ARMv7 SoC RAM upgrade implications - Hardware Hacking General

Say I have a MSM8926 device (Motorola XT1045) , and I succeeded swaping the original 8Gb PoP RAM IC with a 16Gb module of same technology (lpddr2 etc...), what changes in the software side (firmware, e-fuses perhaps?) need to happen? Please avoid answers prompting me to look at the SoC datasheet, I know it's all there but I don't have access to it yet (I don't have access rights to those threads yet and I just started thinking about this). Thanks!

ensltr said:
Say I have a MSM8926 device (Motorola XT1045) , and I succeeded swaping the original 8Gb PoP RAM IC with a 16Gb module of same technology (lpddr2 etc...), what changes in the software side (firmware, e-fuses perhaps?) need to happen? Please avoid answers prompting me to look at the SoC datasheet, I know it's all there but I don't have access to it yet (I don't have access rights to those threads yet and I just started thinking about this). Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay how the hell did you solder out pop ram chip.. And more importantly how did u know u have succeeded and where in the world did u get 16 gigs of ram... I'm not accusing u but maybe ur method of doing this help us know what exactly we need to give u
jdorth

jivitesh said:
Okay how the hell did you solder out pop ram chip.. And more importantly how did u know u have succeeded and where in the world did u get 16 gigs of ram... I'm not accusing u but maybe ur method of doing this help us know what exactly we need to give u
jdorth
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
16Gb (gigabits, or in this case 2 Gigabytes) on a 168-FBGA 12x12 PoP can be easily sourced from china, one good example is K4PAG304EQ-AGC2. About the PoP rework, if you have experience and time to build a jig then with the right tools it's perfectly doable. Given the current state of the smartphone market this is an effort that is worth my time. Like I said, I would appreciate very much any help on the soft/firmware side.

Okay okay.. Heard u loud and clear and would like to point u to go on the official motor thread. Not to mention cheers on doing that u literally made phones modular
Starting points
1)find custom kernels for ur phone. There is Dev support
2)ask the dev or make ur own tweak to modify the kernel to check for 2 gigs of ram (sorry for reading gigabyte instead of gigabit)
3)once kernel is finished. Grab a fairly polished rom
I'm really sorry if all this is a Lil vague but I really haven't seen this or heard about this before . I have seen graphics card vram solders not work pretty well.. And I'm still reeling from the fact that u accomplished this. However just follow it up. Kernel which u can modify(again I'm saying that u shud modify Coz more than enuf sure that pop wasn't isn't plug and play) then any room shud plays nicely with minor tweaks which the community can take care of
Lastly.. Would like to see a video of u doing this.. Would be very educational for hardcore modders

Dude please some pictures

Related

128MB RAM made of 4x 32MB chips

Hi,
I like to upgrade Universals to 128MB RAM.
Unfortunately I don't have access to 64MB rams usualy.
What I have a plenty of is: HYB25L256160AC and HYE25L256160AC 32MB ram chips which universal originaly contain.
There is a spare place for 4 RAM chips in universal, so why not to add these.
I haven't seen this discussed anywhere. I even don't know sure if the spare place is meant for RAM (but most probably).
I have very advance skills in BGA resoldering, so I'm able to experiment.
What I need is someone who understand it more and tell me first if it's possible to use 4 chips there and maybe someone know if there are some hardware updates in the pins around (short circuiting or resistor adding).
And don't hestitate to post some reply even if you are not sure if it's right....
I need some brainstorming here.
Regards,
Shef
Shef said:
Hi,
What I need is someone who understand it more and tell me first if it's possible to use 4 chips there and maybe someone know if there are some hardware updates in the pins around (short circuiting or resistor adding).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can tell you, but it would be a lie
Try using the search, the empty places are not fpr RAM chips.

Looking for Damaged Heralds to Experiment on...

