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FLASHROM(8) |
2019-12-31 |
FLASHROM(8) |
flashrom - detect, read, write, verify and erase flash chips
flashrom [-h|-R|-L|-z|
-p <programmername>[:<parameters>] [-c
<chipname>]
(--flash-name|--flash-size|
[-E|-r <file>|-w <file>|-v
<file>]
[(-l <file>|--ifd| --fmap|--fmap-file
<file>) [-i <image>]]
[-n] [-N] [-f])]
[-V[V[V]]] [-o <logfile>]
flashrom is a utility for detecting, reading, writing, verifying and
erasing flash chips. It's often used to flash BIOS/EFI/coreboot/firmware
images in-system using a supported mainboard. However, it also supports
various external PCI/USB/parallel-port/serial-port based devices which can
program flash chips, including some network cards (NICs), SATA/IDE controller
cards, graphics cards, the Bus Pirate device, various FTDI
FT2232/FT4232H/FT232H based USB devices, and more.
It supports a wide range of DIP32, PLCC32, DIP8, SO8/SOIC8,
TSOP32, TSOP40, TSOP48, and BGA chips, which use various protocols such as
LPC, FWH, parallel flash, or SPI.
IMPORTANT: Please note that the command line interface for flashrom will
change before flashrom 1.0. Do not use flashrom in scripts or other automated
tools without checking that your flashrom version won't interpret options in a
different way.
You can specify one of -h, -R, -L, -z,
-E, -r, -w, -v or no operation. If no operation
is specified, flashrom will only probe for flash chips. It is recommended
that if you try flashrom the first time on a system, you run it in
probe-only mode and check the output. Also you are advised to make a backup
of your current ROM contents with -r before you try to write a new
image. All operations involving any chip access (probe/read/write/...)
require the -p/--programmer option to be used (please see below).
- -r, --read <file>
- Read flash ROM contents and save them into the given <file>.
If the file already exists, it will be overwritten.
- -w, --write <file>
- Write <file> into flash ROM. This will first automatically
erase the chip, then write to it.
In the process the chip is also read several times. First an
in-memory backup is made for disaster recovery and to be able to skip
regions that are already equal to the image file. This copy is updated
along with the write operation. In case of erase errors it is even
re-read completely. After writing has finished and if verification is
enabled, the whole flash chip is read out and compared with the input
image.
- -n, --noverify
- Skip the automatic verification of flash ROM contents after writing. Using
this option is not recommended, you should only use it if you know
what you are doing and if you feel that the time for verification takes
too long.
Typical usage is: flashrom -p prog -n -w
<file>
This option is only useful in combination with
--write.
- -N, --noverify-all
- Skip not included regions during automatic verification after writing (cf.
-l and -i). You should only use this option if you are sure
that communication with the flash chip is reliable (e.g. when using the
internal programmer). Even if flashrom is instructed not to touch
parts of the flash chip, their contents could be damaged (e.g. due to
misunderstood erase commands).
This option is required to flash an Intel system with locked
ME flash region using the internal programmer. It may be enabled
by default in this case in the future.
- -v, --verify <file>
- Verify the flash ROM contents against the given <file>.
- -E, --erase
- Erase the flash ROM chip.
- -V, --verbose
- More verbose output. This option can be supplied multiple times (max. 3
times, i.e. -VVV) for even more debug output.
- -c, --chip <chipname>
- Probe only for the specified flash ROM chip. This option takes the chip
name as printed by flashrom -L without the vendor name as
parameter. Please note that the chip name is case sensitive.
- -f, --force
- Force one or more of the following actions:
* Force chip read and pretend the chip is there.
* Force chip access even if the chip is bigger than the
maximum supported size for the flash bus.
* Force erase even if erase is known bad.
* Force write even if write is known bad.
- -l, --layout <file>
- Read ROM layout from <file>.
flashrom supports ROM layouts. This allows you to flash
certain parts of the flash chip only. A ROM layout file contains
multiple lines with the following syntax:
startaddr:endaddr imagename
startaddr and endaddr are hexadecimal addresses
within the ROM file and do not refer to any physical address. Please
note that using a 0x prefix for those hexadecimal numbers is not
necessary, but you can't specify decimal/octal numbers. imagename
is an arbitrary name for the region/image from startaddr to
endaddr (both addresses included).
Example:
00000000:00008fff gfxrom
00009000:0003ffff normal
00040000:0007ffff fallback
If you only want to update the image named normal in a
ROM based on the layout above, run
flashrom -p prog --layout rom.layout --image normal -w
some.rom
To update only the images named normal and
fallback, run:
flashrom -p prog -l rom.layout -i normal -i fallback -w
some.rom
Overlapping sections are not supported.
- --fmap
- Read layout from fmap in flash chip.
flashrom supports the fmap binary format which is commonly
used by coreboot for partitioning a flash chip. The on-chip fmap will be
read and used to generate the layout.
If you only want to update the COREBOOT region defined
in the fmap, run
flashrom -p prog --fmap --image COREBOOT -w
some.rom
- --fmap-file <file>
- Read layout from a <file> containing binary fmap (e.g.
coreboot roms).
flashrom supports the fmap binary format which is commonly
used by coreboot for partitioning a flash chip. The fmap in the
specified file will be read and used to generate the layout.
If you only want to update the COREBOOT region defined
in the binary fmap file, run
flashrom -p prog --fmap-file some.rom --image COREBOOT -w
some.rom
- --ifd
- Read ROM layout from Intel Firmware Descriptor.
flashrom supports ROM layouts given by an Intel Firmware
Descriptor (IFD). The on-chip descriptor will be read and used to
generate the layout. If you need to change the layout, you have to
update the IFD only first.
