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[Q] First among other questions - what do I do with the plug?

So I got my Captivate, and I have a Micro-USB plug already, six feet!! It is good for where I have it, but as we all know, the Captivate's USB plug is stupid.
Is it fine as is? It makes a connection, but it isn't "fully" in. Should I be concerned? Should I wear down one of the ends? What, er, should I do?

If the plug isn't fully in because it seems to be hitting the door, try pressing on the door again and see if it clicks. The port cover slides open and then hangs, you have to push a little harder and it will click all the way open.

You should use a razor blade or something of the like to trim the rubber around the MicroUSB plug, making it thinner like the usb cord that came with the phone. I had the same issue with a bunch of MicroUSB chargers I have, and 10 seconds with a razor fixed em all.

After a bunch of shaving and potentially damaging it, I think it was just the door not clicked far enough! But now it is a lot easier to tell what side is what
I miss my Touch Pro's charger, with the black and white braided cable. It fell flat too, instead of this cable, which is like a regular cable and sticks out. I have to knock it into shape I guess.

thehyecircus said:
So I got my Captivate, and I have a Micro-USB plug already, six feet!! It is good for where I have it, but as we all know, the Captivate's USB plug is stupid.
Is it fine as is? It makes a connection, but it isn't "fully" in. Should I be concerned? Should I wear down one of the ends? What, er, should I do?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I like how you didn't have the door all the way open, so you put us all in your boat by saying we all know the cable is stupid. Then ask if you should be concerned. Then to top it off, not say thank you to the person who suggested making sure the door was open.
I swear......
Edit: Oh, and the stock cable that the phone came with is curved on the plug making for easy and successful male to female connection.
From a phone

thehyecircus said:
So I got my Captivate, and I have a Micro-USB plug already, six feet!! It is good for where I have it, but as we all know, the Captivate's USB plug is stupid.
Is it fine as is? It makes a connection, but it isn't "fully" in. Should I be concerned? Should I wear down one of the ends? What, er, should I do?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What is "er", "stupid" about the Captivate plug?

The door is pretty god damn retarded.
Another day, another brilliant decision by Samsung, another facepalm by you.

thehyecircus said:
What, er, should I do?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Box it up and take it back.

boborone said:
I like how you didn't have the door all the way open, so you put us all in your boat by saying we all know the cable is stupid. Then ask if you should be concerned. Then to top it off, not say thank you to the person who suggested making sure the door was open.
I swear......
Edit: Oh, and the stock cable that the phone came with is curved on the plug making for easy and successful male to female connection.
From a phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The cable is stupid. Number one, I am not using the stock cable, I made that clear at the start. Second, the port is recessed into the phone. There have been more than numerous complaints about this. Third, I have seen many people talk about having to cut their USB cord to get it to fit. FOURTH, even with the door open, it is not a complete connection, but a much better connection nonetheless.
What are you coming at me for? I didn't design the phone. The door is a stupid, needless idea and it causes problems. Are you going to blindly defend the phone?

Wow. Everyone really fighting over the usb port?! Open the door all the way and there is no issues with it. I use all kind of usb plugs, and they all work fine. If you don't like it, get a new phone, that will fix your issues.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

thehyecircus said:
The cable is stupid. Number one, I am not using the stock cable, I made that clear at the start. Second, the port is recessed into the phone. There have been more than numerous complaints about this. Third, I have seen many people talk about having to cut their USB cord to get it to fit. FOURTH, even with the door open, it is not a complete connection, but a much better connection nonetheless.
What are you coming at me for? I didn't design the phone. The door is a stupid, needless idea and it causes problems. Are you going to blindly defend the phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
in all fairness, you said NOTHING about not using the samsung cord in your first post....in fact, i had to go back and reread that a couple more times after this post just to comprehend it.
english-use it

Pirateghost said:
in all fairness, you said NOTHING about not using the samsung cord in your first post....in fact, i had to go back and reread that a couple more times after this post just to comprehend it.
english-use it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"So I got my Captivate, and I have a Micro-USB plug already, six feet!!"
Why don't you learn to read? If I have a plug already... why would you think I was using the plug that came with it? I specified the plug, and that it was six feet long, which is not the length of the cord it comes with.

There's a plug..and there's a cord...what, ER, are you referring to?

thehyecircus said:
"So I got my Captivate, and I have a Micro-USB plug already, six feet!!"
Why don't you learn to read? If I have a plug already... why would you think I was using the plug that came with it? I specified the plug, and that it was six feet long, which is not the length of the cord it comes with.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i know how to read. it is unfortunate that you feel the need to try and belittle anyone that does not understand your jibber jabber. think you could translate all that to english and construct a properly formed sentence?
i was merely enforcing the fact that people were confused by your rantings and my guess is that 50% of the people that read your thread were just plain confused.

Pirateghost said:
i know how to read. it is unfortunate that you feel the need to try and belittle anyone that does not understand your jibber jabber. think you could translate all that to english and construct a properly formed sentence?
i was merely enforcing the fact that people were confused by your rantings and my guess is that 50% of the people that read your thread were just plain confused.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So it is unfortunate that I feel the need to "try" and belittle you, but you think it is okay to come into a topic where every reply before one from Boborone was exactly on topic and understood a very common issue exactly and belittle me.

thehyecircus said:
So it is unfortunate that I feel the need to "try" and belittle you, but you think it is okay to come into a topic where every reply before one from Boborone was exactly on topic and understood a very common issue exactly and belittle me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no i was standing up for the guy that you basically called a retard, and letting you know that your first post was not clear.
i was not trying to belittle you with my first post in this thread.
if you cannot comprehend such things, i would suggest you take a minute to think about it.

Pirateghost said:
no i was standing up for the guy that you basically called a retard, and letting you know that your first post was not clear.
i was not trying to belittle you with my first post in this thread.
if you cannot comprehend such things, i would suggest you take a minute to think about it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I never called him such a thing, but the topic has been clear to everyone except a few stubborn folk. Now please, there shouldn't be any fighting here and I hate having to bump this each time to just to respond to you over nothing. It was a very clear topic. Even if you could not understand my first post, there were on-topic replies. The only way to not understand this post is to not want to. And you simply don't want to.

God bless us every one.....

gunnyman said:
God bless us every one.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hahaha
Alright guys lets just drop it. I read some of the guy's other topics and it seems that reading and searching are not strong suites.
To put things in perspective, I thought of an old buddy of mine. We went to a titty bar, all nude. He asked me where to put the money. Some things come natural to some, others over think it.
Merry Christmas
Just put my tree up
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1200 lights on an 8 ft tree
From a phone
From a phone

Pretty. Sideways, but pretty.

