CHAMP-AV8 (VPX6-462) H
ARDWARE
U
SER
’
S
M
ANUAL
C
URTISS
-W
RIGHT
C-2
P
ROPRIETARY
826448 V
ERSION
5 M
ARCH
2015
NVRAM W
RITE
P
ROTECTION
Early versions of the CHAMP-AV8 BIOS and BSPs stored vital product data, or VPD, such as
board serial number and similar information, in a memory block of the NVRAM. This required
the NVRAM write protection mechanism to write-protect the block containing the VPD by
default. The NVRAM hardware write-protect applied only to this block and not the entire device
memory. A software script was required to modify the Hardware Write Protect jumper
behaviour such that when installed, the entire NVRAM is write-protected.
Starting with BIOS version 1.0.2, Linux version 1.0.2, and VxWorks version 1.0.1, VPD
relocation to one of the TSI721 SRIO-PCIe bridge configuration PROMs is supported. BIOS
version 1.0.2 modifies the NVRAM write-protect mechanism such that the Hardware Write
Protect jumper automatically protects the entire NVRAM, not just the VPD-reserved block. This
change is made, even if the VPD is not moved from the NVRAM according to the procedure
referenced below.
CHAMP-AV8 early access boards with part number VPX6-462-A04B130-E were shipped with
software storing VPD in the NVRAM. Users are strongly encouraged to upgrade their BIOS and
BSP to the latest versions, following the procedure in the BIOS release note, Curtiss-Wright
document 82645 version 4 or later, to migrate VPD to the TSI721 configuration PROM. This
will free up user memory space within the NVRAM and allow for full hardware write-protect
without the need for software scripts.
All product-grade CHAMP-AV8 boards are shipped with VPD in a TSI721 device, and not in the
NVRAM. By default, the hardware write-protect applies to the entire NVRAM (with part
numbers of the form VPX6-462-xxxxxxx, having no -E suffix), and not just one block. The
migration procedure referenced above is not required.
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