Among SSD models from Kington, how to know if two models share the same PCB, the same controller, and what about their firmwares?
For NAND swaps, it is not always obvious finding a donor ot the exact same model.
So, what to look at for the compatibility ?
I don't have enough Kingston models here to draw up statistics, and consequently can only do assumptions.
ModelsAfter watching at the stickers from several Kingston SSD, I observe they are labeled following a pattern.
Examples for some SATA SSD:
SC152DS37/64GG
SC180S37/128GJ
SC180DS37/256GJ
SC180DS37/256GH
SA400S37/240G
SC152DS37/480GH
SV300S37A/120G
From left to right
1) First char "S" : seems being for "SSD", whichever the interface and connector
2) Then comes the family (e.g. A400 for the A400 family).
The alpha chars seem having their own meaning about the product range (e.g. "DC" for data center", "KC", "A", "C", "V")
3) Next is an optional "D". Meaning?
I thought it could be about DRAM, but it is likely not.
Maybe for dual sided (i.e. chips on both side ?), or for planar 2D NAND vs 3D nand?
4) Then is "S" or SATA ("MS" for "mSATA")
5) The 3 is likely for the SATA revision SATA III
6) The 7 before the slash is likely the thickness of the enclosure : 7 mm
7) After the slash comes the capacity, ending with G for Giga.
8) Sometimes is an additional letter, like "G", "H", "J". Maybe the revision, but not sure.
Often, the model name is preceded by "RBU-".
Part numbersAfter the model number is a slash, followed with what seems being the part number of the PCB and likely the firmware.
Looks more less like Seagate part numbers, but here with 7 digits, a hyphen, 3 digits.
Examples:
1) Kingston "A400" dram-less SSD 120GB : 99
07015-017.A00G
2) Kingston "A400" dram-less SSD 480GB: 99
07015-153.A00G
3) Kingston "C180" dram-less SSD 256GB: 99
97015-047.A00G (Old SSDnow without family mentioned on sticker.)
These models seem sharing the same board design, which may be encoded by the number before the hyphen.
Not sure about the meaning of the 3rd digit.
The number after the hyphen could encode the chips. Possibly the 3rd digit would tell about the controller.
I observe that aforementioned models 1) and 3) share the same controller : Phison S11, labeled as Kingston CP33238B.
(For the first model mentioned, see:
https://hardwaresecrets.com/kingston-a4 ... sd-review/ )
I assume the last group "A00G", after the dot could be the firmware revision.
Other printed numbersThere are also a few other numbers on the enclosure sticker, like a four digits one (e.g. 1806) and a longer one (e.g. SBKF10D7).
The four digits number is also printed on the PCB sticker.
Thanks for sharing.