[GUIDE] How to install Internal GPS Module

UPDATE 5/26/2011: I have put together a tutorial and will keep it updated. It can be found at this link. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=14111386&postcount=207 The project is not fully completed but working! Keep following us as we progress through this thread.
Ok, I’ve been digging around recently and have been getting nowhere. From a bunch of emails and PM’s that took me a long time to write, I have gotten nothing back. So I am starting a new thread here.
I am in the process of finding info on the internal GPS module that the G-Pad is capable of having installed. I am willing to use my tablet as a demo to see if I can get it working! If it works, I will make a detailed thread on how to go about installing a GPS module into the G-Tablet. So speak up if you know your electronics please!!!
What I have compiled so far
A member from XDA forums literally bought a kit (eBay Post) that enabled GPS use. He posted that the chip that he installed was a RXM-GPS-SG-B found at this link (http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?lang=en&site=US&KeyWords=RXM-GPS-SG-B&x=0&y=0). After looking at the data sheet for this chip I’m pretty sure that this chip will work on the G-tablet board. All of the pins line up properly and everything. In the XDA post that I read, after the install of the chip he posted “I now have power to the chip and its working. When I click on the place app now it no longer just says wait but comes up with aps where to go.” This is a good sign in that it is already enabled in the VS bootloader kernel. Basically if you can get it soldered in and enabled it should work. The problem is that he claimed that pin 12 (vcc) did not have power and he had to power it from another source. He claimed that he tapped into the USB +5v power. That would have worked ok if the GPS chip needed 5v power. The chip itself needs 3.3v of power. This user was overvolting his GPS chip from the get-go. He had reported some issues with it and I think that this overvolting was part of the problem.
Here is a picture of the installed chip via the XDA forums. Sorry for the smallness it was as big as I could find. http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=585865&stc=1&d=1304460793
My theory is that you can tap into the 3.3v pin that is located on the mini PCI e headers and use this for power. This will provide the correct voltage. Here is a picture of the empty spots on the board. http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=585866&d=1304460792
As you can see in the picture above there is an “empty” power circuit located below where the GPS chip would reside. I read a post on XDA that claimed that if properly hooked up correctly it would probably produce the 3.3v output needed for the GPS chip also. The items that the user claimed could possible make it work were as follows.
http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&name=NCP51460SN33T1GOSCT-ND Part# NCP51460SN33T1G
http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&name=NCP551SN33T1GOSCT-ND Part# NCP551SN33T1G
I do not have enough knowledge about IC’s to know how these are used. If anyone has an idea let me know. They go in the power circuit somehow.
The next part is the antenna connector. This would get installed in the empty “ANT2” connector. This should be an easy mount and is exactly how “ANT1” the wifi antenna is connected. http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=585863&d=1304460740
http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&name=H9161CT-ND Part# U.FL-R-SMT(10)
Finally onto the antenna itself. Although I have read that a passive antenna can be hooked up to this chip, an active antenna seems like it would get much better reception. The antenna that I have read a lot about is the following.
http://search.digikey.com/scripts/D...&lang=en&site=us&keywords=931-1014-ND&x=0&y=0 Part# ALA.01.07.0095A
This antenna would literally just snap onto the antenna 2 connector and it should work. Now to run an active antenna the GPS data sheet says that a 300ohm ferrite bead needs to be installed. This is the part where the member at XDA also messed up. He wired an antenna with a 300ohm resistor thinking it worked the same as a ferrite bead. A ferrite bead basically reduces any interference coming from the antenna going to the chip. Here is a link to the proper ferrite bead.
http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&name=445-6406-1-ND Part# MMZ1608D220C
The ferrite bead is also where I have run into problems. I do not know how to properly install one of these and I have no idea if there is even a spot on the board to do so. Any help in this area would also be appreciated. http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=585873&stc=1&d=1304461146
The antenna should be able to fit in the plastic up at the top of the case while also providing ample reception.
After all of this is installed hopefully the GPS chip will work. Although this sounds like a complicated project there is not actually that much soldering to do. The main GPS chip is actually most of the soldering. I am hoping that someone reads and appreciates that work that I have compiled/done so far. Any help on this project would be greatly appreciated. Also please do not post “why don’t you just use an external Bluetooth module.” I get that these work great, but I just want to see if the internal GPS will function. Attached below is everything I could possibly obtain after browsing through the entire internet looking for any type of documentation on this project Thanks for taking time to read through this post.
Last Thoughts
Here is a more in depth picture that shows the GPS connection and GPS schematic from the datasheet. It is very helpful. http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=585868&d=1304460792
I posted datasheets as attachments for the GPS Module and the Antenna I hope this helps out. http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=585875&stc=1&d=1304461367
Here is the entire system board for those who need a complete picture. http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=585867&d=1304460792
References
Thanks to the following people from XDA
mystkrh
6.055chevy
vsc
also to anyone I missed sorry

I will not be much help here, but I applaud your efforts.
I hope someone fills in the rest of the picture... I would love to do this to my G-Tab.

Great post Fosser2!
I too would like to have an internal GPS solution. I have a little electronics experience and I'm willing to go down this road as well.
For the ferrite bead, it looks like it gets soldered in at the L1 pad on the board.
All the other parts you listed look like they'll fit. The 3.3v chips you listed are just regulators. They "regulate" how much voltage goes through them. You feed them 5v (or whatever) and they spit out 3.3v.
What I'm wondering next is what about all the capacitors that are missing (all the C### labels on the board). Those regulators need some and the GPS chip itself looks like it needs some as well. I'll download the data-sheets and dig through those.
Hopefully others will chime in as well.
-John

twistedrotors said:
Great post Fosser2!
I too would like to have an internal GPS solution. I have a little electronics experience and I'm willing to go down this road as well.
For the ferrite bead, it looks like it gets soldered in at the L1 pad on the board.
All the other parts you listed look like they'll fit. The 3.3v chips you listed are just regulators. They "regulate" how much voltage goes through them. You feed them 5v (or whatever) and they spit out 3.3v.
What I'm wondering next is what about all the capacitors that are missing (all the C### labels on the board). Those regulators need some and the GPS chip itself looks like it needs some as well. I'll download the data-sheets and dig through those.
Hopefully others will chime in as well.
-John
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well honestly I'm not sure about all the C#### labels. I think when I order the parts (Thursday) I will only be ordering the GPS, Antenna, the ferrite bead and the antenna connector. I will be using that 3.3v from the mini PCI e header and pray it works. (hopefully bypassing the need for "regulators.") I'm just hoping that it will be detected software side. I guess time will tell But for all others keep posting on this topic because your expertise is greatly helpful.

Another alternative is looking into the Ericson 3307G which the Zpad, uses for GPS. (Gps version)
The 3307G has GPS and 3G, though it is a mPCIE card, so u need to put one of those on the board.
It may be easier though as you can modify the zpad roms for the gtab.

roguey said:
Another alternative is looking into the Ericson 3307G which the Zpad, uses for GPS. (Gps version)
The 3307G has GPS and 3G, though it is a mPCIE card, so u need to put one of those on the board.
It may be easier though as you can modify the zpad roms for the gtab.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For right now, I'm going to roll with the actual gps chip. I did put some though into installing the mPCIE slot but I'm hoping that the GPS is more just dropping in and hoping it works. The mPCIE slot seems like it would be tough to get working software side, but thats just my 2cents.

well apparently pershoot's kernel supports it (3g version anyway), its just the rom that needs the modifying.
Remember the Zpad and Gtab are basiclly the same thing, main thing missing from the Gtab is the pcie and Antenna.

Looks like a great project. I'll be following your progress.
I wanted to mention that the ferrite bead in your link is 22 olms not 300 you list in your post.

dhanifin said:
Looks like a great project. I'll be following your progress.
I wanted to mention that the ferrite bead in your link is 22 olms not 300 you list in your post.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good call on that one. Here is what the data sheet specifically says about the ferrite bead.
Code:
"A 300 ohm ferrite bead should be used to connect this line to the
RFIN line. This bead will prevent the RF from getting into the power supply, but
will allow the DC voltage onto the RF trace to feed into the antenna. A series
capacitor inside the module prevents this DC voltage from affecting the bias on
the module’s internal LNA.
Maintaining a 50 ohm path between the module and antenna is critical. Errors in
layout can significantly impact the module’s performance. Please review the
layout guidelines elsewhere in this guide carefully to become more familiar with
these considerations."
If you can do me a favor and try to find the proper ferrite bead to meet these specifications that would be great. I'll keep looking on my end.
The other reason that I had this ferrite bead was the user "vsc" recommended it in this post. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=12242377&postcount=54
Here is what he said:
Code:
2) The GPS receiver datasheet says for the ferrite bead, 300 ohms at 100 MHz. But every bead that meets that specification that I found also doesn't have good isolation at ~1.5 GHz (GPS band). As such I picked a different bead based upon my "good" judgement which will provide isolation between the antenna and LNA supply.

