VPC-Z1 WWAN FFC alternatives?

As some of you may know I am attempting to add WWAN to my non-WWAN VPC-Z1. This shouldn't be too hard to do, the hardest part should be to install the antennas in the screen. As it turns out the hardest part seems to be getting the parts in the first place.

I've had the FFC and Daughter board on order from sparepartswarehouse for about three weeks. Here is the latest from them.

I haven't canceled my order but I did find the daughter board on eBay and ordered that yesterday.

Now I am thinking that I'll be all set if I can find an FFC that will work. In the past I've ordered FFC cables for various things from digikey. see this link -> FFC, FPC (Flat Flexible) | Digi-Key

I figure I can probably measure the ZIF connectors and determine the spacing/contacts/etc

If anyone with a WWAN Z1 wants to open their laptop and take some measurements of that FFC that would be great. Or if anyone knows a place where the FFC might actually be in stock, for example a working pull, not a new part from Sony, that would be great. I have the Gobi card, the daughter board is on the way and I have some antennas on the way also. This all hinges on the FFC.

I am leaving my order in place for now just in case they somehow get the parts. If I end up with more parts then I need I'll just sell them.

 

What is the original part number for the Sony FFC?

 

183747811 FLAT CABLE W/CONN
or with the hyphens it is 1-837-478-11
I was going to post that, I guess I forgot

 

BUMP: Any VPC-Z owner with WWAN want to measure the WWAN FFC cable and count the contacts for me, pretty please?

 

I will probably be opening my Z12 up this weekend to replace the SSD in the caddy, so I will try to help. Not sure what day exactly, I have some work to finish first and the code is on that drive, can't afford to lose it.

In the meantime, if you can point out on a diagram or picture exactly what you want me to look at, that would be great.

 

yes on page 10 of the manual -> http://computercowboy.com/Downloads/VPC-Z12.pdf
it is part # 519
top of the page in the "WAN model" group

I am trying to figure the length of the cable, the width of the cable, the number of contacts, and the spacing of the contacts.

Thanks in advance

 

It looks to be about 80mm long, 11mm wide, 20 contacts @ .5mm spacing. I say 'about 80mm', it is hard to be exact because I don't know how far into the connector the cable extends, also it makes a right-angle bend downward as soon as it exits each connector which is 5-6 mm high (I used 5 in the total).

Send PM with an email address if you would like me to send you some pictures.

 

Thank you very much, sending PM now. I don't need the length to be exact as long as I get a cable that is long enough.

 

I have ordered this part from DigiKey Digi-Key - WM10210-ND (Manufacturer - 21020-0211)

Hopefully it will work

 

Good luck. Let me know as I am going to follow in your footsteps. Did you get your daughterboard yet? Is it the 453 or 452? Does it have the SIM card slot?

 

I don't have it yet, the one I found on eBay is a working pull, model number: A-1769-453-A

I should get it tomorrow. If it has no SIM slot, I'll send it to Anh and have him solder one on. Major league electronics sells a surface mount SIM slot for a few bucks, I am going to have one soldered into the P. There is no huge rush to get this done, I mean I want it done as soon as possible, but I have the Option Express card which works fine for now.


EDIT: Looks like I'll be getting the WWAN board today, just checked UPS and it is "Out for Delivery"

 

So I got the WWAN board, model A-1769-453-A
It doesn't have a SIM slot
It does have the solder points for one
I'll be buying two of these http://www.mlelectronic.com/sim-card-connectors/pdf/SIMS60.pdf one for the Z and one for my P (which also has no SIM slot)

A closer inspection of the parts list in the manual has revieled to me that the WWAN board with SIM is most likely model A-1769-45 4-A

A-1769-45 4-A is the board that comes in all the EU models
A-1769-45 2-A is the board that matches the American and Japanese models

So A-1769-45 2-A may well have the SIM slot also, since they use SIMs in Japan

A-1769-45 3-A is not listed in my manual

Maybe someone with one of the following models that has WWAN could tell us if they have a SIM slot?
Z128GX/B Z128GX/S Z127GX/B Z127GX/S Z125GX/B Z125GX/S Z122GX/B Z122GX/S Z124GX/B Z124GX/S Z1290X* Z1290S* Z120GL/BI

If they do that would mean that the A-1769-45 2-A board has the SIM slot.

