SanDisk Sansa View

Current Status

There is still a lot of work to be done. The firmware can be disassembled with an ARM disassembler, but nothing has been done. We need to get the LCD working and figure out the GPIO.

Hardware

High quality PCB scans:
Front of main PCB
Back of PCB & memory board
Back of display, battery pack, wheel/button part
--Scans were provided by space_ghost on the forums.

• SoC/CPU: nVidia GoForce 6100 - uses a 250MHz ARM1176JZ-S core
• SDRAM: Samsung K4M56323PG-HG75 (32MB) - Data Sheet
• Audio Codec: AMS AS3517 - (The v1 E200 and C200 use AS3514)
• FM chip: Silicon Labs Si4702
• Lithium battery, markings 54-57-00110-B / P/N:326691 / S/N:071018347 / 3.7V 730mAh

Hardware wise it seems very similar to an upgraded v1 Sansa E200. The SoC looks like an evolution of PortalPlayer with nVidia GoForce magic applied.c. nVidia purchased the PortalPlayer company prior to the release of the GoForce 6100 chip, so that would seem reasonable. Also- the same PortalPlayer provided/supported mi4 style firmwares are used, and the firmware even mentions "PP6110".

Firmware

mi4 firmware (two images). Decryptable with a recent mi4code. mi4 files signed with the same "dummy" DSA signature that the v1 Sansa E200 used are accepted by the View. In other words, the View's original firmware can be successfully modified and flashed.

Disk layout and hidden partition

See SansaViewFirmwarePartition.

UMS mode

You can initiate UMS mode by doing the following steps:

• Turn on the Sansa View and let it boot up.
• Switch the hold switch to the hold position, and wait for the padlock icon to disappear.
• Hold down the left side of the scroll wheel for a couple seconds, and while still holding, plug the USB cable in.
• Keep holding until the player shows "Connected".

Another way to initiate UMS mode if your OS does not communicate to it via MTP is to just plug it in and wait a bit. The player will attempt to reset the MTP connection, and then when it realizes that is not helping, it will switch to UMS.

I attached the lsusb -v output of both the Sansa View in MTP and UMS mode. -- BlakeJohnson - 18 Feb 2008

Recovery Mode

Recovery mode looks similar to the Sansa E200. You can initiate recovery mode by doing the following steps:

• Turn the Sansa View completely off. To turn completely off, hold the power button for about 5 seconds instead of a quick press.
• Switch the hold switch to the hold position.
• Hold down the 'Home' button, and while still holding, plug the USB cable in.
• A partition named "16MB-FORMAT" comes up as a USB MSD.
• Copy your firmware files to your device.
• Eject the device (unplugging isn't enough).
• It will reboot and you're all set.

Warning: Only move firmware files to the device when in recovery mode. Do not format the device while recovery mode. Do not interrupt file transfers while in recovery mode. Disobeying these warnings may or may not brick your player, but I'm not going to be the one to test them. However, I have recovered from several bad flashes using the above method.

Manufacturing Mode

Pre-boot or manufacturing mode is done exactly the same as recovery mode except hold the middle button instead of the 'Home' button when you plug the USB cable in. We may be able to do some fiddling with the e200tool while in this mode.

Forum Thread

http://forums.rockbox.org/index.php?topic=13562.0

Other Sites

http://daniel.haxx.se/sansa/view.html

Pins

Here is a list of all the pins used by the OF. Pins are of form BxPyy where x is the bank and yy the number within the bank. Direction only applies to GPIO.

Pin	GPIO	Comment
A0	Out	horizontal button lights
A1	Out	vertical button lights
B0	Out	backlight
B2	Out	LCD reset
C6	In	sd card clk
D5		sd card cmd
G3	In	LCD type
G5	In	SD detect (active low) (again ?)
H0		internal sd d0
H1		internal sd d1
H2		internal sd d2
H3		internal sd d3
H4	Out	LCD SPI data
H6	Out	LCD SPI clock
H7	Out	LCD SPI chip select
I5		internal sd clk or cmd
I6		internal sd clk or cmd
J1	In/Out	LCD unknown
L0		sd card d0
L1		sd card d1
L2		sd card d2
L3		sd card d3
M2	In	Up button (active low)
M3	In	Down button (active low)
M4	In	Home button (active low)
M5	In	Right button (active low)
M6	In	Select button (active low)
M7	In	Left button (active low)
R4	Out	scrollwheel left light
R5	Out	scrollwheel up light
R6	Out	scrollwheel right light
R7	Out	scrollwheel down light
T0	In	Power button
T1	In	Hold button