Upgrading Your C*k

[Da_Blitz]

I have been pulling appart my PDA and studying the insides to see what type of upgrades are posible, i thoght it would be a good idea to put them all in the one place as well as give you some more info on how easy they are to do.

Overclocking:
Easy to do, it seems that intels manufacturing capabiliteies produce alot of good chips. i have yet to see a pxa270 that cant be clocked to at least 520Mhz, all the ones i have had have been able to do 624Mhz. the trade off is that the power consumtion shoots throgh the roof. bus speeds of 312mhz are easy to get but are of limited usefullness, if you try wierd clock speeds you can also increse the ram bus in small increments however the LCD screen ether tends to flicker or darkens at anything below 100Mhx (LCD clock) and scince the lcd clock is linked to the cpu one, wierd CPU freq's = wierd LCD freq

its easy to test for this one, just get your self an applet that sits in the tray and try out the diffrent speeds, then do a bit of work and try to get the cpu up to 100 usage, if it hangs try a diffrent freq. the good thing about this is when you reboot the chip goes back to its normal speed so it would be hard to stuff somthing up permantly (no garantee here)

Ram Upgrade:
The chips are from samsung and are from the "mobile SD-RAM" catagory, meaning they top out at 512Mb. this translates to a maximum of 128MB in your C*k, there are pin compatible parts but are ball grid array (hard to solder) and are slightly wider and may not fit (still have to mesure) on the plus side they consume very little extra current (the larger chips that is) and are slightly faster, but no anything you would notice.

it would also be posible to raise the RAM bus speed as you could buy a faster chip than the zaurus currently has to see a speed boost. the current chips are running at aout 104mhz, the next speed bracket for RAM BUS speed is 208Mhz so you would need a good chip to hit this mark. but there would be a noticble gain in performance

[EDIT] I found a way to solder new chips easily, my original thoght was to use a daghter board only for RAM sizes > 128MB however if you always use a daghter board then you can postion the board over the removed ram's holes and apply solder down the vias, this works for soldering the ram chips to the daghter board as well meaning you can do this with a normal soldering iorn, i need to talk to some people but all sounds good at the moment, "no skills required" ™ and best of all it would work for any PDA based on a PXA chipset, this would also mean you could use surface mount or BGA RAM parts, just buy the correct daghter board, you could even salvage RAM from old SDRAM sticks, 1GB here i come [/EDIT]

[EDIT]Looking good, may move to a seperate thread as it can be usod on basically any PDA HOWEVER anything over 128MB gets large quickly and would chew alot of juice (in other words i cant wait to try it), the daghter board at the moment is the size oy a small clamshell in theroy (in practice et mmay be slightly larger) the problem is that the pxa27x dosent play nice with stupidly large RAM (i had to say it) eg > 512Mbit and supports only a few select configorations [/EDIT]

Flash upgrade:
The big daddy of all upgrades. The good news: the 16Gb chip is pin compatible with the current chips in your pda and you can have 2 (16Gb = 2GB). however the bad news is that there may be software issues present. if the pxa boots from this flash then it should  be easy to upgrade, however if it boots from ROM then there may be an issue. i suspect the second as the chip is 8bits and the pxa needs a 16bit or 32 bit chip to boot

the problem is that the setup code might incorectly set up the chip. i will have to look into this but i am sure there is a work around. one side affect of 2 chips is the bus width could be doubled, as well as using chips that are twice as fast so there would be a read performance increses as well as a tiny write speed one

[EDIT] Still possible need stupidly large flash chips (like from a broken nano) as i want to see the max capacity we can use, i might see if i can go into an apple store and buy a broken nano (yeah i am sure they wont let me, unless i say im to poor to buy one but want to look like an idiot^H^H^H^H^H cool apple guy) [/EDIT]

2700G:
The one we have all been wating for, for those of you who dont know what it is i will give a quick rundown of it.
It is a video card that supports 32MB of SDRAM, video out, OPEN GL ES, accelerated video decoding of divx,Xvid,WMV. It allows playback of 2Mbps Xvid streams of 720 * 480 pixels downscaled to 640 * 480 on the axim x50v, with cpu cycles to spare on an external compuer monitor. with the main CPU clocked at a slow 208Mhz this translates to about 3.5 hours of video (you get about 1hr or less if you dont use the video card and you have to clock the device up to 624Mhz).