 

I have the Z125GX with Verizon 3G, and there is a sim slot behind the battery.

 

it looks like the 453 daughterboard is in stock at sony parts so i will get that, and solder the sim holder. did you try whether the digikey ff cable fits in the daughterboard connector properly? then it should all work out for you. Thanks for posting all this detailed info.

 

I don't have the FFC yet, I just ordered it yesterday, I am trying to source the SIM slot. I can order 25 of them @ $2 each from Major League, that is the minimum order, has to be $50. I might just do that and sell the rest on eBay. I need two SIM slots, one for the Z and one for the P.

@gerg
Thanks for the 411, good to know which parts are capable of what

 

Perhaps ebay? You could also buy some old or broken device that contains a SIM holder and desolder it. If not I will help out & buy one of your SIM holders.

 

Yea, by the time I find 2 devices with SIM slots that are compatible and get them purchased and shipped from eBay I'll probably be into it for nearly $50 anyway. I am waiting on Major League to give me a shipping quote. They say that they normally ship via the customer's UPS or FedEx account.

EDIT: Look what I found at DigiKey http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&name=478-4062-1-ND
I love DigiKey, I've gotten all sorts of little bits from them for mods over the years.


EDIT 2: I got the FFC from digikey today and it looks like it is going to work, it fits in the WWAN board, I'll have to stick it in the computer and see if it recognizes the Gobi, more on this later, have to work now

EDIT #3: The FFC works! It is even about the right length. Maybe a little long but that is no big deal. The bad news is that the Gobi 2000 that I got from Amazon appears to really be a Gobi 1000. I got drivers to install for it after lots of trial and error. I also got carrier specific firmware to load on it, sort of, after a reboot it would go back to not having firmware. I guess I need another card.

 

Unlucky on the Gobi 2000, hope you find one as they have the GPS built in and then your Z12 will be da bomb!

 

They aren't hard to find, it just sucks that I have this card that I though was what I wanted and now I may need something else.

 

there are many inexpensive hp gobi 2000s on ebay. How do they differ from Sony ones? Does the vpcz1 BIOS contain a whitelist? The sony ones are much more expensive. There is a guy selling card plus sim slot for 80 euro specifically for vpcz1, item 270753860084. I am going to do it. all gobis need to reload fimware after boot is my impression. it probably happens aitomatically with the right drivers.

 

I don't know what Gobi software that you're trying to use/what vendors card you purchased but Igorstef couldn't get this work. They came to the conclusion that only branded Sony Gobi cards would work with the Sony firmware.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/466650-where-find-unlocked-wwan-gobi-2000-new-vaio-z.html

 

I was looking at the same auction, I must have pulled the trigger just after you... now they are all gone.

I'll just sell my current WWAN board, SIM slot and Gobi. I am getting a little tired of messing with this. I just want it to work. Now that the FFC is a go
I also bought some Hitachi antennas with 30CM leads on them. Those should be perfect for the screen. I also bought an Apple airport antenna with a short lead so I can have the 3rd WiFi antenna above the express card slot. I also ordered a VAIO TZ Bluetooth adapter which looks like it will be compatible with the VPC-Z, the connector is the same but the chip is Alps/Toshiba, not broadcom. If I can get that working I'll put a Intel 6300 WiFi card in. I need to get myself a 600 Intel SSD and Newmodeus caddy soon also, that will be boss.

 

That could be the problem. I tried all sorts of software, spent about 7 hours messing with it last night. I think maybe the HP card I have is a Gobi 2000 as advertised... but it just won't work in my computer. I'll just sell it. I only paid $36 for it.

 

those hitachi antennas are you sure they are for wwan and gps (aux)? did you find them on ebay? The sony ones, now out of stock at sony parts, sure are costly at 31 dollars each.

