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04/13/07
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1trillion
READ about the MINI PCI EXPRESS card being used in the OQO 02
If that is the interface for the WWAN card in the OQO 02 then you can change it out with another card from the same manufacturer for there various HSDPA cards which appear to be the same form factor and voltage! While I am sure one would void the warranty, some might consider this a viable option to get what they want from their OQO 02. This is what I am considering doing plus changing the Hard Drive to the new 64GB solid state drive from Seagate (FASTER than the old 32GB solid state drives)
I titled a topic wrong earlier so I am correcting with this new one.
jump to the following link for the topic titled:
What is this all about?See link included
link
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07/23/07
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ecsk2
tnkgrl said: "*ecsk2*, I know I didn't use the most appropriate tools - I just winged it... But you know what? I'm the only one around with a working (reliable, US-compatible) HDSPA module on the OQO Model 02!
Then again, I doubt I'll be keeping my Model 02 more than another year before something better is released  "
I haven't questioned if your device works or not, merly trying to inform/recomend what would be the professional approach of this for anyone that will want to attempt this, and yes I am contemplating on getting an 02 myself and attempt this myself some time soon.
That's where having done any modifications with the appropriate tools etc becomes very important when evaluating the device for 2nd hand sales.
07/23/07
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educationk12
lurch said: "*educationk12*, looks like you are not the only disappointed person trying to get your oqo hsdpa enabled... My hsdpa card has not arrived yet but I could'nt resist opening my oqo and have a look at what's there to come...
But this was shock at first sight: Ok, I purchased an oqo without the wwan included so I expected to find an empty space where the evdo card used to be placed.
But it is worse than that.
They did not even solder the mini pcie - connector to the board!! *no* ;-) link
So I guess all my efforts about getting a mini pcie card are now obsolete, since there is no connector to plug it into... I am so frustrated... I guess I'll just get an hsdpa enabled phone and connect via BT - better than nothing..."
They don't solder the MPCI onto the OQO board. It snaps into those connectors under the blue/red wires in your picture. Look at tnkgrl's pics of the MPCI and look at the back of it, you'll see what I'm talking about...but it does stink that they didn't include the MPCI. Spending the extra $150 for Sprint or Verizon is well worth it...plus you can always sell the evdo PCMI on ebay for around $99. I doubt OQO will sell you the parts. I suspect you'll need to buy another OQO with WWAN.
07/23/07
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educationk12
lurch said: "I just wondered: The PCI Express Mini-Card specification supports both PCI-E and USB 2.0 interfaces. Within the MC8780 datasheet I could read something about "Pinout supports PCI-Express Mini Card Specification Rev 1.1 USB 2.0" and in addition it says "USB software driver architecture"... So maybe all I would have to do would be to connect the two USB pins of the cards pci-e minicard interface to the oqos usb port
(and maybe also connect all the 3.3V, 1.5V and GND pins) and the driver would recognize the card?... Anybody an idea if this might work?..."
I highly doubt it would work...heck, I couldn't get it to work with the OQO WWAN MPCI! My suggestion would be to buy an OQO WWAN on ebay and then just resell yours on ebay if you really want to go through with this modification. It would eliminate the additional headache you'd get from trying to make modificatoins upon modifications. I suspect all kind of driver issues might occur if you tried such a task, but you'd definitely make it to hack of the day if you pulled it off! ;o)
07/23/07
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educationk12
tnkgrl said: "But you know what? I'm the only one around with a working (reliable, US-compatible) HDSPA module on the OQO Model 02!
"
I hate you...jk
07/23/07
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educationk12
lurch said: "Ok, looking a little deeper into the PCI-E 1.1 specifications link it should actually be possible to connect the two usb dedicated pins of a pci-e minicard to any usb adapter but still I would need to connect all the power (5 x 3.3V and 3 x 1,5V) and possibly the system management bus cables.... But without a layout overview of the oqos mainboard I will not be able to locate the required pins on it. And even if that would be possible, the pins on the board are way too tiny to solder, even with a microscope.. So I am afraid that's about it for me - no internal hsdpa for my oqo *sigh*"
I still think you'd have major driver issues. You'd be better off trying to get a USB HSDPA device, taking the plastic casing off and seeing if it fits inside the OQO where the hard drive is located. Replace the spinning drive with those ultra thin 32gb SSD drives...but seriously, just go through the hassle of selling your OQO and buying one with WWAN. Why make a frustrating situation mission impossible?
edited: Jul 23 2007
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educationk12
ecsk2 said: " tnkgrl said: "*ecsk2*, you're completely missing the point - I'm not arguing with you about what the right tools should be... I'm pointing out that for this job, as a one-time thing, a person skilled with soldering should be fine with the minimal set of tools I listed - not everyone has $900+ to spend on a used Leica microscope or $300+ to spend on a Weller station!
