[GUIDE] Galaxy Nexus MOD/Palm Touchstone-No soldering on phone!!

ohiomoto

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Re: [GUIDE] Galaxy Nexus MOD for Palm Touchstone without solderin

Did you look at the ifixit guide? Make sure you get all 6 screws out. Just work the picks around the sides. Once the sides come loose it will pop out. Just take your time.
 

freeskier44

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Did you look at the ifixit guide? Make sure you get all 6 screws out. Just work the picks around the sides. Once the sides come loose it will pop out. Just take your time.

Yup I was reading over that...only got 3 picks so I gotta pick more up today hahahaha

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
 

ScooberJake

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Re: [GUIDE] Galaxy Nexus MOD for Palm Touchstone without solderin

Yup I was reading over that...only got 3 picks so I gotta pick more up today hahahaha

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

Let me know how it goes, this is the one thing that scares me about this mod.

Also, can anyone test out NFC with this mod? I wasn't planning to use NFC much, but now I've got some ideas. Would love to do both if it works, I don't know much about NFC, but I wouldn't be surprised if a big coil right over the chip would screw things up.
 

meissama

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Re: [GUIDE] Galaxy Nexus MOD for Palm Touchstone without solderin

Nfc is blocked by the coil if it sits directly over the battery. If you move the coil up though and uncover the bottom half of the battery it works just fine.
 

henryhu6

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Re: [GUIDE] Galaxy Nexus MOD for Palm Touchstone without solderin

Anyone tried the external three pins inside of opening the phone? I am planning to use a case and afraid it is too thick if I put the coil on the battery cover. It would be nice to put the coil on the case and wire to the external pins.
 

nsurg

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Re: [GUIDE] Galaxy Nexus MOD for Palm Touchstone without solderin

I finished doing this modification this weekend and thought I'd throw in some things I learned...

--Ohiomoto did a very nice job doing things "right." It seems at every step if I tried to do something a bit simpler it failed! So follow the instructions closely.
--While the guide mentions that the back cover snaps on easily after putting these coils and magnets and strips inside, I did not have that experience... at least with the extended battery and cover, it was very difficult to put the cover back on. For this reason, I recommend shaving off the plastic flanges/buttresses on the battery cover (those thin black plastic lines that keep the battery cover touching the battery). I used an x-acto knife for shaving this off. Things fit much better after that, but it was still very tight. Also, make sure that the coil and batteries don't overlie these plastic flanges. Finally, consider no re-applying the "palm" branded black sticky cover over everything, it just adds more space.
--getting the copper tape to touch the contacts of the copper coil was a bit tricky unless soldering was used. I have a low quality blunt tip solder gun, so this wasn't easy in a tight location. Consider applying the copper tape to these contacts under the black "palm" branded sticker if you use that black sticker-cover at all.
--My copper tape was silver on the sticky side (didn't conduct at all) and copper (conductive) on the non-sticky side. They sell double-sided copper tape with the adhesive allegedly being conductive... life would have been easier to buy this tape.
--Buy a cheap voltometer if you don't have one... it helps check your contacts at each step.

Other than that worked well. I finished late last night and recharged the phone overnight using this. It does say charging usb during the process, but I guess that's what we expect.

I have no way to check the NFC at this time. I made no effort to avoid putting the copper coil away from the battery, but there's not a lot of choice for where to put it.


Thanks!
 

bignaz

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Re: [GUIDE] Galaxy Nexus MOD for Palm Touchstone without solderin

Pretty sweet but im just waiting for powermat to release the batterys with the built in induction charger.
 

ohiomoto

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Re: [GUIDE] Galaxy Nexus MOD for Palm Touchstone without solderin

nsurg,

your are right, I trimmed down one of the plastic ridges. I did the one right below the camera cutout on the door. I also trimmed up the edges of the Palm sticker so that it didn't interfere with the cover. After that the cover snapped on with just slightly more effort than before. I forgot to mention it because I did that part several days before I taped the magnets down and finished the mod.

I was going to tweak the guide when I have time. I'll add this information.

@meissama, Did you actually test NFC with the mod? If so, how far up did you put the coil? Any pictures?
 

ohiomoto

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Re: [GUIDE] Galaxy Nexus MOD for Palm Touchstone without solderin

Anyone tried the external three pins inside of opening the phone? I am planning to use a case and afraid it is too thick if I put the coil on the battery cover. It would be nice to put the coil on the case and wire to the external pins.
EDIT: I dug up my modified Fascinate and found a case to test with. The Touchstone charges it fine with the cover on. I don't think it will hold well enough in a car, but the magnets are strong enough to center and hold the phone when on a counter or desk. You could put the magnets in the case if you wanted to use it in a car.
 
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ohiomoto

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Re: [GUIDE] Galaxy Nexus MOD for Palm Touchstone without solderin

Pretty sweet but im just waiting for powermat to release the batterys with the built in induction charger.
Yeah, that will work but you don't have the magnetic dock, it won't work in a car, it ties up your USB port and adds bulk to the phone. Of course it doesn't potentially void your warranty and you get a case for more protection if needed. :)
 

Mynticelx

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Re: [GUIDE] Galaxy Nexus MOD for Palm Touchstone without solderin

Can we confirm if this messes with the compass or not? Also, interested to find out if the NFC is affected as well..
 

mjhubbard

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Re: [GUIDE] Galaxy Nexus MOD for Palm Touchstone without solderin

seems like there is no reason not to do this mod. subscribed for the weekend.
 

mjhubbard

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Re: [GUIDE] Galaxy Nexus MOD for Palm Touchstone without solderin

rate any idea why the phone only charges at USB rate? shouldn't it be able to charge at ac rate still if it is plugged into the wall?
 

freeskier44

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Just finished this with 28 gauge wire and its working great! Having some problems getting the back to close with extended battery

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
 

ScooberJake

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Re: [GUIDE] Galaxy Nexus MOD for Palm Touchstone without solderin

Just finished this with 28 gauge wire and its working great! Having some problems getting the back to close with extended battery

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

Thanks for the update. A couple of questions:

Are you having trouble closing the back because of the wire, or for some other reason?

Also, how did the guitar picks work out? That is the part I am most concerned about, but no one here seems to be talking about it. You just pres the picks in without prying, right? How many did you need? Were they extra thin or anything special?

All my parts are in transit, can't wait to try this next week.
 

ohiomoto

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Re: [GUIDE] Galaxy Nexus MOD for Palm Touchstone without solderin

The picks I used were thick. Just press them in and work the back off. You sort of work and pry the back away from the screen. Just take your time, it's not hard.
 

freeskier44

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Thanks for the update. A couple of questions:

Are you having trouble closing the back because of the wire, or for some other reason?

Also, how did the guitar picks work out? That is the part I am most concerned about, but no one here seems to be talking about it. You just pres the picks in without prying, right? How many did you need? Were they extra thin or anything special?

All my parts are in transit, can't wait to try this next week.

I think it is the wire that's in the way. It was over the magnet when I first tried getting the back in but I moved the wires aside and its fits good now!

I ordered and used the tort ex .50mm picks off of eBay. But, before they arrived I was able to use a pry tool from a iPhone take apart kit. It worked well, but when I took it apart again (make sure wires held up) I used the guitar picks and they were easier.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
 

cryoabyss

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Re: [GUIDE] Galaxy Nexus MOD for Palm Touchstone without solderin

I've been trying to get a voltage reading off the touchstone receiver coils with a multimeter. I have two sets of receivers and transmitters now (I thought the first one was defective) but both still read 0.0V. Does the receiver do some sort of load detection or have you guys been able to read 5V off the receiver contacts?
 

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