Active 3-in-1 (ish) car holder - Hero, G2 Touch Accessories

I wanted an active car holder for my Hero with audio out and power in etc.
I had seen the brodit car holders, but they only had power and no audio (http://www.dsldevelopments.com/brodit/Holder/HTC+Hero-Brodit-Holder.asp - 2nd one down).
I had also seen the HTC 3-in-1 adapter (HTC Multifunction Audio Cable YC A300 http://www.htcaccessorystore.com/uk/p_htc_item.aspx?i=179427).
I decided to buy both and see if they could be hacked together - they can (with a little bit of DIYing - not the easiest but it worked very well for me)
Here are some pictures that give you an idea of the steps I took.
1-Take out power cable from car holder (screws on the back)
2- Remove housing from HTC Multifunction Audio Cable YC A300 (I hit it gently with a hammer - it worked)
3- Work out how much glue to cut of HTC Cable end so it will fit nicely in the hole
4 - Put the plug in the hole and plug in the Hero before screwing the cover-plate back on.
5 - I wasn't happy with the fit - there was too much of a gap around the cable for me so...
6 - Drill out a cable sized hole in the back plate of the holder
7- Re-assemble (remembering to plug in the Hero so it all is in the right place)
8 - Check it works (see final picture - the headphone indicator is there)
This may be of use until anyone brings out an OEM solution. Enjoy.
James
Disclamer: I am not responsible for you damaging anything including yourself if you attempt to do this - this is what I have done and I am not recommending anyone else should do it.

More pics...

Nice
NICE!
But I did not know the Hero got audio on the USB?
I'll get my Hero in the post today, so this is good news. I was planning to make something like that for my stereo at home.

zeroSIXzero said:
But I did not know the Hero got audio on the USB?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hero has a normal headphone jack, but if you were to plug in an old G1 headset into the Hero you'll find it also sends the audio via mini usb too.
Regards,
Dave

does the sound via the usb suffer from the same noise that the headphone jack suffers from? because I'm considering using a usb>headphone adapter to eliminate the noise, not to mention its easier having the headphone jack at the bottom of the phone, fits the way I put it in my pocket.

I am not getting any 'noise' through the USB>headphone adapter - you should try it out - they are only $5 on ebay.

Microphone is muted when connected via Ext-USB
Hi,
I use the YC-A200 3-in-1 adapter in my car, but when my Hero is plugged in, the microphone is muted. Therefore, I can hear people talk but they don't hear me. On my previous phone, a HTC Touch Diamond, this worked flawlessly. Any ideas?

j0bro said:
Hi,
I use the YC-A200 3-in-1 adapter in my car, but when my Hero is plugged in, the microphone is muted. Therefore, I can hear people talk but they don't hear me. On my previous phone, a HTC Touch Diamond, this worked flawlessly. Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hit menu & Turn on speaker phone while in a call! This will un-mute while plugged in. I Use it in my car with a Aux in to my Cd player. Works Fine

kang.t7 said:
Hit menu & Turn on speaker phone while in a call! This will un-mute while plugged in. I Use it in my car with a Aux in to my Cd player. Works Fine
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I'll try that! But I will also look into making the right pins of the plug un-conductive, so that the internal mic will not be switched off. I found that the Hero will display an icon of a headset either with or without a mic, depending on the connected hardware.
Here's the pinout: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=1063267&postcount=1

Related

Where is the perfect Car Holder? USB incl. Audio out needed!

