Adding a Magnet to car/desk dock to enable modes? - Fascinate Accessories

Our phones have a magnetic sensor and I'm assuming that's how Samsung's docks automatically pull up the car/desk dock apps. So does anyone know what type of magnets (if this is how it works) and where they would need to be placed if you wanted to either mod a 3rd party dock or make your own?

Just do what i did with my old droid. I used the magnet.out of a phone holster, i ran it over the back till it activated, i marked the spot and made a cradle. The opposite side of the magnet should activate the.other mode......,, ie positive turned on car dock, negative turned on desk clock.

justin94 said:
Just do what i did with my old droid. I used the magnet.out of a phone holster, i ran it over the back till it activated, i marked the spot and made a cradle. The opposite side of the magnet should activate the.other mode......,, ie positive turned on car dock, negative turned on desk clock.
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Guessing I need to use a weak one ha
Sent from my sch-i500 Showcase using XDA app

I tried it this morning and i couldn't find that sweet spot for the magnet to activate

justin94 said:
I tried it this morning and i couldn't find that sweet spot for the magnet to activate
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hmm, maybe it's more to it than that on the galaxy?
Did you have your phone plugged in when you tried? That could be a condition..

There does not appear to be a magnet in the car dock, it seems the dock screen activation is linked to the micro usb connector on the dock. I checked the entire car dock with a paperclip and found no magnet. When you install the phone into the dock it will only activate the dock screen when you slide the top piece into the micro usb connector..

rich1az said:
There does not appear to be a magnet in the car dock, it seems the dock screen activation is linked to the micro usb connector on the dock. I checked the entire car dock with a paperclip and found no magnet. When you install the phone into the dock it will only activate the dock screen when you slide the top piece into the micro usb connector..
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Damn samsung, why you wanna do that? I would have loved to buy both docks if they allowed the phone to be in a case
Sent from my sch-i500 Showcase using XDA app

Yeah, I just ordered a dock for the express purpose of opening it up and analyzing the special usb connection. I need to make a custom dock/cable for mounting in the dash of my car.

Buji said:
Yeah, I just ordered a dock for the express purpose of opening it up and analyzing the special usb connection. I need to make a custom dock/cable for mounting in the dash of my car.
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cool... please post your findings..

elijahblake said:
cool... please post your findings..
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Will do, but right now I can say this thing's not going to be easy to get into without tearing it up.

Buji said:
Will do, but right now I can say this thing's not going to be easy to get into without tearing it up.
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I believe ya on that... I had the desk dock for a day or two, but took it back since I couldn't keep my case on it... I didn't really inspect it too much for screws though.

Related

Faulty N1 Dock?