 

The hitachi antennas are for WiFi but they should work OK. I could use one of them for the third antenna for a 6300. Doesn't matter much, they were a few bucks and the length is perfect at 30cm.

I haven't found any VPC-Z official antennas, there are some VGN-Z WWAN antennas on eBay, they are a bit expesive though and I am not sure that I could fit them in the upper bezel of the VPC-Z. Any antenna that I do eventually put in the bezel will have to be rigorously tested first. I only want to open the monitor/bezel once.

Another interesting option that I might try is to install some u.fl > SMA pigtails that I have with the SMA connector coming out of my soon to be acquired newmodeus caddy. Then I could just screw on any variety of SMA antennas when using WWAN. There are tons of SMA antennas that are specifically tuned to the frequencies of WWAN. I have attached a picture of what I am talking about.

On a side note, I really hope that the Alp/Toshiba Bluetooth module works nicely in the Z, I have a similar module in the VGN-UX and the VGN-P and my Bluetooth works great in those computers. Although I am beginning to think that the Bluetooth issues on my Z are some sort of general problem with Bluetooth on Windows x64. There are tons of posts on the Dell forums where users are having the same issues I have. A few other Z owners around here have murmured about BT problems also. The ONLY BT adapter that I have found to work 100% reliably all the time is the Microsoft USB>BT dongle that came with my Presenter Mouse 8000. From what I have read on the net the x64 Bluetooth issue has something to do with power management. I have tried the tips about disabling selective suspend of Bluetooth and USB in general, but I still get total Bluetooth failure sometimes then I need to restart my computer to get it working again. This Bluetooth failure happens with my new Atheros WiFi BT card also. If the Alps/Toshiba card has the same problems I am going to get a solder Jedi to figure the pin-out on the connector and mod me up a little dohicky to attach my Microsoft USB>BT adapter as an internal device.

The VPC-Z is nearly as perfect computer, with a bit more consistent work I'll make it perfect. Really it is just the annoying Bluetooth issues that need fixing, everything else is great. There is a lot of potential for adding hardware and modding things though, I plan to exhaust that potential.

 

For anyone who is interested... I got the SIM slots from DigiKey today. Looks like they will work just fine. Since I bought the full assembly from ebay (Sony Gobi card and WWAN with SIM) I am going to be selling the WWAN board and SIM slot I have now. Might sell it as is, might get it put together, not sure yet.

 

I got the Alps/Toshiba BT module from a TZ today. Looks like it will work just fine, the connector is the same, but the board is a little bigger. I think it will fit anyway though. How about one more Japan made part in the Z, sounds good to me, to hell with that piece of crap broadcom board that was made in china.

I'll install it later and post my results!

 

Just in case anyone cares about my Bluetooth problems and my new possible solution... The Alps/Toshiba BT module from the TZ works in the Z! One caveat you have to use the Toshiba Bluetooth stack, the "Generic Bluetooth Device" drivers in Windows 7 don't really work. Using the Windows 7 drivers I can't pair anything. Anyway I think that the real solution to my problem is not the new module but actually the alternate stack from Toshiba. It has become pretty apparent that there is some sort of malfunction in the Windows 7 x64 BT stack. At least if you use Bluetooth as heavily as I do, it will crash and the only way to get it back is to restart. This is a change from the misbehavior pre-SP1. Before SP1 it would crash more often but it would come back all by itself in 15 seconds or less. Doesn't matter what hardware and driver combinations I tried. I think that it actually might have something to do with the Microsoft BT devices and Windows 7 x64. The only solution that I found before the Toshiba stack was to use the Microsoft Bluetooth dongle that came with my Notebook Presenter Mouse 8000 and pair it with push button mode. There are two modes for it to pair, the GUI way like all other devices, and the automatic way where you push the receiver button and the button on the mouse and it "works it out". Well that is great but then I have a 2" dongle sticking out of the Z, not the most elegant solution. Another interesting thing about the auto pairing mode on the MS hardware is that the dongle shows up in "Devices and Printers" but NOT in "Bluetooth Devices" I dug into this a little further and found out that the custom icon package has the hardware IDs for the Bluetooth mouse AND the dongle programmed into it. So if for example you just plugged in the dongle it would show up as a pretty mouse icon in devices and printers. I have thought about doing a mod to wire up the MS dongle as an internal USB device using the connector for the BT module, and I still might do that.