It looks like you are serious about this - but - are you PCB hardware and software engineer? After all the hardware prototype, you have to make the BIOS recognize and get the driver for this motherboard..etc...ouches - lots of work...
Unless you are into this to make the business on it - I would say "waste of time" (sorry - if offended to you). And I assum this could be your hobby to play around with electronic, pcb..etc...but if you are very good at EE/EEE and assembly language, Java - you are welcome to try on this
good luck!

fosser2 said:
The ferrite bead is also where I have run into problems. I do not know how to properly install one of these and I have no idea if there is even a spot on the board to do so. Any help in this area would also be appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The ferrite bead would be soldered onto the PCB at L11 (upper left on the first picture). It goes between pin 17 of the chip and the antenna connector.

rcjpth said:
It looks like you are serious about this - but - are you PCB hardware and software engineer? After all the hardware prototype, you have to make the BIOS recognize and get the driver for this motherboard..etc...ouches - lots of work...
Unless you are into this to make the business on it - I would say "waste of time" (sorry - if offended to you). And I assum this could be your hobby to play around with electronic, pcb..etc...but if you are very good at EE/EEE and assembly language, Java - you are welcome to try on this
good luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Currently I'm like 85% sure that the GPS support is built directly into the software. I have been directly talking to roebeet. He said that in his newest firmware "brilliant corners" that he deleted a script that checked to see if there was a gps chip installed and then enabled/disabled it accordingly.
Code:
With my Brilliant Corners update, I actually noticed a script that gets run and changes the library file, depending on the GPS installed.
So well I am still unsure about a number of things, I'm going to press my luck and continue with the project I will be ordering the parts tomm.

Here is a 300 Ohm ferrite bead that should work. It's the same package size as the original 22 Ohm one that was posted.
http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&name=445-2171-1-ND
-John

twistedrotors said:
Here is a 300 Ohm ferrite bead that should work. It's the same package size as the original 22 Ohm one that was posted.
http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&name=445-2171-1-ND
-John
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice job on that find. I'll most likely be using this one in the build.

fosser2 said:
Ok, I’ve been digging around recently and have been getting nowhere. From a bunch of emails and PM’s that took me a long time to write, I have gotten nothing back. So I am starting a new thread here.
I am in the process of finding info on the internal GPS module that the G-Pad is capable of having installed. I am willing to use my tablet as a demo to see if I can get it working! If it works, I will make a detailed thread on how to go about installing a GPS module into the G-Tablet. So speak up if you know your electronics please!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looking at the pictures, you reference U39. This looks like a BGA IC which is going to be a real PIA to solder, if possible at all. Normally, BGAs are placed on the solder paste with +/- 1mil tolerance using a pick and place machine, then baked with all of the other SMT parts with the board. And even then you get fallout from the BGA shifting during reflow and needs to be x-rayed for voids and shorts. i can only cringe at the prospect of doing this by hand, but i've seen it done before.
In our case, the board is already populated and the only way to solder on the BGA would be find a heat source with a isolated stream (read no generic heat guns) and a crap load of kapton tape to insulate and hold the other SMT parts around U39 down.
Furthermore, the GPS module IC also comes in a QFN package which is also a PIA to solder. Granted, its not a BGA and has no pins directly under the IC but it will take a skilled technician with a industrial grade soldering iron with temperature control.
I'm in no way trying to shoot this idea down. It certainly is do-able but it is a true project with no guaranteed outcome (parts soldered down correctly = GPS will work). I certainly would entertain trying this out and this gives me the perfect excuse to pry open my 2 wk old gtab. i have all of the necessary tools available at my company to do this properly and if its a matter of simply soldering down these parts to see what happens, i can do this.
let me do a little more research on the GPS module. hopefully, the viewsonic design engineers used a reference design straight from linx so we can figure out at least the GPS module schematics so we can understand what needs to be soldered where etc (and find out what U39 is - it says its a uP for micro processor but in our case it might be a serial NMEA converter).
stay tuned. from a practical risk vs reward scenario this isn't worth the time/effort. thankfully, i enjoy doing stuff like this and its the process that i enjoy, the outcome is simply icing on the cake.
sorry for the long post.

dzasta said:
Looking at the pictures, you reference U39. This looks like a BGA IC which is going to be a real PIA to solder, if possible at all. Normally, BGAs are placed on the solder paste with +/- 1mil tolerance using a pick and place machine, then baked with all of the other SMT parts with the board. And even then you get fallout from the BGA shifting during reflow and needs to be x-rayed for voids and shorts. i can only cringe at the prospect of doing this by hand, but i've seen it done before.
In our case, the board is already populated and the only way to solder on the BGA would be find a heat source with a isolated stream (read no generic heat guns) and a crap load of kapton tape to insulate and hold the other SMT parts around U39 down.
Furthermore, the GPS module IC also comes in a QFN package which is also a PIA to solder. Granted, its not a BGA and has no pins directly under the IC but it will take a skilled technician with a industrial grade soldering iron with temperature control.
I'm in no way trying to shoot this idea down. It certainly is do-able but it is a true project with no guaranteed outcome (parts soldered down correctly = GPS will work). I certainly would entertain trying this out and this gives me the perfect excuse to pry open my 2 wk old gtab. i have all of the necessary tools available at my company to do this properly and if its a matter of simply soldering down these parts to see what happens, i can do this.
let me do a little more research on the GPS module. hopefully, the viewsonic design engineers used a reference design straight from linx so we can figure out at least the GPS module schematics so we can understand what needs to be soldered where etc (and find out what U39 is - it says its a uP for micro processor but in our case it might be a serial NMEA converter).
stay tuned. from a practical risk vs reward scenario this isn't worth the time/effort. thankfully, i enjoy doing stuff like this and its the process that i enjoy, the outcome is simply icing on the cake.
sorry for the long post.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dang, I guess I didn't think much about what the U39 part was. I sure hope that its not the NEMA serial converter. That would blow the whole project. Let me know if you find any schematics for this part. Either way, the project is still happening Let me know what else you find. Your help is appreciated.

fosser2 said:
Dang, I guess I didn't think much about what the U39 part was. I sure hope that its not the NEMA serial converter. That would blow the whole project. Either way, its still happening Let me know what else you find. Your help is appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure why U39 was referenced. Were the GPS serial port pins, TXA (pin 4) and RXA (pin 5), traced to that location? Or was the original author of that diagram guessing about U39?
The GPS module spits out NMEA sentences on TXA in a "serial" format. IMO, I don't know why there would be a need for any sort of hardware converter.
I am concerned about the software side though. By default the GPS module outputs NMEA commands at 9,600bps, 8 data bits, no parity, and 1 stop bit. If the micro isn't setup to accept the messages at that rate then we will have an issue. There is a command to change the serial port settings but I guess we can cross that bridge if we come to it.
-John
Edit: Here's a link to the GPS modules datasheet directly from the Linx website. http://www.linxtechnologies.com/resources/data-guides/rxm-gps-sg.pdf The link provided on Digikeys site doesn't seem to work.

