OCZ Arc 100 480 GB : typical failure?

[SOSdonnees]

Hi,

I just received an OCZ Arc 100 SATA III SSD which is not detected anymore from BIOS.

I could not watch at the PCB yet, but just wanted to know if there is some well-known weakness for this model or, if not yet, which is traditionnaly the weak point of OCZ SSDs (controller, solder, PCB, ...)?

Thanks.

[bubaleh]

The reason of a failure in most cases for drives with Barefoot 3 cpu is uncorrectable bit errors in service structures. So SSD cant start working and hangs in Busy state.
Arc 100 drives also using hardware encryption, so there is no chip-off data recovery solution, as i know.
PC3000 SSD support these drives.

[fzabkar]

@SOSdonnees, if you can upload a detailed photo of both sides of the PCB, I can help you locate the voltage test points.

Even if the voltages are OK, it might be worth adjusting the NAND supply up or down by 0.1V - 0.2V. This might help to overcome any bit errors. We can do this by adding a resistor in the feedback divider. It's not a difficult procedure in principle.

References:

TPS652510, Texas Instruments, 4.5-V TO 16-V INPUT, HIGH CURRENT, SYNCHRONOUS STEP DOWN THREE DC-DC CONVERTERS WITH INTEGRATED FET:
http://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/tps652510.pdf

RT8070, Richtek, 4A, 2MHz, Synchronous Step-Down Converter:
http://www.richtek.com/assets/product_f ... 070-08.pdf
http://www.farnell.com/datasheets/1782085.pdf

[Amarbir[CDR-Labs]]

@SOSdonnees, if you can upload a detailed photo of both sides of the PCB, I can help you locate the voltage test points.

Even if the voltages are OK, it might be worth adjusting the NAND supply up or down by 0.1V - 0.2V. This might help to overcome any bit errors. We can do this by adding a resistor in the feedback divider. It's not a difficult procedure in principle.

References:

TPS652510, Texas Instruments, 4.5-V TO 16-V INPUT, HIGH CURRENT, SYNCHRONOUS STEP DOWN THREE DC-DC CONVERTERS WITH INTEGRATED FET:
http://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/tps652510.pdf

RT8070, Richtek, 4A, 2MHz, Synchronous Step-Down Converter:
http://www.richtek.com/assets/product_f ... 070-08.pdf
http://www.farnell.com/datasheets/1782085.pdf

Frank ,
Might Be a Small Pot [ Variable Resistor ] So That You folks Have More Ground To Play ,Would Be Cool To Check .I Do Have PC3K SSD With Me Though.But its Bricked More SSD's It Has Repaired .Would Be Posting One SSD Issue Soon

[digisupport]

@Amarbir i think you meant "But i have bricked more SSD´s" im sure my PC3000 SSD never breaks any drive

[SOSdonnees]

Thank you.
I'm going to post photos in the next days.

[SOSdonnees]

Here attached, the picture of the OCZ 480GB ARC 100 printed circuit board, recto and verso.

Click on the picture to see it in full size.

Recto and verso of the PCB of an OCZ ARC 100 480GB SSD.

[SOSdonnees]

In my last message, I forgott to tell about what is written on the main controller, under the squared grey silicone piece:

Code:

INDILINX
IDX500M10-BC
PMU014.00
ILA0G4300A
3243 KR


[SOSdonnees]

Arc 100 drives also using hardware encryption, so there is no chip-off data recovery solution, as i know.

There is kind of eeprom 8-pin chip on the recto of the PCB (see left picture above).
I assume it could store some settings for the firmware.
Concerning encryption, do you know if some password is stored in it or in the main INDILINX controller?

I do have a working same SSD, which could serve as donor.

I would be tempted by first trying a hot air reflow on the patient SSD, especially on the main controller, but I'm not sure if it is a good idea. I would prefer diagnosing more if possible, but don't have the PC3000 SSD however.

[fzabkar]

AFAICT there is no discrete "ROM" on either side of the PCB. However, there is a vacant location at the bottom RHS of the "verso" photo which could be reserved for such a ROM.

The 8-pin chip on the "recto" side is a DC-DC converter. I have identified it as an RT8070 in my previous post, but your photos are unclear.

Can you measure the voltages at U19 (LDO regulator?) and V1 - V4 at U17 and U20? Can you tell me the part number of U19?

