Home PC for backups - Battlestations

PC built on ASUS M5A78L-M/USB3 motherboard with 8 GB RAM and AMD Phenom II X4 Black Edition 965 processor.
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Since I don't need all the drives at the same time for archiving, I reworked the SATA cables to turn off the 5 V and 12 V power on switches located outside the case.
I need to find a way to move the drives away from each other. Currently, the ATX plug is taking up space.
Probably a low profile angled plug is needed.

For backup I would use removable hdds trays or a stand alone plug in socket base.
Having all your backup discs in one location is asking for it. One near lightning strike, power surge, fire, etc could wipe out everything.
Malware is also a threat.
Make sure the PC case is earth grounded. That may save it from a near lightning strike. A hefty surge protector is also recommended. Optical toshlink to the internet source whenever possible. No internet connection increases security significantly though.
A earth grounded fire box, safe, an ammo can or a safety deposit box for backups in multiple locations. Never encrypt data drives.
Never allow anything with a permanent magnet or strong electromagnetic fields to get near the hdds. That includes bookshelf speakers

Putting the switches on a little PCB with Molex sockets for in and out on a little 3.5" blank panel would sure be spiffy.
Still, I'm not so hot on physically cutting the power to the drives.

Thanks for the good advices.
1. I never use PC during backup when a storm is approaching.
2. The PC power supply is permanently turned off. I turn it on before using it.
3. The PC for backup is connected to a router on the home network without internet access.
4. I write archive data to this PC via LAN from external devices, not the other way around.
5. When the most valuable data is complete, I copy it to 25 GB BD-R.

Renate said:
Putting the switches on a little PCB with Molex sockets for in and out on a little 3.5" blank panel would sure be spiffy.
Still, I'm not so hot on physically cutting the power to the drives.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SATA's are hot plugable. No harm, no foul.
I do it all the time, just make sure the write/read cycle has completed.
IDE however would puke all over you if you did that though

Renate said:
Putting the switches on a little PCB with Molex sockets for in and out on a little 3.5" blank panel would sure be spiffy.
Still, I'm not so hot on physically cutting the power to the drives.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your comments.
The choice and placement of the switches is supported by the ease of implementation and the lack of contraindications. However, the drives must not be turned on or off while the PC is running.
I am the only user of this system, so I did it with minimal effort.
I thought about the switches on the front panel, but there was not much space with free access in the case I had.

blackhawk said:
SATA's are hot plugable. No harm, no foul.
I do it all the time, just make sure the write/read cycle has completed.
IDE however would puke all over you if you did that though
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, however, during hot power-up the switches may cause unstable voltage values to appear.
I don't want to shock the drives.
We are talking about the 5/12 volt power supply, of course.

ze7zez said:
Thanks for the good advices.
1. I never use PC during backup when a storm is approaching.
2. The PC power supply is permanently turned off. I turn it on before using it.
3. The PC for backup is connected to a router on the home network without internet access.
4. I write archive data to this PC via LAN from external devices, not the other way around.
5. When the most valuable data is complete, I copy it to 25 GB BD-R.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
BD-R etc can fail over time. Always use at least two hdds in addition to the BD-R. I prefer using enterprise class hdds. Data retainment can exceed 10 years on hdds but best to rewrite it every 2-3 years.
-Always- bring up to room temperature before spinning it up. Lower storage temperatures enhance memory retention. Protect from ESD at all times. Protect from moisture, high humidity, high temperatures when storing. Always protect from vibration and physical shock when spun up!
Time stagger backup on across different hdds.
I have over a dozen hdds and flash drives I use for data backup. You can never have too many backups; you may lose some data but never all.

ze7zez said:
OK, however, during hot power-up the switches may cause unstable voltage values to appear.
I don't want to shock the drives.
We are talking about the 5/12 volt power supply, of course.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Shouldn't be a issue. Keep the hdds on a different power rail then the mobo and graphics card. Make sure that hdd rail is not overloaded.

blackhawk said:
Shouldn't be a issue. Keep the hdds on a different power rail then the mobo and graphics card. Make sure that hdd rail is not overloaded.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The graphics card is placed directly on the M5A78L-M/USB3, which is powered by an ATX connector. I did the calculation of the power supply load at the very beginning and there will be no problem with the drives, especially since I do not use all the drives at the same time.
The SATA controller on this board allows you to use the disks in RAID 0, Raid 1 and RAID 10 mode, but I'm not interested in that for now.

ze7zez said:
The graphics card is placed directly on the M5A78L-M/USB3, which is powered by an ATX connector. I did the calculation of the power supply load at the very beginning and there will be no problem with the drives, especially since I do not use all the drives at the same time.
The SATA controller on this board allows you to use the disks in RAID 0, Raid 1 and RAID 10 mode, but I'm not interested in that for now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use RAID for the OS (RAiD 0) and primary data (RAID 1) drives only if you chose to do so. The last thing you want to do is repeat the same mistake on all your backup data drives so avoid using RAID on them.
NEVER clone data drives, copy/paste only then verify size and if readable. Never encrypt data drives as you are the one most likely to get locked out.
Make a bootable cloned copy of the OS drive once configured but before any antivirus has been installed. Acronis does this easily.

One option to consider would be to use SATA cables with 90-degree connectors. This would allow the cables to lay flat against the motherboard and reduce the amount of space they take up. Another option would be to use SATA cables with shorter connectors, which would also help to reduce the amount of space they take up.
As for the ATX plug, a low-profile angled plug could be a good solution. Another option would be to use a cable extension or a custom cable that is designed to be routed in a way that does not interfere with the hard drives.
In general, when organizing hard drives in a computer case, it's a good idea to use drive cages or brackets that are designed for the specific case you are using. This can help to keep the drives securely in place and prevent them from vibrating or moving around during operation. Additionally, using cable ties or other cable management solutions can help to keep the cables organized and reduce clutter inside the case.

anawilliam850 said:
Spoiler: post
One option to consider would be to use SATA cables with 90-degree connectors. This would allow the cables to lay flat against the motherboard and reduce the amount of space they take up. Another option would be to use SATA cables with shorter connectors, which would also help to reduce the amount of space they take up.
As for the ATX plug, a low-profile angled plug could be a good solution. Another option would be to use a cable extension or a custom cable that is designed to be routed in a way that does not interfere with the hard drives.
In general, when organizing hard drives in a computer case, it's a good idea to use drive cages or brackets that are designed for the specific case you are using. This can help to keep the drives securely in place and prevent them from vibrating or moving around during operation. Additionally, using cable ties or other cable management solutions can help to keep the cables organized and reduce clutter inside the case.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for the useful advice.
My goal was to create a server for home use based on the components I have. The low-profile 24-pin ATX plug is not low enough to be suitable. Its cost is also not encouraging. I removed the rivets from the basket and moved the basket away from the motherboard. The drives need to have good heat dissipation, so by moving the basket away I was able to increase the space between the drives. Because of the thermal insulation, anti-vibration pads require active drive cooling, which would cause unacceptable and unnecessary noise from the fan.
The use of drive power switches eliminates the reciprocal effect of drive vibrations on each other, since not all of them work at the same time, but only the ones needed.
My server does not run continuously, so the effect of vibration on the life of the drives is negligible.

ze7zez said:
Thank you for the useful advice.
My goal was to create a server for home use based on the components I have. The low-profile 24-pin ATX plug is not low enough to be suitable. Its cost is also not encouraging. I removed the rivets from the basket and moved the basket away from the motherboard. The drives need to have good heat dissipation, so by moving the basket away I was able to increase the space between the drives. Because of the thermal insulation, anti-vibration pads require active drive cooling, which would cause unacceptable and unnecessary noise from the fan.
The use of drive power switches eliminates the reciprocal effect of drive vibrations on each other, since not all of them work at the same time, but only the ones needed.
My server does not run continuously, so the effect of vibration on the life of the drives is negligible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bundle wires and cables and run them out of the way along the case corners, edges of mobo. Preferably in space behind the mobo mounting partition when possible; completely out of the way/sight and protected, perfect for power cables. Excess cables lengths can be stashed here.
Use wire ties and split loom tubing.
Get rid of the loose wires by bundling them into cables. Lay the cables out so they're out of the air flow paths.
Take all sata cables down one side and to the mobo along the case corners on the mobo mounting side. Use right angle turns in the cables and edge mounting rather than have floating in the air.
Fan push/pull if practical*, either way get 2 low db fans for the back. Get maximum airflow over the hdds and mobo. Make sure the power supply gets enough cool air. Use homemade partitions if needed to direct air flow more efficiently.
* pay attention to airflow, eliminate wire obstacles, probably all fans should be pulling out air so it flows in from the front. User adjustable fan speed helps to make balancing the flow pattern easier.

It is not easy to buy long power cables adapting Molex to SATA, hence it is not possible to arrange cables arbitrarily as you rightly propose.
I didn't want to extend (solder) the cables, so I bought the longest 37 cm that were available on the aftermarket.
The setup is still in expansion, so I'll do the joining of the sata cables together at the very end, after testing the operating temperature of all the drives running simultaneously under the load of copying data over the LAN at room temperature set at 23 °C.
The photo doesn't show it, but the side cover of the chassis has a fan mounted with a tube facing the CPU.
The power supply pulls warm air outside and draws in cooler air from around the PC through the holes seen in the photo with the drive power switches.
As you can see from the photo, I'm missing the optical drive connection, which may or may not be useful. Perhaps I will also add an SSD drive.
So I will need to reposition the 1TB drive and attach the optical drive to a SATA controller on a PCIe x1 port. I am considering buying a controller with two SATA ports based on the ASM1062 chipset or a twice as expensive one with four SATA ports on the ASM1064 chipset.

The top fan is not giving the bay rack good airflow as it's bypassing them because of the open rear grills. Either close/partially close them or install fans pulling air out.
Balance the fan speed(s) so they don't work against each other.

blackhawk said:
(...)
Balance the fan speed(s) so they don't work against each other.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you mean the fan on the processor and the side fan from the tube, I have no idea how to do it.
I can read the speed of the fan on the CPU and I can plug the speed controller into the side fan, but I don't know what the principle of cooperation is, I suspect that rather the amount of air flow decides, which is practically not easy to determine.

ze7zez said:
If you mean the fan on the processor and the side fan from the tube, I have no idea how to do it.
I can read the speed of the fan on the CPU and I can plug the speed controller into the side fan, but I don't know what the principle of cooperation is, I suspect that rather the amount of air flow decides, which is practically not easy to determine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Disregard that statement... the processor, ram sticks, graphics card and hdds have cooling priority. Make sure the hdds are getting good airflow...
My favorite Antec case had a bottom mounted PS with a wind tunnel.

