3G Internal Dongle Bodge, um modification...Done!

[Guest Equalizor]

Okay, so after a few days on/off work I've managed to fit a Huwaei E169G 3G USB dongle internally into my Vega, using the connections to the External USB port...

It works pretty darn well, with the following caveats :

1 - When the machine display switches off and the unit goes into Standby it kills the 3G which can only be bought back to life with a dongle removal [impossible as it's internal, but see below...] or by rebooting the unit and thereby resetting the dongle.

2 - The machine rear bulges "slightly" and I do mean "slightly" around the dongle area.

3 - Obviously the USB port can't be used any more. I'm completely not bothered about that, YMMV

I am using the Fuji-Vega_v0.7 ROM which is awesome, and that supports the "power on, back button" USB mode switch.

To get round the need to reset the machine if the dongle gets put into Standby I put a toggle switch into the +5v line of the dongle. YES I know it's gonna leave the data lines in some sort of indeterminate state, but it works great, and doesnt seem to have any side effects so far. When I flick the switch the Signal strength meter disappears off the status bar, and when I flick it back, Signal strength comes back, shortly followed by 3G, and the Internet is back.

All in all, it's been a real learning curve, and I'm happy to share my knowledge if anyone else is brave/stupid enough to try this themselves :-)

Thank God for Kapton Tape, Hot Glue Guns, Dremels and Kynar wire....

If anyone has any way of permanently fixing my Vega into the USB Host mode, please let me know, I would be very grateful.

Pictures Below :

Rob

Edited April 29, 2011 by Equalizor

[Guest the_corvus]

Okay, so after a few days on/off work I've managed to fit a Huwaei E169G 3G USB dongle internally into my Vega, using the connections to the External USB port...

It works pretty darn well, with the following caveats :

1 - When the machine display switches off and the unit goes into Standby it kills the 3G which can only be bought back to life with a dongle removal [impossible as it's internal, but see below...] or by rebooting the unit and thereby resetting the dongle.

2 - The machine rear bulges "slightly" and I do mean "slightly" around the dongle area.

3 - Obviously the USB port can't be used any more. I'm completely not bothered about that, YMMV

I am using the Fuji-Vega_v0.7 ROM which is awesome, and that supports the "power on, back button" USB mode switch.

To get round the need to reset the machine if the dongle gets put into Standby I put a toggle switch into the +5v line of the dongle. YES I know it's gonna leave the data lines in some sort of indeterminate state, but it works great, and doesnt seem to have any side effects so far. When I flick the switch the Signal strength meter disappears off the status bar, and when I flick it back, Signal strength comes back, shortly followed by 3G, and the Internet is back.

All in all, it's been a real learning curve, and I'm happy to share my knowledge if anyone else is brave/stupid enough to try this themselves :-)

Thank God for Kapton Tape, Hot Glue Guns, Dremels and Kynar wire....

If anyone has any way of permanently fixing my Vega into the USB Host mode, please let me know, I would be very grateful.

Pictures Below :

Rob

A really good job.

But:

Did you use the usb port or the docking port?

How is the signat with this tiny antenna and the vega cover?

Corvus

[Guest Sanddancer75]

I was all set to add a touch panel to my old Asus Eee 701 a couple of years back & had most of the parts. One of them was a tiny swively USB2 hub that I stripped down. If there was room you could maybe fit one of them inside the Vega, connecting one port to the dongle & the other to the external port so it would/might still be usable? Just a thought.

Edited April 30, 2011 by Sanddancer75

[Guest Equalizor]

A really good job.

But:

Did you use the usb port or the docking port?

How is the signat with this tiny antenna and the vega cover?

Corvus

I used the USB port. But the docking port, wow, I didn't even think of using that! D'oh! I will scope out the signals until I see something resembling USB and see if I can get the dongle on that!

And the signal is surprisingly good.I thought I might have to relocate the dongle antenna somewhere inside the case but I don't get the best reception in my house and I managed to get 3G no problem. I did make sure that the antenna traces are facing towards the back of the case rather than down towards the aluminium frame it's mounted on.