Dear NG,
may be someone from you has an idea, if such a car holder is available? I would like to install a car holder which allows two may be even three things.
First it should be active and allow charging via USB. This would be hooked up to the car power.
Second, either an additional audio plug or may be audio can also be acquired through USB?!? I could hook up this to the car stereo with the appropriate adapter and have Navigation or Media Player available through car stereo. A separate loudspeaker just makes the holder bulky or gives me a big black box, which I have to place in the car.
Third, hopefully not impossible, a separate mic that can be placed somewhere else in the car to allow true handsfree calling!
A dream, sitting down in the car and having all this available by only sliding the wizard in the car holder! I haven't made up my mind, if I would like horizontal or vertical installation of the unit, but I guess I would go for the first available option. Only have to check, if Navi TomTom 5 works in horizental mode...
Am I asking too much?
Any help or recommendations are welcome!
Lars
Third, hopefully not impossible, a separate mic that can be placed somewhere else in the car to allow true handsfree calling!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm an owner of a JAM and have been working on making my own car kit. I have everything ready to have an active powered audio device- with hopefully a separate mic of sorts.
This is what I am using for the mic/audio setup:
http://www.expansys-usa.com/product.asp?code=PPCPADPT02
This way I could buy an external mic with a 2.5mm plug and connect it to the above device (and route it anywhere in the car) and also have the audio connected directly behind my car stereo.
I tried out a dry run yesterday and all seems to working well.
@sh500 : could you please detail your setup?
I saw the cable that you use and it seems exactly what we need ...
I just want to understand a little bit more: it has an 2.5mm jack which we plug into the qtek's headset plug.
Then we have two 3.5mm plugs. In these we can plug a 3.5 mm mic (not 2.5 ) and a 3.5mm stereo out cable which you connect directly to your car stereo ?
Does it act like a car kit? I.e.: does it turns the cdplayer/radio volume lower whenever there's an incoming/outgoing call? and back when the call is over?
Thanks
TrickyHH:
Wo ist Luenburg? Ich hat gewohnen auf Deutschland in siegelsbach (nach Heilbronn), Moerfelden, Ruesselsheim, und Mannheim. 'Tut me leid, aber mein Duetsch ist sehr schlecht! Ich habe vergessen so viel.
Oh, well. :O)
I have a Parrot CK3100 handsfree. It has a dispaly and connects to your car stereo speakers to allow for auto mute and volume control. It features voice activation and uses bluetooth. (www.parrot.biz)
I just ordered a Brodit wizard holder and dash mount for my wizard. They are available in either portrait or landscape mounting positions with the device either open or closed. They offer passive, active, and ps2 hard wired holders. They have dash and console mounts for over 800 cars and trucks, all without even drilling a hole. (www.dsldevelopments.co.uk or www.brodit.com)
Viel glueck und viel spass!! Tschuess...
itsmewhoelse
How well does the 3100 Display work with the Wizard? I am considering this option only thing holding me back is I don't know if the display works or not with the Wizard.
Thanks!
It works just as advertised, which is very good. I only wish I could have had the color display (ck3200) instead. I wear glasses, but not always while I'm driving. The color display shows picture contacts also, so I wouldn't need my glasses on to see if the caller is someone I want to talk to. Also, the 3200 can be upgraqed (flashed) via bluetooth, the 3100 needs to be removed and attached with an optional cable. Other than that, it's pretty great, seeing how the wizard speakerphone is useless!
This may be close!
http://www.gpsforless.co.uk/product_details.php?id=3090&PHPSESSID=18e575902cf018ceda84c8695d526b3f
I've just recieved mine, and yet to test it, but it seems to have a DC jack for power (on/off switch), an RJ11 connector for 5v2a power out to charge a gps, on the right side, an audio out jack and a connector which seems to put audio in (although opening it up, the built in twinpole 2.5mm plug in the holder (which the KJAM sits on) is just directly wired to the audio out on the side, so to use the inbuilt amplified speaker, you plug the supplied cable into the side connectors looping back the audio through the amp.
Personally I wont be using the inbuilt speaker, and attempting to get stereo audio output from the side connector to my car stereo.. not sure of the correct wiring pinout yet, if I plug my 2.5-3.5 convertor and my headphones into the side jack I get output on the left only) so will need to rewire the jack or output cable accordingly....
Anyone else got one of these?

