Pandora Hackers Manual

[xpansive]

A new blog post from ED, and a official hackers manual!!

http://www.openpando...manual_v100.pdf

Here's the post if you're interested:

Phew - just answered over 100 eMails to day and did now catch up with my Inbox.

notaz and me also did work some more on HotFix 3, while DJWillis is currently setting up the official Pandora repro (including sourcecodes).

I'm also trying to catch up with infos about what happened in assembly (news you're all working for).

I'll post a longer and comprehensive post within the next days - also including infos about what you can expect with Hotfix 3 (which should be ready next week)

But I got some nice little interesting document for you guys today:

The official Pandora Hacker Manual v1.00, straight from the creator Michael Weston himself!

Enjoy.

Be sure you know what you're doing though - we take NO RESPONSIBILITY if you kill your Pandora while hacking around!

 

[mali]

 

[gbouilland]

Confirmed : Some mixed up numbers on "spare LEDs" (p.4)

It should be :

- LED7 --> TP22, Q17, R165 & R166
- LED8 --> TP23, Q18, R167 & R168

Edit: The last schematic is a good example of getting things done imho
Edit2: Confirmed bit (see 4 posts below)

 

[OrR]

Whoa, that's beautiful! :wub: Especially love the hand drawn diagram on page 21... I'm going to study this a bit... B)

 

[LineOf7s]

See if you can get one of these for your iThingy! HA!

 

[urjaman]

Nice

NOTE @MW (for next version): put the Nub AVR ISP header pinouts there, too.

And yeah the LED7 and 8 transistor & resistor numbers seem swapped in the text, as noted above.

 

[MWeston]

If you start from the LED tag, it should probably be as follows :
- LED7 --> TP22, Q17, R165 & R166
- LED8 --> TP23, Q18, R167 & R168

You're right, I did mix them up a bit. There was some cutting and pasting at one time and I screwed up the order. What you list is correct and I have modified the document. Thanks!

NOTE @MW (for next version): put the Nub AVR ISP header pinouts there, too.

I can do that but the code should be protected (if the fuses were programmed right by the company that did them) and you would have to erase them to change the code. I still don't have any permission to release a binary or anything.

 

[urjaman]

I can do that but the code should be protected (if the fuses were programmed right by the company that did them) and you would have to erase them to change the code. I still don't have any permission to release a binary or anything.

....
As i've joined the one-nub club, I just MIGHT (someday) be upto erasing one of the AVRs to develop a free alternative on. Still, it is a HUGE leap of faith to just think "OK, I'll just erase this nub controller, ought to be simple enough to code new fw from scratch...", and I consider myself a relatively good AVR programmer*.
I'm wondering what the big secrecy around this nub tech is about.
Are you allowed to give a pinout of the world (what is attached to me and in what pin) from the AVRs point of view?

Spoiler

*(spoiler because of OT) I want to float here a bit, my AVR stuff:
- Stereo 8-bit LPT sound card from an ATTiny26L, two 62.5kHz 8-bit PWM channels, on-chip nearest neighbour samplerate upscaling (written in assembler, binary size 426 bytes)
- Firmware to a bluetooth controlled RC car (quite simple actually).
- One flash chip programmer fw, another one unfinished (theres a external programmer driver in flashrom for these).
And a lot of fiddling around thats not worth much mentioning.

 

[skater_j10]

Thank you very much MWeston! I was not expecting this at all, I think you have probably saved me hundreds of hours of misguided reverse-engineering. I am definitely going to make use of this document, as I am all about LED mods. I would also like to make use of the Expansion Port at some point down the road, maybe for a Pandora-bot of some sort, but yeah I'll have to get my Pandora first....getting a little ahead of myself. Anyway, Thanks again!

 

[amf66]

MWeston, you are incredible!

 

[panik]

I love you.
We're going to have sooo much fun!

 

[SomeGuy99]

I love stuff like this that I don't understand!

 

[canguy247]

I just wanted to confirm something concerning the expansion port pinout. If I read the diagram right, that is looking end-on at the plug on the end of the cable right? I don't want to muck things up.

 

[gruso]

This is awesome MWeston.

Sadly I can't log in to the blog to post anything right now. Hopefully it's fixed soon. Fixt.

 

[MWeston]

I just wanted to confirm something concerning the expansion port pinout. If I read the diagram right, that is looking end-on at the plug on the end of the cable right? I don't want to muck things up.

It's from the user's application perspective which would be the connector that plugs into the Pandora. That picture of the connector is blatantly stolen from the Tyco datasheet.

I will make a note about this for v1.01 just for clarity. Also, I have gerber files for the little adapter board that turns that connector into a standard 14-pin 0.1" spaced, dual row connector if anyone needs it. Basically, it is one of these but for Pandora: http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=8295

 

[kingoddball]

hahahahahhahahahahhaha!! ^^^^
Very good!

