[Hardware MOD] Adding an External Notification Light to the Optimus V

[JerryScript]

Anything I or anyone else accomplishes with this mod is directly thanks to you! You are the best, thank you for all your posts!

 

[mmarz]

I guess it is hard to see but that isn't a hole. That is epoxy. Looks factory made expect for being slightly off center. Not bad for someone who got a C in art class. When the light is off, you can't even tell it is there.

 

[nin]

So I wanted to look into doing this and possibly even rewiring one of the LEDs in a different spot, but just realized 3 of my screws I believe came somewhat stripped (bought the phone new) from the get go. When I previously wanted to take the phone apart I remember taking off 3 perimeter screws, but the other 3 would never catch the screw driver. I didn't want to risk making it a round hole so I stopped tinkering with it.

Questions,
1.) If I somehow remove those 3 screws (probably ruining them) would the phone close/hold ok with the 3 that are left, I use a single back case that wraps around the side, so I'm thinking yes?
2.) Chances I can find screws that size for sale?
3.)If and this is a huge if, I manage to make it work so the LED glows the earpiece (soldering solved by dad's electrician friend) would breaking/disabling the LED's near the buttons be safe? I don't feel the need for the keys to light up.
3b.)If disabling is not recommended how could I safely dim the keys even further?

Don't want to make it seem like I need a walk through, this is just pretty cool I'm excited about doing it but want to be confident.

 

[LeslieAnn]

So I wanted to look into doing this and possibly even rewiring one of the LEDs in a different spot,


3b.)If disabling is not recommended how could I safely dim the keys even further?

Moving the LED will be TOUGH, the phone seems quite dense inside. It will take some seriously thin wires, possibly ribbon wire, and there may not be a place for an LED where you are considering, though all of this is speculation, I haven't been inside yet.

As for dimming, my earlier recommendation stands, use markers on the LED, this can be removed later if you want to.

 

[thexxoffspring]

since this is just the led from the lights wont when you turn on the phone see this blinding light everytime?

 

[JerryScript]

I guess it is hard to see but that isn't a hole. That is epoxy. Looks factory made expect for being slightly off center. Not bad for someone who got a C in art class. When the light is off, you can't even tell it is there.

Sexy!

How'd the patch job go for your first hole?

 

[mmarz]

Sexy!

How'd the patch job go for your first hole?

You caught me! I was trying to avoid showing that. Being the first test monkey has its draw backs. Here is how it turned out:

Not perfect, but respectable considering that spot was drilled three times, superglued, and buffed.

 

[JerryScript]

@mmarz: Very respectable work, I am impressed! To make it all appear natural, you could add a pokadot pattern to make the two holes blend in.

So I wanted to look into doing this and possibly even rewiring one of the LEDs in a different spot, but just realized 3 of my screws I believe came somewhat stripped (bought the phone new) from the get go. When I previously wanted to take the phone apart I remember taking off 3 perimeter screws, but the other 3 would never catch the screw driver. I didn't want to risk making it a round hole so I stopped tinkering with it.

Questions,
1.) If I somehow remove those 3 screws (probably ruining them) would the phone close/hold ok with the 3 that are left, I use a single back case that wraps around the side, so I'm thinking yes?
2.) Chances I can find screws that size for sale?
3.)If and this is a huge if, I manage to make it work so the LED glows the earpiece (soldering solved by dad's electrician friend) would breaking/disabling the LED's near the buttons be safe? I don't feel the need for the keys to light up.
3b.)If disabling is not recommended how could I safely dim the keys even further?

Don't want to make it seem like I need a walk through, this is just pretty cool I'm excited about doing it but want to be confident.

It would be pretty difficult to move the LEDs themselves, but you could try to route the light with fiber optics to where you like. You could try routing two fibers, one up each side, and have them shine through the earpiece grating. Finding one of those old novelty fiber optic lamps shouldn't be too dificult.

You can scavenge fiber optic fibers from old novelty lamps, and high-end stereo cables (fiber optics for audio, what a waste of development dollars).

And for those who don't want to spend $7 on resin or something similar, you can make plastic from potatoes!

 

[rockneo]

Don't destroy your phone mmarz, you're one of the top contributors to our little phone, along with leslieann, and i'm sure various other members, who's names seem to slip my mind, or brick phones -whistles- Anywho, the moral to the story here is, DON'T BREAK YOUR PHONE. xD Along with my little worrying bit here, LED notification looks awesome, wish you could do that with my phone.

 

[mmarz]

So I wanted to look into doing this and possibly even rewiring one of the LEDs in a different spot, but just realized 3 of my screws I believe came somewhat stripped (bought the phone new) from the get go. When I previously wanted to take the phone apart I remember taking off 3 perimeter screws, but the other 3 would never catch the screw driver. I didn't want to risk making it a round hole so I stopped tinkering with it.

Questions,
1.) If I somehow remove those 3 screws (probably ruining them) would the phone close/hold ok with the 3 that are left, I use a single back case that wraps around the side, so I'm thinking yes?
2.) Chances I can find screws that size for sale?
3.)If and this is a huge if, I manage to make it work so the LED glows the earpiece (soldering solved by dad's electrician friend) would breaking/disabling the LED's near the buttons be safe? I don't feel the need for the keys to light up.
3b.)If disabling is not recommended how could I safely dim the keys even further?

Don't want to make it seem like I need a walk through, this is just pretty cool I'm excited about doing it but want to be confident.

The key to not stripping the screws is to place the phone down on a clean flat surface, and putting your weight into it while turning the screw.

You can probably live without most of the screws. The plastic tabs that keep the silvering backing on are pretty strong, but consider your options first. Another technique to getting a tiny stuck screw out is to add a small amount of superglue to the tip of the screwdriver. Place it in the screw and let it set. Then try to take the screw out.

You are going to have an impossible time getting taking the LED's off without breaking them. Even if you find a replacement LED to wire to the side, AND it works at 0.3V, if it draws too much current, it might cause issues. The routing the power won't be that hard because there is a lot of extra space in there. You can use thin gauge enameled wire.

I just had a great idea! Instead of routing power from the LED's, take the power from the motor that causes the phone to vibrate. It is already located near the ear piece. For notifications, just make the phone vibrate and that will cause the LED you added to flash. The motor probably works on a much larger voltage which will be easy to find a matching LED.

 

[JerryScript]

If there's room to route electric wires, there's room for fiber optics, and no danger to your phone's current draw!

 

[crxmax]

akward place for notification led but good job man

 

[mmarz]

Well, the good part about this mod is that it requires no soldering or special equipment. If you want, I have two other ideas for a notification light.

1. Wire an led to the vibration motor and mount it in the side of the phone. Use the vibrate feature to toggle the light.
2. Replace the IR LED used for the the proximity sensor with a white or colored LED. It is located to the left of the VM logo near the earpiece. If you look just right, you'll see two dots. One is the IR LED and the other a sensor to pick up the light bouncing off of your face. Whenever you want to toggle the notification LED, turn on the proximity sensor. The proximity sensor would even still work if you tweaked the setting to dim it while in phone mode.

Both of these require lots of careful work with a soldering iron.

 

[asadullah]

removing proximity sensor is a good idea I miss two things from my old sprint hero the notification light and the trackball. What would have to be added to the kernel to get the script to initialize the notifications.