32GB Athena...need your help and ideas... - Advantage X7500, MDA Ameo Upgrading

Ok, I just ordered a 32GB USB Flash Drive.
Some people report that the Athena recognizes some flash drives so I was thinking...why not remove the MD and take apart the 32GB flash drive and put it inside the Athena. Then solder the USB pins together internally so the USB drive is always connected internally to the device?
I haven't really put serious thought into this but wanted to run it past everyone and those hardware experts to see what every ways.
I have yet to look up the MD power requirements and compare those to the USB power requirements. Either way, if it's recognized it could mean a real upgrade to the device and we could always write a simple program to enable/disable the USB drive if power consumption is too great.
Your thoughts people on this?
EDIT
After further thinking I see four obvious obstacles:
- Stripping down the 32GB USB drive so it fits in the device in place of the MD. I'm hoping this isn't that big of an issue but then again I have no idea what i'm talking about. LOL
- 1 have to make sure the Athena recognizes the 32GB USB drive.
- Power Consumption as mentioned above, which might be overcome by utilizing a utility of some sort.
- Since the Athena requires the USB Host cable/adapter to make things like this work, there might need to be some type of mod internally to make this happen. I talking to someone with more knowledge of USB pin outs might help in this area.
-- EDIT: Olipro mentioned that this is most likely a non-issue. That the USB adapter just makes the USB connection a large one so the internal wiring I'm thinking about shouldn't be a problem. This is great news. One obstacle out of the way. Don't you love progress!

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ltxda said:
Ok, I just ordered a 32GB USB Flash Drive.
Some people report that the Athena recognizes some flash drives so I was thinking...why not remove the MD and take apart the 32GB flash drive and put it inside the Athena. Then solder the USB pins together internally so the USB drive is always connected internally to the device?
I haven't really put serious thought into this but wanted to run it past everyone and those hardware experts to see what every ways.
I have yet to look up the MD power requirements and compare those to the USB power requirements. Either way, if it's recognized it could mean a real upgrade to the device and we could always write a simple program to enable/disable the USB drive if power consumption is too great.
Your thoughts people on this?
EDIT
After further thinking I see four obvious obstacles:
- Stripping down the 32GB USB drive so it fits in the device in place of the MD. I'm hoping this isn't that big of an issue but then again I have no idea what i'm talking about. LOL
- 1 have to make sure the Athena recognizes the 32GB USB drive.
- Power Consumption as mentioned above, which might be overcome by utilizing a utility of some sort.
- Since the Athena requires the USB Host cable/adapter to make things like this work, there might need to be some type of mod internally to make this happen. I talking to someone with more knowledge of USB pin outs might help in this area.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hehe u know im always behind ur crazy ideas. lets get this to work!

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possible incompatibilities of it not detecting the microdrive but should be able to be fixed by software
possibly will need to integrate usb host controller chip and wires inside as well
make sure not to screw up the charger either =p
but other than that it sounds good

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Hi, for information: Athena Servicemanual says you need 3 things to replace if you disassemble your device (On-Off Key, CommManager Key and some rubbers).
So if you really get the USB-Flash running then you'll get problems putting everything together again.
I think you'll get errors because the G-Sensor doesn't detect any Microdrive. (maybe freeze or reset or some other issues?). Maybe you have to shorten the G-Sensor somehow. This will need people who own the original plan of the device and also know how to get information out of it.
But great idea!

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Ok, just found out that the host adapter just changes the plug to a larger USB plug. So the wiring should be a piece of cake. Let's keep this going...before you know it the team won't have only brought you a great ROM but also provide a way to have a 32GB Athena and storage you no longer have to worry about and with no moving parts!!!

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PAPPL said:
Hi, for information: Athena Servicemanual says you need 3 things to replace if you disassemble your device (On-Off Key, CommManager Key and some rubbers).
So if you really get the USB-Flash running then you'll get problems putting everything together again.
I think you'll get errors because the G-Sensor doesn't detect any Microdrive. (maybe freeze or reset or some other issues?). Maybe you have to shorten the G-Sensor somehow. This will need people who own the original plan of the device and also know how to get information out of it.
But great idea!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your feedback. I also think this may work and if not with the drive I've ordered with some other USB. I've seen USB devices as small is a dime so this should work. I'll be happy to purchase a bunch of USB drives to see which work. I probably would like anyone with an Athena and a USB drive to test what they have and post the results.
For the record I ordered a Corsair Survivor 32GB USB Flash Drive model CMFUSBSRVR-32GB.

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I think there was a group of people(I couldn't remember who exactly) who already dismantled their athena when it came out to see which micro drives in the market is compatible with the one installed in the athena. I suggest we find the post first before and read through their findings. There might be something there that may help with this project.
If I remember it correctly, there was even a host of pictures and instructions in dismantling the Athena.
I just couldn't remember other details because I was just browsing around and never thought of owning an athena.

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http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=303188
Something I found about USB Drives and the Athena

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Wikipedia claims microdrives use more power then flash drives:
"consume more power than flash memory (on the order of 190mA, peak 310mA, at 3.3V) "
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microdrive
Good luck to you this would be cool.

