yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Samsung Galaxy S8+ Accessories] misujr:
Hello All,

I own a S8 and I have bought the Dex also. By now I was using a oneplus3 with Leena launcher UI . I and very happy with Dex but there is a big inconvenience with the output resolution. I am addicted to my old motorola lapdock and I use it as interface for many devices. The Dex looks like a letrer and is useless basically on this dock. Also in my trips only one hotel's TV worked well.

Anyone got any tips ?

I have to metion that for the moment I have left the Dex dock at home as I am on a trip but I will be back in the weekend to test any suggestion.

Best Regards
[Samsung Galaxy S8+ Accessories] nicholaschum:
I'm possibly shooting blindly but has anyone tried using the DeX with more rugged cases? Considering in getting the DeX but I have a feeling it will only work with slim cases, or under my impression, Samsung official cases.
[Samsung Galaxy S8+ Accessories] SmilerOnline:
The DeX docks USB has some movement to it, so it should be fine with most cases, although the bottom of the case is where it has issues, your case needs about an inch of open space at the bottom around the USB port to avoid the 'stabilisers' (or whatever they are called) from pushing the device away from the usb port as seen in the picture below:
[Samsung Galaxy S8+ Accessories] nosympathy:
pretty sure I've figured out the problem and the APK manifest needs edited. That said, the problem i've run into now is that I cannot load the dex app if its already loaded on a non rooted phone, (us so no root and need a solution.) When tearing the APK down and rebuilding, I have to resign. Signing with my key means samsung doesn't recognize it as an update to their app (even if i change the version to a higher one.) You also can't just move the altered manifest into the apk file with 7zip as the phone then sees it as corrupt (alters the manifest size, etc.)

I'd prefer not to hand out a solution that only works for part of the S8+ owners, specially when I myself can't use it.

if anyone wants to give me a way to overwrite the system apps on a non rooted phone, (been doing a ton of reading and doesn't appear possible) then I can get this under way quickly.

The other option, IF i have to go this route, is to modify thousands of lines of code to make the phone think the app isn't the Dex app anymore. I really don't want to do this. Time consuming to hell and back and Samsung could update the app halfway through fixing it and force me to start over.

FYI, it has nothing to do with a trigger so much as the user account trying to run the app. The dock is allowed to invoke user account privileges we don't have. Further digging in the APK does not show anything special with the dock. As suspected.

EDIT: one thing I might try later is installing on my S7E since it should not have Dex installed and see if I can run it there. I need to get it out to sell it anyway, would work as a proof of concept until I can get it loaded onto the S8+
[Samsung Galaxy S8+ Accessories] ShrekOpher:
Is it possible to push the apk go the system using adb?
[Samsung Galaxy S8+ Accessories] Sv3nDV:
I got my Dex today, and after playing with it for about 10 minutes, proceeded to tear it apart. Looks way more complicated than I though, but I will let others figure out what does what ( I wont pretend to know what any of the chips are!)

It was very easy to take apart, 4 screws under the rubber base, and a spudger to split the seams. Top half has a 2 wire for the fan, and the connector lifts off the board.

[IMG="Split the shell"]https://xdaforums.com/picture.php?albumid=14179&pictureid=55599[/IMG]

Once in, its 5 screws to take off the "metal" shield and expose the board.

[IMG="Mainboard with metal"]https://xdaforums.com/picture.php?albumid=14179&pictureid=55607[/IMG]

Mainboard top:

[IMG="Board top"]https://xdaforums.com/picture.php?albumid=14179&pictureid=55606[/IMG]

Main board bottom:

[IMG="Board bottom"]https://xdaforums.com/picture.php?albumid=14179&pictureid=55598[/IMG]

Sorry if these didn't come out ok. I did make an album and will add some more pics/ details. As my post count suggests, long time lurker but first time poster so I may need some help posting the album if there is any interest. Hopefully someone can make sense of these and maybe see how Dex activates.
[Samsung Galaxy S8+ Accessories] Egon31:
Test

First post, been reading for years. :)

I´m testing the Dex to be used by a whole department at work. So far VDI (Wmware Horizon) is working great and most apps as well.

