Macro photo of the Amazon Fire 2015 motherboard - Fire General

As it's easy to open without damage and I didn't found proper ones yet, here are my photos of the board (minus the two QR-Code Serial numbers)
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I just added wireless charging, by connecting the following item to the GND and VCHG spots on the mainboard.
It's very thin, and there's enough space inside so that when you close the back there's nothing apparently unusual.

That require soldering?

Yes, the gnd is easy, the vchg needs a steady hand but no specialized equipment.

I wonder if it´s possible to extend the wifi-antenna,
is there anythink like that attached that could be optimized?

I think so, yes, see the BT & Wifi spring connector on the top right of the mainboard, they make contact to pins on the back cover. I think you can easily re-route them to a better antenna. Although I have no idea about the geometry of the actual antenna emebebed into the back cover.

There is a lot of space there. What? A 2980mah battery? Can I replace the mono speaker with another one?

Thanks! Could you also take a picture of the back of the motherboard?

There's indeed a lot of space, and you could replace the speaker easily, the only challenge is finding a better one and I have no experience in that area.
EDIT 1 :
I desoldered the speaker, unhooked the back camera and LCD flat flex to try to flip the mainboard (removing 5 screws), but there's still a flex retaining it. i don't want to force it. but I was able to see the back of the mainboard and apart from the front-facing camera and a few passive components, there's really nothing there.
I took photos of the chip on the top left with the sticky kapton peeled :
It's labeled SSD6250QN4-N527DU
I also took a bicture of the back cover
Notice the NFC tag on the bottom and the BT/Wifi antenna connector on the top.
And the baord with the wireless Qi charger soldered

The SSD6250 is a Capacitive Touch Panel Controller made by Solomon Systech

Qi reciever
Is there any link to buy this Qi reciever?
I took a little research on Amazon but i couldn't find it.

The link is provided a few posts before yours (click on the picture), I bought it from DealExtreme in China (crazy low price, so-so quality and death-slow logistics).

Buy it from anywhere except DealExtreme. They use to be a good store years ago but not anymore. Items you purchase from them may take literally months to even ship. These Qi receivers are available from many places. Try ebay, fasttech, banggood.

does that wireless charging mod still have overcharge protection?

Yes, as it goes directly to the USB connector. It benefits from the same protection as a charge by USB.

Thanks for the photos! Can you get a closer shot of the areas soldered for the qi wireless pad connections?

Sure :
GND can be soldered to almost any golden pad. The photo shows the black wire soldered to the pad, adn the red wire (underneath) shrink-wraped to my purple extension lead that goes to VCHG
The pads are small but not too small (about 1mm) the bodged soldering job comes from the fact that I Soldered/desoldered multple times to make those photos. You can see that we also have access to what seems to be the differient data pair of the USB connector.

How much does the Qi receiver seem to press against the back cover? Was there any actual extra space between the back cover and the battery before adding the Qi receiver? I don't have a fire7 yet so I don't know if there is any give when pressing on the back cover (on a stock fire7) indicating space between cover and battery.
Wondering if it would be worth it to separate the Qi receiver electronics from the coil. Place the coil on the battery & the electronics in the empty space below the battery. They sell a Qi receiver coil (no electronics) for the LG G3 which has flat leads. Ebay link
(the outer coil is nfc)

There's no real empty space, but the Qi receiver I use is really thin (1mm at most). If I didn't knew, I wouldn't notice the small bulge that you can feel when everything is closed. The coil is definitely the thicker part of the Qi receiver on mine, so there would be no benefit for me to separate it. But again everything works happily in it's current form. This receiver is designed to be tightly sandwiched after all. Your LG G3 coil seems especially thin, but as you said it's incomplete, and I don't know about thin Qi managment only board (but in this day an age, I won't doubt you can found one). The other thing to consider is the output power it's able to give. Mine is rated 5Vx1A (although that's a chinese rating, I won't bet my life on it) and it is enough to recharge the Fire (it's detected as charging, it does charge, but I never compared it to a wired charger).

