Could you do your best to explain *why* the flash is toast? Perhaps it's only me and my rudimentary understanding of flash memory, but isn't flash memory just a bunch of flip-flops that saves state in non-volatile RAM? To me, then, it would seem that a "bad update" would do nothing more that load a corrupted image into the NVRAM... not necessarily hurt anything physically?
Let's say I still wanted to screw around with this thing, just for giggles and grins... What would be the downsides of erasing MMC0? Would that erase u-boot? How do I get the "special/hidden" files/data from the non-user areas before I nuke MMC0?
Theoretically, if I erase MMC0, I should be able to:
Code:
a. boot to u-boot
b. get into fastboot mode
c. flash diags, diags kernel, and main kernel
d. boot into diags
e. enable USB drive mode
f. copy main kernel to user area
g. reboot to diags
h. get to root serial console with login prompt
i. load main partition from user area?
Do you see anything wrong with the above? Am I underestimating the effects of erasing MMC0? (And even if the copy to the user area fails, at least I tried something else, even though it didn't work. All that means is that the flash really truly is toast, in which case it's only good for parts, or maybe a trade-in towards a new one with Amazon. As a friend of mine likes to say, "You can't broke broke! It's already broke! You can't broke it no more!")
Thank you very much for your time. You've been a great help, and your detailed explanations have been fabulous.