We do have the need for a rugged case so bought a unicorn beetle pro. The case isnt compatible with the Dex (as I suspected) so I got a USB-C extension cable (USB Type C Cable, CableCreation 3.3 Feet Gen 2 (10Gbps) USB 3.1 Type C Male to C Female Extension Cable For Nintendo Switch, Macbook & More, 1M/Black and White) from Amazon to be able to use it.

Dex starts up fine but I get no connection to the USB 2.0 ports (for my mouse and keyboard) on the Dex. So right now I´m unable to test it out more.

Will try a BT mouse later today, but find it strange that the ports are gone. I guess there is no hope for an official extension cable anytime soon either. :(
[Samsung Galaxy S8+ Accessories] SmilerOnline:
Your pictures don't appear to be showing up correctly for me... If you need a site to easily upload pictures I have been using 'tinypic' :)

Thanks for reporting back to us on your findings! :)
[Samsung Galaxy S8+ Accessories] SmilerOnline:
Never really thought about trying to add an extension from the port inside the dock, but now you mentioned it, I've tried a USB-Type-C extension (C-Female to C-Male - 1 meter) and everything is working fine (including my USB Type-A 2.0 keyboard, which I am typing this up on!).

Maxhood USB 3.1 Type C Male to Female Extension Data Cable (1M)

It may be worth you trying a different extension cable or a different keyboard if the USB 2.0 ports aren't working as I can definately confirm that they work 100% with my config over a Type-C extension to the port inside the dock (where the phone usually sits).

I am pleased to see an organsiation is trying this as an alternative to thin client workstations. I've never tried using VMWare Horizon (they say that DeX improvements are due in late June - I think) in the past, but I have tried Citrix XenApp, and to be honest, I think that with the S8 in DeX mode, there is just no need to use a thin-client workstation if you have an S8, as all Windows apps work pretty smoothly over a VDI solution in the workplace! :)

Thanks for sharing this! - I have to say though, I'm curious to know what organsition you are talking about, just because I'd like to know if this is some large (influential) international organisation that many others may follow? If it is then that would make me feel very excited to know that finally, I could expect to see organisations allowing me to use my own, portable workstation - which I think will be especially great for hot-desking!

*EDIT*

Oh and welcome to DeXDA forums by the way! :)
[Samsung Galaxy S8+ Accessories] Egon31:
Thank You,

well I guess I managed to get the wrong extension cable. ;)

Great to hear Yours is working I will order one straight away for testing! :)

I´m very impressed with over all performance so far.

Sorry, I can´t talk organisation as this is a small test and not an official way forward.
[Samsung Galaxy S8+ Accessories] SmilerOnline:
That is no problem, I kind of expected that you couldn't say much anyway.

I hope that all goes well for you anyway! :)
[Samsung Galaxy S8+ Accessories] navyenzo:
I'm wondering if I can use a dual usb-c plug so i can plug dex in one and still have the other plug free to hook up usb 3.0 hub into it.

Do you guys think that will still trigger dex interface?

I don't see why not

I'm going to try to hook up a usb-c hub with hdmi and 2 usb 3.0 plus and a female usb-c plug into my s8+ and plug the dex into that usb-c and see what Happens
[Samsung Galaxy S8+ Accessories] ShrekOpher:
Give it a go, but from my understanding the DeX dock does something that triggers the DeX OS to launch. A normal connection won't do that.
[Samsung Galaxy S8+ Accessories] Egon31:
Great post!

Had a look at Your album, thanks so much for the pictures! :)

I´m not qualified to say what is what, but I think someone else in here may be able to.
[Samsung Galaxy S8+ Accessories] navyenzo:
I'll try when I get back home today, but to clarify I meant i still plug the phone into the dex, but in the middle, between the phone and the dex i will plug a usb hub that has a usb-c through
[Samsung Galaxy S8+ Accessories] Egon31:
I hope the improvements include the one issue I have with Horizon. When the VDI client is opened I can only view it windowed or fullscreen not maximized. In fullscreen if i have a window maximazide lets say chrome and want to hit close on the window there is a risk of going too far up and the max/min/close bar drops down from hidden on the client and I end up closing the client instead of the window inside the client.

If anyone have any insight on a solution to this I´d be grateful. Otherwise I´ll have to wait for Wmware to do the Dex improvments. :)
[Samsung Galaxy S8+ Accessories] russ18uk:
Thank you for the pictures. Hopefully you can post hi-res versions on imgur or so.

