Is it possible to overclock a usb flash drive?

I was looking at my old toshiba usb flash drive, decided to crack open the case and I found the controller, phison ps2231:
http://www.phison.com/upload/editorfiles/2007.7.19_18.2.57_5893.pdf

As you can see in the datasheet, the working frequency = 12mhz.

I found a 12mhz crystal on the PCB.

In theory if you changed the crystal to 14mhz or something like that, would the drive be faster (even if it is unstable and useless)?

 

it could burn out or destabilyse the conction to USB but yeah work faster

 

And you know this how?

 

There is no way to overclock the chip through software. It is not like a CPU, where there is software (the BIOS) specifically designed to allow changing of clock speeds. The only way to change the clock speed of your USB drive is to basically rip out some of the chips, replace them with faster chips (if you can find them), and pray that it works (which it won't). But by that point, your project will become so complex and expensive that you might as well just buy a faster USB drive for $15 - $30.

Even if you COULD overclock, what is the purpose? The transfer speed of a USB flash drive is limited by the USB 2.0 interface, which caps at around 30MBps - 35MBps transfer rate. Getting a faster USB controller isn't going to help that one bit.

 

Well, if I may help, there is definatelly NO way to overclock USB device. And I will explain my statement.

You found 12MHZ crystal. Why? Thats simple, becouse USB 2.0 can work at EXACTLY 1.5 MHz, 12MHz or 450 MHz(480 maybe dont remember exactly).

Actually the speed is more often showed in birate. Anyway, if you changed the 12MHZ crystal for 14MHz one, your USB device would not be recognised by the host.If you would change it for 1.5 or 450 MHz, it woukd not help you either - the MCU - mikrocontroller which handles Flash ROM access would not work correctly since its program is written specifically for 12MHz speed.

 

Thanks, that's what I was looking for.

 

put it in "cache mode" to 25-40 mb/s data transfer vs. 10 mb/s stock speed.

 

Im sure its possible just not at the user/consumer level.

a flash drive is memory chips and they have to be running at some frequency or another.

unlike the ram that is controlled by your computer hardware the flash drive is controlled by its own hardware, so if you modified the hardware or had the means to program it, I would think it could be overclocked.

but other than a for fun thing, its probably not practical since it would be a ton of work for little benefit and may cause the flash drive to be unstable or overheat.

 

Someone doesent read my answer. With 12MHZ crystal you cannot exceed 12Mbps speed. It is not possible.

 

+rep for the awesome display of nerdery. Respect.