[flashrom] flashrom 9.6 read error

[Stefan Tauner]

On Wed, 29 Aug 2012 09:22:58 +0000
<jayasree.chakravarthy at wipro.com> wrote:

> Hello,
> 
> This is regarding the issue on flashrom tool read error.  When we try to read/write/erase the bios image by using the below command, we are getting the transaction error opcode 0x03 failed. None of the flashrom command were working.
> Flashrom -p internal:ich_spi_force=yes  -r   a.bin
> 
> Winbond chip: W25Q64, Rhel 6.0 OS, Please find attached the log.
> 
> Is there any patch available to unlock the ME region?
> Could you please help us to resolve this issue?

Hello Jayasree,

We are working on unlocking it, but intel does not provide us any
documentation so please do not expect a solution soon.

Flashrom can do partial writes (e.g. it could update just the BIOS
region) by using layout files (see manpage). The problem is that there
is no way for flashrom to tell if updating the BIOS region is enough or
if that would brick the board. The reason is that the ME is a small
embedded processor inside the chipset of the board that has full
access to all components and different versions of its firmware (which
is stored in the ME region) might require different versions of the
BIOS and vice versa. You need to get that information from the mainboard
vendor or use the vendor tools for updating, sorry.
-- 
Kind regards/Mit freundlichen Grüßen, Stefan Tauner