Android Tablet

Tablet Surgery requires extreme patience and concentration. Sometimes the most arduous task like resetting BIOS (in this case unplugging the battery for 3 seconds) can turn into a 45 minute marathon.

In UberTablet.blogspot.com we’ve promised to BLOG our Tablet PC experiences (Sydney, Australia). This experience is a visual feast for all you Hardware geeks, and Tablet PC enthusiasts to remember and share.

20:45 1st Feb 2006

Uber Nurse: Doctor, Doctor, we’ve lost the pulse…what do we do?

Uber Doctor: Give me a summation of the situation please nurse?

Uber Nurse: The victim (Tablet PC) came in at approximately 20:45. We initiated DC into the device and tried reboot – no avail! We’ve removed the battery pack and inserted 60GB of 5400rpm H.D.D and again no elation!! Currently we’ve not witnessed signs of life for approximately 90seconds. Family members, upon questioning, recall no odd behaviour prior to the event. “We’d placed a Gig of RAM in the device about a week ago”, one distraught family member recollects, “the next time I went to utilize the device I couldn’t wake her up”, he lamented just before bursting into tears.

Uber Doctor: Nurse, knowing that Microsoft Knowledge Base chronicle’s Hibernation issues with Tablet PC Edition 2005 ( http://support.microsoft.com/kb/893056) I recommend a BIOS reset and immediate FLASH after reboot.

Uber Nurse: But Doctor…

Uber Doctor: Nurse! Please! I’m familiar with the procedure; now hand me the 9mm philips screwdriver and initiate pouring of 350ml of Soda Water…for me please.

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The following is a graphical record of BIOS resetting on the Sahara Slate PC. While the procedure may seem daunting, I will use all resources at my disposal to journal the event, for your future reference and mine.

Do not try this at home folks. I’m highly skilled, experienced, and have the replacement parts at hand in case things get ugly. It's important for you to know that this issue (as per Microsoft KB 893056) is now virtually non existant with Tablet PC. The key here is to have the latest Manufacturer BIOS installed on your Tablet at all times.

Lets begin:

Take 1x non-booting iTablet Slate PC (Sahara) and my trusty 100-in-1 Screwdriver set;

Now dismantle;

Take the RAM cover plate off and lift the memory module out (PC2700 184pin SDRAM), remove the Battery Pack, 8 medium sized screws, 2 small screws, and the Wacom Digitizer pen out of its sleeve - the bubble wrap is there to protect the Tablet from incidental scratches from my workbench;

Unscrew the VGA connectors.

Now unscrew 1x small screw and you can pry out the 2.5" hard drive.

Almost forget, pop out CF slot protector from the CF slot.

Now stick your fingers in and CRACK, the case will begin to show some PCB. Can you smell it? mmmmm...

That's right, go where the sun don't shine!

Now this is where your average Power User becomes Power-less, but not you, your an Uber Tablet Geek. Do you see the little ribbon cables, that's where your hands are gonna' surgically disconnect the screen from the motherboard.

Come on, get in there!

Well done Uber Geek! You've carefully peeled away both halves to unveil the most glorious look at your Wacom Digitizer board sitting on top of the Tablet PC screen (LEFT pic.), while the alloy shielded motherboard anxiously awaits its undressing.

Don't let the beast intimidate you. Grab him, tame him, and unscrew the alloy shield and let's get to the motherboard!

Now that we're at the guts of the machine, remove any of the remaining intestines (cables and connectors) from the motherboard.

You probably don't need to disconnect all the cables, but I just love pulling things apart.

Release the motherboard from its human constraints (the case) and get ready to hit the PCB-spot.

Now peel the case away from the motherboard, ensuring that you're not forcing them from each other.

There she is, the under belly, a site that will either make your stomach turn or your heart race with excitement; either way it’s the device that has revolutionized the way a lot of us live.

Oh! There's the battery (in blue) that we've so eagerly gone hunting for. We’re now on the home stretch.

Now grab the 2-pin cconnector and seperate it from the motherboard for 3 seconds. You're done! Well done!
The BIOS is reset; now put it all back together you clown!

One last peek,

and back she goes. This unceremonious disrobing will soon be complete and the Tablet PC will live to INK another day.

Turn the motherboard back over and secure it into place. Careful now, we don't want any screws left over!

Alloy sheath back on, ribbon cables connected, and your almost ready to reunite both halves.

You'll require some finger gymnastics to really make this work so make sure you do your stretches.

Don't forget to complete all the connections;

and I mean all of them.

Wedge to two halves together, and fasten the screws again.

Put the RAM back,

Hard Disk back,

Battery Pack back,

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• Need any more information?
• Had any PCB wars of your own?

There's something to be said about National Pride, its magic. As we gathered at Sydney's Harbourside Play-town, Darling Harbour, we knew that something special was in the air. We arrived at three in the afternoon and made our way to ‘I Thai’ restaurant on Cockle Bay Wharf (Lime Street side). The walk there was a visual feast of Patriotism and Nationalism, dancing with colour, and sound, designed to unite all attendees.

