[flashrom] Re: Updating the e-flash on an ITE SuperIO chip

2019-02-13 Thread Richard Hughes
On Wed, 13 Feb 2019 at 14:24, Mike Banon  wrote:
> It would be really nice if you could share a datasheet for IT8623E

I don't have that, sorry. I have no idea why ITE is so secret about
this stuff. I'm waiting back from some kind of a statement from them.

Richard
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[flashrom] Re: Updating the e-flash on an ITE SuperIO chip

2019-02-13 Thread Mike Banon
It would be really nice if you could share a datasheet for IT8623E
(found at Asus AM1I-A amd early-16h motherboard (no PSP)) or at least
tell if it contains the internal memory like KB9012 or not - is there
something we will need to flash in case of IT8623E chip replacement

On Mon, Feb 11, 2019 at 8:56 PM Angel Pons  wrote:
>
> Hello,
>
> On Mon, Feb 11, 2019, 18:26 Richard Hughes >
>> On Mon, 11 Feb 2019 at 17:00, Angel Pons  wrote:
>> > The it85spi driver is commented out in code, apparently because it
>> > relies on firmware-specific functions. AFAIK, there isn't much to read
>> > the internal flash on ECs, other than the ENE KB9012's via EDI.
>>
>> Okay, that was a very useful read, thanks. Different, but related of course.
>>
>> > > Whilst I now have a datasheet, I
>> > For those chips? I'm interested in them: How did you obtain them?
>>
>> I've been working with an ODM for an un-named OEM, who supplied me the
>> datasheet for the IT89 without signing an NDA. I don't think I can
>> redistribute it without issues.
>
>
> Oh, bummer.
>
>> > I don't think much has been done for the internal flash on these ICs on
>> > flashrom. For instance, I didn't know the IT8987 had an internal flash.
>>
>> As I understand it, at least for the the hardware I have here, the
>> IT89 has both. The SPI "external" flash is only used to populate the
>> "internal" e-flash at manufacturing time and then after than it's
>> unused. I imagine you could reprogram the 128k external SPI chip using
>> the indirect mapping thing although at least for me it's a nice "get
>> out of jail" feature as the current firmware seems to look for the
>> A5A5A5A5 16 byte header on the e-flash to check if it's valid. Of
>> course, I could have misunderstood this all wildly.
>
>
> I now recall reading something like that. I'm not sure about the header bit, 
> though.
>
>> On Mon, 11 Feb 2019 at 17:11, Carl-Daniel Hailfinger
>>  wrote:
>> > IT87 handling was easy and straightforward because all they did
>> > (regarding flash) was translating LPC flash accesses to SPI flash
>> > accesses in passthrough mode and offering a separate SPI-centric
>> > programming interface for full access.
>>
>> I think IT89 is much like a IT87 -- some of the LDNs seem a bit
>> different (and there are more!) but it looks basically the same kind
>> of beast.
>
>
> Well, the IT87  and IT86 series are usually Super IO chips, whereas the IT85 
> and IT89 chips are ECs, which seem to have a SuperIO-like part, with LDNs and 
> such.
>
>> Richard.
>
>
> Best regards,
>
> Angel Pons
>
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[flashrom] Re: Updating the e-flash on an ITE SuperIO chip

2019-02-11 Thread Angel Pons
Hello,

On Mon, Feb 11, 2019, 18:26 Richard Hughes  On Mon, 11 Feb 2019 at 17:00, Angel Pons  wrote:
> > The it85spi driver is commented out in code, apparently because it
> > relies on firmware-specific functions. AFAIK, there isn't much to read
> > the internal flash on ECs, other than the ENE KB9012's via EDI.
>
> Okay, that was a very useful read, thanks. Different, but related of
> course.
>
> > > Whilst I now have a datasheet, I
> > For those chips? I'm interested in them: How did you obtain them?
>
> I've been working with an ODM for an un-named OEM, who supplied me the
> datasheet for the IT89 without signing an NDA. I don't think I can
> redistribute it without issues.
>

Oh, bummer.

> I don't think much has been done for the internal flash on these ICs on
> > flashrom. For instance, I didn't know the IT8987 had an internal flash.
>
> As I understand it, at least for the the hardware I have here, the
> IT89 has both. The SPI "external" flash is only used to populate the
> "internal" e-flash at manufacturing time and then after than it's
> unused. I imagine you could reprogram the 128k external SPI chip using
> the indirect mapping thing although at least for me it's a nice "get
> out of jail" feature as the current firmware seems to look for the
> A5A5A5A5 16 byte header on the e-flash to check if it's valid. Of
> course, I could have misunderstood this all wildly.
>

I now recall reading something like that. I'm not sure about the header
bit, though.

On Mon, 11 Feb 2019 at 17:11, Carl-Daniel Hailfinger
>  wrote:
> > IT87 handling was easy and straightforward because all they did
> > (regarding flash) was translating LPC flash accesses to SPI flash
> > accesses in passthrough mode and offering a separate SPI-centric
> > programming interface for full access.
>
> I think IT89 is much like a IT87 -- some of the LDNs seem a bit
> different (and there are more!) but it looks basically the same kind
> of beast.
>

Well, the IT87  and IT86 series are usually Super IO chips, whereas the
IT85 and IT89 chips are ECs, which seem to have a SuperIO-like part, with
LDNs and such.

