Help Sourcing an eMMC Board for a Konica Minolta Bizhub 227

[Fritzy]

Hi everyone,

I hope you're all doing well! I’m back again, hoping to tap into this community’s depth of expertise. You’ve been incredibly generous in sharing your knowledge in the past, especially when I was refurbishing an old Bizhub 423 for a friend. By the way, it’s still going strong and hasn’t needed anything beyond toner since—so thank you again for making that possible!

This time, I’m on a mission to find an eMMC board for a Bizhub 227. I reached out to a local KM service partner who was eager to help, but unfortunately, they couldn’t locate the part and said it might be obsolete. My own searches haven’t turned up much either, aside from a few sellers in China that I’m hesitant to rely on.

I’m not a pro copier tech or part of a repair business. I’m just a guy with a stubborn printer sitting in my garage for almost two years now. And honestly, I can’t bring myself to give up and send it off to recycling just yet. I think it still has some life in there.

If anyone has a lead on where to find this elusive eMMC board, or knows a supplier who might still have one lying around, I’d be incredibly grateful. Thanks in advance for any help you can offer!

Looking forward to your suggestions,
-Fritz

Photos of current eMMC board attached for reference.

[Duplicator]

I hate to be the bad news guy but I have information that may be useful. As a dealer we can't seem to get them from Konica. Last time we tried we were told they were "very rare". We've been surviving via our pile of off lease worn out parts machines for now. Your only bet may be eBay or the buy/sell/trade section of this site for a used eMMC. There are 2 sizes. If memory serves correctly a 4GB and an 8GB. The 8 can replace a 4 but not the other way around. Find one from a 7, 8, 8e, or 9 series machine. They are interchangeable. However, please be aware that using a used eMMC will have an effect on the meter in your machine. Make sure you have a copy of the latest firmware as well. You will need it to write the firmware to the eMMC as it's the primary source for the OS.

They are physically a mSATA plug but none of the pins seem to be right. No matter what type of interface I've tried with them nothing seems to work. Also the service manual conveniently leaves out the pinout for that connector. There has to be a way to create some kind of interface board to adapt it to something normal but I haven't figured out how to do that yet.

[jotunn]

Part number A7AHH02E03 - still available in the online shop for dealers in Europe.

Duplicator They don't use mSATA protocol in this module at all - it's just physical connector, cheap and popular. Little hint for you - eMMC is not only the name of this module, but mainly the technology behind the flash chip on this module (like in mobile phones). And one of the advantages is that the pinout/protocol is just an extension of the SD card - that means you can read/write this chip like an SD card, but slower. Of course you have to use additional components (some resistors, capacitors, maybe a voltage regulator - it's a 1.8V chip if I remember correctly) to build SD interface, but then, you should be able to use ordinary USB SD card reader.
Years ago I saw replacement module without TPM chip and with micro SD card connector instead of flash chip.

[Fritzy]

Duplicator, whether you're the bad news guy or not, I genuinely appreciate you taking the time to share your insights and experience. Thank you for that.

I’ve had an eBay saved search for this part for over a year, but unfortunately, no luck so far. I hadn’t considered the buy/sell/trade section of this forum, so I’ll definitely give that a try.

I have also experiment a bit. I tried using an mSATA-to-SD card adapter plugged into the Bizhub, but that didn’t work. I also tried a USB-to-mSATA adapter with the Bizhub’s eMMC card to see if I could access any data, but no success there either. As you and jotunn mentioned, the mSATA is only being used as a connector, not for its protocol. Unfortunately, my electronics knowledge doesn’t go deep enough to reverse-engineer the device.

jotunn, I noticed the part number on my eMMC is A7AHH02E02—would A7AHH02E03 also work? (This is a mono 227, not a color C227) Are there any other part numbers that could be potential candidates I should add to my searches? Out of curiosity, would you be able to give me a rough estimate of the cost of the part in Europe? I'm looking to get an idea of what the cost to repair this machine might be.

At this point, I’m not too concerned about the machine’s meter or its original functionality. This has become more of a learning experience and a troubleshooting challenge for me. If I do manage to get it working, I’d likely donate it to a local charity.

[tsbservice]

Duplicator, whether you're the bad news guy or not, I genuinely appreciate you taking the time to share your insights and experience. Thank you for that.

I’ve had an eBay saved search for this part for over a year, but unfortunately, no luck so far. I hadn’t considered the buy/sell/trade section of this forum, so I’ll definitely give that a try.