I'm looking for damaged Heralds/Wings to experiment on. Cracked screens, etc. Anything that can't be use anymore, even if it's bricked. There's a lot of things I want to play with but I don't want to damage perfectly usable phones with.
This is for people who are going to be throwing away their phones, not for people who are looking for a hope that I will fix it.
The reason this is in the development forum is that this will be so that I can further develop theories.
ivanmmj said:
I'm looking for damaged Heralds/Wings to experiment on. Cracked screens, etc. Anything that can't be use anymore, even if it's bricked. There's a lot of things I want to play with but I don't want to damage perfectly usable phones with.
This is for people who are going to be throwing away their phones, not for people who are looking for a hope that I will fix it.
The reason this is in the development forum is that this will be so that I can further develop theories.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what exactly are u going to do with them
i am wondering the same thing.
i think i might know a guy that didnt take care of his wing.
last time i saw it, i prayed to god. lol.
Open it to find out what kind of memory chips it has.
Use this information to know if the storage and extrom are stored within the same DOC chip and whether I'll be able to reformat it and merge the two for more storage space.
Work on a WM Standard ROM.
Etc. Etc.
I just need one that can at least boot, even if you can't make calls with it.
ivanmmj said:
Open it to find out what kind of memory chips it has.
Use this information to know if the storage and extrom are stored within the same DOC chip and whether I'll be able to reformat it and merge the two for more storage space.
Work on a WM Standard ROM.
Etc. Etc.
I just need one that can at least boot, even if you can't make calls with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hmmm...hey i wanted to make a WM 6.1 Standard rom...i guess u could do it.
But that will be crazy if you could reformat the memory chips
N3xt2N0N3 said:
hmmm...hey i wanted to make a WM 6.1 Standard rom...i guess u could do it.
But that will be crazy if you could reformat the memory chips
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't worry. You can work on the Standard ROM. My big thing is the memory chip. The Standard ROM thing I added just to have something other than just ONE item in the list. lol
damn next thing you know we're gonna have(by some miracle) as much storage as the kaiser
kidnamedAlbert said:
damn next thing you know we're gonna have(by some miracle) as much storage as the kaiser
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol. I'm hoping for 80mb+ at least, though. Maybe even 90MB+...
ivanmmj said:
lol. I'm hoping for 80mb+ at least, though. Maybe even 90MB+...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
damn.
thats intense.
but wouldnt that mean that we ALL open are phones and do whatever youre gonna do?
standard? everybody knows that smartphones where it's at *smirk*
i think any storage expansion is going to be software based, although of the "uber-1337 hax0r" type.
still shuddering after n00bspeak. woops there i go again.
kidnamedAlbert said:
damn.
thats intense.
but wouldnt that mean that we ALL open are phones and do whatever youre gonna do?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, like fzzyrn mentioned, it would be software based. I just need to open a phone up to see what kind of memory flash chips are inside so I know how it's setup and how I can reformat it and merge the extROM with the storage.

G1 Hardware Hack - extending Ram? anyone thought about that?

