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   Gwen Nelson (gwennelsonuk@mastodon.sdf.org)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Dec-2024 23:19:20 JST Gwen Nelson

   • Leah Rowe is not a Rowebot

   @libreleah

   https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=X-Lzq7jAT8I

   I found this hilarious

   • Embed this notice
     Leah Rowe is not a Rowebot (libreleah@mas.to)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Dec-2024 23:19:20 JST Leah Rowe is not a Rowebot

     in reply to

     @gwennelsonuk It's largely informative at an introductory level, though I would suggest that the Raspberry Pi Pico is a much better SPI flasher. See:

     https://libreboot.org/docs/install/spi.html

     I use binwalk for breakfast

   • Embed this notice
     Leah Rowe is not a Rowebot (libreleah@mas.to)'s status on Saturday, 21-Dec-2024 17:16:51 JST Leah Rowe is not a Rowebot

     in reply to

     @gwennelsonuk I'm just annoyed that he's using a CH341a, without modification. That means the data lines are being driven at a 5V logic level.

     The router he's hacking on may very well be 1.8v, as many of them are nowadays, though even a 3..3v one will be fried.

     At least get the green ch341a, rev 1.7, which has a switch for 1.8/3.3/5v.

     A raspberry pi pico is the best flasher. Nobody really uses 5v. Pico is 3.3v and you can use a 1.8<>3.3v logic level shifter if you wish, for 1.8v electronics.

   • Embed this notice
     Gwen Nelson (gwennelsonuk@mastodon.sdf.org)'s status on Saturday, 21-Dec-2024 17:16:52 JST Gwen Nelson

     in reply to

     • Leah Rowe is not a Rowebot

     @libreleah

     I just found it hilarious how they refer to it as an illegal hacking tool and pronounced SPI like "spy", making it look like it's a super secret spy tool

   • Embed this notice
     Leah Rowe is not a Rowebot (libreleah@mas.to)'s status on Saturday, 21-Dec-2024 17:21:50 JST Leah Rowe is not a Rowebot

     in reply to

     • Riku Viitanen

     @gwennelsonuk By the way, Libreboot *is* the upstream, for the pico-serprog version that it uses. More information is available here:

     https://libreboot.org/docs/install/spi.html

     Riku Viitanen @riku forked Mate Kukri's @mkukri pico-serprog project. By the way both of these people also contribute heavily to Libreboot.

     The forked version sets a higher drive level of 12mA by default, also configures LEDs properly that indicate activity while flashing. Every RP2040 device is supported.

     We also forked stm32-vserprog.

   • Embed this notice
     Leah Rowe is not a Rowebot (libreleah@mas.to)'s status on Saturday, 21-Dec-2024 17:25:52 JST Leah Rowe is not a Rowebot

     in reply to

     • Riku Viitanen

     @gwennelsonuk @riku @mkukri Our pico-serprog fork can also set the chip select on two flash chips at a time. That way, you can more easily flash on systems with two flashes controlled via chip select from the PCH, where data lines are connected between them at very low resistance.

     And Riku also sent patches to flashprog to accomodate this.

     Raspberry Pi Pico is the best SPI flasher there is. Nobody should be using a CH341a. Pico is the same price but better in every way. Safer, more reliable.

   • Embed this notice
     Leah Rowe is not a Rowebot (libreleah@mas.to)'s status on Saturday, 21-Dec-2024 17:31:35 JST Leah Rowe is not a Rowebot

     in reply to

     • Riku Viitanen

     @gwennelsonuk @riku @mkukri The Pico (or any RP2040 device) is also reprogrammable. Don't want a SPI flasher? Here are a few other things it can also do:

     * Emulate the CD drive on a playstation.

     * Be used as a TTL-based UART dongle

     * Anything else you cna think of. Want to program a door alarm for your office?

     Yet I still see idiots like the YouTuber you linked, with millions of followers, telling everyone to use CH341a. I get blamed on #libreboot when someone fries their chip with it.