Reverse engineer tablet keyboard connector

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matt3o
-[°_°]-

19 Jan 2017, 11:17

Does anyone know if there's some kind of standard in tablet keyboard connectors.

I'm trying to understand how this works

Image

you can read 5V 1A, so I have a feeling it's 2xUSB, possibly the external pins are both 5v, but I could be totally wrong. The keyboard is backlit and has a trackpad. It's an HP elite x2 travel keyboard.

pomk

19 Jan 2017, 11:45

You would need to open the device and check the chip connected to the pins. Possibly USB + separate power line for back light and some extra ground pads. Could also be some completely different thing. You could check continuity on the KB side between the pins to check the number of ground connections if more than one.

User avatar
matt3o
-[°_°]-

19 Jan 2017, 11:47

unfortunately opening is destructive

pomk

19 Jan 2017, 12:49

Has iFixit or some other site opened it? We could check the chips from there.

User avatar
OleVoip

19 Jan 2017, 12:53

There's been an attempt to determine the pin-out at another forum,
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showth ... ?t=2270287
Note that with some devices, the plastic teeth left and right to the pins can have pins, too.
The pin numbering in the answer refers to the image of the backside of the connector, where they are labelled.
For cross checking, you should measure the voltages of the pins. On the host side, USB pins should be pulled down to GND by 15 kOhms each (says the USB standard). So they should have 0V when reading voltage, 15 kOhms between them and GND when measuring continuity, and 30 kOhms between each other.

User avatar
matt3o
-[°_°]-

19 Jan 2017, 12:57

it doesn't seem to be the same connector, but I'll try to find at least +5 and ground, I'll move from there. I hoped there was some kind of standard.

pomk

19 Jan 2017, 13:02

I found some disassembly instructions for the tablet itself, but the connector is referenced just as a 'pogo' connector without any specifics. The other end connects to the motherboard where the circuits are impossible to follow. I haven't found any teardown of the keyboard itself.

HuBandiT

05 Feb 2017, 11:04

I'd hack up some kind of mechanical interposer/extender that exposes all the pins for scoping while the system is in operation.

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