tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57686101960446324062024-02-03T10:19:23.451+00:00Steven's Blogstevenhoneymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06494159684713841991noreply@blogger.comBlogger31125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768610196044632406.post-6980822155399347322018-07-03T22:27:00.001+01:002018-07-03T22:27:28.055+01:00PCBWay service review (2018)<div save_image_to_download="true">
Following my recent review of Seeed PCB service, I was contacted by <a href="https://www.pcbway.com/" target="_blank">PCBWay</a> asking if I wanted to review their service too. Again, I was provided with a discount coupon in exchange for this. Looking at their website this is actually something they seem to offer to all customers - see <a href="https://www.pcbway.com/project/blog_collection.aspx" target="_blank">link here</a>.</div>
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The PCBWay website is noticably better than all other PCB companies that I've used - from deciding what to order to the order status as your boards are manufactured (more on that in a bit) is very detailed.<br />
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So I put together a quick layout and sent it in. They also offered matte black soldermask, woohoo! During the ordering process I was given the option to gamble and perhaps be upgraded to ENIG for free. This made the wait much more exciting!<br />
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Once the gerbers were submitted, before payment is taken they are manually reviewed by the staff at PCBWay. This must save them some headaches from idiots that send in half a set of files or an unmanufacturable board.<br />
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I sat for a few minutes refreshing the page every now and again, and then the website broke!<br />
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Luckily it came back online a short while later and had the status of "Being reviewed" on my actual gerbers:<br />
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That took around 5 minutes (and I passed!) which then took me through to payment (or in my case, discount coupon application)<br />
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Over the few days following that, they offer a live status update "View Technological Process" which tells you exactly where your boards are at. Here's what mine looked like: <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA2_JYZM3TdKzYZSW2XO3fIR5mktXbtLStZgpFvX918cFS5vd-rZdBKbNN6xspPiigElNNWV1TOnzyeG-yu2MgkXXG6q-eME7qbPwj8OzGo5ebwEIKVawMrh1Cw321Mx9YsRBaItbVcWfx/s1600/2018-07-03_T215424_535x414_scrot.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="414" data-original-width="535" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA2_JYZM3TdKzYZSW2XO3fIR5mktXbtLStZgpFvX918cFS5vd-rZdBKbNN6xspPiigElNNWV1TOnzyeG-yu2MgkXXG6q-eME7qbPwj8OzGo5ebwEIKVawMrh1Cw321Mx9YsRBaItbVcWfx/s320/2018-07-03_T215424_535x414_scrot.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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Then a couple of weeks later I received this in the mail. Well, kind of... this is my one and only minor gripe with this service - the box was much too big for the items it contained. From other companies when ordering just 5 or 10 PCBs they just package in a small bubble padded envelope, but this large box meant that it didn't fit through my letterbox and I had to go and collect it from the post office.<br />
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Lots of empty space inside the box! <br />
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The PCBs arrived safely vacuum packed in the usual manner, although with an elastic band on the inside too: <br />
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So I didn't win a free ENIG upgrade this time, but I did get 11 boards and not the 10 I ordered. Sorry for the lighting in the following pics. Matte black PCBs are very hard to photograph! There was a small order number added to the boards, but they thoughtfully put it underneath an IC so it will not be visible once soldered.<br />
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Two of the boards had a strange pattern of circles on the back. It looks like it'd clean off with some alcohol but it didn't. I'm not sure what it is.<br />
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The silkscreen quality is typical of low cost boards. As shown in the technological process status the boards are tested and the probe marks can be seen in the centres of the pads: <br />
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Finally, the soldermask alignment was very good: <br />
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I really like the PCBway website (oh, it has a mobile layout too, that's worth mentioning) and the fact that anyone can get free PCBs by posting a review or video about their services is good if you are short of cash but can afford to spend a short while writing a review. My only suggestion for improvement would be to make the packaging smaller when possible so that orders for a small quantity of boards will fit through a letterbox!<br />
<br />stevenhoneymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06494159684713841991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768610196044632406.post-52944339234524764932018-05-18T20:01:00.002+01:002018-05-18T20:01:56.761+01:00 Seeed Fusion PCB service review (2018)Seeed Studio contacted me asking if I wanted to review their <a href="https://www.seeedstudio.com/fusion_pcb.html" target="_blank">Fusion PCB service</a>, of course I said yes :) Full disclosure: they provided a discount coupon for me to use on this service in exchange for the review here.<br />
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It took me a while to think of something to have manufactured, but I stumbled across an interesting project here <a href="http://penma.de/avrpci/" target="_blank">AVR-PCI bridge</a> that I thought could be interesting to play around with.<br />
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Seeed offer the "standard" hobbyist level PCB spec, but also give the option to get smaller drill sizes and/or trace widths for a relatively small extra cost directly from the ordering page, rather than having to pay for their "advanced" service. For this board though, the standard specs were more than good enough, so I had it finished in ENIG just because I could! One notable missing option from the standard list was for a matte black solder mask (specifically matte, not shiny black). Elecrow offer this for an extra $20 or so.<br />
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So a timeline:<br />
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<b>29th April </b>- I placed my order.<br />
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<b>2nd May</b> - Board went in to production<br />
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<b>8th May</b> - Boards shipped, a somewhat useless(!) photo came with the notification email:<br />
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Normally I like the pre-shipping photo, it gives me a slight comfort that I haven't done something really silly with the Gerbers... but this one I can't see anything!<br />
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<b>15th May </b>- Boards arrived<br />
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I forgot to mention this was using their cheapest shipping option "Post Link". For me in the UK that resulted in the parcel being shipped internationally by 4PX (trackable), and delivered to my house using Royal Mail Tracked. For my purposes, this is great, I have no need for a faster delivery service (this only took 1 week anyway).<br />
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The boards had the quantity written in marker on the side for some reason. Not a problem, just an observation!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5QYvu71KJzqempdPuKELAgBoz8LtMr8444nAoz9N4EU3AdxItB845-VB7FSxZI1geNAQz_cCuFtjYkTYmaUbSCQhwoZcDKLsy3eSBVY6hqs3nSns1BcU13Zd2IZTyiD2AzYt2iBBolQhg/s1600/Photo+16-05-2018%252C+18+42+53.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="907" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5QYvu71KJzqempdPuKELAgBoz8LtMr8444nAoz9N4EU3AdxItB845-VB7FSxZI1geNAQz_cCuFtjYkTYmaUbSCQhwoZcDKLsy3eSBVY6hqs3nSns1BcU13Zd2IZTyiD2AzYt2iBBolQhg/s320/Photo+16-05-2018%252C+18+42+53.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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As you would expect, all of the boards were usable (excuse the shadow of my phone in the reflective solder mask). Just below C5 on the back of the board is the Seeed production code. They do warn about this being added in their FAQ (<a href="http://support.seeedstudio.com/knowledgebase/articles/445755-the-seeed-production-code-must-be-printed-on-some" target="_blank">here</a>). <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGCthL4Tg1cOfiz-eRGnHxWw-j5CngvpZjtyX7BLTA3Sec70INRDRUkY95kadWDcYpwp1vPdoDGJ29AeW_-GIuhnCEP7XjmznqFXLLt4kLY3_A1hdn6NbGH6SQFv3p_TurUXv2KJn0xQdB/s1600/Photo+16-05-2018%252C+18+44+41.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1210" data-original-width="907" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGCthL4Tg1cOfiz-eRGnHxWw-j5CngvpZjtyX7BLTA3Sec70INRDRUkY95kadWDcYpwp1vPdoDGJ29AeW_-GIuhnCEP7XjmznqFXLLt4kLY3_A1hdn6NbGH6SQFv3p_TurUXv2KJn0xQdB/s320/Photo+16-05-2018%252C+18+44+41.jpg" width="239" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnOZb-osE10719qHD5PLbImCMuEyyKZq4Hcnwu5txSdEbmoPT4SZNP96SHCrGRC01wq88Ll48k7RsMmvAaIWI9kwTFzRgAo9Z8v6OSZrp4OdAmuH8lLY6BkmerlPH26lsIHkzTdPfu_QUx/s1600/Photo+16-05-2018%252C+18+45+49.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1210" data-original-width="907" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnOZb-osE10719qHD5PLbImCMuEyyKZq4Hcnwu5txSdEbmoPT4SZNP96SHCrGRC01wq88Ll48k7RsMmvAaIWI9kwTFzRgAo9Z8v6OSZrp4OdAmuH8lLY6BkmerlPH26lsIHkzTdPfu_QUx/s320/Photo+16-05-2018%252C+18+45+49.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
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It's hard to tell in those photos, but 3 of the 10 boards have no solder mask on some of the vias. Here is a close up (top board normal, bottom board missing solder mask). I guess it was just spread too thinly or something, not really sure to be honest. It was the same on both sides of the 3 affected boards. In this application, just a minor cosmetic issue though and will not affect the functionality.<br />
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Here's a close-up of some of this board's finer detail. Looks good:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfUbmkdww66n_s1Axd9d3mgxf029jXfAQ6U_thNYn2iiwnCuuxu7iNKdbqEygPojyvkcvU_ES0t-YEJLI23dsQSfbvvP48LVX8YgCb7adbsj5ZOr5X-CSNHcCKrqnNQU3Snuqh1qvD9TUe/s1600/Photo+16-05-2018%252C+19+10+09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="521" data-original-width="631" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfUbmkdww66n_s1Axd9d3mgxf029jXfAQ6U_thNYn2iiwnCuuxu7iNKdbqEygPojyvkcvU_ES0t-YEJLI23dsQSfbvvP48LVX8YgCb7adbsj5ZOr5X-CSNHcCKrqnNQU3Snuqh1qvD9TUe/s320/Photo+16-05-2018%252C+19+10+09.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The silkscreen quality isn't too great, but is no different to other manufacturers at this price point. The alignment is good.<br />
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Finally, the solder mask alignment is a little out, but not by any problematic amount. Maybe 2-3mil (at a guess based on the 12mil vias)<br />
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In conclusion, I'd definitely use Seeed again. Their pricing is as good as other companies for the low cost, low quantity boards that hobbyists need! The only improvement I could suggest to this service would be the addition of matte black solder mask option to the website (at a small extra cost of course). I'll do a follow up post when I get the remaining parts delivered and soldered on.<br />
<br />stevenhoneymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06494159684713841991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768610196044632406.post-90866323927981368542016-06-01T00:09:00.003+01:002016-06-01T00:30:55.683+01:00Mercury MTTR01 Digital Multimeter (600.104)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I was after a multimeter that had a PC connection of some kind for data logging purposes. The usual suggestions start from about £40 e.g. Uni-Trend UT60E, but I wanted cheaper! Ebay came to my rescue again with another Mercury product, the MTTR01 "True RMS Multitester with USB Interface", at £30 delivered! Note it is a "multitester", I imagine them using that to describe it hurts sales quite a bit.<br />
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It looks like this, outside and inside:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcKI1_oS2mKcVJvQJgmbetjpoh1H_xG3iLtpckL79ImO1fitLhM8cetf45Bm2Wwi1xdRNgkrHODrSXgaDJf2kahsXp1KLsXu4ARe1eqCenXmERYIpKa_OMKS5hhpKcAcSCJ9y7F6qbK_Wc/s1600/pcb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcKI1_oS2mKcVJvQJgmbetjpoh1H_xG3iLtpckL79ImO1fitLhM8cetf45Bm2Wwi1xdRNgkrHODrSXgaDJf2kahsXp1KLsXu4ARe1eqCenXmERYIpKa_OMKS5hhpKcAcSCJ9y7F6qbK_Wc/s400/pcb.jpg" width="181" /></a></div>
