I am picking up a 16GB A500 from Staples today (only $300 w/the coupon, woot!), and would like to upgrade the internal memory to 32GB. I'm certain that the memory is soldered to the board, but am curious if the existing memory requires replacement or if there is an empty location for another 16GB memory chip.
Has anyone tried this, and/or are there any photos of a torn-down A500? TIA for any inputs.
There is no vacant slot for another flash chip. There are plenty of pics of the internals, and even some teardown videos if you care to google.
This like most all imbedded devices is what you have is what you get monotonous mentioned to be updated. So that software major ones willbforce youbto buy a new tablet sooner its the price we paybto have the next best thing
I recommend just putting in a 16GB or even 32GB microsd. They are a little weird the way you access them though. To save you some digging:
Your 16GB internal storage will come up under /sdcard/ while the external card is /mnt/external_sd (or something like that).
So if there isn't an open location on the board, that would require removing the current 16 GB chip and replacing it with a 32GB chip. No big deal.
I've already got a 16GB microSD, but some programs are stubborn about not moving to micro SD. This tab is a replacement for my gTab, I'll be rooting it soon and am not scared of internal upgrades.
ThatGeekGuy said:
So if there isn't an open location on the board, that would require removing the current 16 GB chip and replacing it with a 32GB chip. No big deal.
I've already got a 16GB microSD, but some programs are stubborn about not moving to micro SD. This tab is a replacement for my gTab, I'll be rooting it soon and am not scared of internal upgrades.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you're confused...
There is 16GB internal AND you can ADD a 16GB memory card which gives you 32GB total. That is not 32GB internal, per se, even though it's all contained within the device physically.
Changing from 16GB to 32GB would require physically tearing apart the A500 then putting in the 32GB chip, which is an on board chip, not a simple micro-SD card.
You could also just add a 32GB micro-SD card and end up with 48GB total.
Guys/gals he seems to be aware about having to tear apart the iconia to add the memory in his first post he states that its soldered and later says hes not scared of internal upgrades
To answer your question from what I have seen you are correct you would have to de-solder and remove the 16gb chip and solder the 32 in its place . you are either very brave or have some good experience lol
let us know how the upgrade goes!
oxbeast1210 said:
Guys/gals he seems to be aware about having to tear apart the iconia to add the memory in his first post he states that its soldered and later says hes not scared of internal upgrades
To answer your question from what I have seen you are correct you would have to de-solder and remove the 16gb chip and solder the 32 in its place . you are either very brave or have some good experience lol
let us know how the upgrade goes!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hear that, the impression that I got was that ThatGeekGuy was ready to dive in head first.
@ThatGeekGuy.. If I had the equipment I'd do exactly what you're trying to do, please let us know if you achieve what you set out to do!
Why not try 64gb?
nice Idea!
good luck
I would think about partitioning the chip and copying the OS onto it beforehand,
after all, even the recovery is on that chip
ehasoon said:
I hear that, the impression that I got was that ThatGeekGuy was ready to dive in head first.
@ThatGeekGuy.. If I had the equipment I'd do exactly what you're trying to do, please let us know if you achieve what you set out to do!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see that in the post as well, but I mean if someone really understands the impact of that then they probably wouldn't be on this forum asking questions about it. They would know that there's not an open slot... maybe that's a bad assumption on my part.
Just seems that the knowledge/skills necessary with replacing the onboard memory did not match the question being asked...
I'm aware that the memory upgrade involves teardown of the unit, and is not a simple plug-in like an SD card. My main curiosity was if it would require simple soldering of an additional chip, or removal and replacement of the existing one. Many boards (mobos, latops, tablets) have upgrade locations on the board layout, and only populate them based on what options are ordered. On my gTablet, the layout was on the board to accomodate a GPS circuit that was never populated. Some enterprising folks here on XDA figured out the components and code required to get it functional.
If it is a remove and replace upgrade, it can definitely be more challenging. As wolfman mentioned, the ROM is in the current chip. Hmmm, more research before jumping off this bridge ....
