MK802 Notebook!

[andykirby]

Right guys, heres the latest thing I've been working on.. (in between making sure all the orders go out and everyone gets their MK802's!)

Its the Rikomagic MK802 Notebook!




I can't take all the credit for this as the guys from Raspberry Pi have been on this for a while but I have to say THIS kicks butt!

We have basically connected an MK802 to a Motorola Atrix lapdock (a dumb screen, keyboard, trackpad)

Could we be heading towards the perfect Linux/Android netbook?

Vids coming shortly!

Andy

[andykirby]

Heres the vids, haven't had a chance to update the forums to allow embedded video yet.

http://youtu.be/tdMVYLif6_E

http://youtu.be/j-UED0uc2TI

[nspiccia]

wow. looks awesome!

[andykirby]

Thx, its very nice to use actually. I am pretty sure that the MK802 would fit inside the hatch where the dock is and I'm toying with the idea of trying it but at the same time its nice to be able to remove the MK802 and use it elsewhere.

Currently the resolution is 720p but I am looking at how to get other resolutions, namely 1366 x 768 which is the native resolution of the Lapdock.

Its a great way of testing different MK802's for development.

I have also thought that a small lithium polymer battery pack might fit in the housing which would enable the MK802 to stay running when you disconnect the power and remove it from the dock. I havent actually tried the suspend feature of Ubuntu but I have my doubts as to whether it works, dont suppose anyone has tried it?

These are all things that we are talking about, maybe for future products, although stuff like this would put the price up but it would be kind of cool!

[BananaXX]

I've noticed on the Amazon in the past 12 hours roughly 10+ Lapdock's were sold from their main dealer. Seems this idea is really taking off with some people

[andykirby]

Yeah I know what you mean!

They must be wondering why all of a sudden they are making all these sales considering up until now the product had died a death.

Makes me wonder how many lap docks we're actually made and if we could get some in to offer with the MK802s.

[MJamus]

This is a really neat piece of hacking, and I think this device and these ideas are setting the foundation for the future mobile computing.

Can I ask how you attached the cables?

After looking at the R-PI forums this is what I'm assuming: (but I'd like to hear for sure and what advice/suggestions you might have)

It looks like you are using a Micro HDMI Female to HDMI Male adapter to connect the MK802's HDMI port to the micro HDMI port on the lapdock to drive the display

It also looks like you are using one of the USB ports on the lapdock to power the MK802 but plugging a USB to Micro USB cable into the micro USB port on the side of the MK802.

Lastly, I can't see it in the picture. But I'm assuming you are some how converting the full USB port on the top of the MK802 to the Micro USB connector on the lapdock (the one next to the micro HDMI port) which is how the keyboard and trackpad communicate with the MK802.

Does that sound correct?

Did you have to make any adjustments to the lapdock to get this to work? I agree with you about being able to embed the MK802's hardware into the lapdock, but it seems to me if you want to keep the portable use of the MK802, that you would just create a cleaner (maybe quicker) way to plug the MK802 into the lapdock.

One last question, if you are driving the MK802's power with the lapdock's battery, have you done any testing to see how long the battery lasts?

Thank you for your inspiration

[andykirby]

Hi thanks for your comments,

You are correct in all your assumptions, I used a female micro HDMI to male mini hdmi converter to connect the video output of the MK802 (I could only find one seller on eBay in the uk selling these)

I liked the idea of having the MK802 standing up in the dock but the connectors were so close to each other and would not allow the MK802 to stand up on the HDMI socket with a micro USB adapter connected as well so I had to do a slight mod to the lapdock and move the micro USB connector inside the lapdock case, I could then connect a female micro USB socket (which I spliced from an old lead) and create a short lead which terminated in a full size USB plug that could be connected to the MK802's full size USB socket in order to hook up the keyboard, trackpad and hub.

At the time of the photo this USB lead was just hanging out of the bottom of the lapdock case but now it comes out of the hole where the micro USB used to be, you can see this in the video.

One thing that has to be done when connecting the MK802 to the lapdock's micro USB socket is to remove the red power wire that tries to send power from the lapdock back up the lead to the MK802, whilst you would think the MK802 could be powered from this, it can't, well it can but then USB won't work. I oringinally tried this using the mini usb connector on the MK802. The guys at Pi found this out and split the lead out and used the red power wire to power the computer.

At the moment I just power my MK802 from one of the USB sockets on the lapdock using a standard to mini USB lead.

The plan is to make it neater by using a right angled USB lead for the top of the Mk802 and then taking the power from the micro USB connector (now inside the lapdock) and have a small mini USB lead coming out of the same hole as the other USB lead which would connect to the mini connector on the MK802.

I'll try and put up some close up pics soon to make it a bit easier to see!

As for your question about battery life, it's pretty good actually. I got about 3-4 hours out of it and im not actually sure if the battery was fully charged. I thought that was pretty impressive.

All the best,

Andy


.

[BananaXX]

Yea I would really be interested in seeing some close up pics of how you did your setup. I ordered my Lapdock yesterday but will have to wait a month or so for the money for an MK802. I'm really interested in getting the MK802 into the actual Lapdock, is there much room to incorporate the 802 into the body of the dock?

[t-bon3]

If anyone is looking for the lapdock expansys have them for £60

http://m.expansys.com/mp.aspx?i=233382