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It seems fine as a meter, with one functional exception - the continuity tester is completely useless due to a delay on the detection/beep. At a guess (but no data to verify ...actually maybe that's in the datasheet. I should check) it's done in software and polled every 250ms or so.<br />
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As I write this, there's just 8 minutes left before the provided half-unwrapped battery expires!<br />
Also the fuses are not up to spec (250v not 600v) so this is <b><u>not safe</u></b> for high voltage stuff.<br />
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It's based around the FS9922-DMM4 (datasheet linked at the end), with the USB interface provided by a nicely opto-isolated CP2102. I looked at the USB connector thinking "huh?" and wondering how on earth it actually worked, but for some reason (via symmetry?!) they bridged D+ and ID:<br />
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It spits data out at 2400bps (format spec in datasheet), and the included software will run in WINE if you must. Note that on a real Windows PC it does not connect with a high COM port number. I was given COM21 as default and changing that to COM2 it worked fine.<br />
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The FS9922 is used in a bunch of other meters so is already supported by sigrok. It currently needs adding to the list of supported meters but I'll submit a patch after posting this. E.g.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">diff --git a/src/hardware/serial-dmm/api.c b/src/hardware/serial-dmm/api.c<br />index af70fc3..905b239 100644<br />--- a/src/hardware/serial-dmm/api.c<br />+++ b/src/hardware/serial-dmm/api.c<br />@@ -560,4 +560,10 @@ SR_REGISTER_DEV_DRIVER_LIST(serial_dmm_drivers,<br /> 2400, DTM0660_PACKET_SIZE, 0, 0, NULL,<br /> sr_dtm0660_packet_valid, sr_dtm0660_parse, NULL<br /> ),<br />+ DMM(<br />+ "mercury-mttr01-ser", fs9922,<br />+ "Mercury", "MTTR01", "2400/8n1/rts=0/dtr=1",<br />+ 2400, FS9922_PACKET_SIZE, 0, 0, NULL,<br />+ sr_fs9922_packet_valid, sr_fs9922_parse, NULL<br />+ ),<br /> );</span></span><br />
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Manual: <a href="https://www.esr.co.uk/manuals/121-104.pdf">https://www.esr.co.uk/manuals/121-104.pdf</a><br />
Datasheet: <a href="http://www.ic-fortune.com/upload/Download/FS9922-DMM4-DS-14_EN.pdf">http://www.ic-fortune.com/upload/Download/FS9922-DMM4-DS-14_EN.pdf</a><br />
<br />stevenhoneymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06494159684713841991noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768610196044632406.post-72281993221585085582016-02-11T19:20:00.000+00:002016-02-11T19:20:33.488+00:00BGA on a budget<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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After months of trying to find a reasonably priced PCB manufacturer that offered a spec good enough for 0.8mm pitch BGA parts, I gave up and cheated! As soon as you want below 6mil (or 5 for oshpark I think), or below 12mil vias, the price goes in to the $100+ range for a small board. I wasn't going to spend that amount so I thought I'd push my luck a bit and go under spec and see what I got back. Their website specs I was presuming allowed for a better yield so costs stay down for them. I was honest and left a comment saying I was under spec and would accept any/all failed boards... so there was no risk or loss for them even if the whole batch was unusable. Obviously I didn't reduce drill sizes or anything.<br /><br />
Left: Official DRC in place, 6/6/12 (>=6 annular rings)<br />
Right: Adjusted rules, 6/4/12 (4mil annular rings)<br />
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For the real boards I only reduced the specs where necessary, under the BGA part. The rest of the board met the requirements. Here's what I ended up with (success!)<br /><br />
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All of the 10 were OK for the BGA part (some better than others), but weirdly 3 were unusable in other (in-spec) areas because of drill alignment problems. Even though I only went for HASL finish and had never previously soldered a BGA part, it went straight on and works fine. Not really sure what all the fuss is about! People complain about the fact you need an xray to check for faults... but these things have boundary scan... I mean that's what JTAG was invented for, right?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhyphenhyphenNhSLamdz3CbE6ezokilcHX0__2MSMjtJEltiOJUwM8oIye1iCstyGLiYN_6EIlcSvvIYuWbm8Gw-1H4eIE18VDdcOxdlrH_IUkABTrac0Iiuks_HEl8lHuG1IJjX14k6S9P3Tg-FFg8/s1600/Photo+09-02-2016%252C+20+14+24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhyphenhyphenNhSLamdz3CbE6ezokilcHX0__2MSMjtJEltiOJUwM8oIye1iCstyGLiYN_6EIlcSvvIYuWbm8Gw-1H4eIE18VDdcOxdlrH_IUkABTrac0Iiuks_HEl8lHuG1IJjX14k6S9P3Tg-FFg8/s320/Photo+09-02-2016%252C+20+14+24.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
stevenhoneymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06494159684713841991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768610196044632406.post-2353804562075860112015-09-23T21:28:00.000+01:002015-09-23T22:06:49.073+01:00FT2232H stick & 0gb microSD cardsNot particularly interesting, but if you're at all curious about what's accepted for PCB manufacture in terms of multiple boards separated by anything other than silkscreen (it's not possible to get a straight answer from anyone - I tried!) then this had no problems whatsoever: <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR_xktIrD88icLhvz0NCcJDTkVjYjpezihAQyOEiltph8bFRGPCqdohrEYw5yNS0-zg3-Eep18sYWJof3Tpz1U3jVt1QIRskqXZ9s494Dh4txra1i8oGmCDxuvClgq8qvpsy2H1pc4LcDw/s1600/ft2232h_bare_pcbs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR_xktIrD88icLhvz0NCcJDTkVjYjpezihAQyOEiltph8bFRGPCqdohrEYw5yNS0-zg3-Eep18sYWJof3Tpz1U3jVt1QIRskqXZ9s494Dh4txra1i8oGmCDxuvClgq8qvpsy2H1pc4LcDw/s400/ft2232h_bare_pcbs.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Although the other bits don't really count as "boards", and of course YMMV.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzv7DoCHUfJc0OiOuKH3mpdVQse6pHeK0Jgv_mduxM8S95yIfXm-E2Fiw7EOuj50X1Yl8K82hhmDt202_m52pfPlneeCnX-akdRziphFcF3jsm4IO2xr4uj8ZcNj6ZzlHEjNc-oZ8J5OkC/s1600/ft2232h-top.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzv7DoCHUfJc0OiOuKH3mpdVQse6pHeK0Jgv_mduxM8S95yIfXm-E2Fiw7EOuj50X1Yl8K82hhmDt202_m52pfPlneeCnX-akdRziphFcF3jsm4IO2xr4uj8ZcNj6ZzlHEjNc-oZ8J5OkC/s320/ft2232h-top.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
It's a tiny FT2232H JTAG/UART adapter using the QFN package variant. The schematic is just the reference design from the datasheet like the rest. The GPIO reset pins are "Floss JTAG" compatible IIRC, although probably not required. The board size was chosen to fit those Chinese metal flash drive casings<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ5DqKxW-jIv5M9FBdT5DCSVXKSo9UxSo8u9_LBkx9Z50nHs3YAnzL43JY4xwNim4ACuv4S_BbnYCudmXjBQsqUwTEuZKfJuUixdBD_4BM6iQbzT8H052G8Q9Wpizlk55oZ3nijDlU9dyC/s1600/ft2232h-btm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ5DqKxW-jIv5M9FBdT5DCSVXKSo9UxSo8u9_LBkx9Z50nHs3YAnzL43JY4xwNim4ACuv4S_BbnYCudmXjBQsqUwTEuZKfJuUixdBD_4BM6iQbzT8H052G8Q9Wpizlk55oZ3nijDlU9dyC/s320/ft2232h-btm.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKoto3Rneq9YpZp-4prdzkONlhcIUtJzvwe2f62HV1bcrqc567qfDUbG9K7ImR_Y9XkfRfjNgezUcJKlocgzfZmxqFU7RojWuCyNz3yczpU3FxGOSN585ESQhZSRPrOAzxdeo6AVTQeBko/s1600/ft2232h-bodge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKoto3Rneq9YpZp-4prdzkONlhcIUtJzvwe2f62HV1bcrqc567qfDUbG9K7ImR_Y9XkfRfjNgezUcJKlocgzfZmxqFU7RojWuCyNz3yczpU3FxGOSN585ESQhZSRPrOAzxdeo6AVTQeBko/s200/ft2232h-bodge.jpg" width="200" /></a>I also screwed up (finally)! I completely missed a connection to VREG_IN, so it's got a microscopic bodge wire:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6O3xUr4ckK5ojJoaB0P_pWONHQL7LA-n4_eLnUrx7ZaWKnJo-rHEReqea_NRkF0MFSxdJViElTO8ZgoduYYF4J84hJiZk1pyTq9nfWzi6mI_qLHE1NZeOREeX8UL_zDlyuwgQZKvrbXzS/s1600/microsd-cutout.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6O3xUr4ckK5ojJoaB0P_pWONHQL7LA-n4_eLnUrx7ZaWKnJo-rHEReqea_NRkF0MFSxdJViElTO8ZgoduYYF4J84hJiZk1pyTq9nfWzi6mI_qLHE1NZeOREeX8UL_zDlyuwgQZKvrbXzS/s200/microsd-cutout.jpg" width="200" /></a>The fake micro sd cards worked well - 0.8mm being the upper limit from the specs so might be tight in some sockets without sanding it down. One unavoidable problem is there is 1 corner that a 0.8mm milling bit cannot quite cut far enough (because it's round...) but it doesn't seem to make any actual difference in use, and nothing that couldn't be fixed with a small file.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoFGpZPW7cBdCK8-BKWQXpcgXdJmk-AJFum_c5QjC1yIb5TDhMkny_GbRdDjDgY6oltLZuaBvKydlGz1-tRoRHLInryk77pTYzDPImO70OE2DeyJg5YEpGF6UDmCbxpu6qdjdNs6lczhqc/s1600/IMG_1041.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoFGpZPW7cBdCK8-BKWQXpcgXdJmk-AJFum_c5QjC1yIb5TDhMkny_GbRdDjDgY6oltLZuaBvKydlGz1-tRoRHLInryk77pTYzDPImO70OE2DeyJg5YEpGF6UDmCbxpu6qdjdNs6lczhqc/s320/IMG_1041.JPG" width="320" /></a>Allwinner Axx SoCs have JTAG and UART mux'ed on the SDIO pins, so these adapters are meant for debugging "China-pads". The dummy card and eMCP test were really just to fill space :) I would not recommend trying to get a 0.5mm pitch BGA using NSMD pads on a cheap PCB - it was that badly aligned it wasn't usable. Having said that you also wouldn't have space to route more than a few traces anyway... 0.8mm isn't possible if you intend it to pass a DRC :(stevenhoneymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06494159684713841991noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768610196044632406.post-38290481170273407282015-09-14T21:32:00.000+01:002015-09-14T21:32:07.850+01:00More PCBs (6500 Rev. B)I finally got around to fixing any problems that I found with my first set of boards (which actually wasn't anywhere near as many as I expected!), so here is revision B:<br />
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(again, ignore the silkscreen date/rev C - I forgot to take a screenshot before changing the text)<br />
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Which might look ok at a first glance... except they thought they knew better than me about what I wanted fabricating and decided to mess with my design files! They handled it well though and even though I sent just a polite query, they accepted responsbility for it and gave me around a 25% credit which was nice. Some details of the changes at the end of this post.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTNzc0uEaBD91xlt0GqgtS3D4Mykdv6xrNqnX5udxmP-6jXaw-5J6thsdrJdZWVAv6OPpo60uhyphenhyphenO11q66_S68dWqJXBsfOGQgBNoLNmFpyfKl0-kr01QERC-TMUCPslNhw2oBzFrze56ao/s1600/6500_revA%252BB_boards_front.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTNzc0uEaBD91xlt0GqgtS3D4Mykdv6xrNqnX5udxmP-6jXaw-5J6thsdrJdZWVAv6OPpo60uhyphenhyphenO11q66_S68dWqJXBsfOGQgBNoLNmFpyfKl0-kr01QERC-TMUCPslNhw2oBzFrze56ao/s200/6500_revA%252BB_boards_front.jpg" width="185" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVQZb0NWirJO6B0bSlChtBpeXQiXy7KoP4MrW6cFtUlJU_sC8QzWvAzsRRazC7I1d0DTuiLWZSw6zGuvRNb4suKqz9yC7v6aBt-YBxxhp1ifJzenB1b02Di5eaPzRsJFSllPT26jMHvcRw/s1600/6500_revA%252BB_boards_back.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVQZb0NWirJO6B0bSlChtBpeXQiXy7KoP4MrW6cFtUlJU_sC8QzWvAzsRRazC7I1d0DTuiLWZSw6zGuvRNb4suKqz9yC7v6aBt-YBxxhp1ifJzenB1b02Di5eaPzRsJFSllPT26jMHvcRw/s200/6500_revA%252BB_boards_back.jpg" width="189" /></a></div>
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Spot the difference(s) (or scroll down for the list):<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGIAueR7oXVT61rcQbYALvZfTiq4l8hSYBbROspyIXGraxfEE3VpcYRWjTBQpoi6LrojA8ufljYoQ7QkpUz9yH0xnDUk7o9qXiAaCYpUhGpozritLmzDRIev-DFPd43GnmAymlFKcfP_i_/s1600/6500_revA%252BB_complete_PCBs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGIAueR7oXVT61rcQbYALvZfTiq4l8hSYBbROspyIXGraxfEE3VpcYRWjTBQpoi6LrojA8ufljYoQ7QkpUz9yH0xnDUk7o9qXiAaCYpUhGpozritLmzDRIev-DFPd43GnmAymlFKcfP_i_/s400/6500_revA%252BB_complete_PCBs.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Something that I haven't seen / isn't written about in anything that I've read so far is how handy UV reactive flux is. These were <i>after</i> cleaning with IPA and a brush!<br />
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It's not easy to photograph though, and looks much better/clearer IRL.<br />