I make my own tips because tips for my soldering station are hard to find - like many things in life, it's not the destination that counts, it's how you get there "
Looking at the pictures you showed of the solderings it appears that the tools used are not appropriate for this job, that is MY point..
Actually the more experienced someone is at a job the less he/she will use tools that are not intended for a job.
The cost of using subpar solutions could and most likely will cost more in the long run than aquiring the appropriate tools OR having a professional who uses the tools do it.
Would someone who bought a Rolls Royce (wich at this time I'd say the OQO is in the UMPC market) reason that oh I don't have the finances to purchase the appropriate service, tires, sprareparts (or what have you)? I'm sure there are such RR owners too out there but that usually will cost the owner MORE in the long run. Doing things the right way is ALWAYS cheaper in the long run!"
It was definitely helpful to know what are the better tools you can buy to make this a bit easier yet with more $$$/$$$$, so I agree with what you are saying, however I also agree with tnkgrl because she accomplished something nobody else has done, it works and she got the solder job done without needing to reinvest into another weller. I suspect the goggles she used would be more than enough for this MPCI...it's small, but not teeny tiny. Plus I always hated looking into microscopes from hs/college...brings back pre-med years...lol So goggles would bring back better memories with welding and such...lol Seems like the goggles would be more comfortable and less cumbersome than looking into a ocular lens of the microscope. I suspect this is subjective based on your eye sight. If you were use to high end quality control soldering then it'd be unacceptable, yet that's the fun of these modifications is that people get the job done with home brewed mods. Personally, I wish I were savvy enough to accomplish such...I mean it took me a week, day after day, to finally figure out how to get the soldering job done with my $$ tools and having those $$$$ tools would have cut the time down to probably less than a day, so now that I know what to get...I won't be bothered with $$ because it takes me too long to accomplish things with these cheaper soldering tools. Clearly, both of you know more about this than I do. I'm on the radio shack level. ;o)
I'm strongly thinking of buying a top end weller and I'm on the fence with the microscope vs. head goggles. I suspect I will try the head goggles first because they don't require the ackward looking into an ocular lens...I suspect the googles are better than a magnifying glass. I'm thinking of getting these not for the OQO because I think I soldered it sufficiently. I plan to do multiple high end monitor modifications and I think I'd get more than my money's worth out of it if I decide to proceed with the monitor modifications and so they'd help.
But at this point, I'd take a blow torch to the OQO if it made HSDPA work. ;o)
edited: Jul 23 2007
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educationk12
lurch,
I have a USB falco gsm/gprs mod that I did with the OQO 01+...they got rid of the search feature on this website and doing a site: handtops.com search seems to not find the older files. I still have the device sitting on a self...i've been wanting GSM voice on my OQO for years. sigh
My Novatel HSDPA MPCI from Dell shipped today, so I should get it tomorrow! ;o)
07/23/07
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tnkgrl
*ecsk2*, I also want to mention that no matter how much money you spend on a soldering station and a microscope, soldering wires from a SIM holder to the mini PCI-express ribbon/connector inside the Model 02 is the wrong approach - it's ultimately just a hack...
The right approach is to manufacture your own ribbon cable soldered to a SIM holder and connected to the existing unused connector on the back mini PCI-express ribbon/connector!
edited: Jul 23 2007
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educationk12
tnkgrl said: "
The right approach is to manufacture your own ribbon cable soldered to a SIM holder and connected to the existing unused connector on the back mini PCI-express ribbon/connector!"
Finding ribbon cables that you can plug into the MPCI holder was easy for me due to having some broken laptops with cables that fit and worked (I did continuity tests), but the problem I had with that was soldering it to the SIM holder. The way I did it when I tried the ribbon cable approach was I of course just put the ribbon connector into the MPCI, and it seemed the only way was to heat the rubbery/plastic white ribbon cover off the other end of the ribbon so that the ribbon wires were exposed, then I soldered those wires to the SIM card holder. This was quite a lot of work, because those wires are extremely delicate, thus they break VERY VERY VERY easily to the point to where it seemed like it would be better to make a SIM card holder with the same type of ribbon connector as the MPCI has on it. I even tried to make such a SIM holder device by taking a similar connector off a computer, but the teeny tiny pins that were too close together was nearly impossible to deal with...possibly a microscope might help here.
I agree that the ribbon cable is a better approach for the MPCI, my problem was the ribbon wires are so ultrathin that without the plastic coating to beef them up, they just snap in two. Each time I got them soldered to the SIM holder, the slightly move would make them break...I of course got it to work and I suspect it might be possible to very carefully put some kind of epoxy or something to keep them from snapping after they are soldered.
That's why I was asking for a SIM holder with a ribbon connector because it was tedious...but I like it better because then you can just remove the hack without a trace. I've soldered ever since I was a teenager, I did electrical repair when I was in high school but I soldered bigger wires, nothing fine like this so it was quite the learning experience. I just wish it worked after all that work. 
