* TUTORIAL* Palm touchstone mod

**d94** · 10-21-2010, 09:34 AM

Well now that iv got it figured out i decided to start a new thread so people dont have to go through pages of no information in the old thread..so heres how i got my epic charging via touchstone:

I sanded down the the back cover so the inductive coil and magnets would fit and drilled a hole for the wires because if they come out at one of the antenna holes the back cover doesnt come on all the way. GPS seems to work just fine while its sitting on the touchstone in my car

The LED does light up when its charging and when its fully charged..not sure why the camera didnt capture it in the last pic.

**ragnarokx** · 10-21-2010, 11:32 AM

I think non-root users would be interested in this too. I'm going to move it to the general section for folks to check out.

**jbluther** · 10-21-2010, 12:55 PM

Ooh. I have a dead Pre and a touchstone too. Tempting!

**NeoteriX** · 10-21-2010, 04:29 PM

FYI, compass, not GPS, is likely to be broken as a result of this mod.

**grandebob** · 10-21-2010, 09:33 PM

can you get a better zoom in on where you connected the wires to the board? it's a very busy picture, and I can't really tel where the negative wire connects.

Awesome work though, makes me think of switching to the epic.

**d94** · 10-21-2010, 11:49 PM

Originally Posted by NeoteriX

FYI, compass, not GPS, is likely to be broken as a result of this mod.

Ahh right..i was wondering do you think it'd be possible for someone to design an app, that when left running in the background can determine when the compass is going loopy and leave the screen on or have a clock app of some sort run?

Originally Posted by grandebob

can you get a better zoom in on where you connected the wires to the board? it's a very busy picture, and I can't really tel where the negative wire connects.

Awesome work though, makes me think of switching to the epic.

Sorry, the pic was taken by an evo thats why it wasnt too clear

the negative contact is soldered to the outside frame of the microusb connector and the positive contact is to the 1st connection on the left, closest to the headphone jack. And yes this makes me love my epic that much more..now my battery's always topped off!

**tgaskill** · 10-22-2010, 01:09 AM

I'm very tempted to try this, but I'm also looking at getting a case for my phone. Hmm. I guess I'll have to decide if I want to go case-free and have an awesome way to charge my phone or continue to use the micro USB on my case-protected phone. Decisions, decisions.

**dynastyisp** · 10-22-2010, 02:37 AM

next time white out the cellebrite cable. it makes it seem less like your a sprint technician. goodluck on not getting rolled....

**drinkwd40** · 10-22-2010, 06:13 AM

Those little metal discs on the palm sticker (see the third pic) can be applied (with epoxy) to the phone's outer surface to get the best possible adhesion to the touchstone magnet. It matters HUGE in a car and makes this mod totally worth it. The compass will be affected with the mod, as described earlier (but only should be affected while mounted to the touchstone). Those metal discs on the phone are not magnets. You will have to recalibrate your metal detector app.

**d94** · 10-22-2010, 07:52 AM

Originally Posted by dynastyisp

next time white out the cellebrite cable. it makes it seem less like your a sprint technician. goodluck on not getting rolled....

i dont work for corp.

Originally Posted by drinkwd40

Those little metal discs on the palm sticker (see the third pic) can be applied (with epoxy) to the phone's outer surface to get the best possible adhesion to the touchstone magnet. It matters HUGE in a car and makes this mod totally worth it. The compass will be affected with the mod, as described earlier (but only should be affected while mounted to the touchstone). Those metal discs on the phone are not magnets. You will have to recalibrate your metal detector app.

thats a really good idea..right now it holds on but the grip is far from where it was with the pre..even better i was thinking about drilling out holes the approximate size of the disks and then epoxy them flush...who wants to try first

**bigedschukar** · 01-12-2011, 01:36 PM

I too have moved from a Pre to the Epic and REALLY miss the Touchstone. I noticed no one has posted in a few months, so I'm wondering if anyone has any updates on this mod. As in, have you had any issues? Is it still working? Has it burned up your Epic, heh? Any new steps or advice to give for someone getting ready to try it?

Any info is appreciated, thanks!

Ed

**sburlbaw#ac** · 01-20-2011, 01:34 PM

I'm currently working on a tutorial which will be posted to my site upon completion. Now that college has started back up it'll be a couple weeks I suppose.

