Professional Modding

[DrWowe]

It would be nice to have some contacts who be willing to do various Z mods for a fee.  Maybe Streamline or Trisoft could partner with someone and offer customized versions.  Of course, the price would be high, but at least they could be "supported" to an extent.

What I do know is that:
1) I don't know anything about doing it myself.
2) I would easily buy a C3100 that had wifi and bluetooth soldered in, and I'm willing to pay enough to make it worthwhile.

[guylhem]

Hello

I'd like to see the creation of a software and hardware "modding industry" for linux handhelds - like soldering stuff, but also paying for missing software (say - video accel on the 6000 - I'd gladly give 100 eur to whoever could make a reliable video accel to play sdl games at full framerate and mpeg4 video at 640x480 full screen)

Yet I'm highly doubtful of the capability and the will to support such stuff. I remember *paying* for iqnotes and zknights, because they were worth supporting the authors. But I've seen it is very uncommon for a free software to raise enough money to become self sustainable - especially in the handheld world:-/

Guylhem

[DrWowe]

Yes, but there is a difference.

Software requires expertise, but it's easier to learn.  Hardware requires expertise, AND expensive equipment, and gaining the expertise also requires the equipment.

There are many fewer people who are capable of doing hardware than software, so I see it as a bigger bottleneck.

(Of course, it's all relative, because there aren't really enough interested software ppl either.   )

[jerrybme]

It would be nice to have some contacts who be willing to do various Z mods for a fee.  Maybe Streamline or Trisoft could partner with someone and offer customized versions.  Of course, the price would be high, but at least they could be "supported" to an extent.

What I do know is that:
1) I don't know anything about doing it myself.
2) I would easily buy a C3100 that had wifi and bluetooth soldered in, and I'm willing to pay enough to make it worthwhile.
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I'd second the notion of a 3100 with wifi soldered in     I've been holding off upgrading to the 3100, in hopes that perhaps Sharp will finally add WiFi to the next version (if there is one) Aren't the Japanese Zaurus users tired of swapping out CF cards every time they want to use their Z to surf the net?

I'd be willing to pay for a 3100 with wifi (hope my wife doesn't see this post)  

Cheers

[Tom61]

Would you be interested in inviduals doing these modifications? Internal WiFi and bluetooth should be well within my abilities.

What kind of warranty would you require? Beyond non-Dead on Arrival would likely be costly.

[adf]

O...crap.  I just convinced myself I wasn't interested in the clamshells and ordered a microdrive for the 6000. a 3100 w/ wireless would rock.

what would be your price for
a). wireless
. wireless AND bt
c) swapping the 4 gig hitachi out and popping my  (new) 6 gig in?

pm me if you prefer

[speculatrix]

Would you be interested in inviduals doing these modifications? Internal WiFi and bluetooth should be well within my abilities.

What kind of warranty would you require? Beyond non-Dead on Arrival would likely be costly.
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There is a company who do Palm upgrades, who I think make a reasonable success of it.. but they're not cheap!

I think that if you had a track record, then people would be willing to accept a limited warranty that it:
- wouldn't break their Z
- the new feature would work for X months
- you'd repair the new feature at cost prices if it went wrong
- you'd repair the Z, now out of warranty, at cost within Y months

[DrWowe]

I think that if you had a track record, then people would be willing to accept a limited warranty that it:
- wouldn't break their Z
- the new feature would work for X months
- you'd repair the new feature at cost prices if it went wrong
- you'd repair the Z, now out of warranty, at cost within Y months

That sounds about right to me too.  The only real risk taken by the modder is in the "don't break the Z" part ...   it would become unprofitable only if you screwed up a lot of machines.

An alternate business model is to sell pre-modded units.  Then you don't risk messing up anyone's "baby".  Since I don't have a 3100, either way would be fine for me.  

[waalkman]

Aren't the Japanese Zaurus users tired of swapping out CF cards every time they want to use their Z to surf the net?
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From what I've heard, the Japanese don't use WiFi much at all (if any).


As for mods, the Newton community has done this for years (and still does!)

Maybe partner up with a company like J&K Sales (I have no affiliation with these folks, I'm just using them as an example).

[a href=\"http://www.jksalesinc.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=27]http://www.jksalesinc.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=27[/url]

[Mjolinor]

I'll probably live to regret this.

If there are mods that someone wants doing then subject to the following I will have a go.

You provide all the parts
You provide the motherboard on which the parts need fitting
Nothing in a square package with legs on each side unless its only 20 or so pins, no BGAs, DIL are OK
Specific instructions
Your risk
Preferably UK only
I won't do hundreds of anything, I don't have time

Explanations.
Anything in a square package I have difficulty with because normally the soldered joints are too far underneath for me to see the soldered joints under my microscope, I have never succesfully changed a BGA of any sort. I am really only offering this as a means to proving the mods.

Mods like the 6000 Bluetooth look to me to be really straightforward whether by flying lead or by original component fitting.