Richard.
>

Best regards,

Angel Pons

>
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[flashrom] Re: Updating the e-flash on an ITE SuperIO chip

2019-02-11 Thread Richard Hughes
On Mon, 11 Feb 2019 at 17:00, Angel Pons  wrote:
> The it85spi driver is commented out in code, apparently because it
> relies on firmware-specific functions. AFAIK, there isn't much to read
> the internal flash on ECs, other than the ENE KB9012's via EDI.

Okay, that was a very useful read, thanks. Different, but related of course.

> > Whilst I now have a datasheet, I
> For those chips? I'm interested in them: How did you obtain them?

I've been working with an ODM for an un-named OEM, who supplied me the
datasheet for the IT89 without signing an NDA. I don't think I can
redistribute it without issues.

> I don't think much has been done for the internal flash on these ICs on
> flashrom. For instance, I didn't know the IT8987 had an internal flash.

As I understand it, at least for the the hardware I have here, the
IT89 has both. The SPI "external" flash is only used to populate the
"internal" e-flash at manufacturing time and then after than it's
unused. I imagine you could reprogram the 128k external SPI chip using
the indirect mapping thing although at least for me it's a nice "get
out of jail" feature as the current firmware seems to look for the
A5A5A5A5 16 byte header on the e-flash to check if it's valid. Of
course, I could have misunderstood this all wildly.

On Mon, 11 Feb 2019 at 17:11, Carl-Daniel Hailfinger
 wrote:
> IT87 handling was easy and straightforward because all they did
> (regarding flash) was translating LPC flash accesses to SPI flash
> accesses in passthrough mode and offering a separate SPI-centric
> programming interface for full access.

I think IT89 is much like a IT87 -- some of the LDNs seem a bit
different (and there are more!) but it looks basically the same kind
of beast.

Richard.
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[flashrom] Re: Updating the e-flash on an ITE SuperIO chip

2019-02-11 Thread Carl-Daniel Hailfinger
On 11.02.2019 18:00, Angel Pons wrote:
> On Mon, Feb 11, 2019, 16:33 Richard Hughes > I've been looking at updating the EC for the IT8587 and IT8987 SuperIO
>> controllers from userspace.
> Hmm, I have the ITE IT8585 and IT8987 chips here.
>
>> I see that there are it87spi and ite85spi
>> modules in flashrom, but as I understand it they are using the ITE
>> chip to write the system firmware over SPI (e.g. the 4MiB BIOS) rather
>> than the 128KiB internal e-flash.
> The it85spi driver is commented out in code, apparently because it
> relies on firmware-specific functions. AFAIK, there isn't much to read
> the internal flash on ECs, other than the ENE KB9012's via EDI.

Ah, these were the days... IIRC IT87* were SuperI/O chips, whereas IT85*
were Embedded Controllers mostly for laptops.
IT87 handling was easy and straightforward because all they did
(regarding flash) was translating LPC flash accesses to SPI flash
accesses in passthrough mode and offering a separate SPI-centric
programming interface for full access.
IT85 handling was way more complicated because it depended on multiple
factors: The firmware running on the IT85 EC, the way the EC was wired
in the laptop, and the exact model of the IT85 family. Probing for this
was not completely reliable, so it was disabled by default, but IIRC it
worked on a few models.

 
>> Whilst I now have a datasheet, I
> For those chips? I'm interested in them: How did you obtain them?
>
>> don't want to implement code that someone else has already done. If
>> anyone knows any pointers to any code or documentation I'd be very
>> grateful. Thanks.
> I don't think much has been done for the internal flash on these ICs on
> flashrom. For instance, I didn't know the IT8987 had an internal flash.

The ITE IT89* family is something I never worked with, so I would have
to read up on that first.

Regards,
Carl-Daniel
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[flashrom] Re: Updating the e-flash on an ITE SuperIO chip

2019-02-11 Thread Angel Pons
Hello Richard,

On Mon, Feb 11, 2019, 16:33 Richard Hughes 
> I've been looking at updating the EC for the IT8587 and IT8987 SuperIO
> controllers from userspace.

Hmm, I have the ITE IT8585 and IT8987 chips here.

> I see that there are it87spi and ite85spi
> modules in flashrom, but as I understand it they are using the ITE
> chip to write the system firmware over SPI (e.g. the 4MiB BIOS) rather
> than the 128KiB internal e-flash.

The it85spi driver is commented out in code, apparently because it
relies on firmware-specific functions. AFAIK, there isn't much to read
the internal flash on ECs, other than the ENE KB9012's via EDI.

> Whilst I now have a datasheet, I

For those chips? I'm interested in them: How did you obtain them?

> don't want to implement code that someone else has already done. If
> anyone knows any pointers to any code or documentation I'd be very
> grateful. Thanks.

I don't think much has been done for the internal flash on these ICs on
flashrom. For instance, I didn't know the IT8987 had an internal flash.

> Richard

Best regards,

Angel Pons
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