Related

[update apr.16] Non stop working solar powered HD2

Ok guys, so nuclear war stroke the planet, your brand new tv and pc got busted in the initial attack and you're left with your precious HD2 running some custom rom and about 16-32gb of storage. Hope you don't get borred, there won't be many apps on marketplace, or even a marketplace (servers got busted by the nuke )
Now to get more seriously i can't figure out why i would need a phone able to be powered on 24/24. But i guess at least it could be useful on camping trips or stuff like this.
This is the start of a project, are goals are something like this:
1. reverse engineer the charge algorithm used by HD2 (in involves at least 2 charging modes each with 2 stages, as i know so far)
2. assemble or buy a 5-10W solar panel (only the panel and a Schottky type fast diode)
3. get myself some old laptop batteries and strip them down for cells and controllers.
4. design and assemble a cell pack as a buffer between the solar panel and phone
5. design a switching mode voltage stabilizer and make a custom usb hub in order to also have usb host functionality if i feel geeky and need linux
6. design a charge controller for the cell pack when using solar power.
7. put all things together and test
The goal is simple. Although there are solar batteries that provide some extra juice to laptops or pda's they function somewhat like 2-3 hours discharge, about one day in full sun to recharge.
I want a system that can power a full load working hd2 (worst scenario) non stop (day and night) including cloudy days, nuclear winter or whatever. The system must also be able to power about 3-4 usb devices and sustain a full 500mA drain on each port while still being able to power the hd2 non stop. Aaah, yes, the thing must be portable, plug&play, reliable and maintenance free. At most, it should have the size of a regular 15 inch laptop and about 2kg weight (all things included).
Stage 1 completed
So i figured out how hd2 charges it's battery. It's pretty simple actually.
Charging is made in the same way for either wall charger or usb charging. Same pins are used. However, when the wall charger is used, charging current can be as high as 800-900mA. This will decrease to some 20-30mA when the battery will be almost 100% charged.
If you however connect the usb data pins to hd2 and to something (computer, hub etc) hd2 will change the charging mode to usb. This feature ensures that when connected to a pc, the phone will never try to get 8-900mA from a 500mA usb port pretty neat. Instead, maximum charge current is limited to about 400mA.
If you get access to the usb wires inside the cable you can trigger either mode by simply disconnecting or reconnecting the data pins (green+white on standard usb cables). This is useful because i can devise some means of redirecting the charge current to either external battery (let's say after a night of use for the hd2) or to the hd2 if .. for some reason it's internal battery is discharged.
A usb enabled pic microcontroller (say 18f2550) can be used to control the charging process of either internal or external battery by simulating a pc connection, thus enabling hd2 to switch to low current charge. However if i'm guessing right, a simple usb hub could also do the job as it also contains a microcontoller that "knows" the usb protocol. So because i will use an external powered hub for linux, I'll try to use it also for switching between charging modes. Besides is more easier this way and i (or others) will be spared the time needed to program a microcontroller, or fabricate a pcb for it and it's corresponding components. And.. in case of nuclear attack there won't be any radio shack or electronics store where you could buy microcontrollers
Stage 2 completed:
Well i got myself some time ago a cheap 10watt polycrystaline solar panel for use with a robot i'm building. It was about $50 here in Romania. I guess i'll be using this one, even if it's quite big (something like a 16 inch laptop). Anyway i could also power other things with it. Will do some tests, and if it's suited for the job, it will be used. It arrived completely assembled so it also spares me the trouble and time of connecting individual cells into to form a solar panel.
Update : completed, will use the spare 10watt panel, until a new one arrives.
Stage 3 completed:
Got some 5-6 old laptop batteries. Stripped them down and got some ~30 cells. I'll test them out and sort about 4-6 of them.
Stage 4 completed: I'm currently sorting out some cells. As far as design goes, the capacity of the "extended battery" will be 14400mAh (single charge, using no solar power). That could easily power a full 15 inch laptop for about 4 hours, so i guess hd2 will have no problems staying alive for one night until next day and the sunrise to kick in for the solar charging to take place
Stage 5+6 completed:
There won't be any linear voltage stabilizer design for the buffer between the battery and hd2. They are quite inefficient with 30-40% power lost in the form of heat. Switching mode stabilizers+converters will be the way for this design. Found a ready made voltage stabilizer (converter) that's suited for the job , Saved some good hours that would otherwise have been spent on designing one from available parts.
Stage 7: yep, i'm now building the damn thing. I've simplified the design as much as i could, while keeping it safe for the phone, i guess the project will be possible to make by anyone with basic soldering skills.
apr. 13 - update: construction delayed due to one cell failure (the difference in internal resistance between the cells was greater then i expected). Will now search for a replacement, recalibrate the battery pack and recharge. However I expect that the battery module should be ready by the end of this day or tomorrow.
ok then.. it was built, it was tested and i'm already using it or at least.. trying to figure out a use for it
Anyway, if you're the camping type, if you feel geeky or wanna make a eco-friendly charger for the hd2 (or other usb charging enabled things) here's how to build one
You'll need the following materials:
- patience, this is a long post, try not to get bored while reading it
- some basic electronics skills, basic understanding of components, measurements and circuit troubleshooting (this is not a beginner project i guess, as hard as i tried to make it, if done improperly... well of course, you risk killing the poor phone in the process).
- some second hand laptop batteries, 3-4 would be ideal, they can be kind of old, but must be functional to some degree.
- a cheap usb charger used for cars, the one that plugs into the cigarette jack OR some good electronics skills to design a switching power supply. Guess most of people will go with the first option, in order to be more helpful i also designed this circuit using this option. You should buy the cheapest adapter, the cheaper the better. That's because the expensive ones have a feature that enables them to stop working if the voltage of the car battery drops to a certain point. That's supposed to be some sort of protection not to allow the car battery to discharge and thus preventing you to start your car. We don't want this protection, we want to be cheap asses, we want dirt cheap. However the adapter you want to buy must deliver 5V at around 1-1.5Amps minimum. 5Volts at 500mA is to little, it will simply kill itself when you start the thing once it's completed.
- a standard usb hub, any will do. This is if you want usb host functionality or use linux.
- a 5-10W solar panel. The bigger the better - it will allow to recharge the buffer battery (the one you'll be building) at a faster rate. This is the single most expensive part of this build. If you simply want an external battery for the hd2 you can skip the panel, if you want solar charging.. this is .. of course, a must.
- one fast rectifier diode or a schottky diode, you should buy it if you use a solar panel, the supplier of solar panel could also recommend one to use with that specific panel. We have to use one, this will make sure the current goes from the panel to the battery, not the other way around.
- bunch of wires, a multimeter and a soldering tool witch you're not afraid to use.
- a variable power supply, either it be a wall charger with variable output voltage, a laboratory power supply, or some charger that can output anywhere from 3.6 to 4.5 volts at anywhere from 300mA to 1A. Any combination will do. This is required only once in order to precharge the cells to a specific voltage.
- one switch or something similar in order to ... switch the thing on and off.
- spare time/understanding wife/coffee etc
1. Ok, first of all you need to get those laptop batteries open. Use some sharp tool, your karate skills or whatever necessary to crack those batteries open and expose the individual cells inside. Be careful not to damage the cells in the process, at least if you use some sharp tools. Once exposed, the cells will be linked to each other, you need to separate them by cutting the wires or metal bands that links them. Once done sort them out, if you have multiple batteries, sort the cells from each battery in a different case or basket or whatever you want, the idea is not to mix them.
Here's mine:
2. You now need to measure up individual cells with a multimeter. You're looking for the voltage rating of each cell. If you find cells with 0 volts, they're dead. If you place the multimeter in continuity testing mode and the 0 volts cells are showing continuity across their leads, yep.. they're really dead. Never use these. Good cells have anywhere from 1volt to 3-4volts.
Once you selected your good cells start forming a pack. The idea is simple. The more cells you put, the longer the thing will last. Standard laptop cells are rated to a minimum of 3.7Volts and 2400mAh. Each of them is almost double the capacity of the standard battery that comes with the HD2. However since you're going to use second-hand ones, they will have sign of usage, a smaller capacity then that of a new one. Still they will perform at least the same as hd2 battery in terms of battery life. Minimum configuration starts with 2 cells, i recommend 4 cells as a decent start but you can go and add more cells if you like. The more cells the longer battery life but at the expense of added weight. My choice was 6 cells. If you had 2 laptop batteries and each of them had 6 cells, you can make your pack on anywhere from 2 to 12 cells.
Let's say you choose 6 cells (always an even number). If 6 is you choice, you will need to divide that number by 2. So you get 3. You need 3 working cells from the same laptop battery to form a pair. Go back to the place you kept the cells and select 3 cells, NEVER mix cells from different batteries. These 3 cells you have (first pair) will need to be linked in parallel connection. The negative ( - ) of each cell is linked to the negative of the other and the positive to the other 2 cell's positive. We'll get there, but at a future step. Now we need the second pair of 3 cells. Again look in your cell basket and try to find 3 more cells from the same battery. This battery may be different then that first one you selected cells for the first pair. Yet again, the 3 cells must come from a single battery, no mixes. And.... again, these 3 cells must be placed in parallel. So if we already imagine them connected, we would have 2 pairs, each of them with 3 cells linked in parallel. The 2 pairs must be linked in series, so the minus of one pair will go to the plus (positive pins) of the other. The unconnected pins of each pairs (one minus one plus) will be used for voltage supply - you'll get the combined voltage of the cell pack here. If i were to draw this things for you to better understand.. it would look something like this.
green is one cell pair, orange the other. The black things are wires. This are the connections for a 6 cell pack. If you have 8 cells, you will make pairs from 4 cells (2 pairs). If you have 4 cells - the pairs will have 2 cells. A charged cell will have something like 4 volts. A pair made up of several cells in parallel will still have 4 volts across it's leads, but the overall current capacity of the pair is increased by the number of cells it contains. So if you have 3 cells each with 4v and 2200mAh, the pair will have 4 volts but with 6600mAh. If you place 2 pairs in series like on that drawing, you increase the voltage of the group by the number of pairs you add while still having the same current capacity. So if you get 2 pairs of 4 volts and 6600mAh, you will have 1 group, 8 volts and still 6600mAh. That's the total output of your pack. Because hd2 needs 5V (not 8 !!) we need something to decrease the voltage from 8 to 5 volts. That's why we need that car usb charger. It normally uses the 12V available at the cigarette jack to output 5v your phone can use. Cheaper ones, can use 8 volts, or 7 volts (lower voltages) because they don't have a circuit to prevent deep discharging the car battery like expensive one have. We need one without this circuit, because our battery pack only outputs 8V. So the car usb charger will take the 8 volts at it's input and give us 5volts at output.
