+- PINE64 (https://forum.pine64.org)
+-- Forum: PineTab (https://forum.pine64.org/forumdisplay.php?fid=140)
+--- Forum: PineTab Hardware (https://forum.pine64.org/forumdisplay.php?fid=143)
+--- Thread: Using the Pinetab2's PCIe slot (/showthread.php?tid=18961)
Using the Pinetab2's PCIe slot - FortunateFowl - 12-22-2023
I am interested in using the PCIe connector in the pinetab2, however I can't seem to find a suitable ribbon cable for connecting to it.
The connection appears to be the the part labeled U7001 in the component sheet and it confirmed looking at the schematic (page 36) where the pinout of U7001 connector is given and it is referred to as NVMe PCIE 2.0.
The only connector I was able to find was the connector for the pinebook pro. The problem however is that this connector would place the card exactly on top of the battery where there is no room for a card.
Here I show the outline (white outline) of where the pinebook 2 adapter would be in the pinetab, and the ideal position where an expansion card would fit (green rectangle).
The idea is that there are several wifi/bluetooth cards that work with PCIe, with various different physical formats, and most of them are small enough to fit above or below the battery in the pinetab2. The only problem is just getting a cable that will allow it to fit in the right spot.
My two questions are whether anyone knows whether there is another source of the ribbon cable that is needed for this connector? If I could just find the ribbon cable with approximately the right shape, then I could use the adapter from the pinebook pro and move the battery slightly in the pinetab2 to get it to fit.
Alternatively, it could be possible to cut the ribbon cable and solder it again to give it a different shape, however for this I don't know what the tolerance would be for the change in impedence and possible capacitance (perhaps leading to cross-talk) between the wires in such a pcie connection. Does anyone know how carefully engineered a PCIe connection must be for something like a wifi card?