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Before Modding: DIY built in webcam

post #1 of 16
8/4/08 at 3:23pm
Thread Starter 
So what I have here is an e1705 which I have been modding, externally it looks like a 1710, which one day it will be one when I can afford the prices, but what I want to do is I want to take a cheap USB webcam with a built in microphone, and build it into the bezel above the screen.

Has anyone done this before?

The only issues I'm afraid of are camera size, the rest should be fairly easy, tapping into a USB port, setting the mics and drilling holes etc.

Making room for a tiny cam will surely be the hardest part, and making room for it up there and having to cut apart at the lock system at the top to keep the screen from opening.

Luckily since I do have an XPS LCD back on this there is plleeenty of room for wires etc, the standard 1705 LCD back is nearly flush with the backlight making it hard to add any more wires, but the XPS LCD back has tons of room so i'm not worried about that, and I've opened this up enough to route wires down to one of the USB ports easily.

Anyways, any tips ideas, or anyone know of anyone doing this before?


First post, I'm sure I will enjoy it so far, always come across this forum but never joined it!
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post #2 of 16
8/4/08 at 4:10pm
This has been discussed before but as far as I know no one has actually done it (maybe bc of camera size?). I'd search but I'm lazy.
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post #3 of 16
8/4/08 at 6:05pm
Thread Starter 
oh you caught me, forgot to search first.

Well I found one thread, but the person didn't seem to know much and the thread dropped quickly, there was a second one about doing a built in microphone, but I figured just make it easy by getting a webcam + microphone and do it that way, because he wanted to reverse his board's female microphone connection... good luck with that lol

The only problem is are a lot of webcams come in those hideous ball things and who knows how empty they are inside, and all the thin models go out of my price range in a hurry.

I have however been looking at HP's 1.3 MP webcam for Notebooks, because it looks so small (this model)

Once again though is that has that big lens on it which it looks like I can cut out a fair amount of it, and the CMOS sensor is right inside the body and who knows once again how deep it goes.

Really what I'm looking for is a webcam that has a mic, is USB, and is half an inch thick (roughly)

It is possible to buy replacement webcams for the newer generation laptops with built in mics etc.
Obviously one fault, they are connected directly into the mobo, thus that isn't going to happen.

If I could do that or if anyone knows how to go around that, that would be great because those things are built to be thin anyways, and have L\R mics and not just a single mono mic.
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post #4 of 16
8/5/08 at 2:48am
This board has never really been too big on cosmetic mods (although obviously your mod has functionality too). I am not big on webcams or mics really so I'm not really the guy to ask. But I suppose if you could find out more about these replacement mics and how exactly they are connected (internal soldered or internal ported) then MAYBE we'd be able to suggest something.

The only other option is hoping someone makes a thin enough usb mic which I dont see a big market for. I will try to remember to do some searching though.

Sorry if my responses seem a bit trivial but I just don't want to see this thread go the way of most modding threads.
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post #5 of 16
8/5/08 at 11:21am
Thread Starter 
haha, I don't either, I've had my mind set on this for a while, and even after opening up my computer completely everything that would be blocking it I still don't want to give up.

I think I have found the webcam I will be getting, it has a very good price, a mic, and pretty good ratings for the most part.
Never heard of the production company, they seem fairly large according to their website, but it looks promising: Rosewill RCM-3201 (newegg link)
It has a focusing part which looks like I can cut off quite a a large amount if I must, and from looking at the rear images, the screws are inset a fair amount...

This might be the one.

What I really need to find though are some dimension specs, if I can get those.. then it's go time, especially because half to three-quarters of an inch is hard to work with.

I also plan on getting a B,G,N wifi card, that will take me down 50$ as of right now, but I don't need one yet, don't know many people that have N routers.

Then a DVD R(W) + CDRW slot drive, which those range up to 100$ for the insane things, I just want a slot drive that can burn DVDs, I don't have much use for DVDR/W. Thankfully though the design of the e1705 allows one of these because it is made for flat bezels, it isn't one of those odd curved things and no cutouts. Although I could go with a standard pop out DVDR drive... there have been to many instances that my laptop is in close quarters and it's just annoying to have a pop out drive and then scratch discs etc... I tell you though, there is no lack of CDR/W+DVD slot drives out there, but I've yet to find a CDR/W + DVDR slot drive no matter the price.
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post #6 of 16
8/6/08 at 1:49am
Thread Starter 
okay it's getting late, just got home, finally found some specs on the rosewill camera:
length 2.4", depth 0.6", height 0.9"

my laptop's top bezel dimensions (external)
length (plenty), depth 0.5", height 0.8"

insanely close, but keep in mind the plastic body of the camera itself:
http://i.testfreaks.com/images/produ...201.491288.jpg

That's a whoooole lot of plastic that can be chopped up

I think this might actually work
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post #7 of 16
8/6/08 at 2:16am
Good luck man....

Not to get off topic but I will comment on the other stuff you said. I also contemplated going wireless N when I got my atheros card but I decided against it for the very reason you did. I don't have my own router so I would have to rely on my university to supply wireless N which just isn't happening anytime soon.

Also, the slot loading drive is certainly more convenient and I had one for sell here awhile ago. The only downside is that the drive is made for smaller laptops and hence its a bit receded into the laptop (I have a M1710). I had to put electrical tape on the topside of the drive to prevent myself from accidentally sliding the cd between the top of the drive bezel and the plastic exterior of the laptop. Also, the drive I have doesn't "suck" in cd's as well as I'd like. You have to stick in about 2/3 of the cd before it drive takes in the rest on its own. Its the Pioneer DVR-K06 and I still have the drive but don't use it. I want to try out the Panasonic slot loader and see if it sucks in cds any better. I'm looking for a drive that takes in cd's more along the lines of the Nintendo Wii, where you barely have to stick in any of the cd. Anyway, one thing to realize with slot loaders in you gain convenience but you loose a bit of functionality because they are a bit slower in general. The DVR-K06 and the Panasonic drive I spoke of earlier (can't remember the model number) both read and write all the regulars such as CD-R(W), DVD+/-R(W), DVD +/-R DL, as well as DVD-RAM.