Has anyone ever thought about whether it would be possible to increase the ram/upgrade memory in a G1. As outlandish as this might sound.. similar things have been done for a variety of devices.... if possible it would probably be the number one speed booster out there? or are there certain limitations out there that would make that impossible... Anyone ever opened up a G1?
This might be what you are looking for
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=566410
Theres some ram on the g1 that isnt being utilized by default.. this hack, for specific roms, can push the g1 to use more of the rom that it initially comes with. as far as a PHYSICAL upgrade im not too sure how that would work out.. never opened a g1, due to warranty void
This does happen a lot nowadays. Original Xbox's (before v1.6) had extra 'spaces' for RAM chips.
Simple to do, if you can find the right RAM for your device, which was hard enough for the Xbox until a German manufacturer was found.
http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/Upgrading_Xbox_RAM_HOWTO
Edit: Also remember, this only works if there is an extra 'space,' piggybacking does not work 99% of the time (and I doubt there would be enough space within the housing...)
so the question would be is there anyway to open the g1 remove a ram chip and solder on a higher capacity one.... I mean wouldnt that be awesome...
alec.baldwin said:
so the question would be is there anyway to open the g1 remove a ram chip and solder on a higher capacity one.... I mean wouldnt that be awesome...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no it has to be the same type maybe hero/magic ram would work who knows
alec.baldwin said:
so the question would be is there anyway to open the g1 remove a ram chip and solder on a higher capacity one.... I mean wouldnt that be awesome...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was actually referring to how the Xbox got more RAM, by adding ANOTHER RAM chip. Possibly higher capacity would work, but I don't know **** about drivers or software compatability blahblahblah. I'm only good for actually putting it together not knowing how it works :3
phuKKah said:
I was actually referring to how the Xbox got more RAM, by adding ANOTHER RAM chip. Possibly higher capacity would work, but I don't know **** about drivers or software compatability blahblahblah. I'm only good for actually putting it together not knowing how it works :3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is nowhere to put it.
Ram and rom come integrated on the same chip: samsung k522f1gacm-a060
You need to find a compatible chip (as mentioned, the one from magic or hero *might* be compatible), you also need to program it with something... which you may need to hack together since there is no such thing as a dream with 256MB ram, etc.
hmmm....ok... so not possible to replace the chip flash a custom rom? Maybe we can have some bricked g1's donated to see what can be done...
alec.baldwin said:
hmmm....ok... so not possible to replace the chip flash a custom rom? Maybe we can have some bricked g1's donated to see what can be done...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good idea
alec.baldwin said:
hmmm....ok... so not possible to replace the chip flash a custom rom? Maybe we can have some bricked g1's donated to see what can be done...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I never said it wasn't possible. I simply said that what is there must necessarily COME OFF in order to put another one in its place.
And yes, you most definitely CAN program these chips outside the board, as long as you have the right equipment to do so, but the big question is to "program it with WHAT?".
Well according to this video our phone uses standard DDR ram made by Samsung. So I belive this is very possible.
Anyone wanna donate a bricked phone for tinkering hehe.
http://pockethacks.com/htc-g1-disassembly/
sxfx said:
Well according to this video our phone uses standard DDR ram made by Samsung. So I belive this is very possible.
Anyone wanna donate a bricked phone for tinkering hehe.
http://pockethacks.com/htc-g1-disassembly/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As lbcoder has stated, finding a compatible chip isn't the problem.. it's a matter of what do you program onto the chip? Simply replacing the current chip with a blank one wouldn't do anything.
