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Root Is TV-out Possible?
- Thread starter Joelgp83
- Start date
Rarewolf
Android Expert
Well, I just ordered one of these " HDMI MHL adapter" from Amazon for $0.01 + 4.99 shipping......... Should have it by August 15th........ We'll see if it works or not.
Nice deal there bro!
Joelgp83
Android Enthusiast
yeah, now it just should work on the FIRST try as well !! LOL
Here is an Update : Just received notification that the item has shipped........ Can't wait to get it and try it out !
Well, it's almost the 15th....did you recieve the cable yet?
By the way, I found out that Radio Shack does sell these MHL cables....however, the particular type they sell is more of a dongle-type of adapter and does NOT allow you to charge your phone while hooked up to the TV. I would not recommend getting one from them.
vce2005
Android Expert
Hi there,
so I got the MHL to HDMI adapter today.......
1. Connectors to Prevail are working just fine ( Micro USB )
2. Adapter has an aditional microUSB on the side, obviously to attach the regular power adapter to charge the phone....This does NOT seem to work. Battery is draining and not charging.
3. Did not had a chance to try the main thing to connect to a HDMI on a TV, since I still don't have my TV out of storage. Might need to try it at a friends place when I get a chance. Tried to hook the HDMI up to my Notebook, but maybe there's only an HDMI-Out, so it did not work.
A little disappointed so far, but need to do more testing when possible.
so I got the MHL to HDMI adapter today.......
1. Connectors to Prevail are working just fine ( Micro USB )
2. Adapter has an aditional microUSB on the side, obviously to attach the regular power adapter to charge the phone....This does NOT seem to work. Battery is draining and not charging.
3. Did not had a chance to try the main thing to connect to a HDMI on a TV, since I still don't have my TV out of storage. Might need to try it at a friends place when I get a chance. Tried to hook the HDMI up to my Notebook, but maybe there's only an HDMI-Out, so it did not work.
A little disappointed so far, but need to do more testing when possible.
Savage Shadows
Android Enthusiast
Make sure to try more than one tv. Or at lease make sure its an MHL compatible TV (MHL 1.0 is what most stuff says). It looks like there are some that are, some that aren't. Not sure if you saw that yet, so thought I'd throw that out there.
Savage Shadows
Android Enthusiast
Go to best buy and try a bunch of their tv's!!! HAHA
edit: Now that I think about it, that actually does seem like a pretty good idea. Just tell them you're looking into a new tv, but only if it works with your phone. Ask if you can try plugging it in to see if its compatible.
edit: Now that I think about it, that actually does seem like a pretty good idea. Just tell them you're looking into a new tv, but only if it works with your phone. Ask if you can try plugging it in to see if its compatible.
Lordvincent 90
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Shabbypenguin
Extreme Android User
hate to be the bearer of bad news but this phone does not support MHL. many other midrange phones by samsung havent had it, a budget phone on boost is not going to.
Joelgp83
Android Enthusiast
I understand that shabby (in fact I kinda expect that), however what I'm hoping for is to possibly rig up a software-based approach (probably will need root, grab/stream data from the device framebuffer and audio subsystem and shove it out the usb port in an HDMI-compatible format). There may already be a program out there that does this, that "HDMwIn for Evo" app I found on Google Play, for example.
If it is indeed possible to pull it off smoothly, it would put yet another ability in the Prevail's bag o' tricks that you and other devs have built up.
As for me, I don't think I'll be able to get my hands on a cable for a month or so. Why? The wife and I have to get one of our puppies fixed....and its stinkin' expensive.
Shabbypenguin
Extreme Android User
difference being was evo had an hdmi output. the reason why teamwin did that is because there was no hdmi out in cm for evo. same as their wimax evo solution :/
prevail has none of that
prevail has none of that
Joelgp83
Android Enthusiast
True, but still, I don't think the TV will care, as long as the data gets sent through the cable, in the proper format, regardless of whether or not MHL circuitry is there.....I guess my idea is more along the lines of MHL "emulation", than anything else.
Savage Shadows
Android Enthusiast
In that case, I would say that maybe HDMI isn't the cable to go for (since it involves two way communication between the display and device). But unfortunately, without buying $50 range hardware to try for VGA, I think HDMI is the ONLY cable to go for.
That being said, I would suggest you look into what signals are sent back through HDMI to the device, as well as how the MHL adapter handles that signal, i.e. whether it forwards it to device, only accepts if device is compatible, etc...
