Update: The pictures are back - you find them attached to this thread. -- Alex

Hey all, just thought I would share these with you. Taking this thing apart was pretty easy. The right side (plastic) silver bumper pops out after unscrewing the one screw on the back, then sliding a slim knife or screwdriver under it (careful, they are fragile!). The Left side bumper has 2 screws holding it in place under the SD card flap. Once those are undone you can pop it out in a similar fashion. There are 4 screw holes on each side of the reader now. Unscrew those as well as the two near the port at the bottom and lift off the back cover (it is hinged at the top). The internals are screwed to the front faceplate. I did not have the time to dissect it any further. Everything went back together the same way with no problems. I did not notice any unused ports or anything fun like that on the motherboard.

-lint :wink:

Awesome. Looks like DIY battery changes will be pretty simple.

Thanks!!

Bob

some additional photos...
Update: Find them now in the first post of this thread

-lint :wink:

Yeah, if we can figure out what kind of battery that actually is ....

That rug looks like a good source of static electricity. Next time, disassemble it on a table in the kitchen. The kitchen table and floor should be less likely to cause static buildup.

(I used to be a repair tech at a computer store, and they warned us about electrostatic discharge, a minor-but-not-insiginifcant problem.)

-William

Hè hè.... look at the power connector. Not enough room to place it on the original PCB Sony? Nice solution though.

Anyway, if we ever need to replace the battery you wouldn't be able to replace it by the original I think. It's a Sony battery so they will prevent selling these seperate. Of course there will be replacement batteries because there are enough online stores for replacement batteries. As long there will be need they will provide.

Looks like a pretty standard Li-poly battery. There's a bunch of outfits that sell similar ones for the iPod and PDA replacement markets, so I'm betting they will show up eventually for the Reader.

Be tough to sell them right now though. The usual usual sales pitch (and what made me replace the battery in my Palm T3) is longer run time :)

I think the power jack layout may be a "feature." A significant cause of early gadget mortality is walking off with it still connected to the power cord. If you're lucky, it just pops out the plug, if you're not, it snaps the jack off the board internally. If the jack is on the main board, this means big bucks.

The way this is laid out, it would just trash the little sub-board, which would be a very easy and cheap repair.

Or maybe it didn't fit :)

Cheers,
Bob

Looks like a pretty standard Li-poly battery. There's a bunch of outfits that sell similar ones for the iPod and PDA replacement markets, so I'm betting they will show up eventually for the Reader.

Be tough to sell them right now though. The usual usual sales pitch (and what made me replace the battery in my Palm T3) is longer run time :)

I think the power jack layout may be a "feature." A significant cause of early gadget mortality is walking off with it still connected to the power cord. If you're lucky, it just pops out the plug, if you're not, it snaps the jack off the board internally. If the jack is on the main board, this means big bucks.

The way this is laid out, it would just trash the little sub-board, which would be a very easy and cheap repair.

Or maybe it didn't fit :)

Cheers,
Bob


Good theory! :D

Looks more to me like it just didn't fit, BobVA. :grin:

Thanks Lint--Very cool pics.

Wonder what the boys & girls at SONY think of you slicing open their baby.

Knowing that the shell can be opened like that, someone might conceive of some interesting hardware hacks

Thanks for the pics!
About the Li-Ion battery: could you give us the dimensions of it?
This would allow to guess the capacity and consider possible replacements.
Prismatic Li-Ion cells from different manufacturers tend to have similiar
dimension and capacity ratings, e.g. Panasonic OEM cells.

^_^

Knowing that the shell can be opened like that, someone might conceive of some interesting hardware hacks


Edge lighting with some SMT LED's anyone? Bueller? Anyone?

i thought of painting the outer case (which is metal btw) but I think I will wait. I really wouldn't mind a nice texturized black case :) I hope others more knowledgeable open their readers and give a better analysis of the internals. I really was only looking to contribute to the scene by opening the reader for pictures. I'm sure others will give more info in the future.

Hmm. In the 5th of the "additional photos" is that two 64MB flash memory chips with an open spot for a third? Maybe some internal memory expansion would be possible (though with 1GB SD cards selling for around $20 now I'm not sure why anyone would want to).

Z.

Do you mean IC1112 & IC1113, with IC1114 missing?
These aren't flash memory chips, these are only simple lowly bus drivers :)
The flash chips are the large towel-shaped 48pin chips on the left edge of the same picture.

^_^

Looks like a pretty standard Li-poly battery. There's a bunch of outfits that sell similar ones for the iPod and PDA replacement markets, so I'm betting they will show up eventually for the Reader.

