[Galaxy S] 3x Stratosphere, all broken screens; uses? Solderable TV-out? - Hardware Hacking General

So I had bought three Stratospheres for cheap (bundle auction), hoping that I'd be able to pick up another cheaply with a good screen or bad glass+good LCD. However, beings I've not taken one apart to that extreme I wasn't aware how hard it'd be to separate those pieces At any rate, they all work fine otherwise, I know at least 2 boot to Android since I eventually get the haptic vibration indicating it'd reached the unlock screen. I had also hoped that at the very least the Wiki would've been right about HDMI out, but it's hard to find out what all have full support (the Epic 4G [D700] I got instead for example has it mostly but no one's able to get it working).
New screens cost the same as a working Strat, and seeing as I already bought an Epic after finding that out, I'm wondering what to do with these. I love tinkering, so being able to solder in a Composite, VGA, DVI, HDMI video connector and use it as a self-powered Stick Computer would be seriously awesome.
I'll gladly take hi-res PCB photos, with a DSLR and ample (non reflecting) light, if folks want to help tackle this Hell, for that matter... if you've got the know-how and want give it a try, I will give you one of these Strats to see what you can figure out. These aren't like the Epic as far as PCB goes, either. That Epic is very tiny and a fraction of the phone's size, but these Strats are pretty much the full phone's length and width, so lots to play with lol
Anyways, hope someone knows a thing or two and we can figure a hack out!
Thanks.
EDIT: This just came to me...What about something like these, in conjunction with a ROM (preferably Odin flashable) that has USB Hub support?
http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=101&cp_id=10114#1011403
Unfortunately it isn't driverless, BUT it does list Linux support, at least on the VGA model! More than I'd like to spend given the project, but we can call that Plan Y (Plan Z being: buy a new screen lol)

Ez way - how about flashing with some latest ROM and enabling tvout (with help of screenshots from DDMS)
Then you can connect any cheap stuff decoding pal/secam and maybe an otg keyboard/mouse + power chord through hub or straight to the batt slot.
The tryhard way - you could try to exploit screen flex slot. You should find 16/24bit rgb dpi'ish interfrace there + 2 i2c/spi busses and some gpios. Maybe utilising it as 16bit rgb going to sort of converting circuit could leave you with like ~15gpio pins for mostly any kind of stuff u want (spi, i2c, irqs). You need a good breakout for that and gotta consider high frequency layout (as rule of thumb, try to make wires between consecutive ICs as short as possible and equal length)
Capabilities and possibilities are unlimited. Just human's imagination and life is.
Id be careful with usb-dvi converters. Might work. Might not. Check with otg keyboard or smth first.

Rebellos said:
Ez way - how about flashing with some latest ROM and enabling tvout (with help of screenshots from DDMS)
Then you can connect any cheap stuff decoding pal/secam and maybe an otg keyboard/mouse + power chord through hub or straight to the batt slot.
The tryhard way - you could try to exploit screen flex slot. You should find 16/24bit rgb dpi'ish interfrace there + 2 i2c/spi busses and some gpios. Maybe utilising it as 16bit rgb going to sort of converting circuit could leave you with like ~15gpio pins for mostly any kind of stuff u want (spi, i2c, irqs). You need a good breakout for that and gotta consider high frequency layout (as rule of thumb, try to make wires between consecutive ICs as short as possible and equal length)
Capabilities and possibilities are unlimited. Just human's imagination and life is.
Id be careful with usb-dvi converters. Might work. Might not. Check with otg keyboard or smth first.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So TVOut on the does actually Stratosphere work? (with a custom ROM, I mean)
You happen to know where to find such a ROM? I know that XDA doesn't have a Strat subforum I've looked high and low, and can barely find custom ROMs, let alone one that's TVout lol Everything is still Gingerbread based, but I suspect that doesn't matter since the hardware is from that time.
As for the latter, I actually hadn't realized that without a screen, I'd be without a MOUSE haha I was totally focused on it having a slider keyboard and somehow missed I'd still need a mouse Nevertheless, doing it myself would be pretty hard :\ I don't know that much about the finer details of hardware, at least circuits of that complexity. Modding an analog audio circuit with new capacitors or an OpAmp is one thing, but that's straight forward In-Out, Power-Ground lol
That isn't to say I wouldn't attempt it but I'm not sure exactly what would be needed. If it's LVDS, I do have an older 15" laptop screen that'd be cool to hack a Strat to use :cyclops: That's adding a bit more complexity to things though, at least to start with right out of the gate.

