yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Ride525:
Edit: I just realized that I also forwarded this thread to Gary the first time I sent it to Asus.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] pdanders:
Except there are tons of people with BC series that are flawless outside of mediocre GPS
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] demandarin:
Damn, you made it look so easy taking apart n putting back together. Thanks for the video. I'm sure it makes others feel confident now about it seeing how easy it is. Then it just snaps back shut like it was never opened...lol. this thread is so cool n informative.

What was that blue plastic tool you used n where do they sell those at? Would radioshack have it?
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] aznmode:
On another note..I wonder if you can fix backlight issue now that we know how to open it up. Most cases something is pinching the screen.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] curreyr:
radio shack might, or search ebay for "phone pry tools"
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Doktaphex:
IPod opening tool that came free with a screen for my friend's iPhone 4 that I fixed.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] mystkrh:
Correct, i just placed a static bag over the unit, I didn't put it in a static bag :-)

AGC is Auto Gain Control its adjust the gain high at low signals and lowers the gain at high signals. If you have a strong signal with to much gain the signal will become unusable. I'm a avionics tech, I deal with radio's, gps rx's and that kinda stuff alot.

The pogo pin connection could be a problem but, but I really doubt it, they are getting a bad wrap in this whole thing. They really are not that bad of a connection as long as they compressed slightly when making contact.

The thing I worry about is the affect of the exposed signal with no shielding on the pogo pin at 1575mhz it doesn't take much to have a problem with reception.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] blinky44:
Thanks again for getting this all going, so what I here you say is when you jumpered pogo to the copper pad it did not improve anything on the main antenna. What happened when you jumpered from pogo to the soldered copper foil on that side?
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] clackity:
So you're thinking that the AGC is applying excessive gain, and therefore introducing enough noise to drop the S/N?
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] demandarin:
Thanks to both..as I've ran out for the day ;)
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] wgr73:
So guys I was able to get 16 satellites in view indoor and 18 outside. What I did was unsolder the pogo pin and solder a wire directly to the board! Check out the pictures.

Soldered to board.

Next I will try to find solder points that allow me to close the top without signal degradation. Let's see!
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] curreyr:
What firmware version were you at when you did this?

I'm also curious if the AGC is software controlled or is on chip ...

Where I'm going is it's possible that ASUS tried to compensate for the poor GPS performance by naively upping the gain. Where the poor performance could be a result of bad antenna connection and/or backplate.

mystkrh ... one test of interest would be to repeat your tests (with and without the anti static bag) but this time have the back of the prime face the repeater.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] wgr73:
Hey guys, how did you pop the bottom open? Mine isn't popping as easy and the top did and I don't want to break anything.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] clackity:
The video is a few pages back in this thread.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] wgr73:
I saw that, it was hard to see. Let me look again
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] clackity:
Some sort of slide connectors reached through the two dock connector holes.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Doktaphex:
Wow, now that took some balls. Have you opened the bottom of the Prime to give you more room to play with, or do you only have to top open?
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Lock-N-Load:
Agreed.. so many people hated on me for not glooming on to his "tear down" and review... but Anadtech said, but Anadtech said, bahhh THIS is what Anadtech should be doing. Not that softball stuff.

Gary ain't gonna say ****
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Doktaphex:
In the dock ports either side of the Prime there is a tiny little cut-out. Use a small screw-driver or similar to unlock these latches. With the screen facing you, move them to the LEFT, you will here a click when they move.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] aznmode:
I think with the prime facing you, and the 2 holes facing up, move it to the right to unlock.

http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=22109380&postcount=233
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] wgr73:
Got it, wow mine were in there really tight!!! I would've never attempted that had I not been sure.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] demandarin:
That is amazing reception. Thanks for sharing the pix as I've been saving all of the pix in this for reference of down the line I decide to do mines. Did you mess with the wifi antennae any? If so what were your results?