Can you also measure the Vx and Vy voltages? These will be the NAND supplies. I believe the zero-ohm resistors are the programming jumpers for the VDD and VDDQ rails.

There is a vacant 3-pin header which could be a serial port, but I'm not certain. The pins could be Tx/Rx/3.3V or Tx/Rx/Ground.

Attachments

ROM.jpg (38.49 KiB) Viewed 19285 times

Vnand.jpg (84.43 KiB) Viewed 19285 times

regs.jpg (216.49 KiB) Viewed 19285 times

[bubaleh]

There is a vacant 3-pin header which could be a serial port, but I'm not certain. The pins could be Tx/Rx/3.3V or Tx/Rx/Ground.

These points are for launching SSD safe mode (technological mode). The mode when drive is working controlled by Kernel microprogram stroring in internal CPU ROM.

I would be tempted by first trying a hot air reflow on the patient SSD, especially on the main controller

Probably that doesnt make sence. As i said before the problem usually in NAND chips. If you want to test if the CPU works, you can try to launch the safe mode. You should short 2 points marked as J3. On the verso photo they are left and middle. Then switch the power on. Drive must be identified as BAREFOOT3-FACTORY-ROM. In this case CPU is probably fine and you have not to do anything with it.

There are a couple of tricks for fighting with bit errors in NAND chips:
1. Playing with NAND voltage supply (as fzabkar said)
2. Playing with temperature of the NAND chips (heating or freezing).
But all this stuff is kind of shamanic dance. Sometime it works, but not too often. And there is a risk to make things worse.
So, if you need medicine for your drive you need the PC3000 SSD. If you dont have it or dont have money for it, you could try shamanic dance, but be carefull with all things you do

[fzabkar]

I have seen many cases (at badcaps.net) where a TV will fail to boot due to thermally sensitive flash memory. Preheating with a hair dryer often allows the TV to boot and keep running. That was one of the methods I was going to suggest. Cooling with spray freeze is another.

[SOSdonnees]

fzabkar and bubaleh,
Thank you very much for the thorough analysis and the tricks. I'll be careful.

[fzabkar]

I propose to add 3 resistors (RH, trimmer RV, RL) in parallel with the existing potential divider (R2, R1) and limit the range of adjustment from 3.0V to 3.6V. The modification does not disturb the original circuit, nor does it introduce power sequencing issues. The new resistance values would be greater by about 10x, so there would be little effect on the existing divider.

Code:

                          .-------------------.
                          |  Vout             |
                   Vout   |  ___              |
                   ___    |   |               |
                    |     |  .-.              |
                    |     |  | |RH            |
                   .-.    |  | |              |
.---------------.  | |R2  |  '-'              |
|  error        |  | |    |   |               |
|   amp         |  '-'    |   |               |
|       /|  FB  |   |     |  .-.   <---- 3.0V |
|      /-|----------+-----|->| |RV            |
|    -<  |      |   |     |  | |              |
|      \+|- Vref|  .-.    |  '-'   <---- 3.6V |
|       \|  0.8V|  | |R1  |   |               |
|               |  | |    |   |               |
'---------------'  '-'    |  .-.              |
      DC-DC         |     |  | |RL            |
    converter       |     |  | |              |
       IC          ===    |  '-'              |
                   GND    |   |               |
                          |  ===              |
                          |  GND              |
                          '-------------------'
                               parallel
                               potential
                               divider

[fzabkar]

It looks like the adventure has come to an end, but here are my thoughts for the benefit of those who wish to try my idea.

Resistances R1 and R2 would be difficult, if not impossible, to measure in-circuit due the low resistance (Rload) of the load on Vout. However, there is a way to calculate the resistance values by using algebra.

We start by noting that the relationship between R1 and R2 is given by ...

R2 / R1 = (Vout - 0.8V) / 0.8V

If Vout is normally 3.3V, then this becomes ...

