yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] RipplingHurst:
This last video made me think that its some sort of magnetic field generated by the back plate thats interfering. After all, the opening was large enough, and at the top, for the signals to come, it seems, but since the wires were close to touching the back, so no go...

Maybe its just the proximity to the wifi antenna, and that why when routed to the headphone jack it worked better even close (although not perfect). I wonder if it would get better or worse with a jack acrually connected.

Another way could be routing the antenna to the dock connector or both dock supports (metal).
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] dpwhitty11:
I posted about someone doing this a page or so back. :p

Though instead of running it around the front of the screen like that, my idea was to lay it in the notch that goes around the back cover. But I'm not sure if being in contact with the back cover will degrade the signal or not.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Doktaphex:
That notch is exactly where I'm running it. :D

All of a sudden though, from having good birds in view I've got nothing. :(
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] dpwhitty11:
:(

Is that while it's in the notch?

Also, pix? :D
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] yuki2012:
I am a new here

Hello,everyone.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Caanon:
doktaphex: AGPS get cleared somehow?
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] demandarin:
I'm very satisfied with results overall. Its a combo of several issues Asus needs to address. I'm not so much worried about who's right or wrong anymore. Its more about trying to finally find a possible solution and put closure on this whole fiasco. Both sides know there are issues, both sides realize the others theory or whatever could be a real possibility. So in all, OG was helpful to all. It lead to this thread being created and all the amazing things members up here have done with patience n determination. No sense in fighting each other over who is right or wrong. Better for everyone to come to a common ground n fight the real culprit of this fiasco, Asus. Having different sides n thoughts or whatever will benefit everything as a whole. Individuality is a great thing. Still optimistic a good solution will come from this thread. Just because we may have hit one or two hurdles doesn't mean give up. We keep pressing on. This thread is starting to gain traction with tech sites. This thread might be the tipping point to make Asus finally buckle n come to their senses n do what's right.

I felt like a coach giving a halftime rally speech since we down in the score. Asus 20 Consumer 7. But we can come back after the half even stronger n still win ;) regardless of what happens, we know we did our best to make a difference.

Don't wanna see no one crying now after reading this..lmfao

---------- Post added at 10:03 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:58 PM ----------

I love your part at the end where you say "I guess it is the case...F#&?!" Lol classic
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] jimh1943:
Agreed we have multiple issues but some of us have great wifi signals "with the back on"...and I can even pick up on average 12 satellites -- indoors. Fix antenna pcb's and get the pogo's to make contact with the antenna pcb's. Doesn't this fix all known "hardware" problems - relative to those units that work? My Prime does work a little better with the screen facing router but too little to make any functional difference - maybe 3 or 4 db. I am just suggesting that the case could be way down the list of negative contributors
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] demandarin:
True. As the ipad1 had superior wifi to ipad2. Once ipad2 dropped, by it being so thin, they has to relocate the antennae. So they choose to put it near speaker grill. Although not as good as ipad1 reception, it was good enough. I know the Ipad speaker grille opening is alot larger if its the same like my ipad1.

I want to see also how wifi is affected with new mods and the case open n closed. Or like how you did in your video at least. Seems as if we getting further along and better results on the wifi regardless of backplate. Better than no improvements at all for GPS or wifi.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Doktaphex:
It was whilst it was in the notch, here is a vid of it indoors, where I used to get nothing , with my loop antenna.

In the vid the antenna is not in the Prime, as I was trying to figure out was was going on with it's erratic behaviour.

I also feel that I should mention that all my antennas so far have been constructed from an old USB cable that I sliced down the length of with an exacto blade (in keeping with the thread title, really it was a scalpel) and then I've just been playing with different lengths, loops, twisted combobulated nonsenses, and other things.

Anyway, here is video :D :

[YOUTUBE]amm_5x-x6mc[/YOUTUBE]
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] westcoastgeek:
Has anyone with a so called "perfect" prime opened their case? I wouldn't want to if mine was working great but if someone did they could tell us what their board connections look like. Maybe I missed this already. So many posts which is awesome. Kudos to all of you!
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] micaman:
OK now watching that video (thanks by the way) i have to return to my initial theory that it must be the aluminum case that is causing an electrical interference with the antenna an not just blocking the signal. If the degraded signal was solely caused due to the antenna just sitting in the aluminum backing why did the signal improve whilst it was sitting on the keyboard which is also made of aluminum?
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] demandarin:
OK...lol hello to u2:confused:
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Doktaphex:
Agreed, hello to this wonderfully bizarre random stranger. :D
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] demandarin:
This is true also and what is really throwing everything off. Why some peoples wireless still perform well vs. Those who don't. Although the working ones are using same backplate. Nailing this would be beneficial also. Some have never seen a satellite ever while others can easily pick up 12 or more with no mods.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] dpwhitty11:
Well damn... I'll have to find some way to make that work then.

