83Plus:OS:Raw Flash Commands
All calculators with an "archive" and upgradable OS have a flash chip whose data can be erased and rewritten. Issuing write and erase commands is done through memory-mapped writes. The flash chip will not accept any commands unless flash is unlocked. Additionally, any read from flash while issuing a command sequence will abort the command sequence. Consequentially, command sequences can only be issued from RAM and the OS interrupt must be disabled. (You can have a custom interrupt if the IVT and ISR are located in RAM.)
Note: Although the code on this page is Z80-only, the commands described also apply to 68K-based calculators that also have flash memory; the flash chips they use accept the same command set.
Contents
Basic Flash Commands
It takes the flash chip a long time to perform a write or erase operation. During this time, it is impossible to read data from the flash chip, because all reads will simply report a status byte.
Reset
You can reset the flash chip by writing 0F0h to 0000h.
ld a, 0F0h ld (0), a
Reset the flash chip if a program or erase operation fails, to abort either of those, and to leave autoselect mode. The flash chip does not accept resets during write or erase operations.
Writing
The design of flash memory is such that a 0 can be written over a 1, but the reverse is not possible. Any write attempting to do this will fail. To write a 1 over a 0, see the below section.
The write command consists of a series of four writes to memory areas mapping flash. The first two writes inform the flash chip that a command is being issued (preventing accidental writes), the next informs the flash chip what you want to do, and the final gives the address you want to write to and the data to write. If any reads or out-of-sequence writes are performed before the fourth write, the command will be aborted and the actual data write will not take place. Remember to copy flash write/erase code to RAM before execution.
The first three writes of the write sequence must be performed to addresses whose bottom 12 bits have a specific value. (TI's code writes to port 6 because they mistakenly believe 16 bits are required.) Specifically, write AA to xxxAAA, 55 to xxx555, A0 to xxxAAA, and then finally write what you want to the page and address you want.
Once the write is accepted, keeping checking the address you want until what you read matches what you want. If you try to write a 1 over a 0, your code is likely to freeze, especially if you're trying to do that to bit 7.
writeFlashByte: ; Writes a byte to flash. Flash must be unlocked. Be aware that pressing CLEAR ; will abort the write. ; Inputs: ; - B: Byte to write ; - C: Page ; - HL: Address to write to. This will not be wrapped. ; Outputs: ; - NZ on failure ; Kills: ; - AF, BC ; Protips: ; - Calling writeFlashByteRaw instead will skip the page changing ; - Do push bc \ pop af afterwards to restore flags to pre-call values. That's ; right, documented side-effect programming! in a, (memPageAPort) ; save page push af ld a, c out (6), a di call writeFlashByteRaw ei pop bc ; restore page without screwing up flags ld a, b out (memPageAPort), a ret writeFlashByteRaw: ; Flash program sequence ld a, 0AAh ; First bus cycle---unlock ld (0AAAh), a ld a, 55h ; Second bus cycle---unlock ld (0555h), a ld a, 0A0h ; Third bus cycle---write command ld (0AAAh), a ld (hl), b ; Fourth bus cycle---program data ; Wait for the write operation to complete ld a, 0FDh ; This checks for the CLEAR key. out (keyPort), a ; If pressed, it aborts. inc hl dec hl programWaitLoop: in a, (keyPort) cp 0BFh jr z, abortProgram ld a, b xor (hl) bit 7, a jr z, programDone bit 5, (hl) jr z, programWaitLoop abortProgram: ld a, 0F0h ld (0000h), a inc a programDone: ret
Erasing
The design of flash memory is such that writing a 1 over a 0 is not possible, except in large blocks known as sectors. The flash chips TI likes to use have sectors that are almost all 64 K in size, except the last which, which is broken up into several sectors. Erase operations take a long time, during which running code from flash is impossible. If you want, you could probably make something blink or something while you're waiting.
