Is there an easy way to make any generic computer work as a phone without hacking it?

• tarpitt

  today at 8:55 PM

  Plug in an EG25-G USB module. It has good driver suppport on linux as this is the same modem that's in the pinephone. About $60 plus the antennas. It also gives you GPS.

  I'm actually working on this right now. I made a case for the module + antennas if you want.

  EDIT: oops I hadn't read the article yet LOL. But the wisdom about the USB module still applies. There are also adapters for mpcie or m.2 or whatever modules to convert them to USB modules. Also you probably want to have a module or adapter with a sim card tray.

  I bought mine off of aliexpress and also bought the LTE antennas. You need a separate antenna for GPS as well.

  Lastly, with some of these adapters, the sim card goes in backwards relative to how you normally think it goes in. This had me stuck for a couple hours.

I love the hackability of Thinkpads circa that generation.

• binsquare

  today at 7:44 PM

  it's incredibly repairable. I still use the t480 for modern workloads because I've been able to switch out the battery, the fan, the keyboard with fairly abundant aftermarket parts.

  • sudopluto

    today at 8:24 PM

    sadly my t480's usb c port is no longer able to charge the device, do you know of a way to fix it without replacing the mobo / getting god tier soldering skills? i'm kinda attached since i did a bunch of upgrades like two heatpipes and glass touchpad, sad to see my laptop from college die for a reason like the port dying

    • sb057

      today at 8:49 PM

      You probably have a bad Thunderbolt chip. No way around it besides SPI flash (which is honestly pretty easy):

      https://gitlab.com/MobileAZN/lenovo-t480-thunderbolt-firmwar...

I still use my beloved t480 ... and there is still more amazing things it can do :) thank you!

> You can even use Android apps natively with Waydroid

Is that what's shown in the video? Or just another phone app that coincidentally looks like Android?

• mid-kid

  today at 8:49 PM

  That's the gnome dialer, yeah.

ThinkPad T480 can be used as a fully featured mobile phone, supporting calls, SMS and mobile data.

• fuzzfactor

  today at 8:27 PM

  Nice, I know these mainly had a spare NVMe slot right next to the WiFi, in case you had the optional WWAN adapter, and the essential SIM card holder itself is also there already regardless. The separate unused (apparently non-standardized) cellular antenna connectors are also there and taped off from the factory otherwise.

  I would have never imagined that the Lenovo WWAN approach would not even support audio calling, good findings and excellent workaround :)

  What I did was use a 2242 size NVMe SSD in that WWAN slot for extra storage, plugged in right next to the standard Wifi card.

  Unfortunately I can not get this 500GB NVMe SSD to boot in the Lenovo WWAN slot, even though it works good in a regular NVMe SSD position. Even with functional boot files on the main working SSD which point to the proven OS on the NVMe in the WWAN slot.

  Still good for additional SSD storage at least.

  And it's good to know you figured out how to get WWAN calling working better than new on an older laptop, that's hacking that non-tech people can see how worthwhile it is :)

• HardwareLust

  today at 6:57 PM

  Great hack! Is it possible to use a Bluetooth headset?

  • marosgrego

    today at 7:08 PM

    Of course! You can connect it to any audio source a sink. I had fun with piping music to phone calls with friends.

    • HardwareLust

      today at 7:38 PM

      Nice, thanks!

It has whitelist for wireless cards ? That's just evil

• mmh0000

  today at 8:57 PM

  Lenovo has whitelists for both wifi and cell cards. It's highly annoying.

  A decade ago, I had a Lenovo Yoga 2. The wifi card it came with only to 802.11g or something old and outdated at that time. I learned about the whitelist the hard way when I bought a decently (then) up-to-date wifi card to upgrade, and the computer refused to boot.

  But! I refuse to let a computer tell me no... So, after many many (too many) hours of reading forums, dumping firmwares, flipping bits, and pushing firmwares, I got the stupid card to work. And of course I took no notes, so if I had to do it again, it'd be starting from scratch.

• vitally3643

  today at 8:52 PM

  Supposedly it's for FCC compliance. Makes perfect sense if you believe it, but I'm not super convinced.

Alternatively you could use a GNU/Linux phone (Librem 5 or Pinephone), which allows to freely choose the OS and supports ordinary mobile use cases. It is small, but if you connect a screen and keyboard, you get the full PC.

• yjftsjthsd-h

  today at 9:06 PM

  Between a T480, Librem 5, or Pinephone, I wonder which is most powerful. I have a soft spot for my Pinephone, but fast it is not.

I’m disappointed in the lack of a Trigger Happy TV skit, but I’ll let it slide for reminding everyone that repairable laptops exist, and are still great

A setup like this but in phone size would be ideal. The free software mobile world has really been a dumpster fire from the beginning.

• daledavies

  today at 7:36 PM

  Yes, whoever can shrink this down to the size of something that would fit in your pocket would make a killing. Imagine not only being able to make phone calls, but use productivity software and even browse the internet.

  • mmh0000

    today at 8:59 PM

    May your wish be granted:

    https://www.amazon.com/GPD-Pocket-LPDDR5X-Bluetooth-Handheld...

    plus this: https://gpdstore.net/gpd-pocket-4-4g-lte-module/

    • tarpitt

      today at 9:06 PM

      I have been following this one for a while, but I have never seen anyone report on its status in linux.

  • emerongi

    today at 7:53 PM

    A big issue is that the keyboard would take up valuable screen estate.

  • mypalmike

    today at 8:21 PM

    I can imagine it! It should be called the Imagine Phone, or iPhone for short.

    • fuzzfactor

      today at 9:03 PM

      Nope they just called it a smartphone when you could hook it up to your laptop and connect the phone by infrared, USB, or later Bluetooth when it appeared. Using the phone manufacturers software that was naturally free for Windows 98 but also W2K, XP and even Mac sometimes.

      You really want the headphones when you're using the laptop as a phone because it can have audio feedback otherwise, especially if using the built-in laptop mic.

      iPhones just weren't that smart when they finally arose, you did have to use your imagination but it wouldn't get you far in actual computer interaction like smartpones are supposed to, compared to a Motorola or Sony-Ericsson true smartphone.

      You can only imagine how much better it would have been if more choices would have maintained their leadership and there were still other options besides only the relatively shoddy Android and iOS.

• adrian_b

  today at 7:30 PM

  That modem or a few others can be used with some of the small SBCs, which have a smartphone size or even a smaller size.

  If you connect then to some battery pack with a USB charger, you have a mobile solution, though one more cumbersome than a real smartphone.