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After cleaning it a couple more times, smoke test time... and nothing. After I had re-done most of the power bits I shouldn't have been surprised! After much probing and confusion it turned out to be a faulty/damaged USB mux and not my design. Maybe caused by the fact that they arrived loose in a plastic bag, with styrofoam padding, and then clingfilm around it :/ Anyway, replaced that and it worked OK:</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: cyan;">2015-09-13T02:31:18 INFO src/stlink-common.c: Loading device parameters....<br />2015-09-13T02:31:18 INFO src/stlink-common.c: Device connected is: F2 device, id 0x20076411<br />2015-09-13T02:31:18 INFO src/stlink-common.c: SRAM size: 0x20000 bytes (128 KiB), Flash: 0x80000 bytes (512 KiB) in pages of 131072 bytes<br />2015-09-13T02:31:18 INFO gdbserver/gdb-server.c: Chip ID is 00000411, Core ID is 2ba01477.<br />2015-09-13T02:31:18 INFO gdbserver/gdb-server.c: Target voltage is 3227 mV.<br />2015-09-13T02:31:18 INFO gdbserver/gdb-server.c: Listening at *:4242...</span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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Back to the changes they made:<br />
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- No soldermask between pins<br />
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- Randomly decided to add some soldermask where there was not supposed to be any<br />
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...and just on one as well, the rest went unmodified!<br />
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I tried to remember to note any changes that I made, although there will be some I missed. Here's the list:</div>
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<span style="color: #f9cb9c;">- Annotated more stuff<br />- Added missing TPs for I2S SPK out<br />- Fattened cap traces for mag sensor (datasheet advice)<br />- Removed via and copper from under mag sensor (datasheet advice)<br />- Rearranged traces under FPC connector for better ground plane<br />- Neatened up a few uneven tracks<br />- Rotated text on bottom silkscreen<br />- Swapped PIC pins 1&6 (6 can only be an input)<br />- Fixed volume switch pinout<br />- Moved USB capacitor a tiny bit<br />- Increased BOOT1 pull-down to 10k<br />- Added footprint for SOT23-5 EEPROM (in addition to SOIC)<br />- Added SJs for non-essential IC power (NC)<br />- Added xtal (DNF) for I2S, and routed MCLK to XIN<br />- Added resistor divider as a battery charge measuring test<br />- 1k5 USB DP resistor (oops...), and pre-biased PNP switch<br />- 2mm pads for ext V_IN<br />- GND RFU to ease transition to F4xx<br />- 100k pull-ups on SD unused DAT pins<br />- Diode footprints changed to SOD-323<br />- Swapped a few tantalums for ceramics<br />- No mask around top back mount holes<br />- Re-routed 3V3<br />- Changed JTAG connector to 1mm pitch JST 8-pin<br />- Added power switch<br />- Added a missing decoupling cap<br />- Routed HP audio to USB MUX<br />- Replaced PIC with a PNP transistor inverter - CBA<br />- Had to go to 6/6 for top keypad, I2S, and some others<br />- MCU decoupling caps down to 0402 </span></div>
stevenhoneymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06494159684713841991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768610196044632406.post-52445842801195150232015-08-16T20:08:00.000+01:002015-08-16T22:27:03.037+01:00Learning-by-doing: PCB designAs a mini project to learn about hardware design/electronics I thought it would be fun to build some new insides for something. I found a collection of three 'untested' Nokia 6500 slide phones on ebay for a few quid which looked perfect. I intentionally did not do much planning, because it's boring, and there's more to learn by making mistakes if you're willing to accept some failure. Having said that, my basic plan was to make something simple with a microcontroller and common parts, and get it working to learn the process and make some newbie mistakes; then afterwards, make something a bit more complicated (higher density board, BGA, etc) and maybe even useful.<br />
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I've only recently discovered that nobody etches their own PCBs at home anymore, because there are overseas companies like <a href="http://www.elecrow.com/" target="_blank">Elecrow</a> that can offer this service with professional quality results for a very low price by combining lots of different customers' boards on one panel. They offer a very cheap special offer for 10 identical small PCBs with 6/6 space/trace and 12mil vias. The premium service goes down to 3/3 and 8 but is based on individual quotations.<br />
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Common sense says this should have been a 4 layer board, but:4 layer boards are much more expensive than 2 layer. This also had to be 0.8mm to match the original and fit in the phone (even 1.0mm would be too thick, I checked), which added $18 to the price. When you're already paying that much you might as well get it with an ENIG finish as well because it looks nicer... and adds another $18 :/ Also the freeware version of Eagle only supports 2 layers. So for a future version, OK maybe... but for this first prototype that might not have even fit in the case or something, I stuck with 2 layers (scroll down to see the results!). I also didn't push their limits and most of it is 8/8. Some places might be 7 when it was necessary, I can't remember!<br />
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I best start off by saying I have no idea what I'm doing - I'm making it up as I go along to see what happens! I found a few mistakes before the boards even arrived (oops!) so a 'revision B' is already in the works. Some of my options were limited, and heavily affected the layout. I did not try and calculate the USB differential pair impedance as it breaks just about every other layout rule out of necessity, but it's only FS anyway so should be OK. Here's what other restrictions I can remember:<br />
<ul>
<li>10x5cm limit, 2 layer PCB (Actually was about 8.5x4.5 and had to be the exact same shape as the original)</li>
<li>Component heights <= 2mm</li>
<li>Some places with no components (battery area, and FPC area for the slide)</li>
<li>Positions of:</li>
<ul>
<li>50-pin LCD connector</li>
<li>20-pin Keypad connector</li>
<li>USB connector</li>
<li>AV connector</li>
<li>DC connector**</li>
<li>Camera connector*</li>
<li>Battery </li>
<li>Volume & camera switches</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvG9vp-tuT4T1kbHANwhsO7_A_qgXz5OqqFkqSqRKInGxL7iPCvt26H0QQDonlWos6NKi97lUQRwAusgjntFufJSJHzIBarrOnPNDtIj0F36CaR5mm-tWwE-fMcinAVUbwoEtfsV2KppM3/s1600/imagesensor.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvG9vp-tuT4T1kbHANwhsO7_A_qgXz5OqqFkqSqRKInGxL7iPCvt26H0QQDonlWos6NKi97lUQRwAusgjntFufJSJHzIBarrOnPNDtIj0F36CaR5mm-tWwE-fMcinAVUbwoEtfsV2KppM3/s200/imagesensor.JPG" width="200" /></a>* I ignored the camera for now - I don't have a datasheet but I know it's using one of the "top secret" MIPI serial standards and at a guess the MCU won't be fast enough to bit-bang this in any usable manner. Here's a photo I took of what I think is a logo & part code of some description from the image sensor die. I couldn't find anything else that stood out. It's a ~3MP sensor. Maybe I should hook up the I2C bus and see if it responds without any of the other connections...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglPHNblXpQfpyNZ6dRjQAs1GuqliYLkNJwEAhcDX2WYIho_CK5ny8fCU9k3eZ7GZ6BCVdyaoWgnwfH4HCAwfos87VdrK90XuNAscbg4tQhdiS7IITh7H6uTTxgYf-ePxomlC47OTPQGCyF/s1600/lightpipe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglPHNblXpQfpyNZ6dRjQAs1GuqliYLkNJwEAhcDX2WYIho_CK5ny8fCU9k3eZ7GZ6BCVdyaoWgnwfH4HCAwfos87VdrK90XuNAscbg4tQhdiS7IITh7H6uTTxgYf-ePxomlC47OTPQGCyF/s200/lightpipe.jpg" width="200" /></a>** I have no use for the DC connector, so needed something to fill the 2.8mm hole. Apparently it's impossible to get a 2.8mm RGB LED, so instead I found these light pipes that work really well. Here's a torch shining through it backwards (not pushed in all the way because it would never come back out). The resulting problem was (assuming my maths worked out) the LED had to be 0.9mm in height from the PCB. PLCC RGB LEDs are nearly double that at 1.6mm. My solution was reverse-mounting the LED in a cut-out so I also had the 0.8mm board thickness to work with (i.e. 0.9+0.8-1.6 = 0.1mm wiggle room). Elecrow charge extra for castellations (it would have doubled the price!) so I made the hole a tiny bit too small and widened it myself.<br />
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The connectors were quite easy to identify. The 50-pin is a Molex 51338-0574, the keypad is a JST 20R-JANK-GSAN-TF. The usb and battery any cheap ebay version will do. If anyone knows what the 4 little V shaped springy contact things at the edges are called please let me know because I couldn't find anything even similar!<br />
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I remembered to take some screenshots along the way:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6ZpgKES8vLISixQF1qiOXFL_YX66w51mX4Zl2OQ4dPo0tFRGrOtkbYM6954hJTIiX_3fDw0tYHqZJTpxADAorUWAIKoZjIaX5vDvCI14ixi2S5G4fFmt8oC6Lj8j6a2VKRJMvQ9CoYZtZ/s1600/eagle_1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="96" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6ZpgKES8vLISixQF1qiOXFL_YX66w51mX4Zl2OQ4dPo0tFRGrOtkbYM6954hJTIiX_3fDw0tYHqZJTpxADAorUWAIKoZjIaX5vDvCI14ixi2S5G4fFmt8oC6Lj8j6a2VKRJMvQ9CoYZtZ/s200/eagle_1.png" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1qPB1c_hA6CAukhLi7yD543KekPEY_Sx0KmQtoAjzCLtdwDtZoFEEo-lXoXHrUFZQzbtwiBsMgQJfRaBliQjJpHDYkFAgUVW2-vAkAghuCvFnKRuJ-uEj_1Je0HYDUIss_rrIRsCMqj3A/s1600/eagle_2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="123" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1qPB1c_hA6CAukhLi7yD543KekPEY_Sx0KmQtoAjzCLtdwDtZoFEEo-lXoXHrUFZQzbtwiBsMgQJfRaBliQjJpHDYkFAgUVW2-vAkAghuCvFnKRuJ-uEj_1Je0HYDUIss_rrIRsCMqj3A/s200/eagle_2.png" width="200" /></a></div>
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At this point I decided it was looking a bit unroutable so ripped it up and started again with the MCU at 45 degrees and moved down a bit:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1FtzqXHGAXOy8wBKFLkiMNUVEMHu0NE4beLjAZdrTKx6xucA8W8TNxKD82O3IMnAd_xMmoV3ZDmsMDuhNZ3dbT6JT257Z2GbUPwRhKZX95tXot0evpNinMg2MBIzwdDMIpP6Q-6z5qxOT/s1600/eagle_3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="102" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1FtzqXHGAXOy8wBKFLkiMNUVEMHu0NE4beLjAZdrTKx6xucA8W8TNxKD82O3IMnAd_xMmoV3ZDmsMDuhNZ3dbT6JT257Z2GbUPwRhKZX95tXot0evpNinMg2MBIzwdDMIpP6Q-6z5qxOT/s200/eagle_3.png" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFiwykSo8fhgGCwapuWf3nk73r8bdYJTJJOZWySgqX_bavROkHtctMUlRpGLBBrMmCIQYGM3WEVWIAjqoNXds90CK7yXT-fjlGzIQ6HVLgpuEI0oMXfDaUnFWqMlM2Tq1QrAr88BiO9ZwJ/s1600/eagle_4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFiwykSo8fhgGCwapuWf3nk73r8bdYJTJJOZWySgqX_bavROkHtctMUlRpGLBBrMmCIQYGM3WEVWIAjqoNXds90CK7yXT-fjlGzIQ6HVLgpuEI0oMXfDaUnFWqMlM2Tq1QrAr88BiO9ZwJ/s200/eagle_4.png" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizmddY3YCnRT5iCzYXFugCV6bdu40HQH_czYoQ5DFoDMlpbZ2M-UiM7nmfRqSk7PQp7Sgd2gBBtY_VF1zlmwNsocNVWy-Gg7UoGkYlTPR5o38-oGMVOsf886Sle5rn2x4pOtrzJJPz_mJD/s1600/eagle_5.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="139" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizmddY3YCnRT5iCzYXFugCV6bdu40HQH_czYoQ5DFoDMlpbZ2M-UiM7nmfRqSk7PQp7Sgd2gBBtY_VF1zlmwNsocNVWy-Gg7UoGkYlTPR5o38-oGMVOsf886Sle5rn2x4pOtrzJJPz_mJD/s200/eagle_5.png" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOeUiPmvN_85YLkPkRste6ve2lLIx6byoeNhbwkOtAWtGF4Hg2gNWI4snp1g6BEETmqUINak92I2-F19j9AHQD9Fp29W3uDReBqTT32014-v1YmQkWMx4uJMKk9IeWqe67b8XLi-ZMzTHq/s1600/eagle_7.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="118" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOeUiPmvN_85YLkPkRste6ve2lLIx6byoeNhbwkOtAWtGF4Hg2gNWI4snp1g6BEETmqUINak92I2-F19j9AHQD9Fp29W3uDReBqTT32014-v1YmQkWMx4uJMKk9IeWqe67b8XLi-ZMzTHq/s200/eagle_7.png" width="200" /></a></div>
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Woo-hoo, finished! Ignore the "Rev. B" - I only remembered to take a screenshot after I sent the gerbers off and started fixing some of the mistakes (so there are a couple of minor changes): <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBDcbLmwy9AYQPEvVutWLV8psjOc24dG-YJxwFwiHHF8GCyJZA0s6Gr0blYuCx18vGt7Dl2UdZ7UmaG9LWN70usJdkJOTdT89VaJxVt8GQRaAwF4hE569xUu6aX32TOEXkPBFJL2gRRC3m/s1600/eagle_9_nofill_final.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBDcbLmwy9AYQPEvVutWLV8psjOc24dG-YJxwFwiHHF8GCyJZA0s6Gr0blYuCx18vGt7Dl2UdZ7UmaG9LWN70usJdkJOTdT89VaJxVt8GQRaAwF4hE569xUu6aX32TOEXkPBFJL2gRRC3m/s400/eagle_9_nofill_final.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finished layout (no ground pour for clarity)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbr_Ln3uK7v94EgY8a7yh5YreYUBB7RH-GxV6sU-WmHrHezjhzu9ZwXIKXmicqvJw8-9LDmmYzZqkacYuTuVPqgLZNwiTquALMiKtdB6p_w3Ia4fcZXgmzmKKy0FGtaTHSX9XVnCzVyXVa/s1600/eagle_10_fill_final.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbr_Ln3uK7v94EgY8a7yh5YreYUBB7RH-GxV6sU-WmHrHezjhzu9ZwXIKXmicqvJw8-9LDmmYzZqkacYuTuVPqgLZNwiTquALMiKtdB6p_w3Ia4fcZXgmzmKKy0FGtaTHSX9XVnCzVyXVa/s400/eagle_10_fill_final.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finished layout (with ground pour)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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So in 4 days Elecrow had made the boards and shipped them. They took only 8 days to arrive (China post):<br />