You can see the large chip is likely the DP-HDMI but it could be a micro and 3 separate oscillators. Interesting that there looks like JTAG connectors or programming headers all over that board. Pictures aren't large or clear enough for numbers but one chip likely does Ethernet and the other close to the USB connectors is a hub.

On the mainboard top image what is that black 2-pin connector doing?
[Samsung Galaxy S8+ Accessories] oF2pks:
Can you tell us what's written on the biggest

quad

-row (main board top) near hdmi/port ?

(I can't read 2 lines + logo on your photo)

Thx anyway.
[Samsung Galaxy S8+ Accessories] Sv3nDV:
The 2 pin connector is for the fan on the other half.

I will grab some new pictures, and get some good shots of the chips. I will get post a link when they are set later. Thanks for taking a look!
[Samsung Galaxy S8+ Accessories] nosympathy:
Tried that, didn't work. Didn't even mention it because I was 100% positive I couldn't do that.
[Samsung Galaxy S8+ Accessories] SmilerOnline:
Just out of curiosity, have you tried VMWare when 'Dex developer mode' is enabled? (Not the Android developer mode).

I only ask as I wonder if everything is in place for it to work in all window form factors, and there is just small changes required from the VMWare developers to make DeX detect that it can run all form-factors fine without the 'DeX developer mode' on.
[Samsung Galaxy S8+ Accessories] Sv3nDV:
I have uploaded the higher res photos to Imgur. Should be a lot easier to read. If you want a better pic of a component, let me know and I can take some better photos.

Once I can post links, I will update these posts.. Until then, I use the same name on imgur, and the album is DEX Teardown.
[Samsung Galaxy S8+ Accessories] SmilerOnline:
I see that there is a Realtek chip on there I assume that is either to do with the Ethernet or Audio
[Samsung Galaxy S8+ Accessories] Sv3nDV:
From what I gather, there is a realtek 8152 10/100 controller. Next to that is a cy7c656 USB 2.0 hub. A PS176 DP-HDMI converter is by the HDMI port. Near the USB-C port there is a chip I cannot read, I will get a better shot of that. Looks like its by a lot of power converter/regulation stuff. Its odd to me the base of the Dex says it is rated 12v@2.1 amp but the included USB power brick is max 9v.

The other side of the board has 3 Cypress Semi chips. One is a cy 65210 which says USB billboard? Would that be the chip that determines what USB-C features are available during handshake? (again, not an expert at all lol). Then the Ethernet phy chip and some others.

I will open the Dex again when I get home from work and document how to do it, and take better shots on each chip for better ID.
[Samsung Galaxy S8+ Accessories] russ18uk:
Check the cypress website for CY7C65210.

The chip you cannot read is likely a power management IC to power the chips and phone.

---------- Post added at 04:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:43 PM ----------

That CY7C65210 has UART. That could make things interesting if anyone can read the output. But this doesn't really help anyone with a standard Type-C to HDMI hub.

Sv3nDV's teardown link: http://imgur.com/gallery/8j9OZ
[Samsung Galaxy S8+ Accessories] nosympathy:
Has a different user account than we do. The privileges are different. That's the kickback if you try and run the dex app manually without the dock. Based on the info in the app after decompiling it supports that 100%.

So I can't see why it won't work through an adapter, as long as the phone is being told to run the app under the user account the dock has.

at this point, I'm thinking an app that can "pretend" to be that user would be easier than altering the dex app itself. I've been digging.
[Samsung Galaxy S8+ Accessories] russ18uk:
There are a lot of test points on the board including IIC (SDA and SCL).

Samsung wants this copied :S
[Samsung Galaxy S8+ Accessories] erclalle:
Thank you for the insight, I might try to edit a few android manifest settings, but I'm not an expert so it may be fruitless. I understand that you may not want to disclose a solution that you think is useless for you, but like you said, it may be quite feasible to just port the app to another phone and try to match the app requirements (S7 might do). At any rate, does package disabler pro allow you to 'hide' DeX home in the phone's eyes, so you can push the unsigned version?
[Samsung Galaxy S8+ Accessories] nosympathy:
My real worry, and maybe unfounded, is that it'll come out for root users and works and since us non rooted users will need another way to do it, no one will have any interest in working on it. Not that there is much interest. I don't know if XDA changed that much or what, but I've never had so much trouble getting any other devs to give possible insight into anything. I've posted a handful of places and not a single comment. I used to make some rom/theme stuff a long while back on other phones and it felt like many aspects were a collaboration effort. There also used to be phone specific dev forums that I miss greatly (where you could share what you were working on and get help, not share ideas for dev work or already done dev work.)