Sadly I dont know where to get Strat ROM. But I assumed that its HW is pretty much the same as I9000, except the additional keyboard, so aries kernel with patches might/should/could work. There shouldnt be any major problems in porting it. I would get these crappy Sammy sources for I405 and I9000, diff them and try to apply diff on kernel_samsung_aries repo of CM.
About TVOut - it is matter of one or two gate ICs and a jack sensing onboard, as S5PC110 has built in tvout signal generator. So I would expect HW to support it.
Edit: There should be some tvout handling in original kernel sources if it is supported. Though, knowing Sammy, there might be aswell tvout driver enabled but HW not wired at all to support it.

Related

Jasjar II wish list (maybe they'll hear this time)

New owners, what would you guys like to se on the next generation Jasjar (maybe in six month or a year from now)?
I am not tallking about the OS (thas MS part and can be rectified with updates), I mean hardware wise.
On my part:
1.) Built in FM reciever would be nice. (if the technolory is there, then why not?
2.) At least 512Mb built in mem (making it ~$20-35 more expensive, still I belive everyone that bougth it now would still do so). This in not a serious issue.
3.) Edge
4.) Full handsfree profile support (maybe this is more with software, you tell me)
5.) External LCD display for: caller id (I belive this is critical), battery level, network strenght, etc. even if its just monochrome it would be a great help.
6.) Wlan 80.11g an obvious plus
7.) I could live with 1-2cm wider but have a psion/notebook type keyboard...
...
P.S: to be correct (persay) only things that you wouldn't mind paying a little extra for, if it was included...
How about having Navigation like Mouse which we have in Nokia Communicators... which will save the time of pulling stylus and using it one hand while we hold the device in other hand.
mniko said:
How about having Navigation like Mouse which we have in Nokia Communicators... which will save the time of pulling stylus and using it one hand while we hold the device in other hand.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree, that would realy help things like scrolling, which right now can only be done with stylus.
What I want the most is built in GPS. It's a pest having to charge up an external unit and remembering to bring all the right car adapters etc. so a built in unit would be awesome.
It would also be nice to see some of the new thin and flexible OLED type displays added which would reduce power consumption and make the displays less likely to break when dropped.
I'd also like to have a little hole on the corner of the device! I know it's not very techie, but I'd like some way of attaching a chain or cord to my device which attaches to my belt, so that if (or when!) you drop your device it wont hit the ground!
How about building in a virtual laser keyboard into the device:
www.virtual-laser-keyboard.com
On the graphics front, I'd like hardware acceleration of H.264 encoded videos (the format that's going to replace MPEG-2, MPEG-4 etc.). It would be nice if the built in camera could save in this format as well, because it would be a big space saver.
As for batteries, I wish they'd hurry up and release some of the new technology they've been talking about for years - better battery life, super fast charge times etc.
Well, you might think the Universal is the ultimate device, but there's so much more to add before I'll be happy!
-no1
my wishes
My wish list:
1. Extra rom storage like 4GB (palm now does it!)
2. A backup system like the one in Blue Angel
3. full USB hosting functionality, so we can use a usb mouse or external usb keyboard or usb mem sticks
4. vga out support so we can project on wide screen
5. firewire support
- After all if this is to be a mini laptop, let us have the full monty then instead of baby face gizmos
Me out :wink:
I really wish the following 4 most wanted and easily possible features add to JasJar. I am definitely waiting for successor of Jasjarl with follwoing and currently I'm happy with my XDAII. Current Jasjar is useless compare to my XDAII since there are only few programs works and still so many bugs/requirements in both hardware and OS.
1. FM Radio
2. 640x480 video recording with 2 or more MegaPixel Camera
3. Full Handsfree bluetooth audio(MP3 listening)
4. 800x480 screen for internet browsing.(a little longer 4.5" screen is acceptable like samsung Nexio XP30,Nokia 770).
Some other wish list
1.Video Output(RCA/S-Video/VGA)
2.Videos from Camera can transmit through wifi
3.USB hosting
4.mobile TV(DVB-H) receiver
It's interesting to revisit this thread nearly two years later as HTC release the Touch Pro that includes almost all the functionality you guys listed above. Perhaps HTC were listening after all.

