I have the webpad sitting in clay attempting to pull a mold for my pin guides and alignment posts.  While that sets I decided to scrap the old cradle design and came up with an all new one.  After building a basic 3 angle view I was able to take point measurements and count pixels to get my dimensions.  Would have been a lot easier if I used something other than GIMP but use what you have.

The basic shape is cut from stacked foam blocks and hand carved to my drawings.  Keep in mind everything is undersized in these photos so that when I go over the foam with clay I can add everywhere and get the geometry exact.  The design I am using is pretty basic but if the lines are not straight and angles don't match then I wasted my time and would have been better off sticking with the cigarette box.

The next set of photos for the cradle body should be clay, fired clay, mold, and then first pass attempt.  On the electronics side I am stalled for parts so it's likely I will have a color molded cradle with all my finishing touches waiting on guts.  The design is actually pretty universal and would work with slight modifications for ipad/iphone, nokia 800/900 and phone, etc.  Once the mold is made it really is no trouble to make small changes in opening sizes to fit other devices.  I just dremel away glass for bigger phones and add glass for smaller phones.  I love tinkering so as stated earlier no charge.  Linuxmcecompatible has this exact unit or message me about customizing something for a different device.  My own builds are simple based on broken-wallet-ness but I would love to get some of my ideas out of my head and into someone's living room.

Foam only - Devices resting comfortably

Fairly happy with the shape of the foam, keep in mind the final product is in places going to be 3/8 thicker.  The angle of the devices is almost perfect though and I was impressed by how well foam was able to keep a line.  Total measurements currently = 10.5" tall, 11.5" wide, 7" deep.  The orbiter sticks up about 0.5 inches above the backrest so its viewable area starts approximately 5.5" from the base and because of its lean back extends to about 10.5" from the base.  Configuration was set for desktop use next to a 22-25" monitor.  Depending on how you sit it should fall just below eye-level and just about perfect placement for button presses.

Empty Foam Template

This shot shows the angles of my design a little better.  You can also see the area I left myself for adding electronics, which will be critical when customizing these.  The relief cut into the backrest is for the external battery of the wedpad, it can get warm sometimes so I didn't want to box it in completely.  Even in foam the cradle is very stable, I have a slight lean back to my devices but they sit low enough to not cause an issue.  The base of the unit that houses the opening for a USB port will actually support an up to 3/4" wood bottom plate.  If it so much as wobbles after that I would shocked. 

Easy configuration options from here I may add to other pulls on this mold.  Adding an LCD alarm clock instead of a phone, adding a powered USB hub internally to make this a 4-port charging station for multiple users, adding an easy open back panel for hiding things such as chargers for rechargeable batteries, I would LOVE to get my hands on Squeezebox dimensions to put audio playback just below a full orbiter UI.  Of course I have my old crappy parts and weird projects that will find their way into these... integrated wireless AP, old receiver/amplifier parts to power audio from the core, add a chumby-sized orbiter below and a standard small LCD screen above from an embedded MD (no messing with touchscreen support, and keep full screen media with orbiter functions below, extend the base depth wise and add a compatible networked phone...

Finally, I haven't uploaded any of my finished model renderings because I have some little extras in mind that I would rather "Taaa Da!" than try to describe.   

As I said I have had some luck with using devices on the external network, if a template exists you can go to web-admin>show device tree>add new device (or) create child of ___ , and simply put the IP and MAC address of the ATA on the external network.

The reason you need a template and to point it at a specific location is that in my experience the external network is not probed for new pnp devices like the internal network is.  On your setup you have some special rules about what part of the external network is used by the internal network so I am not sure of your specifics.  Is the modem/router/ata/wifi all one IP address and MAC on the external network or are the components separated somehow?  You were able to take the AP away from the external network and let the core DHCP have it so you might be able to do the same with the address info of the ATA.

If you don't mind could you please describe the process of configuring LMCE to use the AP of the external router?  I have a small guide for using external network resources and would love to combine that with your experience for a wiki article.