3. before linking cells to each other, you need to charge them to the same voltage. Use a charger/power supply etc. I used a lab. variable power supply, if i had none, my weapon of choice would be a nokia standard wall charger (or another brand), older ones, i would cut off it's jack, expose the wires and connect them to my cells, it outputs 3.7 volts, enough to charge each cell. So charge each cell to about 3.7 volts. You will need to connect the multimeter in parallel to the cell and monitor the charging process. When a cell reaches 3.7 V disconnect it and charge another one, until all of them have 3.7 V. After this, leave the cells for one day. Next day you will be measuring each cell again. If one of them drops charge by it's own and you find.. let's say 3 V, you got a defective one, back to step 1&2 and select other cell pairs. If all cells still have the same aprox. level (somewhere around 3.5 to 3.7 volts) you're good to go.
Here's one cell linked to my voltage supply.
4. start thinking of either a case of something to contain your build. I used copper plated pcb (from electronics stores, radio shack etc). I will be connecting my cells to this thing, kind of like a pcb assembly. You may use some plastic housing and connect the cells with wires and secure them with some glue. If you have experience working with pcb, etching the copper layer and such things, feel free to try using pcb.
Here's my blank pcb for this job - i've already cut it to required dimensions. It's the orange metallic thing in the center. Beside it you can see my hub and the usb car adapter i will use.
5. disassemble (i repeat disassemble.. no more karate skills) your hub (if you're going to use one) and your car usb adapter. My usb adapter looks something like this.
The hub interior will look different, we'll get on that on a later step. Anyway, speaking of the usb car adapter, i'll be needing that small pcb with the components, so i'll remove it from there. The board contains the switching mode voltage converter, yummy yummy, i want that. It basically has 1 chip that generates a pulse signal that is feed to the input of a power transistor which pulses the input voltage across a coil. By autoinduction the coil produces another current, other components rectify and filter it so the second smaller current, produced by the coil, it's basically what powers on the devices connected at the output. In simple terms .. that's how it works. Again.. we need this, don't break it
Mine has a funny oval shaped form, so i'll be cutting my pcb in order to insert it inside.
There are 2 wires coming out of the small board inside. That's were the cigarette jack was connected. We will connect our cell pack to that, so you might wanna remember their position. The red one will be the positive one, black being negative. In a cigarette jack, the center pin is always positive, so if your wires have other colors, the one that's linked to the center pin will be the positive one.
6. Look for a way to place the cells inside your casing or on your pcb. Since i will do a pcb with them, i'm trying to find a possible placement for them.
this was one way, but i figured it was easier for me to simply place each pair on a line and form 2 single lines of cells instead of 3. Once done, i begun drawing the pcb with some paint marker. I will then etch the pcb, so only the paint covered areas will remain.
here's the pcb after etching, i'm connecting various wires to complete the cell pack circuit before connecting the cell themselves.
If you're using some sort of case, it's time to begin assembling your cells together. Use the solder gun or whatever you have for soldering to attach some wires to the each cell leads. Li-ion and heat aren't good friends, be as quick as possible when soldering, you don't want to heat up the cell too much. If it starts to make any strange noise, hiss or is venting anything from it... run away, don't touch it, don't throw it.. simply leave it and run away. Of course, this is a very rare scenario.. but take your safety when working with high reactivity materials like li-ion cells.
You want to arrange the cells in that paint draw up in the post. 2 pairs, linked in series. First solder wires to make one pair, then the other, then connect the pairs to each other. If you use a case, use some insulator to cover the solder points and to avoid some accidental short circuits in the future.
Back to my pcb solution, here's my assembly.
7. If you want to use an usb hub, you can try to salvage some usb port from an old pc or laptop's motherboard. This way you could avoid using a permanently attached wire to the device you're building in order to have the hub connected to the phone. I found an old laptop motherboard with an intact usb jack.
i remove the usb port from it and soldered on my board.
8. Next you need to connect the car usb charger's pcb to the battery pack you assembled. Basically the 2 wires from the charger must be linked with the 2 wires from the battery pack. Insert a switch on the cable in order to be able to turn on and off the whole thing. In my case, i'll now connect the car charger's pcb to my pcb, in the portion i've cut.
9. now you need to modify your hub to be able to power on hd2 during usb hosting mode. There's a link in the linux section (ubuntu for hd2) about this, you may want to read that also. I basically soldered a wire across each hub's usb port positive pin (the 4 usb jacks) and the input usb jack. The ground connection is the same for all jacks. So all jacks including the one used for connecting to a usb host device (pc) have the power pins linked together. Those 2 power pins must also be linked to the output of the usb car charger so that when you power up the thing using the switch, the charger also powers up the usb hub. After you solder all the wires, also insulate the soldering points and secure the hub in your casing along with the battery pack and usb car charger's pcb.
Here's mine, it was soldered on my pcb.
as you can see, there are some couple of wires coming out from it. Those need to be connected to the phone for me to have usb host functionality. So i'll connect these wires to the usb port i've mounted at step 7 so i can use a standard usb - microusb cable to link this thing to the phone. If you want to make it simpler, cut out a usb - microusb cable and directly solder the wires onto the hub's pcb as shown in the guide on the ubuntu linux thread for hd2.
In my case, i use that port i salvaged, as i said before.
10. assemble the whole thing and carefull inspect the connections. The order of this will be - battery pack - linked to the car usb charger - that's linked to the hub power pins (for each usb port). You'll then have one usb port for use when requiring usb host functionality, 4 usb ports for connecting all sort of usb slave devices, and one usb port (the one that it's soldered to the car usb charger) for use when you want to simply charge your device normally.
Here's my build. I've also placed a fuse between the battery and the usb charger, so that in case of malfunction it breaks the circuit. The fuse holding pin is the black thing at the opposite side of the usb hub. Near the pcb, you can see the fuse and it's cap.
11. Check again all connections. when ready, press the switch and bring the thing to life. Use the multimeter and check all usb ports voltage. You shoudn't have more then 5.5Volts and no less then 4.5Volts. If you do, then you did something wrong, turn off, disassemble and recheck. If you did it right, you'll get a voltage inside the above interval. Inspect the device once again and make sure all things are safely placed and secured inside. Try plugging some cheap usb devices you may have, a mouse, usb flashlight, another hub etc. If they receive power and all it's ok you may try to connect the phone.
Voila.. usb charging from the ghetto style external battery.
And here's a small video of preliminary testing (i haven't yet tested the usb hosting capability but i have no reason to think it will not work). At this time i didn't placed any switch on the board so i switch on and off the thing by placing the fuse inside the holder or removing it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yf6kRpNNqkw
Next step... maybe some of you may think.. well how does this thing recharge when the batteries are depleted. At this stage the battery pack is recharged by connecting a 8.4 voltage supply across the battery pack leads (wires) but the next logical step will be adding the solar panel to the build and securing this pcb to the back of the panel. Then.. further testing. I'll be keeping the panel and that rectifier diode handy. This is still work in progress.
When are we getting it?
i guess it will take about 1-2 weeks to do the job.
i'm also involved in 2 more projects, it could be done as soon as i finish my automatic dog feeder with video-streaming over internet, food sensors and audio feedback. )
facdemol said:
i guess it will take about 1-2 weeks to do the job.
i'm also involved in 2 more projects, it could be done as soon as i finish my automatic dog feeder with video-streaming over internet, food sensors and audio feedback. )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey facdemol I am not as versed in electronics as you are my friend. So my question to you is this is something that someone with a fair level of intelligents can attempt also? Secound is this, is the list you give in your first post all some one needs to try this? I would really like try this myself and maybe correspond my findings with you. Also thank you totally of you ammazing knowledge filled posts here on XDA.
lol.... Im not sure how to respond to this
Cant wait to see how it turns out, best of luck
sounds interesting!
Good man, keep us updated however things turn out... you sound like someone who isn't afraid of experimenting with electronics for the thrill!
Sent from my Nexus One
Wow! Pretty interesting
Hey facdemol I thought you might like to check this article in the Portal out if you have not already. Looking forward to hearing back from you here on your project.
good article, was inspiring
stage 2 and 3 are completed. Now working to design a high performance dc-dc (switching mode) converter that would take 8.4V input and give me some 5V @ 2.5A output for hd2's charging and the usb hub. Some work needs to be done here and some careful testing, if for whatever reason this converter fails, hd2 motherboard could get fried Working on a way to implement some safeties, also i'm studying the way older pda's and pna's used switching mode power supply's and converters. I'm thinking i could either salvage one of these modules or build one specifically for hd2.
Update : found a way to make this pretty DIY for anyone with basic electronics skill (so that you can avoid designing switching mode converters, making PCB's, winding coils etc).
I found some dirt cheap car adapters that output 5v (pc usb jack) and can be used for various usb charging enabled devices. I'm testing to see their performance with my custom battery pack and the solar panel. Results are pretty good so far, i managed to run them stable at arout 5.5-6Volts input voltage. 2 of these will be required for this project (2 amp max current) or one if the output transistor inside is changed or a heatsink is mounted on it. I will come back with results and in the end, a guide with the required modifications.
The second post contains the updated progress on this project.
Third post will contain some sort of guide for a DIY assembly of such device.
These are updated daily.
If everything goes smooth, i guess i will posting some pictures and guides to build such things, by the end of this day or tomorrow.
Current features of this design :
- 10watt solar panel module
- 14400mAh battery module - cell pack designed as 3p2s
- 2 charge modes (slow - similar to a pc's usb port and fast - similar to hd's wall charger)
- 4 powered usb ports (usb host capable)
- 1 high-power usb port (it can charge any device requiring 5V at around 500mA - 1500mA)
- uses standard usb-microusb cables, no need for other hacks or special cables
- feels geeky
facdemol said:
The second post contains the updated progress on this project.
Third post will contain some sort of guide for a DIY assembly of such device.
These are updated daily.
If everything goes smooth, i guess i will posting some pictures and guides to build such things, by the end of this day or tomorrow.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds greet I will bee waiting to see what you have come up with man, this could be something that can change how we can use our HD2s on the go. n
Keep up the good work facdemol, I am also waiting to see if you post any more power consumption results in your other thread.
I would like to ask anyone reading this to help vote this to be published in the XDA portal by clicking the vote bottom at the top right of the first post by facdemol, he deserves recognition for his great work with this project and his others.
Very Interesting ! Good luck with the project! will be following to see what develops!
I love this. Great concept.
it took a while to charge the independent cells to the same level and to form a pack. The charge alignment is a must, otherwise, the battery back will discharge at an uneven rate among each cell. One done properly it should allow the maximum battery life and no future maintenance.
I've done some testing on it, already hooked up the hd2 to this thing, it's working properly, both charging modes, usb host etc. I guess i'll come back today with the guide and pictures to make this, it took the better part of yesterday to manually charge/discharge each of the 6 cells in the pack.
updated post 3, half of the buid is already done and operational. The battery and hub+charger module needs to be linked up to the solar panel and some of case to be built.
There are some pics and one video with the thing working. Just basic testing for now, i just finished it.
Very interesting...great job mate...