G1 Guts + external display?

Hey guys, I'd appreciate your input on this idea.
I have a G1 that was run over by a car. The screen is, of course, completely broken, but the rest of the hardware works properly (charges, adb, etc.).
I also have an old Asus S5n laptop with an awesomely thin lcd display, but with a fried video card.
I have relatively no experience with laptop or phone internals, so here is my question:
How plausible would it be to build a G1-powered tablet using the provided hardware along with a touch panel kit and perhaps a modified android kernel?
getting the Asus screen to display the output of the G1 phone will be a miracle and if it is done...ur probable half way there.
good luck with that
Soo... the only ways I can think about going about doing this is getting a proper LVDS driver for the laptop display (quite possible but expensive [$200+]) and then getting the video output from the G1. I'm not sure that's possible but I remember seeing someone somewhere doing that... could be wrong (hopefully).
Even if you were able to do all of that, you would be lacking input as the touchscreen wouldn't really be augment-able.
Either way, good luck with your project1

Are LCD panels interchangeable

I have an idea for a project that requires a large panel to be attached to a small phone, does any one know if this is possible.
I know from previous projects that the galaxy line phones seem to have similar cables and connectors but , for example, could I plug a note screen into a GS2? I know the ribbons wont be in the right place and it will be bodged together but that isn't important. What is important is will they physically connect??
My hardware knowledge is good but by software side not so good. I know that android is capable of adapting to different resolutions but will this work "out the box" or will the resolution need changing in the build,prop, or maybe more??
any ideas on this please share, I think this is quite an exciting project that I will share and colabarate with if it is feasable. Its still at the rough concept stage at the moment and I am just checking out the theory behind it so please share your knolage and experience
Possible, but not easy
add.thebad said:
I have an idea for a project that requires a large panel to be attached to a small phone, does any one know if this is possible.
I know from previous projects that the galaxy line phones seem to have similar cables and connectors but , for example, could I plug a note screen into a GS2? I know the ribbons wont be in the right place and it will be bodged together but that isn't important. What is important is will they physically connect??
My hardware knowledge is good but by software side not so good. I know that android is capable of adapting to different resolutions but will this work "out the box" or will the resolution need changing in the build,prop, or maybe more??
any ideas on this please share, I think this is quite an exciting project that I will share and colabarate with if it is feasable. Its still at the rough concept stage at the moment and I am just checking out the theory behind it so please share your knolage and experience
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is feasible, lots of screens use similar interfaces (parallel TTL, MIPI, LVDS, etc.) so the trick is finding a display with the same interface as your phone already has. You will then need to make a board to adapt from the flex cable you have to the flex cable on your new screen. On that board you will probably also need to provide power since the new screen will consume more power. You will then need to modify the kernel, bootloader and Android to set the correct timing and resolution. (Timing, pinout and resolution for Linux kernel and U-Boot and resolution and DPI for Android) Shoot me a PM, I do this kind of stuff as a consultant and I am happy to give you some pointers!