ThatGeekGuy said:
I'm aware that the memory upgrade involves teardown of the unit, and is not a simple plug-in like an SD card. My main curiosity was if it would require simple soldering of an additional chip, or removal and replacement of the existing one. Many boards (mobos, latops, tablets) have upgrade locations on the board layout, and only populate them based on what options are ordered. On my gTablet, the layout was on the board to accomodate a GPS circuit that was never populated. Some enterprising folks here on XDA figured out the components and code required to get it functional.
If it is a remove and replace upgrade, it can definitely be more challenging. As wolfman mentioned, the ROM is in the current chip. Hmmm, more research before jumping off this bridge ....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good deal! Just wanted to make sure!
best of luck!
ThatGeekGuy said:
I'm aware that the memory upgrade involves teardown of the unit, and is not a simple plug-in like an SD card. My main curiosity was if it would require simple soldering of an additional chip, or removal and replacement of the existing one. Many boards (mobos, latops, tablets) have upgrade locations on the board layout, and only populate them based on what options are ordered. On my gTablet, the layout was on the board to accomodate a GPS circuit that was never populated. Some enterprising folks here on XDA figured out the components and code required to get it functional.
If it is a remove and replace upgrade, it can definitely be more challenging. As wolfman mentioned, the ROM is in the current chip. Hmmm, more research before jumping off this bridge ....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ThatGeekGuy, did you go thought with changing out your internal memory? I've been doing alot of research on how to crack the tablet open, swapping out the internal memory chip and adding a SIM card reader.
oxbeast1210 said:
Guys/gals he seems to be aware about having to tear apart the iconia to add the memory in his first post he states that its soldered and later says hes not scared of internal upgrades
To answer your question from what I have seen you are correct you would have to de-solder and remove the 16gb chip and solder the 32 in its place . you are either very brave or have some good experience lol
let us know how the upgrade goes!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He would also figure out how to boot up since his storage is blank
Sent from my ICONIA
Related
Looking at the Anandtech review, I saw them mention that the Optimus has a Micro SD slot, in addition to the 16GB on board.
Is this correct?
No ti doesn't. It is a rule from Microsoft that all new Windows Phone 7 MUST have a built in memory.
SD card
piottone said:
No ti doesn't. It is a rule from Microsoft that all new Windows Phone 7 MUST have a built in memory.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, but a SD card is a built in memory! All HTC WinPhone 7 devices have "just" SD cards as additional internal memory, it's cheaper thand NANDs!
On engadget.com or pocketnow.com you can watch some videos about this. One user plugged a 32gb sd card in his HD7!!!
But I don't know if the Optimus 7 has a sd card or a NAND...
piottone said:
No ti doesn't. It is a rule from Microsoft that all new Windows Phone 7 MUST have a built in memory.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As the other guy said, false, look at the focus!
Seeing as the focus isn't being released outside the USA, the optimus is the best bet.
Anyway, the device is out, somebody must be able to confirm.
Actually the Focus is now available on Rogers in Canada as well...
And Samsung is quite generous when you describe your needs to them on their Direct phone line, and they provided me with an unlock code...
Has anyone discovered if LG Optimus 7 have a microsd slot?
Im sure it does however its not accessable without dismantiling the phone.
I wish someone would tear this badboy down and let us have a look inside.
Yeah me too! Most other devices have been ripped apart but i haven't heard anything about the Optimus 7
Yeah, this would be pretty important to me too, since its the only device with internal memory + microSD. If its easy to access this would be a very interesting phone since I need at least my 32GB of storage, better would be more.
LG Optimus 7 SD slot
Sebo1985 said:
Yeah, this would be pretty important to me too, since its the only device with internal memory + microSD. If its easy to access this would be a very interesting phone since I need at least my 32GB of storage, better would be more.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have this phone, the SD slot isn't presente becuase it's a Microsoft dictat for ALL Windows Phone 7 cellphones!!!!!
bye
TheJackall
Oh come on buddy, nearly every WP7 device has a SD slot, of course not swapable, but it is in there.