Ok that's as far off topic as I go.
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post #8 of 16
8/7/08 at 10:13am
Thread Starter 
hooooooly crap...

I need to start ordering from newegg from now on.

I got cheapest stuff on all of it, slowest shipping, no speeding up of the processing...

I'll be getting it tomorrow morning lol
ordered yesterday around noon
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post #9 of 16
8/8/08 at 3:11pm
Thread Starter 
Got the webcam this morning, tested it out some blah blah, it's very very small

lol just about ALL the work i had planned on doing .. doesn't exist lol like there is just a really thin chip in here that has all the internals, then it has the usb cord which can drop right through the backside of the LCD back then around and then solder the usb connectors to one of my usb ports
yes it will no longer work, but i only use the top left USB port anyway, i've never used the bottom one

the only issue i somewhat have now is the size of the lens i might have to drill a large hold in my bezel (maybe)
that and i need to move the microphone over a distance, and then move the LED 'on' light to another hold and .. then i'm ready to go yippee!

okay well i'm excited now lol now to get to work!
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post #10 of 16
8/9/08 at 8:52am
Maybe the following link is interesting XCNuse. There is, among other interesting things, a descrition of an internal usb-hub mod on an eeepc. Maybe it can be adapted for your 1705, so you wouldn't have to lose your external usb-port.

http://beta.ivancover.com/wiki/index...grades#USB_hub
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post #11 of 16
8/9/08 at 9:15am
Please post results and pix when you're done!
And best of luck!
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post #12 of 16
8/9/08 at 3:40pm
Thread Starter 
well
...

so much for that, think I threw out almost $40 worth of webcam and shipping.

didn't work, tried to make it work, even grinded (who knew the inside of the 1710 LCD back cover was metal?!) with a dremmel, got pretty much nowhere, and now i'm down two screw covers for the bezel.. no idea how i lost them but i lost one the other day, and lost the other one yesterday.. somehow?! no idea how i lost both of them, never have before (been a bad week i guess)

also, who knew that the 1705 and 1710 and probably all other models use a MAGNET to know when your screen is closed?! I learned that the hard way after removing it and then finding my screen wouldn't turn off, it scared the sh*t out of me I thought I ruined something, but wasn't sure what.

learned some stuff, but got absolutely nowhere on the project, the cover over the CMOS sensor was just to big, and even then it still couldn't fit behind it because of the curvature.


what a waste.

I should have given up earlier on but i dremmeled anyway, owell at least i didn't drill a hole in the bezel yet!

Well, that was unfortunate.
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post #13 of 16
11/1/10 at 5:24pm
Hi! I have had difficulties in finding similar threads like this even in 2010, and haven't found any success story. It doesn't discourage me, though. I have a spare laptop to fail trying this, but anyway, I think old HP Compaq NC/NW series notebooks (e.g. NC6220, NC8230, NC8430, NW8440) are the best ones ever made. But they would be even more than perfect if they had a built-in webcam.
So, any news on this? I have posted on a few forums and found nothing. Ok, nowadays every notebook has one, but trying this is also a learning experience, as the OP noted.

Thanks for the numerous replies already in advance!
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post #14 of 16
11/1/10 at 5:44pm
I'm planning that for my E1705.
Already have webcam and fingerprint from M1530.
But ... no time until now and problem ... webcam microphone is digital type so I don't have where to connect them on mainboard.

Most webcams use USB connection,only power could be different 3.3V instead of 5V.
Webcam from M1530 I have tested on USB and working fine, a little warming up I don't know if is bad or ok that.

I'll try to 3.3V when I do my mod and after I post few steps with pictures.
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post #15 of 16
11/1/10 at 7:32pm
That's great news! Please do post the report. HP NC series have already built-in microphone, so I would need only the camera part. My problem is the lack of time, too (and the fact that I don't have the spare notebook with me, yet but that is only 10 days away). First I plan to do an autopsy to the notebook, and only after then start looking for a suitable webcam.

EDIT: Now that I found this forum, I also found another thread: http://www.notebookforums.com/post3191077.html

So, at least someone has done it! Now the problem would be finding small enough webcam after I get to measure the lid's internals. Any indications to the smallest webcams?
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post #16 of 16
1/11/11 at 7:15pm
In the time I did it.
Is not really finished yet,few things still need to be done.

First thing, I replaced digital mic's from M1530 webcam with analogic ones.

There was a problem next when using original cables,even was shielded in that metalic texture all wires was together and digital signals induced a very bad noise in audio. Then I used separate shielded wires for audio part.

Mounted webcam on top side of LCD,but need to remove hook part that keep lid closed.Here is some more work to do to mod this to be working again.

Microphones get connected to mic jack connector and trick STAC9200 that a jack is inserted.

Webcam gets connected to USB port7 of ICH7-M which is used for dock connector (but unused in E1705).

Fingerprint reader was placed in right top corner of touchpad and connected to one port of internal USB hub (where smart card reader is on other models,on E1705 is not used). Unfortunately I was not pleased with cosmetic look and when I try to adjust I scratch the sensor so now I have a fingerprint reported hardware failure code 1066, so is destroyed.

Webcam works pretty good,audio from mic seems fine on recording but seems a little low on skype test call.
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