Ultimately, I would have ended with a ribbon cable setup if that MC8775V were compatible with the OQO as I was first successful with the ribbon cable...the soldering to the MPCI proved to be too difficult, yet after it wouldn't work with the sim holder, I thought I needed to do what you did...but I suspect my problem is the MC8775V isn't compatible with the EVDO radio stuff...although, I will be reconnecting the EVDO and that new HSDPA device this week, so we'll see how that goes...hopefully I haven't messed up the MPCI...I suspect if I have then I'll need to buy another OQO...not sure if OQO would sell me that part or not.
07/23/07
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tnkgrl
*educationk12*, what about that ThinkPad SIM uolder + rbbon cable you linked to?
"not sure if OQO would sell me that part or not." - I tried getting that part (min PCI express ribbon/connector cable) from my contacts at OQO, but they weren't able to get one for me... Then again I didn't really bug them about it too much!
07/23/07
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educationk12
When I get the time, I'll order those thinkpad parts. The pictures are horrible, so I'm not sure it's what the OQO needs, but if I remember correctly it was only $24.95 retail. It would be great it is what I think it might be.
07/23/07
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tnkgrl
*educationk12*, can you take good macro pictures of teh IBM part when you get it? Thanks.
07/24/07
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ecsk2
tnkgrl said: "*ecsk2*, I also want to mention that no matter how much money you spend on a soldering station and a microscope, soldering wires from a SIM holder to the mini PCI-express ribbon/connector inside the Model 02 is the wrong approach - it's ultimately just a hack...
The right approach is to manufacture your own ribbon cable soldered to a SIM holder and connected to the existing unused connector on the back mini PCI-express ribbon/connector!"
This is correct and using a sim holder of this type is exactly what I suggested a few pages back.
As for soldering wires to SMD (or SMT as some call it) legs is in fact allowed and defined in the standards although typically only used under temporary "exemptions" (as defined in the ISO std) in the factory inviroment, this is done when there is either a change or some questionable situation (for whatever reason) in some connection between two (or more) positions on the PCB. Most of us (who has ever opened electronic devices) have encountered such wires being connected from one location to another on the PCB, so as such it is not just something that is to be found in "hacks", it has on occasion been used by most big brand electronics devices. Bottomline is that such "hand made" solutions many times are more relaible than the SMD machine soldered connections (over time).
07/24/07
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ecsk2
educationk12 said: "
It was definitely helpful to know what are the better tools you can buy to make this a bit easier yet with more $$$/$$$$, so I agree with what you are saying, however I also agree with tnkgrl because she accomplished something nobody else has done, it works and she got the solder job done without needing to reinvest into another weller. I suspect the goggles she used would be more than enough for this MPCI...it's small, but not teeny tiny. Plus I always hated looking into microscopes from hs/college...brings back pre-med years...lol So goggles would bring back better memories with welding and such...lol Seems like the goggles would be more comfortable and less cumbersome than looking into a ocular lens of the microscope. I suspect this is subjective based on your eye sight. If you were use to high end quality control soldering then it'd be unacceptable, yet that's the fun of these modifications is that people get the job done with home brewed mods. Personally, I wish I were savvy enough to accomplish such...I mean it took me a week, day after day, to finally figure out how to get the soldering job done with my $$ tools and having those $$$$ tools would have cut the time down to probably less than a day, so now that I know what to get...I won't be bothered with $$ because it takes me too long to accomplish things with these cheaper soldering tools. Clearly, both of you know more about this than I do. I'm on the radio shack level. ;o)
I'm strongly thinking of buying a top end weller and I'm on the fence with the microscope vs. head goggles. I suspect I will try the head goggles first because they don't require the ackward looking into an ocular lens...I suspect the googles are better than a magnifying glass. I'm thinking of getting these not for the OQO because I think I soldered it sufficiently. I plan to do multiple high end monitor modifications and I think I'd get more than my money's worth out of it if I decide to proceed with the monitor modifications and so they'd help.
But at this point, I'd take a blow torch to the OQO if it made HSDPA work. ;o)"
I've never tried to make any comment as to tnkgrl's OQO and the HSDPA, I am merly (like I pointed out above) the best and correct way to approach this, and I most likely wouldn't have addressed this if you hadn't run into the issues you are having, in normal troubleshooting procedures it would be the normal approach to try to eliminate the possible causes one by one, and this is one potential suspect in your setup
As for blow torch it's funny you mention that as that is a large part of SMD (SMT) soldering.
Here is a professional blow tourch or rework station if you want
link
07/24/07
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tnkgrl
*ecsk2*. you write: "This is correct and using a sim holder of this type is exactly what I suggested a few pages back."...
Well unless you can get the one used by OQO in their HSDPA prototype, you'll have to design and manufacture one!
That's the tricky part
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