I just got a nexus one dock delivered this morning... but nothing happens when I put my phone in.
I had the desire rom so I flashed cynogen and tried and still nothing.
I am guessing its faulty but there isn't anyway for me to actually be sure is there?
I guess I will just have to contact HTC support and get it replaced!
Spinstorm said:
I just got a nexus one dock delivered this morning... but nothing happens when I put my phone in.
I had the desire rom so I flashed cynogen and tried and still nothing.
I am guessing its faulty but there isn't anyway for me to actually be sure is there?
I guess I will just have to contact HTC support and get it replaced!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When your drop it into the dock, does it show charging? You could just have a set of dirty contacts - a quick swipe with a pencil eraser is an easy way to make sure they're clean.
Are you running a N1 ROM now (Stock, Cyan, Enmother, MCR)? If so, dock it and head to settings and there should be a "dock" option there now once you've docked.
Thanks for telling me to try that.
I can't figure out what the problem is. I did get it to work by pushing the USB wire into the dock and plug connector.
That makes me think that the USB wire is damaged but it seems to not require any pressure to work fine on my HD2 (as its the same connector) so I am a bit stumped by this!
Spinstorm said:
Thanks for telling me to try that.
I can't figure out what the problem is. I did get it to work by pushing the USB wire into the dock and plug connector.
That makes me think that the USB wire is damaged but it seems to not require any pressure to work fine on my HD2 (as its the same connector) so I am a bit stumped by this!
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Are you using the wall charger or USB charger? If it's the USB charger give it a shot with the wall charger. They say don't use the USB charger and the only reason I can think of is that the USB charger only provides .5A and that may not be enough to power the dock and charge at an acceptable voltage.
I am using the wall charger now but I am UK based so I am not using the suplied charger - rather my HD2 wall adapator and USB cable although that shouldn't effect how it works clearly.
I do wonder if the invisible shield may be causing part of the problem.
It doesn't "slide" into the dock I have to push it even though the bottom part of the phone has no protector (as I removed the shield from there) it does seem to be super temperamental to the EXACT angle and position I have it in the dock...
Spinstorm said:
I am using the wall charger now but I am UK based so I am not using the suplied charger - rather my HD2 wall adapator and USB cable although that shouldn't effect how it works clearly.
I do wonder if the invisible shield may be causing part of the problem.
It doesn't "slide" into the dock I have to push it even though the bottom part of the phone has no protector (as I removed the shield from there) it does seem to be super temperamental to the EXACT angle and position I have it in the dock...
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As long as it's pushing 1V I don't see why there'd be any problem if it's not the "supplied" charger.
Can you tell if the phone is making good contact on the bottom? You should be able to see the pins actually depress and "disappear" as the phone pushes them down into the dock.
which dock have you got
I'd have thought the problem would be the skin blocking the three contacts ( is it a genuine dock?
Jamie
with the invisible skin I need to push the phone in a little as well. The skin makes the phone not fit as well so that may be your issue, not the dock.
jsapp said:
with the invisible skin I need to push the phone in a little as well. The skin makes the phone not fit as well so that may be your issue, not the dock.
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^^^^This^^^^
I removed the protector totally and it still requires pushing into the dock and then it seems to randomly disconnect the charging for no reason after a couple of seconds.
It must be that the dock is faulty (of course it could be my phone but I can't test that out so I will assume it is the dock).
I e-mailed HTC who said if I phone them they will sort out a replacement.
They seem quite efficient so far although I haven't phoned them yet!
I have to be honest I am not impressed with the dock... sure it looks nice and the bluetooth streaming is cool but even if mine worked perfectly and charged the phone - the phone slips out if I touch it anywhere - it must be the most unsafe dock ever. Forget using the phone in the dock. It won't stay in it if you press it....

Horizontal Dock

Has anyone come up with a good method for a horizontal dock akin to the Droid's? I really prefer it.
I see we have dock connectors on the bottom. So something that slipped in sideways but hooked up to the bottom might be possible, but obviously it needs to be held in place well.
I've been considering getting a car dock and just keeping it sideways, but if there's a better plan, I'd love to hear it.
buy the car dock, stick it on your desk.
Red MacGregor said:
buy the car dock, stick it on your desk.
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Beat me to it. You could either rewire the car adapter to a wall plug or get a car charger adapter.
Ah, but how would you get it to start the Clock app instead of CarHome?
You can do that using Tasker. It's still in beta, not yet in the market, but available at http://tasker.dinglisch.net/

Is anyone using the DroidX car dock for the G2?

I saw it's possible with some minor modding.
If so could you kindly share your experience\post pictures?
What do you do with the power cable? Just leave it dangling or is there a more elegant solution?
I'm trying to find the best car dock solution for my G2, even if it means doing some modding.
I use it in the car. To get it to work, simply unscrewed the frame and flip the usb connector around. Once plugged in, the phone fairly securely. It came with a car charger plug so I just use that to charge the phone while using GPS. To get the dock-feel, I use car-home's setting to auto-launch when connected to my car's bluetooth.
thanks!
a couple of more questions, if you may:
is it easy to guide the phone into the usb plug or does it take some work?
do you think it'll work with the slim rubber-feel case or is the plug flush with the bottom surface?
Vyath said:
thanks!
a couple of more questions, if you may:
is it easy to guide the phone into the usb plug or does it take some work?
do you think it'll work with the slim rubber-feel case or is the plug flush with the bottom surface?
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It's easy once you get used to it, it's much easier if you slide the keyboard out before you mount it.
There is a piece that you can take out to adjust for extra thickness.