Since there is dead space below the battery in the fire7 I'd just use the receiver electronics from any standard receiver, switching the included coil for the thin LG G3 coil. Place the electronics below the battery and connect to the thin LG G3 coil which could be placed on top of the battery. The efficiency of the thin coil is unknown tho.
Total cost would be ~ $4. A standard Qi receiver is $2 - 3 on ebay & the thin LG G3 coil is $2.

Related

DYI OTG USB cable (wow the acronyms) [no soldering required]

So, everyone knows that 3.1 is great for USB hosting things like mice, hard drives, flash drives, etc, etc, etc... And most people know that you can make a OTG cable out of an old data cord and some assorted parts, with soldering. My point in posting this is to show that there is no soldering needed, thus maybe some people who can't/don't want to solder can make an OTG cable. (Use electrical tape)
So, starting with a usb data, split open the micro-usb adapter head with a razor or knife, and keep peeling back the layers until all you have left is the trapezoidal male adapter and five prongs, a red, black, white, green and blank. There is a seam that is bisecting the plug, and it is the easiest way to cut it open. Work off the plastic cover and I would advise you to strip the first few inches of the actual cable aswell, then you can get to work.
You're going to need some kind of female full size usb plug to cannibalize, like of an old device with usb. (I tore one off a very old tower.) hold on to this for later.
Start by cutting the full size usb off the wire, and then cut about six inches of the data cable off and seperate the wires so that you can use one in the next step. Now strip the end of the main wire so that all four wires have about 1cm of exposed wire. take the usb port, and on the back, there will be four leads. the order is red, white, green, black. (When looking at the plug with the larger blank space below the smaller blank space in the plug.)
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Attach the wire that corresponds to each spot. Normally, this would be done with solder, but electrical tape works just as well. Simply use narrow, long strips of electrical tape to secure each wire to the leads, thus isolating each lead and making the system work. Don't be shy about using the tape, the more you use (reasonably), the more secure the system will be. This is a tedious process, but still it is easy enough to do.
Now for the part that tells the Xoom to be in host mode. Choose one wire from the six inches of wire you cut off, and strip both ends of it. strip the middle of the black wire (on your about to be OTG cable) around two inches from the micro usb head, and attach the second wire (that's six or so inches long) to it. Then, find the fifth, unused lead on the micro-usb assembly, and carefully attach the other end of the wire. This will take a bit of effort to orient it correctly, but once secure, again use strips of electrical tape to secure it and isolate it. When attaching the wires, use electrical tape cut into thin, long strips and work carefully to ensure that the wires you are attaching do not short out with any other contacts. This whole process may take a while.
If you can't locate the fifth port, then use the wire you are attaching to black to contact possible leads with a mouse attached, and if you find the right one, it will bring up a cursor.
As a final step, I wrapped mine up in duct table to make it stronger so that it will last and I can pack it along with me.
These are just my two cents I wanted to share, hopefully helping someone.
Final product:
short pin 1 to 5 and you'll damage your usb port. I guarantee the repair will easily exceed the $8 cost of an ebay otg cable.
Just be careful...
Sent from my Xoom using XDA Premium App
That's one sexy cable......hehe
wtf is that... smh
Cool pic....was that 19 dollars worth of duck tape? ...
I wish I had gone this route instead of buying one. Although I definitely would have used a little solder instead of over 9000 rolls of duct tape. I have to say yours looks epic, though.

