Charles Stanhope

Charles Stanhope at

I might be too stubborn for my own good. I have a FirefoxOS ZTE I've been nursing. The SD card slot failed a while back, and now my last pair of earbuds that work with it are falling apart. I can only find Android style earbuds, but those don't work with the ZTE, but now I've decided to make an adaptor so they can work. I can't convince myself that this is a good idea, but I'm doing it anyway. Maybe I can keep the phone out of the landfill a little while longer.

Elena ``of Valhalla'', Mike Linksvayer likes this.

What is an Android-style earbud? Quick search I don't see an obvious explanation. I've seen headlines in passing about Apple wanting to change the headphone jack but I thought everyone was still just using 1/8" jacks that any headphones will work with?

Mike Linksvayer at 2016-09-09T05:06:28Z

You're not the only one who's stubborn about keeping an old smartphone out of the landfill :)


I have an Ubuntu phone. It's from Spain and thus doesn't work with the 3G/4G frequencies used here in the US. So I've only been able to 2G to work. Now my carrier is about to shut off 2G. I'm keeping my existing device (it still works otherwise) and also getting a new Android phone.

James Dearing 🐲 at 2016-09-09T06:12:49Z

Mike Linksvayer, Charles Stanhope likes this.

@Mike Linksvayer I should've said headset. They are the standard plugs with four conductors. The wiring on Android is specified here. Most phones these days seem to have agreed on that wiring. My phone does not. I just need to swap ground with one of the other (I forget which), and I should be able to use Android headseats. Now if I can just remember how to use a soldering iron... One end gets hot, right?

Charles Stanhope at 2016-09-09T13:06:31Z

I finally got around to making this adaptor. It's embarrassing how long it takes me to get to things sometimes. https://social.coop/@cstanhope/1831190

Charles Stanhope at 2017-10-14T17:07:02Z