crispyking
06-29-2009, 02:07 PM
I now have 2 dead TXs which I believe are due to the flash going bad (exceeding its write-cycle lifetime).
They both started with symptoms like resets whenever I tried switching apps and data would not get saved and progressed to soft-reset and hard-reset loops (like the kind other people are reporting here). Disconnecting (and even replacing) the battery doesn't fix it.
The flash chip is a Samsung K9F1G08Q0A 128M x 8 (1Gb) NAND flash and as far as I can tell does not have the OS on it -- the OS is on a separate chip (a Macronix chip on mine).
http://www.handhelds.org/moin/moin.cgi/PalmTXHardware
So theoretically, it seems possible to replace the flash chip and restore it to full working order.
Has anyone tried replacing the flash chips on the TX?
I haven't done any SMD reworking, but it doesn't look too hard given the right (expensive) tools.
e.g. there are some videos on http://www.howardelectronics.com
I was thinking I would first try to find a local SMD reworking shop locally before trying it myself.
The big problem is in sourcing the parts. The K9F1G08Q0A appears to be no longer in production; it is superceded by the K9F1G08Q0B which by looking at the datasheet has some slightly different characteristics (other than just speed). There are also other TSOP48 128M x 8 NAND flash parts from other manufacturers, but I don't have any design expertise to be able to tell if they'd work as drop-in replacements.
Anyone with any thoughts or experience doing this sort of thing?
It's disappointing that the flash seems to be going bad faster than the battery. I wonder what will happen when iPhones start doing the same thing.
They both started with symptoms like resets whenever I tried switching apps and data would not get saved and progressed to soft-reset and hard-reset loops (like the kind other people are reporting here). Disconnecting (and even replacing) the battery doesn't fix it.
The flash chip is a Samsung K9F1G08Q0A 128M x 8 (1Gb) NAND flash and as far as I can tell does not have the OS on it -- the OS is on a separate chip (a Macronix chip on mine).
http://www.handhelds.org/moin/moin.cgi/PalmTXHardware
So theoretically, it seems possible to replace the flash chip and restore it to full working order.
Has anyone tried replacing the flash chips on the TX?
I haven't done any SMD reworking, but it doesn't look too hard given the right (expensive) tools.
e.g. there are some videos on http://www.howardelectronics.com
I was thinking I would first try to find a local SMD reworking shop locally before trying it myself.
The big problem is in sourcing the parts. The K9F1G08Q0A appears to be no longer in production; it is superceded by the K9F1G08Q0B which by looking at the datasheet has some slightly different characteristics (other than just speed). There are also other TSOP48 128M x 8 NAND flash parts from other manufacturers, but I don't have any design expertise to be able to tell if they'd work as drop-in replacements.
Anyone with any thoughts or experience doing this sort of thing?
It's disappointing that the flash seems to be going bad faster than the battery. I wonder what will happen when iPhones start doing the same thing.