Re: [cobalt-developers] eeprom programmers

[Tim Hockin <thockin@xxxxxxx>]

Gerald Waugh wrote:

> > I'm sorry, I don't know of fthe top of my head.  I've always used a RaQ4
> > as an in-circuit programmer.  If you have a good soldering hand, you can
> > attach a socket to your RaQ :)
>
>
>   I have a heat gun and some solder paste!
>
>   Tell me more?
>   Do you use the flash tool?

ok, here is the deal.  This is NOT supported by Cobalt, your warranty is 
void, and you may actually damage the hardware.  You need VERY good 
soldering ability and you only get one shot at it.  You'll need a small 
supply of flash chips (I reccomend the AMD - much more robust than the 
Intel) and at least one chip pre-programmed, probably.  You can get the 
flip-top sockets at most electronics houses, I think.

1) open the system
2) find the flash chip
3) remove the flash chip - CAREFULLY.  If you can salvage the chip, good 
for you.  If you can't, at least don't damage the board.  Make note of 
pin-1 alignment.
4) solder on the socket - THIS IS NOT EASY - there is a good chance that 
if you screw it up, you will damage the board.  The 40 pin TSOP is VERY 
SMALL.
5) put in the pre-programmed flash chip

Caveat:  If you put the flash chip in the wrong driection, you WILL 
destroy the chip and possibly the board.  Trust me. I know.

6) boot
7) once you are into the kernel, you are no longer accessing the flash 
chip.  You can open the socket and put a new flash chip in.  See caveat 
above.
8) program it with flashtool
9) reboot

Now, there is a chance that you will discharge static during the process 
and zap the chip.  Intel chips seem more fragile than AMD one.  If 
you're smart you'll wear a wrist strap.

This hot-swap is NOT SUPPORTED, I repeat NOT SUPPORTED.  If you don't 
know what you're doing, DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS.  That said, this is how I 
and some others here developed the firmware from RaQ3 through RaQ550.

Tim
--
Tim Hockin
Systems Software Engineer
Sun Microsystems, Linux Kernel Engineering
thockin@xxxxxxx