Can you upgrade flash rom to 256?

Jeremysjunk · #1 (**permalink**) 12-14-2007, 03:45 AM

Does anyone know if you can upgrade the 128 megs of flash ROM to 256megs or even anything above the stock 128? I know on some pocket pc's you can but just have to do some soldering. Has anyone heard of it being done or even have the instructions to do it? I would love to give it a shot if there were some directions.

Thanks for the help,
Jeremy

**gguruusa** · #2 (**permalink**) 12-14-2007, 04:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeremysjunk

Does anyone know if you can upgrade the 128 megs of flash ROM to 256megs or even anything above the stock 128? I know on some pocket pc's you can but just have to do some soldering. Has anyone heard of it being done or even have the instructions to do it? I would love to give it a shot if there were some directions.

Thanks for the help,
Jeremy

No, you can't. And even if you could, the soldering would be extremely difficult at best for the average technical person.

nikki2beeps · #3 (**permalink**) 12-14-2007, 08:18 AM

I am looking into this myself but have really hit a dead end. Now don't quote me on this but this is how I understand it. With this device as well as most htc devices the ram is actually on disk on chip from mSystems. The disk on chip is basically similar to a processor in that it uses a die or multiple dies on a micro pcb. This was chosen because of its ability to do XIP or execute in place processes.This poses 3 major problems. 1)The availability of a replacement or donor chip just isn't feasable or cost effective. The only place I would be able to get one at this time would be to salvage one from a damged unit where the MoBo of the phone was already defective. 2) Even with my fairly advanced soldering skill the mSystems chip would require at least a complete hot air rework station and the correct stencil for the ball grid array of that mSystems chip. 3) Even if I have all the hardware in place someone (other than myself) would have to modify the software to correctly use the new memory addresses of the new chip.
Now if I am incorrect in any of this information please feel free to let me know, correct, or add to anything I've stated here. I would love to learn as much as I can about this subject as I love to know how and why I cant get away with things.That and I already plan on getting my rework station after the holidays.

Jeremysjunk · #4 (**permalink**) 12-14-2007, 07:56 PM

Thanks for the replies. From research I did on other sites they all say the same thing that it can't be done.

What kind of station are you getting? I'm looking to get one myself so I can do repairs. I would love any suggestions.

thanks
Jeremy

mellon · #5 (**permalink**) 12-15-2007, 09:55 AM

someone in china has successfully upgrade the ram from 64M to 128 by making some changes to the hardware, so i believe it possible to upgrade the Rom size to 256.

**gguruusa** · #6 (**permalink**) 12-15-2007, 05:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mellon

someone in china has successfully upgrade the ram from 64M to 128 by making some changes to the hardware, so i believe it possible to upgrade the Rom size to 256.

No one said it isn't possible. It just isn't practical. The hardware issues alone are substantial, and then there's still the software to modify...it's not going to just take the extra memory and "work".