<font size=2 face="sans-serif">Sorry to say IBMs initial responses to
my queries we're not positive. Even if I can get them to provide
information, they may invoke our MNDA so I might not be able to share it.
I pushed back a little to see if it was just a knee jerk reaction
or if they really feel like some of this info is truly confidential.</font>
<br>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">They of course provided the generic
response of "<i>I will also warn that flashing firmware not provided
as a complete upgrade package from IBM will likely make your motherboard
inoperable and unrecoverable. </i>". Which might be believable
for someone that doesn't know anything about computers or electrical engineering.
I've spent the better part of 2 decades working with computers and
electronics and I know it's not true. Don't get me wrong, if you
do it "incorrectly" you can certainly break it, but if done correctly
there is no reason to think that it would magically become inoperable.</font>
<br>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">I did take a closer look at some of
their BIOS update tools and it looks like they do have some other firmware
imbedded in with the BIOS updates, looks like some kind of riser card update,
and something with the service processor. Their documentation isn't
real clear what some of the bits and pieces are actually updating. But
it is clear that they have multiple firmware devices being updated using
a couple of different tools. An spFwUpdt.com program to update the
service processor, then they use awdflash.exe to apply two different bits
of firmware one 1,024KB and the other 64KB.</font>
<br>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">I also notice the comment about the
backup bios, from past experience with IBM I've seen quite a few of their
systems come with backup bios capability. It's handy if something
goes wrong when flashing the firmware, if something goes wrong the system
will automatically load off the backup version. I thought I saw something
a few years back that suggested they alternate which flash chip they update
so that the version that is currently booting isn't overwritten when you
flash a new version, just the one in the current backup. Could be
mistaken on that just something I remember, triggered by Stefan's comments....</font>
<br>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">FYI - Thanks for answering some questions
and discussing the possibilities with me.</font>
<br>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif"><br>
Jason Vannest<br>
</font>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<table width=100%>
<tr valign=top>
<td><font size=1 color=#5f5f5f face="sans-serif">From:</font>
<td><font size=1 face="sans-serif">Stefan Tauner <stefan.tauner@student.tuwien.ac.at></font>
<tr valign=top>
<td><font size=1 color=#5f5f5f face="sans-serif">To:</font>
<td><font size=1 face="sans-serif">Jason_Vannest@abercrombie.com, </font>
<tr>
<td valign=top><font size=1 color=#5f5f5f face="sans-serif">Cc:</font>
<td><font size=1 face="sans-serif">flashrom@flashrom.org, Carl-Daniel Hailfinger
<c-d.hailfinger.devel.2006@gmx.net></font>
<tr valign=top>
<td><font size=1 color=#5f5f5f face="sans-serif">Date:</font>
<td><font size=1 face="sans-serif">07/16/2012 07:57 AM</font>
<tr valign=top>
<td><font size=1 color=#5f5f5f face="sans-serif">Subject:</font>
<td><font size=1 face="sans-serif">Re: [flashrom] IBM SurePOS 700 4800-783
support</font></table>
<br>
<hr noshade>
<br>
<br>
<br><tt><font size=2>On Wed, 11 Jul 2012 18:17:19 -0400<br>
Jason_Vannest@abercrombie.com wrote:<br>
<br>
> If I'm reading the flashrom site correctly this is one of the flash
chips <br>
> that flashrom has support for already. So that might be a plus.<br>
<br>
Yes, the flash chip itself wont be a problem.<br>
<br>
There is a service manual for the POS located at<br>
</font></tt><a href="ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/software/retail/pubs/hw/4800_surepos700/btd5_4800-723-743-783_hsg_mst.pdf"><tt><font size=2>ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/software/retail/pubs/hw/4800_surepos700/btd5_4800-723-743-783_hsg_mst.pdf</font></tt></a><tt><font size=2><br>
and it mentions a "backup bios" in the service processor section.
That<br>
could complicate things further (or help you out if something fails if<br>
you are very lucky, but usually it make things worse for us).<br>
The remainder of the document is not very helpful (targeted at users<br>
not developers).<br>
<br>
> > I'd venture a guess that we can do this before IBM can<br>
> > even give you a quote.<br>
> <br>
> What kind of information would you want? I have pretty solid
connections <br>
> with IBM I may be able to get questions answered about this.<br>
<br>
A schematic that contains the data path between the southbridge and the<br>
flash chip as well as its relation to the Renesas IC would indicate if
we<br>
have to take care about the Renesas at all. Any additional information<br>
regarding the BIOS upgrade process (e.g. if the version of the Renesas'<br>
firmware has to be kept in sync with the BIOS) or the service<br>
processor's interaction with the flash chip would be very welcome too.<br>
<br>
Above all we need to work on the support for the VIA chipset (VT8251),<br>
but IBM won't be able to help us with that. I have no news regarding<br>
that.<br>
-- <br>
Kind regards/Mit freundlichen Grüßen, Stefan Tauner<br>
</font></tt>
<br>
<br>