The Optimus 7 has 4GB NAND and 4GB SDRAM, therefore 8GB left over for a SDcard somewhere in there, but: where?
Sebo1985 said:
Oh come on buddy, nearly every WP7 device has a SD slot, of course not swapable, but it is in there.
The Optimus 7 has 4GB NAND and 4GB SDRAM, therefore 8GB left over for a SDcard somewhere in there, but: where?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where did you hear it had 4GB NAND and 8GB in the SDcard slot? I believe you, I'm just curious. I am pretty sure all WP7 "have" to have an SDcard slot because the SD Card Association said WP7s support SD cards across the board (just not necessarily consumer accessible). Like I said, someone needs to tear this guy down.
I read it here:
http://pocketnow.com/windows-phone/...&utm_campaign=Feed:+pocketnow+(pocketnow.com)
Is that correct? Don't know.
But there's surely NAND in there, that's why it loads heavy duty apps way faster than other phones.
I'm buying this phone tomorrow, and will take it apart/provide pictures if there is enough interest. Let me know what you guys think!
wm.andrew.wilson said:
I'm buying this phone tomorrow, and will take it apart/provide pictures if there is enough interest. Let me know what you guys think!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
GREAT! I have 200% interest on this!
I would say you get famous within the various blogs and mobile sites
Absolutely interested here!
Sorry to disappoint guys, I do not possess screwdrivers small enough to open this thing up. I have a set of electronics screwdrivers going all the way down to Phillips Head PH000 but it would need to be at least a PH0000 to open those small little screws. Love the device though! I will pick up a proper screwdriver, but I don't even know where to go about looking for one in Canada.
Oh, what a pity. But shouldn't every DIY store have those?
I have bad news...I took the phone apart completely, all the way down to its component elements and there is no SD slot or card. The 16 GB is NAND and soldered to the board. I will post pictures I took in a different thread for teardown purposes.
Is WP7 OS stored in the onboard 1 GB ROM?
Is the 8 GB internal memory on a microSD card?
The 8GB is internal. There is an empty MicroSD slot in the back to upgrade the phone by an additional maximum of 32GB. However, you may want to check this out:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=834144
When the people on the gadget blogs open WP7 devices up, they have generally been finding SanDisk class 4 cards hidden inside. I think only the Optimus 7 was found to be using flash nand so far. Haven't seen a teardown for the Focus yet, but if I had to bet $5 on it, I'd say there's a microsd card in there for the 8gb included storage.
FL5 said:
When the people on the gadget blogs open WP7 devices up, they have generally been finding SanDisk class 4 cards hidden inside. I think only the Optimus 7 was found to be using flash nand so far. Haven't seen a teardown for the Focus yet, but if I had to bet $5 on it, I'd say there's a microsd card in there for the 8gb included storage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually no, I don't where you get your conclusion from. So far, only HTC phones appear to have internal SD cards. Samsungs are NAND chips only. There is a tear down thread for Focus's international cusin, Omnia 7 in Omnia 7 section of this forum.
Oh, wow, that both makes me happier about my purchase and disappointed in HTC at the same time. You shoulda taken me up on that bet; you'd have $5!
You can see the focus in detail here: http://pocketnow.com/windows-phone/samsung-focus-review. Mine didn't come with a card, so the MicroSD I added was additional memory.
Samsung supplies NAND flash chips for majority of flash cards out there. It makes no sense for Samsung to use someone else's microSD cards (with its NAND chips inside) instead of its own NAND chip directly.
xmckinzie said:
You can see the focus in detail here: http://pocketnow.com/windows-phone/samsung-focus-review. Mine didn't come with a card, so the MicroSD I added was additional memory.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No one has tear down a Focus yet. That review, alone with others, just shows the back side of the phone. A tear down needs to disassemble everything and show photos of the circuit board.
I Just seen the Elocity A10 listed on tiger.
