Use PDA screen itself and connect to computer via VGA?? - Upgrading, Modifying and Unlocking

Hi,
A total newbie inhere. However I think this is the place to get the answers.
The question is pretty basic - doubt the solution is.
Can I use the screen from a PDA, you know, take it out, and in some way connect it to my laptop via VGA, as you would connect a projector?
The screen looks like this: http://cgi.benl.ebay.be/HTC-Cingula...10364QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1713.m153.l1262
The result should be something like this: http://www.aeicomp.com/Detail.asp?Product_ID=000.410_LCD35VGAN

In short, no. I wont bother going into details about why, but basically this would be pretty much impossible.

it require extre hardware to convert the direct signal that a pda or even laptop use to connect to their lcd's as they dont use the same signals as dvi/subD and the likes
making it work would likely cost more then a real ext lcd with the correct singaly and connectors

All right. I do have the extra hardware, but sounds like it wohn't be worth the trouble compared to the price of at new one.
All i needed to know. Thanks!

Related

Custom making a docking station

Ok here we go,
I have a MDA compact III which i have taken apart and am in the process of manufacturing a new custom case for, this is something that i notice not many people seem to do, at least i havn't seen any photos of someone doin this - maybe someone else should give it a try and post something... i'll post images of mine when i'm done.
Anyway what i really wanted to talk about was a custom docking station i want to make. i intend to use the mini USB port on my phone for both a method of charging through my computer but i also want to use it as the hands free... but this is the tricky bit... i want to use my computer as the hands free device i.e. use the mic and speakers connected to my computer all at the same time while charging my phone... sounds complicated ay? this is why i need your help... i can manufacture the dock and everything else but the hardware/software issues im well not that great at... please help and maybe give it a try yourselves... it'll be cool to see what everyone comes up with!
Cheers, Benjamin
bowen1 said:
Ok here we go,
I have a MDA compact III which i have taken apart and am in the process of manufacturing a new custom case for, this is something that i notice not many people seem to do, at least i havn't seen any photos of someone doin this - maybe someone else should give it a try and post something... i'll post images of mine when i'm done.
Anyway what i really wanted to talk about was a custom docking station i want to make. i intend to use the mini USB port on my phone for both a method of charging through my computer but i also want to use it as the hands free... but this is the tricky bit... i want to use my computer as the hands free device i.e. use the mic and speakers connected to my computer all at the same time while charging my phone... sounds complicated ay? this is why i need your help... i can manufacture the dock and everything else but the hardware/software issues im well not that great at... please help and maybe give it a try yourselves... it'll be cool to see what everyone comes up with!
Cheers, Benjamin
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i like your attempt...sounds damn interesting...i'm afraid i can't help you much about the handsfree thing.but i'd like to see some pics of your modded or custom housing. and by the way i'm not sure any device supports that kind of handsfree ,for now,at least over usual usb connection with pc....but nothing is impossible
bowen1 said:
Ok here we go,
I have a MDA compact III which i have taken apart and am in the process of manufacturing a new custom case for, this is something that i notice not many people seem to do, at least i havn't seen any photos of someone doin this - maybe someone else should give it a try and post something... i'll post images of mine when i'm done.
Anyway what i really wanted to talk about was a custom docking station i want to make. i intend to use the mini USB port on my phone for both a method of charging through my computer but i also want to use it as the hands free... but this is the tricky bit... i want to use my computer as the hands free device i.e. use the mic and speakers connected to my computer all at the same time while charging my phone... sounds complicated ay? this is why i need your help... i can manufacture the dock and everything else but the hardware/software issues im well not that great at... please help and maybe give it a try yourselves... it'll be cool to see what everyone comes up with!
Cheers, Benjamin
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe you need something like that : http://cgi.ebay.com/USB-Headphone-4...yZ150774QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Or alternativly that one : http://cgi.ebay.com/3-in-1-Stereo-a...ryZ20336QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
so you can transfer the sound from your artemis to yous PC and at the sametime sync/charge it!
you know what, i reckon that might work, i could take a feed from the mic and also use the 3.5mm jack run through my amp to my speakers. i had hopped for a software alternative using the USB port, but on further thought and now i've seen this device i think this is the only way that i'm going to be able to do it. thanks for your input, i'll purchase one of those adapters and post what i come up with.
Cheers,
Benjamin

Why can't a bricked phone be revived?