WELL, I don't know if this will work but I tune cars, where you use a eeprom reader get a dump off the old chip into a hex editor and then just burn it onto a new chip with changes made and just stick the new chip with new maps on it.
Would it be possible to do something like this with this chip? Just do a complete dump of one to another?
sxfx said:
WELL, I don't know if this will work but I tune cars, where you use a eeprom reader get a dump off the old chip into a hex editor and then just burn it onto a new chip with changes made and just stick the new chip with new maps on it.
Would it be possible to do something like this with this chip? Just do a complete dump of one to another?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea thats the way it would be done. You'd have to hex-edit the dumped rom to address the right amount of memory for the new chip and it should work. I'm certainly not going to be trying this myself but it would be an interesting experiment.
Anyone know someone who has the smarts to do that... find me someone and I'll find you a few bricked g1s ...probably the only way to get them unbricked anyway.... or I have a g1 here whose wifi does not work. I bet you there are a ton of g1s out there where this or that does not work but that would be fully suited for something like that.
Anyway lets find a genius or a few that are brave enough to go where no one has gone before... I'd be pretty certain, that twice or four times the Ram would be a pretty dramatic experience.... imagine the possibilities with ram discs.... etc...
alec.baldwin said:
Anyone know someone who has the smarts to do that... find me someone and I'll find you a few bricked g1s ...probably the only way to get them unbricked anyway.... or I have a g1 here whose wifi does not work. I bet you there are a ton of g1s out there where this or that does not work but that would be fully suited for something like that.
Anyway lets find a genius or a few that are brave enough to go where no one has gone before... I'd be pretty certain, that twice or four times the Ram would be a pretty dramatic experience.... imagine the possibilities with ram discs.... etc...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Believe it or not guys, my wife can do this. LOL. (I did marry the perfect woman, she also fixes my cars, folds the laundry and gives the best blowjob on earth). I digress <grin>.
If someone wants to donate a couple of bricked phones, I can get the chips swapped out. The issue of hex editing doesn't scare me at all I've been doing that for years, but finding the right addresses could be interesting. I'd probably need help with that as it is a lot different then bipassing a cd check on a video game
i work with embedded devices and here are my 2c about this, but take this lightly, I havent looked at how the G1 is setup on a board yet, nor do I know what hardware it is running.
if there is external ram, then perhaps it is a matter of swapping out the chips, given that they have the same pinout/packaging, etc.. if that was the case, you wouldnt get even another bit of more addressing because to get another bit, another wire is required to address it.
if the ram is internal on the microcontroller, then it would need to be swapped out, and good luck desoldering/soldering a BGA chip by hand. if you manage to find a new MCU with more internal ram to put on, the pinouts would have to be identical or else things might not work. additionally, you would need to have some method to kind of bootstrap the MCU because they typically come blank from the manufacturer.
Ok this is getting interesting... the easiest way to find out is probably contact HTC.. does anyone know someone, or is there a way to contact an engineer... or can anyone look up the specs? If it is using standard ddram by Samsung.. there might be a possibility.
Let me see what I can find for bricked G1's than we might have redir's wife take a look at it.. or John5788, if you'd volunteer. PM me your contact info...
We could just check the service manual, no?
edit: i tried to upload it, but the upload script here blows..
mediafire to the rescue! [download service manual here]
i just looked through the service manual, nothing specific about the ram/mcu locations. everything is just located on the mainboard without any sort of diagram. the people that look at the service manual dont need to know the device at that sort of hardware level.

