xd card mod and other internal storage mods for vega

[Guest jsjar]

has any one tried to do an xd card mod on the vega, and would it be worth doing is there any limitations in the rom that would prevent a larger flash storage being installed?

you can get up to 2Gb XD cards which is a big improvement on the 512mb internal flash we currently have,

for those of you that don't know what an xd card mod is here's a pic of my xbox360 with the nand chip removed and an xd card port wired in its place,

the nand doesn't need to be removed a switch can be fitted to flip between the 2 flash sources it was just easier for me to remove it :P

My link

Edited April 6, 2012 by jsjar

[Guest richardmlea]

The pins of the nand on the vegas motherboard are too close together to be hand soldered. Even if it where possible to configure the vega to use the xd card ( it probably is.) hand soldering the vega motherboard would be nearly impossible. Heres some picture of the job you are looking at.

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

There are 48 pins, on 2 sides, 24 pins in 1.2cm, 2 pins per mm. The clearance between the pins is about 0.2mm.

Not physically possible unless you can do magic with a micro scope and a very small soldering iron.:P

A better option would be to use the camera usb or the pcie output that exists on the board (used for the sim card/GSM on some P10an01's. Someone (I think it was on xda) was looking to do this mod. He had the sim adapter part so was using the mini pcie socket on the sim card reader to use a mini pcie ssd hard drive. I think he was using it to boot linux but I may be wrong on that.

Even if you dont have the sim card part you could do a similar mod using the output that would be used for the sim card part (on the motherboard). Unfortunately the connector is proprietary so the pin output is unknown and would require testing. If your serious about doing this then you will be better getting the sim card part as testing the pinout would be dificult, this part is prooving elusive though.:(

Edited April 6, 2012 by richardmlea

[Guest jsjar]

There are 48 pins, on 2 sides, 24 pins in 1.2cm, 2 pins per mm. The clearance between the pins is about 0.2mm.

Not physically possible unless you can do magic with a micro scope and a very small soldering iron.:P

the nand on the vega is a regular 48 pin tsop it's the same on the xbox and the ps3 and soldering to the pins is very possible i'v done it :)

another option if we could find a larger capacity nand chip would be a nandwitch, physicality soldering another flash on top of the origional and adding a switch

http://www.consoleopen.com/forum/images/tutorial/Xbox360/dual_nand_hyinx/bend_9.jpg

another option would be to use a nand clip you wouldn't need to solder the nand to the vega but you would need to cut a trace and fit a switch to pin 9

http://c3.yousaytoo.com/rss_temp_image/pics/15/96/49/6072115/remote_image20110907-31559-16txuy7-0.jpg

Edited April 6, 2012 by jsjar

[Guest richardmlea]

the nand on the vega is a regular 48 pin tsop it's the same on the xbox and the ps3 and soldering to the pins is very possible i'v done it :)

I did say unless you can do magic with a soldering iron.:) It's been said before but I will say it again "soldering high pin-count ic's is a Mug's game unless you are highly skilled with a soldering iron".

You obiously are and I salute your skill and vision.B)

[Guest jsjar]

i don't have the sim card daughter board but if anyone has hires pics of it top & bottom i think i should be able to trace back to the motherboard to find another usb port

[Guest richardmlea]

i don't have the sim card daughter board but if anyone has hires pics of it top & bottom i think i should be able to trace back to the motherboard to find another usb port

Pictures of this part are few and far between. I remember seeing it somewhere I will have a look.

[Guest jsjar]

Pictures of this part are few and far between. I remember seeing it somewhere I will have a look.

i'v found a pic of the top here's what i have so far

there should be pins for usb & sata on that port on the motherboard i'm assuming the 2 pins i'v not marked at the top are usb data and the 3 bellow are sata

if someone could test for continuity between the points i'v marked on the mini pci port green (usb data + - ) against the ones i'v not marked on the plug we will have the usb pinout

Edited April 6, 2012 by jsjar

[Guest richardmlea]

I got side tracked but just found that same photo.:rolleyes:

Finding someone willing to do the testing will be difficult. I am happy to get one and do the testing but cant get them from anywhere.