Transformer with 320go HDD on dock (pictures)

hi
fresh implanted a goflex slim 320go in dock
but its a little bit too high the keyboard curves a little and the transformer don't close exact (the hdd is 7mm)
removed battery
maybe is better with a 1,8 inches hdd
don't know if half battery works i will make tests an post in a few days
hdd is not showing on win 7 , how to see it like microsd (folder)? or howto access it through the ccomputer?
(WORKING ON HC3.2!!!!)
thanks for relplies
Niceeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!
Sent from my Transformer TF101
That's cool.
You can't access the drive because it's mounted on the OS while the "SD Card" internal storage is treated as an MDP by your PC not a Mass Storage Device.
Looks like you should try a Seagate Momentus Thin drive (7mm height). The 320GB one is USD$80.
http://google.com/search?q=Seagate+Momentus+st320lt007
Can you post a few pics with everything put back together, I wanna see how much the HD makes the keyboard bow up.
Wow, Love the Idea
you know what makes it better use SSD 120gb drive with now risk and less space needed
Wonderful, OP! Imagine the possibilities if we could boot from HDD in the near future... it shouldn't be too hard assuming we can now boot from microSD, right?
hi thank for advices an replies
i have no idea about android boot etc.....
waiting for windows 8!!!!
finally i removed entire battery i dont know if its working or not! and recenter the hard drive
it fits better and less keyboard deformation
452 grams (battery removed and front weight metal piece) total 1240g
added usb hub 4 port (microhub) for future implementations
markolino72 said:
hdd is not showing on win 7 , how to see it like microsd (folder)? or howto access it through the ccomputer?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It appears that windows won't see anything connected to the keyboard. I had the same trouble because windows won't see an SD card in the keyboard. I have a thread on it with some work arounds. I don't know if the problem is Asus or Android. Hopefully they will fix it. I will talk to the Asus service repair center about it next time I go. If you find a solution, please let me know.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1168855
Check here for ways to move data from your computer to the harddrive in your transformer's dock.
Also, do you mind elaborating on how exactly you hooked up your hardrive?
It looks like you added some wires to one of the existing USB ports, but I can't tell exactly what is going on.
hi thanks for the link
hooked with strong adhesive tape
wired the usb microhub to board contacts cutted pins of the usb connector and rewired to it
Thanks for the pictures.
Maybe it's also possible to add a 3g Stick permanently into the dock!
If i understood you right you "added" a USB-Port to an existing. Is it now possible to plug in 3 USB devices? (Your ssd, and 2 other)?
@markolino72
Did you get a clue which pins of the connector are used for usb host?
thanks
e.mote said:
Looks like you should try a Seagate Momentus Thin drive (7mm height). The 320GB one is USD$80.
http://google.com/search?q=Seagate+Momentus+st320lt007
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It *is* a Momentus Thin. The GoFlex Slim 320GB is based around that drive, it just ships in a 9mm external housing (but it looks like the OP has removed that.) A better fit would need a drive less than 7mm thick...
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4261/seagate-goflex-slim-320gb-the-worlds-thinnest-external-hdd
I'm curious what a rotating drive does to the dock/tablet's battery life...
4 cables for usb red gren white black
red and black for power
green and white for data
there are two more ports aviable on the added microhub
maybe a usb drive is a better option and keep battery inside dock
(f***ing missed usb port on tablet....grrrrr) this will be a nice mod adding a usb port and 3g dongle on tablet!!!!
markolino72 said:
hi
fresh implanted a goflex slim 320go in dock
but its a little bit too high the keyboard curves a little and the transformer don't close exact (the hdd is 7mm)
removed battery
maybe is better with a 1,8 inches hdd
don't know if half battery works i will make tests an post in a few days
hdd is not showing on win 7 , how to see it like microsd (folder)? or howto access it through the ccomputer?
thanks for relplies
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool! but be careful with harddrive. Don't use it in the shaky environments.
That's how I killed my laptop's harddrive once. Also, half of the battery(one cell I assume) might not work if they were connected in serial, but if they were in parallel then it should just decrease capacity.
If you detach all of the cells there is a chance that you will erase controller's memory. So, you won't be able to use dock's battery at all. Battery makers are clever these days, they don't want people replacing old cells with new ones.
knoxploration said:
It *is* a Momentus Thin. The GoFlex Slim 320GB is based around that drive, it just ships in a 9mm external housing (but it looks like the OP has removed that.) A better fit would need a drive less than 7mm thick...
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4261/seagate-goflex-slim-320gb-the-worlds-thinnest-external-hdd
I'm curious what a rotating drive does to the dock/tablet's battery life...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm guessing the rotating drive isn't nearly as bad for the dock's battery life as completely removing the battery is
daoist said:
I'm guessing the rotating drive isn't nearly as bad for the dock's battery life as completely removing the battery is
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I didn't catch that when I glanced at the pics, thought from the way the dock bowed upwards that he'd put it on top of the battery. A rotating drive that's (presumably) powered on all the time, plus the keyboard and touchpad, USB and card readers, etc. all piggybacked on only the tablet's battery must put a serious hurting on battery life. I'd be amazed if it gets past 3-4 hours -- at which point, why not just buy a netbook? Plenty of them will manage that long or more, with a warranty, an unbowed keyboard, and a heck of a lot more versatility.
I can't see this as being useful beyond the geek "Well, I did it and it worked" value.
well,
I was thinking this for travelling, when i realised that the dock is too heavy to take it arround for only autonomie ,9.5h is pretty enough for me, i haven't make test already but i intent too use the dock plugged if possible
in 320go i can store my music collection,flacs apes i'm a meloman ancd copy the wanted music to the tablet etc...etc when needed and TF souns good!!!!
i thing you are right Aligatro seems my battery d'ont worked anymore tried to resold half and nothing tried to brige "serial" and nothing so maybe DON'T DISCONNECT THE BATTERY
finally I curved the dock by hand gently and its almost flat and closes well
I feel that the keyboard sucks, too heavy ,the best functionality of the dock is too stand the tablet , the mouse sucks too with stupid colors for a mouse pointer
i had to buy a dock for connecting a usb drive......!!!!!
but result is too heavy
the hdd stops frequently with the screen so is not always on only on demand so its nice for copy content to sdcard for use.......anyway you always can unmount it too preseve battery power
i will make a test tomorrow for battery
hi begin battery test
playing music from hdd with wifi and gps off autobacklight
~2h30 for 33% battery ussage so we can expect 7h30 not bad
knoxploration said:
Yeah, I didn't catch that when I glanced at the pics, thought from the way the dock bowed upwards that he'd put it on top of the battery. A rotating drive that's (presumably) powered on all the time, plus the keyboard and touchpad, USB and card readers, etc. all piggybacked on only the tablet's battery must put a serious hurting on battery life. I'd be amazed if it gets past 3-4 hours -- at which point, why not just buy a netbook? Plenty of them will manage that long or more, with a warranty, an unbowed keyboard, and a heck of a lot more versatility.
I can't see this as being useful beyond the geek "Well, I did it and it worked" value.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well neither do I, except for the 3g-dongel built in.
Maybe I'll give a shot in a bit with that operation...
That is nuts !
Anyway you can stick a 63 inches flat panel also together with a 5.1 all of that with shinny duct tape ?

Need some help from someone who knows legit electronics(diodes, resistors, etc.)