The following ROM images may be present in an IFD:
fd the IFD itself
bios the host firmware aka. BIOS
me Intel Management Engine firmware
gbe gigabit ethernet firmware
pd platform specific data
- -i, --image <imagename>
- Only flash region/image <imagename> from flash layout.
- --flash-name
- Prints out the detected flash chips name.
- --flash-size
- Prints out the detected flash chips size.
- -L, --list-supported
- List the flash chips, chipsets, mainboards, and external programmers
(including PCI, USB, parallel port, and serial port based devices)
supported by flashrom.
There are many unlisted boards which will work out of the box,
without special support in flashrom. Please let us know if you can
verify that other boards work or do not work out of the box.
IMPORTANT: For verification you have to test an ERASE
and/or WRITE operation, so make sure you only do that if you have proper
means to recover from failure!
- -z, --list-supported-wiki
- Same as --list-supported, but outputs the supported hardware in
MediaWiki syntax, so that it can be easily pasted into the supported
hardware wiki page
⟨https://flashrom.org/Supported_hardware⟩. Please
note that MediaWiki output is not compiled in by default.
- -p, --programmer
<name>[:parameter[,parameter[,parameter]]]
- Specify the programmer device. This is mandatory for all operations
involving any chip access (probe/read/write/...). Currently supported are:
* internal (for in-system flashing in the
mainboard)
* dummy (virtual programmer for testing flashrom)
* nic3com (for flash ROMs on 3COM network cards)
* nicrealtek (for flash ROMs on Realtek and SMC 1211
network cards)
* nicnatsemi (for flash ROMs on National Semiconductor
DP838* network cards)
* nicintel (for parallel flash ROMs on Intel 10/100Mbit
network cards)
* gfxnvidia (for flash ROMs on NVIDIA graphics
cards)
* drkaiser (for flash ROMs on Dr. Kaiser PC-Waechter
PCI cards)
* satasii (for flash ROMs on Silicon Image SATA/IDE
controllers)
* satamv (for flash ROMs on Marvell SATA
controllers)
* atahpt (for flash ROMs on Highpoint ATA/RAID
controllers)
* atavia (for flash ROMs on VIA VT6421A SATA
controllers)
* atapromise (for flash ROMs on Promise PDC2026x
ATA/RAID controllers)
* it8212 (for flash ROMs on ITE IT8212F ATA/RAID
controller)
* ft2232_spi (for SPI flash ROMs attached to an
FT2232/FT4232H/FT232H family based USB SPI programmer).
* serprog (for flash ROMs attached to a programmer
speaking serprog, including some Arduino-based devices).
* buspirate_spi (for SPI flash ROMs attached to a Bus
Pirate)
* dediprog (for SPI flash ROMs attached to a Dediprog
SF100)
* rayer_spi (for SPI flash ROMs attached to a parallel
port by one of various cable types)
* pony_spi (for SPI flash ROMs attached to a SI-Prog
serial port bitbanging adapter)
* nicintel_spi (for SPI flash ROMs on Intel Gigabit
network cards)
* ogp_spi (for SPI flash ROMs on Open Graphics Project
graphics card)
* linux_mtd (for SPI flash ROMs accessible via
/dev/mtdX on Linux)
* linux_spi (for SPI flash ROMs accessible via
/dev/spidevX.Y on Linux)
* usbblaster_spi (for SPI flash ROMs attached to an
Altera USB-Blaster compatible cable)
* nicintel_eeprom (for SPI EEPROMs on Intel Gigabit
network cards)
* mstarddc_spi (for SPI flash ROMs accessible through
DDC in MSTAR-equipped displays)
* pickit2_spi (for SPI flash ROMs accessible via
Microchip PICkit2)
* ch341a_spi (for SPI flash ROMs attached to WCH
CH341A)
* digilent_spi (for SPI flash ROMs attached to
iCEblink40 development boards)
* jlink_spi (for SPI flash ROMs attached to SEGGER
J-Link and compatible devices)
* ni845x_spi (for SPI flash ROMs attached to National
Instruments USB-8451 or USB-8452)
* stlinkv3_spi (for SPI flash ROMs attached to
STMicroelectronics STLINK V3 devices)
Some programmers have optional or mandatory parameters which
are described in detail in the PROGRAMMER-SPECIFIC INFORMATION
section. Support for some programmers can be disabled at compile time.
flashrom -h lists all supported programmers.
- -h, --help
- Show a help text and exit.
- -o, --output <logfile>
- Save the full debug log to <logfile>. If the file already
exists, it will be overwritten. This is the recommended way to gather logs
from flashrom because they will be verbose even if the on-screen messages
are not verbose and don't require output redirection.
- -R, --version
- Show version information and exit.
Some programmer drivers accept further parameters to set programmer-specific
parameters. These parameters are separated from the programmer name by a
colon. While some programmers take arguments at fixed positions, other
programmers use a key/value interface in which the key and value is separated
by an equal sign and different pairs are separated by a comma or a colon.
internal programmer
- Board Enables
-
Some mainboards require to run mainboard specific code to
enable flash erase and write support (and probe support on old systems
with parallel flash). The mainboard brand and model (if it requires
specific code) is usually autodetected using one of the following
mechanisms: If your system is running coreboot, the mainboard type is
determined from the coreboot table. Otherwise, the mainboard is detected
by examining the onboard PCI devices and possibly DMI info. If PCI and
DMI do not contain information to uniquely identify the mainboard (which
is the exception), or if you want to override the detected mainboard
model, you can specify the mainboard using the
flashrom -p
internal:mainboard=<vendor>:<board> syntax.