Warranty voided!
So I cracked open my Gtab because I wanted to see if there was power on the voltage regulator pads of the GPS power section. And there is! U29 has 4.94vdc on it's input pin and U22 has 3.29vdc. What's interesting is that these voltages are present even when the tablet is powered off.
U22 is the power supply that is tied to the GPS's backup battery supply pin. For U22 to always have power makes sense, it's providing the power that the GPS needs in order to keep it's memory and RTC going. This allows for faster Time to First Fix, according to the datasheet.
But U29 provides the main VCC supply voltage to the module on pin 12. If it's always on, then the module will always be powered up. I wonder what that will do to battery life. The module is designed to operate automatically in different power saving modes so the difference in battery life may be negligible.
-John
Edit: Next, I want to figure out what capacitors are needed for the regulators.

twistedrotors said:
Warranty voided!
So I cracked open my Gtab because I wanted to see if there was power on the voltage regulator pads of the GPS power section. And there is! U29 has 4.94vdc on it's input pin and U22 has 3.29vdc. What's interesting is that these voltages are present even when the tablet is powered off.
U22 is the power supply that is tied to the GPS's backup battery supply pin. For U22 to always have power makes sense, it's providing the power that the GPS needs in order to keep it's memory and RTC going. This allows for faster Time to First Fix, according to the datasheet.
But U29 provides the main VCC supply voltage to the module on pin 12. If it's always on, then the module will always be powered up. I wonder what that will do to battery life. The module is designed to operate automatically in different power saving modes so the difference in battery life may be negligible.
-John
Edit: Next, I want to figure out what capacitors are needed for the regulators.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Holy crap! this is some serious progress. I was not expecting this right now I'm really happy that there is power right beneath the gps but the thing that I am concerned about I guess is, is it worthwhile to try to rebuild the power supply circuit, or just run 3.3v from the mini PCI e. I guess I'm down for rebuilding the circuit because its the way it was initially intended to work.

fosser2 said:
Currently I'm like 85% sure that the GPS support is built directly into the software. I have been directly talking to roebeet. He said that in his newest firmware "brilliant corners" that he deleted a script that checked to see if there was a gps chip installed and then enabled/disabled it accordingly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
According to the TnT v1.1 kernel patch file from Viewsonic, enabling and disabling the GPS module (the comment in the driver mentions it is for a "MALATA_SMBA1102") is all that the kernel driver does. No code to anything beyond that. Are there any data lines connected from the GPS and where do they go on the gTablet board. Is it connected to an internal SDIO bus?--You can get GPS data that way.

[App Request] FM Radio transmit / full band receive

Hi all.... this is not your usual "I want to listen to FM on my otherwise unsupported ROM" request. What I'm requesting I think would be far more interesting, and if applied properly, could benefit many makes and models of phone. For that reason, maybe this belongs in an even more general forum, but I'm starting here because this is the phone I have and I don't know just how many other models use this same hardware.
I see that the HTC Doubleshot / T-Mobile MyTouch 4G Slide, along with several other phones, has a BCM4329-B1 radio chipset. This chip is reported in many places to be capable of not only FM Radio receive but also transmit. Unfortunately, that's as far as anyone goes with listing what it's capable of doing. Partly because of this (and partly because of search overload or maybe me not knowing what terms to use in my search), I can't find specs enough on the chip to know the full range of frequencies it receives. I have seen enough to imply that the same chip handles bluetooth, wifi, as well as FM broadcast band. Something as widespread as that might just be capable of extending receive capabilities outside of the usual broadcast band (for instance, maybe it can be used as a "police scanner" of sorts).
If nothing else, I think it would be fantastic to have an APK that can take MP3s or perhaps any kind of streaming media and retransmit it, low-power of course, to a nearby FM radio set to receive on the same frequency (much easier to get e.g. Pandora into every room in my house this way). I just figure if I'm going to ask for this I may as well ask for the world, right? Of course I don't expect a multiband ham radio to pop out of my phone, but if I could use it to maybe pick up a wireless microphone at 181 MHz, or act as a frequency meter (similar to WiFi Analyzer apk) for low-power transmitter troubleshooting, that would be phenomenal. Icing on the cake would be the ability to record what it receives, assuming it receives outside of band (record-to-file equals record-to-stream, here, meaning also record-and-serve-on-a-wifi-or-4G-link).
Any takers?
I wish I could offer time and skill but I just don't know enough about development nor does my life lend much in the way of free time for hobbies... I'm hopeful someone else has already thought of this.
Regards and TIA

cj chitwood said:
I'm hopeful someone else has already thought of this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a unique position on this, because it's a problem I run into consistently.
When i'm doing this and can't hear anything around me, and the camera gets no music when it records.
The only good way to deal with this without getting a noise disturbance violation at night is to use a couple of androids to sync all the music up - person(s) on camera has a device with headphones, sync up with the one playing music next to the camera.
There is no smooth way to handle that in random locations all over the place, way out of wifi range and possibly with no cell service as well.
There is no easy answer but there are ways of making it work. I'd write up a guide on how we do it now, but being down to only one device I can't run through it in front of me now, i'll have to wait until I see my friend again so we have two or 3 machines to use at once or I get my hands on another one (hopefully soon - this is my biggest aggravation with being temporarily down a device, no bluetooth or interacting with another device testing)
Since someone else in interested in the exact same issue here i'll take the time at some point to sit down and recap what worked or didn't work and link to the things that did. Have to be another day though, i'm pretty tired now and gonna catch some sleep soon.
Anyone else put effort into something like this?

Blue6IX said:
I have a unique position on this, because it's a problem I run into consistently.
When i'm doing this and can't hear anything around me, and the camera gets no music when it records.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ah HAH! I WONDERED what you had for a "day" job!
Joking aside though, I'm surprised out where there's no cell signal they worry about noise violations... Here, there's a time limit (15 minutes at a time with at least I think a 5 minute break IIRC) but you can make noise pretty much any time at night. Just don't wake the neighbors up and nobody complains
Thanks for posting your thoughts. I'm willing to test insomuch as it won't risk the device. I just don't know enough to program my own app for this...
...if it's even possible: a guy at work reminded me today that just as CPU manufacturers use the same chip designation to indicate a CPU with and without features like L2 cache, phone mfgrs like Samsung (he has a not-so-new Galaxy phone) have been known to use this same chip with the FM radio capabilities completely absent to the point that someone in the know actually removed the chip from his device, hooked it up on a bench, and was completely unable to get it to do anything FM radio related. It may be that while some iterations of the chip overall are capable of being made with transmit, that it's quite likely transmit itself was left out of the hardware itself.
I'd still like to see if it's possible. Maybe if the chip identifies itself in the OS, we can see how it does, and maybe it will hint at whether transmit was included or not.

Found this:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1042094
Which implies this was originally touched upon before the Evo... However, it also provides enough info as to say the only FM receive/transmit this chip will do OOB is FM broadcast band (76-108 MHz). Still, it can transmit...