R2 / R1 = 2.5 / 0.8 = 3.125

... or R2 = R1 x 3.125

Code:

     Vout
     ___
      |
      +------+---------+
      |      |         |
     .-.     |         |
   R2| |     |         |
     | |     |         |
     '-'     |         |
      |     --- C     .-.
FB <--+     ---       | | Rload
      |      |        | |
     .-.     |        '-'
   R1| |     |         |
     | |     |         |
     '-'     |         |
      |      |         |
      +------+---------+
      |
     ===
     GND

Now we short the filter capacitor (C) on the Vout supply with metal tweezers. The circuit will then look like this (R12 is the equivalent resistance):

Code:

   FB <--+
         |
       +-+--+      <-----+
       |    |            |
      .-.  .-.          .-.
   R1 | |  | | R2       | | R12
      | |  | |          | |
      '-'  '-'          '-'
       |    |            |
       +-+--+      <-----+
         |
        ===
     GND / Vout

If we now measure the equivalent resistance (R12) between ground or Vout and the feedback (FB) pin of the IC we have ...

R12 = (R1 x R2) / (R1 + R2)

But R2 = R1 x 3.125, so ...

R12 = (R1 x R1 x 3.125) / (R1 + R1 x 3.125) = R1 x 3.125 / 4.125

R1 = R12 x (4.125 / 3.125)

So R1 = R12 x 1.32 and R2 = R12 x 4.125

The RT8070 datasheet suggests values of 24K and 75K for R1 and R2, respectively, for Vout = 3.3V.

[fzabkar]

Let's say that we have determined that the values of R1 and R2 are 24K and 75K, respectively, and that Vout is 3.3V. The total resistance is 99K, so we choose our divider so that its total resistance is around 1Mohm (ie 10 x 99K).

It turns out that choosing RH = 390K, RV = 500K, and RL = 120K will give us a range of adjustment from 2.977V to 3.566V.

Code:

resistance from ...
wiper to      wiper to
ground (K)    Vout (K)      Vout
---------------------------------
120           890           3.566
140           870           3.496
160           850           3.441
180           830           3.398
200           810           3.362
220           790           3.332
240           770           3.305
245           765           3.3   ***** neutral set point
260           750           3.282
280           730           3.261
300           710           3.242
320           690           3.224
340           670           3.207
360           650           3.190
380           630           3.175
400           610           3.159
420           590           3.144
440           570           3.129
460           550           3.114
480           530           3.099
500           510           3.084
520           490           3.068
540           470           3.051
560           450           3.034
580           430           3.016
600           410           2.997
620           390           2.977

We start by setting the trimpot so that there is a resistance of 245K from wiper to ground. This is the 3.3V set point. Then we adjust the voltage up or down as required.

R = 0.8/3.3 x 1010 = 245K

We can improve the linearity of adjustment at the high end by using a logarithmic trimmer.

I suspect that the SSD may need to be power cycled after each adjustment.

[fzabkar]

WARNING:

Do not touch the resistors when powered up. The resistance of the human body will most probably affect the potential divider, resulting in potentially damaging voltages.

[SOSdonnees]

Sorry for the late reply, but the analog multimeter I was using had loose connections, so that I had to purchase a new one (a Fluke 70 Series II).

For the U20 chip, the voltages between two successive pins were (very) difficult do measure because the multimeter has quite large tips and I was not very good at this.

Click on the picture to see it full size.

On the recto, I also measured voltages at C134 : 1.51V (with the positive down)
and at C249: 1.795V (with the positive up).

On the part at U19 is written:
J B-
1E70Q

I confim that the 8-pin chip on the recto is an RT8070.

[fzabkar]

Your measurements are a little strange, but all the voltages appear to be present (1.0V, 1.5V, 1.8V, 2.5V, 3.3V). Assuming that the drive identifies as a BAREFOOT3-FACTORY-ROM (as per bubaleh's advice), then you could try adjusting the 3.3V supply.

If you would like to try this trick, then power off the drive, short the ends of capacitor C164 (V4 test point) with metal tweezers, and measure the resistance between ground and pin #7 (FB) of the RT8070. C164 must remain shorted during the resistance measurement.

BTW, when you measure a voltage, you should use a ground reference. That is, place your COM-mon probe (black) on a screw hole (0V) and then use your Volt/Ohm probe (red) to measure the voltage test points.

U19 is a 2.5V LDO linear regulator.

RT9166-25PXL, Richtek, Ultra-Fast Transient Response LDO Regulator, 2.5V, 300/600mA, marking JB-, SOT-89:
http://www.farnell.com/datasheets/1720529.pdf

Attachments

R_test.jpg (58.1 KiB) Viewed 19007 times