Ward Vandewege wrote:
I think a small microcontroller and actual flash chips may be the simplest and cheapest way to do it. The microcontroller is for flashing from ALIX, maybe also GPO pins and serial port.
Speaking with y flashrom hat on, I'd like to point out that you can use the FT2232H Mini Module (~$30) to perform in-system-programming (well, as long as the machine is powered of)
In-system-programming is worth considering, but for boards with sockets it actually just creates extra work. In any case $30 for flash programming in the tester hardware is way unacceptable. I'm thinking that $10 is already nearly too high cost, but on the other hand it buys a very nice ARM7 with USB, which could be reused also independently of the tester.
What kind of hardware would one use to hook the spi chip to the mini module?
This is the question. Anything socketed is easy, but soldered down chips make it more difficult. For SO-8 I've only seen the IC-CLIP by Pomona, which doesn't attach with a very sturdy connection to chips. :\
//Peter