------------------------------------------------------------------------------- flashrom README ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- flashrom is a utility for reading, writing, and erasing flash ROM chips. It's often used to flash BIOS/coreboot/firmware images. It supports a wide range of DIP32, PLCC32, DIP8, SO8/SOIC8, TSOP32, and TSOP40 chips, which use various protocols such as LPC, FWH, parallel flash, or SPI. (see http://coreboot.org for details on coreboot) Build Requirements ------------------ To build the flashrom utility you need to install the following packages: * pciutils * pciutils-devel / pciutils-dev / libpci-dev * zlib-devel / zlib1g-dev Usage ----- $ flashrom [-rwvEVfLhR] [-c chipname] [-s exclude_start] [-e exclude_end] [-m [vendor:]part] [-l file.layout] [-i imagename] [file] -r | --read: read flash and save into file -w | --write: write file into flash (default when file is specified) -v | --verify: verify flash against file -E | --erase: erase flash device -V | --verbose: more verbose output -c | --chip : probe only for specified flash chip -s | --estart : exclude start position -e | --eend : exclude end postion -m | --mainboard <[vendor:]part>: override mainboard settings -f | --force: force write without checking image -l | --layout : read rom layout from file -i | --image : only flash image name from flash layout -L | --list-supported: print supported devices -h | --help: print this help text -R | --version: print the version (release) If no file is specified, then all that happens is that flash info is dumped and the flash chip is set to writable. Exit status ----------- flashrom exits with 0 on success, 1 on most failures but with 2 if /dev/mem (/dev/xsvc on Solaris) can not be opened and with 3 if a call to mmap() fails. coreboot Table and Mainboard Identification -------------------------------------------- flashrom reads the coreboot table to determine the current mainboard. If no coreboot table could be read or if you want to override these values, you can specify -m, e.g.: $ flashrom -w --mainboard AGAMI:ARUMA agami_aruma.rom See the 'Supported mainboards' 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. ROM Layout Support ------------------ flashrom supports ROM layouts. This allows you to flash certain parts of the flash chip only. A ROM layout file looks like follows: 00000000:00008fff gfxrom 00009000:0003ffff normal 00040000:0007ffff fallback i.e.: startaddr:endaddr name All addresses are offsets within the file, not absolute addresses! If you only want to update the normal image in a ROM you can say: flashrom -w --layout rom.layout --image normal agami_aruma.rom To update normal and fallback but leave the VGA BIOS alone, say: flashrom -w -l rom.layout -i normal -i fallback agami_aruma.rom Currently overlapping sections are not supported. ROM layouts should replace the -s and -e option since they are more flexible and they should lead to a ROM update file format with the ROM layout and the ROM image in one file (cpio, zip or something?). Supported Flash Chips / Chipsets / Mainboards --------------------------------------------- Please check the output of 'flashrom -L' for the list of supported flash chips, chipsets/southbridges, and mainboards. See also http://coreboot.org/Flashrom for more details.