Makes sense the more I think about it.  If all pins are rigid and hot, with a floating extended gnd, you would need the gnd always available for that pin.  It would then be first touched on insertion and last broken on device removal.  To add my switch idea I would need to make all pins floating and active, with my +ve rigid.  To really complicate things I could have all pins rigid hot, all gnd floating hot, and +ve shorter than the rest of the pins and floating N/O - solder the height difference onto the orbiter pads and I could assure +ve would be first to break on removal and last to connect on insertion.  Or all pins rigid, 4 +ve floating high N/O and 1 gnd floating high not switched. Gnd touches first, then all but +ve and then +ve switches closed, on removal +ve breaks first, then all but gnd, and last would be the 1 floating gnd.

How I finally wire it is going to depend on availability of floating pins.  If I locate 18 always active floating pins cheap then all I need to do is clip height on all but gnds.  If floating pins are hard to come by or expensive to buy each then I use rigid pins for 17 contacts and a floating pin for 1 gnd.  It may seem excessive but I still don't like the idea of +ve and gnd available for anything to cross or get bit by.  (I doubt many here realize it but I am in the occupational health & safety field)  It's only 12v but to me it's not quite right unless its disabled when not in use.

Here is my new current build idea

| |                                           | |         side view of the receiving portion of the dock
| |                                           | |                                
| |  [ ][][][ ]-[ ][][][ ]-[ ][][][ ]  | |         floating perforated board like vera riding on springs - showing the alignment pins non electrical which guide the webpad down
| |                                    i      | |         showing my one floating always on gnd pin "i"
| |     | | |       | | i         i | |      | |         showing my rigid pins, the "i" being +ve on N/O contact switches
| |     | | |       | | |        | | |      | |
                         |        |                       contact point for +ve

... I have way too much fun formating!  The only thing I couldn't show was the springs which would just guide the perforated board up and down.

General:
NAS = Networked Attached Storage
DHCP = Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
TCP/IP = Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol
Eth0 = Primary or first listed ethernet port (default installations of lmce make this External network)
Eth1 = Secondary or second listed ethernet port (default installations of lmce make this Internal network)
DCE = Data Communications Equipment
USB-A = Universal Serial Bus-A terminal (typical flat rectangular usb plug/jack)
USB-B = Universal Serial Bus-B terminal (typical square usb plug/jack used often for printer and some modem connections)
Switch (networking) = a device that forwards packets of information along a network, addressing is allowed but the device does not give new devices IP addresses
Hub (networking) = a device that forwards all packets to all connected devices, each device then reads the packet to see if it contains information intended for it)
Router (networking) = a device that reads incoming packets and sends them to only the addressed client, typically enabled as DHCP controller for the network)
VGA = Video Graphics Array (standard 15 pin, blue rectangular monitor plug)
DVI = Digital Visual Interface (rectangular connector for digital video transmission, types are DVI-D, DVI-A and DVI-I)
Serial Connector/Port = a 9 pin connector on some computers and devices that addresses attached devices in serial
D-Sub 9 = see Serial Connector/Port
AP (networking, wireless) = Access Point  - where wireless clients clients attach to a wired network, can be configured to extend wireless coverage in repeater mode
IP = Internet Protocol (typical usage is IP address or a location where computers can be addressed at)
MAC = Media Access Control address - the unique identifier of a hardware device, not to be confused with Mac' which is abbreviated for Macintosh Computers and OS
OS = Operating System
BIOS = Basic Input Output System - a set of commands that a computer uses to understand itself and its internal components
CMOS = Complimentary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor - the battery savable settings made to BIOS that allow for options to be stored and recalled after power loss
CPU = Central Processing Unit  - also referred to as proc, processor or in multiple core processors, a single core
RAM = Random Access Memory - also referred to as memory but not to be confused with storage memory
IDE = Integrated Drive Electronics - typically referring to physical drives (hard drive, dvd drive, cd drive) connected along a 44 pin IDE controller port on the motherboard
MotherBoard = the main component of your computer that contains the cpu, ram and ports for other devices to connect to
MoBo/Mainboard/SystemBoard - see Motherboard
SATA = Serial Advanced Technology Attachment or Serial ATA - a type of connect that allows connection to serial addressed devices such as hard drive, dvd-drives etc
PATA = Parallel Advanced Technology Attachment or Parallel ATA - an uncommon used term for IDE connections, sometimes used by linux programs such as Disk Utility
HDD = Hard Drive Disk - as BIOS understands detected devices the disks are labeled as disk then partition in numbers starting with 0, example hdd0,0 and hdd0,1 are the same device but   
          shown as to seperate partitions.  Linux displays SCSI, SATA and USB drives differently with alphabetical designations for devices and numeric extensions for partitions.  BIOS recognizes
          2 SATA harddrives with 2 partiions each as 'hdd0,0 hdd0,1 hdd1, 0 & hdd1,1' where linux recognizes 'sda1, sda2, sdb1 & sdb2'
HDMI = High-Definition Multimedia Interface - a common connector that combines a digital video signal with a digital audio signal on a single cable and connector.
VOIP = Voice Over Internet Protocol -
SIP = Session Initiation Protocol (see VOIP) - this is a signaling and transmission method that VOIP can be addressed via


