[vtpad]

Just a few photos to help with the process of converting a standard Eken (or Iphone type) cable to a USB Host cable to allow connecting a USB keyboard, mouse, thumb drive, or with power, a hard drive, etc.First step is separating the shell. I used an Exacto knife to carefully press a little down the parting line at each of the 4 corners of the shell, and also at the fake strain relief (really part of the hard plastic shell) surrounding the cable.This view is the top of the connector. When re-assembling it is very important to remember which way the pieces go, including pins, and the small catches at either side of the connector. Photos like these help.

 

[xdpirate]

Hi there. Could you write up some detailed instructions on how to create such a cable, with pinouts etc? That would be great.

 

[vtpad]

View attachment 180 This next photo shows the bottom of the connector with the plastic parts removed. Notice that the bottom of the metal portion has two white slides that the top doesn't (the longer white stripes). Notice also that this connector's pins have been covered with hot glue (ugh). This will make cleaning and soldering to these tiny pins harder than it already is.​

I opted to reposition the pins without unsoldering and re-soldering. This isn't easy, since the glue has to be scraped off, and the pins are very hard to insert while attached to the wires. They are very fragile and the scale is tiny.Notice also that the colors of the wires don't exactly correspond to"normal" USB wire colors. I translated these to pink=red, blue=green, yellow=white, and brown=black, and mine worked.Once you have got the glue separated from the connector, the pins pull out rather easily.NOTE: more recently a cable has turned up that has different color coding from those above, the order of the colors is different. If yours are different, be sure to take a photo and note the colors and exact pin positions of each wire. Please post them in this thread so we can make any needed corrections.

 

[vtpad]

View attachment 181​

This third photo shows the pins removed from the connector. Notice that the pins have a top side and a bottom side. You will need to switch their positions after separating them from the hot glue, and then make sure that the top and bottoms are still lined up the same way with the connector.Notice that I have put some red dots with a magic marker on the plastic part of the connector, the metal shield, the wires going to the pins, and the cable so that I can remember which way to reassemble them. Photos again also help for this.Notice the holes in the connector. There are 30 of them, and they are arranged in groups of 3.So, hole number 9 would be the last hole in the 3rd group from the right. Pin 10 would be the first hole in the 4th group from the right, etc.

 

[vtpad]

View attachment 188 Notice the position of the connector in the photo (bottom side up) with the plastic tabs at the top. Also note the orientation of the pins, with the long part of the pin on the bottom. The connector hole locations are numbered from right to left in this position, 1 to 30. The holes are in groups of three. So pin hole 9 is the third group, and the third hole from the right. In this case, the pink wire goes there.​

The pins shown here haven't yet been completely detached from the hot glue that covers them. Carefully cut and scrape it off with an Exacto knife or single edge razor blade. Careful, the pins are easily bent.Please note, perform this mod at your own risk. You can damage your Eken if you miswire it, so be extremely careful to get the pins in the right holes. Suggestion: check your work by taking photos of it, preferably in macro mode, and enlarge them until you can see clearly which holes the pins are in, and that there are no bridges or shorts. Or use a scanner if you have one. A magnifying glass may work, but a photo can usually provide more detail. I check both ends of the connector, since pins can be bent inside when inserting.(Please also note these are preliminary instructions, and there may be errors here -- probably a good idea to double check the above info against other posts on these forums to be sure. I'll remove this note if reader feedback proves these out -- they worked for me on my Eken.)When the pins were properly inserted, I used hot glue to immobilize them again, to insulate them from each other and to provide strain relief. Try not to let it wick into the pin holes. Just a few small dots will do.

 

[vtpad]

View attachment 190​

I used the female portion of a USB cable extender for the host side USB connector. This was spliced to the Eken cable according to the above diagram.USB cable extenders are readily available, so I just cut one of these cables in half and spliced the female half to the Eken cable. Splicing the cable also guarantees that my wire color translation was okay, since I used the signal names to connect them properly to the USB cable which has "standard colors."Note: if instead of splicing a cable, you use a USB gender changer plug, the color connections we made above may be incorrect. The wire colors in the Eken cable are not standardized. By splicing both ends, we know more certainly what pins are connected to each other at each end. Altering one end alone carries some risk.Another cable possibility -- if you buy a 4 port hub, it probably already has a host cable and you can splice to that. I didn't connect the ground shield at the EKEN end, though others have connected it to ground (brown). The EKEN cable doesn't have a shield.