I think he did all that with just the top open. He is checking now to see how you opened the bottom up so easily. So those sliders slide in or out on both sides to unlock? Like if I'm holding the prime n glass facing me.

Edit: I saw the answer
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] wgr73:
Lol, theres got to be a way to fix this...I'll do whatever it takes. Can't get any worse thats for sure. :D

Yup, thanks for your video too! Yours seemed quick at the beginning. Nice job!

---------- Post added at 04:31 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:29 PM ----------

Thanks. Not yet, I want to get this gps issue first. I did connect a wire to the pogo stick and saw a pretty big increase in strength! That was without solder too!
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Doktaphex:
Nope, to the left. If you can see a small arrow, it's unlocked.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] GernBlanston:
So, ah, wouldn't ribbon cable of the proper length be able to traverse outside the metal back while maintaining connection to the antenna leads, even with the device closed? I mean, fit it through the join and close over it? Maybe shave just a hair off the seam to give a nice port for your antenna lead to get out, then you could literally laminate it to the back somehow...My other idea would involve cutting up the back and or fishing the antenna lead through, then going over the back, hole or antenna lead included, with carbon fiber to restore rigidity without sacrificing much by way of signal, weight, or overall thickness. Plus, would look cool and grip really nice if you textured it.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Doktaphex:
The most viable lead out that I can see so far is the reset pin-hole. You'd have to use a tiny wire, but from there you could attach a flat antenna and stick it on the back.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] wgr73:
Tried wifi really quick. Results were surprising! See the picture below. First line is with wires on both Aux and Primary wifi pogos, with the wires outside the case.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] aznmode:
Ok. Just based on your video it looks like you used your left hand holding the tool and moved it toward your right. But good to know its the other way around.

EDIT: looked again it looks like the video is reversed as I see your PC keyboard num keys are to the left and the asus logo on the back is reversed. Did you use a mirror to record it or your camcorder did that on its own?
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Doktaphex:
My macbook makes it a mirror image :D
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] GernBlanston:
Yawp, they sell that type of wire in red and green copper with just a tiny, tiny insulating coating over it you can scrape off at the soldered end with an exacto knife. I used it to fish a power lead for a remote switch through the chassis of a laptop that's permanently installed in the trunk of my car. You could probably get away with coming through the pinhole, running it right along the seam to length, an still pull enough signal (current carried is vanishingly small).

Edit: Did not read whole thread, was that mock antenna lead cut to the proper length? Off the top of my head, it should be in the neighborhood of 7 cm for optimal reception (I'd have to look it up), but with 18 or 19 sats, like above, you could afford to be a little off.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] aznmode:
LOL. Maybe make a note in there somewhere.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] GernBlanston:
Just looked, it's 19 cm you want, perfect to run along the width at the seam if you centered it with a few cm on either side left over.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] bex:
They are all on the take...Anand was already exposed.

---------- Post added at 07:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:59 PM ----------

Do you see his stats! Aye Caramba! This is the solution man, those SNRs are epic with the accuracy of 12.1M. Good Job! Where is Gary Key and ASUS in this thread?
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] demandarin:
Very promising results. More than doubled you speeds. Other thing would be to test your range. ERUSMAN, op who first cracked his open, with his alligator clips n wire was able to go outside, more than 50ft/17yrds. Away, Through walls n barriers, from his router and still pull full bars/maximum signal strength and pull Max speeds.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Doktaphex:
Done, also added some "fun" music.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] wgr73:
More data guys. So I've wired my gps connection to the headphone jack, close the prime and the results are below:

When I connect my headphones there is no sound degradation and the signal gets a tad better! More testing to follow! I would like optimal signal.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] demandarin:
Man, I'm just in awe from results being posted up here with wifi n gps. Damn! Seeing 18 satellites with 12ft. Accuracy is sick. I'm sure the GPS buffs are loving this thread. We might just bring back people who wrote it off for GPS alone. Not even other tablet videos of GPS had results this good.