See the 'Known boards' or 'Known laptops' section in the
output of 'flashrom -L' for a list of boards which require the
specification of the board name, if no coreboot table is found.
Some of these board-specific flash enabling functions (called
board enables) in flashrom have not yet been tested. If your
mainboard is detected needing an untested board enable function, a
warning message is printed and the board enable is not executed, because
a wrong board enable function might cause the system to behave
erratically, as board enable functions touch the low-level internals of
a mainboard. Not executing a board enable function (if one is needed)
might cause detection or erasing failure. If your board protects only
part of the flash (commonly the top end, called boot block), flashrom
might encounter an error only after erasing the unprotected part, so
running without the board-enable function might be dangerous for erase
and write (which includes erase).
The suggested procedure for a mainboard with untested board
specific code is to first try to probe the ROM (just invoke flashrom and
check that it detects your flash chip type) without running the board
enable code (i.e. without any parameters). If it finds your chip, fine.
Otherwise, retry probing your chip with the board-enable code running,
using
flashrom -p internal:boardenable=force
If your chip is still not detected, the board enable code
seems to be broken or the flash chip unsupported. Otherwise, make a
backup of your current ROM contents (using -r) and store it to a
medium outside of your computer, like a USB drive or a network share. If
you needed to run the board enable code already for probing, use it for
reading too. If reading succeeds and the contens of the read file look
legit you can try to write the new image. You should enable the board
enable code in any case now, as it has been written because it is known
that writing/erasing without the board enable is going to fail. In any
case (success or failure), please report to the flashrom mailing list,
see below.
- Coreboot
-
On systems running coreboot, flashrom checks whether the
desired image matches your mainboard. This needs some special board ID
to be present in the image. If flashrom detects that the image you want
to write and the current board do not match, it will refuse to write the
image unless you specify
flashrom -p internal:boardmismatch=force
- ITE IT87 Super I/O
-
If your mainboard is manufactured by GIGABYTE and supports
DualBIOS it is very likely that it uses an ITE IT87 series Super I/O to
switch between the two flash chips. Only one of them can be accessed at
a time and you can manually select which one to use with the
flashrom -p internal:dualbiosindex=chip
syntax where chip is the index of the chip to use (0 =
main, 1 = backup). You can check which one is currently selected by
leaving out the chip parameter.
If your mainboard uses an ITE IT87 series Super I/O for
LPC<->SPI flash bus translation, flashrom should autodetect that
configuration. If you want to set the I/O base port of the IT87 series
SPI controller manually instead of using the value provided by the BIOS,
use the
flashrom -p internal:it87spiport=portnum
syntax where portnum is the I/O port number (must be a
multiple of 8). In the unlikely case flashrom doesn't detect an active
IT87 LPC<->SPI bridge, please send a bug report so we can diagnose
the problem.
- AMD chipsets
-
Beginning with the SB700 chipset there is an integrated
microcontroller (IMC) based on the 8051 embedded in every AMD
southbridge. Its firmware resides in the same flash chip as the host's
which makes writing to the flash risky if the IMC is active. Flashrom
tries to temporarily disable the IMC but even then changing the contents
of the flash can have unwanted effects: when the IMC continues (at the
latest after a reboot) it will continue executing code from the flash.
If the code was removed or changed in an unfortunate way it is
unpredictable what the IMC will do. Therefore, if flashrom detects an
active IMC it will disable write support unless the user forces it with
the
flashrom -p internal:amd_imc_force=yes
syntax. The user is responsible for supplying a suitable image
or leaving out the IMC region with the help of a layout file. This
limitation might be removed in the future when we understand the details
better and have received enough feedback from users. Please report the
outcome if you had to use this option to write a chip.
An optional spispeed parameter specifies the frequency
of the SPI bus where applicable (i.e. SB600 or later with an SPI flash
chip directly attached to the chipset). Syntax is
flashrom -p internal:spispeed=frequency
where frequency can be '16.5 MHz',
'22 MHz', '33 MHz', '66 MHz',
'100 MHZ', or '800 kHz'. Support of
individual frequencies depends on the generation of the chipset:
* SB6xx, SB7xx, SP5xxx: from 16.5 MHz up to and including 33
MHz
* SB8xx, SB9xx, Hudson: from 16.5 MHz up to and including 66
MHz
* Yangtze (with SPI 100 engine as found in Kabini and Tamesh):
all of them
The default is to use 16.5 MHz and disable Fast Reads.
- Intel chipsets
-
If you have an Intel chipset with an ICH8 or later southbridge
with SPI flash attached, and if a valid descriptor was written to it
(e.g. by the vendor), the chipset provides an alternative way to access
the flash chip(s) named Hardware Sequencing. It is much simpler
than the normal access method (called Software Sequencing), but
does not allow the software to choose the SPI commands to be sent. You
can use the
flashrom -p internal:ich_spi_mode=value
syntax where value can be auto, swseq or
hwseq. By default (or when setting ich_spi_mode=auto) the
module tries to use swseq and only activates hwseq if need be (e.g. if
important opcodes are inaccessible due to lockdown; or if more than one
flash chip is attached). The other options (swseq, hwseq) select the
respective mode (if possible).
ICH8 and later southbridges may also have locked address
ranges of different kinds if a valid descriptor was written to it. The
flash address space is then partitioned in multiple so called
"Flash Regions" containing the host firmware, the ME firmware
and so on respectively. The flash descriptor can also specify up to 5 so
called "Protected Regions", which are freely chosen address
ranges independent from the aforementioned "Flash Regions".
All of them can be write and/or read protected individually.
