Alright, this was quite an adventure, for all the wrong reasons. Therefore, please have a look at this disclaimer:
!!! ATTENTION !!!
Due to a combination of stupidity, bad luck and an extremely sensitive fuse on the PCB of the X8, I fried my device while attempting this mod. Although I am sure that this is a pretty harmless modification, I had to learn the hard way that tiny mistakes can bite you in the ass. I managed to blow up the fuse behind the power connector when I did a quick test to see if the LED is any brighter. This rapid plugging/unplugging under heavy load (-> since it was booting up) was apparently too much. It's fixable, though. I would not still be on this board if it wasn't
So as always, take great care when doing stuff like this, be aware that I do not take any responsiblity in case something goes wrong with your device
So what's the problem?
Many people here have complained that the power LED on their X8 is barely visible, especially at daytime. You can hardly tell if the device is on or off most of the time.
It was assumed that the LED was just too dim, but this was not in line with my experience with chinese hardware. Normally, LEDs are used that are bright enough to light up a living room at night.
So I thought Minix was just being clever and hid the LED behind the plastic of the case, but it turned out to be too thick for the LED to shine through.
I opened up my X8 and sure enough, the LED itself was very, very bright. It's really just the case that's blocking all the light from it. What a waste.
What's the solution?
Well, making the plastic thinner, obviously. So we are going to take the X8 apart, sand off some of the plastic in front of the LED and then put everything together again.
What do I need?
You're going to need a screwdriver and a dremel with a round sanding tip.
(And if you are stupid like me and plug/unplug the device to get a quick view of your progress, some soldering skills will come in handy as well -.- )
Show me pictures!
Here they are:
First, power down the X8, unplug it and remove the bottom part of the enclosure. There are no screws here. Try using a flat screwdriver to get between the bottom and the sides. Once you found a weak spot, it should snap right off.
Then remove the 4 screws that are holding the PCB in place. There really is not much else to say about this step.
Take out the PCB. Be careful not to rip off the WiFi antenna connector. This one is coming off next
Once everything is done, you should be left with an empty case, ready for modifying.
It was hard to get a good shot of this part (and I really should have used a decent camera for everything), but you should be able to make out the circular and the square areas in the side of the case.
The circular area is in front of the LED, the square one is in front of the IR sensor.
Now grab your dremel and sand off as much plastic as you are comfortable with. Be careful not to apply too much pressure and don't do it all at once, the plastic will heat up, and you can get ugly bulges on the outside of the case.
Done.
Two things to note:
- If you are actively using the IR remote and are underwhelmed by its range, it might be worth a shot to give the square area the same treatment. I am not using the remote and did not see the need to do it, but I thought I'd mention it.
- While you have your dremel ready, just sand off a bit from the LED itself (really just softly hit it 1-2 times). With a rougher surface, the light from the LED disperses and makes it a lot less aggressive
The result. I am glad that it's still not overwhelmingly bright, but actually more of a subtle glow.
But without the modification, you would see no LED at all in this picture.
You can see the mentioned tiny bulges on the outside. It's not a big deal, but if you absolutely cannot have imperfections, make sure to be extra careful when sanding
That's it
Not put everything back together and connect it again. Have a friend/your wife ready to ask you whether the device is on, so that now, for the first time, you can look at it, see the LED, and - with a sense of pride and accomplishment - say "Yes. Yes it is".
!!! ATTENTION !!!
Due to a combination of stupidity, bad luck and an extremely sensitive fuse on the PCB of the X8, I fried my device while attempting this mod. Although I am sure that this is a pretty harmless modification, I had to learn the hard way that tiny mistakes can bite you in the ass. I managed to blow up the fuse behind the power connector when I did a quick test to see if the LED is any brighter. This rapid plugging/unplugging under heavy load (-> since it was booting up) was apparently too much. It's fixable, though. I would not still be on this board if it wasn't
So as always, take great care when doing stuff like this, be aware that I do not take any responsiblity in case something goes wrong with your device
So what's the problem?
Many people here have complained that the power LED on their X8 is barely visible, especially at daytime. You can hardly tell if the device is on or off most of the time.
It was assumed that the LED was just too dim, but this was not in line with my experience with chinese hardware. Normally, LEDs are used that are bright enough to light up a living room at night.
So I thought Minix was just being clever and hid the LED behind the plastic of the case, but it turned out to be too thick for the LED to shine through.
I opened up my X8 and sure enough, the LED itself was very, very bright. It's really just the case that's blocking all the light from it. What a waste.
What's the solution?
Well, making the plastic thinner, obviously. So we are going to take the X8 apart, sand off some of the plastic in front of the LED and then put everything together again.
What do I need?
You're going to need a screwdriver and a dremel with a round sanding tip.
(And if you are stupid like me and plug/unplug the device to get a quick view of your progress, some soldering skills will come in handy as well -.- )
Show me pictures!
Here they are:
First, power down the X8, unplug it and remove the bottom part of the enclosure. There are no screws here. Try using a flat screwdriver to get between the bottom and the sides. Once you found a weak spot, it should snap right off.
Then remove the 4 screws that are holding the PCB in place. There really is not much else to say about this step.
Take out the PCB. Be careful not to rip off the WiFi antenna connector. This one is coming off next
Once everything is done, you should be left with an empty case, ready for modifying.
It was hard to get a good shot of this part (and I really should have used a decent camera for everything), but you should be able to make out the circular and the square areas in the side of the case.
The circular area is in front of the LED, the square one is in front of the IR sensor.
Now grab your dremel and sand off as much plastic as you are comfortable with. Be careful not to apply too much pressure and don't do it all at once, the plastic will heat up, and you can get ugly bulges on the outside of the case.
Done.
Two things to note:
- If you are actively using the IR remote and are underwhelmed by its range, it might be worth a shot to give the square area the same treatment. I am not using the remote and did not see the need to do it, but I thought I'd mention it.
- While you have your dremel ready, just sand off a bit from the LED itself (really just softly hit it 1-2 times). With a rougher surface, the light from the LED disperses and makes it a lot less aggressive
The result. I am glad that it's still not overwhelmingly bright, but actually more of a subtle glow.
But without the modification, you would see no LED at all in this picture.
You can see the mentioned tiny bulges on the outside. It's not a big deal, but if you absolutely cannot have imperfections, make sure to be extra careful when sanding
That's it
Not put everything back together and connect it again. Have a friend/your wife ready to ask you whether the device is on, so that now, for the first time, you can look at it, see the LED, and - with a sense of pride and accomplishment - say "Yes. Yes it is".
?
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