64GB $699
32GB $599
4GB $449 the 16GB not even listed on tiger
WLAN N
Claiming true multi touch this time for A10's
still ships with 2.2 froyo
Looks like the same pointless 1.3mp cam and still front facing(yes I know web cam)
with all the extra space you would think they would switch to full size SD
I truly have nothing against the elocity. I have an A7 with the 1.3 dex mod loving it, but wife wants it so I'm gonna spring for a Enspert Identy tab E201U. Looks promising and very comparable.
The tablet eLocity A10 and prices, and mt discussed already here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=941603
A10 models starting to show up.
I just saw all 3 models of eLocity A10 on Tiger Direct for pre-order today. Amazon has it up but only on adding to wishlist when it becomes available. I am soo tempted right now to take my A7 back and get this A10 for just an extra 100 dollars to spend. I wonder if it is even worth it. If SteamTV can't release a fix for the sdram issue or at least add upgrade to gingerbread, I'm going to A10.
Poradicus said:
I just saw all 3 models of eLocity A10 on Tiger Direct for pre-order today. Amazon has it up but only on adding to wishlist when it becomes available. I am soo tempted right now to take my A7 back and get this A10 for just an extra 100 dollars to spend. I wonder if it is even worth it. If SteamTV can't release a fix for the sdram issue or at least add upgrade to gingerbread, I'm going to A10.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What "sdram issue" ?
Sorry meant SD Mirco card where it wouldn't work properly with A7.
Poradicus said:
Sorry meant SD Mirco card where it wouldn't work properly with A7.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What issue? I don't have any issues with sdcard...
Dexter_nlb said:
this is all a misunderstanding of how tablets are supposed to work, and caused by the fact that android 2.2 is made for a phone with external memory cards, and less to nothing of internal memory.
the current installation where apps are "moved" to internal storage is actually how vendors are trying to implement 2 types of storage.
comparing this to a mobile with just sdcard, and android 2.2 only supporting one storage type, the preferred storage becomes the "internal" and sdcard handling as you notice is now pointing to a location with the internal storage location.
the mountpoint at the internal storage location is planned based on the fact that users coming from an android based mobile knows alot about where to find data, which is in the storage location, so its put as mount at the storage so its easy to access, and not actually any bug at all.
so until better handling is presented (hopefully 3.0) people will continue to think that the handling is wrong or something is not wright here, but it is correct.
your internal storage of "just" 1.5GB is the preferred location, as tablets are not meant to have sdcards as preferred storage, if you chose not to put a sdcard into the tablet. so the choice was easy, use internal storage for android so ppl didnt need to buy additional cards.
but the lack of storage internally is a vendor decision, not a bug or not "the android way" a problem in any way..
imagine, those users without any sdcard, being unable to use the feature of android to a storage, and needed to use data storage for all files, that would look strange, if you didnt have the option available..
it could have been planned differently but vendors (all of the tegra2 vendors) has chosen this path, which could have been done differently but its all relate to apps and how they expect your device to work..
a long explanation, but remember 2.2 is not made for tablets, it made for small devices with external memory cards, which is long overdue and is followed up with the new android 3.0 which hopefully solves your problem.
conclusion,
Nvidia could have chosen a different way of using android, but they're still rather new to the platform and their design is not without problems yet (honeycomb will show that too), so if they used real planning and organized memory and sdcard handling like 2.2 was made for, you would have no problems at all. Remember Nvidia designed it this way, and they are the reason you have problems..Lack of knowledge of design and functionality, like BMW trying to make graphics card for a pc, coming from designing cars, their work would not be in a class like nvidia graphics, but probably ok..but far from good..
-
to answer you last question, usb to pc..
ill figure some idea out on the next update, as the tablet do support host/client usb port setup (recently confirmed), but i think you noticed the tablet don't have a port for connecting to your pc for now..
to enable the usb to pc connectivity you need a special usb cable, and software that changes the usb port mode. which can be solved, but disables the functionality of usb sticks etc, connecting to it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yet another in a line of many "problems" that could have been solved by reading the information that is already here.
as some of you may know amazon says the kindle fire has no external SD card but on amazons Faq it says
Does Kindle Fire have an SD card?
