SanDisk Sansa c200 Series

[zefie]

I'd like to help port Rockbox to the c200 in any way I can, but I'm not too good with C or assembly.
I've managed to help a little so far, got the mi4 key anyway.

I guess what I am asking is are there any other c200 owners out there who would be willing to help port Rockbox to the device?

http://zefie.com/files/sansa/c200/

[Bagder]

I've taken the liberty of jotting down some early and quick known facts here:

http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/SansaC200Port

[zefie]

Thanks! Can anyone confirm if the diag mode exists on the E200?

It may seem off topic, but since the units are similar in many ways, it may be easier to figure out the diag mode on the E200 if it exists.

As for me, I've tried everything I can think of, I can't think of any use for it. Especially since the USB isn't noticed by the computer while in Diag mode. For me its just another way to get into recovery.

Edit: Cheap page I put together: http://zefie.com/files/sansa/c200/images/chips/

[saratoga]

The size and location of the corner dot on the unknown chip are consistent with the PP502x series.  I'd guess its one of those thats had the marking removed to conceal the chip identity for some reason.

[zefie]

I managed to get manufacturing mode to work under VMWare, are there any special hardware addresses I could read to get more information? I went to the PP5022 page on iPodLinux but the link to the docs have been killed by nVidia's takeover of PortalPlayer. Does anyone have a backup of the PP5022 PDF?

[saratoga]

Google still has it:

http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:fBeZ6qxXSUYJ:www.portalplayer.com/products/documents/5022_Brief_Mar05.pdf+pp5022&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1&client=firefox-a

Theres almost nothing in there though, since PP doesn't publish any software info.

[Bagder]

There are no public docs on the PP5022, and AFAIK we're not even sure the c200 has a 5022... The comments in the mi4 says 5022 but so does the comments in the e200 files, and the e200 uses the PP5024.

Anyone able to think of the best way to detect what PP model this might be?

[Llorean]

Didn't the C200 come out at or after the E200? If so, I'd say it's very likely to be the 5024 just because that's intended for flash-based player use.

[lowlight]

If it's a PP5024, why the separate AS3514 chip?

[saratoga]

The pp5022 is a 261 pin chip that measures 12*12 mm according to it's spec sheet.

The pp5024 is a 196 pin chip that measures 10*10 mm according to it's spec sheet.

Anyone got a ruler?

[Llorean]

Well, we know that there's at least a PP5024 and PP5024B (I think it's a B) in the E200 which doesn't have the video capabilities that the Advertising Flyer says it has. Another revision could exist.

But that is a very good point. Once code's running on it, one could conceivably attempt to reach different clock speeds and see which of our current targets it behaves the most like (at what point does it become unstable?)

It's hardly scientific, but it is a test.

[dan_a]

Thanks! Can anyone confirm if the diag mode exists on the E200?

It may seem off topic, but since the units are similar in many ways, it may be easier to figure out the diag mode on the E200 if it exists.

I wasn't able to get into a diag mode on my E200. I tried booting with hold on and each button pressed except record and select (which already do different things.)

[saratoga]

But that is a very good point. Once code's running on it, one could conceivably attempt to reach different clock speeds and see which of our current targets it behaves the most like (at what point does it become unstable?)

It's hardly scientific, but it is a test.

The sheets cite the same numbers for both: 32kHz to 100MHz.  I think the differences are due to mistakes on our part or possibly different clock gen speeds on different MP3 players.  That or the sheets are optimistic.

Edit:  The gold standard would be to take a dead c200, pull off the chip, and count the BGA balls on it.  No revision is going to add another 70 pins to a CPU.

[zefie]

Don't look at me

But they are hard to kill. Yesterday I threw a e200 bootloader rom on it and thought I killed it, but went into manufacturing mode and loaded the rom via that and reflashed the proper rom.

[Bagder]

went into manufacturing mode and loaded the rom

... I take it you meant "recovery mode" there! ;-)