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They look great, I don't care even if they don't work :) <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgecKyd4zkERQFDsqqcSY0TARSgSFefXi81Q06sElWVSd1myldbLIr9qib2sZ8VemwjhPlaU1PyCOWBDRM6EEIpxZcc8mCPg8YHMkxM_mwQsSzFmqnXlVr6AFst-k8Q7yx3bGaHh7zY_cQU/s1600/Photo_revA_boards.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgecKyd4zkERQFDsqqcSY0TARSgSFefXi81Q06sElWVSd1myldbLIr9qib2sZ8VemwjhPlaU1PyCOWBDRM6EEIpxZcc8mCPg8YHMkxM_mwQsSzFmqnXlVr6AFst-k8Q7yx3bGaHh7zY_cQU/s320/Photo_revA_boards.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I didn't spot any flaws in the manufacturing (they're e-tested anyway) and I'm really happy with the results and service for the price. Where the low cost does show slightly is in the alignment of the silkscreen and soldermask. They're both out by about 4 or 5mil (the broken circle around TP18 was my fault - I forgot to change it and it didn't meet their minimum thickness) :<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhthk3vOgWYLD2Wqemddel7-A2pgBvH-elO1EiFcvdPsr3tJDVS1645o1dPzawVrQGSPLpli4s0pWk3zgDlANPIPkXniMx5vgji7yV8nv1t45L_iZcGq26ZxN269Op4rZhTiTapYrttUTuh/s1600/Photo_silkscreen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhthk3vOgWYLD2Wqemddel7-A2pgBvH-elO1EiFcvdPsr3tJDVS1645o1dPzawVrQGSPLpli4s0pWk3zgDlANPIPkXniMx5vgji7yV8nv1t45L_iZcGq26ZxN269Op4rZhTiTapYrttUTuh/s200/Photo_silkscreen.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSZtPeNsAPOv7Zbu8Jt4wjx2oEHWqD5j4sX1U7RUF0yglJBUBp6HC-GZgDVZ6gRggiTZA79Gyo6PeswSP4bTnnfB4tCwp2UDvEnG0qvDoNQtaEd4MWRY99yD2-XnpA87mBrjvzLPiBSF3Y/s1600/Photo_soldermask.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSZtPeNsAPOv7Zbu8Jt4wjx2oEHWqD5j4sX1U7RUF0yglJBUBp6HC-GZgDVZ6gRggiTZA79Gyo6PeswSP4bTnnfB4tCwp2UDvEnG0qvDoNQtaEd4MWRY99yD2-XnpA87mBrjvzLPiBSF3Y/s200/Photo_soldermask.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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So how did I do with matching the original shape? Spot on actually, I was surprised! <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJLKik4Z4NBEcPCLMAZw6h2VsR6sGdZRVWIgh83utv1v7SxrhcpMZWcQNCxfHmOoSkMoavhCul8KwVXoh1R4DB1GoiufWkV1juy3J9mkGhjrzUZCiDLz923YZlk0zA_sdIxkWTtrQF7Dm2/s1600/Photo_PCB_sidebyside2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJLKik4Z4NBEcPCLMAZw6h2VsR6sGdZRVWIgh83utv1v7SxrhcpMZWcQNCxfHmOoSkMoavhCul8KwVXoh1R4DB1GoiufWkV1juy3J9mkGhjrzUZCiDLz923YZlk0zA_sdIxkWTtrQF7Dm2/s320/Photo_PCB_sidebyside2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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And the first couple of idiot mistakes:<br />
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I didn't bother to check the datasheet/measurements for the JST header I picked for the debug interface. It overlapped the battery by a tiny amount so I had to shave a bit off:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmar6WUi5oyF1poIOFnKbw9b1sEj_PGMrUms83BPip1WI9GziuYL3FWh9j2GsmIcnlrBhlZAHdJRhNtzTQD9Bu0BRZPH-iBqiHW3zgwc3_TGjy8azSZniZllelPNEUyall9qP5SkLRIA7E/s1600/Photo_jtag_doh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmar6WUi5oyF1poIOFnKbw9b1sEj_PGMrUms83BPip1WI9GziuYL3FWh9j2GsmIcnlrBhlZAHdJRhNtzTQD9Bu0BRZPH-iBqiHW3zgwc3_TGjy8azSZniZllelPNEUyall9qP5SkLRIA7E/s320/Photo_jtag_doh.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgODComEybkLTPI4Zckgaap4l3XYKBHbLXCqWCtA4eSLvSBDkNS16TqRbqK0es80I0xR7OTffy71KwSYcY8ODFdzW7NkK2WFJ5FQAcSXKz4Or13wMz2ffoor9gtz_cwLz6OuikyeHIHTael/s1600/Photo_thereifixedit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgODComEybkLTPI4Zckgaap4l3XYKBHbLXCqWCtA4eSLvSBDkNS16TqRbqK0es80I0xR7OTffy71KwSYcY8ODFdzW7NkK2WFJ5FQAcSXKz4Or13wMz2ffoor9gtz_cwLz6OuikyeHIHTael/s200/Photo_thereifixedit.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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I didn't notice this metal thing which bumps into the capacitor at the top of the board. It was that small of a change that it fit by soldering the cap not-quite-centered on the pads:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg68N8tRCOhHhWQh6o9Yw0oKTkk2DylcYGEPC34kvD_lAN22d-R4Ufh-LuzKgMwLnkSE-n4eX7N3_ErGyVHKgG4IupbaZUafiDWUs-J6vAPg2QoQCJyzukiG0b50EaXbhbvpWnC7VC4QqZ5/s1600/Photo_capacitor_pos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg68N8tRCOhHhWQh6o9Yw0oKTkk2DylcYGEPC34kvD_lAN22d-R4Ufh-LuzKgMwLnkSE-n4eX7N3_ErGyVHKgG4IupbaZUafiDWUs-J6vAPg2QoQCJyzukiG0b50EaXbhbvpWnC7VC4QqZ5/s320/Photo_capacitor_pos.jpg" width="286" /></a></div>
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Aside from those, I didn't have any diodes that fit the footprint properly, but that wasn't really a mistake in the design I just didn't have the patience to buy some and wait.<br />
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EDIT: And I've just noticed I messed up the pad names for the volume switches so they're always pressed. D'oh! <br />
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Here's the finished rev. A board after soldering:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDK_t97wzmMmXwrjz2UiVMdTdQDLOnL79CMV5srFw85cR0nb028MT_1uSnlM5bMuWuWlJFUTV009SQLa8YdFoVai5qH2PExz0Jcq3LwXImKk5sBSltH0Gq7mSGfDN6PeuAQ2fk7vWnj6Yg/s1600/Photo_final_revA_3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDK_t97wzmMmXwrjz2UiVMdTdQDLOnL79CMV5srFw85cR0nb028MT_1uSnlM5bMuWuWlJFUTV009SQLa8YdFoVai5qH2PExz0Jcq3LwXImKk5sBSltH0Gq7mSGfDN6PeuAQ2fk7vWnj6Yg/s400/Photo_final_revA_3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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It passed a smoke test, and was detected OK: <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgumwLqlq-N2JBUxfO6jS64pHyvp1hazVBs9imA2Dmf7QfJ_Y_MR5XP_PCcPl3oM_aDBIY3wqj6x6GaMGcIFZJgUM0n_Z39vxaUDS_J1lI63H23ftjkT653MQMYRKS4oKdFSJRD5ZDTJw3w/s1600/sshot_stlink_success.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="31" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgumwLqlq-N2JBUxfO6jS64pHyvp1hazVBs9imA2Dmf7QfJ_Y_MR5XP_PCcPl3oM_aDBIY3wqj6x6GaMGcIFZJgUM0n_Z39vxaUDS_J1lI63H23ftjkT653MQMYRKS4oKdFSJRD5ZDTJw3w/s320/sshot_stlink_success.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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...and it actually seems to work! <br />
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Now I need to develop the software/firmware and see if anything else is broken, then get to work on rev. B!</div>
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<br />stevenhoneymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06494159684713841991noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768610196044632406.post-73959744519374786282015-03-19T19:50:00.000+00:002015-03-19T19:50:11.446+00:00CK 3756 kynar wire stripper - buy one!I wish I'd bought one of these sooner! Expensive, but it just works:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6DUjC4h6SL8Ai8CIByyBi0Ls53CXb5h03U3bXFQoSEb2DlgVSZjOkQfqYP3CG7mXRVHQ04EaGzf1kznk1r3Hz6MnMBF-fhMB_d9wHlMw_eyXncBhxWh0MvppSLTL1eDxxN6Q709P2vGFG/s1600/Photo+19-03-2015+17+35+38.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6DUjC4h6SL8Ai8CIByyBi0Ls53CXb5h03U3bXFQoSEb2DlgVSZjOkQfqYP3CG7mXRVHQ04EaGzf1kznk1r3Hz6MnMBF-fhMB_d9wHlMw_eyXncBhxWh0MvppSLTL1eDxxN6Q709P2vGFG/s1600/Photo+19-03-2015+17+35+38.jpg" height="298" width="400" /></a></div>
stevenhoneymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06494159684713841991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768610196044632406.post-33053389591679953222015-03-15T22:46:00.001+00:002015-03-15T22:47:56.086+00:00Mini 3G 150M A5-V11 Router (internals/UART)This is a generic/unbranded router from dealextreme (<a href="http://www.dx.com/p/mini-portable-usb-2-0-150mbps-3g-4g-wi-fi-wireless-router-black-217078" target="_blank">product 217078</a>)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUDj5BIn5PniaSCerk7lmEhshSHG3b6LKy3WE6kryaJE7FSC4cO6DVIZWOiwKd5tdaiZdVUG8fR9SueA7DHT3ejm0AdUCRq93oJ8Q3h9XBhNXNwBkFsQbg98AYLX8mwIbtfhNrGtYlGxbh/s1600/minirouter1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUDj5BIn5PniaSCerk7lmEhshSHG3b6LKy3WE6kryaJE7FSC4cO6DVIZWOiwKd5tdaiZdVUG8fR9SueA7DHT3ejm0AdUCRq93oJ8Q3h9XBhNXNwBkFsQbg98AYLX8mwIbtfhNrGtYlGxbh/s1600/minirouter1.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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There's very little information in the product description, but for my 7 quid I ended up with a board known as "A5-V11", which has a RT5350, 4M SPI flash, 32M RAM. It is supported by openwrt (<a href="http://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/unbranded/a5-v11" target="_blank">here</a>) but the current bleeding edge with the defaults set is too big. It fits if you drop the IPv6 related packages.<br />
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It's already well documented so there isn't any need for much more here. Worth noting is that a standard SOIC clip (i.e. Pomona-style) won't quite make contact due to the position of the big capacitor in the middle. The micro USB port is only used for power... so for future experiments I wired the UART to it following the same pinout as Mediatek stuff. A resistor is required on RX or it won't boot (value not critical, also works fine with 330 ohm).<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDgivqu1ccdyne3SY6xvTcJoVwU8hoIiYl3gKnbqJAY2R7p5WPt05TY-fSStWYFFyCQuvtblRF17u7LQWyN0miX0EyRnh-0Yet6Tcu6WKHQdBJr1R0BnaXWDJpxXV5AFObWoT_g0e64-Og/s1600/minirouter2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDgivqu1ccdyne3SY6xvTcJoVwU8hoIiYl3gKnbqJAY2R7p5WPt05TY-fSStWYFFyCQuvtblRF17u7LQWyN0miX0EyRnh-0Yet6Tcu6WKHQdBJr1R0BnaXWDJpxXV5AFObWoT_g0e64-Og/s1600/minirouter2.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Maybe needs a couple of blobs of hot glue</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3kgNkobzixQUJwj0zxFkXIa28UxE2Bw5lPcqvaozKa8tumn2k7X7G36IGU_VWVeFO21gKsmDvizIPhn2tQ8C4QMMrEkMZ7Q7nxo-AYDcmiV3nqn-RZl3IFU1tDKiGb_5n9kSdBtxXpXjz/s1600/2015-03-15_T215153_669x437_scrot.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3kgNkobzixQUJwj0zxFkXIa28UxE2Bw5lPcqvaozKa8tumn2k7X7G36IGU_VWVeFO21gKsmDvizIPhn2tQ8C4QMMrEkMZ7Q7nxo-AYDcmiV3nqn-RZl3IFU1tDKiGb_5n9kSdBtxXpXjz/s1600/2015-03-15_T215153_669x437_scrot.png" height="209" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The jffs2 thing is a known bug</td></tr>
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stevenhoneymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06494159684713841991noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768610196044632406.post-52917080965153367802015-03-10T00:14:00.000+00:002015-03-10T00:14:04.140+00:00HP Printer JTAG<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Harvesting parts from a HP Officejet 6310 the other day I saw this: <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYP-wHRjSTiY_s_wUBxng47B-wlISrb8D2wKEF-b7NQp40feX1grEDJQfnN8BcPt3JeGZMo9RlOBmfDhxVVfPJ_VRH3u7gY3i1wOd6MBMIvN4BOU5URTrMLmutCKi7Jstr-ISriXMPjCkn/s1600/Photo+06-03-2015+14+51+32.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYP-wHRjSTiY_s_wUBxng47B-wlISrb8D2wKEF-b7NQp40feX1grEDJQfnN8BcPt3JeGZMo9RlOBmfDhxVVfPJ_VRH3u7gY3i1wOd6MBMIvN4BOU5URTrMLmutCKi7Jstr-ISriXMPjCkn/s1600/Photo+06-03-2015+14+51+32.jpg" height="320" width="239" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM61Vdtp6uFfNxdqH-j_2d6e6iMrJ5srQAZGho0ci8JgYs9dP_z0Qel97N8wB61QzZ1m4zmNWmqrnauiSfuPiR-2xihaP_RbhZklHmNEZSzkYFvtQLV81hcsSYwlvJogbT_WbEj1YhJlnd/s1600/Photo+06-03-2015+14+51+57.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM61Vdtp6uFfNxdqH-j_2d6e6iMrJ5srQAZGho0ci8JgYs9dP_z0Qel97N8wB61QzZ1m4zmNWmqrnauiSfuPiR-2xihaP_RbhZklHmNEZSzkYFvtQLV81hcsSYwlvJogbT_WbEj1YhJlnd/s1600/Photo+06-03-2015+14+51+57.jpg" height="320" width="239" /></a></div>
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Of course I couldn't leave something like that without at least attempting to find out what they were for! Luckily I hadn't yet destroyed any important bits so it went back together... <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhckDmJMaUP8hOLnHQtae-cKztQkrVrEd_QvUm3Vwb718gV5RvLQqDRwaCKBJg-cVrYSqOPxJHlRssQPxWy-npvFcz8mgxaN7fdrRPHBsgspJQUtPvhQEcCIf3-bCbu5qf6nl3VpYp28yyD/s1600/Photo+06-03-2015+15+23+57.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhckDmJMaUP8hOLnHQtae-cKztQkrVrEd_QvUm3Vwb718gV5RvLQqDRwaCKBJg-cVrYSqOPxJHlRssQPxWy-npvFcz8mgxaN7fdrRPHBsgspJQUtPvhQEcCIf3-bCbu5qf6nl3VpYp28yyD/s1600/Photo+06-03-2015+15+23+57.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUXfIn4GDMIjDTNEmtq3G08LwtS2ZALEpRQjfcW_f-PAu39X2EuUoY8OyMl4z0EoUi2vA2eSvNkDEopW6o4aiEsK3P35RKj9WtKW7jDhLZSQSe7lI7QclcuV7SFf9UF3m0R6ToEGTcP7nv/s1600/Photo+09-03-2015+22+14+15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUXfIn4GDMIjDTNEmtq3G08LwtS2ZALEpRQjfcW_f-PAu39X2EuUoY8OyMl4z0EoUi2vA2eSvNkDEopW6o4aiEsK3P35RKj9WtKW7jDhLZSQSe7lI7QclcuV7SFf9UF3m0R6ToEGTcP7nv/s1600/Photo+09-03-2015+22+14+15.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a><br />
