C308 SSD Board Replacement / Availability

[femaster]

Making a long story short here. We have a C308 that does not boot past 2 bars. We've done extensive troubleshooting on it, and determined that it is the SSD board that has failed. MFPB works perfectly in another test machine with that machines NVRAM and SSD board attached to it.

Attempted to order a new SSD board from Konica and, according to their online ordering site, the part has been discontinued and can no longer be ordered. I don't know the part number off the top of my head, and can't pull it up at the moment, but it was what was listed in the latest parts manual. There is actually 2 listed in the parts manual, both are discontinued. I can't see how that is possible as there is a parts availability guarantee, and this model is not end of life. I can find no alternate part numbers, no bulletins mentioning anything at all about this.

Anyway, has anybody ever successfully swapped out a used SSD from another machine on the 8-series? That is what we are currently looking into as one of our options. If anyone has attempted this, successfully or not, and can provide any insight into issues we may face with doing this, it would be greatly appreciated.

[Reed]

I have done it on the 4e series. I used on from a B/W model on a Color machine. It did change the meter and I noticed the new color meter was "0" . The ssd board will also have other information from the previous machine. Which needs to be changed. Good luck let us know how it goes if you do it!

Also thats weird they discontinued it as I have recently purchased an ssd for the 4e series.

[tsbservice]

I believe they called it emmc. Never had one fail.
Hope Albonline isn't on vacation.

[femaster]

I have done it on the 4e series. I used on from a B/W model on a Color machine. It did change the meter and I noticed the new color meter was "0" . The ssd board will also have other information from the previous machine. Which needs to be changed. Good luck let us know how it goes if you do it!

Also thats weird they discontinued it as I have recently purchased an ssd for the 4e series.

I also thought is was strange that it came up as discontinued. For the heck of it, I looked up one from a C287, since they are essentially the same physically, and that was also listed as discontinued. I didn't think to try a 4e, as they are a different style board.

We are still weighing our options, but that is kind of what I was afraid of was bringing the meters and what not from a different machine into this one. I know that the 8-deries uses 2 EPROM chips on the main board, which also stores backups of data like meters and what not. I'm afraid that if we attempt to use a different SSD, things may get ugly because the data between the 2 wouldn't match. If there was a way to force it to pull the data from the EPROMS and overwrite what's on the SSD, we might be successful.

[femaster]

I believe they called it emmc. Never had one fail.
Hope Albonline isn't on vacation.

You are correct. The parts book and some locations in the service manual do refer to it as an eMMC board. That term actually refers to a type of interface, but that isn't accurate either. These actually use an mSATA interface not eMMC, so Konica really isn't using proper terminology for these. But, that's a story for another day...

[Oystercopy]

I have not had the need to order an SSD (EMMC) from KM for the 8 series, but the last time I tried to order one for a 4 series, it was like PULLING TEETH... the hotline people were absolutely useless and would not order one for me because I was "not the original seller of the machine". I almost never am.

In any event, NO it should definitely not be discontinued, so I would get someone at KM to help out, other than your normal parts person.
OC

[copyman]

If in fact the 8 series SSD is no longer available this just adds to the demise of Konica Minolta. What they put their dealers & customers through this last year with toner & machine shortage is shameful to say the least! They are getting worse not better. What sucks is I've been upgrading all my customers with the 4 series to the 8 series and if they make parts hard to get or discontinued I'm screwed! I would prefer to stay with the 4 series but there have been a lot of issues with scanning security, etc so no choice but to upgrade. I believe Kon/Min machines are getting worse not better and designed not to last much past a lease period of 3-5 years if your are lucky. If I wasn't getting close to retirement I would switch to Canon!

[Woxner]

These are avalible. Not discontinued
A7AHH02D02
They useally require tech support approval and managers order them

[copyman]

These are avalible. Not discontinued
A7AHH02D02
They useally require tech support approval and managers order them

Hey Wox,

Good to know. Makes me feel a little better.

