Rockbox.org home
release
dev builds
extras
themes manual
wiki
device status forums
mailing lists
IRC bugs
patches
dev guide



Rockbox mail archive

Subject: Re: GMini 120 disassembly

Re: GMini 120 disassembly

From: Laurent Giroud <laurent.giroud_at_libertysurf.fr>
Date: Fri, 26 Dec 2003 01:19:52 +0100

OOps, I just realized that this material is certainly not available anymore because of Archos legal threat.

Sorry for this dumb question to which I already had the answer...

Anyway, I have already written to telechips, makers of the Gmini's CPU to get more informations on its machine code and existing compilers/disassemblers so I'll probably have part of it soon.

Does anyone here already know more about this chip ? A search on google did not reveal much apart from a commercial compiler being available...

Thanks.

Laurent

On Fri, 26 Dec 2003 00:34:55 +0100, Laurent Giroud <laurent.giroud_at_libertysurf.fr> wrote:

> I found your original in the archives and it mentions this URL :
> http://www.linenberg.com/gmini120.zip
>
> however the file it points to doesn't seem to be there anymore.
>
> Is there additionnal data in it that you did not mention within your mail or do you think there is more useful material in it ?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Laurent
>
> On Wed, 24 Dec 2003 11:37:32 -0500, elinenbe_at_umich.edu wrote:
> > I had already taken apart the Gmini, but did not go further then listing all the
> > chips, etc. You can check it out in the archives. This was about 2 months
> > ago.
> >
> > -eric
> >
> > > Hi,
> > >
> > > given the low number of answers, I decided to disassemble the GMini
> > > yesterday. So, here's what I found so far.
> > >
> > > I made a few pictures, they haven't been sorted or appropriately scaled yet
> > > so they are quite crappy but it's better than nothing for those who may be
> > > interested : http://lgiroud.chez.tiscali.fr/photos/
> > >
> > > Note that many of them look the same, it's raw material and not a
> > > presentation/documentation of any kind :)
> > >
> > > The Gmini is quite hard to disassemble without any insight and I broke a
> > > screw "support" and bent three pins during the process so take care if you
> > > are willing to try it too.
> > >
> > > A tork screwdriver size 6 is needed to remove the two screws on the cover,
> > > after this, the back cover must be removed first, it can be acheived by
> > > inserting a flat screwdriver in the separation between the two covers and
> > > gently pulling one cover up while pushing the other down (I'll take
> > > photographs, it's not easy to get it textually ;).
> > > After that, a copper plate must be removed (easy) and then the hard drive can
> > > be pulled off after "squeezing" one of the two rubbers on the sides and using
> > > a flat screwdriver to separate it from its plug.
> > >
> > > Here's what the inside looks like after the hard drive is removed :
> > >
> > > http://lgiroud.chez.tiscali.fr/photos/IMG_0182.JPG
> > >
> > > The writings on the only visible chip of the board can be read on this
> > > picture.
> > > -> the chip is a USB97C202, ie an "USB 2.0 ATA/ATAPI Controller" which data
> > > sheet can be found here :
> > > http://www.smsc.com/main/catalog/usb97c202.html
> > >
> > > I have no idea if it's better than the ISD 200/300 chips on the other archos
> > > models.
> > >
> > > The grey rectangle on the above picture seems to be the battery, it's
> > > soldered on the mother board on at least two points and I had to stop the
> > > disassembly there since I haven't got my soldering iron with me now. I hope
> > > to have one within two days at most.
> > >
> > > I guess the CPU lies under the battery, but there are screws maintaining the
> > > front cover stuck to the mother board and those screws are lying under the
> > > battery. So the CPU cannot be seen without removing the battery and thus
> > > unsoldering at least two points. So I can't go much further for the moment on
> > > the hardware side.
> > >
> > > Until I have a soldering iron again, I'm going to have a look at the firmware
> > > files now and try to descramble/disassemble them. I will start with the
> > > hypothesis that the CPU is the same than on the original archos since I
> > > haven't been able to get that information yet but I don't think I will get
> > > anything interesting without knowing the CPU type. Once again, if anyone has
> > > more information it will be much faster. If you fear legal assault from
> > > Archos, then I can bear all responsability for this "work", all this is
> > > perfectly legal in France and probably even under the DMCA if I understand it
> > > well.
> > >
> > > Also, please tell me if I'm off topic and should not post here, I don't want
> > > to bother you with this if this is not the place ;)
> > >
> > > Regards,
> > > Laurent
> > >
> >
> >
Received on 2003-12-26

Page template was last modified "Tue Sep 7 00:00:02 2021" The Rockbox Crew -- Privacy Policy