summaryrefslogtreecommitdiff
path: root/util/flashrom
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
Diffstat (limited to 'util/flashrom')
-rw-r--r--util/flashrom/README25
-rw-r--r--util/flashrom/flashrom.839
2 files changed, 35 insertions, 29 deletions
diff --git a/util/flashrom/README b/util/flashrom/README
index 8410d3ff5e..a4eee499dd 100644
--- a/util/flashrom/README
+++ b/util/flashrom/README
@@ -2,8 +2,11 @@
Flashrom README
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Flashrom is a universal flash programming utility for DIP, PLCC, or SPI
-flash ROM chips. It can be used to flash BIOS/coreboot/firmware images.
+Flashrom is a utility for reading, writing, and erasing flash ROM chips.
+It's often used to flash BIOS/coreboot/firmware images.
+
+It supports a wide range of DIP32, PLCC32, DIP8, and TSOP chips, which use
+various protocols such as LPC, FWH, parallel flash, or SPI.
(see http://coreboot.org for details on coreboot)
@@ -46,16 +49,17 @@ Usage
Exit status
-----------
-flashrom exits with 0 on success, 1 on most failures but with 2 if /dev/mem
+
+Flashrom exits with 0 on success, 1 on most failures but with 2 if /dev/mem
(/dev/xsvc on Solaris) can not be opened and with 3 if a call to mmap() fails.
coreboot Table and Mainboard Identification
--------------------------------------------
-Flashrom reads the coreboot table to determine the current mainboard
-(parse DMI as well in future?). If no coreboot table could be read
-or if you want to override these values, you can specify -m, e.g.:
+Flashrom reads the coreboot table to determine the current mainboard. If no
+coreboot table could be read or if you want to override these values, you can
+specify -m, e.g.:
$ flashrom -w --mainboard AGAMI:ARUMA agami_aruma.rom
@@ -94,15 +98,6 @@ flexible and they should lead to a ROM update file format with the
ROM layout and the ROM image in one file (cpio, zip or something?).
-Disk on Chip support
---------------------
-
-Disk on Chip support was removed from flashrom in r3382. It had already
-been disabled by default in flashrom for several years because the code
-was considered unstable and incomplete. The products intended to work
-have been End-Of-Lifed by the manufacturer for a long time.
-
-
Supported Flash Chips / Chipsets / Mainboards
---------------------------------------------
diff --git a/util/flashrom/flashrom.8 b/util/flashrom/flashrom.8
index 4e60f850e7..60dca9838b 100644
--- a/util/flashrom/flashrom.8
+++ b/util/flashrom/flashrom.8
@@ -1,14 +1,17 @@
.TH FLASHROM 8 "January 5, 2009"
.SH NAME
-flashrom \- a universal BIOS/ROM/flash programming utility
+flashrom \- utility for reading, writing, and erasong BIOS/ROM/flash chips
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B flashrom \fR[\fB\-rwvEVfLhR\fR] [\fB\-c\fR chipname] [\fB\-s\fR exclude_start] [\fB\-e\fR exclude_end]
[\fB-m\fR vendor:part] [\fB-l\fR file.layout] [\fB-i\fR image_name] [file]
.SH DESCRIPTION
.B flashrom
-is a universal flash programming utility for DIP, PLCC, or SPI flash ROM
-chips. It can be used to flash BIOS/coreboot/firmware images, for example.
-.sp
+is a utility for reading, writing, and erasing flash ROM chips.
+It's often used to flash BIOS/coreboot/firmware images.
+.PP
+It supports a wide range of DIP32, PLCC32, DIP8, and TSOP chips, which use
+various protocols such as LPC, FWH, parallel flash, or SPI.
+.PP
(see
.B http://coreboot.org
for details on coreboot)
@@ -16,17 +19,21 @@ for details on coreboot)
If no file is specified, then all that happens
is that flash info is dumped and the flash chip is set to writable.
.TP
-.B "\-r, \-\-read"
-Read flash ROM contents and save them into the given file.
+.B "\-r, \-\-read <file>"
+Read flash ROM contents and save them into the given
+.BR <file> .
.TP
-.B "\-w, \-\-write"
-Write file into flash ROM (default when file is specified).
+.B "\-w, \-\-write <file>"
+Write file into flash ROM (default when
+.B <file>
+is specified).
.TP
-.B "\-v, \-\-verify"
-Verify the flash ROM contents against the given file.
+.B "\-v, \-\-verify <file>"
+Verify the flash ROM contents against the given
+.BR <file> .
.TP
.B "\-E, \-\-erase"
-Erase the flash ROM device.
+Erase the flash ROM chip.
.TP
.B "\-V, \-\-verbose"
More verbose output.
@@ -53,10 +60,11 @@ to be used on this board.
Note: This check only works while coreboot is running, and only for those
boards where the coreboot code supports it.
.TP
-.B "\-l, \-\-layout" <layout.file>
-Read ROM layout from file.
+.B "\-l, \-\-layout <file>"
+Read ROM layout from
+.BR <file> .
.TP
-.B "\-i, \-\-image" <name>
+.B "\-i, \-\-image <name>"
Only flash image
.B <name>
from flash layout.
@@ -71,6 +79,9 @@ special support in flashrom. Some of the known-good/known-bad and tested ones
are listed at
.BR http://coreboot.org/Flashrom#Supported_mainboards ,
but the list is not exhaustive, of course.
+.sp
+Please let us know if you can verify other boards to work or not work out
+of the box.
.TP
.B "\-h, \-\-help"
Show a help text and exit.