If you have an Intel chipset with an ICH2 or later southbridge
and if you want to set specific IDSEL values for a non-default flash
chip or an embedded controller (EC), you can use the
flashrom -p internal:fwh_idsel=value
syntax where value is the 48-bit hexadecimal raw value
to be written in the IDSEL registers of the Intel southbridge. The upper
32 bits use one hex digit each per 512 kB range between 0xffc00000 and
0xffffffff, and the lower 16 bits use one hex digit each per 1024 kB
range between 0xff400000 and 0xff7fffff. The rightmost hex digit
corresponds with the lowest address range. All address ranges have a
corresponding sister range 4 MB below with identical IDSEL settings. The
default value for ICH7 is given in the example below.
Example: flashrom -p
internal:fwh_idsel=0x001122334567
- Laptops
-
Using flashrom on older laptops that don't boot from the SPI
bus is dangerous and may easily make your hardware unusable (see also
the BUGS section). The embedded controller (EC) in some machines
may interact badly with flashing. More information is in the wiki
⟨https://flashrom.org/Laptops⟩. Problems occur when
the flash chip is shared between BIOS and EC firmware, and the latter
does not expect flashrom to access the chip. While flashrom tries to
change the contents of that memory the EC might need to fetch new
instructions or data from it and could stop working correctly. Probing
for and reading from the chip may also irritate your EC and cause fan
failure, backlight failure, sudden poweroff, and other nasty effects.
flashrom will attempt to detect if it is running on such a laptop and
limit probing to SPI buses. If you want to probe the LPC bus anyway at
your own risk, use
flashrom -p internal:laptop=force_I_want_a_brick
We will not help you if you force flashing on a laptop because
this is a really dumb idea.
You have been warned.
Currently we rely on the chassis type encoded in the
DMI/SMBIOS data to detect laptops. Some vendors did not implement those
bits correctly or set them to generic and/or dummy values. flashrom will
then issue a warning and restrict buses like above. In this case you can
use
flashrom -p internal:laptop=this_is_not_a_laptop
to tell flashrom (at your own risk) that it is not running on
a laptop.
dummy programmer
- The dummy programmer operates on a buffer in memory only. It provides a
safe and fast way to test various aspects of flashrom and is mainly used
in development and while debugging. It is able to emulate some chips to a
certain degree (basic identify/read/erase/write operations work).
An optional parameter specifies the bus types it should
support. For that you have to use the
flashrom -p dummy:bus=[type[+type[+type]]]
syntax where type can be parallel, lpc,
fwh, spi in any order. If you specify bus without type,
all buses will be disabled. If you do not specify bus, all buses will be
enabled.
Example: flashrom -p dummy:bus=lpc+fwh
The dummy programmer supports flash chip emulation for
automated self-tests without hardware access. If you want to emulate a
flash chip, use the
flashrom -p dummy:emulate=chip
syntax where chip is one of the following chips (please
specify only the chip name, not the vendor):
* ST M25P10.RES SPI flash chip (128 kB, RES, page
write)
* SST SST25VF040.REMS SPI flash chip (512 kB, REMS,
byte write)
* SST SST25VF032B SPI flash chip (4096 kB, RDID, AAI
write)
* Macronix MX25L6436 SPI flash chip (8192 kB, RDID,
SFDP)
Example: flashrom -p dummy:emulate=SST25VF040.REMS
- Persistent images
-
If you use flash chip emulation, flash image persistence is
available as well by using the
flashrom -p dummy:emulate=chip,image=image.rom
syntax where image.rom is the file where the simulated
chip contents are read on flashrom startup and where the chip contents
on flashrom shutdown are written to.
Example: flashrom -p
dummy:emulate=M25P10.RES,image=dummy.bin
- SPI write chunk size
-
If you use SPI flash chip emulation for a chip which supports
SPI page write with the default opcode, you can set the maximum allowed
write chunk size with the
flashrom -p
dummy:emulate=chip,spi_write_256_chunksize=size
syntax where size is the number of bytes (min. 1, max.
256).
Example:
flashrom -p
dummy:emulate=M25P10.RES,spi_write_256_chunksize=5
- SPI blacklist
-
To simulate a programmer which refuses to send certain SPI
commands to the flash chip, you can specify a blacklist of SPI commands
with the
flashrom -p dummy:spi_blacklist=commandlist
syntax where commandlist is a list of two-digit
hexadecimal representations of SPI commands. If commandlist is e.g.
0302, flashrom will behave as if the SPI controller refuses to run
command 0x03 (READ) and command 0x02 (WRITE). commandlist may be up to
512 characters (256 commands) long. Implementation note: flashrom will
detect an error during command execution.
- SPI ignorelist
-
To simulate a flash chip which ignores (doesn't support)
certain SPI commands, you can specify an ignorelist of SPI commands with
the
flashrom -p dummy:spi_ignorelist=commandlist
syntax where commandlist is a list of two-digit
hexadecimal representations of SPI commands. If commandlist is e.g.
0302, the emulated flash chip will ignore command 0x03 (READ) and
command 0x02 (WRITE). commandlist may be up to 512 characters (256
commands) long. Implementation note: flashrom won't detect an error
during command execution.
- SPI status register
-
You can specify the initial content of the chip's status
register with the
flashrom -p dummy:spi_status=content
syntax where content is an 8-bit hexadecimal value.
nic3com, nicrealtek, nicnatsemi,
nicintel, nicintel_eeprom, nicintel_spi,
gfxnvidia, ogp_spi, drkaiser, satasii,
satamv, atahpt, atavia , atapromise and it8212
programmers
- These programmers have an option to specify the PCI address of the card
your want to use, which must be specified if more than one card supported
by the selected programmer is installed in your system. The syntax is
flashrom -p xxxx:pci=bb:dd.f,
where xxxx is the name of the programmer, bb is
the PCI bus number, dd is the PCI device number, and f is
the PCI function number of the desired device.
