[daexpression]

Hi just curious about the 4G release...the main difference is the 4G SIM modem + the external casing right?...or is there even a different motherboard design inside?

[rwhitby]

Hi just curious about the 4G release...the main difference is the 4G SIM modem + the external casing right?...or is there even a different motherboard design inside?

The CPU is different, for a start.

-- Rod

[gamer765]

Just a small question, does WiFi automatically shut off for you guys after a long period of time? I have not encountered this behavior on my WiFi TouchPad. I have checked to make sure that the WiFi settings were set to keep WiFi on while the TouchPad sleeps, yet WiFi automatically goes to off sometimes.

[bulls96]

Just a small question, does WiFi automatically shut off for you guys after a long period of time? I have not encountered this behavior on my WiFi TouchPad. I have checked to make sure that the WiFi settings were set to keep WiFi on while the TouchPad sleeps, yet WiFi automatically goes to off sometimes.

not with me.

[hi-phile]

Just got off the phone with HP WebOS Support. My HP SR# is 1-511170561234 and was told that these are not supported. I called them because I have the problem with the device not charging and not able to turn on. We went through some troubleshooting steps (normally charge $14.95) but it was waived. I asked why this unit is not covered under warranty, and was told because they were never sold via the regular market. This unit was purchased at the HP Palm Store and was working great for a about 4 months, until one day it didn't power on. The charger is working, as it does charge my 64GB Touchpad. I went through all the various steps to reset the unit (hold power and the center button) after having the charger plugged in for many hours also charger doesn't get hot like it does when charging the 64GB.

What can I do? I'm thinking of opening the unit up to check the battery.

[renater]

Tried to claim my warranty on the TP 4g and got it all the way to US from New Zealand. At second thoughts HP came back that they only provide software support but no hardware for the TP 4g. There are apparently no spare parts. Even when offered to pay for swapping the speakers, I got the firm, "we don't service TP 4g at all".
My TP has a problem with the speakers since it came out of the box. One doesn't work at all, the other produces some low pitch screeching noise, but does produce good sound above that. Quiet different from the 'soft' sound problems others have and which can be fixed with patches or doctoring. I doctored mine but to no avail. My question is; Is there anyone in the US repairing TPs and has access to spare loudspeakers and is able to swap them in a TP 4g without damaging the backcover and some good reference and experience? Impossible mission or ??? Any tips welcome.

[TopTongueBarry]

Tried to claim my warranty on the TP 4g and got it all the way to US from New Zealand. At second thoughts HP came back that they only provide software support but no hardware for the TP 4g. There are apparently no spare parts. Even when offered to pay for swapping the speakers, I got the firm, "we don't service TP 4g at all".
My TP has a problem with the speakers since it came out of the box. One doesn't work at all, the other produces some low pitch screeching noise, but does produce good sound above that. Quiet different from the 'soft' sound problems others have and which can be fixed with patches or doctoring. I doctored mine but to no avail. My question is; Is there anyone in the US repairing TPs and has access to spare loudspeakers and is able to swap them in a TP 4g without damaging the backcover and some good reference and experience? Impossible mission or ??? Any tips welcome.

I've repaired several, and opened up a few more. Opening up these things is not one of my favorite tasks, so it's not cheap to get me to agree to do it.

I do have a set of spare speakers I can sell you if you want to embark on the task yourself, but want to caution you your speakers may not need to be replaced. It may be as simple as re-seating the speaker connector onto the main board. This fixes many of the 4G's sound issues. The speaker wire is tucked under the LCD Video cable, and one of the Wi-Fi antenna wires, and connects to the main board right next to it.

Since you have problems with both speakers, I would tend to believe this is the problem rather than bad speakers. Furthermore, the low pitch screeching noise from one of them while the other is silent, lends some credence to the possibility it's a loose connector or even may be a problem with the audio processor on the main board.

If it were mine or I was repairing it, I'd open it up and reseat the speaker connector onto the main board before replacing the speakers.

TTB

[TopTongueBarry]

Just got off the phone with HP WebOS Support. My HP SR# is 1-511170561234 and was told that these are not supported. I called them because I have the problem with the device not charging and not able to turn on. We went through some troubleshooting steps (normally charge $14.95) but it was waived. I asked why this unit is not covered under warranty, and was told because they were never sold via the regular market. This unit was purchased at the HP Palm Store and was working great for a about 4 months, until one day it didn't power on. The charger is working, as it does charge my 64GB Touchpad. I went through all the various steps to reset the unit (hold power and the center button) after having the charger plugged in for many hours also charger doesn't get hot like it does when charging the 64GB.

