Boot block lockout

Only for programmers and BIOS gurus with technical questions.
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sulbert
Master Flasher
Posts: 204
Joined: Wed Jul 17, 2002 1:38 pm
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I have a Winbond W49F002U flash chip (from a dead MSI board) with locked boot block (addresses 3C000 and up cannot be erased - tried with my c't flasher). Does anyone know how to disable this feature?

TIA
(hopefully my post won't be deleted this time... What would be the right section for questions concerning flash chips?)
Last edited by sulbert on Fri Jan 17, 2003 2:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Rainbow
The UniFlasher
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Some chips ignore protection if 12V is put on the VPP/RESET pin. I looked in the datasheet but this chip does not seem to support it. You can try it but be prepared that it can kill the chip.
Patched and tested BIOSes are at http://wims.rainbow-software.org
UniFlash - Flash anything anywhere
sulbert
Master Flasher
Posts: 204
Joined: Wed Jul 17, 2002 1:38 pm
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Thanks, Rainbow!
The weird thing about this chip is that in earlier revisions of the datasheet (found rev. A2 here) this 12V trick is described.
sulbert
Master Flasher
Posts: 204
Joined: Wed Jul 17, 2002 1:38 pm
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Tried the 12V trick yesterday. Worked fine :)
The exact marking of the chip was:
W49F002UP12B
212542901
132OHSA
(i.e. IC revision H, manufactured in 2001, week 32)
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