I have emailed everyone logical I can think of and find an email address for (many people at viewsonic, shuttle and POV) but have not got anywhere. I have phoned viewsonic UK customer service and talked to the part guy, he asked me to email him the details and he would get back to me. I have since phoned him on his personal number twice and both times he asked me to email him but he has not replied. I have now given up on viewsonic UK.:angry: I even tried phoning Viewsonic China and Hong Kong but the number are dead.

I have just sent another batch of emails so I will see what that brings.

[Guest jsjar]

there is not 1 pic of the bottom of that board on the entire internet :(

[Guest richardmlea]

there is not 1 pic of the bottom of that board on the entire internet :(

I couldn't find one either. Someone mentions the bottom of the sim reader somewhere. They said its covered with an unmarked label and nothing can be seen without removing it.

[Guest jsjar]

i just found the mini pcie pinout for the sata connection, there's another mod if we can just find someone with this board :)

[Guest richardmlea]

Other than the CN7 connector there is also the connector labelled CN8 this is another output. The exact standard or pinout is unknown but it is labelled as GPS in the service manual (CN7 is labelled 3G). I suspect that at some point during the design and manufacturer of the P10AN01 Huawei updated the EM770 modem to include GPS (EM770m to EM770w). This made the CN8 output redundant, therefore they didn’t bother putting the socket on the board.

I only know a little about the connector that I have summated from various sources. The connection is some sort of uart2 serial connection to the Tegra SOC. Taking another guess TTL is the best candidate, something like this GPS Module with Antenna (TTL SERIAL) : rhydoLABZ India , Your Source for Robotics & Embedded System.

The most interesting connector is CN14, labelled PCIe to SATA unfortunately there are no details other than this in the documentation I have, no pinouts or explanation of exactly what it is. Its directly under CN7 which we know is some sort of PCIe for the 3G. So its got to be some sort of SATA. It has 13 pins.

Any thoughts? ideas?

[Guest jsjar]

Other than the CN7 connector there is also the connector labelled CN8 this is another output. The exact standard or pinout is unknown but it is labelled as GPS in the service manual (CN7 is labelled 3G). I suspect that at some point during the design and manufacturer of the P10AN01 Huawei updated the EM770 modem to include GPS (EM770m to EM770w). This made the CN8 output redundant, therefore they didn’t bother putting the socket on the board.

I only know a little about the connector that I have summated from various sources. The connection is some sort of uart2 serial connection to the Tegra SOC. Taking another guess TTL is the best candidate, something like this GPS Module with Antenna (TTL SERIAL) : rhydoLABZ India , Your Source for Robotics & Embedded System.

The most interesting connector is CN14, labelled PCIe to SATA unfortunately there are no details other than this in the documentation I have, no pinouts or explanation of exactly what it is. Its directly under CN7 which we know is some sort of PCIe for the 3G. So its got to be some sort of SATA. It has 13 pins.

Any thoughts? ideas?

interesting can i get a link to that service manual

Oh you sent it already thanks :)

Edited April 10, 2012 by jsjar

[Guest jsjar]

that manual has helped a lot :D i think i can now trace the sata points so the remaining ones must be usb

[Guest richardmlea]

that manual has helped a lot :D i think i can now trace the sata points so the remaining ones must be usb

Nice, If you need a dead motherboard for distuctive testing I have one you can have if its any use.

[Guest jsjar]

Nice, If you need a dead motherboard for distuctive testing I have one you can have if its any use.

yea that would be awesome but a hi-res scan of both sides would be just as good for now if that would be possible

actually i think i you would need to remove cn7 for a pic to be any good, i think the vias between the top & bottom connectors may be offset under the cn7 connector.