<br />
And typically, they didn't seem to do anything at all. Maybe because it had no cartridges? Well I certainly wasn't going to buy any, so I thought I'd take a ROM image and if I got bored enough some day I could have a poke around it. But then - I found a connector header covered over with soldermask. As a 2x19 with central ground pins I took a lucky guess at "Mictor 38" layout and got a JTAG connection. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<pre>---------------------------------------------------
VTarget = 2.691V
Info: TotalIRLen = 4, IRPrint = 0x01
Info: CP15.0.0: 0x41059461: ARM, Architecure 5TE
Info: CP15.0.1: 0x0F0D20D2: ICache: 4kB (4*32*32), DCache: 4kB (4*32*32)
Info: Cache type: Separate, Write-back, Format B
Found 1 JTAG device, Total IRLen = 4:
#0 Id: 0x1594602B, IRLen: 04, IRPrint: 0x1, ARM946E-S Core
Found ARM with core Id 0x1594602B (ARM9)
ETM V1.3: 4 pairs addr.comp, 2 data comp, 8 MM decs, 2 counters, sequencer
Target interface speed: 100 kHz
---------------------------------------------------
</pre>
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlsY9G_4Zcu8rokoNvf3RBBI9zQ78Yli8Fy-Duaxke5CqIXdEOrSVP9Jqcfc_nnrb3Ho2WCT4YJR4RSEjChXPa0tdgJ9H5Q6OOeilzYlH_uDtcUQ5YAqij21oLmG0dH4ExdvOI6Olzmj81/s1600/Photo+09-03-2015+22+11+46.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlsY9G_4Zcu8rokoNvf3RBBI9zQ78Yli8Fy-Duaxke5CqIXdEOrSVP9Jqcfc_nnrb3Ho2WCT4YJR4RSEjChXPa0tdgJ9H5Q6OOeilzYlH_uDtcUQ5YAqij21oLmG0dH4ExdvOI6Olzmj81/s1600/Photo+09-03-2015+22+11+46.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a><br />
<br />
...and that's where my knowledge of JTAG debugging ends at the moment. The CPU is some kind of custom HP "top secret" NXP part that doesn't exist, which makes things a bit trickier. This probably isn't the best way to learn about JTAG either. Nevertheless, I'll just keep prodding it until something pops!<br />
<br />
<br />
<-- "Door open"?! that's the least of your problems haha<br />
<br />
<br />stevenhoneymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06494159684713841991noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768610196044632406.post-27694988679888270982015-02-25T20:58:00.000+00:002015-02-25T21:02:21.400+00:008-layer PCB Scanning - Practice Run (T100s)If you don't own an MRI (I did check ebay and dealextreme just in case!) then this is a fairly easy, effective, but very slow way of recreating PCB artwork from a multilayer board.<br />
<br />
I imagine a Dremel would rip through this in seconds... but that's probably going to cause problems when you only want to remove a few microns at a time. Instead I went for a combo of 120grit alox and 400grit carbide paper. I also nearly got screwed over by HP and their bullshit claims of 1200dpi! Take a look; on the left is a corner scanned on a HP at "1200dpi". On the right, the same corner scanned on a £50 Canon I got from PC World, also set to 1200dpi:<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7Bw6IlRIGPfSUSeV4e9GyB7E0llKWD7zTC9hOxdXrL3c5RKk6OOI0F-Wfzr2Ocwfmnx1piJiHNqLjgyp8rOWMFxj_E_EsfBLeRVFxTLekJ6BB-DFaeofpEuLciaEZ4hBL-cinaKTgFhiv/s1600/hp-vs-canon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7Bw6IlRIGPfSUSeV4e9GyB7E0llKWD7zTC9hOxdXrL3c5RKk6OOI0F-Wfzr2Ocwfmnx1piJiHNqLjgyp8rOWMFxj_E_EsfBLeRVFxTLekJ6BB-DFaeofpEuLciaEZ4hBL-cinaKTgFhiv/s1600/hp-vs-canon.jpg" height="152" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
The phone was broken by the way, it just buzzed from somewhere on the back of the board... although I did get a complete eMMC dump by jamming it in a vice with a bit of an IDE connector putting pressure on whatever was broken. It took a few goes as when it warmed up it must have moved just enough to switch off. I also forgot that without a battery you only ever get 13.5 minutes in bootrom mode before it switches off (MT6592). Finally with a PSU pretending to be a battery, I got it imaged in about 17-18 hours.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbKNV3iqv3jTkdzpVupeDwJ9W9oe-D4gsFvCD1UQ50jV80JdXzFFmqJcMlo9IZTVjXx8raZ1JrG_JdMtGXTEEvYYUQw-2zanCBf1i70aEgi3MJ4M41X1-8pNm4nzveVzh06iA5_SvEIiIG/s1600/emmc_vice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbKNV3iqv3jTkdzpVupeDwJ9W9oe-D4gsFvCD1UQ50jV80JdXzFFmqJcMlo9IZTVjXx8raZ1JrG_JdMtGXTEEvYYUQw-2zanCBf1i70aEgi3MJ4M41X1-8pNm4nzveVzh06iA5_SvEIiIG/s1600/emmc_vice.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
The concept is straightforward:<br />
<br />
While you have remaining layers, <br />
1. Scan a layer<br />
2. Remove half* a layer<br />
<br />
<br />
*Micro vias are impossible to see if you only scan the copper layers. Take a scan part-way through the epoxy as well. They are pretty small at around 100μm in diameter:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW8XUAF4OIEtz4xm8Tvn2QiJQkQH5petEes7Xrhy0fgMCoBfTXC9UcvC1M8_DvUhjifuIuV1CgmAs1PHRE4HQ8II4UbzVsAov8nJyFOzC4Bs4FGJUYIbLaXVtfjIFTLXYFVTbbR7Xc_hzd/s1600/pcb-vias.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW8XUAF4OIEtz4xm8Tvn2QiJQkQH5petEes7Xrhy0fgMCoBfTXC9UcvC1M8_DvUhjifuIuV1CgmAs1PHRE4HQ8II4UbzVsAov8nJyFOzC4Bs4FGJUYIbLaXVtfjIFTLXYFVTbbR7Xc_hzd/s1600/pcb-vias.jpg" height="251" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Before:<br />
(yes, I was too lazy to rotate one of these)<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipN9ptqJ3B6gnG_M_9LE9hzr5DvteODhHI_eREmvSbcPMt3En115_WPakQxHqJQeZ0Rzr9vtV1j8Ub2N0ua1XGsYtNTI9GCADoYs1WXC1V7VY4C7R3wswMFaXfKztbrmqiyi96bR4uk7W1/s1600/Photo+20-02-2015+17+51+54.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipN9ptqJ3B6gnG_M_9LE9hzr5DvteODhHI_eREmvSbcPMt3En115_WPakQxHqJQeZ0Rzr9vtV1j8Ub2N0ua1XGsYtNTI9GCADoYs1WXC1V7VY4C7R3wswMFaXfKztbrmqiyi96bR4uk7W1/s1600/Photo+20-02-2015+17+51+54.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTyXp9pCRG9H2KmVOA5DwCmyAqf-syJ9yAnlSE8eeZMpZdUvBVZV11ql_tMqZnnAT8hE9NlZPlttcfl8b_vQtaMFFeSnritQseJfTtITO6qY4xiM3wCjlUlwf18d6WMTjcHBd_mxu9vL17/s1600/Photo+20-02-2015+17+50+12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTyXp9pCRG9H2KmVOA5DwCmyAqf-syJ9yAnlSE8eeZMpZdUvBVZV11ql_tMqZnnAT8hE9NlZPlttcfl8b_vQtaMFFeSnritQseJfTtITO6qY4xiM3wCjlUlwf18d6WMTjcHBd_mxu9vL17/s1600/Photo+20-02-2015+17+50+12.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
During:<br />
(Lesson I learnt is I should have put scrap PCBs around the sides to prevent this from happening)<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEDoCtZKb9kHynmEWjgaIdt5r8czkk3Cl8xeq0Gufsjz5evTkNQDVdqmTrbzIkeE-x0rtmQedOQIrJMxd_CDHiikfswh5VMGeDCbpBsnj2XaUmPq10kBCYKJKUpNcy9wlCZL-trdfHKW9C/s1600/IMG_20150221_0012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEDoCtZKb9kHynmEWjgaIdt5r8czkk3Cl8xeq0Gufsjz5evTkNQDVdqmTrbzIkeE-x0rtmQedOQIrJMxd_CDHiikfswh5VMGeDCbpBsnj2XaUmPq10kBCYKJKUpNcy9wlCZL-trdfHKW9C/s1600/IMG_20150221_0012.jpg" height="242" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
2 more layers! On the left, remaining 2 copper layers. On the right, sheet of standard 80gsm printer paper. Photo through a 30X lens.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqO_uYmosnFe0sPc2DONpGbrpfGz3KHYtSxZ6uLmQBxQXWV28KoCFo8ZsnsT98k8FuSGxDrDoBJSC7-zExfAhLziw39n16mb3qp1zhl5OWy6P6PgUkrfESK3GTyhcaAgipXLtVXQP0jfMW/s1600/Photo+22-02-2015+18+49+25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqO_uYmosnFe0sPc2DONpGbrpfGz3KHYtSxZ6uLmQBxQXWV28KoCFo8ZsnsT98k8FuSGxDrDoBJSC7-zExfAhLziw39n16mb3qp1zhl5OWy6P6PgUkrfESK3GTyhcaAgipXLtVXQP0jfMW/s1600/Photo+22-02-2015+18+49+25.jpg" height="320" width="239" /></a></div>
<br />
And after: <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgujQGsic52jC2G-TrsLu2rw3rfFSMmF7FIWN2FYpn6mUYXvlqSkhvk2nR4ZldVAjtfqQhovHDy305JXaMJ-sWxt4BSPnUYeO0jq01lpPfyQ35fAFUPIAUE46QY9vH2acy0QaNggEd7v2pR/s1600/Photo+22-02-2015+16+32+05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgujQGsic52jC2G-TrsLu2rw3rfFSMmF7FIWN2FYpn6mUYXvlqSkhvk2nR4ZldVAjtfqQhovHDy305JXaMJ-sWxt4BSPnUYeO0jq01lpPfyQ35fAFUPIAUE46QY9vH2acy0QaNggEd7v2pR/s1600/Photo+22-02-2015+16+32+05.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Chinese magic phone dust is probably highly toxic and definitely stains your hands green, brown or grey. It also ended up in my ears somehow! <br />
<br />
Then with a set of scanned layers, use your favourite image editing software to isolate the copper coloured bits. Combine all of those, align them all, job done: <br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWvi2E712Ta7IyYi5d_AUJVpwPVQAMXRKlXfm23VWYIM7Ns5pFhluEDGCFhws33g1gnNogNG0atpBYS3cm8zpECHPcHbeMK1a6kjehyphenhyphenZRycVIwzsAN67XJSEHXHtDuaHjjcaqwXowdnuWc/s1600/2015-02-24_T231748_1228x899.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWvi2E712Ta7IyYi5d_AUJVpwPVQAMXRKlXfm23VWYIM7Ns5pFhluEDGCFhws33g1gnNogNG0atpBYS3cm8zpECHPcHbeMK1a6kjehyphenhyphenZRycVIwzsAN67XJSEHXHtDuaHjjcaqwXowdnuWc/s1600/2015-02-24_T231748_1228x899.jpg" height="234" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Further improvements that I'd do if this wasn't just a practice would be to neaten up the few areas the colour processing got wrong, and square off the tracks / non-round pads.<br />
<br />
I'm still trying to find a program to visualise the layers in 3D. If it was a vector image then it would be straightforward but I couldn't find the equivalent for raster. There isn't even a good file type to save it in... Adobe psd seems to be the most popular :/<br />
If I find something appropriate then I'll upload the whole thing, but at the moment it's 1.2GB and not very friendly.stevenhoneymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06494159684713841991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768610196044632406.post-53536786974763379242015-02-07T19:30:00.000+00:002015-02-07T19:39:04.246+00:00Focaltech touchscreen oops / Leagoo customer service<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
I've been playing around with the <a href="http://www.leagoo.cc/Lead3.html" target="_blank">Leagoo Lead 3</a> for some time now. Initially I chose this due to price and the fact that it was not just another "counterfeit samsung" like many others. Apart from it having a fairly low spec (but still great for £50!) I really like this in terms of build quality, official ROM update availablility, and as I've just found out, Leagoo customer service is great too!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAZLy04n-rQVq5sgoZTZoi-DYXZ8p0m-i981p1xLzFfkx1NXmgkZgMMhaRJBkhd8WymxXCKOvkSJiMkPHdfQd_v_xFcOoEnOIx81OEf1hMeULFmKHQ7HyH-LCtLY_0Gd80imJAuiz_gFGq/s1600/l3box.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAZLy04n-rQVq5sgoZTZoi-DYXZ8p0m-i981p1xLzFfkx1NXmgkZgMMhaRJBkhd8WymxXCKOvkSJiMkPHdfQd_v_xFcOoEnOIx81OEf1hMeULFmKHQ7HyH-LCtLY_0Gd80imJAuiz_gFGq/s1600/l3box.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nice packaging</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
It's an unbrickable device - even a full eMMC wipe can be recovered from as the SoC has an internal bootrom that will emulate a low speed uart over usb, which you can then flash the preloader back and go from there. <br />
<br />
There is however one more "secret" flash storage area that unfortunately can be erased. It turns out that Focaltech CTPMs have an 8051-based controller with... firmware stored in its own flash memory. A couple of days ago I (somehow) managed to wipe the contents of one, rendering the touchscreen completely useless. The device that you need the part number from is this:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsvWtjPYq66NM9r8vieujw7CxK0hqNb2-Z2baV5g54fdIB5mAX7WKaYb9b3TuDhc9UDjDkEvNqUummoXyspoMIwS4G-CVICOvl8XdtVGPnTb5dvthbA-6F8zy1wpZyW2kY5eSxIPROaW7R/s1600/l3_focaltech2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsvWtjPYq66NM9r8vieujw7CxK0hqNb2-Z2baV5g54fdIB5mAX7WKaYb9b3TuDhc9UDjDkEvNqUummoXyspoMIwS4G-CVICOvl8XdtVGPnTb5dvthbA-6F8zy1wpZyW2kY5eSxIPROaW7R/s1600/l3_focaltech2.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Z13dpFjN0NsGL-ntgfyQECoP8EQICI-AKPwV6TjChs0jilsoNfkm1cPhUQCigV0lm72isEZXS0HZDsI8yet_HVSXiAwjyi18L_nYwBuraMmzHeTabSvBQ9k29ua-DnRuSCSQckE3XMhp/s1600/l3_disassembled.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Z13dpFjN0NsGL-ntgfyQECoP8EQICI-AKPwV6TjChs0jilsoNfkm1cPhUQCigV0lm72isEZXS0HZDsI8yet_HVSXiAwjyi18L_nYwBuraMmzHeTabSvBQ9k29ua-DnRuSCSQckE3XMhp/s1600/l3_disassembled.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
I tried a bunch of random firmwares with (obviously) no luck. They're each tailored to a specific screen. In a last ditch attempt before microwaving the brick* I contacted Leagoo customer services to see if they would send me the firmware. A few emails later... I got it :)<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPkiuFXtLcrt3WtKcdn-T_H9oRAEoMqusqEKeBW3WoXN9boyBfHdNy6EyvKNPahzlmiTi6OrUzyULCvCt4h8pglNXkFivGpajqXJuJWvVXI33y2OeBpYALlEQWIAzOLaeDthVNW0SLYjb-/s1600/l3_ctpm2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPkiuFXtLcrt3WtKcdn-T_H9oRAEoMqusqEKeBW3WoXN9boyBfHdNy6EyvKNPahzlmiTi6OrUzyULCvCt4h8pglNXkFivGpajqXJuJWvVXI33y2OeBpYALlEQWIAzOLaeDthVNW0SLYjb-/s1600/l3_ctpm2.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Working touchscreen again</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The strange device-to-host i2c comms of this thing still confuse me, but it should be possible to write a kernel module to dump a backup of the firmware which could come in handy when dealing with phones from companies with useless (or nonexistent) customer service *cough* Cubot, Axgio, Landvo *cough*<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