So, i'm trying to add in a usb microsd adapter to my Kindle Fire.
Threads before I started, just discussing ideas:
KF forum: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1615055
Hardware hacking forum: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1615059
Now, I just about completed the project, but I dropped the motherboard and broke it while soldering a wire onto it. I've just bought another KF off of ebay and will continue at that point, but while i'm waiting I need some advice/help.
I've made a diagram of what i'm going to do. It's pretty horrible, but I think it's understandable.
Few questions that go with the diagram:
*DC only flows one way, do I need the diodes?
*If I should use the diodes will these work? (max output they would need to withstand would be 7v and 1A cause of the wall charger)
*The wall charger puts out 1000mA(1A) when charging. USB puts out 100mA, would that 1A ruin the adapter since it's designed for USB? If so, should I use some resistors?(Unsure cause they would change the regular, lower output to the adapter)(Or the resistors could be put into the charger)
*More questions/concerns on the diagram
Diagram:
Taken off because it was incorrect.
I'm still a bit fuzzy on what's going on here.
I'm not sure what the (2) 3.7V batteries and the 4.4V boards are.
Is that the stock Kindle Fire power supply that you are showing?
Th first question: Have you gotten the USB SD card to work normally plugged in externally?
If not, have you gotten the USB SD card to work through a powered hub?
All the diodes on the black lines are drawn backwards.
You don't need any diodes there or even a reed switch on the black line.
You might have a problem activating the 4 (remaining) reed switches simultaneously and reliably.
If you've never seen voltage out of the KF USB connector, that means that you've not gotten it into USB host mode.
Oh, of course the KF has a single 3.7V battery so I don't know what that whole right side is doing.
Renate NST said:
I'm still a bit fuzzy on what's going on here.
I'm not sure what the (2) 3.7V batteries and the 4.4V boards are.
Is that the stock Kindle Fire power supply that you are showing?
Th first question: Have you gotten the USB SD card to work normally plugged in externally?
If not, have you gotten the USB SD card to work through a powered hub?
All the diodes on the black lines are drawn backwards.
You don't need any diodes there or even a reed switch on the black line.
You might have a problem activating the 4 (remaining) reed switches simultaneously and reliably.
If you've never seen voltage out of the KF USB connector, that means that you've not gotten it into USB host mode.
Oh, of course the KF has a single 3.7V battery so I don't know what that whole right side is doing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The battery is made up of two 3.7v batteries, they just stuck them together and put a board there to control the power flow or whatever. I said it's lowered to 4.4v cause normally when two batteries are put together their voltage gets added together, but that 4.4v is coming from the very end pins, there are 10 total. I get 4.4v when trying the other pins too, so since i'm only connecting it to one set of pins i'm just going with 4.4v.
No, I haven't. I have not been able to successfully get USB host working at all, even with a USB host cable. I don't have a powered hub, but I tried taking the power from a USB port on my computer and that didn't work either. Other people have it working though, some with powered hubs, and a few without.
It might have just been my Kindle, so i'll see when I get the other Kindle I ordered.
I thought I was doing them backwards, I know how they go on physically, but I wasn't sure about on paper.
I'm not sure that i'll need all the reed switches, I may just need two; one to disconnect the ID(blue wire) from the back, and one to disconnect one of the data lines. I wasn't able to experiment though since I never got USB host working.
I tried measuring the voltage directly on the board and from the USB host cable and didn't a reading from either.(When I measured on the board I shorted out the ID an GND wires like they are on a USB host cable)
What I was trying to do with the battery there was prevent power from the charger going directly to the battery, that would be bad. So I do need at least one diode on each line there, but the other two I added cause I didn't want any extra power to be wasted. Of course, it doesn't make much sense to me(not sure what I was thinking), that's why I asked if it was necessary.
Picture of the battery and the board connected to it. I took it apart and removed the second one to move it over and resolder it so there was space down the middle for the wires. The adapter will be at the top where the speakers are.
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This whole idea has lots of problems.
Taking power directly off the battery is not a good idea for many reasons,
the least of which is that many (most?) USB devices won't work on 4.4 volt.
Throw in a silicon diode and you're down a further 0.7 volts.
Ok, you could make it a Schottky diode if you want.
You're still going to have to disconnect both data lines to get this to work,
unless you are planning to only use the external USB connector for charging.
Using host mode, the power should be coming out of the USB interface.
As mentioned, if you don't have it there, it's not working.
Here's a sequence of a Kindle Fire teardown: http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Kindle-Fire-Teardown/7099/1
Renate NST said:
This whole idea has lots of problems.
Taking power directly off the battery is not a good idea for many reasons,
the least of which is that many (most?) USB devices won't work on 4.4 volt.
Throw in a silicon diode and you're down a further 0.7 volts.
Ok, you could make it a Schottky diode if you want.
You're still going to have to disconnect both data lines to get this to work,
unless you are planning to only use the external USB connector for charging.
Using host mode, the power should be coming out of the USB interface.
As mentioned, if you don't have it there, it's not working.
Here's a sequence of a Kindle Fire teardown: http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Kindle-Fire-Teardown/7099/1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Taking power straight from the battery is only a temporary solution, the devs working on the 3.0 kernel is working on fixing the OTG issues and trying to remove the kernel limit of 3v. Also, from what I understand there are other issues that the KF is having regulating the voltage out, people report that below 50% battery USB host stops working.
So, if the issues get fixed i'll just disconnect the battery, or, as I said before, it may have just been my Kindle. I got it used & broken and fixed it myself, so it may have been damaged more than I was aware. I would be able to provide more definitive answers if I had something to experiment with, but I won't have the other Kindle for a few days.
Also, since i'll have a second battery now, i'm not as worried about the battery being damaged.
I do realize that the diodes drop the voltage by .7v, but people who have USB host working report that the KF is putting out 3.3v, and some people have gotten certain flash drives and other devices to work off of that. I believe the microsd adapter I have will work off of that lower voltage.
I only charge using a wall adapter, and charging did work for me as long as the ID and GND cables were separated. My main concern is that adb and fastboot work since i'll just be transferring files to the Kindle and the sdcard with FTP. Which, if adb works so will mass storage, so...
Without using the battery it's just and internal OTG USB host set up with a switch/es, so in theory it should work.
I also don't need and diodes if it's not connected to the battery. I was just hooking it up to the battery cause I wasn't getting any power from the Kindle.
As for the reed switches not working reliably, I did read something before that said that they might screw each other up if they were all right next to each other. What if they were lined up end to end, would they interfere with each other like that? If they do work properly end to end all I need is a custom, long, slender, and rectangular neodymium magnet.
Again, I didn't really have much time to experiment since gravity and I screwed up my motherboard. I had just done some physical modding to the housing and framing to make space for everything, and done some testing on the voltages that it was putting out.
Also, thanks for the help and advice
Ok, here's what I was planning on doing without the battery, any problems now, besides the potential issues with the reed switches?
Ok, the TWL6030 used in the KF uses an LDO regulator for VBUS on USB for OTG
and is speced for 3.3V at 35 mA
http://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/twl6030.pdf
The Nook Touch that I have uses a TPS65921 (a/k/a TWL4030) which uses a charge pump
and is speced for 5.0V and guaranteed for 50 to 100 mA depending on battery voltage.
http://www.ti.com/lit/ds/swcs048f/swcs048f.pdf page 16
I've seen some devices that won't even work at 4.5V
Keyboards generally draw about 5mA.
I've seen audio adapters at 25 mA.
Some thumb drives take a lot of current.
Keeping the red connected all the time may or may not be a problem.
An inactive USB device should not be drawing much (any?) current, but you can never tell.
Bottom line, I don't think that the KF is a very good candidate for stand-alone OTG.
I'd use a powered (and back-powering) hub if I owned a KF.
I don't know what's going on here.. but I corrected your power supply in the schematic above.
Renate NST said:
Ok, the TWL6030 used in the KF uses an LDO regulator for VBUS on USB for OTG
and is speced for 3.3V at 35 mA
http://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/twl6030.pdf
The Nook Touch that I have uses a TPS65921 (a/k/a TWL4030) which uses a charge pump
and is speced for 5.0V and guaranteed for 50 to 100 mA depending on battery voltage.
http://www.ti.com/lit/ds/swcs048f/swcs048f.pdf page 16
I've seen some devices that won't even work at 4.5V
Keyboards generally draw about 5mA.
I've seen audio adapters at 25 mA.
Some thumb drives take a lot of current.
Keeping the red connected all the time may or may not be a problem.
An inactive USB device should not be drawing much (any?) current, but you can never tell.
Bottom line, I don't think that the KF is a very good candidate for stand-alone OTG.
I'd use a powered (and back-powering) hub if I owned a KF.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the info, I cut open a cable and plugged it into my computer with a resistor hooked up to it and got the voltage down to about 3.4v and the adapter that i'm using still ran and was recognized. I'm unsure about the current though.
It's not really OTG if it has to be hooked up to a separate power supply :/
AdamOutler said:
I don't know what's going on here.. but I corrected your power supply in the schematic above.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't understand why i'd need a 5v regulator on the battery when it's only putting out 4.4v? (Again, current-wise i'm unsure)
Also, the ID wire(blue) needs to be connected to the GND to activate USB host mode, it tells the device that it's a master and not a slave.
And I don't know if you read my previous posts, but I may not even be using the battery if I can get USB host working like everyone else. And the diodes were there cause I didn't want power going directly to the battery since it could mess it up.
Well, your circuit is wrong in a bunch of different ways so I redesigned it.
0. USB requires 5V regulated power.
1. the ground diodes are pointing the wrong way so the power would not flow.
2. When charging the battery you'd kill your device
3. zener diodes breakover at a certain voltage, not regulate. Those zener would just prevent any voltage from flowing. You'd want a Silicone Controlled Rectifier.
4. The 2 extra diodes do nothing at all in your circuit.
5. Each diode drops .7V. Your circuit effectively uses 4 of them between power and ground from the battery. so, by the end of your circuit, the microSD adapter gets 1.6 volts.... no where near what's required to run the device.
So, I corrected the circuit.
Didn't read that you were using any other method, still havn't.. Just wanted to correct the circuit in case someone else tries to do it.
I built my own car charger using a similar circuit. It's the same thing you'll find in a powered usb hub, although they may use diodes to prevent a backflow of power into the computer.
AdamOutler said:
Well, your circuit is wrong in a bunch of different ways so I redesigned it.
0. USB requires 5V regulated power.
1. the ground diodes are pointing the wrong way so the power would not flow.
2. When charging the battery you'd kill your device
3. zener diodes breakover at a certain voltage, not regulate. Those zener would just prevent any voltage from flowing. You'd want a Silicone Controlled Rectifier.
4. The 2 extra diodes do nothing at all in your circuit.
5. Each diode drops .7V. Your circuit effectively uses 4 of them between power and ground from the battery. so, by the end of your circuit, the microSD adapter gets 1.6 volts.... no where near what's required to run the device.
So, I corrected the circuit.
Didn't read that you were using any other method, still havn't.. Just wanted to correct the circuit in case someone else tries to do it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AdamOutler said:
I built my own car charger using a similar circuit. It's the same thing you'll find in a powered usb hub, although they may use diodes to prevent a backflow of power into the computer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
*If it requires 5v then how do devices run with less with USB host on other people's KFs?
*I'm aware that the ground diodes are the wrong way, I asked in my og diagram, and mentioned in a previous post that I know how they go on physically, just not in a diagram.
*That's why I had the diodes, to prevent messing up the battery and device
*I still don't understand how/why it needs to be regulated when it's only 4.4v, it's not over 5v.
I know what zener diodes are, all I would need is to prevent power going straight into the battery, and that's what the diodes would do.
*I wasn't going to use those extra two diodes on each battery line unless someone said that it did something, it was suggested to me by someone who has less electronical knowledge than me and I figured it doesn't hurt to ask.
*And with the 3.3v from the Kindle and 4.4v from the battery minus the 2.8v required for four diodes it equals 4.9v, which should work, but hopefully I don't have to use the battery.
Also, if you look at the picture in my post here it shows exactly what a OTG USB host cable does minus the switches. All I did was add the battery and diodes to prevent power from the charger going into the battery and power from the battery going into the charge port. In theory that should work out. And like I said before, hopefully I don't need to use the battery at all.
I removed the picture in the first post since it was incorrect; while I doubt anyone is going to try it at this point, I understand your sentiment.
Look, im not saying my way is totally up to standards, but it comes much closer than yours with fewer parts, less work and i gaurantee it will work. The proper way is to buy a powered hub and connect to that. If you dont want feedback, dont post in a discussion forum.
Im done wasting my time on this thread. Youre doing it wrong.
AdamOutler said:
Look, im not saying my way is totally up to standards, but it comes much closer than yours with fewer parts, less work and i gaurantee it will work. The proper way is to buy a powered hub and connect to that. If you dont want feedback, dont post in a discussion forum.
Im done wasting my time on this thread. Youre doing it wrong.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No need to get all upset bro, i'm just replying to what you've said(Like you said, discussion forum). You said you didn't read any previous posts, and it was obvious, you kept saying things that had already been brought up. And you say things like "Those zener would just prevent any voltage from flowing" when I was saying that was what I was trying to do anyways. Your comment implies that you think that I shouldn't use them, but with no explanation as to why not.
It's not that I don't want feedback, but you keep saying i'm doing it wrong, but you're not answering the questions that I ask. You're just saying "My way is right, your way is wrong," basically.
I repeatedly asked why it needs to be regulated when it's already less than 5v.
I also asked "If it requires 5v then how do devices run with less with USB host on other people's KFs?"
And I realize I didn't post this, but my next question was going to be, with the regulator there I would still need to put the diodes in to prevent power from the battery from going into the charge port and power from the charger going directly into the battery, correct?
Tl;dr:
You're right, you're wasting your and my time because you're not answering my questions, you're not explaining why your way is correct, and you keep bringing up things that were already discussed that I know about.
aaricchavez said:
If it requires 5v then how do devices run with less with USB host on other people's KFs?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Um, luck? Sure, a lot of devices are not picky about power.
The specification for USB is 5.0 V
Some devices may not have enough voltage to run at 3.3 V
Some devices may not have enough current to run at 35 mA
Some may simply not detect the presence until it rises over a threshold of 4.5 V
An SD card all by itself uses a nominal 3.3 V
The USB interface circuit is a separate issue.
aaricchavez said:
And with the 3.3v from the Kindle and 4.4v from the battery minus the 2.8v required for four diodes it equals 4.9v
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The math may be correct, but unfortunately the circuit is not in series.
The voltages just don't add up that way.
You'd need a "floating" battery (not the built-in one) to make the voltages add.
Getting a higher voltage from somewhere and using a 5 V voltage regulator would work.
However, you might need up to 7 V input because your garden-variety regulator has a "dropout voltage" of about 2.0 at full current.
That's why there are special "low dropout" (LDO) regulators designed for such cases.
Still, they can't make more voltage than what they take in.
For that we use charge pumps or boost regulators.
Both of those are active switching devices.
aaricchavez said:
I repeatedly asked why it needs to be regulated when it's already less than 5v.
I also asked "If it requires 5v then how do devices run with less with USB host on other people's KFs?"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry didnt read all of the posts, butfor this you can use simple step-up converter.
I have solar charger also with li-ion battery which can provide max 4,22 V and I need 5 Volts.
I bought this module on ebay:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/DC-DC-Conve...175?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4165891a1f
Works great, provides nice clean 5V output, max is about 2 Amps, even they are telling more... Could also post my complete solution photo if you want
Renate NST said:
The math may be correct, but unfortunately the circuit is not in series.
The voltages just don't add up that way.
You'd need a "floating" battery (not the built-in one) to make the voltages add.
Getting a higher voltage from somewhere and using a 5 V voltage regulator would work.
However, you might need up to 7 V input because your garden-variety regulator has a "dropout voltage" of about 2.0 at full current.
That's why there are special "low dropout" (LDO) regulators designed for such cases.
Still, they can't make more voltage than what they take in.
For that we use charge pumps or boost regulators.
Both of those are active switching devices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What's the difference between the built in battery vs an outside battery that would make it add up?
Adding another power source would basically end up being the same as getting a powered hub.
So what Helium, the poster below you, said should work with the 3.3v that the KF already puts out?
HeliumX10 said:
Sorry didnt read all of the posts, butfor this you can use simple step-up converter.
I have solar charger also with li-ion battery which can provide max 4,22 V and I need 5 Volts.
I bought this module on ebay:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/DC-DC-Conve...175?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4165891a1f
Works great, provides nice clean 5V output, max is about 2 Amps, even they are telling more... Could also post my complete solution photo if you want
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would like to see the photo, if you don't mind.
This one should work as well, correct? http://www.ebay.com/itm/DC-DC-3V-to...932?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a722f7ccc
aaricchavez said:
What's the difference between the built in battery vs an outside battery that would make it add up?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Many many ..
Power outputs form every mobile devices are not designed to provide big current. It is many times about 50-100 mA, which is sufficient for flash sticks,keyboards or mouses but not for e .g. hard drives.
If you connect step-up converter to for example 3,3V and 100mA, on output you will get 5V 50mA - this is really not sufficien for even mouse...
But if you use battery insted, it can provide huge current - normally 2000mA max. So if you connect battery to converter you will get 3,7V 2000mA and on output 5V 1400mA. Which could be usable even for low power 2,5" hard driver. Also battery has bigger voltage, so it means, that efficiency will rise up a little.
aaricchavez said:
So what Helium, the poster below you, said should work with the 3.3v that the KF already puts out?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, look up in this post
aaricchavez said:
I would like to see the photo, if you don't mind.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here there are - as you can see. I am charging my phone from standart li-ion battery from GPS with standart 5V USB
aaricchavez said:
This one should work as well, correct?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, could. But I recommend that I posted before - it has bigger mosfet package, which allows about 0,5W thermal dissipation. On your module are SMD transistors, which can dissipate only 0,1W and are very sensitive to aḿbient temperature. I dont trust SMD components in power solutions.
I'd actually recommend keeping the boost regulator on the smaller side.
Besides the space consideration, it would be nice if there were some current limiting.
I just measured the current draw on a 4GB microSD in a IOGear USB adapter and it was 45 mA.
The wireless mouse dongle that I measured was 15 mA.
I don't have any wired mice to measure, but I'd guess that they would all be around that.
Renate NST said:
I'd actually recommend keeping the boost regulator on the smaller side.
Besides the space consideration, it would be nice if there were some current limiting.
I just measured the current draw on a 4GB microSD in a IOGear USB adapter and it was 45 mA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure, but you wrote, that his device provides 35 mA max, so it wont be enought for most flash drives. Besides that - you measured in low power (3,3V) or high power (5V) USB mode? Because I expect 5V mode so it means than in 3,3V will be much more miliamps...
Anyway, with boost module it will enable him to use almost everything which has drivers. Not only tiny consumption devices, it will be full equipped active host hub also could be connected with switch as emergency charger...

