- Flashprog - sourcearcade.org

flashprog v1.6 is out!
by Nico Huber 19 Aug '26

19 Aug '26

Hi folks, I'm happy to announce flashprog v1.6. Definitely one of our bigger releases, with about 1,500 lines of code changed and another 1,500 added. Most of the changes happened under the hood. The programmer interface was refactored to allow a more bus-centric flash- chip probing. SPI flash chips benefit from much faster pro- bing times. As a positive side-effect, the refactoring also added some flexibility to the programmer drivers. This will make it easier to maintain them long-term, no matter if they serve old parallel flash or modern QSPI. There's plenty of other changes. You can read about them in the full release notes [1]. One goody is that we won't have to type multiple chip names anymore for the `-c` option :) As usual, you can download the source code via Git [2] or as as tarball [3]. Cheers, Nico [1] https://flashprog.org/wiki/Flashprog/v1.6 [2] https://github.com/SourceArcade/flashprog/releases/tag/v1.6 [3] https://flashprog.org/releases/flashprog-v1.6.tar.bz2

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flashprog v1.6-rc2 is ready
by Nico Huber 15 Aug '26

15 Aug '26

Hi all, there's a new release candidate for flashprog v1.6. What happened to RC1? we've fixed a few memory leaks before I got to announce it. The release brings a lot of changes, most of them under the hood. There was a huge overhaul of flashprog's chip probing. SPI chips should benefit from much faster pro- bing times. As a positive side-effect of the necessary refactoring this should also make it easier to keep all the programmer drivers maintained long-term, no matter if they serve old parallel flash or modern QSPI. The refactoring also encouraged me to implement a long overdue feature: The CLI now matches chip names to the sometimes longer database-entry names. So if flashprog asks you to pick one entry, you'll only have to type a single chip name! As always, please help making this a great release by testing the RC. You can pull the `v1.6-rc2` tag from the repository or download the tarball [1]. Cheers, Nico [1] https://flashprog.org/releases/flashprog-v1.6-rc2.tar.bz2

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Tested - GigaDevice GD25R256DYIG Read W/ Pi Pico
by Bastian Fontaine 05 Aug '26

05 Aug '26

Hello, I've tested reading from a GigaDevice GD25R256DYIG on flashprog v1.5 using a Pi Pico, and got a successful dump. This was on a Lenovo NM-D351 board. Attached below is the log file from the operation. I specified "GD25Q256E/GD25B256E/GD25R256E"as that was the closest to my chip that was available. I'll update later once I have tested a write function as well. Thank you! Bastian Sent with [Proton Mail](https://proton.me/mail/home) secure email.

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Functional Read XM25QH64C
by Robert Marconi 02 Aug '26

02 Aug '26

Hello, I have been able to read a XM25QH64C flash chip using flashprog. I did not use the development version, but I can retest with the development version if needed. The requested log file is attached. Best Regards, Robert

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Re: a few questions
by tctl5p9ik7vh＠opayq.com 10 Jul '26

10 Jul '26

> Most common issue is power supply. When a board isn't designed to > be flashed this way, voltage may leak to other components on the > mainboard. Hence board-specific documentation is so important. > Measuring voltage when trying to access the flash may give a clue. > > Without documentation it's best not to apply voltage via the flash > programmer (RPi in your case), in case you were trying this. Better > is to use the board's regular power supply and making sure that it > doesn't boot (i.e. stays in a soft-off / S5 state). And *not* connec- > ting VCC to pin8. Again, measuring voltage at the flash chip. > > That it's a WSON chip also doesn't make things easy. Did you solder > something and can confirm connectivity? or how do you connect to the > flash chip? I got a WSON-8 8x6 probe. It has to be held down on the chip by hand so there is no way for me to measure voltage at the same time. I have tried the following configurations with my RPi: No pw supply connected to mainboard - pins 1-8 connected between RPi and chip. Results= RPi reboots as soon as probe is placed on the chip No pw supply connected to mainboard - all pins connected except pins 3 and 7. Result= chip not detected Pw supply connected to mb, S5 soft off - all pins connected except pin 8. Result= chip not detected To enter S5 I power on the chromebox, then power off using power button. I tried reading voltage at the BIOS chip while power is connected to MB in S5 soft off. I don't get any voltage reading while connected to pin 4 GND and any other pin, or pin 8 VCC while connected to any other pin. This doesn't make sense to me. I think the chip should have power when the MB has power. I am just using a regular multimeter with nothing soldered to the board, just reading with needle tip probes.