Rob

[Guest Equalizor]

I was all set to add a touch panel to my old Asus Eee 701 a couple of years back & had most of the parts. One of them was a tiny swively USB2 hub that I stripped down. If there was room you could maybe fit one of them inside the Vega, connecting one port to the dongle & the other to the external port so it would/might still be usable? Just a thought.

Now that's an idea I kinda had in the back of my mind, however this was just a quick n dirty mod and I wasn't sure if the Vega ROM would support a USB hub. It's worth a punt though, so Ebay here I come!

Rob

[Guest trevor432990]

Now that's an idea I kinda had in the back of my mind, however this was just a quick n dirty mod and I wasn't sure if the Vega ROM would support a USB hub. It's worth a punt though, so Ebay here I come!

Rob

According to this topic USB hubs do work. :mellow:

[Guest Panayioti]

Hi I'm new to 3g dongles can someone on here explain how to use them and how you pay for 3g?

Thanks

[Guest trevor432990]

Hi I'm new to 3g dongles can someone on here explain how to use them and how you pay for 3g?

Thanks

Try reading this topic should be enough info there

[Guest Panayioti]

Try reading this topic should be enough info there

Thanks

[Guest Equalizor]

Hi I'm new to 3g dongles can someone on here explain how to use them and how you pay for 3g?

Thanks

This is a little off topic for this particular thread, but basically :

1) Make sure your Vega is running a kernal that supports 3G dongles and Host/Slave USB mode switching. Most of the third party ones seem to nowadays. I'm using the Fuji_0.7 ROM myself

2) Get a Compatible dongle [i bought an unlocked Huewai E169G from Ebay for £30.00]

3) Get a 3G SIM from the best value provider. I currently use O2, but also have some Three cards as they have "as much as you can eat data" for something like £15.00 per month.

4) Read the following thread http://android.modaco.com/content/advent-v...adband-dongles/ paying particular attention to post #12 by Bakedbeans, which is bascially what I followed.

Regards

Rob

[Guest Panayioti]

This is a little off topic for this particular thread, but basically :

1) Make sure your Vega is running a kernal that supports 3G dongles and Host/Slave USB mode switching. Most of the third party ones seem to nowadays. I'm using the Fuji_0.7 ROM myself

2) Get a Compatible dongle [i bought an unlocked Huewai E169G from Ebay for £30.00]

3) Get a 3G SIM from the best value provider. I currently use O2, but also have some Three cards as they have "as much as you can eat data" for something like £15.00 per month.

4) Read the following thread http://android.modaco.com/content/advent-v...adband-dongles/ paying particular attention to post #12 by Bakedbeans, which is bascially what I followed.

Regards

Rob

Ok thanks again much appriciated

[Guest Sanddancer75]

This was the hub I was intending to use, I'm suprised that they still actually make them: http://hflshop.net/usb-hubs/447/

You can probably get smaller now, but this is how small you can strip the thing down to:

(That's a £1 coin by the way)

[Guest Dave Marchant]

I used the USB port. But the docking port, wow, I didn't even think of using that! D'oh! I will scope out the signals until I see something resembling USB and see if I can get the dongle on that!

And the signal is surprisingly good.I thought I might have to relocate the dongle antenna somewhere inside the case but I don't get the best reception in my house and I managed to get 3G no problem. I did make sure that the antenna traces are facing towards the back of the case rather than down towards the aluminium frame it's mounted on.

Rob

This might be a good starting point when mapping out the docking port connector - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PDMI. Not sure if Vega follows the spec though.

Edited April 30, 2011 by Dave Marchant

[Guest Equalizor]

This might be a good starting point when mapping out the docking port connector - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PDMI. Not sure if Vega follows the spec though.

Thank you Dave and Sanddancer,

I have ordered a Hub from Ebay and will try to scope the dock connector pins as per the diagram in your link Dave.

I'll report back with my findings.

Thanks guys for the pointers!

Rob

[Guest Sanddancer75]

I have ordered a Hub from Ebay and will try to scope the dock connector pins as per the diagram in your link Dave.

If you can fit the hub internally then you won't need to touch the dock port. Connect the hub to the controller on the Vega & then connect one of the ports to the external port & one of the other ports to the dongle. In theory you'd still have 2 spare ports for other things. Maybe a tiny flash drive to add some storage or even a USB GPS unit if there's room?