2.5mm Headset

Does anyone know if one can use any 2.5mm earplug handsfree with the XDA Mini S? The one supplied is difficult to carry lots of wires, would like to have a monaural one. Has anyone tried any? Kindly let me know. Thanks.
I have been looking for the same earphone since i bought the item on JAN06, till now I still cant find a compatible one.
That will be helpful if anyone know which is the best headphone with microphone.Not the Bluetooth one!
Thanks!
ebay Adapter eventually works
Hi there,
I was also looking for a good headset fromt he beginning on, the issue might be solved if I can install the A2DP software (will try later), but a nice wired headset would still be nice.
My favorite would be the ones SonyEricsson is shipping with the music phones.
I actually tested a 2.5mm adapter with cord and speakerpice (with clip) plus adapter for 3,5mm, which would be perfect. One was for Nokia, one for Motorola - both are NOT compatible with the HTCs!
Lately I saw a shop selling the same adapter specifically for HTC devices, so the problem might be solved.
Also I saw 2 wired 2,5mm stereo headsets from Jabra on the US website, they are for sale there but NOT in Europe. If these would work, they would for sure be of very good quality.
Anyone tested these?
Found one
I found one listed on Ebay under HTC Wizard. Its item number 9716253639, seller's name is 5starcommunication. Looks quite cool and they will mail it world wide. Will take sometime before it reaches India. But if anyone in the US orders and tries do let us know. Thanks.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=9716253639&rd=1&sspagename=STRK:MEWA:IT&rd=1
I bought a 2.5mm to 3.5mm adapter from Expansys UK and it works just fine. Sorry - no part number on me, but it should be easy to find on their web site.
Hope this helps
bloney said:
I bought a 2.5mm to 3.5mm adapter from Expansys UK and it works just fine. Sorry - no part number on me, but it should be easy to find on their web site.
Hope this helps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you able to work with the MIC?
waiho said:
bloney said:
I bought a 2.5mm to 3.5mm adapter from Expansys UK and it works just fine. Sorry - no part number on me, but it should be easy to find on their web site.
Hope this helps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you able to work with the MIC?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use it for headphones only (senheiser PX200 which sound great with the Wizard!), so not sure if they have mic connected or not. Sorry.
Get the adapter at radioshack.. there r tons n tons of them for $3.. i got one n it works like charm..
with/out mic
I wonder if the ones from Radioshack have a mic in the wire?
I have an adapter 2,5 to 3,5mm with GREAT sound quality, however without microphone in the adapter, thus I always need to unplug the adapter and take off the headphones to answer a call - sucks!
As mentioned so far i Only saw one adapter on ebay WITH a microphone in the adapter piece (and clip on the back) - but do not know how it performs...
http://cgi.ebay.de/XDA-Mini-MDA-Com...06652399QQcategoryZ123195QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
You could also try this one ...
Handsfree and Headphone Adapter
Still no earpiece...
Sigh... still no proper in ear headset (monaural) in sight... :?
2.5 mm to 3.5 mm adapters at Radio Shack
Beware of the Radio Shack adapters. They stick out and are easy to catch on a doorway as you walk through it. I did so a few weeks ago and the headphone jack no longer worked. The adapter male end bent back and damaged the phone female socket. The result was very quiet sound from the headphone jack, totally unusable for phone or music.
I sent the phone back to T-Mobile and they very kindly sent me a replacement. I bought a new Radio Shack 2.5mm male to 3.5 mm female adapter and the same day proceeded to catch it on another doorway, bending back the male plug, and damaging the phone female headphone jack. No sound again from the headphone jack. I will stay away from the headphone adapters from now on.
Phone speaker not working after using headphones - No sound
I had a similar problem (not the same). After using a 2.5 to 3.5 mm adapter my phone speakers and the mic didn't work anymore. I was about to send the device in, when I read about a solution (I think it was in XDA-Dev somewhere).
You'll have to gently move the headphone jack forward and back, twisting it a litte or even better use some compressed air blowing into the jack. It works best, if you to take out the battery and blow from the back.
My speakers work again, but the same thing happens now and then. It seems there is some switch inside the headphone/mic jack, which doesn't go back. That only happens when I use the adapter.