 

[vtpad]

Now, before reassembly of the shell is the time to test the cable. Be extremely careful to put it in place without shorting any pins -- this should be easier if you insulated them with hot glue.After it checked out, I put the Eken connector shell back together using the original photo to make sure I had the small catches and buttons at the edges of the connector in the right positions. I also used the red dots I added earlier to make sure the metal shields were in the right position and the small mark on the connector shell (cast in) was also helpful in reassembling it right. After a trial fit, I applied a little hot glue to a few points at the corners of the connector, being careful not to get any on the moving parts of the buttons, and reassembled it. A slower drying glue would have been better, but I managed to fumble it all in place in time.A final note -- mine didn't work after I reassembeled the shell. But luckily I figured out that it had nothing to do with the wiring. It was the plastic shell itself which interfered with the EKEN case. The connector is square. And the Eken side is beveled. There is an interference at the top of the connector when it is plugged in. This probably accounts for most of the "flaky cable" problems Eken owners have reported in the past. If you file back the plastic a little at the top of the connector, you can then plug it all the way in until the catches snap. This last mod made my cable work perfectly.I've since tested a thumb drive, keyboard, mouse, and a portable hard drive (this last requires powered hub, as the Eken cannot provide the 5 volt USB power needed).Hope your cable works as well as mine does.

 

[jacobius]

is it possible to use a ipod - usb male cable with a use female to female adaptor?

 

[vtpad]

[quote name='jacobius;16468]is it possible to use a ipod - usb male cable with a use female to female adaptor?[/QUOTE]Yes' date=' but not without switching the pins in the Ipod cable connector as shown above.[I']Host mode[/I] is more than just a change to a female cable end. If you want to attach other devices like keyboards, etc. you need USB host mode.The EKEN cable (or an Ipod cable) is connected internally to the tablet as USB slave mode, out of the box. This means the Eken is seen as a peripheral storage device by another computer you attach to the cable. Changing the connector to female won't change this internal connection in the Eken. Only changing the pins in the big 30 pin connector will give you host mode. A female to female converter is handy however, since you could avoid splicing in another female USB cable (as I did above). You would just have to do the pin changing part of the instructiuons above. Then add your gender adapter to the male end.

 

[androiduser]

if i moddifed the cable, can i use it like usb slave mode to... have the computer detect my eken m001?

 

[jayrod]

no it can only be one or the other.

 

[androiduser]

no it can only be one or the other.

thanks jayrot, i thing i need a card reader..

 

[exilaus]

great guide stick it !! vtpad in 5 post for semplicity add front photo of connector i think this give many help for good orentation.

 

[vtpad]

[quote name='androiduser;16517]if i moddifed the cable' date=' can i use it like usb slave mode to... have the computer detect my eken m001?[/QUOTE']You can buy another Ipod/Iphone/etc cable for that function. They are as low as $2 on Amazon.com. I've also toyed with the idea of making a double ended cable (Y-shaped) that has one pigtail for host and the other for slave. You would need more pins to insert in the 30 pin connector than Eken provides, though. Perhaps one of the aftermarket cables will have more. Or if you get some $2 cables, you can rob one to add to the other.In this case you would not change the existing pins and cable, just add the additional host mode cable and pins. You would also need to enlarge the "strain relief" hole in the plastic connector body to fit two cables. A little hot glue here to secure them would be a good idea.

 

[jacobius]

vtpad, do you use messenger? lol

 

[exilaus]

vtpad if you want create y cable (slave and host) buy same my connector type .i see it on ebay and dealextreme.example.http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Retractable-U..._MobilePhoneDataCables_JN&hash=item3f002e70af

 

[vtpad]

nice work, exilaus!Is that USB connector a double with both M and F types? Hard to tell in the photo -- can you show a front view? Neat package.Thanks!(@jacobius sorry, no I don't use a messenger, but you can PM me if you want to)

 

[exilaus]

my is simple host converter (don't tested because my m001 is in china for now) but on back hole have space for other cable if any want create host and slave cableif my idea design works my usb port are on back of m001 nice for connect external case on back of m001 with usb hub cam and battery pack ecc...this is my idea..same carnivore but only in external box for don't touch original case of pad.this is frist part of my modding if my m001 arrive......

 

[jsmith]

Thank you very much! Will try it and post...

 

[selecter25]

Wow!! Thank you very much!!!!!!!! I made this USB cable and it worked! I?ve tested a Mouse and a Keyboard. Now I can play emulators with the keyboard. Thank you again for this awesome tutorial. I recommend to buy another iPod adapter to do this because the one which comes witk the m001 is very bad.