For those of you that've taken apart your GP==RAM?

[Nirvanaj]

I was think that if the data sheet was found for the ram chip in the GP. We could find another with more ram with the same pin conifg.

I'm a novice at electronics and don't know where to start. most my skills lie in codeing and soldering for sattilites.

But me figureing out a good match is next to impossible for me.

Possible problems.

Bios may need tweeking to get to reconize larger ram. that should be easy to fix.

may not be enough 3 v chips that have more ram then 8. that might suck but there has to be some. probably not a lot

getting that bitch of a small chip off the GP bored with out screwing it up. I would be able to do it. but most wont be able. can't wait till the back lite kit comes out.

=-=-=-=
it seams totaly possible
I'll be looking for the data sheet for the one on the GP and post it soon. any one know off hand what the modle # is. so i don't have to take it apart for the 5th time.

 

[Oraee]

I think its definetly possible since pocketpcs can be upgraded to 256mb.

 

[Rico]

Most mobos simply don't care about RAM. You just solder in new chips, and you've got ram. However you usually can't replace the chip that's already there. You'd have to be willing to lose your GP32, or you could informally ask their customer services

All I know is, you can add RAM chips to the Xbox, PocketPC, etc... so it should work here.

- Rico

 

[Nirvanaj]

Another question.

Would it even be worth it. yes if there are some chips that run faster. but would coders write games that need more then the standard 8 megs. probably not.

any more thoughts on the subject

 

[Tobriand]

I'm guessing the emus use all the ram that's available, and crash if they run out... Whether or not it'd use it effectively, I don't know, but you might find it'd let you use (if you happened to have a GBA emu alpha for exmaple) 8 mb roms as well as 4mb ones; although I'm guessing that'd depend whether the 4mb limit was hardcoded, simply the GP32 crashed when anything bigger is tried. I don't have an alpha to work with, so no ideas there...
It might also allow the loading of the Sonic Blast rom for GG - its a meg, which seems to be too big for the emu and crashes it atm...

 

[Oraee]

The biggest sdram chips available are 64mb yes? IF this amount of memory would speed up emulation then its definetly worth a shot. Im not willing to try it until someone else tho..

 

[Nirvanaj]

I'm way more then willing to purches chips and run tests. the only thing is finding compatable ones. Surface mount chips suck. so i plan on getting a socket so i can just pop the chips in and out. I'll start looking thru the mouser catolog. I think this will greatly improve emus and other games. this is probably the bigest hurdle for the gba emu the 8 megs ram.

i understand the problem with loading large rom files. but are emu coders haveing issues with ram restrictions? could this be why there is no save options in most emus. from my understanding is most not all are just ports of old emus for the computer. and there are so few computer ones that don't have save options.

And how am I going to tell that the whole size of the new chip gets reconized. can any coder out there white a simple fxe that show the amount of free ram? or any other ideas? I don't want to start till i have software to test this with. it would be pointless.

anyone know of an easy web hosting place to hold this project? prefreably free and without pop ups.


The chip modle # is
Hynix
HY57V641620HG
0152a T-H

still looking for the data sheet.....

I have several things with that brand of ram that i don't use. looks like it's time to heat up the ol' soldering iron.

oy' there maybe a problem with the socket idea. there is little space between the PCB and batterie case.

Ok i've found some web space. Give me a week or so And it will be up. Do you guys know any one who could write a free ram program for the GP. Or who I could ask? Once i have that I can start.

 

[Voodoox11]

here you go

http://www.hynix.com/datasheet/pdf/dram/HY...620HG(L)T-I.pdf B)

 

[kram]

So are actually gonna try this Nirvanaj? I hope you do because having more RAM would be great. :lol:

 

[Nirvanaj]

yes I will.
There are enough people that think it's a good idea. us hardware guys can't let all the software guys have all the fun.

I expect the project to go no longer then 6 months.

I have a friend giving me some web space so.

site will have a breaif outline of what i what to accomplish. Time line of events.

Data sheets for several chips. eventualy once i have found good matches I'll put up a how to for replaceing the chip.

