[LinuxBIOS] about programming BIOS Savior

[Ning (Michael) Qu]

Hi, All

I have a problem on programming BIOS Savior. I just got a BIOS Savior
PMC4, and the flash embedded in it is Pm49FL004. My motherboard is
DK8-HTX and I have read the original BIOS by flashrom into a file. I
want to program it into BIOS Savior but the verification process
always failed (more than 10 times). I search on our forum and find
that it maybe a little difficult to program BIOS Savior succefully. Is
it true? Is it because of the support of Pm49FL004 flash by flashrom?
And is there anything else I can do for it? Thanks very much!

The error information about flashrom is as following:

when programming
[ning@localhost linuxbios]$ sudo flashrom -c Pm49FL004 -V -w orig.rom
Calibrating delay loop... Setting up microsecond timing loop
14M loops per second
ok
No LinuxBIOS table found.
Enabling flash write on AMD8111...OK
Trying Pm49FL004, 512 KB
probe_jedec: id1 0x9d, id2 0x6e
Pm49FL004 found at physical address: 0xfff80000
Flash part is Pm49FL004 (512 KB)
Flash image seems to be a legacy BIOS. Disabling checks.
Programming Page: 0007 at address: 0x00070000

when verifying
[ning@localhost linuxbios]$ sudo flashrom -c Pm49FL004 --force -v orig.rom
Calibrating delay loop... ok
No LinuxBIOS table found.
Enabling flash write on AMD8111...OK
Pm49FL004 found at physical address: 0xfff80000
Flash part is Pm49FL004 (512 KB)
Flash image seems to be a legacy BIOS. Disabling checks.
Verifying flash - FAILED

[Ning (Michael) Qu]

And I check the new content after programming Savior. Only the last
page are programmed. The total is 8 pages (512K), and only the content
from 0x70000 is correctly programmed. What's the problem? Is there
something wrong with flashrom?

On 4/24/07, Ning (Michael) Qu  wrote:
> Hi, All
>
> I have a problem on programming BIOS Savior. I just got a BIOS Savior
> PMC4, and the flash embedded in it is Pm49FL004. My motherboard is
> DK8-HTX and I have read the original BIOS by flashrom into a file. I
> want to program it into BIOS Savior but the verification process
> always failed (more than 10 times). I search on our forum and find
> that it maybe a little difficult to program BIOS Savior succefully. Is
> it true? Is it because of the support of Pm49FL004 flash by flashrom?
> And is there anything else I can do for it? Thanks very much!
>
> The error information about flashrom is as following:
>
> when programming
> [ning@localhost linuxbios]$ sudo flashrom -c Pm49FL004 -V -w orig.rom
> Calibrating delay loop... Setting up microsecond timing loop
> 14M loops per second
> ok
> No LinuxBIOS table found.
> Enabling flash write on AMD8111...OK
> Trying Pm49FL004, 512 KB
> probe_jedec: id1 0x9d, id2 0x6e
> Pm49FL004 found at physical address: 0xfff80000
> Flash part is Pm49FL004 (512 KB)
> Flash image seems to be a legacy BIOS. Disabling checks.
> Programming Page: 0007 at address: 0x00070000
>
> when verifying
> [ning@localhost linuxbios]$ sudo flashrom -c Pm49FL004 --force -v orig.rom
> Calibrating delay loop... ok
> No LinuxBIOS table found.
> Enabling flash write on AMD8111...OK
> Pm49FL004 found at physical address: 0xfff80000
> Flash part is Pm49FL004 (512 KB)
> Flash image seems to be a legacy BIOS. Disabling checks.
> Verifying flash - FAILED

[Stefan Reinauer]

* Ning (Michael) Qu  [070424 21:30]:
> And I check the new content after programming Savior. Only the last
> page are programmed. The total is 8 pages (512K), and only the content
> from 0x70000 is correctly programmed. What's the problem? Is there
> something wrong with flashrom?

Maybe some flash protection that "flashrom" does not know about.
Can you check the datasheet?

[Ning (Michael) Qu]

Thanks! I will check the datasheet of that flashrom and update the status of it.

On 4/24/07, Stefan Reinauer  wrote:
> Ning (Michael) Qu  [070424 21:30]:
> > And I check the new content after programming Savior. Only the last
> > page are programmed. The total is 8 pages (512K), and only the content
> > from 0x70000 is correctly programmed. What's the problem? Is there
> > something wrong with flashrom?
>
> Maybe some flash protection that "flashrom" does not know about.
> Can you check the datasheet?

[Ning (Michael) Qu]

I just checked the datasheet and don't find anything strange.
Furthermore, I find these old threads but it seems that there is no
solution for this problem.

http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.linux.bios/18061/focus=18153
http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.linux.bios/20985

Any more suggestions about my problem? Thanks

On 4/24/07, Stefan Reinauer  wrote:
> Ning (Michael) Qu  [070424 21:30]:
> > And I check the new content after programming Savior. Only the last
> > page are programmed. The total is 8 pages (512K), and only the content
> > from 0x70000 is correctly programmed. What's the problem? Is there
> > something wrong with flashrom?
>
> Maybe some flash protection that "flashrom" does not know about.
> Can you check the datasheet?