I think I'm for sure going to do this. I'm like, 80% sure.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Doktaphex:
Mine had no issues with WiFi, and it could receive GPS about as well as the best of 'em. I was bored and I'm not back at UNI until Monday, so what better way to while away the hours than to potentially destroy something that costs a lot of money.

Happily, it turned out that actually this is easy to open and it's a lot of fun messing around with it.

:D
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] briderx:
So, yeah, since checking this thread out last night, it's jumped up like 14 pages.. I don't know if this is mentioned, but is there anything else that the prime could be using the conducting of the case for electricity? Like screen? Bluetooth? Anything else? Cause, it doesn't make sense that when something is just resting on the case, GPS drops to 0, but when moved a hair outside the case, it's fine. Unless the interference is caused by something grounded to the case.. ALSO, does the signal change (for the better?) when it's in your hand, rather than sitting on the table?
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Doktaphex:
Just be sure to un-clip the latches at the bottom of the unit. First time it'll be a bit stiff, but give it a little squeeze as you do it and they'll un-clip just fine. :cool:

Sorry, my Prime is all sealed up again as I'm off to bed, I'll bust it back open in the morning after seeing what new developments have arisen.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] micaman:
Can one of you with an open prime try to connect a piece of coaxial cable and try to use that as an antenna and sit it inside the tablet aluminum backing? Whilst its open of coarse as it too thick to close it up.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] demandarin:
YEAH! lol. You have a really good point. If metal casing was the primary issue, it should have degraded on top of metal keyboard also.

Good catch
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] dpwhitty11:
Could you PM me (so I don't have to hunt around in here) and explain that a bit more to me? I know that there are protective pins down there to show if the device has been tampered with or not, but I'm not too sure of where exactly they are or what to do to them.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Doktaphex:
My guess is that it's the fact that the case is a GROUND for the whole device. Maybe if I had put some shielding behind the antenna it would have worked, but I've been drinking a lot, and so never even thought of it. I'll try it in the morning. :D
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] benefit14snake:
I appreciate how you operate.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] demandarin:
Its in his video he posted. The 2 notches on the bottom of prime for keyboard dock. Inside each one is a tiny hole or whatever. You insert your thin tool in each one and slide it to the left. You will likely hear a clicking sound or something confirming it unlatched. They may be tight at first but add a little more pressure n you'll get it. Once unlatched, you should see a tiny arrow there or something. Then for closing it, close top half first, then bottom. Then insert tool into holes and slide each one to the right to lock it back. After that unlocking the bottom portion should be alot easier.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Doktaphex:
Check the video, it's super easy.

Basically, if the screen is facing you and the dock ports are facing the sky, you should be able to see two small holes inside the dock ports. Now stick a tiny screwdriver in them and slide to the LEFT. You should hear a satisfying click, and also now see an arrow-head in each dock port.

If all this works then you are good. When taking the device apart, start at the top and work around. You have to put more force into it than you feel comfortable with but be careful and precise with your force. Slowly ease up the corners (This is where the tape is) and also the lower sides.

The strongest piece of tape is the one on the docking port, just ease the device left and right, slowly rocking it off it's bed, it will come away, it just doesn't want to.

If you've followed this then you should now have a happy Prime in two pieces, with everything intact for it's celebratory closing time.

:D

P.S. Be gentle, it's the name of the game, and women love it. :D

[YOUTUBE]BNsrK6P9QvI[/YOUTUBE]
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] opentoe:
From all that I read, replace the aluminum rear plate and you'll get normal reception. I wanna grab that TF700 and rip off that back panel with the plastic top on it.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] dpwhitty11:
I watched the video, but wasn't able to make much out of it. I took a look and see the holes, now all I need is a tool to work them with.

Oh, I'm more than experience there, won't be a problem. ;)
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Doktaphex:
This would be so easy too.......

.... if it wasn't for the fact that every single part of the Prime is attached to the back panel, apart from the screen and rubbish antennas of course.... :D

[YOUTUBE]RA06Z5e1ZFc[/YOUTUBE]
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] demandarin:
As far as GPS goes then probably. I'm still anxious to see testing on this new model to actual show n prove how much better reception is. StRENGTH, STABILITY, AND RANGE WISE. IF there is any at all. ;)
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] lp_stealth:
I think you have something thats also what i was thinking. It seems the wroking ones are have either a more or less grounded back providing less interference. I dont know much about RF signals and glass but i would imagine that if the back wasnt providing so much interference the signal should pass through the front alright.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] briderx:
Well, the idea that it being in your hand as opposed to sitting on a desk is that you'd essentially be grounding the Prime. Whereas, he has it sitting on the table, with nothing to conduct it. Maybe we should be going back through the teardowns and pinpoint what is connected to the back that's causing the interference..