[Nexus 7] Adding internal USB for other devices (HUB,microSD,FM,flash-storage,etc...)

The project-Adding internal USB for other devices (HUB,micro SD,FM,flash-storage,etc...).
We should have a few deferent options to connect USB internally. This thread should cover them all.
I really want to find a easy solderless method(plug/clips) I have a few ideas but would need to find the female and male connectors for the front camera or maybe soundboard connectors.
or
maybe disconnect the micro USB from the ribbon and run it up to the hub then back to the micro USB connector from the HUB that's one reason for the hub, so we can add a micro SD, a rear camera and the last port (HUB only has 3 ports active, it might be possible to find a different HUB that has 4 ports but this one only had 3) for ether some more flash storage or to hook up the solderless mod to mother board.
We can use the micro USB connection at bottom of the mother board a couple different ways. We could use both the data and power from the connector. We could also just use the data +/- from the micro USB connector and use the power from a different power source like the 7.4V from the battery and drop it down to 5V but none of the wires are 7.4v there is two running at 3.7v, if we could find the 7.4v on the board or a connector somewhere this could be done
Some pics
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http://s10.postimage.org/6zg4euc21/N7_cable.jpg
Does this mod actually work or is that last picture just what it might look like?
atticusmas said:
Does this mod actually work or is that last picture just what it might look like?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not yet, Just trying to find some other wiring options and parts before I wire it up.
Would this guy be similar to the nexus tablet?
nabitablet .com/specs/nabi2
amazon. com/Fuhu-NABI-NABI2-NV7A-7-Inch-Tablet/dp/B008DBI5RI/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1342981188&sr=8-4&keywords=nabi+2+tablet
Maybe the board could be close, find out how to use the microSD slot on the nexus 7 tablet?
(sorry about the chopped up url's, I guess I can't post links yet)
I Found this little USB HUB and it fits perfect.
This is it before it got striped
Still just in mock up and not connected yet, but it does still close up fine. So I'm pretty sure a hub is a go(for me anyway) and still have room for some flash storage that will go where the rear camera should have gone or just beside the hub
Has anything happened with this project?
Camping for a few days with the family, then back at it.
Wow that's awesome man! Keep on the good work!!
Envoyé depuis mon Nexus 7 avec Tapatalk
What do you mean by an issue with remounting when you use the power from the USB? I had read somewhere about someone shorting two pins to make the mod work but you could no longer charge and would need a switch to deactivate the short to charge it. If any switch is needed to change anything physically then I was thinking the tiny type that you press with a pen head or similar, that is recessed.
I hope you make progress when your back on it. I ordered the usb otg cable and have some tiny micro sdhc readers that slide into a usb slot that are as thin as a reg. sd card. I figured I could solder wires onto one and mount it for the card reader. I was thinking to use hot glue or similar between the soldered connections for safety since it isnt easy to get factory type solder joints all the time on small stuff (even though I am decent at soldering).
I hope someone can come up with the software hack needed to be able to actually mount the micro sd and install to it like any other tablet can.
Thanks for the pictures and work you are doing, I am sure many are watching :good:
Just a few comments on this project:
If you put a hub or device in then it requires that you operate the tablet's USB interface in host mode.
Normally, something supplies power and will not accept power for charging when in host mode.
There are hacks to get around this, but I'd see if I could get this all working externally before I started modifying.
You could end up with your hub idea working find, but you are unable to charge the tablet.
When you do lay the cables in, twist the data pair and leave the two power leads straight.
This looks awesome! Can't wait to see the tutorial if one becomes available, these devices get me in trouble!
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
Have been watching this thread with great interest as well. Indeed, I always only lurked on XDA, this piqued my interest enough to actually join.
Fingers crossed for OP!
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
Hub fits I just need to come up with a 5V power somehow got the Data and ground figured. Can someone come up with any ideas to create 5V power, maybe some fancy circuitry to bump the power from battery to 5V?
iAppleDev said:
Hub fits I just need to come up with a 5V power somehow got the Data and ground figured. Can someone come up with any ideas to create 5V power, maybe some fancy circuitry to bump the power from battery to 5V?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What model number hub did you use, does that have the USB OTG built in to it?
I am going to ask a few people in another type of forum about the voltage, a few on there know more than I on this topic. What is the battery stock voltage? I first was thinking resisters but I think we would need to know the exact current going through it to determine the right size. I am searching for tiny DC voltage regulators to see what I can find also, but wasn't sure the stock voltage. Here is some info on DC voltage regulators youtube.com/watch?v=GSzVs7_aW-Y&feature=fvwrel I cant post links yet so it doesn't have the www . The video talks about regulating DC voltage to power 5volt usb devices.
Do you think anyone will have a custom ROM or other hack so we can mount and install to the micro SDHC card once this mod is complete? Because that is what I want before I go this far.
Glad your back at it though! Thanks for your work on this.
Normally the 5V power to external devices is fed from a charge pump in the USB PHY interface chipset.
Some non-standard implementations only supply 3.7V battery power.
3.7V may/may not be enough for your hub and SD card.
If you are using 3.7V to a standard USB/SD card adapter, you might try bypassing the LDO in the adapter.
Also, many devices can only host about 100 mA.
Both hubs and USB/SD card adapters can be current hogs.
I think that some actually experimentation is called for before taking a Dremel tool to your tablet.
Renate NST said:
Normally the 5V power to external devices is fed from a charge pump in the USB PHY interface chipset.
Some non-standard implementations only supply 3.7V battery power.
3.7V may/may not be enough for your hub and SD card.
If you are using 3.7V to a standard USB/SD card adapter, you might try bypassing the LDO in the adapter.
Also, many devices can only host about 100 mA.
Both hubs and USB/SD card adapters can be current hogs.
I think that some actually experimentation is called for before taking a Dremel tool to your tablet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wouldn't it be best to us a non powered usb hub to split the usb connection? I doubt a small keyboard would use much and as far as I go, I would only use the usb for a small case sized keyboard, charging the device and the micro sdhc card/reader.
So is the battery only 3.7 volts? I was thinking it might be more and we needed to step down, so we need to step it up for the micro sdhc reader?
eBandit078 said:
So is the battery only 3.7 volts? I was thinking it might be more and we needed to step down, so we need to step it up for the micro sdhc reader?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's actually two 3.7v Li-Poly cells set up in series for a total of 7.4v. As pointed out (rather rudely) in a prior post, the leads aren't spliced on the pack itself so that a 5v USB input can charge the batteries. My old Acer A100 actually had the batteries spliced so that a 12v charger was needed. It had very weak battery life, but the upside was that the 12V charger would take it from 15% to 100% is a little less than an hour.
Renate NST said:
If you put a hub or device in then it requires that you operate the tablet's USB interface in host mode.
Normally, something supplies power and will not accept power for charging when in host mode.
There are hacks to get around this, but I'd see if I could get this all working externally before I started modifying.
You could end up with your hub idea working find, but you are unable to charge the tablet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very good points. You may be happy to know that the USB specification recently provided a means for charging an OTG device while in host mode. It's called "Accessory Charger Adapter". See Chapter 6, and in particular Figure 6-2 from the specification:
www.usb.org/developers/devclass_docs/BCv1.2_070312.zip
If you could nail this down, you might solve a bunch of challenges with the +5V supply at once. Not sure what it would take to implement though. A cursory search for dedicated ICs didn't produce anything for me.
Renate NST said:
When you do lay the cables in, twist the data pair and leave the two power leads straight.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
:good: Second that suggestion.
So this device runs on 7.4V dual Li-ion batteries?
Is there a separate charger input or only over the USB?