I have also experiment a bit. I tried using an mSATA-to-SD card adapter plugged into the Bizhub, but that didn’t work. I also tried a USB-to-mSATA adapter with the Bizhub’s eMMC card to see if I could access any data, but no success there either. As you and jotunn mentioned, the mSATA is only being used as a connector, not for its protocol. Unfortunately, my electronics knowledge doesn’t go deep enough to reverse-engineer the device.

jotunn, I noticed the part number on my eMMC is A7AHH02E02—would A7AHH02E03 also work? (This is a mono 227, not a color C227) Are there any other part numbers that could be potential candidates I should add to my searches? Out of curiosity, would you be able to give me a rough estimate of the cost of the part in Europe? I'm looking to get an idea of what the cost to repair this machine might be.

At this point, I’m not too concerned about the machine’s meter or its original functionality. This has become more of a learning experience and a troubleshooting challenge for me. If I do manage to get it working, I’d likely donate it to a local charity.

Correct number is A7AHH02E03 and it's only for 7 series(Mono and color). Price is small but I'm not sure will it can be purchased.

[jotunn]

Out of curiosity, would you be able to give me a rough estimate of the cost of the part in Europe?

Around $70-80 base price for dealers - exact price depends on rebates.

[femaster]

Unfortunately, this is what the US KM store gets you when you try to order.

I'm not sure if it truly is discontinued, or if you can only initiate a purchase through a support ticket. They like to do that for parts like this, not allowing you to order them outright.

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[Duplicator]

Part number A7AHH02E03 - still available in the online shop for dealers in Europe.

Duplicator They don't use mSATA protocol in this module at all - it's just physical connector, cheap and popular. Little hint for you - eMMC is not only the name of this module, but mainly the technology behind the flash chip on this module (like in mobile phones). And one of the advantages is that the pinout/protocol is just an extension of the SD card - that means you can read/write this chip like an SD card, but slower. Of course you have to use additional components (some resistors, capacitors, maybe a voltage regulator - it's a 1.8V chip if I remember correctly) to build SD interface, but then, you should be able to use ordinary USB SD card reader.
Years ago I saw replacement module without TPM chip and with micro SD card connector instead of flash chip.

Didn't think of that... Internally we call them SSDs (which is not entirely correct) so I was going down the road of SATA, PCIe, ect. Doesn't eMMC have an 8 bit data path while SD has a 4 bit path or something like that?

That replacement SD adapter module would be handy to reproduce or get a hold of. I'm thinking it would be slick to make an adapter board that goes from Konica's plug to a common and easy to order eMMC board. Something like Hard Kernel's eMMC modules or something.

[jotunn]

Didn't think of that... Internally we call them SSDs (which is not entirely correct) so I was going down the road of SATA, PCIe, ect. Doesn't eMMC have an 8 bit data path while SD has a 4 bit path or something like that?

That replacement SD adapter module would be handy to reproduce or get a hold of. I'm thinking it would be slick to make an adapter board that goes from Konica's plug to a common and easy to order eMMC board. Something like Hard Kernel's eMMC modules or something.

> Internally we call them SSDs
Almost all of us call them SSDs

> Doesn't eMMC have an 8 bit data path
Yes, it does, but eMMC support down to 1-bit...

Later I will prepare some documentation.

[Fritzy]

It absolutely kills me to admit defeat, but I think I'm going to throw him the towel on this project. I haven't been able to source an emmc, and I'm just not willing to risk trying to source one from a dodgy Chinese seller.

So, would anyone like a FREE gently used bizhub 227 for a parts donor? I'm located in the Los Angeles area. If you're interested in picking it up, send me a DM.

Thanks again to everyone who helped me get the old Bizhub 423 running, and thank you all who tried to help with the eMMC for the 227. I very much appreciate you taking time to share your knowledge and expertise - I've learned a lot!
-Fritz

[tsbservice]

Sorry to hear that you did nothing wrong.
I think it's still available here in EU but shipping to US and so on...

[wjurls]

I may be coming into a few BH 227 machines in the very near future. Most of them will be parted out. I'll reply here when I know for sure.

[Fritzy]

I may be coming into a few BH 227 machines in the very near future. Most of them will be parted out. I'll reply here when I know for sure.

Thanks wjurls! There may be hope for this Bizhub yet! Please keep me posted!