Hi,
I would like to do a joggler tablet conversion. From what I know the joggler AC adaptor outputs +5v. Woudl it be possible to take a 4AA (6V) battery pack connected via an AC plug to the joggler? Or it will fridge it? I don't want to realize anything to complicated because I am not so expert in these things. So if this will work ok, otherwise... we'll at the next hack!
This has been accomplished, there was a thread on the old forum where someone managed to power their device from AAs. I seem to recall the guy selling his modded joggler on the forum though.
<author>aaronalam</author>
<body>So, I added an internal USB stick running ubuntu desktop and liked how well it worked, I realised it would be alot better running as a handheld device.<br /><br />I customized the stand/heatsink so its flush with the unit, added a custom battery pack (powered by 4xAA 1200mAH rechargables), remolded and resprayed the back peice and now, its fully handheld.<br /><br />I'll post some pictures when I can find my damn transfer cable!</body>
<date>Thu May 27, 2010 4:03 pm</date>
>I get about an hour off 4x 1200mah
It's really simple, I bought 2 simple LED torches, both using 2x AA batteries, I removed the LED and plastic cover, attached the two together giving me space for 4xAA, soldered the connections, used the dc power cable from the original power pack and attached that to the newly built battery pack.<br /><br />I then attached the battery pack to the back of the joggler with epoxy, once dry I started to mould it with car body filler until I got the finish I wanted.<br /><br />I can write up a more detailed article if anyone would like to read it, I can cover all the mods i've done to mine with pictures
I made the first step of the work.
I soldered the joggler connector to the battaery pack containing 4AA not rechargeable and plugged all into the joggler. White screen! I am sure it's not fried because then I was able to power it up using the original ac adaptor. The mystery is why it makes this white screen. I tested with a voltimeter and the jack outputs about 5v so I think it's ok.
I suspect that your battery pack can't supply enough current. I had a similar white screen when trying to power the Joggler from a 12V to 5V DC-DC converter. It turned out to be a poor solder joint in the plug, presumably resulting in high resistance. Try checking all your connections.
Kevin
pipposanta wrote:I made the first step of the work.
I soldered the joggler connector to the battaery pack containing 4AA not rechargeable and plugged all into the joggler. White screen! I am sure it's not fried because then I was able to power it up using the original ac adaptor. The mystery is why it makes this white screen. I tested with a voltimeter and the jack outputs about 5v so I think it's ok.
If I solden the joggler's DC input connector's and external battery pack's wires in parallel connection, while using rechargable batteries what would happen when the joggler's power source is plugged in?
I'm just trying to make my mind about wiring and on/off switches. :]
I wonder how hard it would be to make the switching between batteries and joggler's external power source safe?
Yeah, I think the white screen is a lack of amps. I see the same thing when plugging in a powered hub to the side port @ 500mA.
One occasion I was attempting to power an external HDD with a Y-cable to an iPad charger, the 2.1A was almost enough to power the Joggler!! FROM THE SIDE PORT!! Without a power lead to the Joggler itself, the O2 screen was flickering and it stopped there. I haven't tried that again and I don't recommend anyone try powering the Joggler from the side port as you might kill it!!
Same here. Booting off USB sticks works fine with an unpowered hub. The Joggler running off a HDD I need to VNC into, as there's not enough juice on the external socket to power a hub and a 2.5" HDD.
I have ran mine on battery's i used an RC battery pack 4.8v@5000mah=1.5-2hours with screen dimmed, sat them in my pocket with a lead to the joggler. Id be carefull with the jogglers usb socket its power control is very bad thats why i have internaly fitted a powerd usb hub solderd to the extra internal usb points and direct power on the motherboard im able to have internal microSD reader, bluetooth module and an extra usb socket on the joggler. Everything inside and two usb sockets for kb / mouse!!
Do you have pictures of where you put the little USB hub in the Joggler?
Personally a second internal hub or USB connection with a wireless keyboard dongle would be nice. I have a small bare board USB hub that I purchased for the Asus 901A. It fit inside the Asus but ran a bit warm.
I'm thinking maybe of a custom POE style connection. Not sure though about pushing the amperage via Cat5.
- Pete
O2 Jogglers running EFI Ubuntu / Squeezeplayer
OpenPeak Voip Telephony / Zigbee tabletops hardware modded with Seabios / RTC / Ethernet ROM edits / SSD drives running XPe for automation screens
Pete got his powered up on a POE adapter supplying 2.4A. You'll get more juice out of 4 3000mAh NiMH batteries, I suspect, although I'm no expert on these things. I used to power a usb hub and connected gear from 4 AA batteries with my mobile iPad audio recording setup.
I currently have 4 Jogglers powered by one Tycon POE combo switch / POE device. They have been on 24/7 now for maybe 2-3 months now. The 48VAC power supply is ample to provide each of the four enough power.
This was my reference for power; copy and paste from Joggler Wiki.
Power Usage
- 1.24A/6.2W during startup
- 1.09A/5.4W with the clock on screen set at lowest brightness
- 1.40A/7.0W with the clock on screen set at Highest brightness
- 0.14A/0.7W in STANDBY set by performing a SYSRQ+O
I do have the screens shutting down remotely at night and basically left dim unless you touch them or some remote event triggers the brightness. Today I utilize PIR's in the rooms to trigger different screens or brightness etc.
- Pete
O2 Jogglers running EFI Ubuntu / Squeezeplayer
OpenPeak Voip Telephony / Zigbee tabletops hardware modded with Seabios / RTC / Ethernet ROM edits / SSD drives running XPe for automation screens
Do you have pictures of where you put the little USB hub in the Joggler?
Personally a second internal hub or USB connection with a wireless keyboard dongle would be nice. I have a small bare board USB hub that I purchased for the Asus 901A. It fit inside the Asus but ran a bit warm.
I'm thinking maybe of a custom POE style connection. Not sure though about pushing the amperage via Cat5.
Finaly got round to those pics! its a shame the old forum died, i had a post about what i did with loads of pics.
I started with one of these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HIGH-SPEED-4- ... 3efd59f2bb striped it apart noted all the connections and fitted it in the top right hand corner there is also a micro usb bluetooth module below the usb hub i also had a micro sd card and adapter in the lower right corner powerd through a small switch poking out the back of the unit so i could easily switch between stock and linux/droid. Power is from the motherboard and the hubs data is from the extra usb points on the motherboard, or in my case was! ive had my joggler for years its been through alot, its a mess of wires at the moment as i killed the extra ports on the motherboard and had to do a crazy soldering job to use the two data pins on the standard usb socket for the hub and wire the socket to the hub! Also is a pic of my cooling method an old laptop fan stuck on the back!
fan
hub
side view
as for batteries i did have some sucess with 1.2v 4500mah RC cells but i only ever got 2-3 hours max, the joggler is simply not built to sup power like laptops and phones its gulps it up!
I don't want to realize anything to complicated because I am not so expert in these things. So if this will work ok, otherwise... we'll at the next hack! 
