[sdiy] Serial Flash memory programmer

[Ove Ridé]

I recommend using the flashrom utility. It's an open source utility that
can flash chips using various devices, using a common frontend. It can use
the aforementioned Bus Pirate, the SPI port on a Raspberry Pi or even a
bare USB serial chip like FT232 in bitbang mode. Maybe you even have a
supported device lying around.

https://www.flashrom.org/Supported_hardware#USB_Devices

Right now there's an auction on Ebay for "FT232RL 3.3V 5.5V FTDI USB to TTL
Serial Adapter Module for Arduino Mini Port" for $1.85 which has a pin
header and selectable voltage. This would put you at less than 1% of your
envisioned budget!

The only problem for your use case with Flashrom is that it's only really
usable in Linux due lacking support for certain programming hardware in
Windows. But you could use a live USB or dedicated older computer...

On Tuesday, 7 February 2017, Richie Burnett <rburnett at richieburnett.co.uk
<javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','rburnett at richieburnett.co.uk');>> wrote:

> Hi guys,
>
> Thanks for the suggestions, I'll take a look.
>
> Brian, all of the points you raised are very relevant.  The Flash chip
> will be going in a DSP system, and it will probably end up being
> re-programmed by the DSP that boots from it in the end.  At the moment it's
> just for one-off piece work as I try to debug the DSP's various boot
> options.  So at the moment I essentially need a stand-alone programmer to
> put a trial bootloader into the SPI Flash chip to then let me try booting
> the DSP from it,  and if it doesn't boot I can read back the SPI Flash chip
> on the programmer and at least know for sure that the problem isn't due to
> an incorrectly programmed boot Flash chip.  The same goes for using the DSP
> to re-program it's own flash...  If the DSP has a go at re-programming the
> Flash and it won't boot for it any more, I need to be able to pull the
> Flash chip and check it's contents is correct using a stand-alone
> programmer/reader.  This is my best option until someone invents a Flash
> memory where you can just pop the top open and look at the written data
> inside ;-)
>
> All valid concerns about in-circuit programming though, which will be
> important for the final system.
>
> Many thanks,
>
> -Richie,
>
> -----Original Message----- From: rsdio at audiobanshee.com
> Sent: Monday, February 06, 2017 2:12 AM
> To: Richie Burnett
> Cc: SDIY List
> Subject: Re: [sdiy] Serial Flash memory programmer
>
> Richie,
>
> Do you need to program Flash for mass production, for small scale
> manufacturing, for prototyping, or just for piece-work? Do you plan on
> programming the Flash chips as loose parts before surface-mounting them?
> Have you considered simply ordering the parts from Micron, Atmel,
> Microchip, or Spansion with pre-programmed contents? If you want to program
> the Flash in-circuit, after they're mounted, then usually the best way to
> do it is with the microprocessor that's already on the board.
>
> There are a lot of variables, including the fact that many Flash
> manufacturers add custom commands to their chips that may not be supported
> by a generic programmer. Another issue is that the chip must be powered to
> be programmed, and if it's already soldered to the board then powering the
> Flash will power everything else and presumably start reading from the
> Flash (which interferes with any attempt to write to it).
>
> Brian
>
>
> On Feb 5, 2017, at 3:46 PM, "Richie Burnett" <rburnett at richieburnett.co.uk>
> wrote:
>
>> Can anyone recommend a decent unit for erasing/programming/reading serial
>> (SPI) Flash memory chips using a Windows PC over USB?  I'm only wanting to
>> program or read the odd chip here and there, so only very low volumes. I'm
>> happy to use an exposed board "dev kit" type of thing, or a more expensive
>> finished product, but ideally under GBP 200 ($250).  Mostly wanting to
>> program 8-pin and 16-pin surface mount NOR Flash chips from the likes of
>> Micron, Atmel, Microchip, Spansion, etc, from Intel HEX record files.
>>
>> I know it's relatively easy to make my own programmer using a
>> microcontroller, but at this time I am really busy and don't want to get
>> bogged down in all the different page size, sector size, erase block size,
>> programming configuration settings for each device that I might need to
>> program.  I've spent many hours writing SPI Flash driver code on micros in
>> the past, but just want to buy a tool I can rely on to do a job now.
>>
>> Many thanks for any suggestions.
>>
>>
>
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-- 
/Ove

Blog: <http://blog.gg8.se/>

"Here is Evergreen City. Evergreen is the color of green forever."
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