Sunburn - Firmware flashing tool for SPMP8000

One of the tools I needed before starting the kernel work is a Linux replacement for FRM Pro. I didn't want to boot Windows and pack the firmware into its image format every time for a firmware update so I coded up this utility that can write bootfiles with their PATs directly from Linux.

Alemaxx's and openschemes.com tools did help a lot in this, so a big thank you goes to them!
The Letcool device seems to be different to what they have had in at least two regards: It has a newer internal bootloader (ver 4) and a different type of flash chip. This didn't allow for correct dumps with romboy, and very slow dumps with frmorp.

The Sunburn utility overcomes this, by more precisely doing what FRM Pro does. I had to look through a lot of USB traces to come to this solution, but this seems to work the best.

I also want Sunburn to be the tool later on to flash Linux to the devices, allowing dual-booting of the original and the new firmware.

Now, a request to all those wanting to help:
To create a dual-boot loader later on, it would be useful to have more information about the flash chips, and layouts of all the SPMP8000 devices out there.
What you have to do is:
1. Donwload Sunburn
2. Compile it
3. Run it with the "-Di" flags
4. Post the output as a comment here

Note: Sunburn is now only available for linux and in source code.
If there is significant interest for a Windows binary, I'll look into it.

Serial console on the Letcool

To get closer to the inner workings of the processor, you'll need to have access to the serial port of it (for the advanced readers: there's no JTAG on this SoC).
Fortunately, it's quite easy to do so on the Letcool.

Linux for the Letcool (and other SPMP8000 gadgets)

There seem to be a lot of people out there wanting to have Linux support for their favourite game console, MP4 player and whatnot.

Those with a Dingoo are already happy, but up till now the great amount of Sunplus SPMP8000 based devices had to run their original firmware.

It would be a shame if Linux wouldn't conquer this nice piece of hardware, so I have decided to apply for this years GSoC with this project and give people what they want.

Don't expect it to be ready by next week however, but stay tuned and check this blog for updates.

You can also help!

I will ask for help in testing and for details about all the devices out there when the development is in that stage.

Until then, you can still do your part of the work:
Spread the word!
Leave comments in blogs and forums and link to this page so that anyone interested finds it.