By the way why is approval needed to order SSD? Only thing I can think of is because a new SSD can reset the meters and they don't want someone selling a used machine as new?

Thanks

[tmmdmmm]

These are avalible. Not discontinued
A7AHH02D02
They useally require tech support approval and managers order them

Like button doesn't seem to work but this is correct. I've had the emmc(ssd) fail on a C308 causing the same issues, won't boot past 2. Manager had to order it, but I did not go through tech support for it prior. Same with a few SB issues, managers had to order.

[allan]

This document helped me a bunch and touch wood I have not bricked a machine yet.
Case 4 states the counter data will move from the spares machine to your current machine.
I have done this before. The EEPROM holds the engine data so don't move that. Else replace or move all parts from spares machine.
Or I will just replace all the ICP'c on the units in that case.:cool:
Board replacement cases.pdf - Google Drive (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1h2dlZKpKNCXajEtY9_csMA4yztThgYfX/view?usp=sharing)

[blackcat4866]

Thank allan! I hope I never need to use this information. =^..^=

[femaster]

These are avalible. Not discontinued
A7AHH02D02
They useally require tech support approval and managers order them

It must have something to do with you being in the UK. Just for shits and giggles I tried it again with the same result, "discontinued":

54172

[tmmdmmm]

This document helped me a bunch and touch wood I have not bricked a machine yet.
Case 4 states the counter data will move from the spares machine to your current machine.
I have done this before. The EEPROM holds the engine data so don't move that. Else replace or move all parts from spares machine.
Or I will just replace all the ICP'c on the units in that case.:cool:
Board replacement cases.pdf - Google Drive (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1h2dlZKpKNCXajEtY9_csMA4yztThgYfX/view?usp=sharing)

Thank you, this'll save me one day. Odd, the i series cert powerpoint had the board layout but not the various case scenarios

[Albonline]

you can move the ssd and mfp/driver board with the eeprom located behind the hv board. this will make the target machine into the donor machine. reset sn and relicense. Unit ,or you could get somebody from km to order it for you





A7AHH02E03
**CONTACT CSC** PWB ASSY (PWB-EMMC)
1
0
30.4
CSC APPROVAL REQD

[femaster]

Just to update, after a lot of time in contact with KM's support center, they finally agreed with me that the eMMC board was the problem in this machine. They added a notation to the support request which allowed me to proceed with the order. The eMMC board has to be ordered through KM's warranty page, and can't be ordered directly through the regular parts/supplies ordering interface. You are also required to have an open call with the support center, as you have to enter the support request number into the form when requesting the part.

Our office has learned a few things through the process of troubleshooting this machine. Just to refresh memories, we had done a lot of parts swapping between the non-booting C308, and a working C308 we had in the office to try and narrow down the bad part. During this process things like eMMc boards and EEPROMS were swapped back and forth between the 2 machines. Neither machine was ever actually booted into the standard copier screens while the parts from the other were installed. All that was ever done was to boot into diagnostic mode (by holding down the power button), since we couldn't even do that on the dead machine. This was done in the hopes that data on the different eMMC and EEPROM chips wouldn't be cross-contaminated with information from the other machine.

In the end, it was determined that the eMMC board was the issue. The board was ordered and installed. Board replacement requires the firmware to be installed immediately after installation. Support confirmed that the boards come blank, with literally nothing on them. This makes me question why they must be be bought through KM for such a high price, but that's a story for another time. Firmware installed, typical reboot process, then error code, then recover data.

One unfortunate lesson learned here. Even when booting into just diagnostic mode, the system must still do some data verification checks and updates. Once the dead machine was back up and running, despite having it's original EEPROMs, the machine had inherited the serial number and meters from our good C308. Nothing had changed with the good C308, so I can only assume that the data stored on the good C308's eMMC board was pushed into some other storage area on the dead machine's MFPB. I conclude this because the EEPROMS from the dead machine were never installed at the same time as the good C308's eMMC board, so there was no way for the dead C308's EEPROMS to have been cross-contaminated with data from the good C308's eMMC board.

