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Recovery

Intro

The following documentation describes the process of recovering hardware from the brick state using an external SPI programmer and Dasharo open-source firmware. Instead of connecting to the on-board SPI header, the BIOS flash chip is removed from its socket and flashed in a dedicated adapter connected to a CH341A programmer.

External flashing

Prerequisites

  • CH341A (v1.7) USB to SPI programmer (the one with the green PCB)
  • SOIC-16 adapter matching the BIOS flash chip
  • Small, pointy tweezers and optionally a small knife
  • Firmware binary for the platform

Removing the flash chip

The Dasharo firmware is flashed externally by removing the memory chip from the socket and using a dedicated adapter to flash it via the CH341A (v1.7) programmer. Follow the steps below to remove the chip.

  1. Ensure the platform is disconnected from the power source!

  2. Locate the BIOS flash memory socket. The flash memory socket is located at the very bottom of the motherboard, below the NVMe drive (or socket if the drive is not yet mounted). The following picture showcases the socket location.

    BIOS memory location

  3. Open the flash memory socket. To open the flash memory socket, it is advised to remove the NVMe drive, as there is very little space to grab the socket door. Moreover, the socket door is sealed with a paper-like seal; one can use pointy tweezers or a small knife to gently cut the seal along the door edges as marked in the picture above. Once the previously mentioned things were done, open up the socket by pulling up the tabs on the bigger door of the chip memory socket. Once the bigger door is freed, one should be able to perform the same operation for the smaller door. The partially opened socket and the hinge direction have been showcased in the picture below.

    BIOS socket open

  4. Remove the memory from the socket. To remove the memory from the socket, one can slide tweezers underneath the memory chip to lift it up. This operation is much easier to perform with the NVMe drive removed. The picture below shows the removed flash memory and its orientation.

    Flash chip

    The first pin of the chip is always marked with a dot (stamp) on the package. The dot and the first pin were highlighted by a red circle and arrow, respectively.

    Note: While the picture shows a Macronix 5MX25L51245G memory chip, the platform might as well come with different chips like Winbond W25Q512JV, therefore a chip model can differ. While the chips can be different, they shall have the same specification, therefore settings on the programmer are common for all the chips.

Preparing the programmer

  1. Obtain the CH341A v1.7 programmer (the one with the green PCB) and the SOIC-16 adapter.

    Flash adapter

  2. Set the programmer as follows:

    • set the voltage/logic level to 3.3V,
    • set the programmer to flashing mode,
    • put the adapter pins into the grooves and secure it.

    The above process has been shown in detail in the pictures below.

    Programmer corner

    The picture above showcases:

    • where to put the jumper (marked with a red arrow),
    • how to secure the adapter, by pulling the lever down when the pins are in the grooves (marked with a green arrow),
    • the yellow circle showcases the 8 grooves at the rear of the programmer shall be left unpopulated. The programmer uses the first 8 pins.

    Programmer side

    The picture above showcases:

    • the lever in the lock position (marked with a green arrow),
    • the logic level switch set to 3.3V (marked with a red arrow),
    • the programmer type and version were highlighted in yellow.

    Note: On the bottom of the PCB, the programmer features a pictogram showing how to set the voltage level switch. The two memory models that are known to be mounted in this platform operate at 2.7 to 3.6 volts; it is safe to assume all do, to be compatible with the motherboard logic levels.

    programmer top

    The picture above showcases the top view of the programmer and adapter combo. The red arrow and circle showcase how to locate the first pin in the socket. The rule is the same for memory chips; the dot means the first pin. Thus, when placing memory in the socket, both dots should be aligned.

  3. Place the flash memory in the adapter (programmer). The picture below showcases the BIOS flash memory being socketed in the SOIC-16 adapter that's connected to the programmer.

    Memory in the adapter

    To socket the memory chip in an adapter, first place it freely in the adapter. Make sure the dot on the memory chip and the dot on the adapter PCB are aligned (are in the same corner). The dots were marked with red arrows and circles.

    Finally, push the border marked with the yellow arrows down and then release them. The memory chip shall fall into place and be locked.

  4. Connect the programming combo to your computer.

    Note: Use of a USB extension cable is advised.

Firmware flashing

  1. Open up the terminal and probe the flash chip. The command shown below does just that. It is safe to execute the command; no changes to the flash memory are made.

    sudo flashrom -p ch341a_spi

    The expected output should be similar to the one shown below.

    λ sudo flashrom -p ch341a_spi
flashrom 1.4.0 on Linux 6.17.8-300.fc43.x86_64 (x86_64)
flashrom is free software, get the source code at https://flashrom.org

Found Winbond flash chip "W25Q512JV" (65536 kB, SPI) on ch341a_spi.
[...]

    It might so happen that, additionally, the following information will be printed.

    This flash part has status UNTESTED for operations: WP
The test status of this chip may have been updated in the latest development
version of flashrom. [...]

    If that's the case, the message can be simply ignored.

  2. Dump the memory chip contents. This step is performed to ensure the connection and memory operations are stable. The set of commands shown below does two memory dumps on the flash chip and prints the checksums of the dumped memory images. The commands are safe to perform, chip contents are not altered, but please note this might take a long amount of time (8min+ per operation).

    sudo flashrom -p ch341a_spi -r backup_p1.bin # Perform the first read
sudo flashrom -p ch341a_spi -r backup_p2.bin # Perform the second read
md5sum backup_p* # Calculate and print checksums for dumped memory images

    If the dumping succeeds, the "Reading flash... done." will be printed out. The operation is considered a success if both hashes returned by md5sum are the same.

  3. Flash the memory chip with the recovery firmware. NOTE THAT THIS ACTION IS DESTRUCTIVE. THE CURRENT FIRMWARE WILL BE ERASED!

    Note: In case flashing goes wrong, you shall still have copies of the original firmware from the previous step.

    sudo flashrom -p ch341a_spi -w [path_to_binary]

    Note: The flashing can take 20min+.

    λ sudo flashrom -p ch341a_spi -w asrock_spc741d8_v0.9.0.rom
flashrom 1.4.0 on Linux 6.17.8-300.fc43.x86_64 (x86_64)
flashrom is free software, get the source code at https://flashrom.org

Found Winbond flash chip "W25Q512JV" (65536 kB, SPI) on ch341a_spi.
[...]
Reading old flash chip contents... done.
Erase/write done from 0 to 3ffffff
Verifying flash... VERIFIED.

    If the "Verifying flash... VERIFIED" is printed out, the flashing has succeeded.

Putting the flash chip back

  1. Put the memory chip back into the motherboard. First, disconnect the programmer from the computer, and then remove the flash memory from the adapter. Use small tweezers to put the memory chip back into the socket.

    Chip in socket

    The picture above shows the proper orientation of the chip in the socket. Pin 1 on the chip shall be the closest one to the arrow on the silkscreen of the PCB. The dot showcasing chip orientation (pin one), and the arrow on the silkscreen were marked with red circles.

  2. Close the socket doors, starting with the smaller one, followed by the bigger one.

  3. Mount the NVMe drive back if it was removed.
  4. Supply the power to the platform.