Boardviews of some phones/tablets

[Jasonchen9902]

Re: Boardviews of some phones/tablets

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[swastik201]

Re: Boardviews of some phones/tablets

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[scooby98]

Re: Boardviews of some phones/tablets

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[islam_asker]

Re: Boardviews of some phones/tablets

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[nhattamlaptop]

Re: Boardviews of some phones/tablets

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[techopr]

Re: Boardviews of some phones/tablets

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[Stevechurch]

Re: Boardviews of some phones/tablets

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[tamilnilan]

Re: Boardviews of some phones/tablets

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[zar0079]

Re: Boardviews of some phones/tablets

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[bloomlifty]

Re: Boardviews of some phones/tablets

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[Bakerbass]

Re: Boardviews of some phones/tablets

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[aol]

Re: Boardviews of some phones/tablets

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[wizzdom]

Re: Boardviews of some phones/tablets

Thank you all very much!

[Mute75]

Re: Boardviews of some phones/tablets

Thank you much

[piernov]

Re: Boardviews of some phones/tablets

How are you able to open or decode these files if I may ask? I understand if it's a secret recipe. I was hoping you're using some open source component to pull that off. Either way, nicely done my friend!

BVR3 (and by extension BVRE) were formats specifically designed for FlexBV. Unlike OpenBoardView, FlexBV is not open source, so you can assume the format is not open.

I can read BVR files in OpenBoardView. Including the "empty" iP7P_intel.bvr. It only shows an outline of the board and some odd looking transistors scattered around in two areas. I have checked all the BVR files in version 8.0.

As you can see, and as hinted by the size, the file itself is almost empty.

Strangely, the iP8_qualcomm.bvr crashes the program, so that one can't open at all.

File is almost empty too. Shouldn't crash though, so I'll try to take a look at that.

Sadly, these standalone files for phones, as well as the original .pcb PADS files, were never of the highest quality. Tools such as ZXW often provide more accurate data and much more information. They are garbage cloud and subscription-based software, but that's how it is. Phoneboard has some stuff as well though, dunno how good (or bad) it is.

I'm a complete noob when it comes to boardviews and everything to do with electronics repairs, but I can tell that boardviews is a big PITA for everyone involved in repairs. Not only is lack of access a problem, it's also things like these, with incompatible and inconsistent file formats. I wish there was a common standard for boardview files that all technicians could use, be it BVR or BRD and what have you. Something like PDF, but for boardviews. Portable, cross-compatible, and open standard (since a few years back).

These files are generally leaked from manufacturer's assembly or testing lines. Before OpenBoardView existed, you had to deal with 2 decades old broken and almost unusable software, one for each of the different file format. Which is often different between board manufacturers, and the same manufacturer even often has more than one format because they don't always use the same design, assembly and testing tools.
Manufacturers do not want these files to be released in the wild, and there is no point for them to have interoperability. Having a standard there is the least of their worry. And ours as well, we want the data first.
Some other aspects of board designs do have standards, such as the Gerber format for the PCB drawings, but that doesn't provide the same information as a boardview (although having Gerber files can be useful as well).

If it were up to me, I would pass a law that would make free access to boardviews mandatory, at a bare minimum. Accessible to everyone, or at very least repair professionals. Let me know if I'm wrong, but I think this is needed if we want a sustainable future where people can repair their tech gadgets rather than toss them out and keep on buying new, adding more to the e-waste basket.

You can't even buy replacement parts which may have become an even bigger problem. Schematics aren't supposed to be available either, some of them leaked thankfully. No access to any other documentation most of the times (power sequencing for example), no access to the diagnosis, testing and debugging tools. Even less access to information about firmware, and every device has one or many pieces of firmware handling most of its functions nowadays.
It's the manufacturer's intellectual property and they consider it trade secret, no reason for them to provide any of this.
That's how it is, why do you think this job is difficult and some people try to fight for "right to repair"?

So GitHub is the new homepage for the project?

https://github.com/OpenBoardView/OpenBoardView/ has always been the official repository for OpenBoardView.

I guess I still won't be able to open BVRE files if "E" stand for "encrypted", but I will get the latest version nonetheless. Thank you!

No. BVRE is basically BVR3 format but encrypted. Since the encryption key is not known, OpenBoardView won't be able to open BVRE files directly.
However, I published some of the decrypted files in BVR3 format here: https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showpo...&postcount=158 . It is possible to get the rest of them but it is a bit tedious.

As a side note, FZ format from Asus is also an encrypted format for example, but pafmaf reverse engineered the official viewer and extracted the key.
The similar CAE format from Asrock isn't supported since the encryption key hasn't been extracted.

[R7027]

Re: Boardviews of some phones/tablets

So "BVRE" files have "BVR3E001" in the header and "BVR" files have "BVRAW_FORMAT_1"?

Name: BVRE
Extension: .bvre
Magic: 42 56 52 33 45 30 30 31
Magic ASCII: BVR3E001

Name: BVR
Extension: .bvr
Magic: 42 56 52 41 57 5F 46 4F 52 4D 41 54 5F 31
Magic ASCII: BVRAW_FORMAT_1

What is BVR2 header info? I'm just curious and I want to add it here for comparison and for posterity. I find this all very interesting, I'm more into this sort of stuff than electronics, to be honest. Thanks everyone for contributing to collective knowledge!