Edit: Also, there so far (haven't been able to fully keep up) hasn't been ANY explaination for why the bluetooth causes wifi dropouts. Maybe wrap something on the bottom side of the wifi/bluetooth/gps pcb and see if maybe the bluetooth sending/receiving data is causing the back plate interference. I honestly don't think it's due to a piece of THIN aluminum. There's more to it than that.. Especially if people have been able to prove, by putting phones in aluminum pots that they're still getting the same signal strength, that the aluminum itself isn't the problem. It's a conducting issue.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] dpwhitty11:
They operate on the same frequency.

Using both at once will, most likely, cause a disturbance (though this is not the case with everyone every single time).
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] jimh1943:
I would not call mine perfect but wifi is almost as good as my laptops - maybe sub par by 15% at very long distances. Cannot navigate on the road with the GPS but right now have the TP sitting on the arm of my chair back side up and sneaking a peek it is seeing 8 satellites with accurancy 72 feet. Hard to believe that the Alum back is the major problem for those units that have good pogo's and pcb's. And have weak or marginal functionally. For these, hope to see a software update.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Doktaphex:
I'm going to do a better video in the morning with more of an outline of what is going on where. Stay tuned, for now I'm actually going to go to sleep (crazy as that sounds)

Toodle pip everyone. :D
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Thenits:
Could someone please confirm that there are U.FL connectors on the main PCB. There seem to be rf cable connectors (U.FL. connector - photo attached) on the track side of the pcb (U7905 for the GPS and U7907 for WIFI).

If they are U.FL connectors a U.FL fly lead cable or similar (see below) could be used to connect to the antenna bypassing the pogopins (directly soldered as per the original Transformer - see attached photo). It is important that the connecting RF cable be a co-ax to eliminate interference. You have to have both conductors connected and not just a single hook-up wire connection to the antenna. This is perhaps why there is NO disernable difference in the test by Doktaphex with the cover off, and antenna moved away from the device etc. (assuming it was just single core hook-up wire) The inner signal conductor has to be soldered to the antenna signal contact and the shield connected to the backplane. The original Transformer had a similar antenna for the GPS (pcb strip) but the main difference is that the antenna connection was a wired co-ax connection rather than a pogopin AND connection to the backplane throught the copper tag and aluminium backplate. Please also note that you can see clearly on the original transformer photo that the shield is soldered to the copper strip which contacts the metal frame. Both the GPS and WiFi shields are connected in the same way. PLEASE NOTE that the signal conductor for both Wifi and GPS are also soldered to the pcb track and if you place a continuity (DC) check on this they would be ALL connected. RF theory gets funny here - due to the wavelength you can notice that the pcb strips are different in length for WiFi and GPS. The points that the signal conductor connects to the pcb (notice the manufacturer mark on the pcb) are TUNED to ensure maximum amplitude of the waveform at that point. While it appears they are all connected together from a DC point of view they are NOT for radio frequencies. So what can be done for the Prime...to eliminate the pogopin as an issue, use a coax RF cable and bypass and solder the signal conductor at the exact point where the pogopin touches the antenna pcb and solder the shield to the point where the copper tag is attached to the pcb.

A U.FL connector and flylead cable (UFL to SMA Flylead cable - http://www.m2mconnectivity.com.au/m2...-flylead-cable) and an attached GPS antenna would certainly eliminate the backplate and other possible interference issues...for a bench test anyhow. You could also buy a WIFI antenna with U. FL connnector (for iPAD - http://compare.ebay.com.au/like/3903...d=311056065214) and connect to test WIFI...drill a hole and stick it on the outside if you wish. :)

Thanks all to those for giving this a go.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] wgr73:
I'm heading to bed. I'll test more tomorrow as well. Im probably going to stop testing and close it up tomorrow as well. I miss my prime! Lol. Depends on the results more than anything really. Good night
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] chivas228:
I think i'm going to do this mod for my GPS. my wifi works pretty good but my GPS.... needs a little help and I like this quick and simple "patch". I mean, it seems to work much much better than not doing anything.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] demandarin:
Thanks for the info..really informative...in sure they'll try it out in the morning or off work. Most of them asleep now..lol.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Blairware:
So how exactly does the copper tags need to be used?

So when the op referred to the INSULATORS so the copper doesn't contact the back-plate (or frame) this are actually CONDUCTORS? (third Pic)
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] pileot:
Wow, lots of good reading (and i read every post though it is after midnight and my eyes are getting blurry, sorry if i missed it...)

How does the thickness of the wire effect GPS reception? The reason i ask is know those single strand painted wires you find in cheap headphones? why not use one of those and tape/glue it to the back of the prime, or around the edges in the grooves like some people suggested (iphone style)?