Edited April 10, 2012 by jsjar

[Guest richardmlea]

on it.

yea that would be awesome but a hi-res scan of both sides would be just as good for now if that would be possible

[Guest jsjar]

i removed cn7 but i'm still none the wiser regarding the pinout, and i lifted a pad and got a bad block in my nand "wifi no longer works in ics beta1 but luckily does on other roms" from dropping the stupid thing while i had a usb stick soldered to it.

if someone can test for continuity "i don't have a working mulltimeter" from the points marked in the pic the manual says 4 but i think it may be one of the other outputs.

also there is a place on the bottom of the board for wired networking cn14 but i don't see a practical way of fitting a port to the case so i wont be trying that.

the only way of mapping the uart gps is with the pin out of the tegra 2 chip as uart it is done on board the processor and has no external chips you can trace from

Edited April 12, 2012 by jsjar

[Guest Oldbarzo]

i removed cn7 but i'm still none the wiser regarding the pinout, and i lifted a pad and got a bad block in my nand "wifi no longer works in ics beta1 but luckily does on other roms" from dropping the stupid thing while i had a usb stick soldered to it.

if someone can test for continuity "i don't have a working mulltimeter" from the points marked in the pic the manual says 4 but i think it may be one of the other outputs.

also there is a place on the bottom of the board for wired networking cn14 but i don't see a practical way of fitting a port to the case so i wont be trying that.

the only way of mapping the uart gps is with the pin out of the tegra 2 chip as uart it is done on board the processor and has no external chips you can trace from

Hi richard and jsjar

If you look at the thread posted by you richard about the Internal USB Hub & 3G Mod, Lukelyons92 has bought

a Mini-PCIE replacement module for £23 from Viewsonic parts dept. it comes with the cables et al but sans

the Ericsson 3G module.

Oldbarzo

[Guest jsjar]

yea i did see that but when you add in the price of the module it could be as much as £60 to £70 and i'm to tight fisted to pay that :P

i got 3g working using the camera method and when i get my sim socket i will have a stock looking 3g mod for about £16

i'm more interested in looking into options for internal bootable storage :)

[Guest richardmlea]

I have given up on viewsonic as they as the spares department in the UK are useless and everyone else refers me to the Viewsonic UK. I have spoken to the person claiming to be responsible for Parts in the UK and after several email and 2 phone calls where he fobbed me off by asking me to send him another email to remind him to look into getting them for me. I now feel like he has no interest in selling them to me. I am currently communicating with a seemingly helpful person at shuttle who says he is checking stock for me and hopefully will get back to me shortly.<_<

JSJAR I am on the testing now. I will get back to you later.

Edited April 13, 2012 by richardmlea

[Guest jsjar]

I have given up on viewsonic as they as the spares department in the UK are useless and everyone else refers me to the Viewsonic UK. I have spoken to the person claiming to be responsible for Parts in the UK and after several email and 2 phone calls where he fobbed me off by asking me to send him another email to remind him to look into getting them for me. I now feel like he has no interest in selling them to me. I am currently communicating with a seemingly helpful person at shuttle who says he is checking stock for me and hopefully will get back to me shortly.<_<

JSJAR I am on the testing now. I will get back to you later.

i botched together a tester out of an old led torch some wire and a couple of sewing needles :P

it turns out i was right it wasn't port 4 it was port 1 (richardmlea can you confirm those points before anyone actually wires anything up to them)

Edited April 13, 2012 by jsjar

[Guest jsjar]

with the sata im thinking the - data lines are combined in one pin and the other 2 are the + data in & out

actually after looking into it a bit more the vega doesn't support sata at all it doesn't have a sata to usb chip

Edited April 13, 2012 by jsjar

[Guest jsjar]

It looks like the points i thought were sata are actually power and the one remaining pin i assume is equivalent to the yellow wire on the camera

Edited April 13, 2012 by jsjar

[Guest jsjar]

here's what i have for CN8

Just power for now :)

Edited April 13, 2012 by jsjar