[Guest tailzer]

This is cool, basically what I did with my eeepc back in the day! Fitted a hub which then had USB drive for extra storage, Bluetooth module and touchscreen. Had on spare port which I meant to get around to fitting a 3g dongle in but never did.

I love this forum, so many people sharing great ideas.

Edited April 30, 2011 by tailzer

[Guest Equalizor]

If you can fit the hub internally then you won't need to touch the dock port. Connect the hub to the controller on the Vega & then connect one of the ports to the external port & one of the other ports to the dongle. In theory you'd still have 2 spare ports for other things. Maybe a tiny flash drive to add some storage or even a USB GPS unit if there's room?

Sanddancer, you pretty much read my mind! The hub is ordered, and when it turns up it's going straight in long as I can find a spot for it. Those USB sockets are coming straight off to minimize the footprint, like I did on the 3G dongle.

Tailzer : Yup, I modded my eeePC in pretty much the same way. I love all this hardware stuff, it's my hobby and job and every day I learn something new!

I second Tailzer's post, the guys and girls on this forum are awesome, and it's great to get some feedback from like minded people.

Rob

[Guest gingertom]

If you can fit the hub internally then you won't need to touch the dock port. Connect the hub to the controller on the Vega & then connect one of the ports to the external port & one of the other ports to the dongle. In theory you'd still have 2 spare ports for other things. Maybe a tiny flash drive to add some storage or even a USB GPS unit if there's room?

I like the idea of the biult

in gps

[Guest warriorscot]

The hub sounds like a good idea it was my first thought and something I have been thinking of myself but I don't have the parts lying around. Once you strip down the connections and casings the hub should have a very low profile. If you strip down some USB drives you could add a fair bit of internal storage with minimal impact.

The problem with the waking of the devices is something you might be able to fix with gscript maybe have a chat with someone who has some experience of gscript and hardware especially usb devices it shouldn't be too hard to get a script to reset the USB and wake the device.

[Guest Equalizor]

The hub sounds like a good idea it was my first thought and something I have been thinking of myself but I don't have the parts lying around. Once you strip down the connections and casings the hub should have a very low profile. If you strip down some USB drives you could add a fair bit of internal storage with minimal impact.

The problem with the waking of the devices is something you might be able to fix with gscript maybe have a chat with someone who has some experience of gscript and hardware especially usb devices it shouldn't be too hard to get a script to reset the USB and wake the device.

Yup, that's exactly the person I need, so hopefully someone will see this thread and put their hand up and say "Me! Me! Me!"

Rob

[Guest huwwatkins]

Yup, that's exactly the person I need, so hopefully someone will see this thread and put their hand up and say "Me! Me! Me!"

Rob

Docking port would be better as the USB port on that defaults to host mode.

[Guest Equalizor]

Docking port would be better as the USB port on that defaults to host mode.

That's very interesting to know. I did try fitting the dongle wires to the bloody tiny via's on the dock connector as per the PDMI spec, which another user here suggested it might adhere to but it didn't work. If you know the pinouts for the USB d- and d+ pins that would be awesome!

Rob

[Guest Steven-R-Raith]

Genius idea, it must be said - but watch out for power issues; IIRC 3G dongles like a fair amount of juice, so I can see, for example, a 3G dongle + internal 16Gb USB stick + USB GPS having some serious issues.

On the other hand, if you can find a way to grab 5v/1A (IIRC) from the battery... :mellow:

[Guest sp99]

That's very interesting to know. I did try fitting the dongle wires to the bloody tiny via's on the dock connector as per the PDMI spec, which another user here suggested it might adhere to but it didn't work. If you know the pinouts for the USB d- and d+ pins that would be awesome!

Rob

I've found this relating to the Streak where he mentions connecting connecting pin 4 on the pdmi (usb otg) to gnd, as it would be if a usb OTG cable was attached.

Dell streak usb host

[Guest windin101]

i have done the same internal mod which works very well

was looking at trying to run wires off the dock connector as people are reporting its always in host mode which would obviously be better for this mod however don't think its really practical the pins are absolutely tiny and dont seem to conform to the vanilla PDMI standard