What can I do? I'm thinking of opening the unit up to check the battery.

I've seen this problem, and not only on the TP 4G's but all of them. You are correct, it's likely your battery or the connection between the battery and the main board. These devices won't turn on or charge when theres any problem with the battery. The cable sits underneith the main board near the USB board and near the sim card slot on the 4G's. I've even seen one of these where the battery cable was lying loose under the main board right out of the box. How's that for QA?

If it isn't the battery connector and you determine the battery is bad, they are available on eBay. Price isn''t lightweight either. $140 ea

TTB

[TopTongueBarry]

Hi just curious about the 4G release...the main difference is the 4G SIM modem + the external casing right?...or is there even a different motherboard design inside?

Different motherboard inside. it's a one of a kind with 32 GB on board. There were a few made with 64GB as prototypes, but not production manufactured for retail sale..

TTB

[TopTongueBarry]

Hello 3/4G TouchPad and Go Owners,

The Splashtop 3/4G Patch is done and tested on 3.0.1 to 3.0.5! Now you can connect without the "no WiFi network detected error".

To get the patch goto:
WackWare - Patches

Cheers,

You are da man Todd, Da TP4G man!

P.S. You really do deserve a "GO".

[gamer765]

Hey TTB, do you have any pictures of the inside of the TP 4G? I would like a general idea of what it is like inside. Also about these clips, Are they really that easy to break? I'm adventurous enough to dismantle my TP 4G. (I've disassembled iPhones, MacBooks, etc.)
Also, I managed to catch my TP 4G in action when it disables my WiFi. What actually happens is that the TouchPad 4G automatically puts itself in Airplane mode (shutting off WiFi/Bluetooth) for approximately 1-2 seconds, disables airplane mode and WiFi remains off. Any clue why that happens? I can live with it since it happens about 3 times a week and when I'm not using it (night time).

[renater]

I've repaired several, and opened up a few more. Opening up these things is not one of my favorite tasks, so it's not cheap to get me to agree to do it.

TTB

Thanks for your valuable and insightful remote analyses of the potential root cause. Just PM'd you.

Renate

[TopTongueBarry]

Hey TTB, do you have any pictures of the inside of the TP 4G? I would like a general idea of what it is like inside. Also about these clips, Are they really that easy to break? I'm adventurous enough to dismantle my TP 4G. (I've disassembled iPhones, MacBooks, etc.)
Also, I managed to catch my TP 4G in action when it disables my WiFi. What actually happens is that the TouchPad 4G automatically puts itself in Airplane mode (shutting off WiFi/Bluetooth) for approximately 1-2 seconds, disables airplane mode and WiFi remains off. Any clue why that happens? I can live with it since it happens about 3 times a week and when I'm not using it (night time).

What do you mean by "clips"? As for the Wi-Fi problem, I bought a "Not working Parts only" TP 4G on eBay a couple months back with exactly the same problem as you detail thinking I could fix and resell the device. Not so. The problem gradually got worse until WiFi completely failed. Doctoring it didn't help either. The Wi-Fi chip is on the main board, so I ended up with a TP4G main board that doesn't have Wi-Fi and used the rest of the parts to repair one that had been driven over by a car.

Per your request, here's a photo of the innards of a TP 4G. The only photo I have is of the one driven over by a car (before it was eventually repaired).



Anyone want to take a guess what device this next screen capture came from?



See this post to find out:

http://forums.webosnation.com/hp-touchpad/310841-further-proof-hp-leo-grossly-mismanaged-things-hitting-panic-button-after-barely-4.html#post3289797

TTB

[gamer765]

By clips I meant the clips holding the screen onto the plastic casing. I read that they break rather easily. As for my WiFi problem, I guess I might as well sell my TP 4G for whatever value it may have now than end up with a TP 4G with no WiFi. Thanks for the photo, I'll see what I come up with.

