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20b:flash_hacking [2008/08/02 17:53]
hpmad
20b:flash_hacking [2008/08/02 18:17] (current)
newell More SAM-BA gripes
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 +===== Flash hacking notes =====
 +
 +
 +Using OpenOCD r717 and the JTAG interface, the flash memory of the HP20B was modified.
 +
 +First, one of the unused pages near the end of memory was modified.  Page 0x1fe (address 0x1fe00 - 0x1feff)
 +is blank in the stock HP firmware (all bytes 0xff).  A 256 byte text file was generated, and OpenOCD's telnet interface used
 +to program the flash.  The process was simple.
 +
 +First, the page is written into the flash write buffer.  The flash write buffer
 +is one page (256 bytes) long and it will catch any writes to the flash memory region.
 +
 +  > load_image test.bin 0
 +  256 byte written at address 0x00000000
 +  downloaded 256 byte in 0.015625s
 +
 +
 +The flash module was commanded to write the page.  The command consists of a key (0x5a), a 
 +page number (0x01fe), and a command (0x01==write page without erase).
 +
 +  > mww 0xffffff64 0x5a01fe01
 +
 +
 +The status of the flash module was examined to see if the command had completed.  0x01
 +indicates that the flash module is ready for the next command.
 +
 +  > mdw 0xffffff68
 +  0xffffff68: 00000001
 +
 +The entire flash memory was dumped to a file to verify that the 0x1fe page was indeed modified.
 +
 +  > dump_image flash_write_test.bin 0 0x20000
 +  dumped 131072 byte in 10.968601s
 +
 +An external diff utility was used to verify that the calculator's modified flash image was
 +different than the stock flash image.  It was!
 +
 +
 +Interestingly, the self test checksum still read as 213.  The self test checksum routine must not 
 +checksum the entire flash memory.  (I suspect that it checksums up to 0x1ec40, which contains
 +a 0xd5 byte, matching the displayed checksum.)  No operational change was noted in the calculator
 +with the modified flash memory.  None was expected, as page 0x1fe was blank in the stock flash image.
 +
 +
 +The next step was to modify part of the active flash memory.  Page 0x1da was chosen, as it contains
 +ASCII text.  Specifically, one of the on screen prompts visible in the test menu was modified.
 +For this experiment, the flash write command was 0x5101da03, which would first erase page 0x1da and then
 +program it.  As in the first experiment, the entire flash image was dumped and compared to stock to 
 +verify that the modification occured.  Once again, the flash image was different.  This modification
 +also affected the checksum, which is now displayed as "16.213".
 +
 +Placing the calculator into the test mode revealed that the modified prompts were in place.  No other
 +changes were noticeable in the operation of the calculator.  (None were expected, as the modifications
 +were minor and limited to known text prompts.)
 +
 +The method described here is tedious and slow--it is limited to programming one page (256 bytes) at a time.
 +
 +
 +===== NVGPM hacking notes =====
 +
 +There are two non-volatile bits in the AT91SAM7L128 that can be modified by the user.  Bit 0 is a protection
 +bit that locks out the JTAG port.  Bit 0 should always remain clear (0) for our purposes!  
 +Bit 1 selects the memory map at boot time.  If bit 1 is clear (0), the internal Atmel SAM-BA rom will
 +be mapped to address 0 and will run at boot.  Setting bit 1 to 1 will map the on-chip flash memory to
 +address 0 at boot, allowing the firmware to run.  
 +
 +The GPNVM bits can be modified over the JTAG interface as the flash memory was modified in the above experiment.
 +The backup plan, should something go horribly wrong, is to use the ERASE pin to erase the entire flash memory and 
 +GPNVM bits.  (ERASE will leave your calculator blank, with NO HP FIRMWARE AT ALL.  It will also clear the GPNVM bits,
 +which would enable JTAG access and configure the chip to boot into the SAM-BA bootloader.)  The ERASE pin has not
 +been tested at this time.  (I'm not going to try it until I can reflash the entire image through the JTAG port, just 
 +in case...)
 +
 +OpenOCD scripts have been written to toggle GPNVM bit 1.  They can be run from the OpenOCD telnet interface
 +by typing "script flash_boot.cfg" or "script samba_boot.cfg" It was noticed that running the SAM-BA bootloader 
 +increased the current drain of the calculator.  (I have not had any success establishing a connection between the SAM-BA windows
 +program and the SAM-BA bootloader.  UPDATE: I did manage to get SAM-BA to connect!  Works better when there are no solder bridges between the 
 +serial TX and RX lines.  SAM-BA is more like SLOW-BA.  Estimate 15 minutes to upload the 128kB flash to the PC.)
 +
 +Note from Cyrille: I do not know why you are experiencing this. programming 128KB with sam-ba takes around 15s for me. And I have programmed over 500 calculators! Were you using a PC running windows or something else? did you get the latest sam-ba from Atmel? what cable are you using?
 +
 +Answer from newell: Windows 2k, dual P3-450, tested with both SAM-BA v2.8 (current) and v2.7 (previous version, first to support the '7L128?).  Cable is a couple of wirewrap wires tacked to the circuit board, running through a MAX3232 circuit powered by an external 3V power supply to translate to RS-232 level.  The lash-up obviously works, as I'm able to connect to SAM-BA with Hyperterminal.  (The chip reports bootloader v1.4.)  Tired of messing with it, so I'm currently using a little app to break the bin file into 256 byte pages, then generating an OpenOCD script to burn a page at a time.  Takes about 30s to burn and verify 128kB with a USB JTAG adapter through the OpenOCD script.  I'd love to see what version of windows, SAM-BA, and bootloader ROM others are using.  My SAM-BA burn times for 128kB are about 14 minutes, and about the same to transfer 128kB from the calc to the PC.  (I may attempt to test on a faster computer to help narrow down this SAM-BA situation.)
 +
 +flash_boot.cfg:
 +  # Set GPNVM bit 1, which will map flash memory to 0
 +  # This will allow application code to boot, instead of SAM-BA
 +  
 +  soft_reset_halt
 +  
 +  # Set GPNVM bit 1
 +  mww 0xffffff64 0x5a00010b
 +  
 +  # Show current GPNVM bits
 +  mww 0xffffff64 0x5a00000d
 +  sleep 100
 +  mdw 0xffffff6c
 +  
 +  soft_reset_halt
 +  mdw 0 0x10
 +
 +samba_boot.cfg:
 +  # Clear GPNVM bit 1, which will map SAM-BA ROM to 0
 +  # This will prevent flash memory from booting.
 +  
 +  soft_reset_halt
 +  
 +  # Clear GPNVM bit 1
 +  mww 0xffffff64 0x5a00010c
 +  
 +  # Show current GPNVM bits
 +  mww 0xffffff64 0x5a00000d
 +  sleep 100
 +  mdw 0xffffff6c
 +  
 +  soft_reset_halt
 +  mdw 0 0x10
 +
  
20b/flash_hacking.txt · Last modified: 2008/08/02 18:17 by newell