[Herbmann]

Would anyone appreciate it if I took apart my Augen Gentouch78v2 and take some high-res photos of all the boards and such and I'll talk to some people over on Acid Mods, but I am interested in the following hardware mods:


_Boost Wifi - enhanced antenna or something
_Swap Speaker - I would need the specs for the speaker like ohms and watts to find a suitable replacement
_Battery Swap - Swap out the battery with a custom assortment of cell phone batteries and such to give it longer charges
_Solder HDMI Connector - I know for it to function it would probably need drivers but it seems like a simple task


Based on other 7inch pads that I've seen, and especially the Telechip ones, perhaps there are spots on the motherboard to hardwire an additional usb port, and perhaps even a webcam.  I know that my Gentouch has a built in mic, so I'll see how this is wired and perhaps people with first gens can install their very own.


If these mods work out and aren't too hairy I'll make tutorials with plenty of details and pics. 


Additionally, it would be rad if someone who has a first gen could take high-res photos of the insides for comparison.


Tell me if I'm just crazy and should give up now, or roll with me on this one.  Also if there are already tutorials on how to do this shoot them my way because I am interested.

[grndnpnd]

I love it and am i on board i will take apart my first gen on Monday so i don't get yelled at by the wife.  Im very interested in the mic and hdmi mod also maybe a screen mod such as a 3m captive ( that is if there is a captive telechip already out to steal drivers from). Keep me posted and ill have photo monday night for you cant wait

[Herbmann]

Okay, excellent!  Yeah I should be able to get some pictures up tomorrow because today I am busy (it's my birthday, gotta run around to a bunch of different places).


Any mods we do would need to be backed by drivers, so we'd need to get a hold of someone familiar and willing to do some research for us.  I can do hardware mods but I am by no means a programmer.


Another thing I find interesting is the cable that came with the Augen, the USB one where supposedly we're able to plug in a keyboard or something to it.  If they ever release an update for that, and there are working webcams that can be plugged in, then we could definitely hardwire a webcam into the USB port on the motherboard and we'd just have to make a switch so that the Augen can still use it's USB when needed.  Basically it would think there's a webcam plugged in when the switch is on and when it's off it would just be normal USB.

[grndnpnd]

The usb port does work i used the smart q7 drivers because its the same chipset worked like a champ but the cable they provided is not powered im sure it can be modded to be that way tho or if your lazy like me just buy a powered one from china lol

Im excited to work on this with you and i will try to find us some software dev's to help out ill hit up xda and androidtablet.com and see if anyone is interested in helping out


Happy birthday and Happy new year see you next week 

[ECOTOX]

Picking through the firmware I think the hdmi driver is there, just disabled

Sent from my SGH-T959

[Herbmann]

Quote

Picking through the firmware I think the hdmi driver is there, just disabled

Nice, any idea on how to enable it?  Would it just be editing which ever file and changing a few variables or is it more complicated than that?  Anything else interesting you find please post.

Quote

The usb port does work i used the smart q7 drivers because its the same chipset worked like a champ but the cable they provided is not powered im sure it can be modded to be that way tho or if your lazy like me just buy a powered one from china lol

Thanks for the birthday wish and I hope you (and everyone else) had a great new years.  If the cable provided isn't powered, then what is it supposed to be used for?  Well I guess that I shouldn't be surprised anymore, Augen hasn't been making the best decisions lol.  Smart q7 drivers, interesting.  This is good we need to find creative ways of solving our problems and that's what I'm talking about. 

Okay well I'm going to get the pictures I promised of my v2 up as soon as I can find some batteries for my camera, I'd really prefer not to go to the store to get new ones as I swear I just bought a giant pack of AA's, but you know how that goes.

Thanks everyone for your continued input and discussion!

[ECOTOX]

It looks like its just change the hdmi property from 0 (disabled) to 1 (enabled). Can't really test it, but looks like they had planned for it to have hdmi out. Ill report more as I work on the custom firmware for it

Sent from my SGH-T959

[grndnpnd]

Quote

It looks like its just change the hdmi property from 0 (disabled) to 1 (enabled). Can't really test it, but looks like they had planned for it to have hdmi out. Ill report more as I work on the custom firmware for it

Sent from my SGH-T959

Your the man we are going to make this gentouch the best tab i have with a couple of mods


here is a bit on usb host controler

http://augendev.wiki...ard+USB+hosting (about cable)

http://www.androidta...al-devices.html (process and rom)

[grndnpnd]

http://beyondthekeeb...usb-host-cable/


this is a better example of how to make a cable

[grndnpnd]

This rom has the usb host drivers we need and it also has hdmi already enabled i have verified that it flashes and boots havnt taken the time to test the market or anything atm


http://smartbook.de/(X(1)S(mzq3ok45y...e_24082010.rar

[Herbmann]

Very nice finds you guys, I've browsed the links real quick but I'll check them out more when I have a minute or two.  Sorry I know I said I'd have the pictures up on Saturday but I totally misjudged the New Years weekend.  I've taken a few great pics of the insides of my GT78 and am making a little website to display them properly.  Nothing fancy just a little CSS layout with FancyBox for the images.


You can view the image directory here:
http://insidegt78.net23.net/images/


I'll have the page set up in the next couple of days with explanations and more details.


Something interesting, I found where my mic is wired into the PCB:
http://insidegt78.ne...o-connector.png


According to a Youtube video I found about taking apart the GT78v1, the PCB is exactly the same and you can definitely solder in a mic:
http://www.youtu be.com/watch?v=4E6Q_hBm70E (mind the space, I didn't want it to embed)

The speaker is 8ohms and 1.5watts.


The battery is 2100mah and hardwired in, so to remove it you would need to desolder it, which is easy enough.


Just a quick note, if you do plan on taking apart your Gentouch I advise being very careful, when I took out the case screws I slid a guitar pick around the crack to separate the case, which is my standard practice, but I busted just about everyone of these little tiny clips/clamps, but since I put it together again it's fine, the case screws pretty much hold it together.  So be cautious!

[grndnpnd]

awesome man sorry i got a archos 5it and have been geeking out on it ill try to take mine apart tomorrow and take some pics ill probably just post here

[grndnpnd]

do you think we could adapt this to give the gentouch 2.2 i cant figure out how to unpack the file
http://en.smartdevic...1002/24-61.html