Example: flashrom -p nic3com:pci=05:04.0
atavia programmer
- Due to the mysterious address handling of the VIA VT6421A controller the
user can specify an offset with the
flashrom -p atavia:offset=addr
syntax where addr will be interpreted as usual (leading
0x (0) for hexadecimal (octal) values, or else decimal). For more
information please see its wiki page
⟨https://flashrom.org/VT6421A⟩.
atapromise programmer
- This programmer is currently limited to 32 kB, regardless of the actual
size of the flash chip. This stems from the fact that, on the tested
device (a Promise Ultra100), not all of the chip's address lines were
actually connected. You may use this programmer to flash firmware updates,
since these are only 16 kB in size (padding to 32 kB is required).
nicintel_eeprom programmer
- This is the first programmer module in flashrom that does not provide
access to NOR flash chips but EEPROMs mounted on gigabit Ethernet cards
based on Intel's 82580 NIC. Because EEPROMs normally do not announce their
size nor allow themselves to be identified, the controller relies on
correct size values written to predefined addresses within the chip.
Flashrom follows this scheme but assumes the minimum size of 16 kB (128
kb) if an unprogrammed EEPROM/card is detected. Intel specifies following
EEPROMs to be compatible: Atmel AT25128, AT25256, Micron (ST) M95128,
M95256 and OnSemi (Catalyst) CAT25CS128.
ft2232_spi programmer
- This module supports various programmers based on FTDI
FT2232/FT4232H/FT232H chips including the DLP Design DLP-USB1232H,
openbiosprog-spi, Amontec JTAGkey/JTAGkey-tiny/JTAGkey-2, Dangerous
Prototypes Bus Blaster, Olimex ARM-USB-TINY/-H, Olimex ARM-USB-OCD/-H,
OpenMoko Neo1973 Debug board (V2+), TIAO/DIYGADGET USB Multi-Protocol
Adapter (TUMPA), TUMPA Lite, GOEPEL PicoTAP, Google Servo v1/v2 and Tin
Can Tools Flyswatter/Flyswatter 2.
An optional parameter specifies the controller type,
channel/interface/port and GPIO-based chip select it should support. For
that you have to use the
flashrom -p
ft2232_spi:type=model,port=interface,csgpiol=gpio
syntax where model can be 2232H, 4232H,
232H, jtagkey, busblaster, openmoko,
arm-usb-tiny, arm-usb-tiny-h, arm-usb-ocd,
arm-usb-ocd-h, tumpa, tumpalite, picotap,
google-servo, google-servo-v2 or
google-servo-v2-legacy interface can be A,
B, C, or D and csgpiol can be a number
between 0 and 3, denoting GPIOL0-GPIOL3 correspondingly. The default
model is 4232H the default interface is A and GPIO is not
used by default.
If there is more than one ft2232_spi-compatible device
connected, you can select which one should be used by specifying its
serial number with the
flashrom -p ft2232_spi:serial=number
syntax where number is the serial number of the device
(which can be found for example in the output of lsusb -v).
All models supported by the ft2232_spi driver can configure
the SPI clock rate by setting a divisor. The expressible divisors are
all even numbers between 2 and 2^17 (=131072) resulting in SPI
clock frequencies of 6 MHz down to about 92 Hz for 12 MHz inputs. The
default divisor is set to 2, but you can use another one by specifying
the optional divisor parameter with the
flashrom -p ft2232_spi:divisor=div
syntax.
serprog programmer
- This module supports all programmers speaking the serprog protocol. This
includes some Arduino-based devices as well as various programmers by Urja
Rannikko, Juhana Helovuo, Stefan Tauner, Chi Zhang and many others.
A mandatory parameter specifies either a serial device (and
baud rate) or an IP/port combination for communicating with the
programmer. The device/baud combination has to start with dev=
and separate the optional baud rate with a colon. For example
flashrom -p serprog:dev=/dev/ttyS0:115200
If no baud rate is given the default values by the operating
system/hardware will be used. For IP connections you have to use the
flashrom -p serprog:ip=ipaddr:port
syntax. In case the device supports it, you can set the SPI
clock frequency with the optional spispeed parameter. The
frequency is parsed as hertz, unless an M, or k suffix is
given, then megahertz or kilohertz are used respectively. Example that
sets the frequency to 2 MHz:
flashrom -p
serprog:dev=/dev/device:baud,spispeed=2M
More information about serprog is available in
serprog-protocol.txt in the source distribution.
buspirate_spi programmer
- A required dev parameter specifies the Bus Pirate device node and
an optional spispeed parameter specifies the frequency of the SPI
bus. The parameter delimiter is a comma. Syntax is
flashrom -p
buspirate_spi:dev=/dev/device,spispeed=frequency
where frequency can be 30k, 125k,
250k, 1M, 2M, 2.6M, 4M or 8M
(in Hz). The default is the maximum frequency of 8 MHz.
The baud rate for communication between the host and the Bus
Pirate can be specified with the optional serialspeed parameter.
Syntax is
flashrom -p buspirate_spi:serialspeed=baud
where baud can be 115200, 230400,
250000 or 2000000 (2M). The default is 2M baud for
Bus Pirate hardware version 3.0 and greater, and 115200 otherwise.
An optional pullups parameter specifies the use of the Bus
Pirate internal pull-up resistors. This may be needed if you are working
with a flash ROM chip that you have physically removed from the board.