I took a few week's off to focus on the N900 and now look at this place!
IT'S ACTIVE!

 

[mvickers03]

I must say that manual is pretty epic! I have never seen something like that before especially from the creators. Thanks for this Mweston

 

[mali]

I got a Pandora today. I can't comment on too much since the screen was broken (bought it used, I knew the screen was broken).

It seems a little chintzy. And the case on the base part isn't really snapped all the way together. I can probably fix that, and even if I can't, I don't really care. I didn't buy it for looks.

I turned it on before removing the broken screen. It seemed to boot up pretty fast, but I didn't test it out much. Besides the cracked screen, I didn't have any SD cards. The nubs didn't move the mouse, but I guess that's probably a setting. I'm going to reflash when I get a new screen.


LONG BORING STORY:

Tracking down the proper screen was a bit more effort than I expected. The faq claims it use the same screen as the Achros 605. But a few posts on the forum indicated that although the screens themselves are the same, the pinout is reversed. However, the listing on the GBAX site for a Pandora screen (not paying that much), lists it as also being compatible with "Achros", but doesn't list a model number.

So I checked the wiki hardware hacking page. It lists the model number as TD043MTEA2. So I find several people selling that, and some list it as compatible with Archos players, and some don't. And the ones that do, have a different style of ribbon cable (off to one side instead down the center), even though they both list their part number as TD043MTEA2, although some list it as TD043MTEA1 sort of interchangeably. I eventually figured out that the ones that had the cable off to the side are actually TD043MTHEA2, and were the reverse pin Achros screens.

Well, since most of these sellers are overseas, and none offer a refund because "I got the wrong one", I figured I just wait until I had the Pandora and I could take the screen out and look at it. So I got the screen out, flipped it over and looked at the sticker on the back. TD043MTEA1. Huh. Well that's ok, those are cheaper anyway (it's actually the screen used in an iPAQ).

Oh, and that gunk under the bezel around the screen may very well be "double sided tape", but for the person trying to get the screen out, really, it's just glue.

iPAQ 310 though 316 (maybe others, I don't know). The screen has the HP part number 453761-001.

any attempts with a ps3 or xbox 360 controller?

a ps3 controller should be easy, as it uses a standard mini-usb connector.


I made my own mini-usb to usb adapter but i dont have it with me, here, i'll draw my diagram.

 

[gruso]

I just want to make some general statements to anyone taking their unit apart with or without permission. I guess the warranty thing is ED's call if you are his customer.

If you are going to remove the LCD cable from the connector, the smartest plan is to over do everything. For example, use two fingernails to pop the black tab up so it is supported on both sides. Don't just flick it up in the middle because it is hinged at the edges. Use two finger tips to push the black tab down after the cable is fully inserted. There will be about a millimeter of gap between the two side tabs and the body of the connector when it is fully inserted. Don't try to keep pushing it in if it is that close or you will break the side tabs.

Back the cable out slowly and evenly. Use the two tabs on the side of the cable to push it out but don't use a lot of force because it's not that strong. It's important to take it out (and put it back in) very evenly (ie. don't let one side sit way in while the other side is almost completely backed out) because there are metal barbs inside the connector that scrape against the cable. This is how it makes the solid connection. It's usually low friction when moving the cable in and out but I have found that large angles can cause more friction because the cable can lift up on a side inside the connector.

You will have to lift the PCB out a bit to totally free the LCD cable from the connector and also the same thing when putting the connector back in. Don't lose your power switch and be very mindful of the small white post of the switch itself. It's very fragile and I don't see anyone covering that under warranty if you snap it off. To just push the connector in tighter like ED suggests here, you won't have to lift the PCB up at all.

Further to anyone who does lift the PCB out, pay attention to the microphone element on the other side when moving the PCB. The two leads are soldered onto the PCB with their lead length preserved which makes them fragile. They don't break off at the Pandora side but the soldering done by the mic manufacturer to add those wires to the mic element is pretty weak and they snap easily. Again, that might not be considered a warranty approved breakage for obvious reasons.

Finally, find a way to ground yourself out before ever touching the bare PCB anywhere. Touch the side of a metal lamp or the screw on an electrical socket or even better, wear a static strap! This kind of damage would be the one reason I don't like anyone taking their unit apart at all. There have been returned units expecting warranty repair that clearly show signs of being opened and it has been honored but I don't know what level of skill these customers have and how careful they were.

[edit] off topic posts cleaned up.

 

[porg]

There is at least one revised version: https://www.openpandora.org/downloads/PANDORA_Hackers_manual_v101.pdf

If someone knows a newer one, please share the link here.