iSSD, embeded SSD's (the successor of standard NAND)

[Near_Kstor]

Or rather.... How hard would it be to install iSSD ourselves in our Pandorae?
I mean, if we were to to hardware-hack our Pandorae, would it be hard to remove the NAND and install iSSD? (maybe just install the iSSD without having to remove the NAND, not sure...)

 

[sebt3]

As the NND is part of the CPU chip, I'ld love to se a video of someone removing the nand, but I guess it just can't be done....

 

[Letalis Sonus]

The NAND on the Pandora is connected directly, there are no additional controllers in between. That's why the Pandora uses UBIFS as file system for the NAND, it can't be accessed as a block device and therefore "ordinary" file systems just don't work.
SSDs and the like contain additional hardware that takes care of the whole low level stuff like wear leveling and let the whole group of flash chips appear like one big block device to the external hardware that it is being connected to. This way you can use any "ordinary" file system because the internals of the SSD take care of everything else. To get this stuff into the Pandora, you would need e.g. a SATA controller first, you can't simply replace the NAND with an iSSD.

 

[Yoyobuae]

Current Pandora:
OMAP -> NAND

iSSD Pandora:
OMAP -> SATA controller(OMAP) -> iSSD controller -> NAND

I think I preffer the first option. :lol:

Although there might be some benefit in throughput by using a serial interface (SATA) vs a parallel one (NAND data bus). Dunno. Seems like an awful lot of trouble, when the current direct to NAND connection should be pretty darn fast already.

 

[second exodous]

Well this could fit in a Pandora case. I'm not sure this was linked yet or talked about, didn't see it. 64 gigs the size of a postage stamp.

EDIT: Well, the only reason I'd like to see a SATA bus on the Pandora2 would be to use it as a desktop replacement. Plug in a CDROM, HDD, a usb mouse, and hopefully it will have HDMI with at least 1080p and your good to go. The nand bus is fast but SATA is just faster and cleaner than USB.

 

[CPUnltd]

that was my mistake, Prometheus... I was under the impression from something I read a while back that the board used in the Pandora was either an actual Beagleboard or else based on the Beagbleboard... might have been a very early video of pandora software/os/etc running on a beagleboard, but I'm not exactly sure.

 

[torpor]

Meh. I already have 64 gigs in my Pandora (SD slot 1), plus another 32 gigs in SD slot 2.

Oh, by the way .. SD cards and NAND are solid state devices, too ..

 

[GizmoTheGreen]

iirc, an iSSD is the size of one tiny chip, so its not several chips or a daughterboard, and could be placed where the existing NAND is.
with improved speed, and storage.

I could be wrong though, this is just on the top of my head, a few days since i saw the article on, was it engadget? or sweclockers...

 

[noisome]

Meh. I already have 64 gigs in my Pandora (SD slot 1), plus another 32 gigs in SD slot 2.

Oh, by the way .. SD cards and NAND are solid state devices, too ..

They are, but most people now think SSD as hard drives (hence the usage of Solid State Drive, not Devices when mentioning SSD) with throughput the same as a spindle disk. Theoretically a Compact Flash card is the closest by comparison, which I have seen above 60MB/s (400x) compared to 6 and 10MB/s of a class 6 or 10 SDHC card respectively.

Also, wiki says that CF now supports up to "128 Petabyte of storage" (which won't happen for a long time). Get that into your SD slot 1 or 2.

 

[Near_Kstor]

iirc, an iSSD is the size of one tiny chip, so its not several chips or a daughterboard, and could be placed where the existing NAND is.
with improved speed, and storage.

I could be wrong though, this is just on the top of my head, a few days since i saw the article on, was it engadget? or sweclockers...

That's what I had in mind. I'm just not sure of the hardware architechture.
I'd like to know if the iSSD chip and the Pandora are compatible. Or if we would need to obtain extra hardwares in order to enable this addition. Would it be possible to just install the iSSD somewhere? Perhaps remove the NAND before?

What I want - and I believe I'm not alone in this - is the possibility to install my distros and the most important software in an internal and persistent storage. It could provide a great boost in the performance of the system, as well as provide some extra organization (you wouldn't have to keep a copy of the softwares you use the most in every SD Card)

It would be hard enough just to get one of those babies, but at least I'd like to know if it is possible!

andora2ut4:

 

[Exophase]

You can't replace the NAND on Pandora. It is a separate chip from the OMAP3530 (package on package, it sits on top of it), but it's a multi-chip module that contains both the NAND and the RAM. If you remove that chip you remove the RAM, and short of some kind of package on package on package solution (that almost definitely doesn't exist) there's no other way to add both RAM and NAND separately.

It has been discussed already, but SSD drives don't have the same interface as raw NAND chips, they're not interchangeable. Of course I'm talking about what's being typically marketed as an "SSD", not anything that's literally solid state storage.

Samsung might be promoting an "iSSD" that's the size of a postage stamp but OMAP3530 and the memory MCM chips are even smaller. Samsung's iSSD is probably also an MCM that has multiple NAND dies on it, in addition to a controller and cache.

 

[Grench]

Why would we want another non-removable & non-upgradable storage port?

Although the speed would be great - I'd just as soon stick with SDHC/SDXC cards for storage.

If this is a Pandora II suggestion - then maybe speed up the SD slots to whatever the max dream spec is for SDXC (or close)?

The SDHC slots we have are actually pretty quick - faster than the vast majority of the cards on the market. I have two 32GB Class 10 SDHC cards waiting on my Pandora's arrival. I guess since we can currently go up to 128GB (Two 64GB SDXC cards) in fast removable storage - why would we want/need a giant non-removable storage?

Eventually someone will take the 64GB card and embed it in a tiny tablet or phone with no memory card support - a locked down dead end disposable when obsolete item. Give me the expandability that swappable cards offer over that any day.

Just my $0.02.