This is a question for those in the know when it comes to programming.Why isn't there a way to revive a bricked phone? Can't there be some method for a host computer to manually write the radio to the device? How does HTC fix a bricked phone for it to be a refurb?
I'm just very curious about this because I see a few people attempt to update the radio only to lose power and brick their EVO. I have no programming experience so don't know what goes on at the internal component level. Thanks in advance for your input.
It goes back to the old bootstrapping problem when computers were being developed. A computer (in this case, your cell phone) is pretty dumb at the hardware level. All it can do is run programs. That's ALL it can do. It can't even load a program, only run them. Thus the problem. It gets solved by injecting a "bootstrap" program at startup (from the phrase "pull yourself up by your bootstraps") which is a program that runs and gives access to all the I/O, and the computer can then load more programs.
When you update this bootstrapping program, it gets dicey, because if it isn't written right, or if there's a glitch during the update, this most basic of all functions gets corrupted. If the program that tells the phone how to load programs goes away, all the phone can do is... sit there. Like a brick.
Hope this helped!
That helped me, thanks.
Soylent Grin said:
It goes back to the old bootstrapping problem when computers were being developed. A computer (in this case, your cell phone) is pretty dumb at the hardware level. All it can do is run programs. That's ALL it can do. It can't even load a program, only run them. Thus the problem. It gets solved by injecting a "bootstrap" program at startup (from the phrase "pull yourself up by your bootstraps") which is a program that runs and gives access to all the I/O, and the computer can then load more programs.
When you update this bootstrapping program, it gets dicey, because if it isn't written right, or if there's a glitch during the update, this most basic of all functions gets corrupted. If the program that tells the phone how to load programs goes away, all the phone can do is... sit there. Like a brick.
Hope this helped!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the info. That is interesting. So how does HTC initially put the bootstrap in and/or how do they handle a bricked phone?
Soylent Grin said:
It goes back to the old bootstrapping problem when computers were being developed. A computer (in this case, your cell phone) is pretty dumb at the hardware level. All it can do is run programs. That's ALL it can do. It can't even load a program, only run them. Thus the problem. It gets solved by injecting a "bootstrap" program at startup (from the phrase "pull yourself up by your bootstraps") which is a program that runs and gives access to all the I/O, and the computer can then load more programs.
When you update this bootstrapping program, it gets dicey, because if it isn't written right, or if there's a glitch during the update, this most basic of all functions gets corrupted. If the program that tells the phone how to load programs goes away, all the phone can do is... sit there. Like a brick.
Hope this helped!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks good explanation appreciate that.
rafroehlich2 said:
Thanks for the info. That is interesting. So how does HTC initially put the bootstrap in and/or how do they handle a bricked phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is probably a JTAG interface somewhere in there. In fact,that's how the original hack of the IPhone was done. (Better ways were since found) Most devices have a quasi standard interface for programming the flash and accessing and the hardware for diagnostics. For instance,linksys routers actually have a spot on the board to solder a header and you can make a cable that connects to the parralel port. Do a google search for "Hairy Dairy Maid Debrick" and you will find it. A similar thing is probobally possible with the Evo (Ive even seen them on Hard Drives and CD Rom drives) The problem is,its not entirely standardized,and it might not even be a connector or pads on the board. It might instead be a matter of knowing where you can connect the leads on the board to something that under the right circumstances BECOMES the JTAG connector. (For instance,a pin that controls something else might be a JTAG interface for the first few hundred milliseconds of start-up,or if a certain other pin of the chip is grounded when the power is applied. It might also be completely internal to the chip,and there be NO connectors on the board (it almost CERTAINLY has the capability,they need it during prototyping) and the chips might be programmed BEFORE they are soldered in. It might take replacing the rom chip to get it to go. There are lots of ifs