If I can use an app to run the dex app under another permission setting, if that is even possible, I'm going to be spending a ton of time learning how to create an app/apk to do so. Not that i don't want to learn, but it'll be tons of trial and error. Thankfully the app is not asking for root level permissions like I first thought it would. If that was the case, this idea would be worthless (but would have possibly been a way into root I imagine on the US versions by using the dock.)

Development for the US version of recent samsung phones has been pretty dead. I'm amazed how little care about wanting the dex app to work sans the dock (other than the people, who no disrespect, lack the ability to help with the dev side for the most part) If Samsung would just make the price reasonable for the dock, I wouldn't even care, but it's principle at this point, specially now that it's been torn down, to not feed samsungs greed.
[Samsung Galaxy S8+ Accessories] erclalle:
Well I'm sure it isn't entirely an unfounded fear, regarding the apparent lack of interest in the dev section almost a month after the S8 was released. But this is a more general comment regarding phones, since as they grow more feature-rich less people feel the need to root their phone (in the same way I'm sure way less people jailbreak their iphones than did 5 years ago). This is maybe also due to the fact that stock roms are quite nice to use these days, therefore custom roms are less of a need than they were on older, more bloated and limited phones.

Even for me, the main reason I rooted was in the hope that a sound mod would be released (yay!), A camera mod to reduce jpeg compression, and a DeX port to regular hubs, not to use a custom rom :)

Regarding the subject of this DeX port, I think that once a root solution will be released, it will spark some real interest for most users, since DeX seems pretty awesome from comments everywhere, and bypassing the proprietary method saves many people 100$ since usb c hubs are easy to get these days (and most recent ultrabook users got one free).

Non-root users may have a harder time at first, but a working proof of concept will definitely be a boost in the right direction, since people in the US will see the result in front of them.

Finally, while it might take a little longer to find a non-root method, chances are that the US S8 will be rooted at some point, and therefore everyone will stand under the same hat on this.

By the way, I'm stand by your comment that it would be nice to revive the develop-ing side of forums such as this one so that we could collaborate to learn more quickly (I'm quite new to android dev)

Do give me (us) a sign if you decide to carry on your exmerimentation with the DeX and/or if you release a modified apk that works on a rooted device!

Thank you very much for your work!
[Samsung Galaxy S8+ Accessories] Sv3nDV:
I agree, I was expecting someone to know how this thing ticks weeks ago. I never even seen someone open it up, so I put my 10 minute used device under the plastic knife just to see what it looks like :p

I don't know much about the software side of things, but I like the challenge of messing with this hardware to see what can be done. After I take some more pics for ID later today, I am going to start plugging in the Dex's USB-C plug into some random stuff to see what happens. I will try to use USBPcap and any tools I have laying around to see what goes on when it connects to a PC. I may even start to look at the pads on the board and see if I have anything to read anything from them.

If anyone has any requests on what to try with this, I will see what I can do. I got the dex because I like the idea of using it for light browsing, and using remote apps, like Horizon, to mirror my PC's desktop when I am not in my game room. Nothing critical so I can mess this up some and not feel too bad :)
[Samsung Galaxy S8+ Accessories] russ18uk:
If you have a protocol analyser you could sniff the UART or I2C ports to see if that gives any clues if there is any bi-directional communication. I very much doubt there is anything too clever going on with triggering DeX - but not quite as simple as a resistor divider on a data line. The USB-C allows communication on the SBU lines and should be 50-Ohm terminated so that's where any "simple" method would occur I suspect.
[Samsung Galaxy S8+ Accessories] nosympathy:
Unfortunately as much as i want to agree with you, I feel it will be identical to what happens with these phones when they get root without bootloader unlock and the root sucks and is kinda worthless. It about kills all development completely. Releasing a root only option could kill any chances of getting anyone to work on it for non rooted users and that is the absolute biggest struggle. The people who are capable of helping won't care if I release a root only verison. Mostly cause like i stated before, the setup for a root user and a non root user will be drastically different.