I realize that this is an old thread, but here is an idea for you. As far as I know, pretty much any 2.5mm headset should work. I don't use it for my phone personally, but I recently purchased a Plantronics Gamecon X20 headset for my Xbox 360 after my old one broke. Since it has a plain 2.5mm jack on the end, I thought I would plug it into my phone to see how well it worked. The answer, pretty well apparently. My wife said that it was really clear and, likewise, she sounded really clear on my end. It's going to be a little larger than the ones that have the mic hanging down inline with the wire, but on the other hand, since it's a boom mic the sound quality should be superior with less noise. I haven't tried it for listening to music so I can't vouch for the quality there, but since you are wanting a monaural headset I rather doubt that is relevant anyways. The headset was only $20 at GameStop and they had a used one for $10.
two-zero said:
I had a similar problem (not the same). After using a 2.5 to 3.5 mm adapter my phone speakers and the mic didn't work anymore. I was about to send the device in, when I read about a solution (I think it was in XDA-Dev somewhere).
You'll have to gently move the headphone jack forward and back, twisting it a litte or even better use some compressed air blowing into the jack. It works best, if you to take out the battery and blow from the back.
My speakers work again, but the same thing happens now and then. It seems there is some switch inside the headphone/mic jack, which doesn't go back. That only happens when I use the adapter.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In your case, I would say that sounds like a bad adapter. I routinely use one in mine and don't have that problem. It's one of those nasty stick adapters though, so you have to be careful with them. I've seen some cable type adapters for not too much so you might look into one of those instead.
Found info which might help
HERE IS AN/THE ANSWER.
My WIZA200 and Sony P900 phone the mic headsets are compatable, even the answer button works. If you cant find what your looking for under the flavour WIZa or HTC etc... just look for what you need as a P900 type and you will be sorted.
I just checked the pinouts and this answers the very much asked question... what are the pinouts.... here they are....
http://pinouts.ru/CellularPhones-P-W/sonyericssson_headset_pinout.shtml
FOR WIZA AND SONY P900 >>>> 2.5mm 4 pole jack: PIN1 LEFT+, PIN2 RIGHT+, PIN3 MIC+, SHIELD(PIN4) GROUND. I just checked with multimeter and to get call answer pin3 mic and shield must short to signal the press of the answer button.
---
Just for reference Nokia 2.5mm 4pole jack is very odd... this is how they do it.
http://pinouts.ru/CellularPhones-Nokia/nokia_headset_pinout.shtml
on 4pole 2.5mm: 1=speaker+(positive) ### 2=mic+ ### 3=speaker -(negative) ### pin4 = mic - ###short mic+ and mic - to answer call
on 3pole 2.5mm: 1=speaker+(positive) 2=mic+ 3=shield(ground-negative) ### to answer call short speaker and shield.
See how they change their minds... first on 4 pole jacks answer call was on mic side short, then it goes on 3 pole jacks to short the speaker and ground to answer call... can these guys not make up their minds. Grrrr... totally baffling logic in this design, escept they can keep you buying specialised gear for each phone
Glad to see Sony and HTC used a more logical system and seem to stick to it. I suspect the HTC Touch HD 3.5mm is wired the same as the Wiza 2.5mm system just 3.5mm jack not 2.5mm jack.
Someone should make a 2.5mm 4pole to 3.5mm 4 pole converter to use old cherised headsets on the HTC Touch HD... know of any, anyone?
kull said:
Sigh... still no proper in ear headset (monaural) in sight... :?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Another solution.....
I know this might sound odd but a simple solution is get your stereo headset & mic thing and cut the right earpiece lead off...
Now you may have to strip the wire a bit and wrap a piece of insulating tape to stop the wires inside touching, which will cause problems (crackling or loss of audio on remaining speaker most likely). Once the wires are safely insulated away, youll have what you are seeking, a monaural one earpiece mic heaset... saves having to buy one that your finding hard to do.
Seems a shame to sacrifice a stereo headset down to mono, but if thats your poison, go for it.
pinouts.ru is the shiz
Get out the soldering iron and make a frankenstien. I grafted a 3.5 female to my old nokia's pop port so I could hook it to my stereo (before I got a BT adapter) and to my amplified helmet speakers (that were sorced from a computer speaker set.) Before I lost the phone I was planning to add a 2.5 mono female socket for a lil clip-on mic I have. Point being, it's only 3 signals and a ground, should be able to come up with something.
ts worth having a go
Yeah having a go is definately worth it. I just utilised the pinouts.ru stuff and a bit of personal common sense knowledge of the wirings and managed to make myself a 3.5 touch hd 4 pole jack into a 3.5 3 pole jack which works ofr my aircraft. I can now fly and make calls through my pilots headset. It shows it can work. You arent dealing with any dangerous voltages... its all piddly "put it on your tongue and you wont get hurt" voltages... speakers and mics... all easy to work out. Worth having a go.