Chances are though,the factory has a special cable and a special software program that can reprogram the device. To replicate that might be relatively easy or could be next to impossible but requires a certain degree of knowledge about the hardware. What I suspect is,until someone who has the skills to make such a cable bricks their phone,they wont bother figuring out how to debrick one. In fact,when that person bricks their phone,they will probably take it back to sprint and say "I dont know what happens" In fact,even if its stuck looping in an obviously hacked boot loader he for some odd reason cant undo,hes probably going to send it back to sprint. I know someone who did exactly that to their brand new HP laptop. He found that 15kv from the flyback of an old B&W television applied to the memory slots took care of the looping and Best Buy gave him another one. As he put it "I dont know what happened,but it smells bad and wont boot up"
pflatlyne said:
There is probably a JTAG interface somewhere in there. In fact,that's how the original hack of the IPhone was done. (Better ways were since found) Most devices have a quasi standard interface for programming the flash and accessing and the hardware for diagnostics. For instance,linksys routers actually have a spot on the board to solder a header and you can make a cable that connects to the parralel port. Do a google search for "Hairy Dairy Maid Debrick" and you will find it. A similar thing is probobally possible with the Evo (Ive even seen them on Hard Drives and CD Rom drives) The problem is,its not entirely standardized,and it might not even be a connector or pads on the board. It might instead be a matter of knowing where you can connect the leads on the board to something that under the right circumstances BECOMES the JTAG connector. (For instance,a pin that controls something else might be a JTAG interface for the first few hundred milliseconds of start-up,or if a certain other pin of the chip is grounded when the power is applied. It might also be completely internal to the chip,and there be NO connectors on the board (it almost CERTAINLY has the capability,they need it during prototyping) and the chips might be programmed BEFORE they are soldered in. It might take replacing the rom chip to get it to go. There are lots of ifs
Chances are though,the factory has a special cable and a special software program that can reprogram the device. To replicate that might be relatively easy or could be next to impossible but requires a certain degree of knowledge about the hardware. What I suspect is,until someone who has the skills to make such a cable bricks their phone,they wont bother figuring out how to debrick one. In fact,when that person bricks their phone,they will probably take it back to sprint and say "I dont know what happens" In fact,even if its stuck looping in an obviously hacked boot loader he for some odd reason cant undo,hes probably going to send it back to sprint. I know someone who did exactly that to their brand new HP laptop. He found that 15kv from the flyback of an old B&W television applied to the memory slots took care of the looping and Best Buy gave him another one. As he put it "I dont know what happened,but it smells bad and wont boot up"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow. Thanks for the detailed answer. Too bad this isn't a standardized item. I hope eventually things progress enough where this isn't even a thought. Thanks again for the good response.
Sent from my PC36100
rafroehlich2 said:
Wow. Thanks for the detailed answer. Too bad this isn't a standardized item. I hope eventually things progress enough where this isn't even a thought. Thanks again for the good response.
Sent from my PC36100
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea,it would be nice if it were. Its kinda sorta quasi standard,so it HAS been done in some cases where its necessary,but often there are easier ways around it. Personally, I have allways thought that its a pretty stupid thing to make a piece of equipment that can fail due to a bad flash. The people who designed many of the flash memory chips seemed to agree,and they added something called a "boot block" to many,but the way its implemented,when its implemented doesn't fully protect you from a bad flash. Its even worse now that everything is in ball grid array chips soldered down to the board.

