & features are much better than Pandora One.
boingboingbilly said:
Dude MOG on Android has sucked since day 1. Hopefully they will get it straightened out one of these days, I gave up.
Nice job - looks very similar to mine except I went horizontal down by the AC controls (Explorer) and switched to the Google Car Home - it is sweet. I like the 90 degree cable - where is it from?
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Click to collapse
Google car home, is this the same as car dock home? I searched androlib and couldn't find it. Thanks
looks cool
esoteric1311 said:
Google car home, is this the same as car dock home? I searched androlib and couldn't find it. Thanks
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Click to collapse
It's the one made by Google, it's the best - very customizable. You won't be able to find it via market on your phone since it is "incompatible" because of stupid sense. Just download the apk and side load via USB or dropbox. when you choose the car panel app it will prompt you for which app to use - choose the Google one and set to default. Then when you put the bolt in the dock, it will launch google car home.
hubba said:
I got very lucky and found this at Radio Shack... even the inept sales guy kept saying it didn't exist... then I located exactly what I needed on his rack It might be easier to find it online & get it shipped. If I can pull the package out of the trash I'll replay to this thread with the Radio Shack part number.
The clearance between the car mount plastic & the 3.5mm jack of the Thunderbolt is very tight. Fortunately this cable has a thinner section closer to the base of the metal jack allowing it to clear the plastic of the mount.
Re: MOG... yes I'm relaying email to their Android staff daily. Fingers crossed as the audio quality & features are much better than Pandora One.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks I'll track one down. I have a regular coil cord but want to hide the aux cable like I did with the power cable. Plus it sticks out just enough to hit my knee - the 90 degree will do the trick though.
Radio Shack 3.5mm to RCA Cable
Goto their website & search for 42-492 and it should come up.
No matter what phone dock I get, I always adapt it to a vehicle specific mount. I hate suction cups and vent mounts
I have my set up nearly the same only in the left bottom corner of my windsheild... I long ago hard wired a dual cigarette charge port to the inside of my dash and have routed power to a couple differnet devices and places using standard car chargers and makes the install seemless...
The next step in my install is to find a 4 conductor 3.5mm male to 2 female 3.5mm adapter or make one myself (one mono and one stereo on the female ends) and hardwire that to a mic element I have and the rear aux input of my car stereo... hopefully this setup will yeild much better speech recognition and usable docked speakerphone calls without buying an expensive bluetooth setup.
nice looking setup
I'm thinking about getting this mount.... What's your thoughts OP? Can you charge the phone? Looks like the bracing covers the USB input.
Kudos for a job well done!
Definitely saving this thread. That's a genius idea. I'll be doing the same with my car soon I'm sure.
Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk
!Warning-Paid Product Placement Ahead!
Hi Guys,
Excuse my brief hijacking of the thread, but I feel this relates to the discussion.
I have recently released a new media player for Android, and the focus is on easy browsing, huge album art and a "no-look" playing screen that let's you control the functions with gestures. There is even an option to keep the screen on if connected to power. Works great in the car.
It's called simplePLAY, and you can see it running on my Thunderbolt here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9V8wKmI4YI
Sorry for the interruption.
Josh
ive looked around for ways to do what ive done here and have not found any evidence that it has been successful. I just figured that if i havent found it on the net, i might as well post my mod to see if anyone is interested in my design please send feedback. Oh yeah, and i made this for my galaxy tab 10.1, but i dont see any reason why it wouldnt work with my wii console. It cost me about 20 bucks and took a couple of hours so there's still room for improvement such as paint and lighting mods. Ive got pics on my album.
Hey fuzwood,
You were able to fit a wiimote in a classic controller pro?
I only heard of one other person doing this but he wasn't helpful
Can you share your designs?
Sure. What exactly would you like to know?
What cables on the classic controller get soldered to what ports on the wiimote?
I apologize for the long delay for my response. Once you dissasemble both controllers so that you have both IC's visible, you will notice that the plugs, both male and female, will have an obvious defining shape to them... a rectangular shape with a notch missing. Cut the wire a few inches back from the plug on the wiimote wire and then remove just the outer insulation. If I remember correctly, there are 5 wires, each a seperate color. Now, like with any mod I do involving wiring, NEVER unsoldier all the wires at the same time, always one by one as you replace them with the new one. In this case, you don't have to remove any wires off of the short plug end you just cut. Now, it's as simple as comparing the shape of the two plug ends... the one still attached to the IC of the classic controller, and the one you just cut off of the wiimote, and after cutting the rest of the wiimote wire down to you preferd length, remove the plug on the classic controller (unsolder) and solder each wire directly to the classic controlller IC. Make sure you remember the direction of the plug on the classic controller... it may help to draw a diagram.... and hold them next to each other as if you were plugging them together, not looking straight into each plug, otherwise you will solder everything 180 degrees mirrored from what it should be. Try not to get the IC too hot while soldering as this is the case in any similar situation, and pay close attention as to not let the solder touch on the back sde of the circuitry. Anyway, now I feel odd considering I just wrote a whole page in response to a simple question... I got carried away. If you have any more questions, don't hesitate to ask, and my next response will be far more shorter.
