Hey XDA!
[This is my first thread, so please excuse any abnormalities you may find here. Corrections/ help would be appreciated. Thanks!]
As tech has progressed in the last couple of years, I have come to replace my beloved nexus 10 with my ever-more-powerful LG G2.
This transition is soley because of spec enhancements in recent devices, but very recently I realised what a horrible waste of an amazing (and still somewhat powerful) device that is, and I'd decided to do something about it. So, I shelled out a few of my Great British pounds (less than £5) and bought myself a microHDMI cable, and a USB OTG cable. I found an old USB keyboard, USB mouse and powered USB hub (not sure if it's necessary to have a powered one, but its all I have to hand), and got going on my small project.
[TL;DR: Ive got an unused nexus 10 laying around and a few other PC peripherals, as well as a microHDMI cable and decided to start a little project]
I realized the nexus 10's potential because of all of the useful (and more importantly- seperate) ports it has:
- MicroHDMI out for a monitor/TV (not necessary)
- MicroUSB port w/ support for USB otg
- Pogo pin port for charging, so battery is not an issue.
All of these things together can be used for a portable android- powered PC! So I plugged in all of my cables, and thought I'd be ready to go, but of course, that would be too easy.
Things that worked: - USB otg cable and respective devices (keyboard, mouse, 16gb USB stick)
- MicroHDMI video out (sorta)
- Pogo pin charger
Things that did NOT work: -MicroHDMI video out (screen size/ratio/density)
-MicroHDMI audio out
-Easy usability (phablet-style stock ROM does not like mice.)
Fixes/ work arounds: 1. MicroHDMI audio out:This was probably the easiest (and therefore first) fix. I remember reading on another forum about the same issue, and it is easily resolved by turning the nexus 10's volume all the way down
before plugging the MicroHDMI cable in. Worked first time, like a charm. However, in some cases this does not work and may require flashing another ROM, I personally reccomend cm10.2's most recent stable rom, as it is exactly what I am using. (if you are looking for the same outcome as me, this rom maybe a requirement anyway)
2. Ease of use:This part did require flashing a new ROM. I used CM10.2's stable build, and banks GApps. Other supported ROMs are listed in the thread linked in this
"2. Ease of Use" section. I used the flashable zip file listed in this thread: (
http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=2451956 ), to change from the mouse-unfriendly phablet ui, to the mouse-friendly tablet UI. This made the nexus a lot more useable as an android desktop/portable PC.
3. MicroHDMI video out:This is a little more awkward, but it is still relatively easy and do-able. I did a little searchng and found this post (
http://forum.xda-developers.com/show...786&page=3/#25 ) which links to an apk specifically made for fixing this purpose. I downloaded and installed the app (Named something like ScreenRes I think - the exact name escapes me) and checked the box which said "Resize the screen when HDMI state changes" and used these settings for a 39" 1080p screen:
- Screen height: 1080
- Screen width: 1920
- Screen density: 280
Unplugged and re-plugged the cable, and voila!
PLEASE NOTE: This apk does require root access, and I have ONLY tested it on the CM10.2 stable build. This is the ROM I reccomend for this project/purpose. Also, dont forget to thank sbradymobile for his easy-to-use app!
The end result? A very useful android PC attatched to a beautiful 39" display bringing new life into my once-dying nexus 10. It's a shame to replace the beautiful screen on this thing, however with a cheap tablet/phone stand you can take tablet away with you and a keyboard and mouse without loosing any settings, files or convenience for a more portable android PC. Granted, It's not the most beautiful looking thing, but with a little cable management tou can make a neat and tidy android PC set up.
This is particularly good for productivity (e.g with apps such as kingston office, or- creating threads like this on XDA :P ) as well as media consumption, for things such as movies and with apps such as cheapcast or droidmote you could make a nice mid-point between a chromecast and a fully fledged laptop/PC.
Sorry for such a long post, I just wanted to share this idea as even though I'm sure there are others similar to this, I think there are other people like me finding their tablet being used less and less.
Please feel free to leave your thoughts and questions below! Thanks!
Sorry for the long post