USB not working. Going crazy. Ready to throw the Tilt 2 onto the ground.

I have no idea what's going on, but I can't get my Tilt 2 to tether, sync, or even see my PC. It was working fine one day, then it stoped working only to start working again. Today I spent over 4 hours trying to get it to work. I looked on all the forums to try to get help without any luck. I even hard booted (reset the firmware) and blew out everything in my phone. That didn't do anything other than to lose all my settings and configurations. Anytime I plug the USB cable into the phone (I've tried 2 computers and 3 different USB cables) it just charges the unit.
Would anyone have any ideas or tips I can use to get this darn phone tethering again or seeing my PC in general?
Thanks!
Nathan
Had the same happen to me. I had to use task29 to erase everything on my phone, then my computer recognized the phone as a storage device. I flashed a new ROM and ActiveSync worked again.
Yeap .. I Had This Happen ...
Had This Happen To Me to..
I had to bend the connector on the tp2 .. so the usb cable "fit" better
autonomous-inc said:
Had the same happen to me. I had to use task29 to erase everything on my phone, then my computer recognized the phone as a storage device. I flashed a new ROM and ActiveSync worked again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How can you use task 29 when you're phone is not connected with the computer?
redoak said:
How can you use task 29 when you're phone is not connected with the computer?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ahah. I don't know. I never bothered figuring that part out. My Tilt 2 suddenly became very problematic, not connecting to the internet, or connecting via Active Sync, so I just used the program tool and task 29 and it worked out.
I just checked out the USB port on the phone. I got a pin that you would normally get when you buy new shirts and poked around in the port. I pulled out a bit of lint. Saw one gold pin was crossed in there and fixed it. Since it was on the bottom though it really didn't make much difference with tethering and such since a regular USB port seems to only use the top.
Plugged in the computer USB into the phone and nothing. Same thing. To think I started all this because first I need to sync my phone with Activesync and second I wanted to flash the ROM with the new AT&T ROM that's out. Doesn't seem I'll ever be able to do that. I think a call to AT&T is in order and maybe I can get a replacement unit. This one is really pointing to a hardware problem.
nathantw said:
Plugged in the computer USB into the phone and nothing. Same thing. To think I started all this because first I need to sync my phone with Activesync and second I wanted to flash the ROM with the new AT&T ROM that's out. Doesn't seem I'll ever be able to do that. I think a call to AT&T is in order and maybe I can get a replacement unit. This one is really pointing to a hardware problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AT&T was no help whatsoever. They didn't even know what I was talking about when I said tether. Their suggestion since I didn't have insurance was to buy a new phone. Sigh. I saw that AT&T has the phone for 1 cent but I'd have to change my data plan to 2GB with tethering from my current plan of unlimited with tethering for the same price (damn Apple who made them do that).
Anyone have a suggestion on getting the phone I currently own to work? I'm not really inclined to buy software as someone mentioned (sktools). Someone mentioned replog.exe but they never specify if it's on the phone or the PC. Any ideas?
Thanks.
Nathan
Silly question maybe, if so I am sorry but,
have you checked through the Active Sync settings on your phone and, if you have settings for the USB to PLC connection, check those. Also start up Active sync on your PC and check how that is set up.
Again, sorry if you have done this.
Seems to be a TP2/Tilt2 issue that's ongoing, the connector on the bottom of my touchpro2 stopped working as a USB connection a couple months back. Lately I've even been having trouble charging it in the car (since the cable bounces around). I'm using a non-stock ROM so I have to find a way to re-lock the phone (after re-flashing OEM ROM) without connecting to my computer.
tjhawkes said:
Silly question maybe, if so I am sorry but,
have you checked through the Active Sync settings on your phone and, if you have settings for the USB to PLC connection, check those. Also start up Active sync on your PC and check how that is set up.
Again, sorry if you have done this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, not a silly question. I tried the phone on 4 different computers that had activesync on it and the phone wouldn't even recognize that a USB for data was plugged in. It worked fine for charging though.
I couldn't find any configuration for the USB port, so I may be SOL.
I was going to just buy a new Tilt 2, but thinking back the USB connector has been pretty flaky to begin with. Sometimes the unit will work when plugged in and sometimes I had problems. It could be that my phone was failing all this time and that's why it's been flaky, but others have had the same problem. Since I need tethering I might still buy a new HTC phone (I hate to do that since I'm not too thrilled with the way they design the phone) but just not the Tilt 2.
nathantw said:
AT&T was no help whatsoever. They didn't even know what I was talking about when I said tether. Their suggestion since I didn't have insurance was to buy a new phone. Sigh. I saw that AT&T has the phone for 1 cent but I'd have to change my data plan to 2GB with tethering from my current plan of unlimited with tethering for the same price (damn Apple who made them do that).
Anyone have a suggestion on getting the phone I currently own to work? I'm not really inclined to buy software as someone mentioned (sktools). Someone mentioned replog.exe but they never specify if it's on the phone or the PC. Any ideas?
Thanks.
Nathan
