[LinuxBIOS] Intel 440bx

[Peter Stuge]

On Mon, Nov 20, 2006 at 03:41:47PM +0100, Shaddam Corrino IV wrote:
> Is there some sort of memtest86 for eeproms?
> 
> I got an W29C020C-90B and an W29C020-12 for about total $10.
> 
> If I'm reading datascheets correctly the first one has about 1k
> cycles and second one has about 10k cycles.

Sounds about right, although 1k is a bit low.


> They have one week warrany on them so I would like to test them if
> they are free of errors even if the 440bx is not ready for prime
> time. Is there some easy way to do this?

If they're new I wouldn't worry, if they're used and haven't failed
yet there's no way to tell how many cycles are left unfortunately.

But you can test that they actually work right now.

It's a good idea to mark your chips somehow so they don't get mixed
up.

1. Boot your system with the normal BIOS.
2. Run: flashrom -r original.bin
3. Email original.bin to self.
4. Remove your original flash chip while the board is powered. Put
   one of the new chips in. Observe polarity! There's a notch on one
   end of the package.
5. Run: flashrom -wv original.bin
6. If the write+verify works you should be able to reboot with the
   new chip working as your BIOS.

Repeat for each chip.


//Peter