Anyway, as I have said before I am NOT the only one with these type of issues. There are many threads, this one for example, at the DELL forum about Bluetooth problems, notice that in this link the user has a Microsoft Mouse also. Now I'd happily blame this all on the Microsoft hardware... BUT WAIT, this never happens on Windows 7 x86? That is right, I can use all these same devices on x86 with the default BT stack and ANY one of many different BT modules. I used the UX as my main machine, if you can believe it, from 2007 through June 2010. I used the Microsoft Bluetooth Keyboard 6000 and the Microsoft Mouse 5000 which I eventually upgraded to the Presenter Mouse 8000. So the problem is Microsoft's fault but it is not the hardware.

On my Z I've tried two different dongles, one Broadcom based, as well as the Microsoft dongle that came with the Presenter Mouse. I've also tried FOUR different internal solutions: the Broadcom module that came in the Z, then I removed that and tried the Intel 6230 (that one was worse than anything else) then removed that and tried an Azurewave/Atheros BT/Wifi combo card. That one was pretty good but it would still drop out and the computer would need a restart. Now I have the Toshiba/Alps Module from the TZ with the Toshiba Stack, I can't directly compare it to the other modules/miniPCIe cards because the Stack and the Card changed... but I bet if I could find x64 drivers for it it would have the same problems as all the others. Furthermore I bet that if I put any of the other cards back in they would be perfect with this stack. FYI the Toshiba Stack supports almost all major Bluetooth chips.

The thing about the Toshiba Stack is that it is old and crappy looking, it is a throwback to the XP days, it doesn't belong on my Windows 7 laptop. I guess I will continue to use it though since I haven't had a single drop out in over 24 hours. Normally I would have restarted my computer 2 or 3 times in that period of time.

And just one other tidbit, the even log would log warnings (not errors) saying that "A Bluetooth HID device had moved out of range" at the same time the drop out occurred, every time. This points back to the Mouse and or keyboard.

As you all can probably tell from my post I have spent way to much time trying to figure this out, but darn it I am going to win, eventually. This will NOT beat me. The Z is a nearly perfect computer, and Bluetooth is a fantastic way to connect all sorts of stuff with out using up ports for stupid dongles that SHOULD NOT be necessary.

In other news, I have an Intel 6300 Ultimate N 3x3 miniPCIe WiFi adapter on the way, as well as all sorts of antennas that I found for cheap in various places. I haven't gotten very far on saving for a 600GB Intel SSD, there are just too many other places for money to go, like for things I actually need.

 

I got my Gobi and WWAN board (with SIM slot this time) and I put it in. I hooked it up to one WLAN antenna and the BT antenna. The firmware loads and everything works fine except it can't find the network. My theory is that the WLAN antenna which is designed for 2400Mhz doesn't work for EDGE/HSDPA which is 1900Mhz and 2100Mhz IIRC. I disconnected the antennas and put the computer back the way it was more or less. This time I tried the Intel 6230 WiFi/BT card, it has new drivers for the BT part that are only a week old. Much to my surprise it works great... so long as I don't use the Microsoft Presenter Mouse 8000. I don't know what the hell they did with their Bluetooth hardware that causes so many problems. It is too bad really because I love that mouse, my Sony VGP-BMS15 is perfect, no problems at all with any of my many Bluetooth adapters. The really cool thing about the 6230 is it is a Bluetooth 3.0 HS adapter. I don't have any Bluetooth 3.0 devices yet, but I am sure I will in time.

For now I need to get some antennas that are the right frequency for the Gobi card.

On a side note I only tried the Gobi at my desk where my cellphone gets one bar and my Option GT Express Card gets two bars but only connects to the EDGE network, occasionally it will pick up the 3G signal.