eraseSector: ; Erases a sector of flash. Note: Use eraseSectorRaw for the certificate. ; Inputs: ; - C: Page ; Outputs: ; - Z on fail (this is opposite of writeFlashByte) ; Kills: ; - AF, BC, HL in a, (memPageAPort) push af ld a, c out (memPageAPort), a ld hl, 4000h di call eraseSectorRaw ei pop bc ld a, b out (memPageAPort), a ret eraseSectorRaw: ; Flash program sequence ld a, 0AAh ; First bus cycle---unlock ld (0AAAh), a ld a, 55h ; Second bus cycle---unlock ld (0555h), a ld a, 080h ; Third bus cycle---write command ld (0AAAh), a ld a, 0AAh ; Fourth bus cycle---unlock (again) ld (0AAAh), a ld a, 55h ; Fifth bus cycle---unlock (again) ld (0555h), a ld a, 30h ; Do not change this value. You could superbrick your calculator. ld (hl), a ; Wait for the erase operation to complete ld a, 0FDh out (keyPort), a inc hl dec hl eraseWaitLoop: in a, (keyPort) cp 0BFh jr z, abortErase ld a, (hl) bit 7, a jr nz, eraseDone bit 5, a jr z, eraseWaitLoop abortErase: ld a, 0F0h ld (4000h), a xor a eraseDone: ret
Erase Suspend
The flash chip supports suspending an erase operation in program. This allows you to read data from the flash chip again. I'm not sure why would want to do this, but
ld a, 0B0h ld (0), a
will suspend an erase operation. Then
ld a, 30h ld (0), a
will resume the erase operation. According to the data sheet, you can actually start writing data to another sector and resume the erase later.
Full Chip Erase
Do not use this command under any circumstances. It will fully brick your calculator by means of erasing the boot sector(s) (and everything else). (For the skeptics, this has actually been tested.)
Autoselect Mode
The flash chips support a set of commands known as the autoselect commands. These commands are intended to allow the flash chip to identify itself to a manufacturer and to verify that sectors are protected. However, they are also usable in-system. To use the autoselect commands, you must first unlock flash.
The basic code for an autoselect operation is
; First bus cycle---unlock ld a, 0AAh ld (0AAAh), a ; Second bus cycle---unlock ld a, 55h ld (0555h), a ; Third bus cycle---write command ld a, 090h ld (0AAAh), a ; Read autoselect code ld a, (address) ld b, a ld a, 0F0h ; You need to issue a reset command to exit autoselect mode ld (0000h), a
where address is the code for the autoselect command. Address 0 returns the Manufacturer ID; address 2 returns the device ID. Known manufacturer IDs are
Manufacturer | ID |
AMD | 01 |
Fujitsu | 04 |
EON (read from 200h) | 1C |
Extended code, read real code from 200h | 7F |
Macronix | C2 |
Though the manufacturer ID changes from unit to unit, the device ID should be consistent:
Flash Chip Size | ID |
512 K (5.0 V) | 23 |
512 K (3.0 V) | B9 |
1 MB | DA |
2 MB | C4 |
4 MB | A7 |
Thus, a TI-83+SE and a TI-84+SE should both have C4 for the device ID; a TI-84+ should have DA for the device ID; and a TI-83+ should have 23 or B9 for the device.
If you swap the first page of any sector into the 4000h memory bank and read from 4004h (or 6004h for the second half of 8 K pages), it will return whether or not that sector is protected by the flash chip's built-in write/erase lock. The older TI-83+SE and TI-84+/SE units did not use the lock feature on the boot sector(s), so they return 0 for all sectors. The TI-84+CSE and TI-84+/SEs manufactured after 2013 DO, however, have their boot sectors locked. The flash chip's lock feature can only be overridden by applying 12 V to the correct pin. (Applying 12 V to the wrong pin will probably fry the chip.)
It appears that TI used to use the flash chip's locking feature on the original TI-83+, because older units read 01 for sector 1Fh. (Older units read 23 for the device ID, and newer units read B9 for the device ID. It is possible that the switch to the B9 devices occurred at the same time as the switch to the ASIC for the TI-83+.) However, since at least 2007, TI has not used the locking feature on the TI-83+. These units always read 0. Therefore, it is still possible that the ASIC supports unlocking the boot sector of these units.