Pre-flashing bootloader to external flash memory chips
Posted: Tue May 12, 2020 8:12 amHello all, first post here.
I work for a missions agency that will use the esp8266 for a handheld radio distributed in 3rd world countries.
We are nearing our mass-production stage for these devices (~100,000/year).
In order to increase efficiency in our production line, I want to eliminate the need for plugging each device in to upload the latest firmware.
My plan is to write some OTA bootloader to download the latest firmware upon arrival from the PCB assembly.
The OTA bootloader, then, will be flashed to the chip by the distributor (digikey has quoted ~$0.15 per chip for this... but may continue looking for cheaper...)
So we will receive the AT25SF041 memory chips by the reel with bootloader already on them.
MY QUESTION IS THIS:
Is this as easy as simply sending digikey (or whoever) the .BIN file?
Does it need to be written starting at a certain vector?
Are there any hiccups with this plan?
Thank you all!
I work for a missions agency that will use the esp8266 for a handheld radio distributed in 3rd world countries.
We are nearing our mass-production stage for these devices (~100,000/year).
In order to increase efficiency in our production line, I want to eliminate the need for plugging each device in to upload the latest firmware.
My plan is to write some OTA bootloader to download the latest firmware upon arrival from the PCB assembly.
The OTA bootloader, then, will be flashed to the chip by the distributor (digikey has quoted ~$0.15 per chip for this... but may continue looking for cheaper...)
So we will receive the AT25SF041 memory chips by the reel with bootloader already on them.
MY QUESTION IS THIS:
Is this as easy as simply sending digikey (or whoever) the .BIN file?
Does it need to be written starting at a certain vector?
Are there any hiccups with this plan?
Thank you all!