The X-Fi2 Naked - Pictures

[Jan_DK]

I've just taken my 8Gb X-fi2 apart, it was not hard, and it was playing the hole time, and it's still playing after been put together again. Nothing broke
but off course the warranty is no more.
The microSD slot is the entrance.












Jan_DK

[CrowdAds]

[Olley]

550mAh battery helps explain the relatively short battery charge duration.

[skybluedream]

Absolutely amazing work Jan_DK! I salute you. Keep it up!

What's the processor in this thing? Any specs regarding the processor?

Maybe now we can come to a conclusion on the Video stutter issue? Either the processor ain't powerful enough or it's not being used to it's fullest.

The battery is Li-Polymer instead off Li-Ion that's great to see.

[Jan_DK]

Originally Posted by skybluedream

Absolutely amazing work Jan_DK! I salute you. Keep it up!

Thanks, I'll try

What's the processor in this thing? Any specs regarding the processor?

At this moment, I can't find any use full information on the
S-T-M-P--3-7-8-0
(I'm writing the name this way, for not getting it mixed up with google's
other search results.)


Jan_DK

[a_tumiwa]

what dac/audio chip is that?

[badazzmofo]

i think that smtp chip is the legacy sigmatel processor used in the xfi.

it's an older chip because that company was bought out and its name changed some time ago.

[skybluedream]

So this same processor is also present in the X-Fi1?

Originally Posted by badazzmofo

i think that smtp chip is the legacy sigmatel processor used in the xfi.

it's an older chip because that company was bought out and its name changed some time ago.

Edit - Found some Info. on Sigmatel "3600"

http://www.secinfo.com/$/SEC/Filing.asp?H=14D5a.v5fBc.d&OS=W

[curiouswonderer]

Nice job!!

I like how the battery is lined with masking tape. Really shows Creative's attention to quality.

[TOFregato]

any sign of an hidden wi-fi chip?

[Jan_DK]

Here is some info, most known all ready.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigmatel_STMP3700

"The STMP3700 is using a single ARM processor core clocked up to a
maximum of 300 MHz The System on Chip was developed in
2007 for use in portable media players. It supports playing video in QVGA(320x240)
and decoding of various media formats. It is used in the Creative Zen as of 2007.
And the Creative Zen X-Fi as of 2008.
The S-T-M-P-3-7-8x supports VGA resolutions of 640x480,
higher clock frequencies and video hardware assist."

A pdf on the 3700 with a block diagram.
A pdf on the 3700 whitepaper

Jan_DK

[Jan_DK]

Interesting, according to Wikipedia's
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_Zen
"The newer ZEN players uses SigmaTel's STMP3700 ARM, described to be
"designed specifically for portable devices".[38]
Nucleus RTOS makes up the base of their OSes.[39]"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nucleus_RTOS
"Nucleus OS is a real-time operating system (RTOS) and toolset created by the Embedded Systems Division of Mentor Graphics for various CPU platforms. Nucleus OS is part of an embedded solution with a complement of embedded middleware available. Development is typically done on a "host" machine running Windows or Linux. Target applications can be compiled to run on various "target" CPU architectures and tested using the actual target boards, simulators or via the "host" using EDGE SimTest.
Nucleus OS is designed for embedded applications including consumer electronics, set-top boxes, cellular phones, and other portable and handheld devices. For limited memory systems Nucleus OS can be scaled to a footprint as small as 13 KB for both code and data."

I wonder if that's what the X-Fi2 is running on, with a build in Lua interpreter.


Jan_DK

[ThievingSix]

I wouldn't be surprised if it was. If my theory holds the entire interface we use is done in LUA.

[badazzmofo]

jan_dk: For limited memory systems Nucleus OS can be scaled to a footprint as small as 13 KB for both code and data.

funny because my xfi2 shut down wouldnt start up at the train station and gave me this message: this "unit cannot operate with less than 100mb of memory, please connect player to computer and delete some media"

so,..if anyone is wondering what the working memory is, that's it.

[Jan_DK]

Originally Posted by badazzmofo

jan_dk: For limited memory systems Nucleus OS can be scaled to a footprint as small as 13 KB for both code and data.

funny because my xfi2 shut down wouldnt start up at the train station and gave me this message: this "unit cannot operate with less than 100mb of memory, please connect player to computer and delete some media"

so,..if anyone is wondering what the working memory is, that's it.

I just had to see that, so i filled my X-Fi2 so there was only 5mb left,
disconnected it and turned it on:



It's running Firmware 1.11.01

I think the 30Mb free flash disk minimum limit is for the database files and
such stuff. I don't think the OS is on the flash disk but some other memory chip(NAND) maybe.

[badazzmofo]

oooo....i could have sworn it was 100mb....it sure pissed me off at the time because i wanted to watch videos on the train. i dont see why it cant just have a separate logical drive partition for those files.

[skybluedream]

I came across that "100 MB" limit thingy yesterday, glad to see y'all have already figured it out.

Regarding the processor...

Thanks for digging up some info. on it.

So it's a derivative off the STMP 37xx series.

Read the .pdf (BPMPSTMP3700WP) according to it...

The processor can handle "MPEG4, H.264, VC-1 and FLV"

Pity they left out H.264 & WMV. The pdf says further decoders can be added so .mkv support could be possible?

Then again on the chart itself it says..

"320MHz ARM926EJ-S™ processor: 16K+16K caches enable software-based video decode at QVGA(320x240) resolution at 30 fps" - Page 8

But a diagram on it states as "ARM926EJ-S™ processor" running at 360 MHz. Hence it can support upto 640x480 (WQVGA)? - Page 7

My theory of the processor being "underclocked" seems far fetched now!

I guess the processor is already running at it's max. power & the freezes/stutter's are due to it not being powerful enough.

Kinda a pity Creative would go for the same derivative of the old ZEN, XFi1 for the processor instead off plugging in something new/powerful.

I guess the video issues being fixed via firmware won't happen after-all.

[JJLoke]

here is another datasheet spec i found. i believe that the x-fi 2 max processor speed is 360Mhz if not 400Mhz

http://www.freescale.com/files/32bit...FAMCOMPTBL.pdf

[ThievingSix]

If that's true I want to code some apps in C not lua............

Edit: That data sheet isn't quite up to date it seems. >.<

[Sskot]

Probably its nothing but my google found that site

http://www.spinics.net/lists/arm-kernel/msg68416.html

[keirien]

Soory image wont load but go here to see

http://ez-chat.webs.com/apps/photos/...otoid=75258531

i took apart my zen and went even farther.