*<span style="font-size: x-small;">and of course a closer look at the mainboard - if anyone
has a broken Lead 3 they want to send me for that purpose then I will
do!</span>stevenhoneymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06494159684713841991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768610196044632406.post-87700277112927077262015-02-02T18:06:00.000+00:002015-02-02T18:10:10.787+00:00Where's the beef?!And now for something completely different...<br />
<br />
Dolmio used to make a convenient and tasty pasta sauce in a microwaveable pouch product named "Dolmio Express". I say used to - technically they still make a product with this name, but the recipe got ruined (and they're still showing the nice one on their website)<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiedE02V1f3dOxl_rzVRwcl4Sh0Vc4OR3Iv3eVojmW2zD7gJgnsbOQegVO2pJX9oawZ854AoKsyNlgO7yuzg1CZOjwov2GjU8_jrTjM3aCvo29_wtEzUsIzjvFNo3dLEdEW_JqbwQvYXUWa/s1600/dolmio_tesco.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiedE02V1f3dOxl_rzVRwcl4Sh0Vc4OR3Iv3eVojmW2zD7gJgnsbOQegVO2pJX9oawZ854AoKsyNlgO7yuzg1CZOjwov2GjU8_jrTjM3aCvo29_wtEzUsIzjvFNo3dLEdEW_JqbwQvYXUWa/s1600/dolmio_tesco.png" height="155" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqSKPp90yl6K8NPSu74sCqdAXPOcZIB2dnIYs1bOuyw9xEjl0X-kBK11H2Q2ZMc-fcUseLApjZpqh2okfbl2BT2PFrj_sV7IqhozdDtfnLnh1P4H2ss9axJU6BDbWrIAVHDtFfYmFGVizw/s1600/dolmio_express.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqSKPp90yl6K8NPSu74sCqdAXPOcZIB2dnIYs1bOuyw9xEjl0X-kBK11H2Q2ZMc-fcUseLApjZpqh2okfbl2BT2PFrj_sV7IqhozdDtfnLnh1P4H2ss9axJU6BDbWrIAVHDtFfYmFGVizw/s1600/dolmio_express.png" height="320" width="180" /></a><br />
(<-- on the left) Nice version, before the change, taken from the Dolmio website today. Ingredients list inaccurate.<br />
<br />
(on the right -->) Ruined version, insufficient beef, taken from Tesco's website.<br />
<br /><br />
I mean, who replaces beef with carrots!? It went from a nice beefy<br />
sauce to something closer to a tomato-ey water with a tiny amount of beef floating in it (that looks more like tuna). Oh and don't forget the carrots! Urgh.<br />
<br />
Suggestion: revert changes. Charge more if needed instead of ruining it. If you absolutely have to use less beef, replace it with TVP or something, not carrots. <br />
<br />stevenhoneymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06494159684713841991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768610196044632406.post-91491384843992170522015-02-01T18:59:00.000+00:002015-02-01T19:01:55.607+00:00Reconstructing MTK LCM driversThis is another one of my "why didn't I think of that sooner" ideas that could have saved me a few days. Basically Chinese touchscreen datasheets do not exist, or not that I can find for free anyway. Out of all of the phones on my desk I only got 1 "close" match for the controller datasheet and it wasn't any use for writing a driver as the screen initialisation info is in the LCD datasheet (I couldn't even find the company that apparently made this screen. I think it probably begins with J!).<br />
<br />
From the LK or kernel console, the LCD timings are easy enough to pick out. If you're lucky enough not to have bought an "agold" special then you also should have the name of the LCM controller. Some phones have multiple supported in each firmware (important).<br />
<br />
That's great - apart from you don't have the initialisation commands. Again if you're incredibly lucky (or paid extra and got a Wiko/Lenovo/Acer/etc) then you might be able to find the exact driver on github. If not, then either you could randomly keep trying similar sounding drivers (...bad idea!) or just pull the struct from a working firmware's lk.bin. Most (but not all) of the drivers are boilerplate and using the same struct to store the data - there shouldn't be much to change between devices.<br />
<br />
Example:<br />
<br />
qHD 4.5" screen, driver IC either RM68191 or OTM9605<br />
<br />
Looking at lk.bin, in the chunk of data at the end: the RM68191 data was first (sequences start with "0x55 0xAA 0x52 0x08 0x03" as seen in similar drivers), then the OTM9605 data that I wanted for this phone. It's in the same layout that you would expect knowing the struct: cmd (yellow), count (green), para_list (red)<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDJnWBjybIHAUfqTxrxDVZoTVMxOuNjvJ5inexkHVCoAMIeeKw_BRZKVCx9E1z_GLwEQcqq4pzfTsF6DlSPMdwx7PSZju3xaPZTgshAZaNvaPIJyaz4BE-zYjmys1kCXXDddf8-Fazwjp3/s1600/2015-02-01_T180806_581x362_scrot.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDJnWBjybIHAUfqTxrxDVZoTVMxOuNjvJ5inexkHVCoAMIeeKw_BRZKVCx9E1z_GLwEQcqq4pzfTsF6DlSPMdwx7PSZju3xaPZTgshAZaNvaPIJyaz4BE-zYjmys1kCXXDddf8-Fazwjp3/s1600/2015-02-01_T180806_581x362_scrot.png" height="199" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">22 columns made things line up nicely</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I dd'ed just the initialisation data out and formatted it ready to copy/paste using this (note: minimal error checking etc - common sense may be required!)<br />
<br />
<script class="brush: c" type="syntaxhighlighter">
#include <stdio.h>
void print_hex_array(unsigned char *arr, int count)
{
int i;
for (i=0; i<count; i++) {
printf("0x%02X", arr[i]);
if (i<count-1) printf(",");
if (i>=64) {
printf(" *** BAD DATA *** ");
break;
}
}
}
int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
struct LCM_setting_table {
unsigned char cmd;
unsigned char count;
unsigned char para_list[64];
};
int c, err;
FILE *ptr_file;
struct LCM_setting_table lcmdata;
if (argc<2) {
printf("Usage: lcmsplitter <filename>\n");
return 1;
}
ptr_file=fopen(argv[1],"rb");
if (!ptr_file) {
printf("Failed to open file\n");
return 1;
}
fseek(ptr_file, sizeof(struct LCM_setting_table), SEEK_END);
rewind(ptr_file);
while (fread(&lcmdata,sizeof(struct LCM_setting_table),1,ptr_file)) {
printf("{0x%02X,%d,{", lcmdata.cmd, lcmdata.count);
print_hex_array(lcmdata.para_list, lcmdata.count);
printf("}},\n");
}
fclose(ptr_file);
return 0;
}
</script>
Then put it all together and try it out to see if you missed anything...<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpQe-Zvk3UyQ_QqDDgewb8ABMAGTjSu5HfdfYxqN3FxDxqzaulc7yQCefVZd3-zm-V-2YCjnb5fOgNTMUHAV6y2hp8xU2dtA7SMrYf87C-hckDGj5TyaZHPRNDPJgKtERugq4qMWUf_KA6/s1600/Photo+31-01-2015+11+16+24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpQe-Zvk3UyQ_QqDDgewb8ABMAGTjSu5HfdfYxqN3FxDxqzaulc7yQCefVZd3-zm-V-2YCjnb5fOgNTMUHAV6y2hp8xU2dtA7SMrYf87C-hckDGj5TyaZHPRNDPJgKtERugq4qMWUf_KA6/s1600/Photo+31-01-2015+11+16+24.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This sort of thing happens if you miss a bracket!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Typo fixed and then it worked fine. Figured it was pointless to add a photo of a working phone though!<br />
<br />stevenhoneymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06494159684713841991noreply@blogger.com29tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768610196044632406.post-33683294560258903892015-01-08T22:02:00.001+00:002015-01-08T22:47:37.358+00:00Mystery solved!I discovered that the mystery bootloader (see previous post) is from a Mediatek (urgh, again?!) MT6260. Oddly, flashable through USB1.1 instead of serial like I was expecting.<br />
<br />
The download agent detected the external flash as a 32Mbit Winbond, and read it without trouble. I get the feeling there's a bit missing as I assume there to be internal flash in the SoC... but I don't know yet.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsjtY0OKcz9EQaftGUV6zuhMRNV8xCFqgqMkSL5RguflX0YT0bcra81XB3_w0k37Ka2pnAUk3z7xoJw8cc2LkcREnE5VZ2VHHCrydlWAxoS9gHpKrd7gcHgWUL8lChWMAcX0jYVApFEtmf/s1600/mt6260_read_success.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsjtY0OKcz9EQaftGUV6zuhMRNV8xCFqgqMkSL5RguflX0YT0bcra81XB3_w0k37Ka2pnAUk3z7xoJw8cc2LkcREnE5VZ2VHHCrydlWAxoS9gHpKrd7gcHgWUL8lChWMAcX0jYVApFEtmf/s1600/mt6260_read_success.png" height="315" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />stevenhoneymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06494159684713841991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768610196044632406.post-50148411751700021502015-01-07T00:13:00.000+00:002015-01-07T00:14:13.073+00:00Mystery bootloader & Work in progressDoes anyone recognise this SoC bootloader output? The actual IC is hidden under a sealed metal can that I don't really want to have to remove.There's a chance it is a Mediatek MT6xxx part, or an ST32*. It's part of a chinese clone of a GPRS module and doesn't output much more than this:<br />
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XT897 UART. "Can't be done" according to 'the internet'. Sure it can:<br />
(disclaimer: work in progress; and only currently possible after the bootloader has finished) <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZYAKEAqgBDXQDYnRoki0oAwB6ExwMlWgcpF7tGzDSaNVLQNzjuoMOmwVFlpQxtV4JInpDjqDm4FGxr3-UXuEIR2U2uvL6dvm2DXtSXvBAlrsWp0W4caTiAs_ZXzq781-4dATGExTQ5nB4/s1600/moto_uart1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZYAKEAqgBDXQDYnRoki0oAwB6ExwMlWgcpF7tGzDSaNVLQNzjuoMOmwVFlpQxtV4JInpDjqDm4FGxr3-UXuEIR2U2uvL6dvm2DXtSXvBAlrsWp0W4caTiAs_ZXzq781-4dATGExTQ5nB4/s1600/moto_uart1.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLLWMOE5cpYFYGaUL9csawFleFcb7kegzGEnjDSjl06CYWzcrR8cxHuHav6aQvNJTPG9gbsZ8oBEGFPzrJgJIrD_-E6qdQFC5X-CpPd2nFlVw4aq1fIAfTyrtXMEnEmFhY2lsDdtQAwyeD/s1600/SCOPE_moto_uart.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLLWMOE5cpYFYGaUL9csawFleFcb7kegzGEnjDSjl06CYWzcrR8cxHuHav6aQvNJTPG9gbsZ8oBEGFPzrJgJIrD_-E6qdQFC5X-CpPd2nFlVw4aq1fIAfTyrtXMEnEmFhY2lsDdtQAwyeD/s1600/SCOPE_moto_uart.png" height="156" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
I'll detail it once I figure out how the hardware bit is supposed to work (as opposed to how it is above - e.g. hold this wire here for 2 seconds, once that changes to this, swap that wire to this pin, etc)<br />
<br />
And finally, just to show a reader who is having MTK trouble... framebuffer console is definitely possible :) The UART was invaluable in being able to write the LCM driver, although a good plan B is cause a kernel panic on purpose, and the android kernel dumps the last chunk of its ring buffer to a fixed location in RAM, which is accessible after a reboot (into 'recovery', for example)<br />
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<br />
This is also a W-I-P with the aim of eventually getting an up-to-date upstream+patches kernel running on this hardware (MT6582).<br />
<br />stevenhoneymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06494159684713841991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768610196044632406.post-50275232485197656012014-12-16T23:53:00.000+00:002014-12-16T23:56:28.478+00:00Motorola Photon Q (XT897) SIM modOriginal version is here: <a href="http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1929143">http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1929143</a><br />
Here's how my first attempt looks. Second one (next week?) should look neater I hope! It worked first time :)<br />
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<br />
The blue sleeve looked neat but was far too wide to stay. Although the pads are tiny, the pin pitch is huge so shouldn't cause any issues soldering unless you don't see the resistors just inside where the can used to sit<br />
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The tape is there for extra electrical insulation and to hold the springy wire in place... The SIM slot is soldered.<br />
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<br />
I removed plastic up until the antenna, and it fits with no room to spare<br />
<br />stevenhoneymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06494159684713841991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768610196044632406.post-51847993493018555912014-12-07T04:45:00.003+00:002014-12-07T04:45:57.447+00:00GB EPROM cart finally built, after about 10 years of never getting around to it!Everyone's done one of these so I won't add much other than some photos. I already had the stuff... except the PLCC socket - I was still using UV EPROMS (DIP!) when I first got the rest of the stuff.<br />
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<br />
See kids, this is how you *actually* do a real ROM dump... none of that nandroid(etc) cheating! No virus-filled rapidshare downloads and a poorly written msword doc for this either! <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmLCohnQQ_Gy3KrZMCs1Q6bu8n-PmHie1VLgzhVuXOE287aSZz-mZ4_1WAcxzwyHPWVkOu9S66TutbQHVpPO5fguCpOF2PdXp2GF18wL86wCw66n6FdxbBL8duEZVQhycztuygKaek1vz7/s1600/w_gb_romdumpattempt2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmLCohnQQ_Gy3KrZMCs1Q6bu8n-PmHie1VLgzhVuXOE287aSZz-mZ4_1WAcxzwyHPWVkOu9S66TutbQHVpPO5fguCpOF2PdXp2GF18wL86wCw66n6FdxbBL8duEZVQhycztuygKaek1vz7/s1600/w_gb_romdumpattempt2.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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Yeah, this was totally not worth the effort that went in to making it :P </div>