The serial number was updated to what it was supposed to be, but the meters are what the meters are, no way to change those. Live and learn I guess, and maybe this will help someone else out in the future.

[blackcat4866]

Thanks for all the details femaster. =^..^=

[tsbservice]

Thanks for all the details femaster. =^..^=

Yes very interesting thanks for this femaster.

P.S.
I bet based on quality and appearance of your posts your guys like you, respect brother.

[femaster]

Yes very interesting thanks for this femaster.

P.S.
I bet based on quality and appearance of your posts your guys like you, respect brother.

Thank you for the compliments, it's nice to read.

Since I'm pretty much the tech support for the whole company, they really don't have much choice in the matter... ;-) But seriously, as far as I know everyone gets along with me just fine. Then again, if they didn't I'd probably be the last to know about it. Not too many want to confront their boss directly. For the most part, things run pretty smoothly, and I'm thankful for that. It not only makes their jobs easier, it makes mine easier as well.

[adecanmin]

Just to update, after a lot of time in contact with KM's support center, they finally agreed with me that the eMMC board was the problem in this machine. They added a notation to the support request which allowed me to proceed with the order. The eMMC board has to be ordered through KM's warranty page, and can't be ordered directly through the regular parts/supplies ordering interface. You are also required to have an open call with the support center, as you have to enter the support request number into the form when requesting the part.

Our office has learned a few things through the process of troubleshooting this machine. Just to refresh memories, we had done a lot of parts swapping between the non-booting C308, and a working C308 we had in the office to try and narrow down the bad part. During this process things like eMMc boards and EEPROMS were swapped back and forth between the 2 machines. Neither machine was ever actually booted into the standard copier screens while the parts from the other were installed. All that was ever done was to boot into diagnostic mode (by holding down the power button), since we couldn't even do that on the dead machine. This was done in the hopes that data on the different eMMC and EEPROM chips wouldn't be cross-contaminated with information from the other machine.

In the end, it was determined that the eMMC board was the issue. The board was ordered and installed. Board replacement requires the firmware to be installed immediately after installation. Support confirmed that the boards come blank, with literally nothing on them. This makes me question why they must be be bought through KM for such a high price, but that's a story for another time. Firmware installed, typical reboot process, then error code, then recover data.

One unfortunate lesson learned here. Even when booting into just diagnostic mode, the system must still do some data verification checks and updates. Once the dead machine was back up and running, despite having it's original EEPROMs, the machine had inherited the serial number and meters from our good C308. Nothing had changed with the good C308, so I can only assume that the data stored on the good C308's eMMC board was pushed into some other storage area on the dead machine's MFPB. I conclude this because the EEPROMS from the dead machine were never installed at the same time as the good C308's eMMC board, so there was no way for the dead C308's EEPROMS to have been cross-contaminated with data from the good C308's eMMC board.

The serial number was updated to what it was supposed to be, but the meters are what the meters are, no way to change those. Live and learn I guess, and maybe this will help someone else out in the future.



Amazing. Being an independent with no access to Konica Minolta support. I'll have to replace the machine if this ever occurs.
Good information. Thanks

[Albonline]

Just to update, after a lot of time in contact with KM's support center, they finally agreed with me that the eMMC board was the problem in this machine. They added a notation to the support request which allowed me to proceed with the order. The eMMC board has to be ordered through KM's warranty page, and can't be ordered directly through the regular parts/supplies ordering interface. You are also required to have an open call with the support center, as you have to enter the support request number into the form when requesting the part.