I've no idea about Bluetooth or Wifi on a 3100, I've never seen a 3100. I own a 6000, a 5500 and I just bought a C860. The latter purely for the purpose of ripping to bits and messing. I bought the 6000 for that but it proved too much of an addictive article and I don't want to dismantle it.

I do a lot of laptop repair for a couple of local shops. This I only do out of interest and because Joe public is knackered if his laptop goes faulty and they have very few places to go , I certainly don't do it to make money though it does keep me up to date with a reasonable laptop. I have a full time job that provides income.

If there is anything specific that someone wants to try then I won't charge anything provided the return postage is not much otherwise I'd like the postage back but as I say this is not me trying to set a business up, I don't want that, it's me trying to assist where people can't do it themselves.

If your close to Burnley (25 miles North of Manchester) then you can always pop over and we can do it together.

[Tom61]

I think that if you had a track record, then people would be willing to accept a limited warranty that it:
- wouldn't break their Z
- the new feature would work for X months
- you'd repair the new feature at cost prices if it went wrong
- you'd repair the Z, now out of warranty, at cost within Y months

That sounds about right to me too.  The only real risk taken by the modder is in the "don't break the Z" part ...   it would become unprofitable only if you screwed up a lot of machines.

An alternate business model is to sell pre-modded units.  Then you don't risk messing up anyone's "baby".  Since I don't have a 3100, either way would be fine for me.  :)
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Hmm... selling a pre-modded 3100 would be a fairly good way to get started. I might just buy a 3100 once my student loans come in, mod it, then sell it on eBay. That would help me get a track record started, as well as get an idea of what to charge. All without the risk of messing up anyone's "baby".

The warranty terms you're looking for wouldn't be too bad. Non-DOA and 6 months repair at cost would be quite doable.

I'll likely be trying out some EE classes this semester, so I might be able to have access to equipment to do more advanced mods. If not, simple things like Wifi, bluetooth, and HD swap-out are still doable by me.

I'm located in the US, BTW.

[adf]

hmmm. So far, so good.  wifi bt and 6 gb in one fell swoop is really appealing. I haven't bought a 31C yet, but the prices are getting good.... and whether I do buy one pretty much depends on whether we can agree to mods, prices, and expectations.
One way to look at this would be for you to buy one (at pricejapan prices... no point in buying, then voiding a warranty) mod it and sell it to one of us by prearrangement..
Given @$550 for the base unit, what woud you expect to see in return for the finished product? (in my case, I'd have to send you my 6 gig from here, as it is already en route)
I'm definitely interested.
ADF

[speculatrix]

wifi bt and 6 gb in one fell swoop is really appealing. I haven't bought a 31C yet, but the prices are getting good.... and whether I do buy one pretty much depends on whether we can agree to mods, prices, and expectations.
One way to look at this would be for you to buy one (at pricejapan prices... no point in buying, then voiding a warranty) mod it and sell it to one of us by prearrangement..
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Me too! I'm in the UK, so this present the snag of an extra load of tax.

[guylhem]

Mods like the 6000 Bluetooth look to me to be really straightforward whether by flying lead or by original component fitting.

I've no idea about Bluetooth or Wifi on a 3100, I've never seen a 3100. I own a 6000, a 5500 and I just bought a C860. The latter purely for the purpose of ripping to bits and messing. I bought the 6000 for that but it proved too much of an addictive article and I don't want to dismantle it.

Swapping a 4gb to a 6gb is a 5 minute hack. Bluetooth is easy - just find a serial port and solder into it. There's one in the 3100 using 3.3V (CMOS) - no big deal, most bt modules can run with either CMOS or TTL. However Wifi on the clamshell is really another story. Basically, you need either a compact flash or a usb port to hook it. You also need a way to turn it on/off - and that without a free gpio won't be easy.

The "easiest" way I can think about is to hook up an internal usb port extender, solder the external usb port to that extender, and the internal wifi usb module to the extender. Then rewire the "Mail" led to a transistor to switch the internal wifi usb module power on or off.

You'll loose a led on the 3100, but this will eat far less power than leaving wifi on at all times. The internal usb port extender could eat some serious power however, and cause problems with mini-b peripherals. (you'll have to check the USB OTG specs)

I think we'd need more informations about the 3100 before thinking about adding wifi.

Guylhem

[adf]

Hmmm....
wifi can't be run off a serial port?  Not enough speed? Software issue?

I realize the drive swap would be simple, and guessed the BT would not be much different from the 6k mod....

If the wifi were to be run from usb:
A: Surely it can be done so that use of the exernal port is not affected (if not, then maybe it isn't such a good idea)
B :  Might it be possible to use a "g" capable module ..does the z theoretically support this?  It wold be no faster, but might allow access to more networks. Is there an "n" mudule at all.?

C: and while we're talking about it... did the screen transplant ever work out?  (I'd pass on this personally, as I think it'd be a waste to murder a perfectly good 6000..though If I could find a doner with dead guts and a good screen...)

D: Any ideas on ram or flash (or both) upgrades?  

Still, I'm really only interested in a 3100 if I can cram wifi bt and 6g into it, and still have a free cf slot and working usb, etc