Need to be able to recharge Hermes and play MP3's through car stereo at same time

Anyone have a solution for this? I'd like to be able to play MP3's through my car stereo (via FM transmitter), as well as have it plugged into my car lighter to keep it charged.
I figure I can buy the audio adapter and plug it into a generic FM transmitter. I could also buy a boxwave Versacharger to charge it. But I can't do both at the same time b/c they both use the mini USB.
In any event, this proprietary crap sucks.
The only option I'm aware of:
http://www.mobileplanet.com/p.aspx?i=140425
yes, this is the UNIC option.. because:
a) HTC Proprietary connector: it's VERY DIFFICULT to find this type of mini-usb connector
b) Stereo headphones provided with hermes DOESN't have cables to charge the pda
Expensive option... get a bluetooth headset with 3.5mm input to connect to your FM transmitter ... and say bye bye to wired music.. almost..
sickchilly said:
The only option I'm aware of:
http://www.mobileplanet.com/p.aspx?i=140425
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Excellent! Exactly what I was looking for....
new2city said:
Expensive option... get a bluetooth headset with 3.5mm input to connect to your FM transmitter ... and say bye bye to wired music.. almost..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Heheh... I actually thought of that. I think I'll go with the cheaper option
Here's how I did it:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=1078942&postcount=26
Has anyone managed to not only get the sound going through their speakers, but have their stereo mute on incoming call?
I'm not sure this is possible. I imagine your average phone has a pin it sets closed or high or something. The hermes doesn't seem to..
URPREY: Does the adaptor give you one standard mini usb for charging then split the 'special' audio pins to the other standard mini usb? Did you then just adapt a mini usb cable to hook into the line level inputs of your stereo?
icemantwilight said:
URPREY: Does the adaptor give you one standard mini usb for charging then split the 'special' audio pins to the other standard mini usb? Did you then just adapt a mini usb cable to hook into the line level inputs of your stereo?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It gives me one mini USB for charging, and a port exactly like that on the hermes for the audio/headset portion. I used a usb to 3.5mm adapter from mobileplanet.com to give me the 3.5mm audio out.
URPREY said:
It gives me one mini USB for charging, and a port exactly like that on the hermes for the audio/headset portion. I used a usb to 3.5mm adapter from mobileplanet.com to give me the 3.5mm audio out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, sorry, didn't see the extra adapter. That's a shame. It makes the very expensive first plug poor value for money.
If they come out with an adapter that turns it into mini USB and 3.5mm I'll go for it.. otherwise..
2 other q's:
1) With the first adapter, can you then use ANY usb car charger (ie does it bridge the NC pin to ground?) or do you then need your car charger to do that
2) What triggers 'headphone' detection? Is it the first adapter, the stereo adapter or is it actually plugging speakers into the stereo adapter?
This information would be extremely helpful, thank you!
icemantwilight said:
1) With the first adapter, can you then use ANY usb car charger (ie does it bridge the NC pin to ground?) or do you then need your car charger to do that
2) What triggers 'headphone' detection? Is it the first adapter, the stereo adapter or is it actually plugging speakers into the stereo adapter?
This information would be extremely helpful, thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can use any car charger, but the other ones I have don't provide enough power to consistently cause the 8525 to recognize the charger (and thus they don't always charge).
I don't know the answer to your second question. I'd be happy to check it out for you tomorrow when it's light outside again
URPREY said:
I can use any car charger, but the other ones I have don't provide enough power to consistently cause the 8525 to recognize the charger (and thus they don't always charge).
I don't know the answer to your second question. I'd be happy to check it out for you tomorrow when it's light outside again
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cheers for that. By not consistently recognize you mean it detects it the first time you plug it in then not anymore? If so that sounds like what I've found too.. it's due to the 'spare' pin 4 (or 2 or B depending what diagram you're looking at) not being grounded. The fact it detects it once per reset seems to be a bug.
icemantwilight said:
Cheers for that. By not consistently recognize you mean it detects it the first time you plug it in then not anymore?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Correct. The car charger that came with my device holder works perfectly and consistently charges my phone every time I plug it in, so I've always use that one.
URPREY said:
I don't know the answer to your second question. I'd be happy to check it out for you tomorrow when it's light outside again
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Had a chance to look at this?
icemantwilight said:
Had a chance to look at this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry - yes. With just the audio adapter hooked up, the sound continues to come out of the rear speaker. When I plug in the headphones, the sound switches to the headphones. Hope that helps.
URPREY said:
Sorry - yes. With just the audio adapter hooked up, the sound continues to come out of the rear speaker. When I plug in the headphones, the sound switches to the headphones. Hope that helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep thanks. From this I can work out from the pin outs that have been worked out that the tytn detects headphones (and thus shuts off the back speaker) by testing impedance/capacitance or something on the speaker out cables.
Since there are no official cradles for the tytn I'm looking at knocking up a solution like yours, charge in the car and gps nav through the stereo (was hoping for auto stereo mute on call but that's a pipe dream) and doing it without the 2 expensive adapters and car charger my jasjam didn't have.
I've gathered a bit of info about the usb connection from various sites and forum topics. Maybe I should create a/add to the hermes usb port page in the wiki, if anyone but me is interested..
I hope the tytn Y cable is NEEDED, because there isn't a male "minu usb" jack like the one on the hermes in commerce. Cutting original headphones has no results because you can't charge it.
I have thought to buy tytn y cable, open it, and if there is some space inside, to add a 2.5mm - 3.5mm (depends on the free space) jack
So the Y adapter has 3 outputs: to charge, headset & jack.
If no space is avaiable, i cut my headphones and plug it from y cable to my stereo (also with mic included).
Another thing, to detect ORIGINAL CHARGER must be connected B & A pins, as described in THIS url comments
I agree with wiki page
SkizZO said:
Another thing, to detect ORIGINAL CHARGER must be connected B & A pins, as described in THIS url comments
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah yeah, I'm Iceman, I wrote that
Based mainly on comments in this thread, some other posts and some jiggery pokery with a multimeter and checking pinouts.
icemantwilight said:
Has anyone managed to not only get the sound going through their speakers, but have their stereo mute on incoming call?
Parrot makes a BT car kit that connects into all factory stereos to use the speakers to play the phone or mp3 through the car stereo speakers. Obviously the mic is a separate item, but incoming calls (or listing to mp3s from your BT phone) do mute the car stereo during the call.
several kits work, but I have Parrot CK3000 Evolution Bluetooth, Hands-Free Car Kit which came with specific harnesses for my car make and model. The other one is a bit flashier here:
http://www.abtelectronics.com/scripts/site/site_product.php3?source=froogle&id=24115
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
icemantwilight said:
Since there are no official cradles for the tytn I'm looking at knocking up a solution like yours, charge in the car and gps nav through the stereo (was hoping for auto stereo mute on call but that's a pipe dream) and doing it without the 2 expensive adapters and car charger my jasjam didn't have.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Auto stereo mute works fine if you use WMP or even with TCPMP if you uncheck the "play music in background" option