I leraned about this when i was reviewing a post i made concerning CF read writes impacting the bandwidth of the SD RAM (because they both share the same data bus). when i looked at the 2700g specs i relised that nearly all the pins i needed to interface it to the CPU where avalible at the CF socket, mainly address pins and data pins. the rest were easily accsessable scince i was going to think aobut upgrading the memorey as well

after overclocking this would be the second easyiest mod to achive as it would plug into the cf socket and require soldering a couple of extra wires (less than any other mod) that are esy to get acsess to. and if you own the c1k it would be easy to put the card where the microdrive would sit. you would also still be able to use the socket for CF cards as well however most likly not at the same time unless you do not mind plugging the cf card into an adaptor underneath the zaurus

[EDIT] superceded but still posible, could be handy due to the crappy usb update speed, see below i would like some feedback into which you wold prefer [/EDIT]

[EDIT] Still posible, need both chips and to locate 1 I) line, moved to seperate thread see: https://www.oesf.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=18131 for my hacking info [/EDIT]

Video Out:
the father of the mod above, this may be posible because of the way the pxa spits data at the LCD screen, it provides everything you need to interface to an external DAC ( Digital 2 analog converter) that would connect to a standard monitor cable, alowing a mirror image of whatever is on screen and if you are willing to turn of the LCD screen when you plug a monitor in you would be able to get 800 * 600 on it by tweaking some registers

[EDIT] Meanie has got a sis usb video card to work, i would love to see an x server or console running on this however i am prepared to wait, hopfully with a bit of hacking i can get it to compile under a 2.6 ARM kernel (its in the mainline now), so basically it superceddes this and the 2700G hack as it is a full video card, hopfully with opengl but i wouldnt hold youre breath but it is the best video out sulution for the zaruses info at http://www.winischhofer.at/linuxsisusbvga.shtml https://www.oesf.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=11129&st=15 support at the moment is for slideshows only (under 2.4 zaurus kernels that is), oh and you may be able to hack it for dual head support lets see an axim do that!!! [/EDIT]

Bluetooth:
the pxa has a serial port dedicated for use with a bluetooth chip. it would be posible to get a usb dongle and use ether the serial port or the usb port to connect it up. once again this is easy to do but could be hard to find space in your pda case to fit it

[EDIT] I now have a tiny bluetooth dongle tahts a bit larger than the usb port it is soldered ta and am about to give it a go with the USB hack below which supercedes this hack due to it working with everything USB bassed [/EDIT]

Internal USB
see https://www.oesf.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=13562&st=150 for discussion or http://www.iral.com/~albertr/linux/zaurus/wireless/ for details however it bassically is a USB port that you can solder onto that is not being used, want wifi.... fine, want bluetooth.... fine, want 2 wifi cards and a bluettoth for some unique wifi always on hotspot hopping (or MITM stuff )..... Ok, my plans are to build a docking station ar if i can pull it off redesighn the bottom for more space.

Accelorometer/gyroscope:
Just when you thoght it could not get any better you hear about this, umagine shaking your PDA to play a new random song, or moving it clockwise to go foward in your playlist and anti clockwise to go back. how about tilting the pda to move the mouse? if you heard about accelerometers in the new laptops then this is taking it to the next step.

a laptop would be hard to tilt around to use as a mouse for an extended period of time however a pda is much liter, and there are times where i am using the keyboard and have to take out the stylis tap the screen and put eit away again, why cant i just tilt the PDA? i am looking into this but it looks like all i have to do is wire an analg devices gyroscope/accelerometer to the SPI port in the pda and write a driver

as a side effect i will now know when i should park the harddrive heads  

the accelerometer would be handeled diffrently, it would be a mice interface as well but i was thinking that a user daemon would connect to it and interpret diffrent movments to mean diffrent things (eg wax on/off, shaking the device, shaking the devie left/right - up/down) all while holding a button so you  can go for a jog without setting it off

the best thing for me is the accelerometer/mouse with MPD so i can go without X and still have all the benifits (thogh with 1GB of ram that may not be much of a prblem any more)

