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Hi I got no answer from bplan as suspected. :(

BTW does anyone know where I could order these K4H511638C-UCB3 chips? Ofcourse in sample quanities?

Funny!?, I shot them up an email also in regards to the ram issue and also got no reply. That's not good business, considering their future plans for this platform...but then again they don't really need this platform now do they?

plan at one of this years show include efika2 the successor, and also the successor to the peg2 board

Wish me luck guys :) I'll be getting those missing resistor networks later this week:

efika.jpg

[ Edited by Painkiller on 2008/9/16 17:24 ]

I wish you all the luck :)

Hope to ear you soon about this amazing efika hardware mod. :)

Czk.

Gee. Morphos 2.1 with 256Mb ram? Goooood

we do :) many many of us

Maybe you need four 8 Bit chips if you want them on the backside?

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I have not heard any information about an EFIKA2 or any successor to the Peg2? Do you have any links to any info?

I am very interested in the upgrade to 256mb RAM for my EFIKA and will be polishing my rusty soldering skills on a few other projects in the next few weeks, so I will be ready to try my hand at adding a couple of RAM chips to the bottom side of my EFIKA.

Will there be a FAQ, or complete install instructions with parts list for this mod, available on this MorphZone somewhere? Is there a more detailed info already available somewhere else?

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Could be, but it would seem kind of foolish to design it that way.

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Umm actually this is the first time this will be done and completely unknown wheter it will work... I have my hopes up but not too high. If this works I will post the needed component information so that anyone with soldering skills can do this.

Those extra ram chips are pain to find, infact I wasn't able to order them in sample quanities so I bought a memory module and desoldered them. I might have even broken those chips while desoldering, but if the first attempt fails I will try and change those chips once.

Hopefully this doesn't end up as a costly experiment to me :)

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I hope it works and is not an experiment that goes wrong for you. Did you see the video clip about someone saying that the EFIKA board was designed so that extra memory could be added to the bottom of the board, just as you are trying to do?

I have a couple of other projects to complete, but adding another 128mb of RAM to my EFIKA will be high on my priority list after that, so I hope you get it all figured out for the rest of us. Did you already find out which RAM chips should be used from bPlan, or did you guess?

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Didn't see any video about this, just saw this thread, decided to sell my PEG II buy an efika. Then looked up where I could get the same memory chips that are used in efika then measured the additional capacitors and resistors that are needed and for the rest of it will let luck decide ;)

IMO bPlan really is a bad bad exsample of customer support... I mean it wouldn't be that hard to provide us with the info on what is needed, but they opt not to give any response. Really unprofessional of them if you ask me. It certainly wouldn't do them any harm to release the info.

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Uh, you're kidding, right? No self-respecting company would give users details on how to fuck their hardware... There certainly are a few things you can fault bPlan on regarding customer support, this however is not one of them...


- CISC

Actually I'm not kidding. This is pretty common thing with custom electronics which Efika is. It is a developer board and as suchs there would be need for these kinds of information. Heck they only made a patch with 128 MBs of RAM what if a developer wants to test out 256 or 512 MB unit wouldn't it make sense to provide the info rather than keep it to them selves? With these kind of actions they are actually limiting the potential customer base. They have absolutely nothing to lose if they realease the info on how to expand Efikas memory.

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The difference here is that it's sold to end-users, not companies that want samples for product development.

If you want to mess up the hardware you do so entirely at your own risk and that's certainly nothing that should be encouraged to end-users. Additionally you should atleast acquire the appropriate tools before venturing on a project like this, something you seem to have neglected judging by that photo (I'd say your chances are quite slim by now that you'll ever succeed)...


- CISC

I do have proper tools, but didn't have proper chips :( But from experience it should work even tough I had to bend those chip legs a bit to get them soldered.

Yea I understand these are sold to end user and by no means would I encourage people to do this kind of job with no soldering skill or for people who solder rarely.

Oh btw what do you think is wrong with that soldering other than the fact that the chip legs were bend? Everything has a fine contact and solder joints are clean (no cold joints).

have you powered it up? does it work?

[ Edited by TheMagicM on 2008/9/18 19:16 ]

Not yet I'll propably get those missing resistor networks today.

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Nothing is wrong with the soldering per-se (apart from the (over)use of flux), but you obviously don't have SMD equipment, but rather used a soldering-iron instead which is generally a bad idea when dealing with SMD components as you can easily damage them with excessive heat (plus you are far more likely to apply too much solder which can lead to unnoticed short-circuits on the surface tracks).


- CISC

I have SMD equipment, but decided to use soldering-iron because of the bend chip legs. Rest assured there are no short-circuits I did all this job under 8x stereo-scope.

@painkiller,

I don't know why anyone would sell a good working Peg2 to buy an EFIKA, but to each their own.

Have you heard anything from bPlan yet?

The video clip I saw was of someone showing the EFIKA at some computer show and he mentioned in the clip that the board was designed to be expanded by soldering extra RAM chips to the bottom, just as you have done. No mention was made of additional resistors being needed, but the person showing the EFIKA did not go into such detail and it was short clip.

I would very much like to expand my EFIKA to 256mb RAM and I am surprised that no one is stocking them in that configuration. I would have rather had it come from the dealer that way than have to add it to my long project list.

Ok got the missing components today and sadly I have to say it didn't work :( I will try once more and this time I'll be more carefull when desoldering the memorychips from the module I have.

Tough I have a feeling that that wasn't the problem.

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Hi morphine,

Did you get to the firmware boot ? Or the system hanged right away?

Czk

It doesn't prompt OF :( so no luck. I just removed all the components to see if efika was still working and all is fine. Then decided just do add the resistor networks and that made the system hang also before OF :(

I think I'm not going to waste anymore of my time at this project :(

Interesting, I would think you should still get to open boot firmware.. Perhaps without an upgrade it won't initialize memory beyond 128MB.

Assuming just adding the extra memory module is enough, the fact that you don't see anything with the extra memory (and do with it disconnected) seems more like a bad memory chip to me.. These are very easily damaged when soldering by hand.

Personally I might have soldered a test socket on to the board instead of the memory chip itself. Then you can easily pop chips in and out.

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Do socket exists for such component? Never seen any. It would for sure saves the component of overheating while soldering.

There is a tip to save component from overheating. Just glue a heatsink over the component. It can help a lot to save the component.

Czk

@Painkiller

I guess that some of that ressitors will act as "jumpers"

I think that an easier solution may be removing the existing memory chips and fitting chips with twice the ram amount. But perhaps that could also require changing "jumpers"/"capacitors".

Are there reference schematics available for these chips?