Winbond W39V040A seems working

[István Rétallér]

Hi,

it seems I found a working chip with UNTESTED status.
Probing for Winbond W39V040A, 512 KB: probe_jedec_common: id1 0xda, id2 0x3d
Found chip "Winbond W39V040A" (512 KB, LPC) at physical address 0xfff80000.

It was checked in an old NF-7 Abit motherboard as follows:
sudo flashrom -Vr /tmp/backup.bin
The file is attached and seems valid. Some more info about the board:
*-core
    description: Motherboard
    product: NF7-S/NF7,NF7-V (nVidia-nForce2)
    vendor: http://www.abit.com.tw/
    physical id: 0
    version: 2.X,1.0
*-firmware
    description: BIOS
    vendor: Phoenix Technologies, LTD
    physical id: 0
    version: 6.00 PG
    date: 08/19/2004
    size: 128KiB
    capacity: 448KiB

I am ready to try writing as well, but cannot Google appropriate
binarí bios :(
István

A non-text attachment has been stripped:
"backup.bin" is at http://paste.flashrom.org/view.php?id=1168

[Stefan Tauner]

On Sun, 15 Apr 2012 02:06:26 +0200
István Rétallér  wrote:
> Hi,
>
> it seems I found a working chip with UNTESTED status.
> Probing for Winbond W39V040A, 512 KB: probe_jedec_common: id1 0xda, id2 0x3d
> Found chip "Winbond W39V040A" (512 KB, LPC) at physical address 0xfff80000.
>
> It was checked in an old NF-7 Abit motherboard as follows:
> sudo flashrom -Vr /tmp/backup.bin
> The file is attached and seems valid. Some more info about the board:
> *-core
>    description: Motherboard
>    product: NF7-S/NF7,NF7-V (nVidia-nForce2)
>    vendor: http://www.abit.com.tw/
>    physical id: 0
>    version: 2.X,1.0
> *-firmware
>    description: BIOS
>    vendor: Phoenix Technologies, LTD
>    physical id: 0
>    version: 6.00 PG
>    date: 08/19/2004
>    size: 128KiB
>    capacity: 448KiB
>
> I am ready to try writing as well, but cannot Google appropriate
> binarí bios :(
> István
>
> A non-text attachment has been stripped:
> "backup.bin" is at http://paste.flashrom.org/view.php?id=1168

Hello István,

thanks for your report!
The flash chip you mentioned is already marked as tested in the current
version (so please update).
Abit has been bankrupt for quite some time and they eventually shut
down their FTP server. I have backed it up, but apparently the
directories for the NF7 are empty, sorry. :/

[Stefan Tauner]

On Fri, 27 Apr 2012 18:49:18 +0200
István Rétallér  wrote:
> Dear Stefan
> thanks for your feedback. Let me put down my story, it may be useful for others: Not all *.bin files are appropriate to download!
> If you think so, maybe a warning should be done on your site.
> As Abit has disappeared, I downloaded a self-extracting file from a secondary site.
> http://www.updatesdriver.com/download/5918/Abit%20Abit%20NF7%20Bios%20v%2028/Abit%20NF7-M%20Bios%20v%2028/Ab.../
> It contained the BIOS upgrade called nf7_28.BIN and others:
> nf728/RUNME.BAT,1KB,2004-9-29 16:10:52
> nf728/NF7_28.TXT,2KB,2004-9-29 16:14:54
> nf728/nf7_28.BIN,512KB,2004-9-22 17:52:50
> nf728/AWDFLASH.EXE,43KB,2004-3-9 11:44:12
> nf728/ABITFAE.BAT,2KB,2000-12-27 9:59:04
> When as I examined the dump I have found strange that page 0 of the chip consists nearly 0xFF - however still at the beginning there was the "Phoenix BIOS" string exactly as it was written in my chip.
> To be sure about the content I have downloaded it from two fifferent sites, one of them was
> http://www.omicron.hu/?oldal=support&p=/driver-ek/alaplap/abit/nf7/bios/...
> I have forgotten the address of the other site.
> I compared the files of different origins and all of them were bitwise identical. But I was not quiet due to the strange structure and asked a friend of mine about it. I supposed the flash pages are somehow mixed and are mixed back during the flash process.
> He couldn't answer as he always used AWDFLAX.EXE to refresh BIOS, but he also said it seems to be a good BIOS, however the structure is really strange.
>
> So I downloaded it by using flashprog. I have read back and it was ok - until I have tried to reboot. :)))
>
> After a week hunting for another NF7 motherboard I could make my mothherboad work again. (We applied hot-swap chip change.)
>
> So let me suggest you to take a warning to your site:
> Not all *.bin files are appropriate to download!
>
> Let me send my warm congratulation about your work, it is a grea idea and a nice job!

hello again!

so basically flashrom works as intended on the abit nf7? you have
used the wrong file the first time, but were able to recover it with
hot flashing. which file did you use then? the backup, the content of
the flash chip of the second board or some other file? do you know the
exact revision of the board? there should be a sticker near the pci
slots with that information on it.

