Hey everyone,
I just got my first Android Tablet for $5 off Craigslist. A Dell Streak 7 T-mobile version. I scored it so cheap since.. wel.... it didn't power on. Seller thought bad battery.
He was wrong. The device came complete in the box, with all cables + wall outlet adapter, manuals, paperwork, a spare sync cable, and it was in MINT condition, well, almost mint, the only flaw was a busted Charging port. bummer.
I'm handy with a soldering iron and figured, "heck, I can fix this!" and that's where the journey and discoveries began. first I decided to get a new charging port and just solder it in, sounds like a straight forward simple plan, however, there are NO replacement ports for sale for the 7 anywhere (unless I want to pay $99 for a used one, no thanks!). BUT! I did notice that the dell streak 5 has many of ports on eBay for about $7. Thinking it was a same port, or at least very similar since they use the same cables and dock-able items, I ordered one. Once it arrived, I discovered the 5 and 7 ARE different!! The 7 port mounts on the front of the main board, where the 5 mounts on the back, flipping the pinout. So that's no good. The main problem is the metal housing on the port, it dictates what direction the cable has to be inserte. With a little skill, I was able to remove this housing leaving only the plastic connector and pins. I attempted to solder this left over part into the 7, It was a pain but I got it in there and it worked!! for a few moments.... Without the metal housing the port was just to frail and it broke. I had just about given up. I loved the idea of a cheap $10 Dell Streak 7 but it wasn't looking promising. So off to Google I went for alternative options. I saw a few mods that people were making to convert the 30 pin connector into a USB port to attach keyboard to the Streak. Then I thought.... well... if that can be done. Why not just replace the entire port with a micro USB port?
So that was my next plan. and by golly! It Worked!! I was able to find a PDIM pinout, and by looking at that I found that the I only needed to connect 4 pins to a USB port to enable charging and data transfer (Which is all I need anyway). Not having a micro USB port handy, I tried a mini USB port I Was able to salvage off a old dead device. I wired it up, plugged in a USB cable, and then my once dead Streak 7 showed it's first flicker of life, the orange battery charging indicator lit up!! I was then able to power on the device and it worked perfectly! Now for the big test, I plugged it into my MacBook Pro, and it was detected and mounts!
Also one thing I left out was on the 30 pin connectors, the pins are so thin and close together it was a pain to get the wires soldered where they needed to be, but with help from a multimeter I was able to find the 4 solder points substitutions that are WAY easier to solder to and appear to work flawlessly!
The last issue I have is that the mini USB port is too wide to fit where I wanted it, so I ordered a micro USB port online and will install it and secure it down with glue once it arrives.
So to all Dell Streak users who just want to get their up and running again with out a huge repair bill, there is hope!
IF there's enough intrest in this, once my micro port arrives, I'll photo the steps and post them here in guide form.
I just got my first Android Tablet for $5 off Craigslist. A Dell Streak 7 T-mobile version. I scored it so cheap since.. wel.... it didn't power on. Seller thought bad battery.
He was wrong. The device came complete in the box, with all cables + wall outlet adapter, manuals, paperwork, a spare sync cable, and it was in MINT condition, well, almost mint, the only flaw was a busted Charging port. bummer.
I'm handy with a soldering iron and figured, "heck, I can fix this!" and that's where the journey and discoveries began. first I decided to get a new charging port and just solder it in, sounds like a straight forward simple plan, however, there are NO replacement ports for sale for the 7 anywhere (unless I want to pay $99 for a used one, no thanks!). BUT! I did notice that the dell streak 5 has many of ports on eBay for about $7. Thinking it was a same port, or at least very similar since they use the same cables and dock-able items, I ordered one. Once it arrived, I discovered the 5 and 7 ARE different!! The 7 port mounts on the front of the main board, where the 5 mounts on the back, flipping the pinout. So that's no good. The main problem is the metal housing on the port, it dictates what direction the cable has to be inserte. With a little skill, I was able to remove this housing leaving only the plastic connector and pins. I attempted to solder this left over part into the 7, It was a pain but I got it in there and it worked!! for a few moments.... Without the metal housing the port was just to frail and it broke. I had just about given up. I loved the idea of a cheap $10 Dell Streak 7 but it wasn't looking promising. So off to Google I went for alternative options. I saw a few mods that people were making to convert the 30 pin connector into a USB port to attach keyboard to the Streak. Then I thought.... well... if that can be done. Why not just replace the entire port with a micro USB port?
So that was my next plan. and by golly! It Worked!! I was able to find a PDIM pinout, and by looking at that I found that the I only needed to connect 4 pins to a USB port to enable charging and data transfer (Which is all I need anyway). Not having a micro USB port handy, I tried a mini USB port I Was able to salvage off a old dead device. I wired it up, plugged in a USB cable, and then my once dead Streak 7 showed it's first flicker of life, the orange battery charging indicator lit up!! I was then able to power on the device and it worked perfectly! Now for the big test, I plugged it into my MacBook Pro, and it was detected and mounts!
Also one thing I left out was on the 30 pin connectors, the pins are so thin and close together it was a pain to get the wires soldered where they needed to be, but with help from a multimeter I was able to find the 4 solder points substitutions that are WAY easier to solder to and appear to work flawlessly!
The last issue I have is that the mini USB port is too wide to fit where I wanted it, so I ordered a micro USB port online and will install it and secure it down with glue once it arrives.
So to all Dell Streak users who just want to get their up and running again with out a huge repair bill, there is hope!
IF there's enough intrest in this, once my micro port arrives, I'll photo the steps and post them here in guide form.
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