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<br />stevenhoneymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06494159684713841991noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768610196044632406.post-54488904449286301452014-11-22T23:03:00.000+00:002014-11-22T23:03:05.557+00:00MTK (Mediatek) debug cable<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Reverse engineering crappy Android Linux hardware/platforms is much easier with a serial console when you have a working kernel, but no source (of course first attempt being GPL request, then when that fails, github/google). Many (most?) cheap smartphones at the moment are made using Mediatek SoCs like the MT6582, MT6589, or older MT6572. An interesting feature I found in these is that after the preloader stage, the LK bootloader and also the main kernel provides a 921600 baud TTL UART console port on the USB data lines, providing that it "sees" it during startup (else you get normal USB).<br />
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A "Prolific" PL2303HX cable will cost you about £2 from ebay. A CP210x might be a better choice, but they were just open boards so didn't look as nice.<br />
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The "2 minute" version is just swap the cable for a micro USB cable. The phone will charge if you connect the 5v wire, but the safe approach would be just connect the other 3 and leave 5v <b>disconnected</b>. Note that I put the green and white TX/RX the wrong way around here, on purpose to demonstrate what not to do *ahem*<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr0rOVuvcjumupoEyoAStfN28RLv3KEh2SyW9Wqs20N7XMx6f_SYlA9jeIHav_KHyuqfpZqYfefI9vowOyi_Hi9C5hiezKIxE4OkEbkLjILiaN59803EN8r2lOc4yhWsLXa_cEZaxYIyKh/s1600/Photo+21-11-2014+00+32+39-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr0rOVuvcjumupoEyoAStfN28RLv3KEh2SyW9Wqs20N7XMx6f_SYlA9jeIHav_KHyuqfpZqYfefI9vowOyi_Hi9C5hiezKIxE4OkEbkLjILiaN59803EN8r2lOc4yhWsLXa_cEZaxYIyKh/s1600/Photo+21-11-2014+00+32+39-2.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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That's the easy way... but the 5v input meant the phone boots up as soon as the cable is plugged in, which wasn't ideal. The few hours battery was no use really. I could have just put a switch on the cable - but that would have looked a mess. I opted for switching this using the DTR signal (ctrl-T in picocom). You might get lucky and find that DTR (pin 2 on the PL2303) is already connected up to a spare track or pad, but if not, SSOP isn't too small:<br />
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Take some switching parts from an old PC motherboard or something, I used a P-Channel MOSFET, NPN and a 10k & a 1k resistor, as shown in this non-standard & badly labelled diagram:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh00AQv_ssQJO2IsnyL_yiRXvPqMP_Cjy78mav-L_C1A4T3Eyhm0oIk4jUFilX-Zh7oeiLT6gP8hX6ZVXnaaF4RAoa0WgwscSapwxRKW13OkXweDBZLLrD6cpTHFTxNuWpgWpFYI1XTG-_O/s1600/Photo+21-11-2014+00+32+39-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh00AQv_ssQJO2IsnyL_yiRXvPqMP_Cjy78mav-L_C1A4T3Eyhm0oIk4jUFilX-Zh7oeiLT6gP8hX6ZVXnaaF4RAoa0WgwscSapwxRKW13OkXweDBZLLrD6cpTHFTxNuWpgWpFYI1XTG-_O/s1600/Photo+21-11-2014+00+32+39-4.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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I tested it before compacting it! (also added an LED to show charging on/off). The phone is on the other end of the cable here... the LED isn't drawing 700mA :)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7IMM_FgWcC6kWAIpZGp4wIQnPQM0rbUoSCwgdrJ16RiK-8tuXmb1q2RK1Ix1at5C4TsOEVY6qvFMZmLucsvCPn3qrP9pDsaBkLKsQlTffEVZUCrCKIJiFHGjz8y0hCgvM8FXqGko1PxXJ/s1600/Photo+21-11-2014+00+32+39-5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7IMM_FgWcC6kWAIpZGp4wIQnPQM0rbUoSCwgdrJ16RiK-8tuXmb1q2RK1Ix1at5C4TsOEVY6qvFMZmLucsvCPn3qrP9pDsaBkLKsQlTffEVZUCrCKIJiFHGjz8y0hCgvM8FXqGko1PxXJ/s1600/Photo+21-11-2014+00+32+39-5.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaVoUcUxtErhR1RSv9dlcfNZT54BhgBZooY-SxtW12tgkFeq-3db8W9nrg-_ipwNdpH8P5R33zcTarN7W-HGI5OgpgpgPjABpvvdkUDaZ6VM0YXmJk8k5oQrinERqiE8SGZ7KGes1nhJYD/s1600/Photo+21-11-2014+00+32+39-6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaVoUcUxtErhR1RSv9dlcfNZT54BhgBZooY-SxtW12tgkFeq-3db8W9nrg-_ipwNdpH8P5R33zcTarN7W-HGI5OgpgpgPjABpvvdkUDaZ6VM0YXmJk8k5oQrinERqiE8SGZ7KGes1nhJYD/s1600/Photo+21-11-2014+00+32+39-6.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a></div>
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There's plenty of space to fit it inside the USB plug. If you can't use SMD parts, it'd probably sit above the PCB without issue.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDwXU2TU9833QhwBgA2eWRGVOZH2Gaam8PtLlEBJgAxU5kk7gEIdOz21Aw41J3jGarwcKtwq2t87Fw_jhKApbKJUYl9EnNxrM4Ams1EFfHAOG5BujOZSDwAdbAJWDMbgHB3-B2cgMIgaEz/s1600/Photo+21-11-2014+00+32+39-7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDwXU2TU9833QhwBgA2eWRGVOZH2Gaam8PtLlEBJgAxU5kk7gEIdOz21Aw41J3jGarwcKtwq2t87Fw_jhKApbKJUYl9EnNxrM4Ams1EFfHAOG5BujOZSDwAdbAJWDMbgHB3-B2cgMIgaEz/s1600/Photo+21-11-2014+00+32+39-7.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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The finished cable. "Why that horrible green?" - stops me thinking it's just a normal micro usb cable and plugging it in to something else and exploding it<br />
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stevenhoneymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06494159684713841991noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768610196044632406.post-15611110290761796402014-09-30T23:22:00.001+01:002014-09-30T23:35:06.824+01:00Internal usb flash drive conversion (aka DIY USB DoM)<br />
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For a low-cost alternative to a commercially available USB Disk on Module, I made my own out of a regular USB drive and a 0.1" 5x2 pin header (ebay, like 20p each)<br />
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Retail: £50 (GBP) + postage (e.g. [<a href="http://linitx.com/product/4gb-usb-edc-flash-disk-module/13289" target="_blank">link</a>])<br />
DIY: £4 (GBP)<br />
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USB drive that I used: Transcend JetFlash 350 [<a href="http://www.transcend-info.com/Products/No-375" target="_blank">link</a>]<br />
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I did manage to get hold of a "vintage" Windows Vista ReadyBoost(tm) Module (same thing, with a silly name)... but even that was significantly more expensive!<br />
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There isn't anything complicated here, but some tips if you're doing this:<br />
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<li>Get the pinouts the right way around (it's mirrored)</li>
<li>Insulate the reverse of the PCB (the header has *two* ports). Kapton tape works well.</li>
<li>Solder the the NC pin to something - just to strengthen the connector</li>
<li>Melt a bit of plastic into the NC hole on the connector</li>
<li>If you use this exact same drive - there's 1 tiny plastic tab you'll need to snap off, and the "connector hole" needs (carefully!) making about 0.5mm wider for it to all fit back together. I opted for widening the casing, and filing the connector top+bottom; for a neater finish.</li>
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Here's some pictures:<br />
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These are annoying to dismantle without damaging the plastics</div>
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The "Vista" module I bought</div>
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If you're careful, you can save the USB connector for a future project. I was not:</div>
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Hey, it works too!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY_QN1f9CrKWwEk2BPFREpvgAF1qDZgrDy9Ntnlid_gcRc-agvPLlahyphenhyphenizM9SQzgNBLMUcI02az9jlD8XQb9lCieOorhm0ucftD4yT_fjLcYrB_jHdeV8adWdfm4guV7DfFiXXZjUWdBkC/s1600/Photo+30-09-2014+01+51+32.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY_QN1f9CrKWwEk2BPFREpvgAF1qDZgrDy9Ntnlid_gcRc-agvPLlahyphenhyphenizM9SQzgNBLMUcI02az9jlD8XQb9lCieOorhm0ucftD4yT_fjLcYrB_jHdeV8adWdfm4guV7DfFiXXZjUWdBkC/s1600/Photo+30-09-2014+01+51+32.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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"In use"</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7kDatHgaJ4r_ciYO3BR1l8lc2qHvRCuSP6RS9kHINuu3-yG8zb1RDWkJUaIWeXB0pawCFtDpeDsMJaIuTUsmCUzMlLiR2RexzB6NEwDwMGE6P2aJHZcbbLOGTCbWc2gfUOi71RoqS1mlD/s1600/Photo+30-09-2014+01+56+06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7kDatHgaJ4r_ciYO3BR1l8lc2qHvRCuSP6RS9kHINuu3-yG8zb1RDWkJUaIWeXB0pawCFtDpeDsMJaIuTUsmCUzMlLiR2RexzB6NEwDwMGE6P2aJHZcbbLOGTCbWc2gfUOi71RoqS1mlD/s1600/Photo+30-09-2014+01+56+06.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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The finished mod, and a side-by-side comparison with the one I bought:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihQw8BONR6PBzWxCUBzvBVSkJzdxbAi_GzmxSTxrEwo7gCUqfZ0S-imPnVoAtaGjX-H4rQQDXLvjC2TD2KVxKo7mo9-xQ3z2J3yQRhjtW4ZzY4wfwnWucoaVWwWYUSv7B7odbE8yhBjkFz/s1600/Photo+30-09-2014+01+57+42.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihQw8BONR6PBzWxCUBzvBVSkJzdxbAi_GzmxSTxrEwo7gCUqfZ0S-imPnVoAtaGjX-H4rQQDXLvjC2TD2KVxKo7mo9-xQ3z2J3yQRhjtW4ZzY4wfwnWucoaVWwWYUSv7B7odbE8yhBjkFz/s1600/Photo+30-09-2014+01+57+42.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizEnUQhYWNTFNSNwhQTInKwgqvs7YuGEyR4V2GCo6QmEV4lTGhugJBEkXTR_Ywk3-DPE0VtjADXnEhop0flnPfl9H1LOJRV6wsEh07-qexmEvcMgiVljpEGv7365BaD6ISy25OMaHmOaTg/s1600/Photo+30-09-2014+01+58+34.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizEnUQhYWNTFNSNwhQTInKwgqvs7YuGEyR4V2GCo6QmEV4lTGhugJBEkXTR_Ywk3-DPE0VtjADXnEhop0flnPfl9H1LOJRV6wsEh07-qexmEvcMgiVljpEGv7365BaD6ISy25OMaHmOaTg/s1600/Photo+30-09-2014+01+58+34.jpg" height="253" width="320" /> </a></div>
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P.S. yes, the cap still fits :)</div>
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stevenhoneymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06494159684713841991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768610196044632406.post-31036995810882651022014-09-13T11:20:00.004+01:002014-09-13T11:24:58.434+01:00"Zoostorm Desktop PC" - cheapo ebuyer i5-4460<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqs_XKEYRL8LXMVttJrapVENjyU9Ms-NzrvufD0vls-HGxD6Gd767F_SqfEec3uuE4KVfIS-__zncf-eW1fvZuyGlqhFEiTrQko0NNEOch6TQoKdXfmJ40nt7WlosMM0UcY1SevoSHDB8z/s1600/2014-09-13_T101502_1017x482_scrot.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqs_XKEYRL8LXMVttJrapVENjyU9Ms-NzrvufD0vls-HGxD6Gd767F_SqfEec3uuE4KVfIS-__zncf-eW1fvZuyGlqhFEiTrQko0NNEOch6TQoKdXfmJ40nt7WlosMM0UcY1SevoSHDB8z/s1600/2014-09-13_T101502_1017x482_scrot.png" height="151" width="320" /></a></div>
I bought this a few days ago because it was cheap (£326). I couldn't find much about it beforehand, so planned to write stuff here... except they've stopped selling it :( That's probably why it was such a good price. Oh well, this will probably still apply to its replacement.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg50lonrRbGmhyphenhyphenkmv4XplIVETrzagquqSmvDw5dkWL7te3ibC1C31c4nR6Tzi82hnIYyKyshtUdbcVUPgeF0amu6iVAhHrtcCgZfW51psGSQ9B377RvQFZAdA-JiT6tlzz5PPwXqJOKQgLp/s1600/IMG_0299.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg50lonrRbGmhyphenhyphenkmv4XplIVETrzagquqSmvDw5dkWL7te3ibC1C31c4nR6Tzi82hnIYyKyshtUdbcVUPgeF0amu6iVAhHrtcCgZfW51psGSQ9B377RvQFZAdA-JiT6tlzz5PPwXqJOKQgLp/s1600/IMG_0299.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg50lonrRbGmhyphenhyphenkmv4XplIVETrzagquqSmvDw5dkWL7te3ibC1C31c4nR6Tzi82hnIYyKyshtUdbcVUPgeF0amu6iVAhHrtcCgZfW51psGSQ9B377RvQFZAdA-JiT6tlzz5PPwXqJOKQgLp/s1600/IMG_0299.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a><br />
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Here's what's inside it:<br />
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The motherboard is a Gigabyte H81M-DS2V<br />
Western Digital "Blue" HDD<br />
Corsair RAM<br />
Akasa HSF<br />
Generic Chinese no-name case and PSU<br />
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I was pleased to see it built using mostly branded stuff, and it runs almost silent when idle; and doesn't sound too bad under full load.</div>