I am still convinced that external antennas are the way to go. I am going to find some nice RPSMA antennas and hook them up on pigtails sticking out of the newmodeus caddy.

 

Guys, instead of using a GOBI 2000 card, will this item work?

UNLOCKED Option GTM382 PCI-E 7.2Mbps WWAN GTM 382 Card | eBay

Got my model from Hong Kong VPC-Z138GG. Since I will be travelling mostly around Asia, this card seems to fit the bill.

Really appreciate your feedback.

 

That probably won't work, but for the price you may as well try. You will need the daughter board and FFC cable. I have an extra daughterboard... but it needs a SIM slot. I have the SIM slot also but it will need to be soldered on.

 

This card is an MO0401 382E, this is an EU card. This card for example only works on the edge bands in the US. You should be looking for a 402 or may be a 403. The 382W MO0402 is a worldwide card and the 403 i believe is a card that is used in Asia.
This is better but do some research into it.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Option-GT...033?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4aacffb4d9

Some people have been able to install other wwan modules like Sierra or other Option cards in other Sony models and the BIOS recognised it. No-one can say for sure though it will work if no one has tried using a different card in the Z. I can't remember reading anyone who has tried this.

 

^ Good to know thanks, I might try adding WWAN to my Signature Crocodile P that I just picked up

 

I've seen these on ebay. They are maked as Sony Gobi 2000 cards but then i don't know anything about there origin.
Sony UN2420 GOBI2000 WWAN 3G Wireless EVDO GSM Card | eBay

 

Whoa, thanks for tip. I didnt know that! I think I'll give the 401 and 402 a try. I'll let you guys know.

CC, did u have to solder the simcard slot to your Z's board? Mine currently doesn't have one and im thinking on using a ribbon-based sim card slot like this:

NEW USIM Solderless Sim Socket for GTM378 GTM380 GTM382 | eBay

I would prefer installing a sim socket that can be placed on the reserved sim card space when you remove the Z's battery.

Few Questions:
1.) Where can I find one?
2.) Will soldering be required?

 

I have two boards, one with SIM slot, one without. I have purchased a SIM slot from digikey, I was thinking of getting them soldered together and selling them. I am keeping the one that came OEM with SIM.

 

^ How and where on the Z was the board w/ a built-in sim slot attached?

 

i will take some pics and post them tomorrow
i have both boards, so you can see very clearly how it goes

 

^Great! Really looking forward to joining this craziness!

 

OK, I forgot that the board with the SIM is actually in the Z. I snapped some shots of the board without the SIM then I put the SIM holder on top where it should sit. You should also look at this thread about the P, it is the same process and there are more pictures. How to: V A I O - P HSDPA mod - Pocketables Forum

Here are the solder points



Note that I have an 8pin SIM slot so two of the connectors will not be soldered, the red ones

 

^ Fantastic photos man! Its clearer now.
What I am trying to figure out is if the board with the sim card slot installed on your Z needed soldering to the Z's board.
Or can it simply be screwed on?
I have yet to open my Z.

 

you screw it in place and connect it will an FFC cable
if you can't find the OEM FFC cable you can get this one Digi-Key - WM10210-ND (Manufacturer - 21020-0211)
This SIM slot will also work with the bare board Digi-Key - 478-4062-1-ND (Manufacturer - 045036006200862+)

 

That's very good news! I am going to proceed with this mod and start ordering parts asap. Let you guys know how it turns up.

Cheers!

 

@CC, I just realized I actually need the daughterboard to mount the sim slot! I've been looking on ebay for hours and couldnt find one for the Z. Any idea where I can order one like in the pics you posted? Would be great if it had a sim slot mounted.

 

I have two, I don't need the extra one I have I can get the SIM slot mounted for you, let's move this to PM.

EDIT: PM sent

 

Hey everyone.

I have also on me, a Sony Z112. ( sadly, I didn't order the set that came with 3G WWAN )

I would like to also add the gobi 2000 (or any other) to my laptop so that I can connect to 3G networks on the go!

