Question about the EC code - flashrom

16 Nov 2011


      Hi flashrom people,
Reading the wiki, I understood the basics about the laptops ECs.
A friend brought to me a bricked Clevo M540SE/M550SE (main board
"6-71-M5E50-D02A") after an unsuccessful BIOS upgrade. He used these
two files:
ftp://usftp.clevo.com.tw/ALLBIOS/M5xxSE/M5xSE_H805.zip
ftp://usftp.clevo.com.tw/ALLBIOS/M5xxSE/M5xSE_13.zip
(he found the files in this forum:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/416916-clevo-bios-thread-55.html
)
The first file is the "EC update", which need to be updated before que
second one, the BIOS itself. What I do not understand is why the EC
code is separated. According to what I understand, the EC code is part
of BIOS image and the update utility needs some voodoo work to put the
EC in a "loop", update the flash chip and then put the EC into
operation again.
It is an old laptop, with a soldered PLCC-32 chip (I do not remember
the exact model now, but it is a plain SST 512KB LPC chip). If I put a
socket in the laptop and program the chip with the WPH file (second
link) via hot swap using a desktop board (same flash voltage, bus)
will it work?
Marcos