Kindle Fire has an internal SD card that your application can write to. Kindle Fire's SD card is internal and is not removable. You should not have to change your app for Kindle Fire if it currently stores data on the SD card.
can I take it that this means the SD cradle is on the inside and the tablet has to be taken apart to get to it like alot of china android tablets are.
Hmmmm. Interesting. Doubt we'll ever really know until someone breaks one open (voiding their warranty). Then even so, one would wonder if Amazon has already thought of that and hard coded to reject anything other than "their
card.
But, still interesting.
Wow, this would be AWESOME if true. That means there is probably a way for us to upgrade our memory. I assumed that it would just be soldered on.
Edit: Do you have a link for this FAQ?
I would imagine it would be permanently affixed to the board. I cannot imagine Amazon did not look at the Nook Color and devised ways to thwart users from doing to the AF what people did/could do to the NC.
Won't know for sure until it comes out.
Maybe it is like the SD card on WM7 phones. When you mount it it initializes. It is not meant to be swapped in and out.
skeeterpro said:
I would imagine it would be permanently affixed to the board.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are indeed right.
http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Amazon-Kindle-Fire-Teardown/7099/1
The flash chip is an 8GB from Samsung, and it's permanently soldered to the board. There goes our hope for easy storage upgrades.
On the plus side, the chip that handles WiFi also has the potential to do bluetooth and FM radio! I'll take more connectivity any day.
I don't understand why they don't sell it with a sd slot....
So that they can sell you a Kindle Fire 2 - now with 16/32/64GB memory after you've gotten addicted to the first version and frustrated with the lack of storage.
Yeah, I'm a cynic, but I don't like the way that even the Nexus S/Galaxy Nexus are following Apple's "pay $100 for an extra 16GB storage" when an 32GB Class 10 MicroSD card would be (according to US Amazon) less than $50.
That said, if the streaming works as advertised, it may not be such an issue...
Don't forget Amazon are hawking the cloud storage for this device - they don't want local storage to be expandable so you are dependant on their server offerings. Would be one way to ensure customers are tempted to retain the Amazon build rather than rooting and using the device as a generic tablet.
Regardless of cloud storage, as soon as a ROM pops up for this device I'll be buying and rooting. For ~$200 the hardware looks great, just needs to be de-branded from Amazon's (Apple-esque) restrictive OS first.
Hi, several of we GT 10.1" tab owners over in the tab specific area are looking into adding a external micro SD to our tabs. I am hoping that we might find some more expertise and input in this section of the forum.
The ongoing thread we are discussing the mod in can be found here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1600661, but hopefully we can merge the threads, or somehow keep things straight, but it seems this may be the more appropriate forum section.
Brief recap is that it appears the early/pre-release GT-P7500 had an external SD card. My later model GT-P7510 has the associated area on the MOBO unpopulated. I found the connectors, the OP in the thread found the factory SD card holders. I used my tab for a test, soldered the the connector on, and early indications are it is not functioning. So far I haven't been able to dig back into it, but common consensus is that the unpopulated area near the SD reader connector is needed. I have a lot of experience with simpler analog electronics, and analog design, but to repopulate the needed components with no idea of where to start is beyond the scope of my abilities.
We have the GT-P7500 service manual, at least most of it I think. The MOBO photos in the manual show the area populated, but the photos are to low resolution to gain any useful data. I found some supposedly leaked FCC photos of the tab disassembled pre-release. It also shows the SD card area populated, and this one shows the SD card holder as well, but again low resolution.
Currently we are hoping that maybe the very early HW revisions of the 3g GT-p7500 may have had the SD card area populated, and possibly one of you owners could help us.
If anyone has any input, or can help build the circuit from the ground up I am happy to provide any testing/data/pinouts I can.
On a side note-- does anyone know how many times I can disassemble my tab without ruining the case?
Thanks in advance folks!