Like they say, when there's a will, there's a way! Xda getting it done up in this mofo..lmfao
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] wgr73:
Prime closed, GPS connected to my earphone jack. Results = not the best by any means but its getting there. I will try alternate points.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Caanon:
Just popping in to say I'm watching this thread with extreme interest. :) If there seems to be a consensus on what the best approach to take is by this evening, I'll do it late tonight after work and post my results.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Pubnum:
The consensus is RMA your prime until you get what you want. Or wait for the TF300.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] -RioT-:
This looks way easier than it was to open my eeepc 1000he. Just saying...
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] aznmode:
Thank you sir and thank you for posting the video in the first place. You made it look really easy.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Erusman:
Alright guys. Just got done doing a bypass of the pogos. I soldered some

wires to the pogos directly to the wifi antenna. Did a cold reboot. snap shut.

First thing I tested was GPS, using GPS test. It sat there for 60 seconds

and I still had 0 birds in view. Took it outside and it did start to pick up

some sats but they came up slow. Must be the aluminum backplate

blocking the signal.

Wifi worked better than it did before. (lol probably because the primary

wifi antenna was now connected.) I think the secondary was the only thing

working on my prime before. I actually got 32mbs and 5mbs! Same

as all my other tablets. HOWEVER, soon as I started to walk away from

my router the signal degraded. Speedtest results went down the further

I walked away.

I took the prime outside in the same spot about 50 feet from router as I did

with the alligator clips connected the other night. I did have one bar. Instead

of full bars the other night. Speed was around 8-9mbs and 800k 1mb with

speedtest.

You can draw your own conclusions on what is going on....

Aluminum backplate is interfering with GPS and Wifi...

It works but the signal is weak.... WHY? Asus put the wifi antenna in a spot

that doesn't see its way around the aluminum backplate.

Pogo pins.. hopefully they will use soldered wires instead of pogo pins next

time. I can see these little things not connecting to copper plate so easy.

But nothing compares to the Wifi/GPS PCB (printed circuit board) flaw!

I laughed for hours after seeing how the copper etching wasn't even connected

in the PCB.

Alright well good luck everyone! I am not going to do a final mod for myself.

I usually have my tablet in a leather case all the time. So i am just going to

put some external antenna on this thing. I will post pics later of my final mod!

Probably wont be until this weekend.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Erusman:
Nice mod. Heck i might do that. Was your Left wifi antenna PCB connected?

Examine the PCB and see if you see the copper etching actually making its

way to the the antenna. Mine had a gap and wasn't even connected.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] aznmode:
Thanks for the update.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] demandarin:
We got another one on board. Good luck ..don't rush it. It seems to come apart very easily. Although the guy in video seemed to do it very fast n not slow n steady..lol he made it look so easy. We have all documentation we need right here to do it if we wanted. I'd rather wait to see final results and best solutions out there. Then tackle it if I choose. My wifi works fine and not too pressed about my GPS. But if these mods prove to greatly extend wifi range n strength, then it would be worth it.

BEST solution would be Asus stepping in and telling everyone to stop. That they've realized their mistakes and will fix everyone's tablet with new modifications at no cost to consumer. That would make a big statement to the consumers and Asus would look good in the public eye. Maybe even ramp up their sales of devices even more. It would make Asus seem not to be cold hearted towards issues affecting alot of people who own their new cutting edge device. How they treat the Prime situation could ultimately affect their future sales. If my prime was crappy n Asus didn't fix it, I'd be damned if I go out n buy another or newer Asus tablet. OG would've left a bad taste with me.

So Asus if you reading this, do what's right. This will ultimately help n grow your company even more in the long run. This could be great publicity of the prime turned around to your benefit. Its up to you if its going to stay negative or turn into something positive. Just piping out newer devices addressing the issue isn't going to fix this problem we have here!
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Pubnum:
I think it would definitely be worth cutting a hole and replacing it with a plastic cover. Or soldering a copper facet to antenna where you cut the hole, and put a copper cap on top.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Blairware:
Lets be careful out there, okay fellas?

