yifanlu is making an SD adapter for PS Vita 3G

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Everyone's favourite Vita scene hero, Yifanlu, is creating what most users have been dreaming of. A micro SD adapter for the PS Vita! However, this will be specifically limited to ONLY the 3G OLED models. This works by replacing the 3G modem with an adapter. If you want to get a hold of a 3G Vita, I'd advise getting one soon before the prices rise. The "Early Bird" donation perk gives you a finished board for $20. I would imagine the price to be similar to this when it is released.

Vita memory cards are too expensive and it would be nice to be able to use a microSD card. The 3G feature is pretty useless. Combing those two thoughts and I decided "what if we replace that modem with USB storage?" This works because the Vita's modem port is simply a USB 2.0 port that uses the miniPCIe form factor. A hacked Vita running 3.60 has the ability to load custom drivers, and it is just a matter of putting all the pieces together.

Features
  • At the core of the adapter is the USB2244 chip, which is a SD to USB microprocessor. It is a high end chip (you won't find it in cheap SD to USB adapters) that has good power consumption and a long lifespan. It supports SD/SDHC/SDXC cards.
  • You need to open up the Vita and replace the modem card. This is relatively simple and is akin to changing the battery. You can put in a large microSD card, install it, and forget about it.
  • With HENkaku Ensō, you can use the adapter on boot
  • Because there's extra space on the board, I also added two debug ports that the original modem uses to communicate with the Vita. Using them is optional. Developers and hackers can use this for their homebrew and hacks.
  • All design files, Gerbers, schematics, layouts, BOMs, software drivers, etc will be public and open source. Anyone can produce the board as well as modify it.

:arrow: Source

Update:
100 units are being made and there are 114 backers. This means they are already sold out.
 
Last edited by Deleted member 381889,

TariqSoftDev

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Let's not beat around the bush, this is a Sony handheld we're talking about. He'd be laughed out of the patent office anyways, but even an attempt to release this on a massive scale would result in legal action against him. Not only that, patents have never stopped chinese cloners - they don't care, their entire business model is based on copying stuff.
Hmmm yeah my bad , I never thought of sony , damn that sucks
 

gnmmarechal

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The part it uses for WI-FI is different as I believe , that slot he is using is basically a USB 2.0 port with the GSM module that handles the 3G and GPS stuff , pretty much useless module but he has replaced it with a SD Card R/W chip and interfacing with it via the USB protocols via his own driver/plugin.

Anyways rn I'm attempting to add a USB port to my PS Vita using yifan's info and some pinout information , I managed to find the USB 2.0 pinout on that slot :> , 10/10 time
Ya, sure, but there's no 3G-only model... right? I'm getting confused now.

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ikr he should pull out some sort of patent on the board and stuff, it would make him a crap load of profit and benefit us at the same time, then again clones won't work without that specific chip since he made a specific driver for that chip , you get gist .
what? No
 

Sonic Angel Knight

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So this is a self service installation for vita that has 3G? Well i have one, and i never used 3g, mostly cause i never would use AT&T. So I say "JOLLY GOOD SHOW" Lets hope even i can do it with no actual tinkering knowledge. :ninja:
 
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yifan_lu

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I think I've figured out the USB and UART wiring from the pictures of Yifan's uploads on indiegogo and some research on the pinouts :> , all goes well , maybe I can now add my own USB port
Why work so hard? The hardware design is open source. https://github.com/yifanlu/psvsd

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ikr he should pull out some sort of patent on the board and stuff, it would make him a crap load of profit and benefit us at the same time, then again clones won't work without that specific chip since he made a specific driver for that chip , you get gist .
Man who cares about profits. If I wanted money I wouldn't be wasting my time on the Vita.
 

TariqSoftDev

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Why work so hard? The hardware design is open source. https://github.com/yifanlu/psvsd

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Man who cares about profits. If I wanted money I wouldn't be wasting my time on the Vita.
Did it anyways , managed to add the USB , just need to ask for your help tho , I soldered some plugs to the 3G Module since I noticed the USB 2.0 traces was cut off on its PCB

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Oh and the PS Vita came up with the message "This device is not supported" thinking cause I didn't format to exFAT
 
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Completely useless. Post another thread when some Chinese company produces these for more than the 100 people who own one specific model.
I just saw the hardware design was open sourced. Hopefully some shady Chinese company can get in on this. I might actually get a Vita some day (probably not though).
 

RedBlueGreen

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Why work so hard? The hardware design is open source. https://github.com/yifanlu/psvsd

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------


Man who cares about profits. If I wanted money I wouldn't be wasting my time on the Vita.
Is there a possibility for the slim Vitas? I don't know anything about the Vita hardware so I'm not sure what you could replace with it.
Completely useless. Post another thread when some Chinese company produces these for more than the 100 people who own one specific model.
Even though these aren't being mass produced it's still a huge step forward.
 
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acidmango

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Why work so hard? The hardware design is open source. https://github.com/yifanlu/psvsd

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------


Man who cares about profits. If I wanted money I wouldn't be wasting my time on the Vita.

LOL thank you! I was reading all the comments wondering when I was going to find someone who actually read the Indiegogo page :P

Another tip from the creators page:
However, a quick search on Aliexpress shows that Vita motherboards running firmware < 3.60 are on sale for about $25 a piece. So you can always buy one and swap your current motherboard (even if it is a Wifi only OLED model) with it.
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/ps-vita-3g-to-microsd-card-adapter#/

ALSO this, lol
So in a order of 100 boards, I expect maybe 75 of them to be completely functional and 90 of them to be mostly working (maybe insertion will be difficult or maybe a connection won't be perfect). In that case, I will not have any extras to send nor will I be testing each unit before sending it out.
 
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yifan_lu

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Did it anyways , managed to add the USB , just need to ask for your help tho , I soldered some plugs to the 3G Module since I noticed the USB 2.0 traces was cut off on its PCB

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Oh and the PS Vita came up with the message "This device is not supported" thinking cause I didn't format to exFAT
Use VitaShell and enable USB storage mode for VitaTV (you might have to recompile it since the option might be hidden for non-pstv vitas).
 

TariqSoftDev

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Use VitaShell and enable USB storage mode for VitaTV (you might have to recompile it since the option might be hidden for non-pstv vitas).
See my post in hardware section I made the port and thanks for the tip , also Henkaku on PS Vita won't launch if USB is plugged in before hand.
 

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