Linux Terms:
sudo = Super User DO -
root =
terminal =
tty =
ls - lsusb, lspci, etc


LinuxMCE common terms
Core = The primary computer in the lmce network, the device containing lmce files and directories
DCE/dcerouter = The function of the lmce core that directs commands to various plugins and devices
GSD = Generic Serial Device
MD = Media Director, the term used to describe diskless nodes which store their image on the core and are capable of displaying media
Orbiter = a device used to control a media director, with small exceptions these function as controllers only and can not display media
Template = A developed set of instructions to instruct lmce how to communicate to attached devices and programs.  Created as generic for similar items or specific to one item as necessary
Dev = Developers - Programmers who develop, implement, bug-fix and often support Users and Testers, also referred to as devel(s)
User = A user of LinuxMCE, the development intention of lmce is to allow users functional home automation, media, phone, climate and communications integration without knowledge of the
          above listed items.  The end user of lmce
Tester = Users who assist developers by communicating device and setting issues to the developers, this information is used to make the User's experience automated and problem free
Community = Users, Testers & Developers that together make up the LinuxMCE project
Project = A term used to describe LinuxMCE in terms of an ongoing and ever improving software solution


more to come later, I will update this reply

On the original cradle the four outer pins are raised to 'make' the gnd connection before the +'ve, as you have suggested AG should do.

Perhaps the pin floats on a convex bubble above its' contact, kind of like joystick D-pad or old keyboard?  If that is the case then it is achieving gnd first AND normally open functionality like I plan to do on the circuit, all at the pin level.  That is an great idea for me to add into my build.

My android phone *does* charge if I simply connect gnd and +5v.

I am no electronics expert by a long shot but I read a really good article on the way power to USB is handled.  There is a minimal amount of voltage available on the line (sorry I forget the exacts) until the device requests more power from the bus.  So the host does not power the USB port fully unless there is some logic at the connected device level to request it.  This is why when stealing power off a USB port you wire two pin feeds together (again forgot the specific colors but I believe its white and green) this gives you a closed connection which tells the bus something is attached and provides level 2 of its available 3 power levels to the 5v line.  I am guessing here because I don't have the article infront of me but it was something like: +1.5v constant, +3.5v when something contacts all pins, +5v when the device requests all available power.  This understanding was helpful when understanding how USB hubs function, because some devices ask for the power they need and others request full power as soon as attached.   

Certainly.

Though I am slowly adding my working devices back to LMCE now that I am on beta as well as working on other projects and schoolwork, so I might not be able to devote time to this until later this week.  Because I am still very new to template creation I normally jack up a few command groups and templates in the process of getting something working, then restore (hdd) to a state prior to my changes and then create a new template cleanly.  I could simplify this learning process by using web-admin backup or using diff. in sqlCVS but haven't went that route yet.

I will modify my first post in this thread with my creation attempts/process and bump this thread for you to check out.

Okay I will put some terms here then, I just felt it would be cleaner and easier for you to modify a thread post and be the one to update to the wiki instead of having several people modifying the same page.

the UIRT _does_ flash its LED indicator when sending IR pulses.

-Thom

Okay cool, that helps when trying to build this.  I can test at my desk until I get a LED blast, and then verify the correct command was sent by testing at the unit.  The log errors I am seeing are pretty descriptive and it doesn't seem like I am that far off.  If I get to the point I see no errors and still don't have it working I will assume I am close and might need some small help getting it operational from there.

I spent a little time on this yesterday between other projects.  I tried lots of different template ideas to use the lighting plugin to control via IR.  I thought I had it a few times but after I stopped for the night I realized the big mistake I was making.