Syntax is
flashrom -p buspirate_spi:pullups=state
where state can be on or off. More
information about the Bus Pirate pull-up resistors and their purpose is
available in a guide by dangerousprototypes
⟨http://dangerousprototypes.com/docs/Practical_guide_to_Bus_Pirate_pull-up_resistors⟩.
Only the external supply voltage (Vpu) is supported as of this
writing.
pickit2_spi programmer
- An optional voltage parameter specifies the voltage the PICkit2
should use. The default unit is Volt if no unit is specified. You can use
mV, millivolt, V or Volt as unit specifier.
Syntax is
flashrom -p pickit2_spi:voltage=value
where value can be 0V, 1.8V, 2.5V,
3.5V or the equivalent in mV.
An optional spispeed parameter specifies the frequency
of the SPI bus. Syntax is
flashrom -p pickit2_spi:spispeed=frequency
where frequency can be 250k, 333k,
500k or 1M (in Hz). The default is a frequency of 1
MHz.
dediprog programmer
- An optional voltage parameter specifies the voltage the Dediprog
should use. The default unit is Volt if no unit is specified. You can use
mV, milliVolt, V or Volt as unit specifier.
Syntax is
flashrom -p dediprog:voltage=value
where value can be 0V, 1.8V, 2.5V,
3.5V or the equivalent in mV.
An optional device parameter specifies which of
multiple connected Dediprog devices should be used. Please be aware that
the order depends on libusb's usb_get_busses() function and that the
numbering starts at 0. Usage example to select the second device:
flashrom -p dediprog:device=1
An optional spispeed parameter specifies the frequency
of the SPI bus. The firmware on the device needs to be 5.0.0 or newer.
Syntax is
flashrom -p dediprog:spispeed=frequency
where frequency can be 375k, 750k,
1.5M, 2.18M, 3M, 8M, 12M or
24M (in Hz). The default is a frequency of 12 MHz.
An optional target parameter specifies which target
chip should be used. Syntax is
flashrom -p dediprog:target=value
where value can be 1 or 2 to select
target chip 1 or 2 respectively. The default is target chip 1.
rayer_spi programmer
- The default I/O base address used for the parallel port is 0x378 and you
can use the optional iobase parameter to specify an alternate base
I/O address with the
flashrom -p rayer_spi:iobase=baseaddr
syntax where baseaddr is base I/O port address of the
parallel port, which must be a multiple of four. Make sure to not forget
the "0x" prefix for hexadecimal port addresses.
The default cable type is the RayeR cable. You can use the
optional type parameter to specify the cable type with the
flashrom -p rayer_spi:type=model
syntax where model can be rayer for the RayeR
cable, byteblastermv for the Altera ByteBlasterMV, stk200
for the Atmel STK200/300, wiggler for the Macraigor Wiggler,
xilinx for the Xilinx Parallel Cable III (DLC 5), or
spi_tt for SPI Tiny Tools-compatible hardware.
More information about the RayeR hardware is available at
RayeR's website
⟨http://rayer.g6.cz/elektro/spipgm.htm⟩. The Altera
ByteBlasterMV datasheet can be obtained from Altera
⟨http://www.altera.co.jp/literature/ds/dsbytemv.pdf⟩.
For more information about the Macraigor Wiggler see their company
homepage ⟨http://www.macraigor.com/wiggler.htm⟩.
The schematic of the Xilinx DLC 5 was published in a Xilinx user guide
⟨http://www.xilinx.com/support/documentation/user_guides/xtp029.pdf⟩.
pony_spi programmer
- The serial port (like /dev/ttyS0, /dev/ttyUSB0 on Linux or COM3 on
windows) is specified using the mandatory dev parameter. The
adapter type is selectable between SI-Prog (used for SPI devices with
PonyProg 2000) or a custom made serial bitbanging programmer named
"serbang". The optional type parameter accepts the values
"si_prog" (default) or "serbang".
Information about the SI-Prog adapter can be found at its
website ⟨http://www.lancos.com/siprogsch.html⟩.
An example call to flashrom is
flashrom -p pony_spi:dev=/dev/ttyS0,type=serbang
Please note that while USB-to-serial adapters work under
certain circumstances, this slows down operation considerably.
ogp_spi programmer
- The flash ROM chip to access must be specified with the rom
parameter.
flashrom -p ogp_spi:rom=name
Where name is either cprom or s3 for the
configuration ROM and bprom or bios for the BIOS ROM. If
more than one card supported by the ogp_spi programmer is installed in
your system, you have to specify the PCI address of the card you want to
use with the pci= parameter as explained in the nic3com et
al. section above.
linux_mtd programmer
- You may specify the MTD device to use with the
flashrom -p linux_mtd:dev=/dev/mtdX
syntax where /dev/mtdX is the Linux device node for
your MTD device. If left unspecified the first MTD device found (e.g.
/dev/mtd0) will be used by default.
Please note that the linux_mtd driver only works on Linux.
linux_spi programmer
- You have to specify the SPI controller to use with the
flashrom -p linux_spi:dev=/dev/spidevX.Y
syntax where /dev/spidevX.Y is the Linux device node
for your SPI controller.
In case the device supports it, you can set the SPI clock
frequency with the optional spispeed parameter. The frequency is
parsed as kilohertz. Example that sets the frequency to 8 MHz:
flashrom -p
linux_spi:dev=/dev/spidevX.Y,spispeed=8000
Please note that the linux_spi driver only works on Linux.
mstarddc_spi programmer
- The Display Data Channel (DDC) is an I2C bus present on VGA and DVI
connectors, that allows exchanging information between a computer and
attached displays. Its most common uses are getting display capabilities
through EDID (at I2C address 0x50) and sending commands to the display
using the DDC/CI protocol (at address 0x37). On displays driven by MSTAR
SoCs, it is also possible to access the SoC firmware flash (connected to
the Soc through another SPI bus) using an In-System Programming (ISP)
port, usually at address 0x49. This flashrom module allows the latter via
Linux's I2C driver.