Battery Drain

I have a VS995 and this replacement battery. I'm getting less than 2 hours of SOT with both Lineage 18.1 offical and the new project lighthouse ROM at less than 50% brightness. I have greenify and ACC installed with magisk as well as no gapps. Any idea how to fix the drain?
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Hello ROMSG,
Can you confirm the battery is drained vs being read as drained? You could try measuring the voltage on battery contacts before and after to confirm.
Or, since this would not hurt, without even confirming, for fun, try and clean out your USB port and the C end of the USB cable with strong alcohol, and then compressed air. Dry for sure - leave it in the sun for a while laying on or right next to some table salt.
Why:
I just finished analyzing a thread with unrelated issue, but there, it seems to me that bad USB port was causing get this: low reading from otherwise good battery (or actually create a drain - dark current on the USB connector itself). No idea why, but must be connected somehow.
I had re-soldered USB port twice in the past and once the power switch on my own devices, so it would not surprise me at all that those internal components would fail. And I am kind of super precise in how insert the cable, just time, I guess.
Funny how things work. Today I received a phone I bought from eBay for $50, because it was "Google FRP Locked". Mint black H918, no water damage. I thought I'd use the LGUP to re-load the software and may-be make it work, or something, you know, for practice learning about this stuff.
Well, it would not boot past the T-Mobile screen. Finally I made it boot to Factory Reset screen, pressed YES and it went black. No more boot, as it reported the battery (which was about 70% full before this) is now at 0%.
From 70% to 0% in a few unsuccessful boot attempts? Wow, that's really something. It did not get hot.. So, where all that energy went? I mean how did it dissipate 11.9 x 0.7 = 8.33 Wh ? It took about 15 minutes if that, so it was dissipating at 4 x 8.33 = 33.32 Wh speed without even getting hot? That's insane.
Anyway, the USB connector looks horrid, and the charge percentage is going ON and OFF when in the USB cable is in it. The USB cable feels loose in the port.
I tried cleaning but it is too far gone. I am going to replace the USB connector with a new one.
But do you see, again, the same link between discharging the battery / bad USB port and boot-loops? If true, this means that there might be a sea of perfectly good phones on eBay, just with bad USB connectors, boot-looping and eating batteries. Re-solder the USB port and you're good to go!
I would be excited to find out what was your result.
Descent2 said:
Funny how things work. Today I received a phone I bought from eBay for $50, because it was "Google FRP Locked". Mint black H918, no water damage. I thought I'd use the LGUP to re-load the software and may-be make it work, or something, you know, for practice learning about this stuff.
Well, it would not boot past the T-Mobile screen. Finally I made it boot to Factory Reset screen, pressed YES and it went black. No more boot, as it reported the battery (which was about 70% full before this) is now at 0%.
From 70% to 0% in a few unsuccessful boot attempts? Wow, that's really something. It did not get hot.. So, where all that energy went? I mean how did it dissipate 11.9 x 0.7 = 8.33 Wh ? It took about 15 minutes if that, so it was dissipating at 4 x 8.33 = 33.32 Wh speed without even getting hot? That's insane.
Anyway, the USB connector looks horrid, and the charge percentage is going ON and OFF when in the USB cable is in it. The USB cable feels loose in the port.
I tried cleaning but it is too far gone. I am going to replace the USB connector with a new one.
But do you see, again, the same link between discharging the battery / bad USB port and boot-loops? If true, this means that there might be a sea of perfectly good phones on eBay, just with bad USB connectors, boot-looping and eating batteries. Re-solder the USB port and you're good to go!
I would be excited to find out what was your result.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lg up typically causes battery drain but not like what you described. Also reflashing wont fix frp in all cases, since the versions of android on these devices is so old frp bypasses are typically a better route. I know from expierence.
LGUP does that? How weird, why? This one is also a bug, most likely.
Thank you for the tips! I had no idea. I just wanted to try different things and see what works. Typically, I'd drop my phone like in a carwash and crack the screen. So, now that I am a little smarter, I try to buy many hardware backup pieces before I need them. So this is essentially an extra screen. But since it works, why not brick it, right? Learn something along the way.
Nevertheless, I need all the hints I can get. Not a pro here by any means. Do you know of any FRP bypass method you thin works good on H918?
Since you're not new to this, would you mind if I start a conversation with you? I need answers to a couple of questions that seem to be omitted everywhere or I can't find where they are discussed.
Also can't wait to find out if you have found the USB port to be the cause of your power drain or if you found it not to be related.
Descent2 said:
LGUP does that? How weird, why? This one is also a bug, most likely.
Thank you for the tips! I had no idea. I just wanted to try different things and see what works. Typically, I'd drop my phone like in a carwash and crack the screen. So, now that I am a little smarter, I try to buy many hardware backup pieces before I need them. So this is essentially an extra screen. But since it works, why not brick it, right? Learn something along the way.
Nevertheless, I need all the hints I can get. Not a pro here by any means. Do you know of any FRP bypass method you thin works good on H918?
Since you're not new to this, would you mind if I start a conversation with you? I need answers to a couple of questions that seem to be omitted everywhere or I can't find where they are discussed.
Also can't wait to find out if you have found the USB port to be the cause of your power drain or if you found it not to be related.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What version of android is your h918 on? I'm happy to answer any questions you have.
Hi Guys,
Mine was F800L, and it seems like it have the same problem, bad connector. Even though I unplug the battery, when I plug the charger, it's drain 0.3-0.7 Amps, and it's get hot without turning on.
I am a little scary to desolder the usb port.
Yes xdanubi, replacing the USB port is a tricky deal. I have replaced few USB ports before, and this time I had only two jobs: replace a power switch on one phone and the USB port on H918. I did the power switch soldering job without issues, and I ruined the H918 in my attempt to replace the USB port.
What went wrong:
-My work setup was too low magnification for the H918 job. I should have upgraded to a higher magnification first, but instead I pushed ahead hoping that my sharp eyesight will haul me out as usual.
-I used ChipQuick Low Melt solder paste to mix in with the original solder in order to drop the temperature when removing the port. This was a mistake. The paste produced several independently moving micro solder balls and they run around uninhibited and I did not notice that until too late when I was examining the empty board using high magnification hand held loupe after removing the port. I should have used a Low Temp solder in a metallic form at this stage. That would not create the solder balls. Why didn't I use the metallic low temp solder? I had it at hand! Because the magnification was too low for this job and I did not feel comfortable enough to precisely apply the metallic form. Applying the paste from a syringe is easier when the work area observation is limited.
-I have not washed the board in alcohol prior to starting the job. What this did is even though I have applied the MG Pink Peelable Solder Mask jelly to the area next to repair zone to seal and protect all of the surrounding components, the flux from the solder paste still lifted the peelable mask and allowed the metal balls to run under it to get stuck to some of the smallest components. I should have thoroughly wash/brush the repair area with 97% alcohol and dry before applying the Peelable Solder Mask to have it adhere better.
All in all, I was too confident I can do it because I have done that several times in the past. Things got a lot smaller since then. This USB port on V20 is surrounded by a number of smallest components I have ever seen in SMD, and one needs to have his tools and procedures just right to get thru this. My second H918 is now what i purchased it for - just a bunch of parts.
This doesn't mean you should not try to get it done. Just be aware of particular difficulties, and get your tools, and understand every step of your procedure as you design it and know exactly why you are taking it. Also, some people always seem to get it done just on pure luck, you may just be one of them. I think if you heed my warnings and account for what I did wrong, watch few good videos and practice a little on some dead boards, you'll be all right.
Here are my measurements of power consumption from a working H918 for a comparison:
Battery removed.
Phone is connected to USB charger
Mini screen has a light gray backlight and is clearly separate from the main screen which remains black.
A battery symbol with flashing red question mark is displayed on the main screen
Phone OFF and does not start when I use the power button.
Temperature does nor rise, phone stays cold.
Current: 0.25 - 0.27 A
79% Battery is installed and charged to 85%
Phone is connected to USB charger
Both screens are black.
A battery symbol is displayed on main screen with percentage of charge and green fill.
Phone OFF but will start when I use the power button.
Temperature does nor rise, phone stays cold.
Current: 0.48 -> -> 0.37 A
85% Battery is installed and continuously charged
Phone is connected to USB charger
Both screens are black (power button press is needed to display battery charging percentage)
Phone is OFF
Temperature on power button is 30 C
Phone was OFF but is now started using the power button. Booting.
Both screens are ON
Temperature on power button is 32 C
Current: 0.60 A
Phone is ON and is in Airplane mode.
Both screen are ON
Temperature on power button is 31 C
Current: 0.47 A (Battery is now at 89%)
Hope this helps
I think your current measurements are OK. But your temperature is not OK. Try to see where the heat is coming from? IS it coming from, the CPU (felt on power button) or the USB port? In your case it would not be the battery since it is removed. It should not be the CPU either since the phone hasn't been started. I am not all that clear still on what exactly in the USB area creates the heat. It would be awesome if you could produce an InfraRed picture of the phone with the back cover off while being hot while still OFF without battery and on charger. If you have an access to the IR camera like FLIR. It may not necessarily be the port itself or it's connections. It could be one of those small SMD components next to the port that gone bad, and if that is true, replacing only the port won't help.
Descent2 said:
Here are my measurements of power consumption from a working H918 for a comparison:
Battery removed.
Phone is connected to USB charger
Mini screen has a light gray backlight and is clearly separate from the main screen which remains black.
A battery symbol with flashing red question mark is displayed on the main screen
Phone OFF and does not start when I use the power button.
Temperature does nor rise, phone stays cold.
Current: 0.25 - 0.27 A
79% Battery is installed and charged to 85%
Phone is connected to USB charger
Both screens are black.
A battery symbol is displayed on main screen with percentage of charge and green fill.
Phone OFF but will start when I use the power button.
Temperature does nor rise, phone stays cold.
Current: 0.48 -> -> 0.37 A
85% Battery is installed and continuously charged
Phone is connected to USB charger
Both screens are black (power button press is needed to display battery charging percentage)
Phone is OFF
Temperature on power button is 30 C
Phone was OFF but is now started using the power button. Booting.
Both screens are ON
Temperature on power button is 32 C
Current: 0.60 A
Phone is ON and is in Airplane mode.
Both screen are ON
Temperature on power button is 31 C
Current: 0.47 A (Battery is now at 89%)
Hope this helps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reference. Clearly, mine has hardware problems, because even after doing factory reset, the problems persist. Tried to flash the stock pie kdz, still the same result. Without battery, the current drraw arround 0.6A, with battery plugged the phone off around 1.3A, and with phone on can be as high as 1,9A.