I was doing my testing with the usbuirt here in the office with the oem remote, and the fireplace out in the living room.  My (very wrong) assumption was that the red light would flash on the usbuirt indicating IR command sent.  I didn't see a flash so I tried something else.  Yeah I know that's pretty dumb, why would anyone want a flashing red light accompanying an IR signal?  Not sure what I was thinking.

I do have a question on IR devices though.  The wiki instructions on setting up USB UIRT are instructions on adding a remote.  To build this correctly should I build two templates?  One for the device that is activated by IR and another that is the remote which is a child device of the USB UIRT?  When I did build this as two devices (a light and a remote) it produced two devices under the lighting scenes on my orbiters.

There are a lot of IR controlled little lights available, I am trying to plan ahead on the template and make it as generic as possible so that other users with a USB UIRT can add "generic IR accent light (USBUIRT) and only have to input their codes to get basic on/off.

If your goal is a combined effort glossary of lmce and home automation terms, why not build the page here on the forums?  Start a single thread called something like "terms for the wiki", then as people contribute with thread responses you update the first post of the thread to what the Wiki page will contain.  When its substantial and thread replies slow down, then move it to the Wiki as a new page.

just a thought.

I have used USB pins on mobos straight to the USB and I have pulled them from cases where the mobo leads went to a board with caps and diodes before going to the USB housing.  Both have worked so I wasn't overly concerned with that side of it.  On the iPhone USB hardwired dock I need to power up the WebDT with the orbiter running and see if the detection of USB storage causes any problems.  I have no reason to suspect it would but its an easy test to see how the iPhone is handled if present at startup, when coming out of suspend and detected while running.

Great tips on the ground pin length and alignment issue.  I have planned to address the fitting issue with epoxy around the pins.  Using cellophane and clay I can pull a cast of the DT's underside.  That would give me an exact mold of the shape to match around my pins (and the alignment pins):

I I I
I I I

cast to

[ I I I ]
[ I I I ] 

shaped down to

  . . .
[ I I I ]

I will have to consider new methods if I want to extend my ground pins as recommended.  The normally open momentary contact switches would resolve this being a 'hot insertion' but only if the throw on the switch is long enough.  Everything is soldered rigid onto vera board atm, so adding a floating pin would take some thought.  Maybe I should scrap the vera + steel pins, and rebuild the project using coated pins from a non-working floppy drive.  If I mount that to PCB I could ammonia etch my own traces and duplicate the board that was used OEM.  It's a shame I am not in Arizona anymore as I had access to several etchers including a mini Cupric Chloride model that would allow me much finer and tighter spaced traces.  With this much thought into it already should rebuilt it right so that it not only works but is clean and will continue to work for years.

The homemade glue I used on my form is almost set so I can start shaping the final body design with plaster and then clay.  The rough shape is pretty huge and could definitely use about half of its volume reduced, If I add a solid wood bottom I can keep the mass while shrinking the volume.  Ideally the shape of the cradle should compliment both devices and that is rough.  Where the webpad has a durable look the iPhone has the no-edge sleek style.  Without laying both devices almost on their backs I am having a hard time getting a dock that shows both screens but isn't unnecessarily tall.  Sometimes even the sleekest looking 3D model ends up bigger than desired once cut into foam.

I appreciate the input on this.  I will try to add a few more photo links for those who want to see the project as it develops.

Under 8.10 you are still probably needing to use the FreePBX utility.  It is accessible via Advanced>Phone Lines on the admin page, I believe.  It has been a little while and 10.04 does not use FreePBX any longer.

There was quite a bit of information on the wiki about using FreePBX and how to get into it from web-admin.  There should be links there still to get you to the FreePBX webpage for specifics on settings and configuration. 

Taken from Whirpool:

VoIP
Go to wiki
FXS (ATA) ports    2
Go to wiki
FXO ports    1
Go to wiki
PSTN fallback    Yes
Go to wiki
VoIP Dial Plans    Yes
Go to wiki
PSTN Dial Plans    No
Go to wiki
Supports Telephony features (caller ID, call forward, etc)    Yes
Caller ID, Call On-Hold, Call Forward, Call Waiting and Transfer
Go to wiki
VoIP provider config presets    No
Go to wiki
Number of VOIP providers supported    1
Each FXS port can have a separate VoIP account but must be from the same provider
Go to wiki
T.38 (Fax over IP)    Yes 

So your external router IS your ata...  Do you have another external router you could use which would let you move the nb9wmaxx onto the internal network and turn its' DHCP off?  Barring that I have been successful using resources on the external network but that was for fairly generic devices that once I told lmce where to find it (ie the external LAN IP) it worked but unless there is a template for a router+ata I am not sure asterisk will be able to configure it.  Rumor has it that some providers will try to provide some assistance for SIP users or offer a forum where users can discuss their settings I would check there for sure if you haven't already. 