Our office has learned a few things through the process of troubleshooting this machine. Just to refresh memories, we had done a lot of parts swapping between the non-booting C308, and a working C308 we had in the office to try and narrow down the bad part. During this process things like eMMc boards and EEPROMS were swapped back and forth between the 2 machines. Neither machine was ever actually booted into the standard copier screens while the parts from the other were installed. All that was ever done was to boot into diagnostic mode (by holding down the power button), since we couldn't even do that on the dead machine. This was done in the hopes that data on the different eMMC and EEPROM chips wouldn't be cross-contaminated with information from the other machine.

In the end, it was determined that the eMMC board was the issue. The board was ordered and installed. Board replacement requires the firmware to be installed immediately after installation. Support confirmed that the boards come blank, with literally nothing on them. This makes me question why they must be be bought through KM for such a high price, but that's a story for another time. Firmware installed, typical reboot process, then error code, then recover data.

One unfortunate lesson learned here. Even when booting into just diagnostic mode, the system must still do some data verification checks and updates. Once the dead machine was back up and running, despite having it's original EEPROMs, the machine had inherited the serial number and meters from our good C308. Nothing had changed with the good C308, so I can only assume that the data stored on the good C308's eMMC board was pushed into some other storage area on the dead machine's MFPB. I conclude this because the EEPROMS from the dead machine were never installed at the same time as the good C308's eMMC board, so there was no way for the dead C308's EEPROMS to have been cross-contaminated with data from the good C308's eMMC board.

The serial number was updated to what it was supposed to be, but the meters are what the meters are, no way to change those. Live and learn I guess, and maybe this will help someone else out in the future.

machine data on the 8 series mfps. is stored in at least 3 locations the emmc the flash roms on the mfp/driver board combo(once in each section) and counter/life on the removable roms. if 2 of the datasets do not match from what I've experienced you get a blank machine. in this case toner, drum and developer counts are messed up. Toner control and image quality are gone, may even empty developer units during startup. I have found that if life counts are wrong by more than 30% trouble of some sort will rear its head. Also in play is the identity board(service rom)here is the sn and licenses for the unit.

There is no documentation i can find on this. all info above is from learning the hard way.

[adecanmin]

machine data on the 8 series mfps. is stored in at least 3 locations the emmc the flash roms on the mfp/driver board combo(once in each section) and counter/life on the removable roms. if 2 of the datasets do not match from what I've experienced you get a blank machine. in this case toner, drum and developer counts are messed up. Toner control and image quality are gone, may even empty developer units during startup. I have found that if life counts are wrong by more than 30% trouble of some sort will rear its head. Also in play is the identity board(service rom)here is the sn and licenses for the unit.

There is no documentation i can find on this. all info above is from learning the hard way.

Would you have to set up the machine as though you just took it out of the box?

[Albonline]

Would you have to set up the machine as though you just took it out of the box?

yes ,and monitor the toner density for a few hundred prints, followed by a full gradation adjustment.

[femaster]

machine data on the 8 series mfps. is stored in at least 3 locations the emmc the flash roms on the mfp/driver board combo(once in each section) and counter/life on the removable roms. if 2 of the datasets do not match from what I've experienced you get a blank machine. in this case toner, drum and developer counts are messed up. Toner control and image quality are gone, may even empty developer units during startup. I have found that if life counts are wrong by more than 30% trouble of some sort will rear its head. Also in play is the identity board(service rom)here is the sn and licenses for the unit.

There is no documentation i can find on this. all info above is from learning the hard way.

I'm sure this is what happened. The original eMMC board was dead, so with the new board being blank, there was no data there to be pulled. The EEPROM chips were never combined with the eMMC board from the other machine, so that data would have still been correct. During the testing of the MFPB with other machines eMMC (and EEPROMs), even in diagnostic mode it must have transferred the incorrect data to an alternate location on the original MFPB, or some other "secret" location KM doesn't want anybody to know about. Once the eMMC board was operational by installing the firmware, it must have pulled the data from that "secret" location instead of the EEPROM chips. Had it pulled from the EEPROMs, the serial and meters would have been correct.