One thing that I am still doubt about the problem though, that the usb port still functioning, both for charging and data transfer. But the strange part, when the phone is off, whenever I plugged the usb, the phone boot up, both on PC usb or charger only.
The other strange part was that when the phone got realy hot (I measure 54 with IR gun, and around 60 reading the /sys/class/thermal/thermal_zonexx/temp file, the lower part around usb port keep cool, it is the upper part that get hot.
Descent2 said:
Yes xdanubi, replacing the USB port is a tricky deal. I have replaced few USB ports before, and this time I had only two jobs: replace a power switch on one phone and the USB port on H918. I did the power switch soldering job without issues, and I ruined the H918 in my attempt to replace the USB port.
What went wrong:
-My work setup was too low magnification for the H918 job. I should have upgraded to a higher magnification first, but instead I pushed ahead hoping that my sharp eyesight will haul me out as usual.
-I used ChipQuick Low Melt solder paste to mix in with the original solder in order to drop the temperature when removing the port. This was a mistake. The paste produced several independently moving micro solder balls and they run around uninhibited and I did not notice that until too late when I was examining the empty board using high magnification hand held loupe after removing the port. I should have used a Low Temp solder in a metallic form at this stage. That would not create the solder balls. Why didn't I use the metallic low temp solder? I had it at hand! Because the magnification was too low for this job and I did not feel comfortable enough to precisely apply the metallic form. Applying the paste from a syringe is easier when the work area observation is limited.
-I have not washed the board in alcohol prior to starting the job. What this did is even though I have applied the MG Pink Peelable Solder Mask jelly to the area next to repair zone to seal and protect all of the surrounding components, the flux from the solder paste still lifted the peelable mask and allowed the metal balls to run under it to get stuck to some of the smallest components. I should have thoroughly wash/brush the repair area with 97% alcohol and dry before applying the Peelable Solder Mask to have it adhere better.
All in all, I was too confident I can do it because I have done that several times in the past. Things got a lot smaller since then. This USB port on V20 is surrounded by a number of smallest components I have ever seen in SMD, and one needs to have his tools and procedures just right to get thru this. My second H918 is now what i purchased it for - just a bunch of parts.
This doesn't mean you should not try to get it done. Just be aware of particular difficulties, and get your tools, and understand every step of your procedure as you design it and know exactly why you are taking it. Also, some people always seem to get it done just on pure luck, you may just be one of them. I think if you heed my warnings and account for what I did wrong, watch few good videos and practice a little on some dead boards, you'll be all right.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a bad eyesight and only have a cheap magnifying glass, so maybe not now. Might as well buy another v20, because the cheapest trinocular still more expensive than that phone.
Descent2 said:
I think your current measurements are OK. But your temperature is not OK. Try to see where the heat is coming from? IS it coming from, the CPU (felt on power button) or the USB port? In your case it would not be the battery since it is removed. It should not be the CPU either since the phone hasn't been started. I am not all that clear still on what exactly in the USB area creates the heat. It would be awesome if you could produce an InfraRed picture of the phone with the back cover off while being hot while still OFF without battery and on charger. If you have an access to the IR camera like FLIR. It may not necessarily be the port itself or it's connections. It could be one of those small SMD components next to the port that gone bad, and if that is true, replacing only the port won't help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sadly though, I don't have access to any IR cam. I do indeed try cheaper method "ouweee" test like Rossmann did, first using bare finger, then using a some drop of IPA and see where the particular component that dried up first.
As far as I can tell, the below area near charging port were fine. nothing dried up fast in the small component area near simcard, and the small component area under the fingerprint sensor. The one that heated up fast was the most left area covered with shield.
So I don't know weather it's still usb port problems or other hardware problem.
On V20, the CPU is just like on PC, is attached to the board, but touching a metal heatsink (which is the internal frame) with a healp from some pink glob of crappy looking thermo paste. Actually, the CPU itself is covered tightly with a memory chip soldered right on top of the CPU, and the roof of that is sticky-glued to a copper foil, and then that copper foil is covered with the paste glob and that is stuck to the frame.
Few points to note right here:
- the reason that V20 has thermal issues, I think, is due to poor thermal design: three interfaces (CPU --> memory chip --> copper foil --> metal frame heatsink), and each has some less than 100% efficiency in thermal energy conductivity. There might even be a fourth interface if the CPU has a lid, like that on PC, but unlikely so, most probably it's an exposed one like on the graphics cards.
- each of these thermal interfaces has it's own expiration date. At this point in time, you don't know how many of them are expired.
- hardware guys already are doubtful about the goofy looking "thermal solution" paste that is applied between copper film and the frame. How efficient was it to begin with?
- if you had removed the board before, or if you had dropped the phone when this paste was already dried up, it is very likely that it has de-touched from the frame and there is an air gap. Typically this is not how a phone is designed and this is a surprise to some folks.
What ideally needs to be done is the memory chip needs to be removed, the interface conduction layer renewed, and chip needs to be soldered back. Then the renewal needs to be carried out with respect to the second and third interface as well.
Without having to solder anything, you can relatively easily replace / thinker with the second and especially the third interface. The second will require the copper foil to be peeled off. On the phone I ruined, I threw that foil away, intending to go directly from memory chip roof to the frame, but alas, I didn't get to try that. I think that the high efficiency thermal conductive solutions such as liquid metal or diamond pastes are not good here, because there is the reason the LG used the glob of chewing gum it seems - because the interface between the roof of the memory chip and the frame lacks the close tolerance required for a high efficiency conduit to work. Plus the phone has some flex to it, so even if yours happen to be aligned extremely tightly, this would keep changing. For this reason, I think the thermal conduit needs to be a high volume / flexible one, like that again, on the graphics cards. This could be a thick paste or a sticky pad.
The reason they used the copper foil and not a direct connection between the chip and the frame, I think was because the interface between the roof of the memory chip and the copper foil is more precise and is much more flex stable, so, by using a higher efficiency / thinner conduit there they were aiming to help the total efficiency at least a little bit.
I wanted to clean the roof of the memory chip and use some good video card thermal paste / goo / glue / pad directly connecting it to the frame during re-assembly.
I think this is what you can try to do as well. You can leave the copper foil there for now, and try just the third interface. If your results are not significant, then try and remove the foil as well. None of this will require soldering or a high magnification equipment. Just some patience, alcohol, a steady hand and at least a PC experience with the same.
Be careful with the screws. The screws are all different length, and when I opened mine I was following a guidance that there are two groups, but found it to be wrong as my phone seemed to have at least four groups of different screws. It was too late, however, because mine were already mixed within two groups I created. So, I would advise to create a diagram of screw location and keeping track of which screw goes where. I think that many times this phone is taken apart and put together, without this tracking, some screws end up too long for where they were placed and holding parts loosely, thus adding to the flex that might be cracking the older brittle thermal interface.
Frame Thermal Interface Touch Point:
Peeling Off the Copper Foil:
Copper Foil is Removed - Roof of the Memory Exposed :
xdanubi said:
Might as well buy another v20, because the cheapest trinocular still more expensive than that phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Absolutely. The 20x binocular from AmScope on ebay is around $190. Since Iam only an amateur, I am considering building a DIY usb webcam based microscope like the one EEV blog had reviewed or better. Reading about optics now, - I am an absolute newbie to optics design.
Amazon has this phone "new" for $70 with varying reviews. Might just try that, since on e-bay or Swappa you'd likely get a phone someone from XDA already "worked with" for a while.
I too am baffled with why some phones do turn on spontaneously when charger is connected. From my experience with PCs, this usually indicates:
-- bad BIOS battery
(is there a BIOS battery cell on a phone? Yes, I know there was one on Galaxy, maybe there is one on V20 as well?) This would not generate any heat though.
-- bad corrupted BIOS
(we are on XDA, lol. Should we really try throwing this stone?) But really, maybe a full reflashing should help? I mean a complete, like a full KDZ, not just wiping of data partition which is what a factory reset really is. BUT YOU ALREADY TRIED THIS
-- some dried out capacitors around power on circuits (this one can create heat)
Again, FLIR is needed for this. Or careful thermal probing of SMD components with board being fully connected while outside of the case and plastic housing. Once a hot one is found this could be examined further.
Some research directions here...
xdanubi said:
The one that heated up fast was the most left area covered with shield.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could you show which area was heating up:
xdanubi said:
Without battery, the current draw is around 0.6A, with battery plugged the phone off around 1.3A, and with phone on can be as high as 1,9A.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You clearly have about 0.3 A to 0.6 A dark current. Something is consuming this energy and dissipating it into heat. When capacitors are shot they now represent a short on the circuit where there not supposed to be one. Such short will now create this dark current.
Capacitors fail due to old age, high heat (vicious circle), and bad power supplies that deliver spikes and poorly filtered power. Big electrolytic capacitors dry out, explode, leak, but SMD capacitors fail too - they crack and melt.
Code:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IciwMsWX_Y4
There could be other failed components, it's just that capacitors are ubiquitous in this regard.
Descent2 said:
- if you had removed the board before, or if you had dropped the phone when this paste was already dried up, it is very likely that it has de-touched from the frame and there is an air gap. Typically this is not how a phone is designed and this is a surprise to some folks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do remove the board, to see if there's any clear evidence of burned/short capacitors. And indeed I do have the urge to remove that pinky gummy blob, and ad some PC's cpu paste to it. But the fact that I still feel a good heat to the screen area directly below it, it means that it's still have some good heat conductivity, so I'll leave that to deal with it later.
Descent2 said:
What ideally needs to be done is the memory chip needs to be removed, the interface conduction layer renewed, and chip needs to be soldered back. Then the renewal needs to be carried out with respect to the second and third interface as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that's one hell of BGA rework.
Descent2 said:
I think this is what you can try to do as well. You can leave the copper foil there for now, and try just the third interface. If your results are not significant, then try and remove the foil as well. None of this will require soldering or a high magnification equipment. Just some patience, alcohol, a steady hand and at least a PC experience with the same.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you, I'll do it later after clearing some other problems.

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