Soldering the flash is a bad thing to do until you are certain that you
have in hand, tested and working, a means to program the flash in place.
"It should work" is not good enough, as we discovered with an i960Rx
based design we have.
We find that revision 1 of any computer *must* have a socketed flash (and
socketed PLDS:-) or you will regret it. Obvious exceptions are parts that
are specifically designed to be programmed in-circuit, but they are often
more trouble then they are worth as off-line prom and flash programmers
are more common and less finicky then the in-circuit variety.
A socket for a 29F040 (for example) is very compact, and can be soldered
to the same pads where an unsocketed part would go.
And flash sockets would please the "HeathKit" crowd, a non-trivial market
for such a thing as this.
After all (getting back on topic) the Linux on a specialized system board
will probably be under constant upgrade, and one way for a user (even those
without PROM programmers) to protect themselves from botched flash upgrades
would be to keep a backup flash that would be popped in the socket.
-- Steve Williams "The woods are lovely, dark and deep. steve@icarus.com But I have promises to keep, steve@picturel.com and lines to code before I sleep, http://www.picturel.com And lines to code before I sleep."
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