Jason Campbell
In addition to any missing components, you need to figure out which SDHCI interface of the CPU that is hung off of and add it to the platdata:
https://github.com/pershoot/galaxy-2636/blob/ics/arch/arm/mach-tegra/board-p4wifi-sdhci.c#L296
Looks like 3 is the internal eMMC, 0 is the wifi chip (BCM4329 and 4330 are SDIO wifi chipsets), 1 and 2 are not used.
I too have been toying around with this idea. Looks like I'm not alone in thinking this tab would rock with a microsd. Only you guys are way farther ahead than me! Also I know for a fact that the gtab 10.1 v2 that's coming out sometime this year will have an SD slot. And it looks like little else that's different. Maybe when one of us gets our hands on it we can see on the inside where things are populated or not.
Sent from my GT-P7510 using xda premium
Hipcatjack said:
I too have been toying around with this idea. Looks like I'm not alone in thinking this tab would rock with a microsd. Only you guys are way farther ahead than me! Also I know for a fact that the gtab 10.1 v2 that's coming out sometime this year will have an SD slot. And it looks like little else that's different. Maybe when one of us gets our hands on it we can see on the inside where things are populated or not.
Sent from my GT-P7510 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Turns out that you're most likely wrong on this - all evidence (including the recent source release I believe) indicates the Tab2 10.1 will be OMAP4-based just like the Tab2 7.0 is.
interesting thanks
Looks like I will finally have some free time to open my tab up again. I plan to ring out the SD card holder to the connector, and then on out from there. I will go at least as far as the unpop area if that is indeed where it leads. While I have it open, do you folks have any suggestions as to other testing or mapping to do? I appreciate the input so far-- I don't really know much about the software side, but we can burn that bridge if/when we get there. Will keep you all posted.
Later,
Jason
Sent from my GT-P7510 using Tapatalk 2
Hi! Do you know that if you add a sd-card extension, you must develop new drivers and kernels? And this could probably make you lose your warranty...
SD card
why do manufactures insist on leaving sd card slots off the build? doesnt seem like it would cost to much include one.
thanks for this
Hi,
My friend has a 10.1 GT 7500,
He bought an external adapter for sdcard.
Perhaps you can use the layout schemas from such a device to discover what you need to make it work internally.
Its probaply the same "signal wires" but now abvailable on the external connector.
Hope this helps/.
lyoddxd said:
Hi! Do you know that if you add a sd-card extension, you must develop new drivers and kernels? And this could probably make you lose your warranty...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, thank you. The tab has been rooted and running experimental roms from ~6hrs after I bought it. Warranty has been void for quite a while...
macdova said:
why do manufactures insist on leaving sd card slots off the build? doesnt seem like it would cost to much include one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I doubt so much that it is the hardware costs, although it would add up to a significant amount, but rather due to the desire to sell the more costly tabs with more internal memory. After all, why would the you buy a 64gb tab for $200 more than the 16gb one, when you could throw in a 32gb card for $30? It seems pretty clear in this case, Sammy had developed the tab with external SD. There are lots of photos floating around of the pre-release tabs with slots. There is some evidence that they planned this nearly to the last minute, as we are buying the factory holders which "don't exist" on ebay. Unless they could not get the SD reader working properly or had more issues than the time solving was worth, then I think all things point toward this being a plain and simple money move.
DFCNightMareNL said:
Hi,
My friend has a 10.1 GT 7500,
He bought an external adapter for sdcard.
Perhaps you can use the layout schemas from such a device to discover what you need to make it work internally.
Its probaply the same "signal wires" but now abvailable on the external connector.
Hope this helps/.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I appreciate the input, I have the Sammy autherized adapters. These all use the USB OTG protocol, and I think it is unlikely that the hardware will be the same. I will deffenitely investigate this though.
Thanks,
Jason
If you don't succeed with the adapters you could do what i'm trying to do with the Kindle Fire. I'm building in a microsd adapter for use with USB host.
Read here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=25953776
Since I don't have a Galaxy tab I can't really be of any more use, sorry.