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http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=298987
HDs that work with the athena

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What about a 72GB solid state drive?
http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/07/hands-on-with-sandisks-72gb-ssd-and-friends/

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eaglesteve said:
What about a 72GB solid state drive?
http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/07/hands-on-with-sandisks-72gb-ssd-and-friends/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Let`s keep this a short term, realistic and affordable goal. ;-p
USB storage is cheap, easily modified, compatible as it`s already recognized by the device both by the software and USB host capabilities of the device board, etc. Also, those drives aren`t yet available and I doubt people will want to spend over $800usd on them for Athena. No?

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Well, IMHO there's two alternatives for such a modification:
1 - either use the ATA connection of the micro-drive with the 32 GB pendrive. Adapters exist, wiring should be tricky due to the size requirements (everything has to fit into the space usually used by the micro-drive);
2 - connect permanently the 32 GB USB pen-drive to the USB port. Removal of the micro-drive is in that case optional, maybe in order to make room.
The problem with the second option is that I am pretty sure this will screw-up USB slave connections, and more specifically ActiveSync. Altough, true, one can Sync through Bluetooth.
Two problems with the first alternative:
- G-Sensor, without a md, will no work anymore. BUT it can be disabled in a software manner, so that's no big issue aside from the fact that we won't be able to "tilt'n scroll";
- finding a compatible USB / ATA adapter (those are known to be... "capricious").
I find the first alternative much sexier, personnally... And it DOES get me thinking.

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Why not just use one of theose new 16 or 32GB MicroSD/Transflash, or whatever the hell there called cards, just released at CES.. It would save ya
lots of work, and you wouldn't have to crack the Advantage open.

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Yep, that's also being discussed on the forum.
But I do agree that having solid-state 32 GB instead of mechanical 8 GB in my Athena would suit me just fine.
Jointly with a 32 GB SDHC card, of course.
:-D lol

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I currently have the 8GB SDHC....of course I'm going to buy the 16 and then the 32 as soon as they come out and I can get my hands on it...but my goal here is to replace the MD. After thinking it through even further, we could even setup an internal type of mechanism so as USB drives become larger and cheaper, we could just pop out the old and pop in the new thus continuing to increase the internal storage of our devices.
Maybe I'm just dreaming but replacing the MD seems to be a goal that we can achieve quickly and cost effectively. We've had the discussion of getting larger MD's...but always ran into obstacles we probably couldn't overcome. They are releasing large SSD's but we may have to mod the internal connection, etc. With the USB idea, the connection exists, compatibility is there, and it's very feasible. I'm just excited. LOL

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HeartOfDarkness said:
Well, IMHO there's two alternatives for such a modification:
1 - either use the ATA connection of the micro-drive with the 32 GB pendrive. Adapters exist, wiring should be tricky due to the size requirements (everything has to fit into the space usually used by the micro-drive);
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm thinking more simplistic. Take out the MD and dock it connect to. This frees up some space. Strip down USB drive as much as possible and hope that it fits some way into the device. If it fits, we can mount it in there in a number of ways. Solder 4 wires from USB drive to USB host interface on the board. Write some software to control (activate/deactivate aka mount/dismount) the USB drive and see how it goes.
2 - connect permanently the 32 GB USB pen-drive to the USB port. Removal of the micro-drive is in that case optional, maybe in order to make room.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure what you mean exactly but...I want the USB drive to be internal. Of course I could get some velcro and stick a 32GB USB drive to the back of my Athena, etc...but that would just be ugly.
You also need the USB host cable to do this unless you want to solder wires and run them from the outside of the device to the inside USB host pins. Let me know if I got the wrong picture here.
The problem with the second option is that I am pretty sure this will screw-up USB slave connections, and more specifically ActiveSync. Altough, true, one can Sync through Bluetooth.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You bring up a very good point. I'm going to have to take my 4-in-1 cable and try to run a small USB drive while trying to ActiveSync. I wonder if that will still work. If it fails, the mod I'm proposing may cause a problem with ActiveSync connections. Anyone else have comments and/or ideas on this?
Two problems with the first alternative:
- G-Sensor, without a md, will no work anymore. BUT it can be disabled in a software manner, so that's no big issue aside from the fact that we won't be able to "tilt'n scroll";
- finding a compatible USB / ATA adapter (those are known to be... "capricious").
I find the first alternative much sexier, personnally... And it DOES get me thinking.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm hoping we can do it without any adapters. Just straight soldering of the 4 USB wires needed to communicate. Should suffice. I found that I don't really use nor need the G-Sensor on the MD. For sure can be disabled in the ROM. The Athena Project team would just have to make a Special Edition ROM for those that do the mod.

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I posted a few weeks ago about a SSD that Intel will be releasing soon. I believe it will be a drop-in replacement for the existing drive.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=352834

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techntrek said:
I posted a few weeks ago about a SSD that Intel will be releasing soon. I believe it will be a drop-in replacement for the existing drive.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=352834
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually read that thread a little while ago. Do you know when it will be released and how fast they will get up to larger drives like 8, 16, 32, etc. GB's?

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ia ctually dont think you will run into active sync problems...
reason being i remember a special cable that came with my friends hermes that split the usb port into two
one for charging and one for syncing...
so i think if we disable the flash drive when syncing it should be fine