Hardware Information

From M:Robe 500i Development Wiki

1 Chips Table
2 HEX Dumps
3 The Remote
- 3.1 Rebooting
- 3.2 Disassembling
4 PCB Images
5 The Cradle
6 New Finds
7 Linkage

Chips Table

The following table contains the internal ICs found in the M:Robe 500i.

Hardware Chips
ID	Name	Chip Label	Short Description
0	DM320 SoC	TMX320DM320 AKA TMS320DM320	Dual core arm & dsp cpus from TI - the heart of the m:robe 500i.
1	Flash Memory	lh28f640bfb-pttl80	Sharp 640bfb-pttl80 flash memory - firmware stoarge (8 MB)
2	Asic gate array	TC200G04XB-0024	asic gate array 22k gates by Toshiba - for HD control?
3	BUS SWITCH	46cnkvk cn210	SN74CBTLV16210 FET 20BIT BUS SWITCH. HD buffer?
4	2 Samsung SDRAMs	K4S56163LF-ZG75	2 Samsung K4S56163LF-ZG75 SD-RAM, 4M x 16Bit x 4 Banks (256 Megabyte)
5	CLK	348A	1 RICOH 348A realtime clock spi, 10 pin
6	USB Controller	M66591GP	Renesas M66591GP USB2.0 Peripheral Controller (1.8 or 3.3V), 3.5KB FIFO buffer
7	LCD Touch Screen Controller	TSC 2100GI	Programmable 4-Wire Touch Screen Controller with Stereo Audio Codec and Headphone/Speaker Amplifier
8	Battery	MH29722	Li-Ion battery MH29722, ~1100mAh. can be replaced with a high capacity 1 or 2 gen ipod battery http://www.mrobe.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2124
9	HD	MK2004GAL (HDD1422)	20GB 1,8" harddrive from Toshiba: MK2004GAL (HDD1422), 3.3V, 500mA, Compactflash-Interface (maybe same pinlayout)
10	Cradle Connectors	-	4 Pin (PC) / 18 PIN USB-Cradle

HEX Dumps

DM320 Registers: (0x30000 - 0x31000) HEX DUMP.

The Remote

The remote seems to be controlled by the second UART of the DM320 (I/O at 30380h). The pinout is most likely as follows:

Pin numberings for Remote Connector Pinout

Remote Connector Pinout
Pin	Wire Color (visible inside remote)	Name	Direction (from device's perspective)	Description
1	Brown	GNDA	-	Audio ground (connects directly to ground of headphone jack)
2	Pink	RESET	In	Reset signal (active high, asserted when Heart, Mode and Player are pressed simultaneously; note that the device only resets after RESET has been held high for about 1 second)
3, 4	Bright pink, Red	-	Out	Audio signals (stereo, connect directly to corresponding pins in headphone jack)
5	Green	GNDD	-	Data ground
6	Blue	UARTRX	In	UART Receive (from device's perspective, i.e. data sent from remote to device), works at roughly 19200 baud, 0 to +3.3V
7	Grey	UARTTX	Out	UART Transmit (from device's perspective, i.e. data sent from device to remote), works at roughly 19200 baud, 0 to +3.3V
8	Yellow	VCC	-	Supply for remote (roughly +3.3V)

Rebooting

There is a hardware key combination (on the remote) that reboots the m:robe regardless of its state (especially useful when it's crashed or not running stock firmware):

Hold Heart + Mode + Play for about 2 seconds to reset the device.

Disassembling

(i.e. opening it up, not as in software)

The remote is held together by two small Philips head screws. One is visible on the back side, the other is in the far opposite corner of the remote, under the black plastic LCD cover. To remove the cover, I used a flat head screwdriver and levered it out. The cover is attached to the main body of the remote by adhesive ribbon (those tacky elesticky things), so you have to pry it out a little at a time. Once the screws are out, the two white plastic halves are attached by interior clips. I detached them by inserting a flat head screwdriver along the sides and gently pushing the front half outward.