In keeping with Aalyia, my not too long ago revealed teardown of Google’s Chromecast with Google TV quickly rose to the highest of the site-traffic record and stays fairly well-liked greater than two months later (as I write these phrases in early July). As such, I’ve determined to speed up the actualization of the aspiration I famous on the finish of that earlier writeup, in addition to broaden my evaluation from a modest feedback publish right into a fuller standalone piece:
As you might have already seen, I didn’t have to tear the highest off any Faraday Cages this time; extra usually, my disassembly of the gadget (together with the pry-apart of the 2 halves of the clamshell case) was non-destructive…a minimum of I believe it was. I’m going to attend till this writeup is revealed, in case I have to snap any further and/or substitute images, and so on., then I’ll clear off the remainder of the outdated thermal paste and change it with contemporary gray goo, put the insides again in place and glue the 2 halves of the case again collectively, and see if it lives once more.
Mainly, what I’ll be documenting here’s a teardown-in-reverse, starting on the finish of my earlier writeup and continuing backwards towards the start, albeit beginning with a fuller removing of the legacy blue thermal paste goo. Right here’s what the requisite items regarded like initially (one in all them didn’t have any goo in any respect; I’ve included it for completeness):
And right here’s what they regarded like after further consideration was given to the assorted bits by each my fingernail, a toothpick, and a tissue soaked in rubbing alcohol:
Clearly, I used to be going to wish to interchange the now-missing thermal paste with more energizing stuff. Whereas I might have gone with a (comparatively, not completely, talking) costlier Arctic Silver or equal product, I additionally already had a bag of syringes filled with generic paste mendacity round from previous CPU evaluations. They’re way more geriatric than the paste I’d simply taken off, however I suspected that because the caps on the ends had been nonetheless intact, the insides would additionally nonetheless be viable:
Yep, I used to be proper (starting with the underside of the PCB):
The paste held the warmth sink in place securely:
Now for the decrease half of the case (as talked about within the earlier piece, phrases like “higher”, “decrease”, “underside”, “topside”, “backside” and “high” are considerably meaningless for a tool like this for which orientation is mated HDMI plug position-dependent…nonetheless I persist…), initially proven right here with the reset button indifferent:
Now with the button reinstalled, the place it would hopefully mate cleanly with the PCB swap:
The PCB nestled again neatly throughout the case’s confines, with the reset button aligning completely with the swap and the PCB-located LED additionally seen by the case gap. This closeup additionally extra clearly reveals that I used to be unable to completely take away the prior blue goo from the PCB topside:
Press-fit the HDMI connector again in place:
Increase the blue goo with contemporary gray thermal paste:
And thoroughly place the warmth sink again on high:
Six screws now must be reinstalled: two for the HDMI connector, the opposite 4 for the two-heatsinks-plus-intermediate-PCB sandwich:
Dab extra thermal paste at three factors on high of the higher warmth sink (I’d switched to my second thermal paste syringe at this level, and one that truly had already been partially used, however the cap on the tip had nonetheless stored the rest of the contents contemporary: bonus!):
And press-fit the higher half of the case again into place, with the 2 halves held collectively solely by the sooner talked about three dollops of thermal paste (later I’ll return and put a bead of glue alongside the seam between the 2 halves for a extra everlasting adhesive bond):
At this level, I (quickly) changed the prevailing Chromecast with Google TV in my workplace with its hopefully resurrected sibling, connecting USB-C for energy and HDMI to my historic 28” widescreen LCD monitor through a 2-to-1 swap (the opposite HDMI enter is fed by an Xbox 360). The white LED on the bottom instantly turned on and commenced blinking, which was encouraging:
However I used to be initially disheartened when the Google House app couldn’t “discover” the gadget:
I attempted a full manufacturing facility reset to see if it’d assist:
Alas, my connectivity outcomes had been seemingly no extra encouraging than earlier than. However at this level, I noticed I hadn’t but turned on the LCD linked to the gadget by the HDMI swap. Though this omission, I assumed, wouldn’t have affected initial-setup success, I made a decision to take action anyway out of curiosity; I needed to see if the Chromecast with Google TV booted in any respect. What I noticed, after one other energy cycle, led to a quick however spectacular (IMHO) “glad dance”:
I hadn’t arrange one in all these units shortly, and having not re-read the directions to refresh my reminiscence earlier than plunging in (as a result of why learn directions, proper?) I’d incorrectly assumed that they operated just like a prior-generation Chromecast or different Google-branded units, with setup going down solely throughout the House app. After I added batteries to the related distant management, they discovered one another robotically and gadget setup proceeded with no additional frustration: the House app positioned the Chromecast with Google TV and supplied to wirelessly mate it with my Pixel 4a (5G) smartphone and activate it:
Huzzah!
In closing, a foreshadowing. As I discussed in my earlier teardown, written and submitted for publication in mid-March:
Mine’s one of many authentic 4K resolution-capable models launched in September 2020, not the newer (September 2022) and cheaper ($29.99 vs $49.99) albeit “solely” 1080p-max “HD” mannequin.
Properly, I subsequently additionally picked up a type of newer Google Chromecast with Google TV HD (wow, that’s a mouthful!) units, in late April when Walmart had them on sale for $19.98:
It appears to be like identical to its “4K” huge brother, doesn’t it? Makes you marvel if the {hardware} is equivalent, and Google simply differentiates the 2 units solely through software program, doesn’t it? There’s just one strategy to discover out; it’s in my teardown pile, and I’ve promised Aalyia it’s close to the highest of the stack. Keep tuned for the “full monty” coming quickly; till then, share your ideas within the feedback.
—Brian Dipert is the Editor-in-Chief of the Edge AI and Imaginative and prescient Alliance, and a Senior Analyst at BDTI and Editor-in-Chief of InsideDSP, the corporate’s on-line publication.
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