Cell Phone Hack
I am sure you are aware that you can connect to the net using a cellphone and a laptop, however you can also do the same thing from your PDA, and use it to send/recive text messages. also (thogh unconfirmed) you may be able to set up the zaurus as a answering machine for your phone (if you want to, im sure some people are happy with voice mail) by using the mgetty packages (requires a voice modem, thats why unconfirmed if not voice modem then plug into audio port) basically you take the serial port on the back of your pda and wire it up to a phone (clamshell works best as you can remove the screen) or plug into usb

you might run out of space but thats why im building a new case/docking station

This is just a list of what we might be able to do, if you are intrested in technical details get in touch but keep in mind that none have been achived yet. also feature listed here may be imposible to implement but i have made estimates of what can be done. i am also intrested in what you would like to see as that will influence what i work on, i dont expect to see more than 2 finished by the end of this year unless i am lucky or some one else works on one.

[chiark]

I have to applaud your efforts...  My soldering skills are limited to through-hole stuff, and if I went anywhere near SMT, there'd be a smoking moulten mess left where there was once a working PDA.

Good luck with whatever projects you take on; personal preference would be to see an increase in RAM into the devices...

If you'd like a hand writing up your experiences or getting the documentation tidied, drop me a line as I'd like to help where I can.

[icruise]

Am I the only one who thinks "Upgrading your C*k" sounds like a subject line for a spam email?  

[craigtyson]

Yup I gave up motherboard repairs some years ago as we were getting fewer repairs and more smoking ruins as VLSI and surface mount technology increased the density of components to the point that it became almost impossable to desolder components without killing the components arround the chip to be removed.

[albertr]

Back to the subject, we might talk about plenty of potential possibilities, but nothing happens until someone does it. Personally, I'm all for doing a BT module implantation into my C1K (via either serial or usb), but let's get real - how we are gonna trace the lines? Unless someone does it, it all remains to be a wishful thinking.

The simple way of tracing the lines (as it was discussed on the other thread) is getting a fried C1K/C3X00 mainboard and carefully remove the PXA270 chip. Knowing its pin-out, we can trace some of the pins to other components on the pcb.

Does anyone have a dead mainboard and willing to donate it? If so, please let me know, and I will be more than glad to trace the lines and make it a public knowledge.
-albertr

[daniel3000]

Am I the only one who thinks "Upgrading your C*k" sounds like a subject line for a spam email? 
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Yes.  

I'll soon receive my second C3000 unit (backup and experiment unit).  Then I only need some spare time   and I'll do some hardware hacks as well.

Thanks a lot for all these valuable pieces of information.

The most important upgrade for me would be more flash, in order to make the system safer and easier to backup (i.e. an upgrade to a C3100).

Bluetooth would be nice, but not a must yet, as I do not have many other BT devices yet.
More RAM... well. Not that important at the moment, because all the RAM-intensive things, mostly X/QT, are not very useful to me anyway because of their low speed.

Video out would definitely be great.

What else... well. I'll definitely replace the Microdrive with a flash card some day, when huge flash cards become affordable.

daniel

[akpoff]

I have been pulling appart my PDA and studying the insides to see what type of upgrades are posible, i thoght it would be a good idea to put them all in the one place as well as give you some more info on how easy they are to do.

<snip>

This is just a list of what we might be able to do, if you are intrested in technical details get in touch but keep in mind that none have been achived yet. also feature listed here may be imposible to implement but i have made estimates of what can be done. i am also intrested in what you would like to see as that will influence what i work on, i dont expect to see more than 2 finished by the end of this year unless i am lucky or some one else works on one.
[div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=96391\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]

Great list.  I'm interested in the RAM & NAND upgrades and internal bluetooth hack.

I did some calling around and found a place here in the US that will do BGA removal, reballing and mounting.  Without seeing the board or replacement components he could only approximate the price but thinks about $45 to do the RAM (not sure whether that's for the whole job or per chip).  I'm going to package up some of the pictures I posted and send them to him along with the datasheets on the memory to get a firmer quote.  I've "read" the pictures on the Japanese website where the C700 RAM upgrade was documented.  The job required making a couple of additional connections.  Any idea whether this job would?  I don't mind doing surface attachments myself but need some help sussing it out.  Anyone have any idea whether this upgrade can be done with simple chip replacements, or will it take some additional soldering?  What about kernel mods?