Be tough to sell them right now though. The usual usual sales pitch (and what made me replace the battery in my Palm T3) is longer run time :)

I think the power jack layout may be a "feature." A significant cause of early gadget mortality is walking off with it still connected to the power cord. If you're lucky, it just pops out the plug, if you're not, it snaps the jack off the board internally. If the jack is on the main board, this means big bucks.

The way this is laid out, it would just trash the little sub-board, which would be a very easy and cheap repair.

Or maybe it didn't fit :)

Cheers,
Bob


I fix laptop broken power connectors as one of my tallents.

At least the higher end Sony laptop do not mount the power connector on the main board. Thank goodness! SO seeing this as daughter board is not too surprising... Actually makes a lot of sense.

Here is an idea...

On the Cowon A2.. The audio jack has 3 rings and a tip... A std Stereo jack has 2 + tip. They use one of the rings as a remote control line... Uses resistors values from ground to that ring to control the unit. 1K = Fwd, 2k = REV, 20K etc...

If a extra ring jack could be added then...

1) A simple nothing hookup between the 4 ring and ground to bring out the next page button. Simple and the one needed the most so to speak.

2) Like the A2 have a small PIC chip read the resistance places across ring 4 and ground to control the various functions. Prv/Fwd Audio Up/Dwn etc...

Mouser have those weird jacks and plugs... But could the Reader be retrofitted? Or put a small jack on a side or bottom.

Or if room try this....

RS is blowing out a wireless 3&4G iPod remote... The board is very tiny... Take from 3v to about 3.6 volts.... Uses PIC cpu's.... It would give 5 switches so to speak. Have not looked at it to see if possible to extract directly the control before it turns the command stream into its data to feed into a iPod. Benn working on adding a serial to control line PIC converter chip to remotely control my A2.

If want can post a photo of this board...

If you're going to go to all that trouble, why not just glom onto the contacts for the existing buttons, and bring that to a jack somewhere? It shouldn't be too tough to add extra wires to the buttons' existing soldier contacts. :beam:

I've thought about doing this myself, but the remote just isn't that personally important. :shrug:

Huh... I though I said that... :)

Would it be nice to have a key ring rf remote for it?

Hmm, okay, I thought you were talking about adding another small board, as opposed to just tapping the existing contacts and running them to a new set of buttons. :shrug:

In that case, it looks like we're on the same page, so it must be a good idea, huh? :wink:

Thats it. ^_^ Thinking alike!

It makes sense. Not a full remote but a simple button.

I thinking it may be possible to replace the current audio jack with one having an extra ring... The only remote function people are think on from reading here would be a NEXT button. Would also be nice if people put sheet music on the reader. Use a floor switch to turn the pages.

Need to look a bit closer at the pix. See what is there...

If room then adding that little RF circuit scrounged would be nice.

The other way would be do a hijack of one of the audio lines leaving the standard connector along by some means.

If I get a chance today will look at that circuit board and see if I can pull strait control signals off of it without adding to it. If so its a 10 dollar item now.

Does anybody know why the battery has only got 2 wires. Doesn't Li-ion need a third one for data?

Does anybody know why the battery has only got 2 wires. Doesn't Li-ion need a third one for data?

The third terminal is only 'data' on battery packs with integrated charge monitoring electronics, i.e. Sony InfoLithium or Notebook battery packs. Simple battery packs (i.e. for mobile phones or camcorders) usually have an integrated temperature sensor (simple passive NTC resistor) connected to the third terminal. This is intended for monitoring battery temperature during charging. Non-changeable internal Li-Ion batteries usually only have 2 terminals, because the device manufacturer usually puts the temperature sensor somwhere in the battery compartment and connects it directly to the charging circuit.

^_^

I have a problem with my sony reader pr-500. The LCD don't work very well, because the contrast of LCD is wrong. Tomorrow I will send a photo of LCD.

Thanks :blink:

I have a problem with my sony reader pr-500. The LCD don't work very well, because the contrast of LCD is wrong. Tomorrow I will send a photo of LCD.

Thanks :blink:

Hi PierUEAU, welcome to MobileRead.com!


You can adjust the contrast yourself but you need to open the Reader to do so. If you have guarantee I wouldn't mess with it yourself. ;) Check the following thread for more info:

Click (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10773&highlight=adjust+contrast)

Is the power switch LED run by the processor under program control? Or is it run by the charging circuitry?

I am trying to accumulate hard data for understanding the symptoms of a dead reader for diagnostic purposes.

Thanks in advance :)

Is the power switch LED run by the processor under program control? Or is it run by the charging circuitry?

I am trying to accumulate hard data for understanding the symptoms of a dead reader for diagnostic purposes.

Thanks in advance :)

I presume it is on the processor level, because it turns orange when loading after reset and won't charge (turn red) unless it sees the USB drivers installed on your PC.