JTAG Wildfire

my first post on the forum, so far xda has been a great source of information & tips for me, so, a big thanks to everyone here...
now, onto my project, the htc wildfire...
i've been given this as a dead unit as somebody had attempted to install a non-android operating system to it.. so far i have managed to revive the handset & successfully installed a working firmware, but, the remaining problem is a completely blanked imei number.. i.e all zeros... boo hoo indeed...
so, i need to get the imei off the serial sticker into the board again. i know there's gonna be people saying.. ahhh you need to use smti or riff or whatever box, but that isn't my way and i aint about to trash a bundle of cash on a one off thing.. i've jtag'd plenty of things before without buying anything other than the occasional components here & there.. i prefer to tamper & recycle bits i already have.
to kick this off i've stripped the wildfire & photographed the pcb & tagged all the jtag points i think i'm gonna need, aswell as a pinout of a standard 20pin header - i've already got buffered & un-buffered jtags to use so my last problems here are making the connections to the pcb - very very tricky soldering or make a pogo style plug & then physically dumping the relevant area of memory, editing the imei data & putting back into the board. its no small order i know, but hey, its cost me nothing & i like to have a go - its more of a hobby thing..
i'm sure somebody out there's already had a go at this without buying those expensive boxes. so anybody wanna share there tips & knowledge ???
i will add to this thread as & when i make some more progress... next few days i expect...
Can't help you sorry but this post will bump it
Sent from my HTC Wildfire using XDA App
This is a project and a half!
Sent from my HTC Wildfire using Tapatalk
Random pont could the msm 7225 be replaced with a 7227 or snapdragon
Sent from my GT-P1000 using XDA App
brilldoctor said:
Random pont could the msm 7225 be replaced with a 7227 or snapdragon
Sent from my GT-P1000 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
..i couldn't tell you tbh,, your first check there would be to look at the pinout of both chips & see if they match.. to do the swap (if its even possible) you would of course need specialist tools as its a bga chip - i.e tiny balls of solder underneath the body of the thing..
thevolatile1 said:
..i couldn't tell you tbh,, your first check there would be to look at the pinout of both chips & see if they match.. to do the swap (if its even possible) you would of course need specialist tools as its a bga chip - i.e tiny balls of solder underneath the body of the thing..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't want to see my facial expression to the thought of that!
,,,well it's been a while.. after been ill for a while & hospitalized (grr) i may actually get round to some more wildfire tampering..
i've dug my gear out & had another look.. so far i have manufactured myself a fresh lpt wiggler style jtag unit since the one i previously used to tamper sat & cable & modems & xboxs etc wasn't working correctly - didnt have sufficient lines !!! it's a bit of a frankenstein since i've mounted all the components thru a piece of card & housed it inside an old cotton bud plastic box.. lol.. i'll post up a pic of the monser soon as i find my sdcard reader... but hey.. it works..
my efforts so far using ocr commander - settings are lpt - wiggler @380khz, arm926t. a scan of the jtag chain reveals dev count 1, ir length 4, id code c01b30e1.
i've also attacked it with h-jtag which gave me a completely different id code of 0x7e667fdf - i never rated h-jtag so i'm disregarding that & deleting the prog from my lappy!
state of play now - i have uninterupted jtag access with no errors thru ocd but im now brickwalled !! can anybody recommend a decent jtag utility program that will allow me to dump the all important portion of the memory holding the imei data & does anybody have a clue at what location that data is held once i get it out of the phone.. i hate sitting & rummaging through page after page in winhex... comments & clue gratefully welcomed..
,,oh,, before somebody points out - i know the msm7225 fitted in the wildfire is arm 1136 instruction v6.. but ocd read it all good as arm 926.. im guessing they use same instruction set or that the differences are so negligible that it just doesnt care...
Has there been any progress with this? I was thinking of doing the same with my phone
..no more work was done on this project... i ended up getting a riffbox very very cheap.
This project is too extreme and amazing for the developers here. Please take this to the general android hacking section. Before you confuse us any more!

