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GPS/PCI Express Break-off from Hardware Breakdown Thread

I wanted to break this off since the other topic was looking to be mostly about the LCD's
floatpoo said:
I wanted to see if the blank sockets on the system board were active. So I grabbed my multimeter and tested each pin to see if any delivered power. I don't know if these sockets are controlled by software, but it looks like these sockets are inactive.
(cant post link ref other thread....)
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I'm an electronics tech (avionics really) just so you know my background, and I am by no way a programmer i just hack my way throught when i need... poorly at that. I'm a long time reader but don't post much.
I havent taken mine apart yet, I bought it for the wife to use as an ereader she was using her evo before and already has bad eyesight I just dont think reading on that small screen is good for her. However we planned on returning it today because she couldn't get anything to work... But i loaded VAGAn-Tab rom on it and she likes it ALOT more now, but we still might be returning it (she thinks it to big and heavy to hold). So all I have to work with is the internal pics posted by other members and I thank you for them!
I was thinking about using a mini pci card with 3g/4g and GPS to solve my problem like this one for Sprint Customers looks very nice and they claim android support. Could someone please verify the length available for the card from the socket to the mounting holes? It should be around 50mm but i cant tell from the pic.
I cant post a link so google
franklinwireless
M600_datasheet_v1.pdf
Then after more research I figured out that think I can get the GPS to work on the board. I found that the RXM-GPS-SG-T looks to be the exact chip they are using, the pin look to match exactly VCC, GND, RX, TX, RF, VOUT. So they are using an active GPS antenna (but could be modded for passive). They use NMEA-0183 or SiRF Binary output selected by a serial command. So we need to figure out if the TX is going to U39 making U39 the interface to the unit, or directly to somewhere else (idk need to see board) I hope i can attach my pic i made or maybe an admin can post it for me.
However the PCI slot might be just as hard to use, the pin 20 that has 3.3v isnt what we want, but it could be a software control to disable/enable the card. However we still need A+ on pins 2,52 (3.3V), 6,28,48(1.5V) and maybe 24(3.3V Aux) dependeding on the card. We could be dealing with a "Non Standard" connector, they are out there but most OEM's dont bother with them. More likely to find them on a Asus product ect. It's common for the SIM card to be powered by the PCI card itself and the board looks wired that way. I have 2 Digi International Mini PCI express Wifi/Cell Development boards and thats how they both power the SIM card. Pin 16 should goto Pin 1 on the sim card, 14->2, 12->3, 10->6 but maybe 7 or 8.
Getting the Power to it could be software or hardware. Looks like around U8 on the frontside could a Vreg setup, Or it could be as simple as putting in some 0 ohm resistors around R15 and R14. We also see that U7 is unpopulated on backside. So that leave us with U7,U8, R15, and R16 which could mean they are all part of the same circuit if they laid it out with any logic. TP1,2,and 3 also make me believe this is true, however they match up to LED_WPAN#, LED, WLAN#,and LED_WWAN#. I sure wish they match the power input pins, but that means all those missing resistors could just be for unpopulated status LED's. Like I've said over and over i cant tell ya unless i can probe around the board.
As far as the memory, yes its possible, I do BGA replacement at work. What I am afraid of is that the other memory chips look to be exactly on the other side and I'd be afraid of messing them up. I'd have to look at my jig at work and see if I could set it up without any problems.

I'm no electronics expert but I dabble. I'd be interested in internal GPS and a memory boost. I'm pretty confident in my soldering skills and would try something if directed by someone smarter than me.

This is something I am very interested in. Any new info on this?

ihaveathumb said:
This is something I am very interested in. Any new info on this?
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I sadly no longer own a G tablet, wife thought it was to heavy to read books, and hated the screen. I cant argue with her on either of those points, so we returned it. However I got the ok to buy a referb on if i can find one, but when I did at my local store i showed them the paper and they told me they dont sell that stuff there and send me away. I talked to 3 different people too basically all told me to go f off. I even tried another time with the 7" they sell same results. I dont know why it gets listed on the website if they wont sell it.
Not to get sidetracked, but i even did by the proper bga fittings to solder the ram chips too lol..
So no its probably not going to go any farther from my stand point, if anyone wants my help I still read the forums everyday.
I'm just gonna wait and see what comes out in the future that XDA gets behind, because I'de never buy anything that didnt have an active community here.