Bump!!!!
That would be ill if you could transmit on FM band ...... anyone make any progress?
Although why not just stream via bluetooth? what would the advantage to transmitting on fm band be other than epic nerd street cred

Some_dude36 said:
Bump!!!!
That would be ill if you could transmit on FM band ...... anyone make any progress?
Although why not just stream via bluetooth? what would the advantage to transmitting on fm band be other than epic nerd street cred
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not all devices support a2dp
Sent from my RubiX ICS Infused using Tapatalk

Fm xmit might go farther, especially if the right antenna can be made.
Fm can be simultaneously received by multiple devices. Think here tv-out to a small portable projector showing the latest theatrical releases in full composite glory and stereo sound out of the viewers' battery operated headphone radios all while offering 4g data hotspot... :~/
Honestly, the real reason for me is the fm radios in the garage are louder than the portable computer speakers I've been playing Pandora through and I hate the dinky transmitter that came with my wife's ipod because it only does 4 stations high in the band. This would make that much easier (and I'm sure many others would find a use for this).
--
Sent from my Android ”phone”:
HTC DoubleShot /T-Mobile MyTouch 4G Slide running Bulletproof

FM Transmit:
I get asked this question regularly, and my response is generally: "Forget about it, almost no Android phones connect the FM Transmit pins anywhere useful".
But a few months ago a helpful person sent me an HTC FM transmit app. Apparently it was meant for the T-Mobile/HTC Mytouch 4G, and apparently that device is supposed to have the transmit pins connected.
I have no idea (yet) if that is true or if this also applies to the "Slide" variant.
I'm sure this will only work on ROMs that use the Broadcom proprietary Bluetooth stack and that have sufficient parts of Sense present. IE, a stock or stock derived ROM. It probably requires Froyo or GingerBread.
If anyone has or can load such a ROM and wants to try, and will commit to reporting their results, email me at mikereidis AT gmail.com and I'll send the APK.
Thanks...

mikereidis said:
FM Transmit:
...
But a few months ago a helpful person sent me an HTC FM transmit app. Apparently it was meant for the T-Mobile/HTC Mytouch 4G, and apparently that device is supposed to have the transmit pins connected.
I have no idea (yet) if that is true or if this also applies to the "Slide" variant.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had one tester who reported success, but on the non "Slide" version. Details and a link to the app are here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=31328070&postcount=4391

mikereidis said:
I had one tester who reported success, but on the non "Slide" version. Details and a link to the app are here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=31328070&postcount=4391
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I installed it on a stock sense rom on the MT4GS and the app loads, but when I press transmit it just stays on the "FM Transmitter turning on" so I'm guessing that means that it won't work...

marc12868 said:
I installed it on a stock sense rom on the MT4GS and the app loads, but when I press transmit it just stays on the "FM Transmitter turning on" so I'm guessing that means that it won't work...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for trying.
That's exactly what happens on my Desire HD and Desire Z running stock derived Gingerbread.
The success report for the non-slide phone was on Android 2.2.1. I don't know if 2.3.x is possible, but I'll find out when I get my myTouch 4G HD hopefully by the end of the week.
I expect to add a transmit test function to my FM app Spirit at some point, and it will then likely work on any ROM, though audio routing could be a challenge.

marc12868 said:
I installed it on a stock sense rom on the MT4GS and the app loads, but when I press transmit it just stays on the "FM Transmitter turning on" so I'm guessing that means that it won't work...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I get the same exact scenario myself. I even went to the extent of making sure I had some audio playing to make sure that it wasn't just the fact there was no audio and it might have been waiting for it. still no joy. It appears that the slide variant of the MyTouch 4G does indeed not have the Fm transmit pins connected. then again, I have not looked at my logs yet, so I do not know exactly what it has been doing.
--
Sent from my Bulletproof Swiss Army Doubleshot using the XDA app and stock voice to text.

Hope this lolcat helps
https://www.box.com/shared/6parlnbt3j3y6o5fgopq
--
Sent from my Bulletproof Swiss Army Doubleshot using the XDA app.

The logcat doesn't show any errors with executing the FM Transmitter app. What I can see is the FM Reciever gets activated on the logcat. I should say that FMTx & FMRx cannot be run in the same time.
1. So the error could be the FMTx got killed by the FMRx intentionally.
2. BCM4329 driver doesn't have the code to interact with the FMTx chipset.
If the mt4gs does indeed have FMTx on it's chipset then I'm sure it's working/connected on the board else we wouldn't have any FM Radio on our device.
Bluetooth, FMTx & FMRx is located in the same part of the chipset. One dies then all of them dies.
Now anybody here could link me to the stock kernel of the device which made this work? I could look at the bcm driver on that kernel and maybe I could hook it up on the mt4gs kernel to make it work.
---------- Post added at 11:51 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:23 AM ----------
Ok guys confirmed! Hardware should be capable of transmitting fm frequencies.
Looking at the data sheet FM Tx & Rx are bidirectional which means as long as FM Rx is working so will be Tx.
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"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
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}
Now the problems left would be the driver & the Hardware Abstraction Layer(HAL). Since we already have an FM Tx app.

LOLcat ?
Yes, the 4329 has TX inside, no problem, but I'm pretty sure it can only transmit or receive at one time, never simultaneously.
Every time I've looked at the internals of the Broadcom proprietary Bluetooth stack I've seen the transmit function, and HTCs implementation tends to include that, and their own mods.
The biggest issue should be whether or not the Transmit pins are connected to the headset. Heck, most of the phones with this chip don't even connect the receive antenna pins. (IE no FM radio whatsoever, grrr, what a waste.)
That said, I'm not quite sure why the TX app hangs on most phones, other than the plain myTouch 4G. There might be some difference and I hope to get to the bottom of it.
And eventually, I should be able to make Transmit work on any BCM4329 device with the transmit antenna pins wired, but there will likely be very few such devices.
And before anyone asks, it will likely be completely infeasible to make the hardware mod needed, same as for FM receive antenna pins.
I see 28 downloads of the FMTx app now.

mikereidis said:
LOLcat ?
Yes, the 4329 has TX inside, no problem, but I'm pretty sure it can only transmit or receive at one time, never simultaneously.
Every time I've looked at the internals of the Broadcom proprietary Bluetooth stack I've seen the transmit function, and HTCs implementation tends to include that, and their own mods.
The biggest issue should be whether or not the Transmit pins are connected to the headset. Heck, most of the phones with this chip don't even connect the receive antenna pins. (IE no FM radio whatsoever, grrr, what a waste.)
That said, I'm not quite sure why the TX app hangs on most phones, other than the plain myTouch 4G. There might be some difference and I hope to get to the bottom of it.
And eventually, I should be able to make Transmit work on any BCM4329 device with the transmit antenna pins wired, but there will likely be very few such devices.
And before anyone asks, it will likely be completely infeasible to make the hardware mod needed, same as for FM receive antenna pins.
I see 28 downloads of the FMTx app now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi! As I said if FMRx works then should be FMTx. So it's clear now that hardware wise FMTx should be fully working. Now software wise that I still don't know.
Regarding antenna I'm not quite sure if it's really necessary? You see I have a device here Nokia N900 which has a built in FMRx & FMTx feature which was really implemented by nokia. And I already dissassembled it alot of time to the point I know each and every part of it And I can activate it's FMTx without the need of a headset. I just need to play the music player select the Transmit FM option and select the frequency I want then I can channel the music to any radio reciever 1 to 2 meters away from me without the need of an antenna.
http://wiki.maemo.org/N900_Hardware_FM_Radio_Transmitter