Could I build a phone?

It's a wild, stupid question but if I brought a screen for the Sensation XL, the processor from a Galaxy S II and the body (modified to be big enough) from a galaxy nexus how much work would be needed in to making this super phone?
Rip the other components from other phones.
I know that software and components would be problematic to say the least, but could it be done? Is it POSSIBLE?
Sent from my Wildfire S powered by .sense using my fingers.
GPU, correct power stuff, all that stuff. technically you could but it's a lot more than 3 words.
Possible: Yes.
Probable: NO.
Could be the new thing in phones! like in desktops.
It would be great though!
I'm guessing you'd need to build your own drivers and kernels and all that goodstuff. I think it is possible but itd be way to much work.
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710 using XDA App
Alex530 said:
I'm guessing you'd need to build your own drivers and kernels and all that goodstuff. I think it is possible but itd be way to much work.
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Android should have a universal kernel. That would be awesome.
Sent from my Wildfire S powered by .sense using my fingers.
Well, let's start from the beginning:
You need a SOC. I doubt you can find a SOC by itself, so you would have to take it from another phone. Another option is getting a mainboard from a device, and you can find spare mainboards.
Next, you need to do some research on how the display is connected, what parts you're going to use, if their way of connecting is supported by your mainboard, etc.
Then, you have to find a way to write something to that SOC. If you don't have a mainboard that's programmed, you'll need to make the partitions manually, which means you will need a programmer (not as in someone who can write code, but a device which can write stuff to NAND chips using JTAG or something like that) to write a NAND to that SOC's MTD.
And what you have to write to that NAND? You'll need a bootloader, so you could stick with a SOC from a HTC and use the default HBOOT, or I would prefer a clean bootloader. You could check the source code of cLK for HD2, which is a really decent bootloader.
Next up, you have to get hardware working. In other words, building a kernel. Get the Linux kernel, find all the parts for all of the hardware, and actually get it up and running. And I can tell you, this is a hell of a job. Compiling a kernel from source is easy, but implementing all of your hardware in a kernel is pretty difficult. You will have to get a barebone up and running, make it dump a log to somewhere in the RAM or NAND, read that dump out, check what it's saying, and you know where to continue. This will cost a LOT of time.
Once your kernel is running and it can echo something to the screen (which is already hard by itself), you have to build an Android image from source, which is not hard at all, and extract that image to a partition on the NAND. And then, set up the rootfs path in your kernel correctly so it knows where you put that filesystem of Android.
And then, boot it up, hope that logcat can tell you something, perhaps Android will boot, but the chance is pretty small that it will the first time you try. And when you finally get into Android, you have to get all the hardware working there again.
And then you have a working Android device, but I'm afraid you can't make this thing legal, as you need an IMEI, and as far as I know, extracting and messing with IMEI's (or ESN's as they're called in the USA I believe) is not allowed, so you do have to know something about all of that stuff to get a GSM radio up and running.
It's possible, but I suggest you start with replacing a display of an HD2 with a display from a Desire for example, try to get it working, continue replacing stuff, and you know if you're able to do this.
If you want it, you could get somewhere, but it will cost a lot of money (I think it'll cost about 600$), without knowing if it will do the trick.
Are you seriously saying "Could I ...." or you meant "Can I ....?
votinh said:
Are you seriously saying "Could I ...." or you meant "Can I ....?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Meh'
It's just words, there not going to be important in this instance.
If I were building a rocket then yes, words are important.
But I'm asking is it POSSIBLE to build a phone.
Possible... the simple way, get a working motherboard of s2 or gnote, get its display spec and wiring dia, get the display u need.. get its spec and wiring dia. Cross refer the two disp. If it match in some way, get it fixed to the board, build/get a body for the thing. Done.
Nearly impossible.. if any thing is not matching , and u fit it, well u gonna get a burned disp /board. And since u r doing some R&D, u will have to spent a lot, may be as much as for getting 2-3 top rated phones.
Sent from my HTC HD2 using xda premium
good luck!! tell use when u built ur phone!
DustByte said:
good luck!! tell use when u built ur phone!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just a question lol! I wouldn't because of all the work involved with software and legal sh*t.
Benjamin! I thought I fired you! (Long story on WFSDev, he threw a chair at me, I became a Dalek)
It's possible, but like the others said, it would take a lot of work. You'd need your own drivers, kernels (probably ask NHB) etc. but it's possible. Check out these links:
http://developer.android.com/guide/basics/what-is-android.html
http://www.kandroid.org/online-pdk/guide/build_system.html
http://www.android.com/developers/branding.html
http://droidgamers.com/index.php/ga...custom-android-phone-well-at-least-in-germany
I remember some other links for manufacturers on the Android website, but I couldn't find them. Good Luck!
Bad-Wolf said:
Benjamin! I thought I fired you! (Long story on WFSDev, he threw a chair at me, I became a Dalek)
It's possible, but like the others said, it would take a lot of work. You'd need your own drivers, kernels (probably ask NHB) etc. but it's possible. Check out these links:
http://developer.android.com/guide/basics/what-is-android.html
http://www.kandroid.org/online-pdk/guide/build_system.html
http://www.android.com/developers/branding.html
http://droidgamers.com/index.php/ga...custom-android-phone-well-at-least-in-germany
I remember some other links for manufacturers on the Android website, but I couldn't find them. Good Luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hehe lol, nice following me up there boss man!
Probable no :-\
Wysłane z mojego GS Note ♥
well..
if you really have money you could ask some manufacturer to make a phone that suits you..
i mean, if you really have money.. xD
I'll think the closest your going to get is if you're buying one of the arm development boards. You should get android up and running but you're pretty far away from any mobile device
Some company like motorola should make a program and you choose the specs and they make it for you.
Sent from my MB870 using xda premium
weldawadyathink said:
Some company like motorola should make a program and you choose the specs and they make it for you.
Sent from my MB870 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is awful because of the licensing, test and certification requirements. Phones are only cheap because of economies of scale which you lose there. It isn't like a desktop where you can swap pieces easily. It is more akin to an even more ****ed laptop.
Chaosz-X said:
And then you have a working Android device, but I'm afraid you can't make this thing legal, as you need an IMEI, and as far as I know, extracting and messing with IMEI's (or ESN's as they're called in the USA I believe) is not allowed, so you do have to know something about all of that stuff to get a GSM radio up and running.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just to clarify, IMEI is for GSM and ESN is for CDMA, so we actually have both in the U.S.

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