Looking for low profile microusb connector

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Basically, I'm looking for something like the connector on the left. That's a Powerskin, http://www.power-skin.com/sensation-battery-case.php
I ordered a few different connectors, and they're all about the same as the one pictured on the right. Notice it protrudes around twice as much as the Powerskin one.
It would be ideal if the cord could exit the connector pointed up, like in this picture:
Not too picky about that part though.. And when it comes down to it, I'd probably end up having to buy the connector and solder on a "cord" myself.
Basically, I'm looking for something that left on the phone fulltime, and fit within a conventional silicone/tpu/etc case. Specifically, I'm working with the Nexus 4, which has the microusb port on the bottom, turned 180' from what you'd expect. I'm hoping to be solder on a flat ribbon cable that could wrap around to the back of the phone where it'd be connected to say a battery or microsd adapter.
Thanks
Same
Looking for the same fix
RE: Looking for micro-usb connector
I have a couple ideas that might help.
First Idea --
If I understand what you want correctly, then perhaps the full-size USB to micro-USB cable from Verizon would be a possibility.
I picked up mine at a plain-jane Verizon store. It was around $20, if I remember right. I use it all the time.
I've run into cables that resemble micro-usb, but are much thicker, and don't fit the very tight space in the Droid4 I have.
For a right angle turn, you may need to disassemble the two plastic shells that encase the wire and connector, and turn them 90 degrees. You'll want a good Exacto-knife, probably a vise to clamp it, and *patience*. It's possible that its plastic shells are glued together, in which case I would try alcohol, then acetone, as solvents. Go real easy with the acetone, you don't want the connector's internal plastic to melt!
Let me know if you'd like a picture of my cable to see if it's what you need.
Second idea:
You may be able to pick up something like this over at Radio Shack; they have a surprising amount of power supplies for a whole lot of things. You'll have to strip it down to get to the inner pins, depending on how it's wired. Also try their website; they have a bunch of stuff there which any dealer can order in.
I hope this helps,
Dave
Hi,
I'm bumping this thread because I'm also looking for the same very low profile micro usb connector. All the standard connectors apply too much stress on the plug.
The best I could find are these:
http://forums.androidcentral.com/go...its-perfectly-nexus-7-32gb-2.html#post2720135
available here:
http://www.amazon.com/Paulm-Micro-U...614&sr=1-1&keywords=Micro+USB+Specialty+Cable
But It's still bigger than the the powerskin angled one.
Redge
I have been looking for the same thing. I need a micro usb with low profile so that I could use it in my tablet while its in my keyboard case.
I did found myself an OTG angled adapter that was the best option I could find at the time, but I think it still builds almost 15mm outside the bottom of the tablet. The Bobjgear looks a bit better, but I still think it should be possible to make them much smaller..
Edit: I just ordered this one from ebay. Not as low profile as I could wish, but better than the one I have now.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/261206091237
Years later, it looks like there's finally something on the market that can be used. See this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/zen...ion-thread-t3113608/post61193339#post61193339
Stolen picture:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HI8JYFE
Unfortunately, some of the pictures show it only having the power leads (would be enough for 500ma usb charging but not good enough for use as an actual usb cable).
One of the pictures does show it having all the pins though.
There are higher ma versions which would suggest that it might have the data leads (or it's just shorted directly in the plug itself which would again be useless)
It's 4 months too late probably. For anyone else looking for a solution simply search AliExpress.com for "micro usb right angle plug", stick with free shipping/+95% Approval stores and you'll be fine.
ziddey said:
Years later, it looks like there's finally something on the market that can be used. See this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/zen...ion-thread-t3113608/post61193339#post61193339
Stolen picture:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HI8JYFE
Unfortunately, some of the pictures show it only having the power leads (would be enough for 500ma usb charging but not good enough for use as an actual usb cable).
One of the pictures does show it having all the pins though.
There are higher ma versions which would suggest that it might have the data leads (or it's just shorted directly in the plug itself which would again be useless)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm still looking for cable like this that is USB A to micro USB B, having a hell of a time finding one...
Also looking for a charging cable like the picture above ..
I guess only thing to do is order one of those QI coils and cut off the connector part ...
I found them, took me forever, but I ordered a bunch of these online from a company in the US, got them 2 days later in the mail...
I would post the link, but it wont let me until i have 10 posts. The website name is simply "newark" (com domain). Search "USB3150-30-075-A" micro usb plug male, and you willl find them.
Enjoy.
Also looking for a charging cable like the picture above
Ductit said:
I found them, took me forever, but I ordered a bunch of these online from a company in the US, got them 2 days later in the mail...
I would post the link, but it wont let me until i have 10 posts. The website name is simply "newark" (com domain). Search "USB3150-30-075-A" micro usb plug male, and you willl find them.
Enjoy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thats just the connector, you would have to solder the cable.
Also in need of this! Just like they have for the iPhone:
To hide the cable.
Hey guys,
I'm also looking for low profile microUSB power cables for years now... Best source I found so far is this:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/32788021258.html (First attachment, top connector)
However, you must be aware that there are different styles of connectors out there. Most of these Qi charger receiver plugs only break out Vcc and GND. So they are only suitable for charging, not for OTG devices.
Some of these have the D+/D- lines floating, which means that USB compliant devices won't charge with more than 500mA. Some better ones have D+/D- lines shorted, which allows higher charging current.
The first attached picture shows two connectors I got so far. They were supplied with the identical Qi receiver, just the sellers and buying time were different. The top connector is the better one, it has D+/D- pins shorted and has a more durable (but glued) connection to the ribbon cable.
The bottom one has D+/D- pins floating (limits charging to 500mA) and has a crimped on metallic back. This can be removed and the connector can be desoldered from the ribbon cable. The connector itsself creaks out all 5 pins and may be soldered to a different PCB/ribbon cable. I don't have a specific seller for this one, I bought it about a year ago...
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/32631944019.html
Just looking at the pictures, this one may only have Vcc and GND pins physically be present in the connector.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/32782164868.html
Also just referring to the picture, this one might break out also D+/D- pins (also 2nd attachment). It still might not be suitable for OTG operation because it doesn't break out the ID pin, which would have to be connected to GND for OTG operation.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/-/32789350754.html
USB-C Version.
The USB3150-30-075-A is not bad either, but it requires you to do your own ribbon cable / pcb to use it...
https://nl.aliexpress.com/item/Micr...gree-Vertical-5-Pin-for-PCB/32806992515.html?

