[Soekris] "Error Programming Flash." on net5501

[Soren Kristensen]

Hi Nick,

Nick Webb wrote:
>> I begin to wonder if there's a write protect jumper somewhere, though  
>> it seems unlikely.  Has the sound of a faulty board about it.
> 
> Martin --
> 
> I think you are onto something here.  I unmounted the board (out of the 
> steel case) and everything worked fine.  Some screw must have shorted 
> something out or been too tight, etc.  It as-is from Soekris so it 
> should have been right, but I'm happy I was able to tweak a few things 
> and flash the bios (just to make sure it works).
> 
> Odd thing is that I mounted it back in the case the way it was before 
> and everything still works.  I guess there could have been something 
> wedged in there shorting it that I didn't see (I did look).
> 
> With this experience, there certainly seems to be an undocumented write 
> protect in there somewhere... It would be good to know where this is, so 
> I can convince myself it won't happen again.

Can't say why, maybe ground loop though the serial cable, maybe a bit 
changed somewhere.

There are no write protect, it should just work, although the comBIOS 
makes several checks before updating the flash, to protect the system.


Best Regards,


Soren Kristensen

CEO & Chief Engineer
Soekris Engineering, Inc.