Hyperion Dock

Got mine off amazon. Does not activate dock mode.
Is it defective?
Sent from my PG86100 using xda premium
No I think it is the way it was designed. Doesn't use the pins on the back and you have a microusb nub that sticks up for you to connect to.
Hd04 said:
No I think it is the way it was designed. Doesn't use the pins on the back and you have a microusb nub that sticks up for you to connect to.
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Well...It doesn't necessarily have to use the pogo pins to activate dock mode. For example the official car dock will launch the Car application when the phone is docked even though it uses usb. It's all in how the connector is pinned out.
Having two of these I can say neither activate dock mode.
Sent from my HTC One X using XDA Premium HD app
I'm sure you could get an nfc tag, stick it to the dock and have the phone launch the dock mode when it detects the tag. Of course, this solution leaves the phone in dock mode when you undock it and I'm not sure what happens if you just kinda leave the phone sitting on top of the tag like that and try to do other stuff.
If the tag is too low for the phone to detect I'm sure you could jury rig something to raise the tag closer to the center of the phone.
H4x the cable or order one already modded. I just ordered two cables. 1 for car and 1 for night stand.
id10terrordfw said:
Having two of these I can say neither activate dock mode.
Sent from my HTC One X using XDA Premium HD app
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Install "any cut" from the play store, open it and pick new shortcut. The find HTC Dock mode and select that. Now at least you have a icon on your home screen to get into dock mode even though your dock doesn't automatically trip it.
nugzo said:
H4x the cable or order one already modded. I just ordered two cables. 1 for car and 1 for night stand.
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can you give a link to what this is?
nugzo said:
H4x the cable or order one already modded. I just ordered two cables. 1 for car and 1 for night stand.
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Does the dock mode turn off the soft key lights? That's my issue right now because using my phone as an alarm clock at night, the dang soft key buttons are way too bright!
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

