So last fall I installed a 2012 N7 in the dash of my car and went a little to fast. While in the end it worked and looked ok I decided I wanted to redo it and do a more thorough job this time through. After hearing the maker of the ROM that works best for fixed installs was coming out with a version for the new nexus 7 I decided I will just throw that in since I have it all apart anyways. Has anyone done this with there TL's? I didn't do as good of a job looking up the tablet and assumed it would be similar internally to the old model... it's not. It taller by a bit which can be worked around. The real issue I have run into is the micro USB connector. It is soldered down to the same PCB as the screen. I can't just pop off a couple screws and reroute a ribbon cable like could be done on the old model. And it is so close to the edge where the AC buttons go a micro usb plug won't fit. Has Anyone done this and found a work around? I may just have to throw the 2012 back in.

Picture: https://www.dropbox.com/s/rxl1bf3t68...2008.11.09.jpg

 

Wow, that sucks.

Does it have a docking connector along the edge of it?

I think that may work, but I don't know how the tablet will behave once it thinks it's docked. Android may alter some of the features of the tablet making it behave differently once there is a connector on those pins and it has that sense that it's connected there.

I don't know how that connector is pinned out though.

Alternatively if it can be slid up a little bit more to get the USB lined up with that crack between the two parts where the AC switches mount you may be able to get away with a connector there.

I had one like that for a long time, but either the cable has to be routed out the side of the bezel right inbetween the switches or what I did is completely remove the molding from a USB cable and bend the wires 180 back towards the other side so it would fit.

My cable was not very secure that way though and was really flimsy and easy to damage if someone messed with it, it worked for a long time though.

Maybe just return it and keep using the V1 tablet or use this one for something else?

Is Timur making a version for the newer version of N7? I thought he dropped support?

It looks like XDA is all over the old version though, I still haven't flashed a newer version from XDA yet.

 

can you route the usb connector on the other side? the drivers side?
the tablet doesnt care what side you use it on.

 

True, maybe rotating it 180 there might be a little more room.

 

He is. He posted here and one other place that he was putting out a new rom.

http://rootzwiki.com/topic/103329-ti...7-2013-coming/

And I don't think rotating it 180 will work either. The drivers side AC buttons are in the same spot on the other side. It is a super tight fit with the 2013. With the back cover on it doesn't even fit. My plan was to dremmel out the back cover in the places I needed to to make it fit. It's to wide otherwise. I was looking all over online for a Micro Usb ribbon cable but came up empty. I will have to look closer if I can line it up better with that crack but if I remember right that didn't look like it would work last night either. I tried taking apart one of my cables like you said but one of the solder joints broke. May have to stick with the old model.

 

I broke a few of them like that too, I re-soldered one but it's not fun those connections are so tiny.

It'd probably be pretty tight routing it out the side as well.

Another way would take some patience and a steady hand with those tiny pins, but could..

- Connect a USB micro cable to it with the tablet out of the bezel
- Use an ohmmeter to pin all of the wires, to the connectors directly on the PCB on the N7
- Note which pin is which, data +, data -, GND and +5V
- Cut or de-solder the four legs on the side of the Micro USB Connector (the shell NOT THE PINS)
- Leave the pins soldered to the board traces alone
- Slip the micro usb connector off, very carefully, leaving the small wires attached to the PCB
(I think that black block holds the pins apart, want to leave that on it if possible and be really careful that the pins don't slip out of it)
- Carefully solder wires to the pins on the board that are sticking out now, keep them separated and protect w/ heat shrink.
- Solder the other ends to a USB Micro BOB following the pin-out.
- Solder the shell of the BOB, off the PCB pins for it on the BOB, to where the old shell was connected on the N7.

I've never tried to take one of those connectors apart like that, looking at it it looks as thought it may come apart in that manner.

It looks like they're probably connected to something else as well so it probably won't just slip off. There looks to be a small flat almost like a board inside of the micro USB connector so this may not work that well.

Could try finding a similar connector like on a BOB and take it apart first.

Should work that way, only thing is there will be no way to force it out of USB-OTG mode depending on how you wire the BOB and there's potential to break the N7, those pins are tiny.

There's still a bug with the N7 USB-ROM, where in FI mode you have to have a USB-OTG cable in it for it to turn on and it gets stuck in FI a little bit. When I had removed mine to change over to the BOB I had to pull the battery, wait a minute, reconnect it, boot the tablet and take it out of FI mode before I could get it to charge off a standard USB cable since my battery was dead after I got the car back from a body shop (I left it unplugged, as a plus the battery lasted 27 days sleeping on USB-ROM).

Also it wouldn't turn on at all if I didn't have the USB-OTG cable in and USB hub plugged in while it was in FI mode. Once I got it out of FI I was able to use a standard cable though.

If you were to go that route you could wire the BOB as a standard USB connection and make the OTG connection on the USB cable itself.

It would be pretty easy to break though, trying to do that.

Best bet probably just to use your old tablet.

 

^ while pinning it I'd have the tablet off and disconnect the battery

 

Yeah. I haven't decided if I am willing to break it to do it especially since there isn't many parts available online yet. Started to desolder the micro usb connector but my soldering Iron sucks. The 5 gold dots in the PCB are connected to the pins of the Micro USB. The issue us atleast for the power there is some components between the connector and that spot. I measure 5V at the connector but only 2 across the dots. Wonder if I could solder to the dots for the data cables and just the pins on the connector with the connector still attached. They are the outter pins so should be easier to solder.

 

Hope it works out.

Those pins are pretty small it'd be really easy to short two of them together.

 

Well I sold the n7. Even with it lined up with that Crack it was still to tight and think soldering straight to the board would be to risky. I'll stick with the old n7 for now. I am waiting on parts for a while longer before I can finish. I hope the announce the n8 by then. I think if it had a small enough bezel it could work similar to an iPad mini.

 

It's possible to install the N7, you just have to Dremel.

 

Did you do it? What did you dremmel out?

 

I'd love to see how you did this. I haven't opened up my car yet, but I have a N7 2013 as well and would love to not have to get another tablet.

 

I'll try to put up pics, but you literally have to dremel out the (HVAC) buttons from behind. It comes out to be a clean install check out my out post

 

The difference is the connectors on the nexus one the headphone jack and mini USB are on a relocatable ribbion . on the nexus two the connectors are fixed on to the mother board via solder. You will have to dremel out the surrounding area (hvac) control buttons. I'll try yo post up pics. Also their an app call Ed keep screen which will you can set to keep your screen on when charging, so no need to root ur nexus or relocate the power button as most nexus 1 installs do