We ate our Coconut infused prawn entrée’s followed by curried vegetables and topped with sticky rice pudding for dessert. It was exciting now for my four year old, aware of the significance of this day, to partake in a form of controlled hooliganism. Later we strolled through a sea of Aussies and made our way to the paddle boats. There, as a young family, we revitalized our thighs by peddling our way around the manmade Darling Harbour Lake. “I want to climb” he yells, as we all grab an eye-full of the climbing rock. $6 later and the four year old, now 10 feet above me, is stuck, petrified, about the descent back down to street level. “Grab the rope with two hands”, she chastises, and he slowly descends back to us.

It’s now 8 O’clock in the evening and we’ve nestled ourselves amongst our brethren. “Come-on Aussie”, belts out the Irish chap in front of me, “G’day Buddy”, mumbles the Indian grandfather next to me – Australia, you see, is still a land loved by all and inhabited by many. It doesn’t really matter where you're from to the Citizens of this Nation. What matters is your soul, and whether or not “a fair go” means a lot more to you than simply equality; as an Aussie ‘a fair go’ means a level of acceptance and safety known to us as a state of mind.

8:50pm and this huddle of 100,000 plus nationalists are delighted by bursts of colour created by $1,000,000 worth of fireworks. We cheer, we cry and somehow we bond - not by touch, smell or even language, but by merely participating. All our favourite theme songs of our childhood are played back to us, accompanied by this feast of redden above us.

Now 2 hours have passed and my son, Leon, remains on my shoulders. He high-fives those willing and makes whistle-like noises with high pitched screams. The car park is cluttered yet we all implausibly wave and smile while idly waiting our turn to exit. I must admit that on most given opportunities I’m neither too parochial or too evangelistic about my chosen Nationality, however, on this occasion I unconsciously dial my brother and wish him an Happy Australia Day, followed by my Mum & Dad, an Auntie, several friends and a Buddy now based in Tokyo.

Happy Australia Day and may you all be blessed in your country of choice as we are here.

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• Where do you come from?
• How do you celebrate your Nations Day?

He's a learned man, our Dr. Neil. A man of focus, passion and determined to be of significance. Ironically we met in the elevator of an apartment block my wife and I inhabited. It was 2001 and we were living in the beachside suburb of Dee Why, found on the Northern Peninsula of Sydney. I’d just completed my MCP and was feeling optimistic and invigorated. My first encounter with Dr. Neil wasn’t as memorable for me as I’d now like to recall, but it was eventful. I know that we connected at an umbilical level and shortly formed a sibling like relationship that would later encircle both our partners and my son Leon.

Four years on and Dr. Neil was in the country for yet another short stint. He’d left several messages that I’d ashamedly not replied to. Finally on the third day we connected and were able to talk. “I’ve got to come and see you”, he says, “There’s something you need to see”.

Fidgeting and restless, Dr. Neil hurriedly ate his meal. “I’ve got to show you that thing I told you about”, he proclaims wile masticating his last mouthful. We head to the lounge room and gather around an ottoman, dishes left idle at the dining table.

Falling in love, an event witnessed by many, is an emotion sometimes impetuous, sometimes cruel but always potent. Not knowing that my still rather untamed passion for IT was about to have a very rude awakening, I sat and waited. Dr. Neil ripped open the Velcro clad slip case and slid out the most attractive, most visually satisfying computer hardware I’d ever seen – a Tablet PC, and in this case the iTablet Slate PC.

As unaware as I had been about the event about to unfold, I was also now unable to reply to this assault on my senses. “It’s a Tablet PC I found in the U.S”, he states, while simultaneously booting the device and ceremoniously drawing the digitizer pen from the screen itself. I found myself awed by the device and find it extremely difficult to contain my enthusiasm.

Dr. Neil Roodyn studied Software Architectures for Real Time Systems at University College London, for which he received a PhD, and is a Microsoft Tablet PC MVP; he’s an Author of two Tablet PC e-books and a textbook on Extreme Programming for .NET. We spent the rest of the evening going through the intricacies, the pro’s and con’s and a brief history of the device. I know that evening left a huge impact on my life as I’ve since become an owner of three different tablets, sampled tones of them and more recently got involved with distributing the devices in Australia and New Zealand. Had I known that Dr. Neil would have such a grand influence that very evening I probably would have spit polished my shoes, vacuumed, mopped and perhaps showered…oops. I’m forever indebted to that elevator in Dee Why and perhaps blessed in ways yet to become apparent. I know that Tablet PC, in all its majestic printed circuitry, is a device yet to make the splash it intended. When that splash eventually turns into a ripple however, and later a Tsunami, I’ll be surfing the bastard for all it’s worth!

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• Have you met Dr. Neil Roodyn?
• Do you remember the first time you played with a Tablet PC? (kind of like, where were you when JFK was shot? or Princess Diana was killed?)