Cradle, Keyboard, Monitor, USB Hub and Mouse

Guys,
I bought a cradle from ebay (leeonline) because I cannot get a 4 in 1 adaptor from HTC. I tried using the vga-out (17 inch CRT Monitor), rca video out (our Television Set), Brandless USB hub, Generic/standard USB Keyboard and Generic/standard USB Mouse on it all at the same time. Everything works.
Now, I really no longer bring my laptop to work. My athena is all I need for Word Processing, Spreadsheets etc. There are quirks though. Sometimes, the mouse stops working or the athena hangs. (It may be the amount of programs installed.) Then again, It is still faster to boot than my laptop. The other downside is that even with the cradle plugged to the adaptor, It will still consume energy from the battery of the unit.
What I have done to my athena may not be new to most people but I would like to hear from other people what attachments or modifications they have done to make their athena more useful and powerful. In this way, we can all benefit from these ideas. Thanks!
Thanks!
yetdy said:
Guys,
I bought a cradle from ebay (leeonline) because I cannot get a 4 in 1 adaptor from HTC. I tried using the vga-out (17 inch CRT Monitor), rca video out (our Television Set), Brandless USB hub, Generic/standard USB Keyboard and Generic/standard USB Mouse on it all at the same time. Everything works.
Now, I really no longer bring my laptop to work. My athena is all I need for Word Processing, Spreadsheets etc. There are quirks though. Sometimes, the mouse stops working or the athena hangs. (It may be the amount of programs installed.) Then again, It is still faster to boot than my laptop. The other downside is that even with the cradle plugged to the adaptor, It will still consume energy from the battery of the unit.
What I have done to my athena may not be new to most people but I would like to hear from other people what attachments or modifications they have done to make their athena more useful and powerful. In this way, we can all benefit from these ideas. Thanks!
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used to do that, but the novelty wore off eventually. Now i just bring in a mini notebook. It's easier than carrying loads of bits about and connecting things to monitors (though that option is still there if necessary).
Pretty cool though if you like your gadgets.
Leoni is correct, however he can always leave the other stuff connected to the cradle and use it sorta like a docking station, but you would need a second cradle for the home TV. I'm glad this thread started because I myself was considering getting one for my TV. However, what should I do about the audio coming from my device (will I still be able to connect audio to my AV receiver)? As far as the 4 in 1 cable I would be able to get to the audio jack on the Athena however the down side is that not all USB flash drives would be supported with the 4 in 1 cable. Yetdy can you tell me how you work around getting audio streamed?
I think there are a few ways to stream audio.
#1 S-Video if I'm not mistaken is supposed to stream audio to your TV.
#2 Audio Jack to RCA Audio converters connected directly to the TV or amplifier would also help assumming you are using the 4-in 1 adaptor. Cradle cannot help you out with this option.
#3 Of course there is bluetooth connection which is what I am going to use. Got a bluetooth transmitter and receiver from ebay but is currently busted (bad seller). Another is to get a BT that has a changeable earphone/buds. Change the earphone to an audio jack to RCA Audio jack and follow #2.
Hope this helps.
yes and no
yetdy said:
I think there are a few ways to stream audio.
#1 S-Video if I'm not mistaken is supposed to stream audio to your TV.
****You are mistaken, S-video is video only (the pins are luminance, chroma, ground and something else I can't remember off the top of my head) ****
#2 Audio Jack to RCA Audio converters connected directly to the TV or amplifier would also help assumming you are using the 4-in 1 adaptor. Cradle cannot help you out with this option.
****if it is anything like the one I got from ebay then no, as it covers up the headphones out port from the athena but does not replicate it on the back ! the athena also carries audio out from the same USB connector that you charge it from (this is why the socket on the athena is an unusual/different shape compared to your plug on USB charger) if they had replicated this port propely on the dock then you could have got audio out that way, but the dock connector for that is also wrong (standard USB shaped socket, not the odd one from the athena) ****
#3 Of course there is bluetooth connection which is what I am going to use. Got a bluetooth transmitter and receiver from ebay but is currently busted (bad seller). Another is to get a BT that has a changeable earphone/buds. Change the earphone to an audio jack to RCA Audio jack and follow #2.
