Develop Bugs

Roo Case - Needs work...

I bought this when I got my Xoom in March.
http://www.amazon.com/rooCASE-Execu...PCFK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1313413965&sr=8-1
I've enjoyed this case for quite some time, but now it has turned into a pain. The inside case that actually holds the Xoom has worn out already. The leather is all in good shape, but the flap that actually keeps the Xoom from sliding out is no longer of use. The flap has a piece of Velcro on it. This piece (I'm assuming from being in such a tight spot) has gotten so beat down that it no longer holds onto the soft fabric. Replacing the piece will consist of removing the stitching that holds it in place, then sewing on a new piece.
I thought I'd share this in case you're still looking for a case. If you don't mind replacing this piece after a few month then it's an amazing case. All positioning is perfect for me, as you can set it at almost any angle.

Running into some of the same issues you are. I love the case from the outside. We need flaps on the camera side, so it doesnt cover the camera. I am going to check with the creator, to see if they will swap.

zehkaiser said:
I bought this when I got my Xoom in March.
http://www.amazon.com/rooCASE-Execu...PCFK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1313413965&sr=8-1
I've enjoyed this case for quite some time, but now it has turned into a pain. The inside case that actually holds the Xoom has worn out already. The leather is all in good shape, but the flap that actually keeps the Xoom from sliding out is no longer of use. The flap has a piece of Velcro on it. This piece (I'm assuming from being in such a tight spot) has gotten so beat down that it no longer holds onto the soft fabric. Replacing the piece will consist of removing the stitching that holds it in place, then sewing on a new piece.
I thought I'd share this in case you're still looking for a case. If you don't mind replacing this piece after a few month then it's an amazing case. All positioning is perfect for me, as you can set it at almost any angle.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
seriously bud... dont sweat.. CUT the old piece out if need be.. and then go to your local hardware store and by velcro with a sticky piece on the back for either side, the loop or the hook.. i can do that and have used it to hold many things with both pieces and it only cost me about $3-5... not alot of money and will take about 5 minutes... try it out if you like the case.. or set it on fire, dance around it, laugh then suck it up and buy something else lol

Measurements of Commuter case

I searched and didn't see this asked, so if it has been I am terribly sorry, I know how annoying it is. On with the question.
Does anyone have the specs (measurements) on the Otterbox Commuter case??
I'm looking for thickness of the silicone layer on the sides (specifically the portion directly over the pogo pin contacts) as well as the thickness of the plastic outer layer at the same spot?
If no one knows these measurements, could someone that has this case get access to a pair of digital calipers and take those measurements for me and get back to me??
Reason for asking is I am thinking of modding a case to have pogo pins built into it and have wires/conductive tape running to the inside back of the case where I can hopefully place the inductive charging circuit from a Palm phone and viola! have an inductive charging case that utilizes the pogo pins on the phone. Found a set of pogo pins that measure 3.48mm tall with a stroke of .99mm so fully compressed they would measure 2.49mm.

Deleted.......

Guess no one has the answer or cares. Ordered one anyway, if I have any success with the mod I'll post pictures.

[PROJECT] Another Touchstone/Inductive Charging Mod (Otterbox)