[Svetoslav Trochev]

Hi
> Abit has been bankrupt for quite some time and they eventually shut
> down their FTP server. I have backed it up, but apparently the
> directories for the NF7 are empty, sorry. :/

Excuse me for interrupting the thread with unrelated info, but because
István problem and Abit shutting down their FTP I thing my info could
be useful to someone in the future.

I scavenged a FWH chip 82802AB from ABIT SE6 board. I am not 100%
sure, but I believe this board worked just fine before I replaced it
long time ago. Never the less I made backup copy of the BIOS: ABIT SE6
- Award 6.00PG - ABIT SoftMenu II.bin
If Stefan don't have better copy I will be happy to "donate" mine.

Thanks,
Svetoslav Trochev

[Stefan Tauner]

On Sat, 28 Apr 2012 13:39:54 +0200
István Rétallér  wrote:
> 2012-04-27 21:03 keltezéssel, Stefan Tauner írta: hello again! so basically flashrom works as intended on the abit nf7? you have used the wrong file the first time, but were able to recover it with hot flashing. which file did you use then? the backup, the content of the flash chip of the second board or some other file? do you know the exact revision of the board? there should be a sticker near the pci slots with that information on it. Hi,
> yes, flashrom works correctly. My problem was caused due to my misinterpretation: I supposed the file named nf7_28.bin providing users to flash motherboard BIOS is a simple binary dump. However its structure didn't match my actual BIOS i have read back, I still suppused it must be good. This wrong idea was supported by two facts:
> 1.  I found from 3 different sources with the same binary content (nf7_28.bin)
> 2.  On my computer I found an old and forgotten file named Nf72_15.bin - int was kept in a directory named bios.
>
> Examining these files I found at 0x7E000 in both file a string: Award BootBlock BIOS and what is strange, my actual bios - read back from the chip - also consisted this string at the same address. So against of the different page0, I said myself it must be a good BIOS.
> But it was a killer....
>
> Then we recovered my computer as follows:
> from another NF7 motherboard inserted a BIOS chip into my motherboard and booted.
> usind flashrom, saved the BIOS content into a file called abit.bin
> Without shitching power off, removed the good BIOS chip and inserted mine.
> usind flashrom again, wrote the chip with the abit.bin file
> verifyed - it was ok
> after rebooting my motherboard was operating
>
> It means flasrom was verified for correct reading, writing and even verify was proven. To let you to examine my theory I have attached 3 files:
> Nf72_15.bin is an old bios, found on my computer. Probably it was even used in the old times, but on classic way, i.e. booting from floppy and using the suggested exe file to download this binary dump.
> nf7_28.bin is probably an appropriate BIOS, but you MUST use the suggested exe file for fresh up the chip.
> If I am right, it means the *.bin files are NOT a straighforward binary dumps, bot are somehow mixed up to be coded. Meanwhile, the suggested exe file acts not only a programmer but it even decodes the scrambled file.
> The attached abit.bin is my actual bios, which was read by flasrom from another chip and was written back to my chip.
>
> So my conclusion is: users should be careful downloading *.bin files found on the internet, because they seem to be coded and your innocent flashrom will be suspected if somebody kills his motherboard - as I did. Flashrom is correct, but if it fed by stupidity, it writes stupidity - so simple.
>
> The revision code is NF7-S v2.0
> Cheers, Istvan
>
> Non-text attachments have been stripped:
> nf7_28.bin at http://paste.flashrom.org/view.php?id=1177
> Nf72_15.bin at http://paste.flashrom.org/view.php?id=1178
> abit.bin at http://paste.flashrom.org/view.php?id=1179

ok, everything's clear now. it is very important to use the correct
binary for any mainboard respectively.

i have archived the files for the nf7-s 2.0. the last published
revision "NF7D_27.BIN" is contained in a file named "nf7d27.exe" and
has a md5sum of 55b29d54d8095c3ac94c8d25fa1772fe.