We did experience the expected "License Management Error" as well because of the incorrect serial number. Entering the correct serial number did not resolve this issue. Since there isn't any type of security or encryption, etc. on the machine in question, resolving the error was as simple as temporarily enter a matching serial number and unlock code set. This has been discussed many times in the past in older forum posts. There have been valid serial / unlock code sets shared. I can confirm that this little hack still works on the 8-series machines.

[hugojulio@ig.com.br]

This document helped me a bunch and touch wood I have not bricked a machine yet.
Case 4 states the counter data will move from the spares machine to your current machine.
I have done this before. The EEPROM holds the engine data so don't move that. Else replace or move all parts from spares machine.
Or I will just replace all the ICP'c on the units in that case.:cool:
Board replacement cases.pdf - Google Drive (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1h2dlZKpKNCXajEtY9_csMA4yztThgYfX/view?usp=sharing)

Excelente ajuda. Agradeço muito.

[allan]

I'm sure this is what happened. The original eMMC board was dead, so with the new board being blank, there was no data there to be pulled. The EEPROM chips were never combined with the eMMC board from the other machine, so that data would have still been correct. During the testing of the MFPB with other machines eMMC (and EEPROMs), even in diagnostic mode it must have transferred the incorrect data to an alternate location on the original MFPB, or some other "secret" location KM doesn't want anybody to know about. Once the eMMC board was operational by installing the firmware, it must have pulled the data from that "secret" location instead of the EEPROM chips. Had it pulled from the EEPROMs, the serial and meters would have been correct.

We did experience the expected "License Management Error" as well because of the incorrect serial number. Entering the correct serial number did not resolve this issue. Since there isn't any type of security or encryption, etc. on the machine in question, resolving the error was as simple as temporarily enter a matching serial number and unlock code set. This has been discussed many times in the past in older forum posts. There have been valid serial / unlock code sets shared. I can confirm that this little hack still works on the 8-series machines.

LOL thanks for sharing that. Never bothered to change the code generator they are using for ages now.


So you have cloned a machine?? Same serial and same meters now on your fixed and parts machine?

[femaster]

So you have cloned a machine?? Same serial and same meters now on your fixed and parts machine?

So to speak, yes. It was accidental in nature, but our fixed machine ended up with the meters and serial number from the machine that temporarily donated it's eMMC board for testing. I don't know for sure what else was pulled with that, but I know the meters and serial numbers (all of them, ADF, Printer, etc.) were for sure. In the end we corrected the serial numbers, and went through the whole machine as if it was a new setup since all the programming was lost. There is no way to change the meters back to what they should be, so it went back to the customer with a lower total meter, and a much higher color meter unfortunately. They are a leased maintenance customer, so meters don't mean much except for billing purposes. We just adjusted the meters in our system so the customer will never know the difference anyway.

[allan]

Then if you could buy the eMMC's you could reset or rather copy a younger machines data like some of the previous models. Wonder if that is the reason you can't order them without a support ticket.
Guess there is a hardware fuse of sorts on the eMMC somewhere.

[tsbservice]

I'm sorry for jumping on femaster's thread but have question for experts here.
We have one C258 machine with bad MFPB. The question is can we get MFPB plus EEPROMs and eMMC from working C308 machine and put all of them into C258?

[Copier repairman]

We do not want any disadvantages due to the contents of this posting.
Moving a working C308 print board and accessory board to a bad C258 machine.
Error code C-C164 occurs.
It also happens when I run the firmware.
If you buy and install a new SSD: Set it up in the copier and install the firmware.
When installing the used SSD in another copier: Set the copier and plug in the firmware USB, press the stop button + power on.
Power off when the firmware screen is displayed.
Power on after removing the firmware USB.
You can use it if you do.
(PS: In the latter case, data from other used copiers will be overwritten.)
We want you to get the results you want.

[otphas]

When you install the firmware , you must choose correct type of machine and than install the firmware .