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So, what's wrong with it? Just these (minor gripes):</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfs5xMtDThb2qRJ_CvG1BJ3ymitj0JoCi1M-cGBhkPO4tDba_ImEkPP4O7ZxaMA8LdRoSiXjfHAlJumHth3leSZLwUgj0iKoTwXE2hEqpITTjH_wUX5Nps1SXhI2CsiTAM9r5yDF9cD9EK/s1600/IMG_0301.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfs5xMtDThb2qRJ_CvG1BJ3ymitj0JoCi1M-cGBhkPO4tDba_ImEkPP4O7ZxaMA8LdRoSiXjfHAlJumHth3leSZLwUgj0iKoTwXE2hEqpITTjH_wUX5Nps1SXhI2CsiTAM9r5yDF9cD9EK/s1600/IMG_0301.JPG" height="150" width="200" /></a> The power light will burn your retinas off. Typical of cheap stuff, it's far too bright, and blue. Why are they always blue?! It was "cool" when the Playstation 2 first got released...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbBuhDR5sOSsSi4IbFwGQY-9EiNBGpMqpULv47xzu4qrVMIJuh-sQ-93JLk4UsQAqI0i-WZb8ikGZ7ASbDq-G0cEdhZEZuWyGPJJoLUGDnJydZerLXz5z0yZFMHQ1UnmqZFayohuI1OMvR/s1600/140913085738.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbBuhDR5sOSsSi4IbFwGQY-9EiNBGpMqpULv47xzu4qrVMIJuh-sQ-93JLk4UsQAqI0i-WZb8ikGZ7ASbDq-G0cEdhZEZuWyGPJJoLUGDnJydZerLXz5z0yZFMHQ1UnmqZFayohuI1OMvR/s1600/140913085738.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a> </div>
And this is what the horrible Gigabyte monstrosity of a bios looks like. Also it was Revision F2 out of the box... and they're up to F5 as of a couple of months ago. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZfG2mPza7nqZruMmgxc3pxAdE0ZOkbtd74k7_SXRhE0aUisV691U3sHkY0DDws8hGHy8Lgr4RHGpnqjSimQvbRFd9XjMhFnte4gceAp445IdkuIb0qyk6wBpnrN3FGVzUEp0cdKfa4O72/s1600/140913085759.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZfG2mPza7nqZruMmgxc3pxAdE0ZOkbtd74k7_SXRhE0aUisV691U3sHkY0DDws8hGHy8Lgr4RHGpnqjSimQvbRFd9XjMhFnte4gceAp445IdkuIb0qyk6wBpnrN3FGVzUEp0cdKfa4O72/s1600/140913085759.png" height="240" width="320" /></a><br />
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Or you can switch it to "Classic"<br />
(which is just as bad) <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdVMZvzRwlkhEit94JnV5I5zZsOVqiuVQcFs-aPZFxqKS3buKPQ_4hg1JW8K4VFoycr2wNv7lCw_cTMokN0SCqr50q1Jyn5_qNoXpCCh_opqRWZvVoPbxqZYMNuTuET6qgvpAB8YVB05NK/s1600/IMG_0300.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdVMZvzRwlkhEit94JnV5I5zZsOVqiuVQcFs-aPZFxqKS3buKPQ_4hg1JW8K4VFoycr2wNv7lCw_cTMokN0SCqr50q1Jyn5_qNoXpCCh_opqRWZvVoPbxqZYMNuTuET6qgvpAB8YVB05NK/s1600/IMG_0300.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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And if you want to use this for a diskless PXE client or something, pick something else. It comes with this "feature":<br />
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Finally, the SATA HDD came plugged into a 3Gbps socket rather than the 6Gbps one sat right next to it. Would it make a difference? Probably not, but still!<br />
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<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0WitXFZiWZFcpyupzvt0SVb_0fBCnKtMYgZ6-meeWM9rfA_M8rrUZiNosV-YkilZ7lvcGownZHudBkMBTclLW_cV23L-ivBT8wWy7oSXFqsFjOcm0M9xwDz4ZezgdDvVTN_EtImKMP_l3/s1600/IMG_0298.JPG" height="240" width="320" /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP3k_nWgW-xldL9qIesQTvyQdzpquQ-0DnvH3k_66vMs23HytUfCLAsMRQwKHMiYLRdyGlx7SdPDfut8WCcj9lMor83wSTKHvuA5PkcyW8W9Eavnrn1nujoCjVf_MG9OD_dnuO1x3tW3W2/s1600/IMG_0297.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP3k_nWgW-xldL9qIesQTvyQdzpquQ-0DnvH3k_66vMs23HytUfCLAsMRQwKHMiYLRdyGlx7SdPDfut8WCcj9lMor83wSTKHvuA5PkcyW8W9Eavnrn1nujoCjVf_MG9OD_dnuO1x3tW3W2/s1600/IMG_0297.PNG" height="320" width="179" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://github.com/stevenhoneyman">GitHub (stevenhoneyman)</a><br />
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...or maybe here: <a href="https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/?SeB=m&K=stevenhoneyman" target="_blank">Arch Linux AUR packages (stevenhoneyman)</a><br />
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...Also, over a year since I last updated this blog/site...oops!
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stevenhoneymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06494159684713841991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768610196044632406.post-34195094220019377242013-04-05T17:58:00.001+01:002013-04-05T17:58:42.716+01:00Fujitsu AH532 (+dual SSDs,linux,not UEFI)I bought another laptop last week in the eBuyer sale. Fujitsu Lifebook AH532. It's pretty unique in that it has an expresscard slot... but I chose it due to it meeting my other requirements: 3rd gen i5, integrated graphics, 3x USB3 sockets, and gigabit LAN (can you believe lenovo's cheapo i5 laptops still have 10/100?)<br />
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<a href="http://www.ebuyer.com/411438-fujitsu-lifebook-ah532-laptop-vfy-ah532m35a2gb">http://www.ebuyer.com/411438-fujitsu-lifebook-ah532-laptop-vfy-ah532m35a2gb</a><br />
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I had no intention of keeping the RAM, Disk, ODD, or OS so ignore those stats. Anyway, after I'd ordered it I then found some horror stories of how it comes with the evil UEFI BIOS replacement. If I installed linux, I'd need to short out pins on the motherboard to get it booting... hmmm...<br />
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<a href="http://www.linlap.com/fujitsu_lifebook_ah532">http://www.linlap.com/fujitsu_lifebook_ah532</a><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Easy to upgrade (original ODD + HDD below)</td></tr>
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Got it, clicked in 16GB of RAM, two Sandisk SSDs (one in a 2.5->ODD adapter), and it starts up fine. No screwing around with UEFI or GPT or anything, it even happily continued to boot from the RAID1 linux install I had on those SSDs (MBR not GPT!)<br />
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You need a torx screwdriver to take the mounting bracket off the factory fitted Sony DVD writer - no idea why they used torx (the drive is held in with a single Philips screw), but really - who takes laptops to bits and doesn't have a set of torx screwdrivers? The hard disk doesn't need a caddy or any special brackets, one screw holds the plastic cover on, then 2 screws hold the disk in place (Mine came with a WD branded disk). I think it's quite funny that the Win8 sticker is on the bottom of the laptop. It's almost as if they were embarrased about it!<br />
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It consumes 12-15W on the mains, fully charged, and idle<br />
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Moral of the story: don't believe everything you read on the Internet!stevenhoneymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06494159684713841991noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768610196044632406.post-47753856620828659182012-10-13T20:19:00.003+01:002012-10-13T20:19:41.718+01:00My first day using Android (as an iOS user)I sort of impulse-bought a Nexus 7 tablet today. I'm a long time iOS user, going from iPod Touch, to iPhone & iPad. Don't get me wrong, I love my iPhone & iPad, but Apple are really starting to annoy me with some of their decisions recently (we need Steve back!)<br />
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Anyway, I thought I'd note a few things (mostly irritating) that I've discovered so far in using Android on this tablet. I really do like this device, and it does have some features I've thought "Wow, that's better than on my iPad", but as always, the good stuff gets forgotten, and people remember the bad stuff :)<br />
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So here goes (in no particular order really):<br />
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<li>The power button is a little bit too far around the back of the unit in my opinion. It doesn't "click" as well as an iPad button either</li>
<li>Encrypting the device made it heat up to the temperature of thermite (well, maybe a little under, it got very warm at least) - guess that comes with it using 100% cpu for an hour or so</li>
<li>The button bar thing at the bottom (you know, with back, home, and the other one on it) - what a waste of valuable screen space. Even more so in landscape mode. Give me back my pixels dammit</li>
<li>Why is there no standard easy way to exit apps (fully)?</li>
<li>The Android eBay app (at a first glance) is AMAZINGLY better than the shitty iOS "Fisher Price" version they've just vomited out</li>
<li>Why allow apps in the marketplace that require root access, and then do not provide an official way to get root access? That's retarded.</li>
<li>Speaking of which, not providing an easy way to do a full backup of the device to a PC is also stupid. (apps that require rooting DO NOT COUNT)</li>
<li>Also, what kind of a stupid name is "Google Play"? Sounds as unprofessional as the OS names. "Hey I'm using Jelly Bean Magic Sandwich Icecream Pie edition"</li>
<li>PROTIP: when the Google man tells you the weather in Fahrenheit and you have no idea what that is in English - to change it to degrees C, you need to go into the Google Cards thingy rather than settings. Yeah, it took me an age to find as well.</li>
<li>Where is "Copy Address Location" on the 'right click' menu in firefox? It's not there. Fix your browser Mozilla!</li>
<li>Entering an IP address in (chrome at least) is like near impossible! Every key you press it seems to swap out the keyboard for a different one (letters --> numbers and back). When you're on the 2nd block of digits and you're just getting the hang of it swapping, it stops swapping! What?!</li>
<li>Connectbot (SSH client) is the best thing ever. Best clearest teeny tiny font. Way better than iSSH (iOS). I'd pay money for this app but it's free. Also note: You <i><b>need</b></i> to get Hacker's Keyboard to go with this (also free)</li>
<li>On a related note, if you don't want Hackers keyboard always on, but can't be arsed going all the way into settings to swap them over - the secret hidden way is in the notifications area once you've given focus to a text area.</li>
<li>Finally, Google's "Recommended for you" apps list sucks. It tried to tell me to buy football scores apps and stuff. Maybe it'll get better once I get a few hundred more apps or something. We'll see...</li>
</ul>
Despite this list of minor gripes, I really am starting to like Android & the Nexus 7. Buy one.<br />
stevenhoneymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06494159684713841991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5768610196044632406.post-5077220159474427482012-09-03T23:19:00.000+01:002012-09-03T23:19:19.976+01:00Marksman Electronic Tester - TeardownHere is a quick 'teardown' of the "Marksman Multi-Function Electronic Tester" available on eBay for a few quid. It promises to do pretty much everything! I bought it as a cheapo NC voltage detector - I don't really know why, it wasn't going to be an improvement on my Fluke. I did like the idea of its continuity testing feature though.<br />
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Here it is in its original packaging. Exciting stuff. Free batteries!<br />
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Here it is as a size comparison with a Fluke VoltAlert 1AC-E II. It's a little bit thinner, but squarer. The yellow cap on the Marksman is just a cover. It unclips to reveal a metal screwdriver tip for poking stuff.<br />
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Here's the "instructions". I especially like: "<i>The perceptibility of the indication can be impaired......on wooden runged ladders etc</i>"<br />
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Here's it disassembled. The board is soldered on to the screwdriver tip with a bit of uninsulated solid wire. The cover is glued on (you can see the blue bits of stuck plastic on the yellow top cover.<br />
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Now here's where it starts to get interesting; and the reason I took it apart in the first place. These are the legs of the PCB mounted slide switch to toggle the sensitivity. Red lines are showing solder/track joins, two circles for the switch casing solder tags.<br />
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I couldn't get it to be any more/less sensitive - it was either in contact mode, or non-contact mode. Red light, or green light. Anyway, I drew the schematic out to see exactly what was going on --><br />
As you can see, there is nothing at all variable, both of the switch positions for Non-contact mode connect the exact same pins!<br />
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For the rest of it, there's a darlington pair and a couple of resistors with the red LED, and a 4069 CMOS hex inverter for the Green. Two gates to detect, two as an oscillator to make the speaker go BEEEEEEEEEEP (a little under 4KHz with those component values if you were wondering)<br />
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Just to make it even more clear, here is the pinout config of the switch (but upside down compared to the photo above). Pos 1 = Contact RED led mode, Pos 2,3 GREEN led mode, soldered together on the PCB.<br />
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Maybe I got a fake one or something, maybe it is just typical Chinese crappy electronics that shouldn't be allowed to be sold. stevenhoneymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06494159684713841991noreply@blogger.com0