IRC #olimex 2018-02-08

[11:40:50] <leon-anavi> hi
[18:52:03] <lmnts> hi, i am going to install libreboot on a T500, can you recommend me a board and clips/cables?
[19:24:01] <adj__2> lmnts, wrong channel? or are you asking for advice for an olimex board to write the flash chip?
[19:32:19] <adj__2> lmnts, allwinner A20 has good SPI support, so a20-olinuxino-lime (or lime2) should work, but think that lime/lime2 have 0.05" (inches) pin headers, instead of the most common 0.1", so normal clip cables need some form of adapter
[19:32:53] <adj__2> A20-olinuxino-micro has 0.1" headers, but very expensive is you only want it to flash coreboot/libreboot
[19:36:09] <adj__2> this adapter: https://www.olimex.com/Products/OLinuXino/A20/A20-OLinuXino-LIME2-UEXT/open-source-hardware exposes SPI in 0.1" pins (lime2 only) and you also need a 0.05" cable
[20:24:38] <lmnts> adj__2, does olimex sell those too? cables and soic clips? what other use cases does it have if i were to invest in a A20-lime2 and the adapter?
[20:26:32] <adj__2> lmnts, no, I bought a cheap Chinese clip, and I already owned a lime2 and the uext adapter
[20:27:41] <adj__2> if you are not going to use the board for anything else, buy a cheap board that is documented to work for flashing coreboot
[20:28:32] <adj__2> lime2 or a20-micro are a bit expensive, but they are open hardware and have pretty good features: SATA, Gbit ethernet etc.
[20:41:02] <lmnts> adj__2, i am looking at the A33 and it says: GPIO 0.1" step 40 pin connector (not assembled on board). (?) it also lists non-selectable options of 10-49 pcs up to a 1000. what does this mean?
[20:41:28] <lmnts> https://www.olimex.com/Products/OLinuXino/A33/A33-OLinuXino/open-source-hardware
[21:09:03] <duncan^> lmnts: https://flashrom.org/Flashrom
[21:09:24] <duncan^> lmnts: Use Flashrom linux_spi programmer
[21:09:52] <duncan^> lmnts: Laptops typically have 8SOIC or 16SOIC chip
[21:09:57] <duncan^> (for boot firmware)
[21:10:22] <duncan^> lmnts: You need Pomona 5250 or Pomona 5252 (depending on it being 8SOIC or 16SOIC)
[21:10:28] <duncan^> lmnts: Or cheap clone
[21:10:48] <duncan^> lmnts: Ask on #flashrom for help
[21:12:51] <lukas2511> for a one-time thing on an old laptop you could also just solder a few wires in ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
[21:13:36] <duncan^> Well sure, but this user asked about using a clip.
[21:14:13] <duncan^> Anyway it is offtopic...
[22:50:24] <adj__2> duncan^, he/she also asked for a board