IF you were looking for a reader fo rher mainly, you should've really gone with the Nook Color... eInk devices are good too IF you don't really need good PDF support and/or need it to read more complexly formatted documents, e.g. technical manual, mathematics texts, etc. i.e. eInk is best suited for ficiton and other simply formatted documents, but it VERY readable except in poorly lit conditions where you'd need external lighting of some sort.

Very true I should have bought her a nook, but now she doesnt want it because its not powerful enough for her needs imo. She also wants to login to her school (blackboard) and be able to use overdrive. Plus she likes dungeon defenders and I dont think that can handle it. We are just gonna wait it out and see what comes along, mostly cause we have our first due next month, so trying to be frugal.

mystkrh said:
Very true I should have bought her a nook, but now she doesnt want it because its not powerful enough for her needs imo. She also wants to login to her school (blackboard) and be able to use overdrive. Plus she likes dungeon defenders and I dont think that can handle it. We are just gonna wait it out and see what comes along, mostly cause we have our first due next month, so trying to be frugal.
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Yep, you'll want a full blown tablet then and I suspect that the NC would be too much of a bother to get setup for her for what she wants it for...
All the 10" tablets are fairly heavy too, so you'll probably have to stick to looking for 7/8" tablets and I suspect Tegra 2 or multi-core cortex-a9 SoCs from other mfgs... not much in the way of 7" ATM other than the elocity a7 (was c. $300 around xmas), but it's not very hacker friendly and I don't know if they ever got the USB port to run in non-host mode... probably best to not even look at it...

The g Tablet would, as many have already said, be a great tablet if it had gps mainly and increased memory. Adding pci-e would be even better. I would be extremely happy with the addition of gps. I would be very tempted to allow somebody with expertise and high level of confidence of success to experiment on my tablet.

GPS+
Just bought my Gtab yesterday. As you know the stock Roman/UI sucks big time. I installed Clockwork followed by CyanogenMod 7 and what a difference. Anyway I looked on the web for a dock and it seems there is a Chinese version of the Gtab that has higher spec's including GPS. It would seem logical to assume the U.S. motherboard has the same circuits built in. Who knows what's possible....

It's too bad that more people don't feel like tearing up their electronics to start soldering things to them.

[Q] Looking for new android tablet

trying to find a tablet but is becoming a real pain. Looking for something with GPS, HDMI out, multi-touch, bt preffered but not essential, internal 3g (though no really necessary as i can just tether to phone).
Not too concerned with size or brand and would even consider ebay knockoffs, but must be rootable and upgradeable to honeycomb.
Anyone know of any such devices?
Anyone who can help point me in the right direction would be appreciated. Thank you.

looking on ebay at all the ifad clones found some really nice ones though i'm still having trouble finding units with capacitive screens, but with the price difference i might end up settling with a resistive. still a ton of 10" units with hdmi and gps for <$200. also found micdigi site with a fair bit of info which is needed seeing as no-one puts the real model in the description of their clones/cloned-clones.
edit: cheapest capacitive unit that i like item # 180661659965

[Q] Tablet off ebay...good or bad? Opinions?

I've been looking buying a tablet for a few months and ive done some research on the matter and what some fair specs on devices are, and ive read good and bad reviews about ebay tablets, and before i buy this one, in the link bellow, I'd like to know what people think about it.
it has a dual camera, capacitive screen, (which means its a glass screen, right?) And it doesnt look like a cheap plastic one-which i originally thought about purchasing for only 200$. However after research, most of the 200$ tablets have plastic screens and.... Ive had plastic touch screen phones, and compared to my htc evo shift, the evo's glass screen is much better. that's my opinion... so this is the product ive been looking at currently.
.... it wont let me post the direct link... so, go to ebay, and this is the item listing "New 9.7" Android 2.3 4GB Cortex-A8 WIFI HDMI M12 Tablet"
sorry for the inconvenience.
I've looked into buying from sites where you get a better price, but have to 'contact the supplier' and ask them questions.... and then after talking to them for 2+ weeks, they say........
"I am not sure if your US customs will hold the package 100%.
But this is such a risk. If US customs pay attention to your package, open the box, then they will maybe.
I tell you this in advance, then it is up to you to choose the risk. If the customs hold the package and you won't get, we could not help any and won't refund you.
You can think about it, if you want to try, then I will check those information you want and send u."
WONDERFUL! so that place is now not an option.
but ebay has some sort of guarantees on their products that they arrive or you get a refund, and that they are as the Lister described. which makes me feel more comfortable in that sense.
any thoughts? Thanks!