It may also be possible to use a bigger eeprom chip that holds the bios. But i think I won't tackle that.

****For those that have broken GP while flashing will be able to fix it real simple with a small amount of soldering. I'll create a read me for that. please don't hound me for it. or i won't do it. cost about 4 dollars in parts if you have simple soldering tools. 15 if you don't

my site address.
http://gp32.chromatose.org

I'll have a temp page up by wednessday.

---------------------------------
I belive DEVing dosen't just lie in software codeing. there is also hardware dev. anyone wanting to join the project email GP32@chromatose.org

I'll be moveing this subject to the DEV forum once the page is up.

one concern that I'm getting from people is keeping the diffrence betweeen software for the old * ram amchines and then for the new ones supped up with more ram. I'm sujesting that we Go by the standard of

GP32 = 8 megs ram
GP32 plus XX (XX would the size ram needed)

I'll start from 64 or 32 megs and go down till i find the highest useable. 64 would be way to much but that would be the start. goal is to use the highest that may be used to keep cost down. and keep everyone that decides to upgrade at a standard so there aren't people that upgrade to 16 megs. and then have more software for 32 meg. what i mean is basicly you wouldn';t want to upgrade ram twice just cause you did get a big enough chip. soldering multiple times sucks.

-*hando*- you out there: could you help me with some ram software? If possible could it posible load something while it showing the size thats free so i can make sure it uses it all. like a huge text file or something.

 

[Tobriand]

Nirvanaj - one of the things I'm especially interested in regarding this project is just how much quicker batteries are likely to get used up with 16mb ram? How about 64? Etc.
One of the only things stopping me from using the suggestions at darkfader's site for various chips to stick in. Which could be kinda useful to ya

 

[stickofjoy]

the benefits of more ram would be negligible. coders would not code to use it because it is not what everybody has - it would be a minority user base.

 

[Oraee]

Not if GBAx.com sells modified gp's.. Could even be an upgrade service from the less handy people out there (like me ).

 

[Oraee]

Hey and while on the topic of modding a gp32 I have some qs (som crazy ones):
Does the cpu have a cooler on it? Im guessing if one of those small tiny ram chip coolers were put on it you
could clock the gp to ~150 mhz... Hey every bit counts..

 

[Nirvanaj]

Tobriand -=- could you point me in the direction of the chip sejstions on darkfader's site



As far as life of batteries it will stay relitivly the same. The chip in there runs at 3v so we need to find a replacement that run at 3v or less.

As far as the cooling question I'm not sure. I know my gp gets hot after long play at 133mhz. But i heard some where the LCD breaks down when the CPU runs at higher then 133. not sure if it's heat related or the refresh rate on the LCD thats causeing the problem. but what ever it is isn't good to do to the gp.

Once I have the results and a working model. I'll probably offer a few people to send me theirs to upgrade. to recoup my cost in chip purcheses. buying just one chip isn't that much but several that adds up. I'll do it cheap. I enjoy the skill in soldering more. may even talk to GBAX about some bulk orders But you can definitly count on me releasing results.

as for this project playing to a small group of people look at where the g is right now. people are willing to take them apart to put in a back light. i think some die hards out there will like this mod. I know for a fact that we can get a faster response time for retreving data with the same model chip from the same company. just diffrent specs.

 

[Shrike]

this isn't just about expanding the RAM, this should get a get more attention from the web gaming-press onto the gp32...a console that is upgradeable

 

[Tobriand]

http://darkfader.net/gp32/morehw.html <-- that page with some chip specifications on it

 

[Oraee]

Do different chips have different performance? Youd want the best possible (obviously :rolleyes: ). How about stacking ram chips? You could probably get upto 256mb (same way the pocket pcs do) even tho its not needed now, but something tells me a linux port would use all the ram it could get. Just ideas.

 

[Shrike]

heh, i can see people having to do a lot of mods for it but linux could run with enough ram....
think of all the other bonuses! There would be a lot more PC games available to port over that need the RAM

 

[Oraee]

I dont actually own a linux ppc but friends that do said that tinyx works much better with the ram upgrade.