50 SBC329 3U VPX Single Board Computer
Publication No. SBC329-HRM/1
5.3.2
Boot Flash
The SBC329 has three 16 MB SPI Flash devices fitted for board boot code:
One acts as the main boot ROM device. The processor boots from this device by
default
One acts as a recovery ROM. The processor boots from this device when the
One holds FSP boot code, and the board boots from this location when the
appropriate bit is set in the EEPROM DIP SW (can be set in a BIOS configuration
screen)
When booting from the main boot ROM, the FSP device is mapped onto CS1, and so
is always visible to the system.
The device that was selected to boot from is shown in the BIOS setup screens.
5.3.3
Flash Hard Drive
One SATA port from the PCH (port 3) is connected to a Silicon Motion SM631 or
SM651 series SATA Solid State Drive (SSD). This device integrates a NAND array
and a controller with a SATA Gen2 interface. The controller uses ECC and wear-
leveling to provide a robust storage area. An LED (DS408) shows device activity; see
the
LINK
For more details on the SSD, see
Overall drive capacity is dictated by available technology. Currently, the SBC329 can
support up to 32 GB of NAND Flash, although higher densities are expected to be
available in the future. See the
section for available device types, or
contact Abaco for more information about alternative densities.
A variety of Flash array technology types is available: SLC, MLC and SLC mode.
SLC mode is a proprietary memory type offered by Silicon Motion and giving the
same reliability as SLC Flash using an MLC type array.
Hardware write protection is implemented by bits in the
which is controlled by a BIOS setup screen. By default, write protection is controlled
by the backplane NVMRO signal, but users can disable this protection to allow
compatibility with commercially available operating systems.
Software can read the write protection status, along with the SSD presence, from the
FPGA. The FPGA also provides a Fast Erase facility. See relevant software
documentation for information on how to activate this function.