68kMLA Classic Interface

This is a version of the 68kMLA forums for viewing on your favorite old mac. Visitors on modern platforms may prefer the main site.

Click here to select a new forum.
Silicon Image SIL3112 Flashing: Easier Way Using flashrom
Posted by: dosdude1 on 2023-01-23 23:11:40 I have a huge update for you all. After many hours of reverse engineering, I was able to SUCCESSFULLY PATCH that SeriTek 1S2 ROM for the SIl3112 cards, allowing it to work with ANY 512K EEPROM! It functions just as it would with a "supported" EEPROM, working with and booting both OS X and OS9! The patched ROM image is attached. Please test, and let me know how it works!
Posted by: mg.man on 2023-01-23 23:25:19 ...allowing it to work with ANY 512K EEPROM! WOW!! Great work! @max1zzz - you have a couple of my cards you kindly offered to do the EEPROM swap on... Do you want to give this a spin on one or both of them?
Posted by: Daniël on 2023-01-24 00:27:50 Nice! This should make things easier for @rabbitholecomputing and their SATA card, with them not needing to source specific EEPROMs to make it work with that ROM.
Posted by: max1zzz on 2023-01-24 09:41:20 WOW!! Great work! @max1zzz - you have a couple of my cards you kindly offered to do the EEPROM swap on... Do you want to give this a spin on one or both of them? Will do, I have a bunch of SST39SF040's so i'll give it a try with one of those 🙂
Posted by: Phipli on 2023-01-24 09:49:18 Everyone remember to still check the voltages of the original and replacement chips 🙂
Posted by: Performa450 on 2023-01-24 11:49:07 Wow, nice, thanks! I have a couple of those cards.
Posted by: dosdude1 on 2023-01-24 11:50:32 I would still like to find the 5.0.7 version of this SeriTek ROM if possible, which apparently fits on a 128K EEPROM. That way I could patch this version as well, and it could be used on cards with 128K EEPROMs without having to swap the EEPROM.
Posted by: Phipli on 2023-01-24 13:27:03 I would still like to find the 5.0.7 version of this SeriTek ROM if possible, which apparently fits on a 128K EEPROM. That way I could patch this version as well, and it could be used on cards with 128K EEPROMs without having to swap the EEPROM. @defor seemed to suggest they had a copy? I've never found it sadly, but perhaps I just didn't look hard enough.
Posted by: max1zzz on 2023-01-24 13:39:28 Just tried it, seems to work fine 🙂 Booted my 8600 into 8.6 from a SATA HDD from a card which now has a SST39SF040 installed
Posted by: dosdude1 on 2023-01-24 13:41:28 Just tried it, seems to work fine 🙂 Booted my 8600 into 8.6 from a SATA HDD from a card which now has a SST39SF040 installed Yes, awesome! If you can, try it in OS X as well... The OS X patch is completely separate from the classic Mac OS one, and was significantly more difficult. If OS X can mount a drive connected with the SST39SF040 ROM installed, it is properly patched as I intended.
Posted by: Phipli on 2023-01-24 13:41:51 Just tried it, seems to work fine 🙂 Booted my 8600 into 8.6 from a SATA HDD from a card which now has a SST39SF040 installed Just to chip in... the SST39SF040 is one of the three supported chips Edit - sorry, it might be the SST39LV040
Posted by: max1zzz on 2023-01-24 13:47:57 Just to chip in... the SST39SF040 is one of the three supported chips 🤣 Really? I thought all the supported chips where 3.3v? The SST39SF0x0 series are all 5v chips (the LF are the 3.3v ones) EDIT: Haveing dug through some old threads it looks like the AM29LV040B, PM39LV040 or MX29LV040 are the only supported chips by the stock firmware Yes, awesome! If you can, try it in OS X as well... The OS X patch is completely separate from the classic Mac OS one, and was significantly more difficult. If OS X can mount a drive connected with the SST39SF040 ROM installed, it is properly patched as I intended. I'll try it tomorrow, my 8600 was being very cranky and needs some attention.... Will grab the B/W G3 tomorrow and try it in that 🙂
Posted by: Phipli on 2023-01-24 13:51:23 Really? I thought all the supported chips where 3.3v? The SST39SF0x0 series are all 5v chips (the LF are the 3.3v ones) I thought these were the 5V chips that worked. It is why I have a tube of them. I can't remember if I have one installed on a 5V board though. Most boards are 3.3V
Posted by: max1zzz on 2023-01-24 13:55:44 I thought these were the 5V chips that worked. It is why I have a tube of them. From some old threads it seems the AM29LV040B, PM39LV040 or MX29LV040 are the only supported chips by the stock formware though I can't say I ever tried it on one of the SST chips
Posted by: dosdude1 on 2023-01-24 13:56:24 Really? I thought all the supported chips where 3.3v? The SST39SF0x0 series are all 5v chips (the LF are the 3.3v ones) EDIT: Haveing dug through some old threads it looks like the AM29LV040B, PM39LV040 or MX29LV040 are the only supported chips by the stock firmware I'll try it tomorrow, my 8600 was being very cranky and needs some attention.... Will grab the B/W G3 tomorrow and try it in that 🙂 Yes, only those 3 chips are compatible. I originally thought the AM29LV040 was not (as you can see by my testing picture), but looking at the code (control flow diagram of patched OS9 NDRV attached), you can see it checks for the ID of that chip (01 4F), as well as the IDs of the MX29LV040 (C2 4F) and PM39LV040 (9D 3E). The fact that it works now with an SST39SF040 is a great confirmation that my patch was actually successful.
Posted by: Phipli on 2023-01-24 13:58:30 From some old threads it seems the AM29LV040B, PM39LV040 or MX29LV040 are the only supported chips by the stock formware though I can't say I ever tried it on one of the SST chips I've just got muddled - must have bought them for another project, or after finding (and perpetuating) a mistake somewhere else on the internet. Sorry!
Posted by: dosdude1 on 2023-02-03 12:20:08 I have another absolutely MASSIVE update for you all... I was able to implement an LZSS decompression algorithm in the ROM, and use it to decompress a stored LZSS-compressed version of the OS9 NDRV. As such, the ROM has been reduced in size to UNDER 128K! This means that you can now flash it onto cards WITHOUT having to replace the original 128k EEPROM! Of course this image also includes my patched OS9 and OS X NDRVs that remove the EEPROM ID check. The updated ROM image is attached, along with my custom Forth LZSS decompression implementation. Hope you all enjoy!
Posted by: Renegade on 2023-02-03 13:09:56 Thank you dosdude1... You sir, are a hero!
Posted by: dosdude1 on 2023-02-03 14:11:37 I updated the ROM by padding it out to 128K in size, that way it works properly with Flashrom.
Posted by: dougg3 on 2023-02-03 22:12:22 This is incredible work! You are amazing, dosdude1!
< 2 >

68kMLA Classic Interface

You sir, are a hero!​

You sir, are a hero!