Retrofit Wireless Charging Receiver in Nexus 5X?

I just saw the iFixit teardown
https://youtu.be/VYFbSpvSE-w
I retrofitted a Galaxy S5 and S4 to wireless charging with Qi receivers off of eBay:
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I know there is one for the G4 (since it's in their flip cover), but I was wondering if it is possible to work with an existing coil and wire it up to the Nexus 5X.
First, the cover pops off like a Galaxy S5 cover:
Here is the back cover and internals. Normally, the NFC covers the battery, but I am thinking it might be above the camera since there are connectors from cover to internals and would make sense for Android pay. So, what is the big shield on the right that covers the battery? (see question mark):
I think the battery posts are under the white piece of tape on the right - easy access for an NFC receiver to charge:
Worst case, the battery contacts are accessible under the midframe (10 screws):
So, do you think a retrofit of an existing Qi receiver would work? (the NFC part might be not used). The shield on the back over the battery might have to be removed, but I am not sure of it's purpose. Alternatively, anybody heard if any company is making a Qi receiver for the 5X? I'd buy the 5X over the 6P if I could get wireless charging.
I guarantee it's do-able. I don't know if the battery fuel gauge contains the logic to simply solder the coil output directly to the leads going to the battery but it shouldn't be a problem to solder to the VDC/GND pins/traces coming from the USB port. The only thing that concerns me, and I'm saying this w/out having looked at how USB c accomplishes it's reversibility, is that the pins for power aren't achiral (for lack of a better word) depending on the orientation of the plug. Would need to read up on that.
Just saw another thread opened shortly after this one was posted:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-5x/general/nexus-5x-qi-wireless-hack-mod-t3231461
Guess I had the right idea , but the video shows only the teardown, no connection.
Hi
etwashoo said:
Just saw another thread opened shortly after this one was posted:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-5x/general/nexus-5x-qi-wireless-hack-mod-t3231461
Guess I had the right idea , but the video shows only the teardown, no connection.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The NFC antenna is around the camera, you are correct on that. That foam material, I'm guessing that is what it is, is there to fill any gap between the battery and the back case to avoid the back being able to press down, and being soft it works with the varying differences in tolerance with the the battery thickness. It could even be to fill a recess that was suppose to be filled by a wireless charging coil.
Notice though the foam continues up to the site of the fingerprint reader. That should remain, it's job is to apply pressure on the contact pads of the flexible circuit board.
In the video where they show a mod, what they have done is used a QI coil which has it's own circuitry which outputs 5 volts, this connects by thin wires to the +5v and ground of the USB socket, and from there goes to the battery via the normal charging circuit, the phone doesn't know it is wireless charging, it just looks like a USB charger is attached. This direct connection may cause a problem when plugging in a normal USB charger as you end up with 5 volts in reverse going into the QI circuitry and charger, presumably though that circuity is protected with a diode so it doesn't matter.
You shouldn't connect anything directly to the battery terminal as this will bypass all the charging circuitry and would cause damage and likely trigger the batteries protection circuits and cut it dead.
How cleanly the back refits is another thing, their can't be that much space.
Regards
Phil