With enough time, research, and patience, I'm sure that emulation could be done (but don't take my word for it). But I do think it could take up so much of the phone's resources, that it wouldn't be practical for streaming or high end gaming. Playback should be fine, but not streaming. I feel like the Prevail already struggles enough with Netflix. But YouTube is usually okay on a good WiFi network.
That being said, I would suggest you look into what signals are sent back through HDMI to the device, as well as how the MHL adapter handles that signal, i.e. whether it forwards it to device, only accepts if device is compatible, etc...
With enough time, research, and patience, I'm sure that emulation could be done (but don't take my word for it). But I do think it could take up so much of the phone's resources, that it wouldn't be practical for streaming or high end gaming. Playback should be fine, but not streaming. I feel like the Prevail already struggles enough with Netflix. But YouTube is usually okay on a good WiFi network.
Typically, microUSB is a four wire connection - 2 for power, 2 for data. MHL is at least 6 wires. And there's bandwidth (signal speed) to consider. I think that if they could have done this without MHL circuitry and signaling, they would have.
Savage Shadows
Android Enthusiast
Haha you had me looking. What about connection number five though? I see a fifth contact both on the cable, and inside the Prevail.
Been a while, apologies for the mistake on signaling. Pin 4 is not used, still 4-wire -
http://www.kineteka.com/microusb-b.aspx
I was wrong, when MHL came out, the pinouts were not discussed outside of the consortium, and some flak said 6 pins and I have been a silly parrot, LoL at me.
The original MHL used a 5 pin connection, the SGS3 uses an 11 pin configuration (with some citations already wrong about the additional pins).
If some path to making this work exists, you may need to do something about the 5th wire.
If you want to buy an MHL adapter, monoprice.com is the place to go.
Savage Shadows
Android Enthusiast
Thanks for that tip. I visited it and learned another little bit about the adapters.
vce2005, it looks like that micro USB port on the side of the device might not exactly be for charging, or at least not on all devices. From reading on monoprice.com it looks like some phones are unable to output enough power to power the adapter AND send the signal through it to the television. So, the port on the side of the adapter is to aid in that process. If you were to add the script into a kernel to support extra power output to the phone's micro USB port, that might get you one step closer to results. Also, thanks to EarlyMon, it looks like maybe we need to figure out the fifth pin in the micro USB contacts? Unless I'm just totally off.
vce2005, it looks like that micro USB port on the side of the device might not exactly be for charging, or at least not on all devices. From reading on monoprice.com it looks like some phones are unable to output enough power to power the adapter AND send the signal through it to the television. So, the port on the side of the adapter is to aid in that process. If you were to add the script into a kernel to support extra power output to the phone's micro USB port, that might get you one step closer to results. Also, thanks to EarlyMon, it looks like maybe we need to figure out the fifth pin in the micro USB contacts? Unless I'm just totally off.
vce2005
Android Expert
Well, first I'll try the MHL adapter at a few TV's at Walmart to see if "anything" comes through..... then I'll see if I have to connect an extra power source to the MHL adpter......
Bt as Shabbypengin already said, the Prevail is not compatible, so I don't have mch hope...... Well, the adapter was only $0.01 + $4.99 shipping from Amazon, so not too much is lost......
Bt as Shabbypengin already said, the Prevail is not compatible, so I don't have mch hope...... Well, the adapter was only $0.01 + $4.99 shipping from Amazon, so not too much is lost......
Joelgp83
Android Enthusiast
I feel the need to mention that I do realize the whole thing is a long shot.
Still, hold onto the cable anyway...you may yet upgrade to a phone that can use it out-of-the-box. Also, I do have a friend who is a professional programmer, and does a lot of graphics-related programming, a little bit of Java, Visual Basic, a lot of C#, what-have-you, and is always on the prowl for a good app idea to program for......
He is interested in breaking into the smartphone app scene, and I had told him about this thread and the MHL-emulation idea for phones that don't necessarily have the MHL circuitry. He thought it was an interesting idea, but I haven't seriously talked to him about actually going for it.
I can't promise anything, but who knows...maybe he will decide its worth pursuing.
Pin 4 is used in the microUSB type A plug, this is type B.
There's a double pole double throw MHL / USB switch I'm seeing for mobile devices, driven by a sense line. Pin 4 might play with that.
Phones equipped with MHL provide a scaler. Both of mine scale the output to 1080p.
Joelgp83
Android Enthusiast
...Wait, don't tell me that's ALL the MHL circuitry does?
If so, I wonder, perhaps its possible to emulate that scaling feature in hardware by writing a pixel shader operation that can sample each pixel and duplicate it to the surrounding pixels to enlarge the image....
....Because, ya know, the Prevail's Adreno 200 GPU has shader capability.