Pipo M6 - Speaker Imbalance fix

[rceccleston]

Has anyone who did this physical speaker mod tried the newest official ROM from PIPO (July 31; still SDK 1.0)?

Apparently, PIPO "addressed" the manufacturing defect with the speaker openings by lowering down the volume of the right speaker, so (1) overall volume became even lower, and (2) for those who did the physical mod, the left speaker became louder.

It looks like they will implement this in all the future official ROMs, so we should find a way to revert the balance back.

I looked around inside my ROM (which is still Riley 1.3a - the first beta with SDK 2.0), and it looks like this particular configuration file is the one to mess up with when trying to fix the speaker balance:

/etc/asound.conf

Specifically, the following line:

{name 'Speaker Playback Volume' value [31 31]}

From the line comment, the range for this parameter is 0...31, so in my ROM both speakers are set at equal and maximum volume setting.

I suspect what PIPO "fixed" in the newest official firmware was changing the second number to a lower value.

So if your newest ROM will have the left speaker louder, have a look at this file. If the second number is less than 31, you'll have to set both numbers to 31, and save the file and reboot the tablet. (For that, you'll have to remount "/" as read/write first, I believe).

I'm gonna give it a try now, to see if it indeed works.

EDIT: Actually, no. I changed all the three instances of that line in the file, from 31 31 to 31 0, rebooted, but the balance was the same.

I think I'll simply save this, and all other sound related configuration files to my PC. If in a future ROM I'll encounter speaker imbalance, I will diff the old and new files, to see what PIPO did, and will revert that.

Cool, good work. :-)

I too was concerned upon how their software fix will affect my volume now I have corrected the hardware, but I was planning on crossing that bridge when it became an issue.

[pr0xZen]

If you contact Jenly li @ pipo support - she might be able to hook you up with a new speaker. Be polite, explain that you are technically capable of doing it, and that you're aware and willing to accept the void of warranty.

[bambinou]

How to open the Pippo tablet please?

Hi,

It may sound stupid but I would like to do your trick and also repair the power plug as the tiny pin inside broke.
The problem is that I cannot work out how to open the tablet, would you mind posting a little picture on how to do this please?
Quite a few people are having this problem and send it back to China rather than opening it but the cost of sending it back is quite high. I hope there is an easy way of removing the cover without making any marks on the tablet itself.
I have the M6 3g and I am quite disappointed about the weight, OS stability and battery.

Thank you so much!


Steve

[winer]

removing the m6 back cover

Hi,It may sound stupid but I would like to do your trick and also repair the power plug as the tiny pin inside broke.The problem is that I cannot work out how to open the tablet, would you mind posting a little picture on how to do this please?Quite a few people are having this problem and send it back to China rather than opening it but the cost of sending it back is quite high. I hope there is an easy way of removing the cover without making any marks on the tablet itself.I have the M6 3g and I am quite disappointed about the weight, OS stability and battery.Thank you so much!Steve

I opened my M6 after the center power pin came loose and i choose to give the diy fixing a try, with full succes.Take a credit card or some other plastic card and push it in the seam between the edge of the back cover and the thin plastic edge surounding the glass, start in the middle of one of the sides and slide it in the seam and carefully unlock the plastic hooks, when close to a corner take a second card and work on the oposite side to the corner and push it out., do not start with the buttons but save them for last ( by then the job is done), be carefull, on the connector side, it is weakened by the holes, Closing the two parts is easy, just click them together, but, use some thin tape and place it over the outside of the buttons in a way that they in there original position, ( use you nail) otherwise these little buttons keep dropping in again and again ( bringing you toward total madness)

[Balrog]

Done the mod today with success at my M6 max. The result is a difference like day and night. It works just like the posted manuals.

Thank all very much for the pictures and hints (e.g. to use a tape to hold the buttons in place).
Especially the pictures and writings from @pulsar123 are very useful!
I break up 2 plastic noses at disassembling but after reassembling all is in place and there is no noise if I press the tablet.

The sound is now much more louder and balanced well between left and right.

[schumifer]

This is simply to say that i have done this mod for some months now, and -provided that one takes the extra step of stabilizing the speaker with ...something -if foamy then best!- ,it turns out just great.
Someone was obviously sleep deprived there at pipo to manufacture the tablet like this...

However i was considering a further improvement of the sound. How about, installing an extra speakerphone?

There seems to be ample space , at least on one side.
I could easily try it, but i got scared that if i chose the wrong type , i would end up frying my normal ones!!!
Could anybody provide a link to a speaker that would work for that senario?
Obviously i will solder it in parallel to one of the existing ones. If someone knows the appropriate characteristics, i would really want to try something to provide more volume to my pipo.
Thanks in advance

[pcresti]

Power jack center pin loose fix

How did you fix the loose pin ? i have the same problem

Paolo.

I opened my M6 after the center power pin came loose and i choose to give the diy fixing a try, with full succes.Take a credit card or some other plastic card and push it in the seam between the edge of the back cover and the thin plastic edge surounding the glass, start in the middle of one of the sides and slide it in the seam and carefully unlock the plastic hooks, when close to a corner take a second card and work on the oposite side to the corner and push it out., do not start with the buttons but save them for last ( by then the job is done), be carefull, on the connector side, it is weakened by the holes, Closing the two parts is easy, just click them together, but, use some thin tape and place it over the outside of the buttons in a way that they in there original position, ( use you nail) otherwise these little buttons keep dropping in again and again ( bringing you toward total madness)