[DIY] My take on the Xoom USB sync dock mod (pic intensive)

[Luckylizard]

I've been reading a lot about the Xoom on the forums in anticipation of receiving my Xoom tomorrow. I've ordered an Otterbox Defender case and I just came back from Staples with the standard Moto charging dock. Not satisfied with the lack of USB sync functionnality, I decided to crack the dock open and heat up the soldering iron. it was a simple task that took me about 15 minutes to do. Cheers to Toll Booth Willie and xoomnation for the pictures and giving me the urge to do the same with mine.

First off, a brand new Motorola standard charging dock. Still has the protective plastic


You will need to peel off the bottom rubber pad to expose the screw holes. Use a T6 Torx screwdriver to unscrew all six screws.


Once opened, you will see two more Torx screws holding the circuit board in place. Let's revove them to have a bit more space to work. You can also cut the USB cable that is plugged in the board, as we won't be using that anymore.


To get a clean look without drilling additional holes in the case, I decided to remove the aux 1/8" jack and route my USB cable through there. This means that the onboard aux jack has to go.


Using a soldering iron, I carefully heated all four connexions and removed the solder with desoldering braid until the jack came off.


Next, I took a standard USB cable, cut one end and stripped the wires. I also did the same thing on the micro USB cable still attached to the cradle. I then soldered the matching wires together.
There isn't a yellow wire on the USB cable I used for the project, so I attached it to the braided shielding wire of my USB cable.


Carefully tape everything back together, making sure that no wire touch each other.


Reassemble the dock and add two-way tape to reattach the rubber pad since the existing sticky film isn't so sticky anymore. I actually removed the film before applying two-way tape.


The finished product. Almost looks factory. The eletrical tape acts as stress relief on the cable and is actually pretty snug.


Installed and ready to use!

[Ads]

[Steady Hawkin]

Well done, thanks for puttin this together!

[Sardo Numspa]

very nice. now if you can squeeze a micro hdmi in there too, you'll be my hero!

[Luckylizard]

Yup, that's next on my to-do list!

[jblalock77]

That would be golden.

[impulse89]

Excellent craftsmanship :P It almost looks like nothing changed from the outside. A+

[Luckylizard]

*UPDATE*

Was bored this afternoon and decided that the USB wire should be removable to allow hooking up peripherals in host mode such as a PS3 controller, digital camera, USB keyboard or mouse.

So far so good! The USB port is functional:


I need to install a switch that will allow me to go from normal USB connection to OTG mode, but I first need to head out to the store to get a small switch. Pics to follow hopefully tomorrow!

[jblalock77]

That is slick.

[Bazar6]

Dude, that is awesome! Do you have an estimate of the time it took you to do the two separate parts? Might have to make myself a stand like this for my desk at work.

[tenderidol]

That looks great!

I have 2 docks (1 at home and 1 at work) and I've been planning to add the USB port to at least one of them (possibly both). I may still keep the audio jack, unless the space is very limited and will not accommodate all the extra cables in there.

Looking forward to seeing more of your pictures regarding this mod. Awesome!