Riyal said:
Hi! As I said if FMRx works then should be FMTx. So it's clear now that hardware wise FMTx should be fully working. Now software wise that I still don't know.
Regarding antenna I'm not quite sure if it's really necessary? You see I have a device here Nokia N900 which has a built in FMRx & FMTx feature which was really implemented by nokia. And I already dissassembled it alot of time to the point I know each and every part of it And I can activate it's FMTx without the need of a headset. I just need to play the music player select the Transmit FM option and select the frequency I want then I can channel the music to any radio reciever 1 to 2 meters away from me without the need of an antenna.
http://wiki.maemo.org/N900_Hardware_FM_Radio_Transmitter
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, the CHIP has all the hardware needed. But the most important "hardware part" is the connection of something to the FM Tx antenna pin. Even if the pins aren't grounded (Which tends to kill all chance) and left floating, the chips are inside "RF shields" will just about kills any chance of reception/transmission.
Every radio receiver or transmitter MUST have an antenna. On some devices it may be internal and you don't see it, but it's definitely there. On old AM radios internal antennas were a LONG piece of wire wrapped around a bar (ferrite?).
In some cases, an antenna is just circuit board traces. For high frequencies, such as cell or GPS or Bt/WiFi only very small antennas are needed. For lower frequencies, like FM around 100 MHz, the best antennas are roughly the length of headset cables.
This could possibly be coiled and wrapped around something and hidden inside the phone. But it's there, no way around needing an antenna.
I have some phones that do remarkably well with no wired headset for an antenna. But an "antenna" of sorts is still there, even if it's only several millimetres to centimetres of circuit board traces meant to connect the antenna pins on the chip to the headset.

Yeah, LOLcat. when you go into command prompt, "adb lolcat" is the same as "adb logcat". Apparently, the team at Google said "logcat" so often and so fast it sounded like "lolcat" to them.
Mikereidis is correct, you do need an antenna, even if it's hidden. Otherwise you have extremely high standing wave ratio (SWR) that will eventually fry your transmit amplifier. This is basic radio theory at play, that one learns when becoming FCC licensed radio operators like General Radiotelephone Operator or Amateur Radio Operator (I'm the latter of these, KE4EDD, though I haven't picked up a transceiver in about a decade).
Like he said, it's not as critical at higher frequencies because wavelength (and therefore necessary antenna length) is shorter and can be hidden inside the device (take the cover off your MT4GS and you'll see three separate antennae all up around the camera lens -- they're just thin sheets of metal on this phone).
Still, the pinout of the chip itself is important. This I know nothing of as I haven't seen it. either way, if the spec sheet says Rx and Tx work on the same connections (e.g., they both require the same pins to be "high" in order to physically activate either mode) then all we need is to get the HAL and driver set up. I know nothing of this as well. Wish I could help. All I can do is offer my phone's lolcat services.
On that note, I received a <sisa:###:##:#::#> text message this morning, appears that it's a T-mo thing, that T-mo is trying to update my phone (which is running a custom ROM), and now my digitizer doesn't work, so I may need to hold off on even the lolcat until I get it fixed.

cj chitwood said:
"adb lolcat" is the same as "adb logcat". Apparently, the team at Google said "logcat" so often and so fast it sounded like "lolcat" to them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Learn something new every day. But I think it was more a joke about the very popular meme than mis-hearing: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lolcat
cj chitwood said:
you do need an antenna, even if it's hidden. Otherwise you have extremely high standing wave ratio (SWR) that will eventually fry your transmit amplifier. This is basic radio theory at play, that one learns when becoming FCC licensed radio operators like General Radiotelephone Operator or Amateur Radio Operator
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know the theory, but I've never believed that low power, under 100 mw transmitters get damaged too often. But I imagine a final output transistor on a chip can't take as much abuse as an external one.
cj chitwood said:
Still, the pinout of the chip itself is important. This I know nothing of as I haven't seen it. either way, if the spec sheet says Rx and Tx work on the same connections (e.g., they both require the same pins to be "high" in order to physically activate either mode) then all we need is to get the HAL and driver set up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Documents about these chips are "very secret". I can't even find much on Chinese sites that specialise in proprietary documents. The official vague block diagrams can't be trusted either.
But if the transmit and receive pins were the same pins, I'm pretty sure we would have achieved FM transmit long ago on the most popular Broadcom chips, on devices that support receive. That said, I think the much rarer Qualcomm Tavarua chips use the same pins, and there are no transmit reports on them.
I've looked at schematics of some phones, and I've seen FM antenna pins specifically labelled as "Rx", so that's another clue in favor of the idea that Rx and Tx pins are different. This might also be easier to achieve on the chip.
I wonder too if it's easier to achieve FCC etc certification if the hardware design specifically makes FM transmit impossible.

I'm certain it is easier to achieve, as long as they can certify to the FCC that no more than so many milliwatts will be pushed out. Then again, with as many transmitters as there are that are available to the public, it can't be that hard to do.
We keep talking about Tx and Rx pins. In my limited experience with chips, I'm wondering if these are antenna pins, or activation pins. I also wouldn't be surprised if it was that some chips have a mode select pin (high is one mode, low is another) that could be labeled both as Tx and Rx, and each mode requires a separate other pin to have a certain voltage on it to provide power for that section of the chip. Alternatively, to have two mode select pins, again whichever one is hot selects the mode, and the third pin provides power for both modes, and thus is labeled Tx Rx even if the mode select pin isn't attached.
Either way, if pinouts are so secretive about this, it's pointless to discuss pins because they literally could be anything. I think however that you having seen the innards and/or schematics of these devices means that you would know more than I as I have yet to even crack mine open
Oh and the lolcat thing... no, you really can type "adb lolcat" in command prompt and it runs a logcat. The explanation for this was literally that they said "logcat" so fast it sounded like "lolcat". I am fully aware of the meme, http://icanhascheezburger.com and have forwarded quite a few on to the wife even.

[R&D] Turbo JTAG / EMMC / Direct Hardware Access

Update:
Dev edition of the Turbo has the two pads by the volume buttons uncovered! These MUST be jtag. They ARE POPULATED AND CONNECTED TO THE CPU AND QUALCOMM CHIP!! Top pad to CPU, bottom pad to Qualcomm chipWe NEED someone to please run a JTAG pinout finder tool, or do it manually as I do not have a functional board.
Possible SD-Card by power button. Appears populated and is still connected to cpu (Its actually the power button found on the dev edition of the device, but due to to many pins it may also incorporate sdcard pins?)
Direct access to EMMC not possible due to direct connection to cpu via trace inside the board. (no exposed traces)
(Direct access still possible by installing insert between EMMC and board with necessary traces exposed on insert, with switches to disable connection to board if needed)
Lets identify all relevant chips and pinout plus possible jtag locations! I already did the dirty work and stripped down the Turbo nekkid.
There are two sets of unused connections on the right in this picture. The two sets of pads next to the volume down button are VERY interesting. The top one has 1 ground, and like 13 of the remaining pins go DIRECTLY to the cpu... What feature are we missing? The bottom one goes to the Qualcomm chip with about 6 pins going directly to the chip! (Top layer to the SOC processor has already been removed):
{
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"lightbox_next": "Next",
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"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
(Actually looks like cpu die type of chip) This is covered in black epoxy. I've removed the top layer. The eight pads on the left actually had SMD's on them so ignore that, but the eight on the right were blank.. Not sure what they are for. Probably nothing but unpopulated SMD's (will check if exposed pads connect to our mystery chip. :
Qualcomm MDM9625M LTE Modem (Same as Nexus 6)
Top left (partly cut off in the picture)
RF Micro Devices RF7389EU F14NRC2 Envelope Tracking IC (Power Amplifier Module) (GPS) (Same as Nexus 6)
https://chipworks.secure.force.com/catalog/ProductDetails?sku=RFA-RF7389EU&viewState=DetailView&cartID=&g=
Bottom left chip
Texas Instruments TMS320C55 Digital Signal Processor
Here is our storage chip (This is the 32gb version)
SanDisk SDIN9DW4-32G 32 GB eMMC NAND Flash (Same as Nexus 6):
Here is a link to my whole album with a few more photos
Turbo Tear Down

Reserve

Reserve#3

Reserve#4

Not to rain on your parade, but am 96% positive that even if you find the correct location for jtag, it won't work because it has been permenently disabled by blown fuses. 'Cuz that's just how Motorola rolls...

r3pwn said:
Not to rain on your parade, but am 96% positive that even if you find the correct location for jtag, it won't work because it has been permenently disabled by blown fuses. 'Cuz that's just how Motorola rolls...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What about direct access to the storage/flash chip?

