spi-flash

Use when UART is unavailable, or a full firmware extraction/patching loop is required.

1. Identification and connection

• Look for 8-pin or 16-pin SOIC chips near the SoC (e.g., Winbond W25Q*, Macronix MX25L* or GigaDevice GD25Q*).
• In-circuit: Attach a SOIC clip. Ensure the target board is completely powered off to prevent SoC interference.
• Out-of-circuit: Desolder using hot air, clean pads, mount in programming socket. (Safest for signal integrity, but destructive).

2. Reading firmware (flashrom)

Rule: Read at least twice, and ensure hashes match before proceeding. Variance indicates bad clip contact or SoC contention.

# Read attempt 1
flashrom -p ch341a_spi -r fw_dump1.bin