Julius Werner wrote:
As I have access to a DediProg EM100Pro [1] including a 10-Pin Split Cable with a grabber on the hold pin [2], and a clip, I was wondering if I can hook it up without soldering to boot from (like an external chip).
I mean... I can at least tell you that we do this in practice all the time (with generally no issues). The SPI flash is not electrically isolated, so yes, you're gonna leak some current into the SoC when you do this (there are 100Ohm limiting series resistors so it's not a complete short). I've never heard of a Chromebook board dying from this but I can't legally guarantee you anything, of course.
I don't think there can be a problem with current leaking, but on some boards HOLD is tied directly to VCC, without a pullup.
In that case there's no way to work with a clip, the whole chip or at least the HOLD pin has to be disconnected from the board, and HOLD tied low instead.
//Peter