[Peter Stuge]

On Tue, Apr 24, 2007 at 09:42:29PM +0200, Stefan Reinauer wrote:
> Ning (Michael) Qu  [070424 21:30]:
> > And I check the new content after programming Savior. Only the
> > last page are programmed. The total is 8 pages (512K), and only
> > the content from 0x70000 is correctly programmed. What's the
> > problem? Is there something wrong with flashrom?
>
> Maybe some flash protection that "flashrom" does not know about.
> Can you check the datasheet?

Yes, this is consistent with the WP# pin being held low on the chip.

--8<-- Pm49LF002-004 V1.8.pdf p5
Write Protect: When pulled low, it enables the hardware write
protection to the memory array except the top bootblock. When pulled
high, it disables hardware write protection.
-->8--

49LF004 has a 64kb top boot block.

If you have a continuity tester, please check if pin 7 (pins are
numbered counter clockwise and pin 1 is the center pin on the side
with a angled top edge) is connected to GND on the mainboard, and/or
if there's a jumper.

You could also check if pin 7 is connected straight through on the
BIOS savior. Maybe they changed their design for some unknown reason.

Oh, and did you try to flash a chip directly on the mainboard? Please
try to write and verify using a few different files.

//Peter

[Ning (Michael) Qu]

Hi,

Thanks very much for your reply! I will check the status of WP pin.
But because the flash chip is embedded in the middle of Savior,
perhaps I can't see it clearly. And I haven't tried to flash a chip
directly on the mainboard because I won't take the risk of failing to
booting the system .....

On 4/24/07, Peter Stuge  wrote:
> On Tue, Apr 24, 2007 at 09:42:29PM +0200, Stefan Reinauer wrote:
> > Ning (Michael) Qu  [070424 21:30]:
> > > And I check the new content after programming Savior. Only the
> > > last page are programmed. The total is 8 pages (512K), and only
> > > the content from 0x70000 is correctly programmed. What's the
> > > problem? Is there something wrong with flashrom?
> >
> > Maybe some flash protection that "flashrom" does not know about.
> > Can you check the datasheet?
>
> Yes, this is consistent with the WP# pin being held low on the chip.
>
> --8<-- Pm49LF002-004 V1.8.pdf p5
> Write Protect: When pulled low, it enables the hardware write
> protection to the memory array except the top bootblock. When pulled
> high, it disables hardware write protection.
> -->8--
>
> 49LF004 has a 64kb top boot block.
>
> If you have a continuity tester, please check if pin 7 (pins are
> numbered counter clockwise and pin 1 is the center pin on the side
> with a angled top edge) is connected to GND on the mainboard, and/or
> if there's a jumper.
>
> You could also check if pin 7 is connected straight through on the
> BIOS savior. Maybe they changed their design for some unknown reason.
>
> Oh, and did you try to flash a chip directly on the mainboard? Please
> try to write and verify using a few different files.
>
> //Peter

[Segher Boessenkool]

> And I check the new content after programming Savior. Only the last
> page are programmed. The total is 8 pages (512K), and only the content
> from 0x70000 is correctly programmed. What's the problem? Is there
> something wrong with flashrom?

What happened to the other pages -- did they retain
the old contents, did the get erased to all-ones but
not programmed right, did they end up with garbage,
did they end up with the logical "and" of the old and
the the new contents?

A simple "it doesn't work" isn't enough to diagnose
your problem, let alone solve it, sorry ;-)

Segher

[Ning (Michael) Qu]

The content of all the other pages are 0xff. And I can't erase the
whole flash chip by -E option. And the last page keep the content I
programmed into.

Peter suggests me that it may be because of WP pin (hardware
protection), but I ca't easily access that pin because of the flash
chip is embedded in the middle of Savior.

Thanks for your help!

On 4/24/07, Segher Boessenkool  wrote:
> > And I check the new content after programming Savior. Only the last
> > page are programmed. The total is 8 pages (512K), and only the content
> > from 0x70000 is correctly programmed. What's the problem? Is there
> > something wrong with flashrom?
>
> What happened to the other pages -- did they retain
> the old contents, did the get erased to all-ones but
> not programmed right, did they end up with garbage,
> did they end up with the logical "and" of the old and
> the the new contents?
>
> A simple "it doesn't work" isn't enough to diagnose
> your problem, let alone solve it, sorry ;-)
>
> Segher

[Segher Boessenkool]

> The content of all the other pages are 0xff. And I can't erase the
> whole flash chip by -E option. And the last page keep the content I
> programmed into.

The contents are 0xff _before_ you ever tried to program
the device?  That means you cannot access those pages at
all.

Typically, on x86 systems, you need to do some setup on
your northbridge first.
> Thanks for your help!

My pleasure.

Segher