SaschaElble said:
What about direct access to the storage/flash chip?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dunno, I'm not a hardware guy. :/

It's rather common in recent years for OEMs to not even tie the JTAG pins to pads or traces at all. Most useful JTAG taps like ARM-RPM/ARM7 are locked down, along with the DAP. They've also got a tricky JRC to get past, with zero documentation or BSDL. You're best bet is eMMC. You'd need to find a schematic, or remove your chip and use a multimeter/scope to figure out what is what. eMMC access is moderately realistic given you have a box that can handle 1.8v/3.3v Vcc and Vccq. You'll also need to connect DAT0, CMD, CLK, and GND.

Found some info on the 16gb version used in an LG phone
Now i need to overlay the scematics to my board and see if we can tap into it with minimal modifications.. please chime in with info/experiance?
SDIN9DW4-16G-974 16GBYTE 2.7V T0 3.6V
1 1 .5x1 3.0x1 .0 TR 1 53P MLC NAND FBGA 1 6GB eMMC v5.0 (1ynm 64Gb MLC x 2, 11.5x13.0x1.0)

Ive removed the emmc and see clear traces to componants surrounding the chip. Can make it easier to connect to the chip without removing it. Will post traces via pic soon.

Even if we can modify the EMMC contents, will that help us unlock the bootloader? If I remember correctly (and I could be wrong), the initial stage bootloader is burned into the processor and it hashes/verifies all subsequent bootloaders on moto phones (I haven't seen anything turbo specific). What we really need to do is burn q-fuses.
I really don't want to rain on your parade, I'm just wondering what the end goal is. I also have a fair amount of hobbyist level hardware experience that I can donate if needed.

What I would really like to see is if there may have originally been plans to add a micro SD card slot. Any signs of unused traces that could have been used for a card slot? Or a possible hack that could add one?
Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

PittAussie said:
What I would really like to see is if there may have originally been plans to add a micro SD card slot. Any signs of unused traces that could have been used for a card slot? Or a possible hack that could add one?
Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well if you look by the power button there is an unused set of pads with extra large pads and each side used for structural support for a connector of sorts...

Yep that almost certainly looks like pads for a micro SD slot. It also looks like the other components are there too, though it is a bit hard to tell in that pic. So long as support for it is still in the firmware it should be possible to do a hack.
Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

daweim0 said:
Even if we can modify the EMMC contents, will that help us unlock the bootloader? If I remember correctly (and I could be wrong), the initial stage bootloader is burned into the processor and it hashes/verifies all subsequent bootloaders on moto phones (I haven't seen anything turbo specific). What we really need to do is burn q-fuses.
I really don't want to rain on your parade, I'm just wondering what the end goal is. I also have a fair amount of hobbyist level hardware experience that I can donate if needed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, but this gives us the ability for 5.1 users to root their phone. Maybe even downgrade... Or maybe trick wp.
Or how about to give brave developers a way to mess with protected portions of their phone and unbrick if QH_loader doesnt show.
A custom ramdisk would enable true system root.

PittAussie said:
Yep that almost certainly looks like pads for a micro SD slot. It also looks like the other components are there too, though it is a bit hard to tell in that pic. So long as support for it is still in the firmware it should be possible to do a hack.
Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So tracing the emmc I found data0 goes directly to the CPU so no way to tap into that,
BUT
Good news that pad next to the power button directly traces to the CPU so it is VERY likely it the sdcard slot!
Can someone find us a pinout of the snapdragon 805 processor? APQ8084
ALSO: The two sets of pads next to the volume down button are VERY interesting. The top one has 1 ground, and like 13 of the remaining pins go DIRECTLY to the cpu... What feature are we missing? The bottom one goes to the Qualcomm chip with about 6 pins going directly to the chip!

So what if we install our own sdcard and attempt at booting from it when the phone is in a bricked state? Will it default to the external SD Card as a backup bootloader? If so we can dd the bootloader onto the sdcard. And that works we can see if the external backup boot is protected by modifying it...

SaschaElble said:
So tracing the emmc I found data0 goes directly to the CPU so no way to tap into that,
BUT
Good news that pad next to the power button directly traces to the CPU so it is VERY likely it the sdcard slot!
Can someone find us a pinout of the snapdragon 805 processor? APQ8084
ALSO: The two sets of pads next to the volume down button are VERY interesting. The top one has 1 ground, and like 13 of the remaining pins go DIRECTLY to the cpu... What feature are we missing? The bottom one goes to the Qualcomm chip with about 6 pins going directly to the chip!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Qualcomm's schematics are extremely proprietary and controlled. You will need to have a licensing agreement or NDA with them in order to even discuss the possibility.
SaschaElble said:
So what if we install our own sdcard and attempt at booting from it when the phone is in a bricked state? Will it default to the external SD Card as a backup bootloader? If so we can dd the bootloader onto the sdcard. And that works we can see if the external backup boot is protected by modifying it...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Typically, in my experience, I've seen Qualcomm have a resistor for booting into QHSUSB_BULK/USB boot mode. This process follows the SDC1/SDC3 convention, meaning that it attempts to boot from eMMC first, and if it fails it will boot from external MicroSD. This is entirely dependent on the hardware QFPROM (eFuse) configuration.

So the white "smd" in picture two is actually a processor of sorts... It actually looks like a cpu die when broken apart. It appears to have either 4 or 6 pins... Really wonder what it is. Maybe its a UV wipe-able CMOS kind of chip? And thats why its covered in that black epoxy?

SaschaElble said:
So the white "smd" in picture two is actually a processor of sorts... It actually looks like a cpu die when broken apart. It appears to have either 4 or 6 pins... Really wonder what it is. Maybe its a UV wipe-able CMOS kind of chip? And thats why its covered in that black epoxy?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where to the lines for the pins go?
If it is a writable chip, I would take a guess that some of the wires go to those pads above for programming.
---------- Post added at 11:37 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:50 AM ----------
SaschaElble said:
So what if we install our own sdcard and attempt at booting from it when the phone is in a bricked state? Will it default to the external SD Card as a backup bootloader? If so we can dd the bootloader onto the sdcard. And that works we can see if the external backup boot is protected by modifying it...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, bad news. It's not for a Micro SD card. It is actually a connector for the power button on the prototype that used to be where the Motorola logo is. See below:
http://www.droidforums.net/threads/motorola-droid-turbo-prototype-xt1254.280312/
Why they need that many pins for a power button though is beyond me. Maybe it was also a directional button, not just a power button.
Also those two pads near the volume down button were for 2 more connectors, but their use is unknown.