SM-G900T snapdragon to Android streaming box? Using internal video output

Ok, so i have my Galaxy S5 tmobile that ive been playing with recently. awhile ago i tried to replace the rear facing camera, and the loudspeaker. unfortunatly when removing the screen, the digitizer was damaged. oled was working great. i would just use a bt mouse to navigate. well last night i pulled the phone apart to compare the amoled connection to that of a S7. just to see if i could throw the S5 screen onto my broken S7 to attempt to setup screen mirroring to my tv and be able to use it with a keyboard and mouse for general streaming.
I left the screws out of the midframe assembly of the S5 and it fell off the table after being reasembled. (love when the pets get into my workshop)
anyway, it was just enough to crack the very corner of the OLED and now there is no functionality to the screen.
ive been thinking about trying something that i just havent seen before, and cant find any information on at all.
There has got to be a way to take the ribbon cable from the S5 screen with the connector and splice/solder into some kind of digital video output. also the audio to the loudspeaker adjusted to low-line and connected alongside the digital video to make a single digital A/V output.
Basically i want to have my BT keyboard and mouse and be able to have it outputting video to either a Moniter, tv, wireless adapter of some sort. i would leave the OS pretty much the same minus alot of needless software at that point, and be able to turn essentially any tv with HDMI or digital video in, into an android smart tv..
i have arduino uno kits and Abillion cables of all sorts.
if anyone has any insght to the format of video coming from the OLED connector, or a pinout , any information that would help me get the ball rolling on this. i would be extremely grateful.
"_Gears Always turning, on your voy-age to droid-age_"
Don't like MHL adapters for some reason?
bbsc said:
Don't like MHL adapters for some reason?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They are nice and all. But that would mean I would have to spend money on something to make it work... Also mhl adapters take their own power supply at 5.0v, which means it would have to be plugged in somewhere during its use. Which I had planned on just using a couple 8000 mAh lithium batteries wired in parallel to power the phone at 3.7v. Getting me somewhere between 6 to 8 days of heavy usage before a recharge. And would make it much more portable.. Maybe even construct a small enclosure with a fan out of one of my CCTV cameras. Even if I had to convert the video and audio signals using a microprocessor, I wouldn't have to spend a dime doing the entire project if it works the way Im imagining it too. One of my main objectives with this project is to use parts from old equipment that I already have.
This is more about doing something creative and new with old Galaxy phones that have no other practical use.
Yes I could order an android box off amazon for less than 20$ and do what everyone else did to stream...
Yes I could order an mhl cable and set it up that way....
Yes I could put a new display assembly on it and use it for dev....
But if everyone thought like that, android wouldn't have existed in the first place.

Help! connect phone directly to hdmi monitor (replace touch screen).

Hello folks,
I guess this is the most appropriate subforum to ask this kind of question.
I'm having a broken screen Samsung Galaxy Note 5. And instead of find a touch screen replacement, I want to just get rid of the screen entirely
and instead connect the board to external monitor via hdmi interface preferrably. I believe the part that connect the touch screen is called "LCD fpc connector", correct me if I'm wrong.
So I guess I need something like an adapter that convert "fpc connector" to "hdmi connector".
The question is, is this hack possible? can the phone board output to hdmi monitor at all?
If yes then how to do it properly.
Please englighten me, I'm a total noob on this
Many thanks!
Hey huannb,
I also wanted this badly enough to stumble upon your post. From the light research i have done so far, it seems like this is a project only for those who have well labeled board diagrams and a deep understanding of LCD driver technologies.
FPC stands for "Flexible PCB Connector" and it's usage is ubiquitous in the small form-factor electronics space. If you are working with a FPC connector, you are probably handling a one-of-a-kind engineered interface. There are some hardware hackers who have achieved great feats such as THIS JAPANESE HARDWARE HACKER who build a driver board to adapt iPad retina displays to HDMI. I haven't stumbled on a write-up depicting and FPC interface to HDMI conversion yet. If you find one, please post it here because i would like to meet the person responsible for making it.
The way i see it, we have two choices from here. Reverse engineer a device and build a snowflake adapter which only works on one device, OR recycle the device and continue to live within the realm of consumer hardware.
kipziptie said:
Hey huannb,
I also wanted this badly enough to stumble upon your post. From the light research i have done so far, it seems like this is a project only for those who have well labeled board diagrams and a deep understanding of LCD driver technologies.
FPC stands for "Flexible PCB Connector" and it's usage is ubiquitous in the small form-factor electronics space. If you are working with a FPC connector, you are probably handling a one-of-a-kind engineered interface. There are some hardware hackers who have achieved great feats such as THIS JAPANESE HARDWARE HACKER who build a driver board to adapt iPad retina displays to HDMI. I haven't stumbled on a write-up depicting and FPC interface to HDMI conversion yet. If you find one, please post it here because i would like to meet the person responsible for making it.
The way i see it, we have two choices from here. Reverse engineer a device and build a snowflake adapter which only works on one device, OR recycle the device and continue to live within the realm of consumer hardware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
Thank you very much for your insight, it is super helpful and somewhat deep enough for me .
It does seem to involve quite a lot of hacking and there isn't a universal approach.
For my case, it is not worth the effort anymore, I have found a way to use most android mobiles to external monitor without fixing the screen itself without much complications.
I doubt that I can find anyone competent enough to explore this realm any further .
Thank you so much again for your research. Cheers

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