I know I'm not the first, so credit where credit is due to all those that came before me with the Nexus and those that came before those with other phones. Major props to Palm for being innovative, having owned a Palm Pre before, it's really ashame that phone never really caught on.
Having said that, I present to you the Inductive Charging Otterbox Commuter Case. Really very much like all the other mods out there. Do some measuring, drill some holes, solder some wire, bam, you're done. This is obviously just another variant on a lot of other mods out there, so this really isn't anything new. I won't go into the nitty gritty details, just tips and tricks I found worked along the way.
To start, obviously you'll need an Otterbox Commuter series case. I thought this one would work best because it has the hard outer shell with a silicone inner lining.
Next you'll need at least 2 of these spring-loaded contacts made by Mill-max. They are 0.137" in height uncompressed and 0.098" in height fully compressed. That's 3.48mm and 2.49mm for you metric folks. These things are tiny, so a nice pair of tweezers will aide you in this process.
http://search.digikey.com/us/en/products/811-22-001-30-000101/ED8110-01-ND/682269
The next thing I bought was 24 awg pre-tinned copper wire. Doesn't have to be this exactly, but I found it worked nicely.
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2102500
I also used some PermaPoxy 5-minute plastic weld to epoxy the pogos into the side of the case. Found it at my local hardware.
http://www.amazon.com/Permatex-8411...ZC6U/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1330051726&sr=8-3
The most crucial part of this is accurately measuring (and maybe a little lucky guessing) on where to drill the holes in the side of the case. The method I used was not precise and involved more guess-work than I care to admit. In the end, I had to do a little fine-tuning by scraping some material away in the direction I needed one of the pogos to be. I started off with a 1/32 drill bit and stepped my way up until I could fit the pogo in with a minute amount of play.
For each of the two pogo contacts, I made a small curve in the wire that would wrap around the radius on the back of each pogo. You'll notice there is a solid copper surface contact area on the back of these. I placed the wire around its circumference and soldered it in place nice and smooth. A small set of locking pliers or some sort of small vice will help you free up a hand and hold the pogo while you position the wire and solder it.
Once all of this was done, I took a thick paperclip (toothpick works fine), and mixed up the epoxy and used the toothpick to apply a layer to the inner part of the holes in the commuter case and on the outer part of the plastic-like portion of the pogos. Then slide them in place and use the wire that they are soldered to to position them and hold them in place for a few minutes until the epoxy starts to set. Do this one pogo at a time to make sure you get them in correctly and make sure they are flush on the back with the outer part of the case.
After that, you position the inductive charging circuit from the Palm Pre battery door and then trim and solder the wires to it. The top contact (contact nearest the coil) is ground and the bottom is +5V. Same goes for the pogo contacts on the phone. You will then need to trim some silicone material away from the side where the pogos will need to make contact with the phone.
What you have to do after this is all in how well you positioned things at the start. I had to take my extended battery and back off and go back to the normal battery and back. I also had to trim some silicone material away that was over the regulator circuit of the inductive charging cell, that's the thickest part of the entire piece and it was pushing my phone up too high in the case.
A side benefit of this method is the outer contacts are still maintained and you could potentially design a desk dock, car dock, whatever that would make use of the pogo charging in case the touchstone isn't the most ideal for that situation. Things you could do to improve on this would be:
-Add stronger magnets so the phone would hold to the touchstone better
-Texture the back of the Commuter case somehow to make it not so slick. This also would help the phone stay on the touchstone better
-Sand a little of the material away where the charging circuit will be on the case, would make for a better fit in the case (still bulges at the bottom a bit like it does with the extended battery in)
Feel free to point out other things I could have done better and post up your own versions if you attempt this mod

This looks awesome -- might have to give it a try during a lazy weekend or something!
Thanks for the description and pictures MSU!

Please see here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1502812
Different case, but same concept.

DIY Z1 charging dock and magnetic charger cable

Hi,
People used all sorts of stuff to make DIY docks for the XZ, cardboard, plastic, wood, duck tape etc... there's a great thread here with some great low tech solutions:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2167089
it'd be interesting to see if the Z1 gets the same DIY love?
Anyway, I've got my z1 today and now need to make a new dock/charger cable and car dock, sadly I'm going to have to start from scratch as my wife wants the ones i made for my xz.
I have some spare sugru and pogo pins so will post back later this weekend once I've put something together
EDIT: added pictures of my first attempt at a maglock cable, it works but is not very neat, the pin polarity is the same as the XZ, the top pin is positive
method:
put some soapy water on the charger contacts and push the sugru in to take an impression, peel off the sugru impression and let it dry overnight( keep the sugru impression thin, the soapy water stops the sugru sticking)
solder pogo pins to tails of an old USB cable
stick pogo pins through the contact positions in the dried sugru impression
use more sugru to make the plug, adding a magnet behind the impression
let it dry
mine comes unnattached from the phone too easily at the moment, but I'll modify it with a longer stronger magnet, although it will do for a desk stand or car dock where the phone is held in place, thus not relying on the magnet to get the contacts in the right position