[Q]Samsung Galaxy S7 power without battery

Not sure if I should post this as a question or create some sort of project thread, but I do have a few questions at the end, so I'll put it here for now.
I have an old Samsung Galaxy S7 (SM-G930V), and have started working on constructing something that will allow me to power it without a battery. I have a multimeter and I'm not afraid to use it!
I have gone through some previous threads I could find on a similar subject such as:
[Q] how to run a phone without battery only by connecting charger
[ Guide ] power Samsung phone without battery
First of all a bit of background. (You can skip this paragraph if TLDR) Since my Galaxy S5, I have used my phone constantly during the day to play a semi-graphics-intensive mobile game, which much of the time is spent idling with the game on and the phone laying on my desk. I have been playing it literally every day since. Years ago my S5's battery swelled up, and I was ready to upgrade anyway on my Verizon plan so I got an S7. It lasted for roughly 1.5 years until last week when I noticed the screen and back were swollen. It had started to bow out the front screen and rear glass, and peel them away from the phone. The screen still worked normally however. Anyway, a few days ago I upgraded to the Galaxy S9 (Yea I know I'm falling right into their planned obsolescence scheme ). So I would like to turn my S7 into a stationary gaming device to play this game and not burn out the battery on my new phone like I did to these last 2. (I have tried Bluestacks in the past but this game requires a lot of scrolling through menus of gear, heros, levels, etc, and the scrolling on Bluestacks was abysmal using the mousewheel or dragging across the screen with the mouse pointer.) I believe leaving them plugged in to the charger while constantly running this game likely caused the battery failure early. Also, I would rather not try this on my Galaxy S5, since the battery can be replaced easily, I can still use it as a replacement phone if needed, and it would not run the game very well anymore.
Anyway, on to the start of the project! Unlike my S5, the S7 does not have an easily removable battery, so I followed this guide mostly to remove the battery. I did not have any of the fancy heat stuff, but with the back already half popped off from the swollen battery, I was almost able to completely remove it with a screwdriver, but then it shattered on the last corner and sent flakes of glass flying everywhere.... well, I got the rest of the guide completed and the components/battery removed. Here is what I'm left with:
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First I tried the obvious test, and plugged the S7 into its usual charger. The battery charging icon flashes briefly on the screen, then goes blank for a few seconds, and repeats this pattern. If i push the power button like normal to turn on the phone, the Samsung startup screen flashes briefly on the screen and off again, and it resumes the flashing battery screen behavior. So I purchased a variable voltage adapter from Amazon to try to use for powering directly to the battery terminals inside the phone. I can move the slider to change voltage quite precisely according to my multimeter (unfortunately there isn't any display to see on the power supply itself), and since the battery is labled 3.85-4.4V, I've got it tuned to about 4.35V currently. The amperage reading at this setting shows 3.45A. So I can tell the lower voltage the slider is set to, the higher the amperage reading is. This should be plenty of power, and get around the issue most of the articles I found had where they tried to re-purpose USB connectors, which only put off about 500mA.
Now the first problem I have run into, is the connector on the S7's board for the battery is tiny! I'm going to label the pins now with my terrible paint skills for the multimeter resistance test later:
I have a soldering iron, but its a relatively large old thing and I wouldn't trust it for any thing more precise than 2mm. I've only used it in the past for large speaker wiring and such. I'm thinking about ripping the wiring assembly off of the top of this old battery, and seeing if something in it is more accessible to my soldering. But I'm hesitant for two reasons. First, its quite bloated, and I worry about it exploding if I rip off the wrong part... Second, the battery still works for the most part, and its the only way I have of powering up the phone currently to make sure the phone still works.
Here are my resistance readings on the pinouts so far in Ohms:
A to E = 1 (Must be same pin, will refer as AE from here)
D to H = 1 (Must be same pin, will refer as DH from here)
AE to B = Nothing
AE to C = 595
AE to DH = 630
AE to F = 260
AE to G = Nothing
DH to B = Nothing
DH to C = 880
DH to F = 1012
DH to G = Nothing
B C F G = Nothing in any combination
I came across this site in my searches that may answer some questions if it is accurate. But its written in very bad English so I cant understand most of it. Here is the diagram from the site:
The diagram seems to indicate my AE pins are ground, DH are +, C is the battery sensor, and F is something else. They mention BSI is very important, not sure what that is.
So my first few questions are:
1. Is this circuit board pinout accurate? Or is there a more official one available for this little battery port so I know what pin is what?
2. I've read some phones will shut off anyway under these methods unless a resistor is connected to one of the other pins besides + or -, once question 1 is answered, anyone know what resistance is required based on my readings, and what pin to connect?
3. Any advice on how to wire up the connector physically?
Thanks for reading, hope we can learn and figure some stuff out!

AYBFunkyMonkey said:
Not sure if I should post this as a question or create some sort of project thread, but I do have a few questions at the end, so I'll put it here for now...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't have this device but, the following area of the forum is specific to your device.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s7
The following is the Q&A thread that's specific to your device too.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3341138
Good Luck!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I DO NOT provide support via PM unless asked/requested by myself. PLEASE keep it in the threads where everyone can share.

Ibuprophen said:
I don't have this device but, the following area of the forum is specific to your device.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s7
The following is the Q&A thread that's specific to your device too.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3341138
Good Luck!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I DO NOT provide support via PM unless asked/requested by myself. PLEASE keep it in the threads where everyone can share.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Doh... my bad, didn't even realize there were device specific forums. Is there any way I can get my topic moved, or should I just repost over there?

AYBFunkyMonkey said:
Doh... my bad, didn't even realize there were device specific forums. Is there any way I can get my topic moved, or should I just repost over there?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is simple...
The following steps are the best way to have a thread moved by a Moderator (and they prefer to be asked by the specific member who opened the thread... that's you).
1) On the first post, select the bottom left triangle (reporting a post).
2) When the next page loads, select the reason on drop down section (at the bottom left of the text area), then select the one that states "Thread/post moving or maintenance".
3) Since this is a simple move, just type the reason within the text area. Something simple like "Can you please move this thread to the, more appropriate, " https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s7/help" area of the forum. (you can also tell them that "Ibuprophen is awesome!" LOL!).
4) Finally, select the "Send report" and you'll then be taken back to your thread.
Your all set!
The report is then listed on cue for a Moderator. It typically takes anywhere from 10 min to a day or two. The Moderators are very good and are pretty much on top of things.
Reporting a thread isn't intended as a bad thing. It just elevates having to send call-outs and PM's to a bunch of Moderators till one is available.
You've now graduated from the "Moving a thread 101" course! LMAO!!!
Good Luck!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I DO NOT provide support via PM unless asked/requested by myself. PLEASE keep it in the threads where everyone can share.

So I've been trying to figure out a way to test the phone with AC power before I make any permanent changes, such as removing the top of the battery. I need something like small alligator clips to grab onto the edges of the battery port on the board. Searching places like Amazon, the smallest I can find are 1" alligator clips, which I already have. They are too large to reliably grab the correct pins, and they feel too strong as well, I worry about cracking the small plastic piece. I need something that functions similar to an alligator clip, but due to the size of this port and how close the pins are together, it would need to be extremely small, like 0.5mm wide or so. Anybody know what type of connector would work for this?

If you're looking for a USB Pinout, I just attached a Standard Samsung USB Pinout that should coincide with your S7 as well.
Good Luck!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I DO NOT provide support via PM unless asked/requested by myself. PLEASE keep it in the threads where everyone can share.

Ibuprophen said:
If you're looking for a USB Pinout, I just attached a Standard Samsung USB Pinout that should coincide with your S7 as well.
View attachment 4531678
Good Luck!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I DO NOT provide support via PM unless asked/requested by myself. PLEASE keep it in the threads where everyone can share.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately, I believe a USB connection would be too low amperage for powering the phone while running 3D games, which is why I'm attempting to use that variable power supply instead.