Hi, why do you want this particular tablet?
do you have specific requirements for your tablet such as screen size, resolution, cpu speed etc. other than capacitive screen...
Also, do you have price range or are you looking for as chap as possible?
Thanks
RDS

I like the capacitive screen, and for me larger is better, 9in and up.
im not good at the rooting process and changing the software and stuff like that.
but close to 1ghz speeds are good with me, and having usb ports are always a plus, also access to micro sd cards, which i think just about all tablets have that,
I like android 2.3.... when i upgraded my phone from 2.2 to 2.3 it became a lot smoother, less freezes, better battery,
the only thing i dont like so much about that tablet is that the battery is 4500mah, but they claim 6-8 hours of use.
Thanks!

The M12 is a verty good tablet, the are some threads in some forums about it, you might look pandawill or htcmania, there are firmwares and opinions

I can't say specifically for your case since that wouldn't be possible...but I can tell you that I have personally purchased an android based smart phone for a 'work phone' from the far east and did not have any customs problems.
The parcel said 'Gift' as the details and it just got delivered to me. It was send standard mail though an took like a month.

[Q] Is there anywhere to buy main boards?

So my phone appears to be completely beyond hope as far as I can determine. After a short it just will not power on no matter what I try. It has probably burned out a few components on the main board, but it's far beyond my capability to diagnose or repair that. I've been looking around trying to figure out how to get it fixed within a very limited budget and not having a lot of luck really. So far the cheapest I've been able to find was a main board alone on eBay for $180. The irony being that I see several for other networks that are a lot cheaper, but, not only have they managed to make it illegal to unlock phones, but as far as I can tell it really sounds like most other networks' phones won't work with Verizon anyway.
It also worries me a bit buying on eBay anyway. I'm not even touching one where they don't at least claim it has a clean ESN or post the IMEI where I can verify myself using Verizon's site and really it's surprisingly expensive even to get one with a busted screen where I could be at least relatively certain the board should be working (namely I looked for them saying stuff that at least gave me good reason to believe it was fully working other than the screen part.)
So I'm wondering if there's any sort of "official" place where you could buy just the parts? It probably would still be too much (after all, the main board contains the SoC and most of the other really important components with the screen and digitizer being the only other truly valuable components not contained on it) but I'd at least like to check it if there were somewhere to check...
EDIT: Ok, I gave up and went with eBay. I've found one that I'm really crossing my fingers over...

[Q] Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 upgrade RAM

Has anyone tried upgrading the ram? I haven't seen a need for more ram yet on my friend's, I'm just curious. How about anything else? I know you can't replace the LCD without a lot of risk. I was reading the cracked open article for the note 10.1 and it looks like there's some room for meddling. I can't see the video right now though. Just curious if anyone's tampered with any of the hardware. I don't have much experience with tablet hardware yet, but Walmart's selling the note 10.1 refurbished cheaply right now, so I thought maybe it's an ok opportunity to experiment a bit. Rather not waste $300 completely though. Would really rather be able to use it for school if I don't break it lol.

NiaCas said:
Has anyone tried upgrading the ram? I haven't seen a need for more ram yet on my friend's, I'm just curious. How about anything else? I know you can't replace the LCD without a lot of risk. I was reading the cracked open article for the note 10.1 and it looks like there's some room for meddling. I can't see the video right now though. Just curious if anyone's tampered with any of the hardware. I don't have much experience with tablet hardware yet, but Walmart's selling the note 10.1 refurbished cheaply right now, so I thought maybe it's an ok opportunity to experiment a bit. Rather not waste $300 completely though. Would really rather be able to use it for school if I don't break it lol.
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RAM, doubt it. The kernel would not be able to address it, so you'd need a modified one for it. You'd also need to know BGA soldering in order to replace it. The LCD is not too difficult to replace, ifixit has a decent tutorial on it.
Generally, you will NOT be able to upgrade an ARM based computer, since everything revolves around a System on a Chip (SoC) which has only particular pipelines and connections for components. Upgrades are extremely risky and require expensive tools. ARM tablet =/= x86 laptop.
Your best hope is with an ODROID tablet, which has user replaceable CPU and a few other things. But it will cost, heavily.