Building a Kindle DX Dalmation Edition
 

Hi everyone,

I've been looking around and seem to have all the parts to build a Kindle
DX hybrid of the original DX and DX Graphite. After looking at different sites, I haven't seen any hardware or software concerns that would make this particularly impossible, but was wondering what the people on this site think? Any insight is appreciated :p

-DragonLeHeart

Hybrid as in: Case of a dx and guts of a dxg? The other way around? Should work.

Dalmatian DX
 

Front bezel is DX. Motherboard is DX. Screen is DXG. Midboard is DXG. Battery & 3G card are DX. Back of case is DXG.

If this works I saved over $50 on the motherboard alone :eek:. This is primarily a proof of concept exercise, but I still hope it works!

I recently started rehabbing Kindles as a hobby and am looking forward to seeing how interchangable some of the parts are. I haven't been brave enough to try a Kindle Fire yet. Does anyone know how much of a hassle they are to fix?

[deleted]

I don't think the 3G card would be an issue - they have a rather rudimentary, rock-solid interface to the rest of the units. Though the question what Amazon's servers will make of it is certainly valid.

I'm much more in doubt about the motherboard (and thus: firmware?) and screen/controller combo. The e-ink controllers may need different drivers or even for the same driver they might need different waveform initialization data for the different hardware. Well, trying out will tell, I guess....

The UPS Man Cometh...and Leaveth :(
 

Apparently the UPS guy was in a hurry to get home tonight and never left my parts! I'm hoping to get the major guts of the unit Monday. The smaller parts (buttons, screws, 3g card) are already here.

The firmware may be an issue, but I'm wondering if there is a workaround to make it come together. Though I doubt I'm the first one to try this, I haven't seen anyone else discuss the process or the results.

The Amazon firmware builds differ in the version number but have the same build id (at least for 2.5.7 (2.52.5.7) and 2.5.8 (2.52.5.8) ).
I **suspect** that Amazon means by that, that only configuration information is different.

The screen works well and everything seems to be going OK for the most part. I haven't tried to register it yet, but hope that goes well. The 3G card works well too. I'm half ready to do in the person who sold me the motherboard though, as they broke off some of the tabs that hold the ribbon cables. Also spent 3 hours looking for the volume button when it fell out (need a cleaner workspace :P). So far everything seems to be working pretty well together, but I really need to find a decent adhesive to get the cable for the scroll button to stay in place as every time I screw the midboard back on the cable falls out. For anyone who is thinking about using different case parts, the DXG back and the DX bezzel don't seem to want to connect very well.
I also managed to break the plastic on the speaker cable that connects the midboard (with built in speakers) to the motherboard. Cut the wires, use the wire strippers, soder on a piece from another speaker, a hot glue gun wrapper to cover the exposed soder (I'm out of electrical tape and the wires are really small) and a lot of swearing (too much caffeine and really hot tools don't mix) and we're back in business. Until the scroll button ribbon cable fell out...again. Of course everything is screwed tightly together and locked in place.
Well, as the saying goes "you get what you pay for" and I skimped on the motherboard and midboard prices (and would probably do it again based on my budget).
I will get it fixed and continue bench testing. Further updates pending soon :)
Anyone have any good ideas on decent adhesive or other ways to get the ribbon cable to stay connected?

Hot Glue.