****it is feasible to have the athena transmit stereo bluetooth to a nearby device !****
Hope this helps.
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just my 2 pence worth
If you want to play audio on your home theatre speaker, you could also consider the option of plugging an FM transmitterinto the headphone jack, then use your FM receiver to play through your theatre speaker.
That was how I used to play my music in the car, through the car's srereo speakers.
eaglesteve said:
If you want to play audio on your home theatre speaker, you could also consider the option of plugging an FM transmitterinto the headphone jack, then use your FM receiver to play through your theatre speaker.
That was how I used to play my music in the car, through the car's srereo speakers.
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wont work if the Athena is in the ebay dock/cradle, as it covers up the audio out port, but does not replicate it.
Ice coffee,
Maybe you can share some other options here. You may have other ideas that may be useful to us. I just got my athena last month and cradle last week so I cannot really say with authority what it can and what it cannot do. If you can help us out in maximizing the athena with its cradle, many will appreciate it.
None of the video outputs from the 4-in-1 carry audio, the only options are BT a2dp or the headphones jack. Seems a bit long-winded to me though - I'm sure there are less fiddly mods out there. I just used to use the magnetic keyboard as a stand, slipped a BT keyboard over the top of it and the 4-in-1 for usb hub etc. This left a free audio jack to use as I wished. Seems like the docking station is more of a hindrance than a help.
HTC Advantage
Docking station
Keyboard
Mouse
Hifi Bluetooth A2DP adaptor
USB Hub....
I think my EEE pc is a more convenient device on the whole than the above setup would've been if i'd carried all that with me I wouldn't have had any space to fit my work stuff!
I came accross another docking station for $119.00 USD that has the audio option on the side along with 2 standard USB ports instead of 1. I think it's a bit too pricey, due to the fact that on flebay they do have a2dp stereo bluetooth adapters for like $50 USD. Besides with that and your bluetooth headsets it might still be possible to answer a incoming phone call on your bt headset without having to hear the audio coming from your A/V receiver (considering you left the phone on). Leoni, both options have their own drawback (no powering source with the 4 in 1 cable for all USB storage devices and the inaccessable headphone jack when using the docking station). But anyway I'm going to order the 4 in 1 cable too and see which one works best for me on a day to day use.
as I said the only simple option is to use bluetooth and as tootalk2000 pointed out you can get adaptors on ebay for £25 ish, I suppose the other more complicated option would be to, take your cradle apart and replace the USB connector into the phone with this,
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2in1-Audio-US...oryZ3728QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
and then take the other end of this apart and make it fit in your cradle, it would actually be quite easy to do as there is a lot of space in the cradle.
ice_coffee said:
as I said the only simple option is to use bluetooth and as tootalk2000 pointed out you can get adaptors on ebay for £25 ish, I suppose the other more complicated option would be to, take your cradle apart and replace the USB connector into the phone with this,
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2in1-Audio-US...oryZ3728QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
and then take the other end of this apart and make it fit in your cradle, it would actually be quite easy to do as there is a lot of space in the cradle.
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Awwwww shux, someone just gave me some experimenting to go do. I'm ordering one of those jacks today, and hopefully it will come around the same time as cradle. I'll just super glue it to the back portion of the cradle and plug it in externally. Due to the fact that the USB port is still on there you would still be able to sync even when the ear phone jack is still in use.
tootallk2000 said:
Awwwww shux, someone just gave me some experimenting to go do. I'm ordering one of those jacks today, and hopefully it will come around the same time as cradle. I'll just super glue it to the back portion of the cradle and plug it in externally. Due to the fact that the USB port is still on there you would still be able to sync even when the ear phone jack is still in use.
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lol my thoughts exactly.