Observations: Photon Q Vehicle Dock

I had a hard time finding any info about the car dock before I purchased one. So, here are a few things that may be of use to someone:
The included power adapter is rated at 750ma
The dock has 2x USB outputs, but at 750ma it's only just enough power to maintain GPS, Bluetooth, Backlight and a data connection (with semi-weak signal). Charging 2 phones at once isn't recommended.
The dock has an identifier so the phone knows that it's a vehicle dock (as opposed to my old Photon 4G)
When you first drop the phone into the dock, it asks you what kind of dock you are using. The Home dock does the same thing. It remembers each dock via a dock ID of some sort.
The dock fits the phone extremely well, best one I've had so far.
Better than the Droid 2 and Photon 4G. The Photon Q drops in with little effort and holds in place VERY well.
N1XRR said:
When you first drop the phone into the dock, it asks you what kind of dock you are using.
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It doesn't do that with me....but then I only have (and have only used) the car dock. Maybe it requires docking with both docks before it prompts you?
PythonFanTN said:
It doesn't do that with me....but then I only have (and have only used) the car dock. Maybe it requires docking with both docks before it prompts you?
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Possibly. It's been a few weeks since I first dropped the phone into the dock...
But, putting the phone into a new dock of the same type (at least the Home dock) prompts to request what type of dock is connected.
Anyone have any tips on where to find one under $50? I'm really missing having a good dock, but getting impatient for the price to go down.
benofilis said:
Anyone have any tips on where to find one under $50? I'm really missing having a good dock, but getting impatient for the price to go down.
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Click to collapse
http://www.neobits.com/motorola_kpm5778q_vehicle_navigation_dock_for_p4013180.html?atc=gbs&gclid=CPmvoK3grLMCFRRbnAodbDEA9g
That's where I got mine. Not less than $50 but right at it counting shipping.
Looking at picking up the Costco deal on the Pho Q with free car dock after MIR, and wanted to confirm - I'm guessing that you can't use the dock with a case on the phone, correct? Looks like it wouldn't slide in properly.
Anyone try the dock with one of those Skinz "cases" which are really more like full body screen protector films?
I can't say from personal experience that you can use it with a case (mainly because I don't use cases nor have some little voice in my head compelling me that I absolutely must have one)....but I do know the dock comes with a little insert that you take out/don't use in the (no pun intended) 'case' of those who use cases.
cmags said:
Looking at picking up the Costco deal on the Pho Q with free car dock after MIR, and wanted to confirm - I'm guessing that you can't use the dock with a case on the phone, correct? Looks like it wouldn't slide in properly.
Anyone try the dock with one of those Skinz "cases" which are really more like full body screen protector films?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is a plastic adapter that needs to be inserted in the dock for a "snug" fit. I suppose you could just leave the adapter off for a slightly looser fit and try it with the case on.
Thanks for the info. I've got mine ordered, and having not seen your replies, ordered one of those "full body screen protectors" to protect the sides of the phone so it would fit in the dock. But, if there's a removable insert to allow more room for a case, I may get an Otterbox. I'll have to see how much extra play room it comes with before committing to a case that may or may not fit.
Does the dock make the phone go in to vehicle mode? Is there a way to disable this so you can still fully operate the phone?
ericcire said:
Does the dock make the phone go in to vehicle mode? Is there a way to disable this so you can still fully operate the phone?
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It does make it go into vehicle mode, but that doesn't change all that much. It just launches a custom launcher app with large horizontal icons and sets up bluetooth (if you want the app to do that) and audio-out to the dock. It also has a page of customizable launcher buttons, which is a big step up from other "Car Home" apps.
You can get back to the regular homescreen by just hitting the regular home button.
You could probably also use something like Tasker to customize what happens when you put it in the dock. (I use Tasker to explicitly launch the vehicle home app, because I want the audio out, *then* launch my audiobook app)
Has anyone tested mass storage access in the vehicle dock? Mine won´t work. The phone charges but the alpine headunit says no usb-device. With the same cable without the dock between the usb cable and the phone it works well.
....i have tested it on sony radio - it works, but on blaupunkt no - no media detected
I have had both the photon 4g and the lte with docks and i thought the old one was a bit better built but the new one does fit well. On mine whenever you hit the home button when in the dock it went to car home not your normal home screen but if you run a third party launcher you can change that. I noticed that the charger that comes with it doesnt always have enough juice to charge it if you are in an area of weak signal with gps running so i swapped the charger with a 2A one that i used for my tablet. Never have a problem now and my phone will go from 70% batter to almost full in my 30 min drive home from work.
Hope it helps.
I thought I might ask here before opening a new thread.... Anyone know what protective cases are compatible with the dock?
I (like many) prefer otterbox cases. But with my last phone the Otterbox case blocked the data connector to the vehicle dock.
Anyone tried the otterbox case with the dock? or any recommendations for other cases that ARE vehicle dock compatible?
pir8man said:
I thought I might ask here before opening a new thread.... Anyone know what protective cases are compatible with the dock?
I (like many) prefer otterbox cases. But with my last phone the Otterbox case blocked the data connector to the vehicle dock.
Anyone tried the otterbox case with the dock? or any recommendations for other cases that ARE vehicle dock compatible?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ottorbox is very tight even without the adapter plate (taking it out allows for a fatter phone) and the rubber flap blocks the ports and you cant fold it back or it doesnt fit...
Sent from my XT897 using xda premium
Mordannon said:
On mine whenever you hit the home button when in the dock it went to car home not your normal home screen but if you run a third party launcher you can change that.
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Click to collapse
On the newest/JB build, there's actually 2 home buttons...the middle right one goes back to vehicle dock home, but you can press the one on the lower lefthand corner to go back to regular phone home.
I am thinking about getting this phone ,I saw I another thread that the droid 3 desk dock works well withthis phone ,so would the droid 3 car dock also work?
Sent from my Droid 3 using xda app-developers app
Can anyone tell me if this dock's ability to launch the "car mode" is available in custom ROMs like CyanogenMod? I.e. is there custom software needed to enable this functionality, or is it part of stock Android?
Speedraca said:
Can anyone tell me if this dock's ability to launch the "car mode" is available in custom ROMs like CyanogenMod? I.e. is there custom software needed to enable this functionality, or is it part of stock Android?
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Click to collapse
The ability is there, the car mode is detected and signalled properly in CM10.1, but there is no car home/launcher app installed as part of pure AOSP/CM jellybean system installation - you have to install some car home app from play market so it's launched automatically when the phone enters the car dock.

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