Is there a suggested thickness of wire?

and the suggested length of wire, thats exposed to the sattelites right? Like, say you have 5 inches inside the case where its not getting signal, then 18 outside?

I have a pretty sound understanding of electronics but unfortunately this is outside my field of expertise.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] undercover:
What about something like rfid sticker placed neatly along the top or corner and connected to the gps point via thin wire?

Sent through the wormhole from my Sensation.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] silverwings2008:
Anyone got one of these? A plugin gps antenna, normally with a BCX connector on the end? It would be interesting to see the full potential by connecting it temporarily to the pogo pin, that is unless the automatic gain control is messing things up.

If it works then maybe those that desperately need gps could rig it up via the headphone socket, and put a 3.5mm plug on the antenna.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] dagrim1:
Btw, everybody is focussing on gps, external antennas and redirectng wires but I hope some more general solution is also possible (with regards to wifi, which for me is waaaaay more important then GPS)
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Erusman:
Well what the hey. Finish my mods and prime is back together. I was just

going to wait to this weekend to finish it. But I wanted my prime back! Its

sitting all pretty in my leather case working great! Sorry its late and I didn't

take pics.

I just removed the PCB wifi in it. Removed the pogos. Drilled some holes

in backplate. Solder some solid gauge wire to GPS, Primary and secondary

wifi. Wires went out back. (about 5 inches in length).

While I was in there I took and tightened the screws for the display.

Guess what the small amount of lightbleed I had in the lower left hand corner

is 90% gone. (lol that must be the issue with the lightbleed!) I am too tired

to go back in and fiddle with it. Someone else can play with it.

Wifi is awesome. Walked all around my house and had three bars. GPS

worked and was fast. (maybe do a road trip in few days).

Time for bed.. have to get up for work at 5 am!

l8r
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Axe-08:
That's good news. Sounds like some stuff is fixable. I would never do anything like this to mine but maybe asus will
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] dagrim1:
Good news! But do I understand correctly that the wires come out through the holes drilled in the back (and just hang there or something?).
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] lp_stealth:
I love this thread, I'm sure asus will love it when all our primes have holes drilled in the back with wires hanging out.

"Hey why does your tablet have wires hanging out the back. "

"Oh! that's so the wireless and GPS works. "

"Weird my ipad does that internally. "

ROFL
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] peterk-1:
If I've got the right chip, a Broadcom BCM4751 then the AGC is on chip.If you look at p15 Baseband Functional Description it states that the host software doesn't interact with the GPS chip for real time signal processing (can't post the link wenku.baidu.com/view/0128a23467ec102de2bd8973.html).

Nobody has stressed that GPS antenna design is a very exact science. For example take a satellite dish - the antenna is a large dish reflecting signals to a point yet a GPS antenna has to address the whole sky and at all costs reject a reflected signal.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] SexyAndIKnowIt:
Regarding the grounding theory.

My GPS doesn't work at all, sofar after a lot of testing i've managed to find 1 bird.

I recently noticed that when i plug in the power cable to charge the TF it get's all electrical.. as in, if i rub my hand over the aluminum backplate I get this weird resonance...

(dunno if this information helps :P, just trying)
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] dingdonggggg:
Same here.

Somewhere there is a power leak.

Maybe the backplate get's charged thus creating a sort of dampening field.

I am thinking about the post a few pages back.

When the antenna is in the backplate with the glass removed there is no GPS.

When the antenna is outside the backplate there is a good reception.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] bimbobo:
Yes, and when it's docked to charge also the keyboard, it's even more noticeable.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] barryflanagan:
I have seen this mentioned in another thread. Apparently if you put the charger wall plug in the opposite way (I think with the ASUS logo on top) this disappears. I don't know as mine is a euro plug. In any case, not a good sign and possibly the result of an overall grounding fault I would guess.

-Barry
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] oremy:
anyone thought of connecting a strain gauge to the gps and gluing this just next no the microphone hole or the speaker grill at the outside of the case.

Could the best modder till now (connecting it to the headphone) try what inserting a stripped microphone jack could do?
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] SexyAndIKnowIt:
I just tested the signal strength when the tablet was under effect of the weird resonance. No difference at all

(just plugged in the power cable and ran wifi-analyzer, after 10 minutes unplugged the cable and looked for 5 minutes, signal strength didn't change)
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] nooganator:
Hey about the resonance. When I had my og TF I noticed the same effect with the docking station but gps always locked. So I don't believe that this is an issue. That being said, I also dont have any wifi issues with my current TFP. GPS locks in and out but I in all honesty have never had to use it at all.
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] benefit14snake:
God...you remind me of my gpu voltage mod days...soldering pots onto my card and hoping I don't turn them up too high and fry my card. What ever we find to be the best solution I will do to my prime. I love hardware Mods!
[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Wordlywisewiz:
You guys are crazy!