Updated: USB 3 on motherboard / Hack on No Go/ HP Stream 7 Teardown Photos

[Mikek400]

Sorry if this is off-topic,
I don't really know where to post this.

I have a windows tablet pc (HP Stream 7) which only has a single micro-usb port (USB 2.0) on the outside.

It shows in device manager as well as in USBview.exe (from SysInternals) that it has 7 ports on the xHCI USB 3.0 Root Hub. (See Attachment below) The only port connected to anything is port 2 (which I have an external USB hub attached to) 

The rest of the ports are not wired to anything. Assuming there are pins on the chip but no traces going anywhere.

It uses a Intel Bay Trail processor / SOC. The datasheet from intel also says the chipset supports USB 3.0


I was wondering if anyone had any advice on tracking down the USB 3.0 on the motherboard.  If possible I would like to hack a USB 3.0 connector into the motherboard.

Will post motherboard pictures / and chip numbers later.

Thanks in Advance.

Mike

[technix]

Difficult.

The USB 3.0 pins are probably deep buried within the BGA, and if HP decided against exporting it you may not even find a solderable track.

Best case scenario, swap out the USB 2.0 socket with a 3.0 one if they decided to export the pins but decided against populating it with a USB 3.0 socket.

[miguelvp]

Not sure if this will give you full USB 3.0 but here is what someone did:

http://targusblog.com/2014/11/25/how-to-turn-a-99-tablet-into-a-workstation/

He used a bundle that had the keyboard/mouse but they have others:
http://targus.com/us/docking-stations

The author mentions that he preferred the ACP71USZ

Also, and I have not tested it or look for reviews in detail, there are other USB Docking Stations like this one:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00OVDE0GC

There might be many others.

I have a Dell Venue 8 Pro, so I've been thinking about this, but haven't done it yet and I don't think I will anytime soon.

[Mikek400]

Thanks for the replies.

>technix
It seems that there are no USB 3 traces and it was designed with only USB 2.0 in mind.
Not only that but the traces for the USB 2 run on an inner layer of the motherboard until they get near the port.    Too bad
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>miguelvp
I have actually built my own USB hub that can charge the unit and give me some usb ports to use at the same time.
All you need to do is connect the +/- 5V  lines to a 5VDC supply and then put a switch in to short the data lines so when you plug it into the tablet it goes into charge mode. Then flip the switch, it unshorts the data lines and re-connects them to the hub. Really simple. Figured it out messing around with my tablet.
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Well I tore it down and here are the photos and chip part numbers.

It does have some interesting test points on the back side of the motherboard.

There isn't really much to the thing.

To the left it has an AXP288 which appears to be some charge controller.
It has the ATOM CPU SR1UD
A WINBOND 25064fw10
Some samsung RAM
a samsung Flash chip
and A realtec ALC5640
Wifi / Bluetooth must be under the soldered shielding.

[Mikek400]

More Pics

Interesting Test Points

UART3RX / UART3TX

I2C_1SDA
I2C_SOL

Mic_P *microphone
Mic_N 

VolDown / VolUp / PWR *switches

LED    There are no LEDS on this unit

Wakeup_Out

VCCA_PWROK

PLTRST_N

XDP_H_TD0   /  XDP_H_TD1

Factory_Mode  *Sounds interesting

XUP_H_TCK

XDP_H_TMS
XDP_H_TRST_N

PMC_CORE_PWROK

PMU_SLP_SOIX_N

XDP_H_PREQ_n

SUSPWRDNACK

XDP_H_PRDY_N

XDP_HPREQ_N

AB17
AA17

DRAM_PWROK



 

[wraper]

No way you will get usb 3.0 out of this thing.

[Mikek400]

>Wraper

Yeah I can see that now I have it apart on my desk.
I was hoping that the charge controller was a southbridge or something before I checked the part number.
Its fine pitch but not BGA so you could potentially solder some wires onto it.

[Mikek400]

Any idea what this unpopulated connector might be?

[SeanB]

Mini HDMI?

[ivan747]

Is there anything on the other side? I own a Stream 7 too. I'd like to get a good keyboard+mouse solutio for it. Your USB hub sounds interesting, did you make a PCB for it?

I want to mod a replaceable battery.

[M. András]

little further behind the usb connector there is 4 extra pads 2 has differential pairs going to it, whas that for a longer usb socket? or a strange usb 3 socket?

[miguelvp]

little further behind the usb connector there is 4 extra pads 2 has differential pairs going to it, whas that for a longer usb socket? or a strange usb 3 socket?