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The phone hasn't been out for even a year, so you must have had it for less than a year. So its still on warranty, unless you bought a refurb. All ATT's phones are warrantied for one year. Refurbs are warrantied for 90 days.
http://telephones.att.com/telephones_ui/support/dsp_limited_warranty.cfm
Also, assuming you bought the Tilt2 at the subsidized price, you will not be eligible for the 1 cent discount price. You only get to purchase one phone "upgrade" at the subsidized price every 2 years. You will have to pay full price ($400) minus the $250 discount they have right now, so it would still cost you $150.
Try calling ATT again, it seems the rep you talked to didn't know much about smartphones or their company's data plans (since they didn't know what tethering was), or about their warranty policies.
Unless your phone is very different to my UK version it will have settings to allow it to use USB and maybe you should look further into the set-up on the phone itself.
The settings I have are in
Start/Settings/Connections/USB to PC.
Also,
if you run Active Sync on your phone and select Menu the connection needs setting there for USB.
Bluetooth
Have you try teether with Bluetooth? It is not a fix but at least this would be a work around plan. I can teether with Bluetooth or USB connection.
Thanks for all the help and suggestion everyone. They've been very helpful.
tjhawkes, I've been using the USB to PC for as long as I have had the phone. I guess that's what was meant when it was suggested I configure the USB?
chompx2 - I don't have have bluetooth on my desktop PC.
Redpoint - my phone was a refurb so I guess no warranty for me. I would be happy to pay $150 to get a new one though if that's what it cost. I tried to get the representative on the phone to do it but she refused(!) thinking I could get it cheaper somewhere else. I looked on ebay and everyone seemed to be selling it for $250. So, if $150 is what it cost, then I'm game for that.
That said, I have an old Tilt with a broken screen. I was going to take the USB port from that phone and install it on the Tilt 2 and see if perhaps that was the problem all along. I just looked at the USB port in my Tilt2 and one of the bottom row has a pin missing. Must have broken off. However, I can't imagine that being the problem though since a regular USB on a computer only uses the top row. Sigh. Technology.
nathantw said:
Redpoint - my phone was a refurb so I guess no warranty for me. I would be happy to pay $150 to get a new one though if that's what it cost. I tried to get the representative on the phone to do it but she refused(!) thinking I could get it cheaper somewhere else. I looked on ebay and everyone seemed to be selling it for $250. So, if $150 is what it cost, then I'm game for that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Appears I was wrong about having to wait until your contract was up to get the 1 cent deal (check out posts 13 and 14 on the following thread):
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=739606&page=2
I say go for it, since it sounds like you have a hardware issue (pins on USB port damages).
nathantw said:
I was going to just buy a new Tilt 2, but thinking back the USB connector has been pretty flaky to begin with. Sometimes the unit will work when plugged in and sometimes I had problems. It could be that my phone was failing all this time and that's why it's been flaky, but others have had the same problem. Since I need tethering I might still buy a new HTC phone (I hate to do that since I'm not too thrilled with the way they design the phone) but just not the Tilt 2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You will need to buy a phone that works on the AT&T high speed network. I don't think a "world" HTC phone will work with anything except EDGE.
I had the same no USB problem with my phone. Would charge fine via the cable, but no transfers, PC's wouldn't recognize it, etc, etc.
Took it into an AT&T store and they accepted it on the spot for a warranty exchange. They did the usual inspection for damage, water/moisture contact & such, but were happy to replace the phone for me.
I had a non-standard ROM on the phone, and changing the ROM and Hard-SPL back to stock via the MicroSD card was a bit of a challenge, but I did get it done in the end.
I was still able to sync via Bluetooth and use the Wifi Router on the phone for internet access for my PC, so overall, I would say that the lack of USB functionality wasn't a game ender for me, but I agree that it is annoying!
Cheers and good luck.
Because I like beating a dead horse with a stick, I thought I'd let you know what I ended up doing. I went to the AT&T store as suggested and they wouldn't exchange it. I called AT&T warranty and they wouldn't do it. The USB port's right audio pin got pushed into the phone so any type of USB damage would have ended up costing me over $300 for a new phone. I bought what I thought was the right port from a cellphone parts company in Hong Kong. Turned out the USB port was soldered onto the motherboard so I couldn't use the part. However, while the phone was open I pushed the pin back out and now the audio works again.
Syncing and tethering, however, is still dead. What's interesting was that it was working reliably, especially while on vacation just a week beforehand. Not sure what caused it to die.
So, I've basically given up. I fixed my old HTC Tilt (Kaiser) LCD screen and now I'm just going to tether with that phone instead. Sad because that phone is more reliable than the Tilt2. Too bad it didn't have the nice screen and a nice music interface.
Ouch, I had similar problems but with my Kaiser not my TP2 so I hope the same doesn't happen. I did some research and it turns out that the reason that micro USB connections are now the standard are that they have a much more reliable life cycle than the mini USB connectors the TP2 and Kaiser use (and lots of other Kaiser users complained of the same failure).
In brief, we're all doomed.