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SFDP has autodetected a flash chip which is not natively supported by flashprog yet.
by Priyo Agung 13 Jun '26

13 Jun '26

Hi, i run the command so the ic can be patched into the flashprog. the spi ic is xmc25rh256cxiq with 3.3v supply voltage. i already attach the result of running the commnad. Hope this helps. Best Regards

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Re: [spam] Re: a few questions
by tctl5p9ik7vh＠opayq.com 29 May '26

29 May '26

> That it's a WSON chip also doesn't make things easy. Did you solder > something and can confirm connectivity? or how do you connect to the > flash chip? Do you have any advice on choosing a WSON probe? There are a number of options in the correct size.

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Re: a few questions
by tctl5p9ik7vh＠opayq.com 28 May '26

28 May '26

> Most common issue is power supply. When a board isn't designed to > be flashed this way, voltage may leak to other components on the > mainboard. Hence board-specific documentation is so important. > Measuring voltage when trying to access the flash may give a clue. I'd read that can happen on some boards but was hesitant to try to program the chip with mains power connected. I don't want an $800 paperweight. > Without documentation it's best not to apply voltage via the flash > programmer (RPi in your case), in case you were trying this. Better > is to use the board's regular power supply and making sure that it > doesn't boot (i.e. stays in a soft-off / S5 state). And *not* connec- > ting VCC to pin8. Again, measuring voltage at the flash chip. That makes sense. I'll give that a try. > That it's a WSON chip also doesn't make things easy. Did you solder > something and can confirm connectivity? or how do you connect to the > flash chip? Ah. I didn't know what WSON was until just now. I have been using a regular SOIC clip. No I haven't soldered anything. I'm not sure how I will confirm connectivity other than by reading the chip. It looks like I may need a special probe to interface with it though.

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Re: a few questions
by tctl5p9ik7vh＠opayq.com 27 May '26

27 May '26

> > Hi, > > welcome to flashprog :) Thank you. > On 5/26/26 19:15, tctl5p9ik7vh--- via Flashprog wrote: > > Hello. I have a few questions about reading spi using raspberry pi > > with flashprog. I've had some problems so far. First I would like > > to know if the winbond 25q256jvem chip is supported. I see > > W25Q256JV_M is a supported chip. Does that V_M cover the VEM > > variant? > > Yes, it's supported. The _ is meant to be a placeholder. The E in VEM > only signifies the chip package. Internally, they are the same. > > > Also I would like > > to know what is the recommended advice for pins 3 (WP/IO2) and 7 > > (HOLD/IO3)? Should they be spliced into pin 8 or floating when > > reading a quad speed chip? > > It depends on the overall setup. If the chip is soldered to a > mainboard for instance, these pins would be connected already. If you > have a plain chip connected to your RPi, you should always connect > all pins (doesn't matter if it's a quad chip, quad is enabled or > not). You can put a resistor between these pins and VCC for safety, > something < 100kOhm should work. That's what I thought. I just wanted to be sure since it isn't reading. The chip is soldered to the mainboard. > If the chip is on a mainboard, problems are likely related to the > circuitry on the board. Best is to look into documentation for the > particular board or its schematics if you can find them. This is the mainboard here https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256811444835229.html I'm still looking for a datasheet. Do you have any suggestion what to look for in trying to track down the problem?

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a few questions
by tctl5p9ik7vh＠opayq.com 27 May '26

27 May '26

Hello. I have a few questions about reading spi using raspberry pi with flashprog. I've had some problems so far. First I would like to know if the winbond 25q256jvem chip is supported. I see W25Q256JV_M is a supported chip. Does that V_M cover the VEM variant? Also I would like to know what is the recommended advice for pins 3 (WP/IO2) and 7 (HOLD/IO3)? Should they be spliced into pin 8 or floating when reading a quad speed chip?

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