Uh, just want to note: can you see how stressed the glass is in this pic he posted? Gorrila Glass is HARDENED glass, for scratch resistance. In my experience, and the folks I know who have broken Gorilla Glass (my wife, my son, and several freinds) , it is NOT "break resistant" Jus sayin...
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] demandarin:
Still promising results on the wifi side at least. IMO, its a deadly cocktail of all things you listed affecting the signal ultimately. I would think for your prime, with mod n case shut, to still pick up signal from 50ft/17yrds away sounds good. Cuz you are outside through walls n barriers n all. 50ft/17yrds. Sounds pretty far away from the source. Does the distance seem far to you or can your other devices pick up signal that far or pull better speeds?

At least we know its benefitting wifi strength n range vs. Stock setup.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] junrider:
hmmm... if an external antenna is needed. Maybe instead of using the headset jack socket. Maybe buy another headset jack socket and drilling a hole and with some glue or epoxy and tap the antenna there. At least if you have the leather case you can conceal the wire in the around the case. Or how about modding a flex ribbon and having that attached to antenna and the outer part can be colored and stuck on the back of the prime.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] wgr73:
Nope, same as yours dude. Crazy to see that these were like that!
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Lock-N-Load:
Yeah, I was wondering about a thin flex ribbon between the case and glass when closed.. but maybe tolerance is to tight to sandwich that in? Something that is (1) more surface area and (2) more exposed to outside of case as it seems the headphone jack might be to small an area and you cant have a thick gauge wire hanging out.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] junrider:
The flex ribbon mod would be the cleanest and safest mod for the prime and relatively easy.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] dpwhitty11:
Anyone thought about using a VERY small gauge wire to solder to the gps point, run it outside the prime (from headphone jack, reset hole, or mic hole), then place it in the little notch that goes around the entirety of the back?

If I attempt this, I'll either do this or run it outside and make a small flat fractal in the top left/right/whatever corner.

Easiest yes, cleanest maybe. If there isn't enough space for the ribbon cable to fit through and have the Prime seal completely, a bit (a teeny tiny bit) of the Prime will have to be shaved off.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Blairware:
I guess Demamdarin isn't so pleased with these results. Kind of puts the issues firmly in no mans land, since it is not specifically the Pogo's though they are a huge contributor to the issue, and the backplate seems to have a LOT of influence. We appear to have a 3 headed monster: Pogo Pins suck, PCN for some Wifi antenna look to be defective or poorly spec'ed. And the freakin Backplate kills RF sensitivity. Ugh. seems that mods will help, but what I want to see is what mods ASUS has in store, because I don't care HOW EASY it is to crack open my tablet, I will leave that for the more adventurous.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Pubnum:
I agree completely. This is a great find, puts Asus somewhat on their heels, but it doesn't change the game. We're still stuck...its like "Great, what do we do now?"

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1477841
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Doktaphex:
Little GPS test with comedy antenna - the point is valid though.

So I've been making different antenna all day, but what I hadn't done was just sit the antenna in the open case whilst testing, I decided to do that. Results here:

[YOUTUBE]vqIdJLID7Uo[/YOUTUBE]

As you can see, even with the antenna just sitting there in the case the connection is useless, same happens when connected to WiFi antenna, in the case, nothing much, move it out to the side, excellent connection in dB.

My current thought is to somehow stick an antenna where the speaker grill is already. At least that would save busting things up too much.

