[TriEmbed] Recovering from bad flash

[Michael Monaghan]

Hi everyone,

I need a little advice on a project, but first, Hello!  I attended my first
meeting a few weeks ago and was thoroughly impressed by the presentation
and knowledge in the room.  Its wonderful to see such a supportive group
helping one another succeed.  I hope to become a regular and to get a
chance to exchange toys, ideas, etc.

So my current hurdle is I'm working with an AR9331 SoC that I use for Mesh
networking.  The vendor is out of their depth when configuring the
bootstrap (U-Boot 1.1.4 2003).  They have several quirky problems that I'd
like to solve like: proper serial support and saving settings somewhere
other than code space (which bricks the device).  The U-Boot community has
been great and several of the devs have helped me prep a new version to
test.

Now I need to flash it.  This isn't a problem as long as the new U-Boot
works.  I've learned that isn't always the case.  So what if I brick it?

JTag isn't extended and some pins are unavailable, although I could likely
force that issue.

The Flash is a 25Q128FVSG (datasheet
<https://www.winbond.com/resource-files/w25q128fv_revhh1_100913_website1.pdf>),
but it is soldered on and I lack a programmer.

I'm assuming the worst, completely bricked device because I screwed up the
code or compiling.

What's the route of least resistance to recover?  Socket the flash and
buy/rent/beg a programmer?  Extend JTag?  Have I missed a way to whip the
chip into submission?

Thanks in advance.

Mike
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