Headphone Sound 1-sided

To who ever can help...I'm experiencing an ongoing problem with headphones on my m8. Trying to listen to music is either one sided (left bud) or none at all. If I plug into my stereo, the Jack works and music is played normal. Coming from headphones to stereo, it goes one sided (even playing through the stereo).
I've changed ROMs with full wipe & clean install, the problem still occurs. Various headphones all do the same. I'm almost positive it's a software glitch somewhere but can't find a setting for it. I've tried freezing music apps with TB, I've also installed HK to see if that would tweak something. No clue what else to do.
To clarify, are you saying that using a line cable to connect the phone to your stereo receiver/amp plays both sides. But all headphones, it only plays on one side?
Correct...I CAN play music via aux cord but CAN"T play through headphones of any kind (I've tried three different ones).
Bump
Different headphones use different rubber moldings around the wires, especially near the plug. Some can be thicker and some have little plastic protrusions which prevent the cable from being fully plugged in. If the cable isn't fully inserted, you will sometimes receive no audio in the right ear or no audio at all. I have this problem with a pair of Sony earbuds on my S4 and my M8, and as a result, they're dedicated strictly to my laptop.
Try this...get a male to female aux cord and plug one end to the phone, then plug your headphones into that.
Also, you can try pulling back the plastic sheath around the plug and see if that helps.
slapdaddy said:
Try this...get a male to female aux cord and plug one end to the phone, then plug your headphones into that.
Also, you can try pulling back the plastic sheath around the plug and see if that helps.
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I'll definitely try this out and see what happens. Its just weird because when I first got the phone the headphones worked (any and all). It wasn't untill I rooted that I started noticing an issue.
Or just cut a bit of the rubber off the edge of the headphones. With the case on my phone I had to do that for the aux jack in my car so that it would go all the way in. Of course only if they are your headphones and don't mind to do that.
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
How about the headset that came with the phone? This shouldn't need any jiggering to make it plug in properly.
I would also agree with the notion that if you have a case on the phone, it may interfere with the headphone plugging in. Definitely try taking the case off (if you have one on) to see if it makes any difference.
Have you tried any headphones that don't have the microphone ("normal" headsets that aren't specially intended to use with smartphones)? Its just odd that a AUX cable works, and headphones don't. The only thing I can think that can be different is the hardware and software differences that are associated with the microphone (buttons, etc.).
Are there specific lines of code I can look at in the build .prop? I've gotten half the battle covered by Uninstalling HK and fixing permissions /wiping dalvik. Again music plays perfectly through stereo, whether aux, wifi or bt. One sided when headphones are used. There has to be some funky code going on.
I know this is old but did you ever find out?

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