Request for a certain ROM

Dear developers,
I recently found my old i9000. It had a bad accident some time ago, and its screen is completely busted. There appears to be damage to the motherboard as well, which was why the repair centre considered it a total loss. It still boots, though, and woke me up some time ago with a preset alarm, so I expect the internal damage is actually minimal. I suspect I can still use the the phone for something, maybe a server.
Thus, I would like a ROM that by default has some method of input/output apart from the touch screen (perhaps VNC, and I believe there are settings to allow you to connect the phone to a TV using the sound plug, that + USB mouse would also be cool, or if you can come up with another solution, just as long as it works, it's good). I would also like to be notified of some way to preload wifi settings into the ROM itself (mostly in case an Internetttechnology like VNC is used).
I assume I can use Odin to actually flash the ROM (thus allowing me not to use screen input for this process). It doesn't matter what method is used to circumvent touch screen input/output, as long as it works.
If someone could make such a ROM, I would be very thankful.
this is not the right place to post this.
Also, if it was as easy as your saying, we wouldn't need developers. What you can do is sell it for whatever price it gets and buy a raspberry motherboard. Which is exactly what you're asking for plus an HDMI port.
http://www.alliedelec.com/lp/120626raso/
I had hoped it would be easy for someone who was more familiar with custom ROMs. I have no idea what goes into it.
I do have 2 Pis, BTW, I just like reusing things +my i9000 would be better suited for a purpose I had in mind, due to being flatter and already having wifi. I guess I hoped for too much, then.
Please post this in the general forum not in developers forum
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda premium

Broken screen on Canadian A70 (SM-A705W) - How to retrieve files?

Hello,
The screen on my A70 recently shattered. The internals are all still fine, when I plug it into the computer it is detected, however I cannot access the files because USB debugging is unfortunately turned off.
I have tried 3 different free softwares I found online and none of them work or have the A70 as a valid model.
What are my options? Is there a way to remotely turn on USB debugging? I used to have a modded Galaxy S5 with TWRP, Odin, etc all setup but I forgot how to do all of that. Is it possible to recover my files from my phone, or am I pretty much forced to replace the screen?
Thanks!
Hello. Can you unlock your phone? Because I was thinking about something that even though it may sound weird, you could actually find someone who has more or less the same phone (A80, A50, A70s, A71, Awhatever, but it would be great if you find someone with an A70) and try to guess where are the buttons on your broken phone. Or, if your friend or whoever agrees to swap the motherboards, you could do it by just replacing your phone's motherboard with your friend's hardware, I dont know if you understand me.
Someone204 said:
Hello. Can you unlock your phone? Because I was thinking about something that even though it may sound weird, you could actually find someone who has more or less the same phone (A80, A50, A70s, A71, Awhatever, but it would be great if you find someone with an A70) and try to guess where are the buttons on your broken phone. Or, if your friend or whoever agrees to swap the motherboards, you could do it by just replacing your phone's motherboard with your friend's hardware, I dont know if you understand me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi! I think I understand you. Do you mean like, memorizing where to hit on the screen to turn on USB debugging? Yeah I thought of that, but the touch screen doesn't work at all

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