Drivers to calibrate the touch screen / USB IO PCB

Hello there
Are there any drivers that can calibrate a new USB PCB SUB BOARD bought for the nexus 7 2013? I changed mine, as the old one don't charges the tablet, and now everything works except the touch panel that is COMPLETELY un-responsive with the new USB PCB (touch works in old USB PCB).
The part is www - asusparts - eu/en/Asus-60NK0080-SU1020, and on asusparts.eu they say: "*** IMPORTANT *** Please note that this part may have to be calibrated to work with your unit. To do this you will have to send your tablet to an Asus service center for calibration. *** IMPORTANT ***", but I'm serching for a home-made solution. Ideas? Thank you very much for any help.
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If the reason the old board refuses to charge is due to a bad USB connector, the simplest fix would be to hot-air the old connector out and reflow a new connector in. You can get a new connector from DigiKey and other parts distributors for somewhere around $4 in single unit quantities.
If the connector is not the problem, then my next pick would be trying to figure out what has gone wrong on the original PCB. With some luck, it might be a bad solder joint or or something else that is relatively easily fixable.
If it is the power management controller that is busted, then your next simplest option might be to do a chip swap between PCBs. Either put the new PCB's power chip on the old board or put the old board's touch controller on the new board. At least I consider this the easier 'next' option because I might look for a premade software tool for hours and still not find it, spend days or weeks writing my own (assuming I can get the touch controller's specs) or do the chip swap in 30-60 minutes.
TeardownDan said:
If the reason the old board refuses to charge is due to a bad USB connector, the simplest fix would be to hot-air the old connector out and reflow a new connector in. You can get a new connector from DigiKey and other parts distributors for somewhere around $4 in single unit quantities.
If the connector is not the problem, then my next pick would be trying to figure out what has gone wrong on the original PCB. With some luck, it might be a bad solder joint or or something else that is relatively easily fixable.
If it is the power management controller that is busted, then your next simplest option might be to do a chip swap between PCBs. Either put the new PCB's power chip on the old board or put the old board's touch controller on the new board. At least I consider this the easier 'next' option because I might look for a premade software tool for hours and still not find it, spend days or weeks writing my own (assuming I can get the touch controller's specs) or do the chip swap in 30-60 minutes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi TeardownDan, thanks for the reply. The problem is that the old PCB si broken (not only for charging), so the only option is to make the touch of the new one working (I think is a driver\software concern).
What else isn't working with the old PCB other than charging? If all your issues are related to USB connectivity, I would take a very close look at your old board under every angle to see if the connector might be damaged, maybe even use a multimeter to probe for continuity and shorts between the USB PCB traces, USB connector pins and between USB connector pins. If you find an open between the trace and pins or a short between pins or traces, I'd remove the old connector, clean the solder pads and re-test for shorts between pads. If that comes clean, there is a good chance the PCB is fine as far as USB is concerned. Clean the old USB connector's leads, thoroughly examine it for physical damage, test it for shorts/opens if it looks physically fine, re-solder it if everything checks out. If there is any questionable damage, replace it with a fresh connector.
When I cracked the digitizer on my 2012 N7, I damaged the LCD power/data ribbon cable during the replacement process. I ordered a replacement ribbon and the one I originally received had at least one shorted trace from under its 30 pins 0.4mm pitch slim-stack connector. I de-soldered, cleaned and re-soldered, fixed. Sometimes, you get lucky and the best fix is the cheapest - at least when you already have the necessary tools and skills.
TeardownDan said:
What else isn't working with the old PCB other than charging? If all your issues are related to USB connectivity, I would take a very close look at your old board under every angle to see if the connector might be damaged, maybe even use a multimeter to probe for continuity and shorts between the USB PCB traces, USB connector pins and between USB connector pins. If you find an open between the trace and pins or a short between pins or traces, I'd remove the old connector, clean the solder pads and re-test for shorts between pads. If that comes clean, there is a good chance the PCB is fine as far as USB is concerned. Clean the old USB connector's leads, thoroughly examine it for physical damage, test it for shorts/opens if it looks physically fine, re-solder it if everything checks out. If there is any questionable damage, replace it with a fresh connector.
When I cracked the digitizer on my 2012 N7, I damaged the LCD power/data ribbon cable during the replacement process. I ordered a replacement ribbon and the one I originally received had at least one shorted trace from under its 30 pins 0.4mm pitch slim-stack connector. I de-soldered, cleaned and re-soldered, fixed. Sometimes, you get lucky and the best fix is the cheapest - at least when you already have the necessary tools and skills.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree, but sadly........ I damaged for good the ribbon ports in the old PCB USB, and the motherboard>digitalizer link is completely unstable right now. So, i'm stuck with the new one or nothing :angel:

Galaxy note tab 10.1 GT-N801X Dead battery fix - Removal and hardwired

First time poster. Long time lurker. I'm hoping to add something useful to the community.
I have had my galaxy note 10.1 GT-N801X since launch but as of recently I have been struggling to find a use for it. A couple years ago it started to feel slow and clunky and then I started having problems with the battery. It has then been sitting in a box refusing to boot up until now. I found a couple places that sold replacement batteries online and the price wasn't too bad. Replacing the battery would have been a viable option however I have issues that the device cannot usually be used while charging and it takes a long time to fully charge. Even when the tablet was new I remember that battery live wasn't that great when using it intensively. For me the novelty of the pen had worn off, portability was less of a concern (As I have my phone for that), and the device feels slow and clunky and the screen is not that great by today's standards.
So I decided to fix it as cheaply as possible and design it to be timer for my home gym where it could also play YouTube videos and stream content from Plex web and Netflix if I wanted to. It would be close to an outlet at all times and I would not like to deal with the hassle of dead batteries and not being able to use it while charging. I would not be using the SPEN and I would not be using it for close up viewing tasks. So i decided to remove the old dead battery and hardwire in a plug.
*** CONTINUE AT YOUR OWN RISK *** I AM NOT AN EXPERT AND I AM GENUINELY SURPRISED SOMETHING SO SIMPLE WORKED ***
1. My first step was to open up the tablet and remove the old battery. It wasn't very hard and their are quite a few guides out there already. My only advice is to be careful when removing the connectors. After a couple years some of them have become quite delicate.
2. My next step was to get all of the parts prepared. I had an old 5V USB charging block that can output up to 2A. I had an old USB to micro USB cable that only had 2 wires on the inside. I cut off the micro usb end and stripped the wire ends. Then I cut the 5 wire battery connector off of the old batter and carefully stripped the end of the wires.
Just a note of caution, the original battery says it is 3.7V with a 4.2V max charging voltage. By using a 5V power block you are going to be overpowering the board. I thought I might immediately blow the board or lead to overheating. So far it is not a problem. At this point I have used it for about 12 hours in total and a max of 4 hours a time. But I don't leave it plugged in unattended just in case.
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3. Then I assembled all of the pieces. The salvaged plug from the old battery has 5 wires. The two red are the positive terminal and the 2 black are the negative terminals. I have no idea what the blue is but that is unimportant for the project. Before soldering I tested the outputs from the USB cable. Red was positive. White was negative. The output was 4.8V. I soldered the red wire from the USB cable to the two red wires of the battery cable harness and then soldered the white wire from the usb cable to the two black wires of the harness. I debated whether or not to attach the blue wire to the ground... but in the end I just left it untouched and everything worked out fine. I then covered the solder points with hot glue so they would not short on anything. It was a little bit too tight for electrical tape.
4. I then plugged the wiring harness back into the tablet and attached the wire to the back of the case with some hot glue so it couldn't be accidentally ripped out. I didn't bother putting the cover on the back of the tablet. I just put on the case and cut a small section out so the cable could pass freely through the side. I then powered it up and installed the newest version of lineageOS and my apps.
Finished project:
Update:
Here is the link to my imgur album imgur.com/a/IAl7n
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