Hah, immediately after post my last respone, I relized my mistake. Obviously the wire is part of the classic controller and not the wiimote so as I refer to each part, do everything the same except keep in mind that I was refering to both parts backwards.
Happened to come across this business card holder in the store and it holds the Galaxy Nexus perfectly. The mesh spacing is also almost the same width as the pogo connections, so I'm looking into modding this into a pogo dock.
http://www.officemax.com/office-furniture/desk-accessories-organizers/product-prod2980161
Just wondering what everyone has been using for their pogo pin contacts? I've seen mentions of guitar string, push pins, and screws from other threads here. I plan to solder the ends of the USB wires to the contact, then hot glue them in place on the holder (which also will insulate them from the mesh so I don't get any shorts).
I'm also thinking of making a slightly raised section on the right side that lines up with the power button so that I can push the phone down slightly to hit power, since I don't want the screen on constantly while in the dock.
you might want to check here for info on enabling the middle pin to get AC charge and Desk/Car mode.
As for docks, I'm using a case, so i'm going to start work this week on moding my case to make pins accessible from the outside.
Pogo pins from yokowo, lined up with the official stand/extra battery charger.
Is there anyway to get these in the US? I'm not near their 2 stores here and I don't see anything about ordering online. I'd prefer to use something like this that's actually made for it rather than have to ghetto rig something
ldp_frog said:
Is there anyway to get these in the US? I'm not near their 2 stores here and I don't see anything about ordering online. I'd prefer to use something like this that's actually made for it rather than have to ghetto rig something
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think ghetto rigging something is the only way to go with the pogo contacts. There arent many accessories that make use of the contacts and dont think Samsung or anyone else is going to be coming out with anything new as newer phones come out. I hope as it seems like it is an awesome way to charge the device but think you have to check out the DIY sticky thread at the top of this forum to get better ideas. GL
Ok so here's my predicament. The way I can plug my phone's audio into my car is through a 3.5mm plug into the headphone jack. This wire is coming out from behind the stereo unit and I have to completely remove the unit if I wanted to put a different wire in back there which would be a major pain. Now before I had no problem hooking that plug into my S3, but now that I got an extended battery with a different case, the hole around the headphone jack on the new case is too small to allow the plug to plug in fully. So I was wondering does anyone know of a 3.5mm female to male plug that I can order, where the male end has as little rubber around the tip as possible so it will actually fit in this case? I've been searching myself but its kind of a hard thing to search for, with the proper wording and everything. So I was hoping maybe one of you have had a similar situation and have found a wire that fits these needs.
Thanks!
This guy's cables are pretty thin:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/Sound-Vision-/293/i.html?_ipg=&_sac=1&_from=&_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ssn=mpas2010
There's also this other cable (kensington/belkin make similar ones) that has the plastic/rubber stripped from the base of the connector which should allow it to dive deeper in to your case and make a full connection in side the minijack. I have a case that this doesnt quite work on but it will work for most:
http://www.daydeal.com/product.php?productid=72576&gclid=CNbT-f6X6bUCFShgMgod0CwA7g
Maybe this.....
http://www.markertek.com/Connectors...ers/3-5mm-Adapters/Connectronics/TN-IPA.xhtml
this?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007H7149A/ref=oh_details_o08_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Im using it now for my AUX stock deck to my Gs3 it is very very low profile.
You can always trim off the access rubber around the jack with a utility knife.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
j76ms said:
Maybe this.....
http://www.markertek.com/Connectors...ers/3-5mm-Adapters/Connectronics/TN-IPA.xhtml
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thanks guys. i think this markertek one is probably gonna be the one i try. i need it to be male-female or just an adapter like this (assuming this fits properly with my case). i'd rather not get a whole new male to male wire because that would mean i'd need to take apart my whole front panel on my car again to replace the wire.
i'm gonna give this one a try and if it doesn't work, i guess i'll just start saving up for a new stereo with bluetooth so i don't have to worry about it anymore haha.
polarbearmc said:
thanks guys. i think this markertek one is probably gonna be the one i try. i need it to be male-female or just an adapter like this (assuming this fits properly with my case). i'd rather not get a whole new male to male wire because that would mean i'd need to take apart my whole front panel on my car again to replace the wire.
i'm gonna give this one a try and if it doesn't work, i guess i'll just start saving up for a new stereo with bluetooth so i don't have to worry about it anymore haha.
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I don't have any experience buying from them. I just did a quick search because I think I know what you are looking for and came up with that. You might check your local Radio Shack to see if they have a similar adapter that will fit.
Just google female to recessed male 3.5 and you'll find many places to purchase including amazon
Sent from my GS3
This
http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10218&cs_id=1021816&p_id=9764&seq=1&format=2
or
http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10218&cs_id=1021816&p_id=9296&seq=1&format=2