May I know what are the parts that I would need for this project? (I have read the whole thread, and with a lot of conflicting info, I'm not sure which card actually works?) (Can those who have successfully did this mod to their Z's tell me which card did you use ?)

And also, CC, may I know if you have successfully gotten the gobi to work on your laptop ?

It would be awesome if you could attach pictures / guide on how to go about starting this project and the stuff I would need to get this baby up and running!

Also, one more thing, if I do not attach the antennas to the card, would the card still be able to function ? (I'm afraid of plucking out the LCD panel just to run them antenna wires through, in fear that I would break something..

 

Same here, I was thrown of by the fact that it was advertised as a Verizon WWAN option, I am a GSM guy.

Awesome

It must be a Sony GOBI 2000, not just any GOBI 2000

Like this one:
Sony UN2420 GOBI2000 WWAN 3G Wireless EVDO GSM Card - eBay (item 180690566475 end time Aug-31-11 23:39:49 PDT)

Sort of, I need some antennas, either internal or external. The card works and I can configure it, load firmware on it etc. (FWIW when I had a non Sony GOBI card in there it didn't work)

I'll take more pictures when I work on it next

NOT AT ALL, you need some antennas, but they don't have to go in the screen. The other important thing is that WiFi antennas don't work very well. You need the WWAN antennas for the 850/1900Mhz band. WiFi is tuned way higher 2.4/5Ghz.

I haven't found any stock antennas yet. If you look back in this thread a few pages there was a guy who got the stock antennas from the same seller I got my daughter board from, he said he got it all working just like stock.

For now I have an Option GT Express card that works great. So I am sort of waiting/looking for the original stock antennas... or I might put some external antennas on when I get the newmodus caddy. I have the pigtails already, I would just have to drill some hols in the caddy for some RPSMA thingies to stick out, then I could screw on some nice high gain antennas when I needed to use WWAN.

It is a little frustrating to be 90% there with this mod and not be able to get the stupid antennas

 

Luckily I ordered the Gobi in my Z790 two yrs ago, with the hope that some day there would be a hack to unlock the GSM radio. Here we are today and I'm thrilled to bits that people are finally getting this to work. I only just stumbled upon this when looking for a hack for my Option expresscard which I found on ComputerCowboy's site (CC, you deserve a sheriff's badge...or at least a rep, lol).

My question is, do the factory installed Gobi's already have the daughter card? If so, do they come with a SIM slot? I didn't see a hole for the SIM card inside the battery compartment so I can't tell if it is there.

 

If it has a GOBI or an OPTION card or an Ericson card then it has some sort of daughter board for that card (sometimes the daughter-board is the card)
As far as the SIM card on the daughter-board, YMMV
Some computers have the SIM slot and others don't. There are three different WWAN daughter-boards for the Z1, one of them doesn't have the SIM slot.

In the case of the VAIO P, almost all the first gen US models had WWAN but none of them had SIM slots. The good news is that a SIM slot is $5 on digikey and the daughter-boards that don't have SIM slots have all the traces to solder one on.

Basically the PCB for the daughter-board for any given model is the same for that model, but the SIM slot might not be in place.

In the case of your first gen Z... I don't know if you have the SIM or not. I never had one so I don't know where to look, I assume it is under the battery. It may be covered by a little plastic bit, if it is that means you don't have the SIM slot, but you can open the computer and get the daughter-board out and solder a SIM on, or have someone do it for you.

When you talk about the Option Express Card are you talking about my firmware hack?

 

@Meteorflare, I was the one who bought from the same vendor as ComputerCowboy and was fortunate enough to get the WWAN and GPS antennae with it. It is quite tricky to open up the LCD but thanks to the disassembly manual on ComputerCowboy's site I did this w/o any damage. Everything installed as stock, WWAN and GPS working great on my VPCZ114GX. Took it on a trip to Europe and did WWAN via Vodafone sim card for 4 euro per day unlimited. I would recommend waiting for the Sony Parts Professional store to reopen and see if you can get the antennae from Sony. Once antennae are secured you can invest in the Gobi 2000 card, daughterboard and cable.