I do agree on people not feeling the need to root as much anymore, and that doesn't help, but if you look back at phones I've had previously, a great example is the HTC Rezound. At one point to root this phone you had to effectively short out the phone by touching two spots on the back of the phone with a paper clip at precisely the right moment. It could be a 2 min process to days depending on if you could make the touch at the right time. Where are those kind of devs anymore? I won't even pretend I'm near that level. I do this as a mild hobby and it's a lower hobby on my list (#1 is cars.)

I don't know what has pushed them all away, but I left the android scene after having a Note 4 and switching to an Iphone 6 as I was unhappy with samsungs Note 5. Stayed for about 2 years. Coming back, I don't even recognize this place at all. It truly feels dead.

A thought, in terms of writing an APK to launch it, would be to enable logs via ADB (and your choice of an app off the playstore so you don't need to be connected via adp anymore) and then log the phone when you connect it to the dock and see if you can pickup what handshake it goes through. Basically need to find a way to emulate the handshake with an app so the phone doesn't know any better.

I didn't see anything in the apk stating it was looking for specific code/chips/responses/hardware/etc. from the dock. Just a specific user account. This would give way more insight though. I guess if it does and I missed something (there are a loooot of smali files) if we could see what it accepts as verification, could fake that and let it think it's verified.

one other thought, I didn't think of before now. Does Dex launch if your phone is in airplane mode and all connections are off, no ethernet hooked up? Didn't see it as a stipulation to launch, but again, tons of smali files lol.

One thing I can do for those interested, is I'll post the decompiled APK later if anyone wishes to go through it. Had some fights to get it to decompile correctly.
[Samsung Galaxy S8+ Accessories] Sv3nDV:
I don't have one but know someone who might help with that. I am reading on the Cypress Four Chip Dock Solution, which is what powers the Dex dock. I am bouncing this off you guys: The Billboard chip contains the list of what the dock is capable of to the phone, from what I gather. When a USB-C device is plugged into the S8, think it would be as simple as it reading that list and maybe something samsung put in there and it fires the dex app up? If so, would it be possible to read the flash of that chip and see what may trigger Dex? I am trying to find any other docks that use the Cypress Four Chip solution, maybe someone makes one that isn't $150usd....
[Samsung Galaxy S8+ Accessories] russ18uk:
The flash inside the chip would likely be compiled, or it's not quite the same as reading an EEPROM, unfortunately.

In any case, I give the Chinese 2 months before there are CheX docks on eBay with extra ports and whatnot. I hope. I think hacking/copying the hardware will be easier than bypassing the APK, especially since permanent root on Snapdragon is improbable, and since Samsung has left a lot of development/test points available.
[Samsung Galaxy S8+ Accessories] Sv3nDV:
I will try this, I am thinking it something in the USB handshake that kicks all this off.

Dex does launch with all connections off. I was thinking there might some NFC trickery going on from the dock but I see no evidence of that after trying a few things.

Yeah I think 2 months sounds right lol

The Cypress chips in the Dex are used on a USB-C to HDMI dongle I see (When I get to 10 posts I can link it!). I'm going to hunt for one and see if that cypress chip can be worked with. Rather fry up a cheap dongle than this dex :D
[Samsung Galaxy S8+ Accessories] nosympathy:
Very possible it looks for that chip stating specific hardware is available and that's as far as it goes. Minus that chip has different user access as well.

It does make mention of the ethernet/usb ports/etc. in the APK that it looks for them, but maybe I misread it. maybe it was looking at them as a checks to verify it's in the dock.
[Samsung Galaxy S8+ Accessories] SmilerOnline:
Don't forget that the GS8's 'About DeX' info screen recognises the exact model of the dock ('DeX station version') that you are using (at the bottom of the about screen), so there is most likely some encrypted code in a chip within the dock which the DeX apk can detect and confirm if it is a certified dock model before launching DeX.

Just a guess, but I'd assume that this is a way to stop "cheap knock offs"...
[Samsung Galaxy S8+ Accessories] ShrekOpher:
How about mimicking the DeX dock with a $5 nano raspberry PI?