EDIT: I've had a few beers, hence the slurring.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Lock-N-Load:
Beers my ass... you been smoking :)

If just setting in on the back plate with free open space garbles the signal, little holes in the speaker grill aren't gonna do **** don't you think?
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Doktaphex:
I don't smoke, at least nothing other than tobacco. ;)

I'm just thinking that that would possibly help as it seems to be what apple did for the ipad 2. You never know, maybe they were on to something, much as I hate to say it.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Caanon:
I'll keep ya posted! :)

On the note of ASUS coming out and saying it... they know about it. They know it's flawed. But they won't do anything about the purchases for two reasons:

1. Yes, it'd cost them a lot of money to ship tablets back and forth to customers. But that'd pale in comparison to the labor costs for the mods. If they shipped 500k tablets and even a scant 20k people return for the recall, that's 20k units you have to fix. If the fix takes 5 minutes and you do them constantly, without stopping, without failing once, it'd take ~1650 man hours. If you assume $10 an hour (since they can't realistically send it overseas to be fixed), shipping costs of $15 per tablet (there and back), and a materials fix cost of $5, that's a whopping $400k+ right off their bottom line right there. And these are all conservative figures too. If 20% of Prime owners participate in the recall and it takes 10 mins per, that shoots up to $2.1m!

2. Legally they can't. If they come out on the record and say "Yeah, it's flawed. We know.", that's a legal mea culpa and a huge flurry of lawsuits would head their way; class-action, false advertising and the like.

So, in short, don't count on it.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Blairware:
Talk softly and carry an appropriately sized stick

Uh, I don't think GPS is dependent on how LONG the antenna is (such a guy way of thinking, LOL!) but on whether it is the correct length. The attached photo is my GPS antenna from my Inspire 4G - a full ALUMINUM BODY design, but hey! Look at those PLASTIC panels for the 2 antennas -- one on the bottom, and another on the side for the GPS> They attach not with Pogo Pins but with gold plated spring clips, a very similar concept. Looks like Asus copied others in most things, but messed up on critical areas.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Lock-N-Load:
Then it seems like some sort of ribbon antenna at that location would be better as that could use many holes versus just one.

Really though, in the end, it seems if someone wanted to get really hardcore, they could dremel a slice out of the back that is tall yet narrow, go to home depot and get some plexiglass, sand it down to obscure the view into the device, and epoxy that in place and place the wire into that as a window. Totally possible IF you wanted to kick it up a few levels now that the hard work is done and shows an antenna wire can hep. Essentially steal Apples' idea but keep it simple and make it home grown.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Ride525:
1. You estimates are probably low. But, even if it cost $1 million, it might be money worth spending. Good reputation for Asus. Further sales increases. Etc.

2. They can say it legally. They can wait (as you suggest) and still have class action lawsuits. Or they can take action now and look much better, and same millions of dollars in legal costs. And save some reputation as well.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Doktaphex:
Ain't gonna be me. :D

If someone does do this though, every credit to them and their balls. :D

I did just try sticking the antenna under the speaker and still no worky. :(
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] wgr73:
Try poking the wire thru the hole a little. Then trim it flush
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] aznmode:
This is like superman trapped in a lead container. lol

Is it possible that your wire is physically touching the aluminum back so the signal degrades? What if there was something in between it and the aluminum like electrical tape? I dont know just throwing that out.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] junrider:
try unraveling the wire towards the whole inner border of the prime, maybe itll the results are better.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] bex:
Looks like an RF window is a must (or sell TF201 for TF300). Have to give credit to those that had the balls to open their units and put solder via the iron to the electronics! BIG THUMBS UP GUYS!
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Blairware:
A perfect Mod!

I think this is the way to go. Anyone want to try making one just like this? (attached)
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Doktaphex:
My latest idea is running a wire the entire way round the Prime, basically where the screen sits in the case, so far so good. I have a loop of wire attached to the GPS pogo pin. In theory, it could replace that black plastic surround that's about 1 mm thick on the screen.

It was a pain in the ass to install as a quick dirty mod, but doing it properly with tape and such like would make it a breeze. So far it's looking pretty good.