Minnowboard:SPI Boot flash

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Revision as of 12:49, 8 November 2013 by Jayneil (talk | contribs) (Added "Updating MinnowBoard Firmware" section)
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the MinnowBoard uses a SPI based serial flash memory to load the initial code into the Intel Atom E640 series processor. The MinnowBoard uses a WinBond W25Q32 (datasheet) which has a total of 4096KB of storage which can be flashed with a UEFI image or other custom firmware.

Programming Interface

the MinnowBoard has a 2x4 header that has 0.1" spacing for programming the SPI based serial flash memory.

Programming Header
Pin number Main Function Note
1 +3.3V Power Supports on +3.3V
2 GND system ground
3 nCS Chip Select Active Low
4 SCK SPI Clock
5 MISO Data Output from serial flash
6 MOSI Data Input to serial flash
7 NC No Connection
8 nPRG_EN Program Enable Active Low

Applications and Hardware

Updating MinnowBoard Firmware

In this section we will discuss how to update the default firmware on your MinnowBoard which is UEFI. You will also need a USB flash drive formatted in FAT32 format with a minimum of 8MB of free space for this guide.

Steps

1. Fire up your browser and go to the Intel MinnowBoard UEFI Firmware site as shown below in Figure -1:

2. Next click on the 'Download' button as shown in Figure-2:

3. You will then have to accept the MinnowBoard End User License Agreement as shown in Figure -3:

4.

Download the MinnowBoard UEFI firmware from the Intel website as shown below. You will also have to accept a user agreement license before you can download the firmware.

2.