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HP forum: Need help with SPI ROM recovery header

by: lasvegaswireman August 4, 2011 7:04 PM PDT

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Need help with SPI ROM recovery header

by lasvegaswireman - 8/4/11 7:04 PM

I have a p6130y that has a Pegatron M2N78-LA aka Violet-GL8E motherboard. I made the mistake of accepting a BIOS update via one of HP's update services which BRICKed the computer. I have tried to recover it using various boot block recovery methods but it appears that the boot block is also corrupt.

That said, I have a BlackCat USB JTAG/SPI programmer and notice a SPI ROM recovery header on the motherboard. HP's website states "This connector allows qualified technicians to reload firmware into the SPI boot flash in case there is problem with the data. This jumper should not be changed." I have tried to use the header per HP's pinouts but the programmer can't find the SPI ROM chip.

Anyone with information about the use or function of this header, please respond. I would like to know if it follows standard SPI specs or if it is a modified proprietary HP version. Do I need any buffering or isolation circuitry, etc. Any useful information that aids me in recovering this machine would be appreciated.

Frank


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Answer Best answer as chosen by user lasvegaswireman

So far the only non-HP shop fix is to swap the motherboard.

by R. Proffitt Moderator - 8/5/11 7:45 AM

In Reply to: Need help with SPI ROM recovery header by lasvegaswireman

It's a shame but you can go to hp.com, click on the chat button and you can check my answer there.

HP does not reveal any other method. Yes, I'm an embedded electronics designer but that does not matter here. The other thing folk do is to swap said chip with another board that has other issues.
Bob


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Answer Best answer as chosen by user lasvegaswireman

HP Compaq SPI header pin out.

by ichayan - 11/15/11 2:13 AM

In Reply to: Need help with SPI ROM recovery header by lasvegaswireman

Hi I had a bricked mobo and in my search to ressurect it i had the same confusion as yours. I found this information from the following link. But the link is not working for some reason but i managed to getthis from googles cached pages hope this wont be too late for you.

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:R_5PFW_S2x0J:bios-repair.co.uk/repref/hp-compaq/HP-Compaq-SPI-Header.html+HP+spi+header&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk&client=firefox-a

HP
Compaq SPI
Header
Pinouts
Besides the HP-Compaq SPI header pinouts being a NON standard format.
There is also a jumper accross pins 1 and 2 which
needs to be removed before attempting to connect the programmers ISP
lead to the SPI Header.
I was able to map out the 6 pins needed for programming using a
Multimeter. Pinouts are as below.

SPI
Header
Pin 1 -- No connection needed
SPI
Header
Pin 2 -- CE
SPI
Header
Pin 3 -- SI
SPI
Header
Pin 4 -- Not Present
SPI
Header
Pin 5 -- SO
SPI
Header
Pin 6 -- Vdd
SPI
Header
Pin 7 -- SCK
SPI
Header
Pin 8 -- Vss

My addition
====================================================

2 4 6 8

1 3 5 7

There is no pin 4 and there is a jumper across 1 and 2.
====================================================

Connect Programmer as above, programmer software may complain that
two pins are missing but they are not needed to erase, blank check,
program or for verifying the onboard Device.
After programming, the jumper which was removed from pins 1 and 2
needs to be refitted. Our example of the M2N68-LA worked fine after
reprogramming the BIOS Chip Via the SPI header.


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SPI Recovery M2N61-AR

by cnetnx1 - 6/8/12 3:05 AM

In Reply to: HP Compaq SPI header pin out. by ichayan

ichayan,

Would it be possible to give me the full schematic for this cable?

I've a bricked m2n61-ar I would like to flash

Many thanks


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