I'll do some research to find it, but if anyone has a link to the datasheets for the replacement RAM close by I can get an email off today.

Thanks,

Aaron

[Da_Blitz]

forgot to add the mcirodive > flash upgrade and the microdrive to larger microdrive upgrade and heatsinks on the processor/microdrive for better life/better overclocking. if you look at the CPU its in a metal case and not even connected to it. a bit of thermal post could improve that dramatically.

seeing what each part does is posible if you have an osscilascope. you can look at the wave forms and compare it to the documentation. other things like if the data buss on the flash chips (there are 2 sockets with only one connected) are in parrallel or share the same bus (basically can i modify it to be a 16 bit bus rather than 8bits for a speed increse

BGA is a problem. for the video card i will need to get custom multilayer boards manufactured but i know a company who do up to 6 layers for a good price as well as solder parts for you (including BGA) however i am intrested in that BGA replacment service links anyone?

here are the links to the ram. ant rember which one it is but they are all pin compatible so not much of a problem, (what we have: 256Mbit , What we want: 512Mbit ) i belive the part number was K4S561633F, however i would be intrested in getting a lower voltage chip due to the power savings, i can only do this if i can find a 1.8v line, the advantage is that the 1.8v chip uses half the power

bluetooth should be easy to find, just dump "a" onto the serial port and start probing at random  if its connected  but i agree if any one has a dead CK series then it would speed things up, might have to get a second one.

i personally want the 2700 hack (or video out) More ram for buffering MP3's (less power consumed spining up micro drive) and bluetooth (for Bluetooth Headphones for mp3's), this all fits in with my other projects that should help to reduce power consumption of the enitre system, i know from the Windows Mobile days that underclocking the CPU gives you a whole lot more battery life, lowering the voltage gives you even more

i did have a link to a complete part listing of the internals but i dont have it on me at the moment

[Da_Blitz]

as promised here is a link to the site that details the chips. after having a look at the PCB, there appears to be some issues, they have chosen a 4 or 6 layer board and have put power planes on the outside macking following the tracks next to imposible, all it really does is slow us down

hope for an update soon detailing how likly and easy it will be to do each mod now that i have a bit of time on my hands, will reply soon

[ltrm]

What a brilliant thread!

It looks like if Sharp won't produce the "perfect" Zaurus for me to upgrade to, the ZUG will.  

I'm really interested in hearing how you get on with this.  As a hint, if there was an on-line  importer who wanted to sell a custom Zaurus, well some of these upgrades don't sound like they would add that much to the price of a 3100.....

[Da_Blitz]

kicking myself about this but here is the link ( http://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/2004/1115/pda38.htm ) sorry about that

[bam]

interesting, thanks. But the ram upgrade seems to be a bit impossible, at least not without a reflow oven and the reflow profile for that particular product. I wonder if you can just heat the chip up then use some low temp solder paste to solder it on.....hmmm. A nice upgrade from 64MB ram to say 128 or 256(even better would be great!

[Antikx]

Thanks for you diligence and enthusiasm, da_blitz.

I'm still saving for a Z and if all goes well, I will have a C1000 in 5 weeks.
I have a friend going to Japan that will looking for one for me.

I'm interested in all your projects, but I would really love to have VGA-out for the Zaurus, as I am planning on replacing my home PC, Work PC and PDA with a Zaurus. Having VGA-out will make that task so much easier.

I, and I'm sure others, would probably be willing to donate or at the least encourage you in your projects.

[Da_Blitz]

all i ask for is if i get the 2700g working is driver support.

[speculatrix]

in my experience, there are two things which happen when removing a device from a high density circuit board (espec. surface mount). one way destroys the device but usually leaves the circuit board intact, the other way destroys the circuit board but usually leaves the device intact.

how?

first way is to invert the board so the device is hanging, and is gripped with some sort of pliers. a very hot soldering iron or mini blow-torch is used to heat the device so that it pulls away quickly before the board is damaged.

second way is to put a heatsink on the device which you pull, then blast the board from behind, ruining everything, but the board gets hot faster than the device, so device comes free undamaged - blow on it quickly to cool it!

Note that either of these techniques applied to your zaurus is a BAD idea, and I take no responsibility if you try it out. But if you do, let us know.

Oh yeah, and if I were you: practise on something else first!