[R7027]

Re: Boardviews of some phones/tablets

Latest OpenBoardView release is 9.0.3. Pre-release is 9.90.0.
https://github.com/OpenBoardView/OpenBoardView/releases

I didn't know that. I was going by what's on the official website. So GitHub is the new homepage for the project? I guess I still won't be able to open BVRE files if "E" stand for "encrypted", but I will get the latest version nonetheless. Thank you!

[R7027]

Re: Boardviews of some phones/tablets

These BVR files will work with Openboardview. They contain less information but still should help out a lot of people I hope.

Perhaps later Openboardview can support BGA pad names rather than just numbers, but it's a start.

Galaxy_S7.bvr iP6P.bvr iP7P_Qualcomm.bvr iPad_Mini.bvr
iP5.bvr iP6P_bvr.sqlite3 iP8P_Intel.bvr iPSE_820_00282.bvr
iP5C.bvr iP6S.bvr iP8_qualcomm.bvr iPSE.bvr
iP5S.bvr iP6SP.bvr iPad2.bvr
iP5S_WCDMA.bvr iP7.bvr iPad4.bvr
iP6.bvr iP7P_intel.bvr iPad_Air.bvr

I saw your announcement on Twitter and YouTube about added BVRE support to FlexBV. How are you able to open or decode these files if I may ask? I understand if it's a secret recipe. I was hoping you're using some open source component to pull that off. Either way, nicely done my friend!

Too bad I can't read those BVRE files with OpenBoardView, and I can't afford to pay for FlexBV for what is essentially a one man and one phone operation. I only need the boardview for Galaxy S7. I don't run a repair business, otherwise I would have purchased a license for your software, assuming I can source the needed boardview files on my own.

So you basically used FlexBV to convert the BVRE files to BVR files?

I can read BVR files in OpenBoardView. Including the "empty" iP7P_intel.bvr. It only shows an outline of the board and some odd looking transistors scattered around in two areas. I have checked all the BVR files in version 8.0.

Strangely, the iP8_qualcomm.bvr crashes the program, so that one can't open at all.

The iPad_Air.bvr has some odd looking outline and missing or misplaced filler lines for texture at certain places, and a set of resistors and capacitors (R1096, C1096, R1097, C1097) hanging out outside the board.

The iPad2.bvr looks really bad. The outline is a triangle and a trapezoid. The T1378 for example takes up half the board.

With iPad4.bvr we have overlapping components like J7500 and R8296 which is huge, again, taking up half the board. The outline is missing on one end.

The iPSE.bvr and the iPSE_820_00282.bvr are binary identical. I did not look for visual differences. Both will open and look correct to me and my untrained eyes.

I am documenting these things for others to observe and be aware of. I do wonder though if these issues exist in the BVRE versions of these files? I don't have FlexBV so I can't check. These issues may have existed in the original files and were not introduced by conversion. That, I do not know.

I'm a complete noob when it comes to boardviews and everything to do with electronics repairs, but I can tell that boardviews is a big PITA for everyone involved in repairs. Not only is lack of access a problem, it's also things like these, with incompatible and inconsistent file formats. I wish there was a common standard for boardview files that all technicians could use, be it BVR or BRD and what have you. Something like PDF, but for boardviews. Portable, cross-compatible, and open standard (since a few years back).

Previously most boards only required schematics to assist with repairs, the parts were labelled on the PCB silkscreen and the board was the literal boardview. Over time with increasing part densities silk screening became impractical and now frequently non-existent on devices such as Macbook and iPhone boards.
https://pldaniels.com/flexbv/

I didn't know this. I think this makes access to boardviews a big deal! Bigger than I originally thought. So not only do you not have the schematics, now you also don't have labels of the components on the actual board. So next thing you know, they will turn everything into a single chip and there would be nothing to label and nothing to repair. Kind of an extreme version of where this is going with all the miniaturization and high integration.

If it were up to me, I would pass a law that would make free access to boardviews mandatory, at a bare minimum. Accessible to everyone, or at very least repair professionals. Let me know if I'm wrong, but I think this is needed if we want a sustainable future where people can repair their tech gadgets rather than toss them out and keep on buying new, adding more to the e-waste basket.

[piernov]

Re: Boardviews of some phones/tablets

Latest OpenBoardView release is 9.0.3. Pre-release is 9.90.0.
https://github.com/OpenBoardView/OpenBoardView/releases

[inflex]

Re: Boardviews of some phones/tablets

BVR (Boardview Raw) was actually originally spawned when a dump from the Microsoft Access DB "BV" format was being used for some boards, hence BVR = BV 'Raw'.

After BVR for the BV, the initiative was taken to make BVR2 and subsequently BVR3 so that some less frequently encountered boardview formats could be exported in to a more open/verbose format.

BVR3 is supported in the latest OpenBoardview.

BVRe is an encrypted version though anything that was in BVRe should be available as BVR these days.

OpenBoardview cannot utilise all the information that BVR3 stores but it can still read everything it requires ( things like pad outlines, part outlines and some other attributes ).

No documentation currently available though a text editor opening up a BVR3 does tend to walk you through it.

It's an verbose and data-reduntant format, intentionally so.