**d94** · 03-02-2011, 04:44 PM

Originally Posted by bigedschukar

I too have moved from a Pre to the Epic and REALLY miss the Touchstone. I noticed no one has posted in a few months, so I'm wondering if anyone has any updates on this mod. As in, have you had any issues? Is it still working? Has it burned up your Epic, heh? Any new steps or advice to give for someone getting ready to try it?

Any info is appreciated, thanks!

Ed

sorry to respond so late but just in case anyones wondering, im still using my original epic with my touchstones, iv taken the back cover off probably 50+ times in the past few months and have yet to hit and roadbumps

**lostnthenet** · 03-07-2011, 06:35 PM

I will try to do this if I end up getting an epic. I got the pre on launch day and was going to try and hang on for pre 3 but not sure I can make it.

**ptdalen** · 03-08-2011, 12:37 PM

I'm still confused a bit by the wires. I get the wires that are soldered to the USB connecter, but was about the other two wires near the battery? Are they just loose? Do they connect to the battery? Thanks!!

**kruglovus** · 03-21-2011, 11:11 AM

Originally Posted by ptdalen

I'm still confused a bit by the wires. I get the wires that are soldered to the USB connecter, but was about the other two wires near the battery? Are they just loose? Do they connect to the battery? Thanks!!

Picture 4 and 5 shows the positive and negative contacts on TouchStone back chip and on Epic motherboard's USB port, respectively. The loose wires on the last but one picture connect to the TouchStone chip. You need to solder + to + and - to -. Make sure your wires are long enough, so that in the future you can comfortably open phone's back door and remove battery, if needed.

**bbeck** · 09-19-2011, 03:11 PM

I know I'm a little late to this party but is there any way to find the pictures that this thread is referring to? I don't see any pics at all here. ...and I did google this but didn't find any pictures specific to the Samsung Epic. Thanks

**kruglovus** · 09-19-2011, 03:31 PM

It is very strange that you cannot view the pictures. I can view them both logged in and off. Anyhow, there are the same pictures and the tutorial on XDA-Developers. Here is the link
Also, this video helped me do the whole mod in 40 minutes

**bbeck** · 09-19-2011, 03:38 PM

Originally Posted by kruglovus

It is very strange that you cannot view the pictures. I can view them both logged in and off. Anyhow, there are the same pictures and the tutorial on XDA-Developers. Here is the link
Also, this video helped me do the whole mod in 40 minutes

thanks. I just tried looking on my phone and can now see the pics. Looks like the firewall here at work! Thx again.

**kruglovus** · 09-19-2011, 03:54 PM

Originally Posted by bbeck

thanks. I just tried looking on my phone and can now see the pics. Looks like the firewall here at work! Thx again.

Welcome!

Wires on those pics look quite thick. I used wires from a USB cable. They are designed to carry the same 500mA of current, i.e. thick enough. If I remember correctly, I managed to route them through the microSD card slot (the card then fit just fine), so I didn't have to drill a hole in the plastic body.

P.S. And don't just say thanks, hit the Thanks button.

**lostnthenet** · 09-21-2011, 12:42 AM

Originally Posted by kruglovus

Welcome!

Wires on those pics look quite thick. I used wires from a USB cable. They are designed to carry the same 500mA of current, i.e. thick enough. If I remember correctly, I managed to route them through the microSD card slot (the card then fit just fine), so I didn't have to drill a hole in the plastic body.

P.S. And don't just say thanks, hit the Thanks button.

BTW This is using 1A of current. Still should be fine.

**lostnthenet** · 09-21-2011, 12:47 AM

Is there any reason we can use the tabs by the battery instead? I have circled what I am talking about.

**gitit20** · 09-21-2011, 02:28 AM

Originally Posted by lostnthenet

Is there any reason we can use the tabs by the battery instead? I have circled what I am talking about.

No you can not the battery charging is done by the main board the battery has a chip too but its to monitor the state of the battery and to prevent over charging and under changing also over heating as well

to do so could cause and unregulated amount of power being put in to the batter and cause a fire... the safety should prevent this but it may not be able to the if the amout of current is too high...

**fredknex** · 02-18-2012, 12:17 AM

Originally Posted by d94

the grip is far from where it was with the pre..even better i was thinking about drilling out holes the approximate size of the disks and then epoxy them flush...who wants to try first

I had good success taping the discs to the outside, very carefully touching the soldering iron to the them with light pressure and melting them into the back.