OK, so I purchased three BBB cards quite some time ago and I just got back to them since I had some project ideas. So, apparently 2G eMMC chips went EOL and the new cards have 4G. No big deal, except for any newer image available wants the additional space! I built some of my own console images for a while, but then I saw some Sandisk 16 GB eMMC chips on Ebay and scored them for about a buck a piece…
I’ve done some SMT work at home, but NEVER a 20 mil pitch BGA. I do have a cheap chinese hot-air station and a dedicated toaster oven for my hardware play though. I use a coffee mug warmer for bottom heat.
Well, it took me several trials and two of the eMMC chips to dial the process in, but I succeeded! The only real casualty is that I discovered that the 5V input jack will not tolerate re-flow temperatures. I had to replace that part.
I am just amazed I was able to hand-place that chip.
If you are yawning now — well, OK – I am excited about this and had to tell SOMEBODY!
Later,
Don
debian@beaglebone:~$ lsblk
NAME MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
mmcblk1boot0 179:8 0 4M 1 disk
mmcblk1boot1 179:16 0 4M 1 disk
mmcblk1 179:0 0 14.7G 0 disk
└─mmcblk1p1 179:1 0 14.7G 0 part /
debian@beaglebone:~$