[renater]

How does the TP 4g behave on the LTE network in comparison to GO?
Here in NZ there are finally some talks from Vodafone and Telecom about rolling out LTE late 2013. Would be nice to know what to expect with TP 4g. Still on 'slow' 3G.
On the other hand, I guess I would have another webOS1.0 or higher powered 4g tablet in my hands by that time. Maybe just for others who are lucky to get access to lte networks sooner.

[TopTongueBarry]

How does the TP 4g behave on the LTE network in comparison to GO?
Here in NZ there are finally some talks from Vodafone and Telecom about rolling out LTE late 2013. Would be nice to know what to expect with TP 4g. Still on 'slow' 3G.
On the other hand, I guess I would have another webOS1.0 or higher powered 4g tablet in my hands by that time. Maybe just for others who are lucky to get access to lte networks sooner.

Have no idea. Never seen a TP 4G with a Sierra LTE module but if you buy one and swap the Ericsson data card in your TP 3/4G with the Sierra LTE module let us know how it performs. Btw you may need to put the Sierra module into a PCI express slot on a windows 7 laptop first to flash it . I don't think there's a webOS tar file needed to flash it using pmmodemupdater since the Go was never released.

As for the TP4G with the Ericsson data card performance on the new LTE network, nothings changed same performance as before. It uses the parallel hspa+ 3G enhanced backhaul frequency bands, not the LTE bands so I wouldn't expect to see any difference in performance

[renater]

Have no idea. Never seen a TP 4G with a Sierra LTE module but if you buy one and swap the Ericsson data card in your TP 3/4G with the Sierra LTE module let us know how it performs. Btw you may need to put the Sierra module into a PCI express slot on a windows 7 laptop first to flash it . I don't think there's a webOS tar file needed to flash it using pmmodemupdater since the Go was never released.

As for the TP4G with the Ericsson data card performance on the new LTE network, nothings changed same performance as before. It uses the parallel hspa+ 3G enhanced backhaul frequency bands, not the LTE bands so I wouldn't expect to see any difference in performance

Interesting to know that the TP 4g radio module could be swapped if you're adventurous enough. Might have asked someone to swap it if LTE would have been available in New Zealand. Out of curiosity, do they work in the 700Mhz band as that is what they're thinking in NZ (old analogue tv spectrum) or only on 1800Mhz and up?

[cbosdell]

Different motherboard inside. it's a one of a kind with 32 GB on board. There were a few made with 64GB as prototypes, but not production manufactured for retail sale..

TTB

Is there anyway I could open up my White 64GB and swap the memory out of that to replace the 32GB in my 4G? That's my one complaint about the 4G is that I am running out of memory. Thanks for your answer!

[TopTongueBarry]

Is there anyway I could open up my White 64GB and swap the memory out of that to replace the 32GB in my 4G? That's my one complaint about the 4G is that I am running out of memory. Thanks for your answer!

No. as I said, they are different main boards and the flash memory is not removable.

In a nutshell, heres how it is:
The main boards look identical in the 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB Wi-Fi models. The difference of course is the amount of on-board non-removable flash memory.

The TP 4G has a completely different main board design with a pci express slot for the data card. To support this different main board, the mounting base inside the case and the ribbon cable from the power button/volume rocker to the main board are different than the ones used in the Wi-Fi models. Additionally, the USB board inside the TP 4G has a different part number than the USB board found in the wi-fi models, however, I've swapped them and not noticed any difference in operability. Of course there's additional antennas inside the TP 4G to support 3G/4G and GPS. The rest of the parts, speakers, digitizer board, battery, LCD, exterior case are common.

One thing I've wanted to eventually do is to take the mounting base for the main board of a 4G and put it and the main board with data card into a white case from a 64GB TP, but have yet to find anyone selling a white TP 64GB device in not working condition so I could take the white case off of it and use it to make a one of a kind White TP4G.

[bable]

One thing I've wanted to eventually do is to take the mounting base for the main board of a 4G and put it and the main board with data card into a white case from a 64GB TP, but have yet to find anyone selling a white TP 64GB device in not working condition so I could take the white case off of it and use it to make a one of a kind White TP4G.

I'll trade you a dead panda for a dead unicorn. These adorable nicknames are making this forum sound like a brutal fantasy land... Do you know of any sites with HD photos of 4g internals? This semester I wanted to play around with trying and probably failing to attach a gps/4g module to a panda board but I haven't been able to find any excellent photos or dead units to compare or salvage from.