Pictures of my home made dock using bits left over from my XZ dock
Wood back, Perspex bottom screwed to wood with pogo pins pushed through 1mm holes in perspex and held in place with a bit of glue. Then used a bit of sugru to position the phone in the exact place to make contact with the pins. No more plugging in at night.
Sent from my C6903 using xda

I bought a magnetic cable from eBay approx £6 and then built a dock from lego around it. There's even a door to open just in case I want to plug my headphones in
Sent from my C6903 using xda app-developers app

jcgswims said:
I bought a magnetic cable from eBay approx £6 and then built a dock from lego around it. There's even a door to open just in case I want to plug my headphones in
Sent from my C6903 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha, nice one great idea
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

This is exactly what I am looking to do with my wife's z1. Planning on using old fashioned wood and a couple of nails to act act the contacts to the z1 charging points to which I'll solder to a stripped usb cable.
My question, as I don't want to damage the phone: which contact point is which? I assume one is gnd and the other 5v, but which is which?
Thanks,
STDOUbT
jimsey said:
Hi,
People used all sorts of stuff to make DIY docks for the XZ, cardboard, plastic, wood, duck tape etc... there's a great thread here with some great low tech solutions:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2167089
it'd be interesting to see if the Z1 gets the same DIY love?
Anyway, I've got my z1 today and now need to make a new dock/charger cable and car dock, sadly I'm going to have to start from scratch as my wife wants the ones i made for my xz.
I have some spare sugru and pogo pins so will post back later this weekend once I've put something together
EDIT: added pictures of my first attempt at a maglock cable, it works but is not very neat, the pin polarity is the same as the XZ, the top pin is positive
method:
put some soapy water on the charger contacts and push the sugru in to take an impression, peel off the sugru impression and let it dry overnight( keep the sugru impression thin, the soapy water stops the sugru sticking)
solder pogo pins to tails of an old USB cable
stick pogo pins through the contact positions in the dried sugru impression
use more sugru to make the plug, adding a magnet behind the impression
let it dry
mine comes unnattached from the phone too easily at the moment, but I'll modify it with a longer stronger magnet, although it will do for a desk stand or car dock where the phone is held in place, thus not relying on the magnet to get the contacts in the right position
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

jcgswims said:
I bought a magnetic cable from eBay approx £6 and then built a dock from lego around it. There's even a door to open just in case I want to plug my headphones in
Sent from my C6903 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nice work :'D

WOW,great work.Really !

S-Pen to Fullsize S-Pen Mod

Wanted to share my attempts at improving my s-pen. I followed some smart guides around the interwebs using a pen and some craftwork to make this reversible s-pen holder that makes the stylus larger with a better weight for focused writing and note taking sessions.
Supplies (I had all of these around the house, and the pens I had floating around from work)
Staples pens
exacto knife
candle and lighter
sandpaper
black matte spray paint
I used a heated exacto knife to cut the tips off the pens and then used sandpaper to grind down the cut off edges to make it look nicer. The heated knife will warp the plastic but if you do not have a dremel, this works just fine. I also used the heated knife to cut a slot under the rubber grip for the spen button. With the grip back on, I can still press the button. After all this I sanded what I thought was necessary and sprayed the edges and the caps black to make the stylus look a little more executive.
I keep a couple empty pens in different places and with my note in case I need to do an extended writing session. Works great and is reversible. I highly recommend this hack for anyone looking for a full weight stylus - Nice little project and can potentially be $0.

This is absolutely genius, I think Ill try this next week when I can find a staples. Was it just a staples regular pen or specific brand?

xSilverhandx said:
This is absolutely genius, I think Ill try this next week when I can find a staples. Was it just a staples regular pen or specific brand?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't remember. It was a Staples 1.0 point if that helps.
You can also do the same with a G2 pilot pen, but that is obviously more expensive than using the Staples brand. And from the guides on the internet with the G2 Pilot, those folks had to trash the original grip and purchase separate foam or gel grips. I could see why because I tried it with a g2 pen and the grip was impossible to remove for me.