IMPORTANT: Before using this programmer, the display
MUST be in standby mode, and only connected to the computer that
will run flashrom using a VGA cable, to an inactive VGA output. It
absolutely MUST NOT be used as a display during the
procedure!
You have to specify the DDC/I2C controller and I2C address to
use with the
flashrom -p mstarddc_spi:dev=/dev/i2c-X:YY
syntax where /dev/i2c-X is the Linux device node for
your I2C controller connected to the display's DDC channel, and
YY is the (hexadecimal) address of the MSTAR ISP port (address
0x49 is usually used). Example that uses I2C controller /dev/i2c-1 and
address 0x49:
flashrom -p mstarddc_spi:dev=/dev/i2c-1:49
It is also possible to inhibit the reset command that is
normally sent to the display once the flashrom operation is completed
using the optional noreset parameter. A value of 1 prevents
flashrom from sending the reset command. Example that does not reset the
display at the end of the operation:
flashrom -p
mstarddc_spi:dev=/dev/i2c-1:49,noreset=1
Please note that sending the reset command is also inhibited
if an error occurred during the operation. To send the reset command
afterwards, you can simply run flashrom once more, in chip probe mode
(not specifying an operation), without the noreset parameter,
once the flash read/write operation you intended to perform has
completed successfully.
Please also note that the mstarddc_spi driver only works on
Linux.
ch341a_spi programmer
The WCH CH341A programmer does not support any parameters currently. SPI
frequency is fixed at 2 MHz, and CS0 is used as per the device.
ni845x_spi programmer
- An optional voltage parameter could be used to specify the IO
voltage. This parameter is available for the NI USB-8452 device. The
default unit is Volt if no unit is specified. You can use mV,
milliVolt, V or Volt as unit specifier. Syntax is
flashrom -p ni845x_spi:voltage=value
where value can be 1.2V, 1.5V,
1.8V, 2.5V, 3.3V or the equivalent in mV.
In the case if none of the programmer's supported IO voltage
is within the supported voltage range of the detected flash chip the
flashrom will abort the operation (to prevent damaging the flash chip).
You can override this behaviour by passing "yes" to the
ignore_io_voltage_limits parameter (for e.g. if you are using an
external voltage translator circuit). Syntax is
flashrom -p
ni845x_spi:ignore_io_voltage_limits=yes
You can use the serial parameter to explicitly specify
which connected NI USB-845x device should be used. You should use your
device's 7 digit hexadecimal serial number. Usage example to select the
device with 1230A12 serial number:
flashrom -p ni845x_spi:serial=1230A12
An optional spispeed parameter specifies the frequency
of the SPI bus. Syntax is
flashrom -p ni845x_spi:spispeed=frequency
where frequency should a number corresponding to the
desired frequency in kHz. The maximum frequency is 12 MHz (12000
kHz) for the USB-8451 and 50 MHz (50000 kHz) for the USB-8452. The
default is a frequency of 1 MHz (1000 kHz).
An optional cs parameter specifies which target chip
select line should be used. Syntax is
flashrom -p ni845x_spi:csnumber=value
where value should be between 0 and 7 By
default the CS0 is used.
digilent_spi programmer
- An optional spispeed parameter specifies the frequency of the SPI
bus. Syntax is
flashrom -p digilent_spi:spispeed=frequency
where frequency can be 62.5k, 125k,
250k, 500k, 1M, 2M or 4M (in Hz). The
default is a frequency of 4 MHz.
jlink_spi programmer
- This module supports SEGGER J-Link and compatible devices.
The MOSI signal of the flash chip must be attached to
TDI pin of the programmer, MISO to TDO and
SCK to TCK. The chip select (CS) signal of the
flash chip can be attached to different pins of the programmer which can
be selected with the
flashrom -p jlink_spi:cs=pin
syntax where pin can be either TRST or
RESET. The default pin for chip select is RESET. Note
that, when using RESET, it is normal that the indicator LED
blinks orange or red.
Additionally, the VTref pin of the programmer must be attached to
the logic level of the flash chip. The programmer measures the voltage
on this pin and generates the reference voltage for its input
comparators and adapts its output voltages to it.
Pinout for devices with 20-pin JTAG connector:
+-------+
| 1 2 | 1: VTref 2:
| 3 4 | 3: TRST 4: GND
| 5 6 | 5: TDI 6: GND
+-+ 7 8 | 7: 8: GND
| 9 10 | 9: TCK 10: GND
| 11 12 | 11: 12: GND
+-+ 13 14 | 13: TDO 14:
| 15 16 | 15: RESET 16:
| 17 18 | 17: 18:
| 19 20 | 19: PWR_5V 20:
+-------+
If there is more than one compatible device connected, you can
select which one should be used by specifying its serial number with
the
flashrom -p jlink_spi:serial=number
syntax where number is the serial number of the device
(which can be found for example in the output of lsusb -v).
The SPI speed can be selected by using the
flashrom -p jlink_spi:spispeed=frequency
syntax where frequency is the SPI clock frequency in
kHz. The maximum speed depends on the device in use.
stlinkv3_spi programmer
- This module supports SPI flash programming through the STMicroelectronics
STLINK V3 programmer/debugger's SPI bridge interface
flashrom -p stlinkv3_spi
If there is more than one compatible device connected, you can
select which one should be used by specifying its serial number with
the
flashrom -p stlinkv3_spi:serial=number
syntax where number is the serial number of the device
(which can be found for example in the output of lsusb -v).