4G option with SIM card support.

Link to Stream 8 teardown but they look very similar inside:

http://goughlui.com/2015/01/28/review-teardown-hp-stream-8-tablet-intel-z3735gwindows-8-1-wbing/

[Mikek400]

Is there anything on the other side? I own a Stream 7 too. I'd like to get a good keyboard+mouse solutio for it. Your USB hub sounds interesting, did you make a PCB for it?


I want to mod a replaceable battery.

I'm not sure if there is anything on the top side of the PCB. It is under a metal plate that is bonded to the PCB with some glue or something. Doesn't look like there is.  You can see the bottom side in the second set of pictures.

Removable battery should be really easy. The battery is just held down with double sided tape, and you can unplug it from the connector on the motherboard.

I didn't make a board for the usb hub but it is pretty simple..
Put the switch in charge mode first, plug the tablet in, then flip to data mode and it will be charging and allow you to use the USB port for data.

Check out the diagram below.

Pics below of the USB hub and the 3A charger. On the hub the standard USB A connector I cut the data lines so the only thing connected is power.  Got a 3A power adapter at the junk store and cut the barrel connector off and put a female USB connector on. Now its like a mini Laptop adapter.

[amyk]

I hate it when motherboard designers do this... would it really have costed much more to route the traces to as many ports as the chipset supports?

It really has seven ports and only one is usable?

[miguelvp]

It's designed to be a cheap tablet that has to fit a small form factor, why would they route the full chip when it's not going to be used?

That would entail debugging functionality that wont be present anyways.

As for the USB 3.0 is the differential engine (Phy) built into the SoC?

[Mikek400]

As for the USB 3.0 is the differential engine (Phy) built into the SoC?

I'm not sure, but I think it is, due to the lack of other chips. Im not really sure how it all works.

Here is a block diagram *see picture in attachment* 

and a link to the data sheet  *Block Diagram is on Pg 18*
https://www-ssl.intel.com/content/www/us/en/processors/atom/atom-z36xxx-z37xxx-datasheet-vol-1.html

[amyk]

After looking at the datasheet, I'll say that your SoC doesn't even support it. See page 30. You have a Z3735G which has no USB 3 controller and only 2 USB 2.0 host controllers. The package physically doesn't have the pins for it.

The fact that 7 ports show up in software is misleading and probably a bug.

It reminds me of some of the things mentioned here: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/microcontrollers/abysmal-microchip-experience/

[ivan747]

We should try to fix the headphone noise problem. When you connect headphones you can actually hear some EMI coming, which changes tone when you touch the screen. I believe it is a grounding issue. I'd like to fix it.

[Mikek400]

We should try to fix the headphone noise problem. When you connect headphones you can actually hear some EMI coming, which changes tone when you touch the screen. I believe it is a grounding issue. I'd like to fix it.

I was thinking about this the other day.

Looking at the stream 8 pics, it seems they put some copper tape over chip on the PCB flex going to the touch panel. Seems likely the source of the interference since the Realtec Audio chip is near there on the motherboard.

Will try when I get some time.

[ivan747]

We should try to fix the headphone noise problem. When you connect headphones you can actually hear some EMI coming, which changes tone when you touch the screen. I believe it is a grounding issue. I'd like to fix it.

I was thinking about this the other day.

Looking at the stream 8 pics, it seems they put some copper tape over chip on the PCB flex going to the touch panel. Seems likely the source of the interference since the Realtec Audio chip is near there on the motherboard.

Will try when I get some time.

And did they do this with the Stream 7? I haven't had the time to take it apart.

[Mikek400]

No there isn't any shielding on the Stream 7, or at least mine doesn't have any.

I have also wondered if the CPU would benefit from a bit more of a heat sink.  It uses a very very thin piece of steel for a heat sink.

[ivan747]

No there isn't any shielding on the Stream 7, or at least mine doesn't have any.

I have also wondered if the CPU would benefit from a bit more of a heat sink.  It uses a very very thin piece of steel for a heat sink.

It gets a bit hot but I don't think it's reaching it's thermal limit. The thermal limit can be measured with programs easily. I'll look into it.

[videogame57]

Any idea what this unpopulated connector might be?

It looks like SATA, but SATA has 7 pins not 6.
Definitely not HDMI though.

Edit: It's entirely possible it is SATA since 2 of the 7 pins are redundant grounds. Don't see any reference to a SATA controller on the Stream though.

Edit 2: Might also be related to the COM port...