There are three threads that deal with "bricked" Sony Readers. There are no clear troubleshooting guidelines, though many people have suggestions. Here are three types of behavior that can be seen if the screen is not working:

1/ The power LED changes. Under what circumstances?
2/ The "mark" button elicits a blue LED.
3/ The Connect software can "see" the reader.

These behaviors can be observed systematically to determine whether the Reader's processor is dead or alive, or whether it is in a non-functional loop.

Hi PierUEAU, welcome to MobileRead.com!


You can adjust the contrast yourself but you need to open the Reader to do so. If you have guarantee I wouldn't mess with it yourself. ;) Check the following thread for more info:

Click (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10773&highlight=adjust+contrast)


This is a photo of the LCD. I opened the Reader, and I adjasted the contrast, but there wasn't any effect.

This is a photo of the LCD. I opened the Reader, and I adjasted the contrast, but there wasn't any effect.


Why did you take out the whole screen? The variable resistor is direct reachable without taking it apart completely. Are you sure you played with RV1601 like in the following picture?

haha, that looks awesome

It makes me want to take all the metal off and just carry it around naked like that. Maybe cover it in some clear sticky tape.

Btw, someone mentioned painting the Reader. How? I hate how that damn metal feels on my fingers, so I've covered the whole thing in electrical tape. Now people see it and go "ooo, it's made by 3M."

Electrical tape?!?! What? You were out of duct tape? :grin2:

well, it's higher quality than scotch tape

I have a problem with my sony reader pr-500. The LCD don't work very well, because the contrast of LCD is wrong. Tomorrow I will send a photo of LCD.
The contrast on my Reader was such that I had a lot of problems with ghosting (visible remnants of previous screen images, even remaining on the screen after two or three page flips).

I sent it in to Sony for repair. The technician tried adjusting the setting to its lowest value so as to reduce the ghosting, but that didn't work. He ordered a new e-Ink screen for it, and that new screen works much better. I'm glad I sent it in.

Better to send it in. But I'm wondering if the resistor just isn't able to turn far enough. When I tried messing with the resistor, there was only a one-eigth-turn worth of slack in the decrease-the-contrast (clockwise) direction. So like I said, you should send it in. But if you've put blinking leds and spinning rims on your Reader and can't send it to Sony, I think maybe replacing that variable resistor with another would do the trick.

... I think maybe replacing that variable resistor with another would do the trick.Maybe so. It depends on which end of the post (potentiometer -- AKA variable resistor for the non-electronics geeks) that "not enough slack" is on: the more resistance or the less resistance. If it was closer to the "less" end, then you're not likely to get any more out of a replacement, because the bottom of a pot's resistance is 0 ohms (unless the pot is defective, and doesn't get all the way there, of course). If you were closer to the top, then yeah, adding another, larger one might get you some more performance. :shrug:

Before anyone starts in on replacing the thing, they should be aware that soldiering by hand on surface contact circuit boards is an ... interesting undertaking, and can be rather difficult to pull off.

But anyone who's likely to try that, probably already knows that little detail. :beam:

I saw the battery information link posted on these forums [copied below], but can someone please be a little more specific of where to buy a spare battery in the USA..? Like one of those IPOD repair places perhaps..?

Battery:

Sony Fukushima Sew
US473850 A7T
01C45NI22V

http://www.battery.com.cn/products/product_detail_29276.html

Thanks,
Fabian.

This is a photo of the LCD. I opened the Reader, and I adjasted the contrast, but there wasn't any effect.

Sorry to be picky, but this is not a liquid crystal display. Please don't call it an LCD. To me, calling this an LCD display is very derogatory :grin2: Call it "the display" or "the e-ink panel" perhaps. The display is what makes this device so good :)

Heh, I almost call it "the page." :wink:

Heh, I almost call it "the page." :wink:

What, the LCD? :grin2: Sorry...

Can anyone measure the voltage of the battery with a simple voltimeter-tester? DC.

Look for the battery that is mentioned here (US473850A8T) and is sold like 3,7 volts.

It is possible that it accepts voltages from 3,7 - 5,2 , or the Sony has an internal stabilizer IC to reduce the voltage from the charger (5.2 volts).

All pages to buy this battery are in chinese with register.


Here Sony Li-Polymer [ 3.7V ] batteries :

http://www.mdbat.co.kr/shop/shopbrand.html?xcode=012&mcode=002

I think is only to drop the yellow tape from PRS battery and sold 2 wires (red-black) from old to new battery.

But the problem is identify the correct model of battery and buy it in chinese.

sorry for bad english

And another thing :

Battery from PRS-505 may be not equal to the PRS-500 as I see in this photos :

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2260/2111011592_29412ddcdf.jpg?v=1197648986

I can read only US32xxxxxxH

And I cannot find none battery with similar reference.

Although it appears from another manufacturer , ru ?

