Friday, September 18, 2009

DIR-320 64 Mb RAM Upgrade



Be careful, you can brick your router!

If you make a mistake doing this you brick your router. If you don't have skills on hardware modding and SMD rework I don't recommend to perform it.

Tools List


  • Iron (30W, if you use solder station set on 300°C)
  • Solder wire
  • Solder braid
  • Solder flux
  • Soldering aid tools
  • Philips screwdriver
  • ChipQuick (optional)





RAM chip replacement

The original chip is the K4H561638H-UCCC, 256Mbits x 16 bits, DDR400, 66pin TSOPII package. I replace this chip with the HYB25D512160BE-6, 512Mbits x 16, DDR333, 66pin TSOPII package.

Opening the router

To open the router you've to take apart the rubber pads from the bottom back to unscrew the box.
Take up the top cover from the back side and the silver plastic.
Unscrew the Phillips on the front side of the PCB, unscrew the antenna and take out the PCB.

Performing the Mod

Locate the U14, close to the yellow barcode label, and remove it. If you've not enough experience with SMD rework, I recommend to use ChipQuick. Install the new chip on U14. Double check the solders. Power on the router and check if boot (the serial console is a good idea, and will make your life easer)
Install DD-WRT V24 SP2 (SVN 12874) from here. Set the new values of sdram on the nvram with the comands:

nvram set sdram_init=0x0013
nvram set sdram_ncdl=0x0000
nvram commit reboot