That was thorough, thank you!

I actually had a pretty long response typed just now but decided to message you about the parts I am unclear on, especially where the +ve to gnd happens in the cradle.  I was wiring it to tie into the webpad's gnd and leave that part open otherwise.  If nothing else it sounds like there may be room to improve on the wiki.

I checked out webdt.org btw and when searching for cradle pinout, I found a copy/paste of the linuxmce wiki entry (credit was given).  I just thought it was cool that a dedicated device forum found an answer to their questions from our wiki.  Following that wiki back to these forums I found that a member did the pin mapping himself and posted it for not only lmce users or even linux users but anyone searching that device to get information.   If someone ever wants to make a dock starting with a cigarette pack I guess they know who to contact now. =)
 

I *believe* the charger charges the pad and the usb ports on the cradle are then powered from the pad, not the charger directly. 

This is exactly what I was thinking, and is why I stopped the 'proof of concept" phase of the build where I was only trying to connect the 4 matched USB pins + shield ground.  I will also say I *believe* the usb ports on the cradle are only accessible when 12v power is supplied by the cradle.  Thanks for confirming my suspicion, that stops me from reattempting the project in six months to see if I really needed power.

What portion(s) of a cradle would you like pics of?

I am not sure if access to the wiring is a simple screw turn or not but I am curious about wiring from the power adapter jack on the cradle up to pin 9 and 16.  My plan is to add in contact switches to prevent power always going to pin 9 but I am curious about how DT Research did it.  Is it wired from jack to pin direct or does it have components such as resistors, switched diodes or caps?

The small pads on the orbiter don't leave much room for error when this thing ultimately settles into my homemade socket, so anything I can do to prevent 12v surging into my device because it misaligned and hit another pad would be worth it.

The photo request was for anyone willing but without knowledge of components, if you are comfortable detailing or describing the diagram that would be much easier than uploading a photo.

Thanks for the help!

Tim-

No, I am building a custom device with the features of the OEM cradle + my styling and a built in iPhone charger.  See my two comments below about your store items.  I don't think I am foot stepping at all but message me if you want and we can chat about it. 

dont the pad have i charger cable that you can just put in the mold?

BR Daniel

Actually that was a great question and one I tried to incorporate into the dock.  I thought about doing something similar to a door latch, rounded on one side and spring extended into the dock area.  Sliding the pad down into the dock would push in the power connector away and when it reached bottom the plug would be spring pressed into the jack.  The problems with this idea were the power jack (on the side) is level with the front 4 buttons and to expose them I would have to modify the way it sits into its slot.  I could do that but it would be almost impossible to match with the iPhone dock below it.  The other problem and this is function instead of style, I do not think the bottom pins are live until the unit receives power from the bottom.  When hunting for the USB-B pins I didn't get anything on the multimeter anywhere.  It's possible the bottom pins are disabled in BIOS but to be honest I am not sure how to get into BIOS on that pad, but short of using jumpers to disable connections I haven't came across old tech that could kill all power to a bus.

Thanks for the link JaseP.  I will spend some time hunting around that site.  I did see quite a few threads of their users looking for OEM docks, perhaps I could drop a linuxmcecompatible link?  (don't know the rules on that one so I will get with the admins and tkmedia about that one).  The cast is drying now so I should have some new photos available shortly.  Since these are being produced with a mold there is no reason I can't make a few and offer them freely without electronics, sorry but selling a working unit even for donations would be in competition and I won't do that.  Tell me what color and pay the shipping, add your own guts.

The wall-wort plug I am housing inside the cradle is other than the PC standard 110-120V line plug, exactly the same as the OEM charger.  12v 3.5A.  Something I am wondering now is if the cradle takes a higher Amp power supply? 

*Edit, the switches I grabbed to work as safeties for the 12v +, they were normally closed...  I have to head to the store to buy the right ones now.