The Built-in rechargeable battery in PRS-500 LIS1356HNPAQ (LITHIUM ION STORAGE BATTERY ASSY) is DC IN 3.7 V, and its code (for original battery replacement from Sony for $82.12 at servicesales.sel.sony.com) is X-2149-315-1. This partnumber does not appear on the battery itself, only in the Service Manual. A replacement (size and mAh) should be indicated by someone, as original parts are too expensive. This battery is probably 850mAh as indicated here http://www.pricerunner.fr/f/462/Accessoires-MP3?a_marques=sony.

The Battery is not connected to the main CPU but to a power control IC (a SN412005RHLR - the Sony IC responsible for supplying energy to the board, charging the battery, managing USB and AC power and Thermal Shutdown).

The PRS-500 runs with two CPUs (a Sub-CPU and a Main-CPU).

The Sub-CPU is HD64338002A21FPV - a Renesas 8-Bit Single-Chip Microcomputer
H8 Family / H8/300L Super Low Power Series - Mask ROM version H8/38002 Model HD64338002 on-chip memory ROM 16 kbytes RAM 1 kbyte - datasheet at http://datasheet.digchip.com/192/192-10355-0-HCD6433800.pdf.
(Someone has a dump of this ROM?)

The Main-CPU is MC9328MXLVP20R2 - a Freescale Semiconductor i.MX Family applications processor with an ARM920T™ core that operates at 200 MHz. Integrated modules include a USB device, an LCD controller, and an MMC/SD host controller.
datasheet at http://www.freescale.com/files/32bit/doc/data_sheet/MC9328MXL.pdf
(There should be no ROM here)

In terms of internal memory the unit has 2x modules of 64MB SDRAMs (volatile memory for variables and program execution), 1x module of 2MB ROM (main bootloader/"bios" is probably here) and 1x module of 128MB ROM (where the "operational system" and books should be). So, when people say the PRS-500 has 64MB of free space for books they are considering what is left after applications.

Main ICs are:

2x K4M561633G-BN75T - SDRAM 64MB (connected to Main CPU)

S29AL016D90TFI020H-PRS01 - MOR-Flash ROM 2MB - Spansion 16 Megabit Flash Memory manufactured using 200 nm process technology, 3.0 Volt-only Read, Program, and Erase, 90 ns Access Speed, VCC = 2.7 - 3.6V, bottom boot sector device, 2,097,152 bytes (connected to Main CPU) - http://www.spansion.com/datasheets/s29al016d_00_a4_e%5B1%5D.pdf
(Someone has a dump of this ROM?)

K9F1G08U0A-PCB0T NAND-Flash Rom 128MB (connected to Main CPU)
128M x 8 Bit NAND Flash Memory - 3.3V device: 2.7 V ~3.6 V, 1G bit with spare 32M bit capacity, 30ns cycle time per byte. Used for large nonvolatile storage applications such as solid state file storage and other portable applications requiring non-volatility.
(Someone has a dump of this Flash Memory? Procedures to restore factory settings should be changing this memory)

AK4365VN-L Audio DAC (connected to Main CPU)

R5C807 SD I/F Controller (connected to Main CPU)

CXD3452GA MS I/F Controller (connected to Main CPU)

APOLLO1-18 Ink Indicator Controller (connected to Main CPU)
S29AL004D90BFI010E-LUT-01 Flash Rom 512KB (connected to Indicator)
2x LY62L12816GL-55LL3 SRAM 1MB (connected to Indicator)

----

To Enter TEST MODE one should insert a memory stick with the following files:
autorun.xml,
icon.png,
key.png,
lut.bin

---

A change of the LUT (Look Up Table) is required when a INK INDICATOR ELEMENT, MAIN BOARD and FLASH ROM (IC1611) are replaced.

Vcom Voltage Adjustment - Vcom voltage for the display panel varies for each panel. Vcom adjustment is required when replacing a board or panel. To Adjust observe the negative side of C1666 on an oscilloscope, and use RV1601 to adjust the voltage that is generated when the screen is changed so that it satisfies the standard (oscilloscope at 500mV/DIV, 400 ms/DIV, must generate 1.3Vp-p between low and high).

Hmm where did you get service manual info from? I'd love to have a look at one... And if you have those test mode files it would be great to have a look too.
Dumping the main flash is not hard... on original firmware you could do it with my ebook.py script, with later ones you can run shell commands via autorun hook.

So would this be the battery used in the PRS-500?

http://www.etechtronics.com/catalog/Sony-LIS1356HNPA-850mAh-Li-ion-Battery-Black-CS-SA3000SL-p-35150.html

http://www.etechtronics.com/product_image.php?imageid=12803

Also, is the battery used in the 500 the same as used in the 505? If not, what battery is used in the 505?