The SPI speed can be selected by using the
flashrom -p stlinkv3_spi:spispeed=frequency
syntax where frequency is the SPI clock frequency in
kHz. If the passed frequency is not supported by the adapter the nearest
lower supported frequency will be used.
To back up and update your BIOS, run
flashrom -p internal -r backup.rom -o backuplog.txt
flashrom -p internal -w newbios.rom -o writelog.txt
Please make sure to copy backup.rom to some external media before
you try to write. That makes offline recovery easier.
If writing fails and flashrom complains about the chip being in an unknown
state, you can try to restore the backup by running
flashrom -p internal -w backup.rom -o restorelog.txt
If you encounter any problems, please contact us and supply
backuplog.txt, writelog.txt and restorelog.txt. See section BUGS for
contact info.
flashrom exits with 0 on success, 1 on most failures but with 3 if a call to
mmap() fails.
flashrom needs different access permissions for different programmers.
internal needs raw memory access, PCI configuration space
access, raw I/O port access (x86) and MSR access (x86).
atavia needs PCI configuration space access.
nic3com, nicrealtek and nicnatsemi need PCI
configuration space read access and raw I/O port access.
atahpt needs PCI configuration space access and raw I/O
port access.
gfxnvidia, drkaiser and it8212 need PCI
configuration space access and raw memory access.
rayer_spi needs raw I/O port access.
satasii, nicintel, nicintel_eeprom and
nicintel_spi need PCI configuration space read access and raw memory
access.
satamv and atapromise need PCI configuration space
read access, raw I/O port access and raw memory access.
serprog needs TCP access to the network or userspace access
to a serial port.
buspirate_spi needs userspace access to a serial port.
ft2232_spi, usbblaster_spi and pickit2_spi
need access to the respective USB device via libusb API version 0.1.
ch341a_spi and dediprog need access to the
respective USB device via libusb API version 1.0.
dummy needs no access permissions at all.
internal, nic3com, nicrealtek,
nicnatsemi, gfxnvidia, drkaiser, satasii,
satamv, atahpt, atavia and atapromise have to be
run as superuser/root, and need additional raw access permission.
serprog, buspirate_spi, dediprog,
usbblaster_spi, ft2232_spi, pickit2_spi,
ch341a_spi and digilent_spi can be run as normal user on most
operating systems if appropriate device permissions are set.
ogp needs PCI configuration space read access and raw
memory access.
On OpenBSD, you can obtain raw access permission by setting
securelevel=-1 in /etc/rc.securelevel and rebooting, or
rebooting into single user mode.
Please report any bugs to the flashrom mailing list
⟨flashrom@flashrom.org⟩.
We recommend to subscribe first at
https://flashrom.org/mailman/listinfo/flashrom.
Many of the developers communicate via the #flashrom IRC
channel on chat.freenode.net. If you don't have an IRC client, you
can use the freenode webchat
⟨http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=flashrom⟩. You
are welcome to join and ask questions, send us bug and success reports there
too. Please provide a way to contact you later (e.g. a mail address) and be
patient if there is no immediate reaction. Also, we provide a pastebin
service ⟨https://paste.flashrom.org⟩ that is very
useful when you want to share logs etc. without spamming the channel.
Laptops
Using flashrom on older laptops is dangerous and may easily make your hardware
unusable. flashrom will attempt to detect if it is running on a susceptible
laptop and restrict flash-chip probing for safety reasons. Please see the
detailed discussion of this topic and associated flashrom options in the
Laptops paragraph in the internal programmer subsection of the
PROGRAMMER-SPECIFIC INFORMATION section and the information in our wiki
⟨https://flashrom.org/Laptops⟩.
Some flash chips contain OTP memory often denoted as "security
registers". They usually have a capacity in the range of some bytes to a
few hundred bytes and can be used to give devices unique IDs etc. flashrom is
not able to read or write these memories and may therefore not be able to
duplicate a chip completely. For chip types known to include OTP memories a
warning is printed when they are detected.
Similar to OTP memories are unique, factory programmed,
unforgeable IDs. They are not modifiable by the user at all.
flashrom is covered by the GNU General Public License (GPL), version 2.
Some files are additionally available under any later version of the GPL.
Please see the individual files.
Andrew Morgan
Carl-Daniel Hailfinger
Claus Gindhart
David Borg
David Hendricks
Dominik Geyer
Edward O'Callaghan
Eric Biederman
Giampiero Giancipoli
Helge Wagner
Idwer Vollering
Joe Bao
Joerg Fischer
Joshua Roys
Kyösti Mälkki
Luc Verhaegen
Li-Ta Lo
Mark Marshall
Markus Boas
Mattias Mattsson
Michael Karcher
Nikolay Petukhov
Patrick Georgi
Peter Lemenkov
Peter Stuge
Reinder E.N. de Haan
Ronald G. Minnich
Ronald Hoogenboom
Sean Nelson
Stefan Reinauer
Stefan Tauner
Stefan Wildemann
Stephan Guilloux
Steven James
Urja Rannikko
Uwe Hermann
Wang Qingpei
Yinghai Lu
some others, please see the flashrom svn changelog for details.
All still active authors can be reached via the mailing list
⟨flashrom@flashrom.org⟩.
This manual page was written by Uwe Hermann
⟨uwe@hermann-uwe.de⟩, Carl-Daniel Hailfinger, Stefan
Tauner and others. It is licensed under the terms of the GNU GPL (version 2
or later).
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