Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting

Common issues and solutions.

Connection Issues

"No devices found"

Symptoms: Clicking Scan shows no devices

Solutions:

1. Check USB cable (use data cable, not charge-only)
2. Try different USB port
3. Check if device appears in system:
   • Windows: Device Manager → Ports (COM & LPT)
   • macOS: ls /dev/tty.usb*
   • Linux: ls /dev/ttyACM*
4. Reflash firmware to microcontroller
5. Try Mock mode to verify app works

"Connection failed" after connecting

Symptoms: Device found but ping fails

Solutions:

1. Disconnect and reconnect USB
2. Reset microcontroller (press reset button)
3. Check firmware version matches app version
4. Try different USB cable

Chip Detection Issues

"Unknown chip" or wrong detection

Symptoms: Chip ID shown but not recognized

Solutions:

1. Check wiring - especially CLE, ALE, CE#
2. Verify 3.3V power to chip
3. Add 10kΩ pull-up on R/B# line
4. Check for cold solder joints
5. Try slower timing (if supported)
6. Report chip for database addition

All 0xFF or 0x00 chip ID

Symptoms: ID reads as FF FF FF FF FF or 00 00 00 00 00

Causes:

• No power to chip
• CE# not going low
• Data bus not connected
• Chip is dead

Solutions:

1. Verify VCC and GND connections
2. Check CE# signal with multimeter/scope
3. Verify data bus wiring (D0-D7)
4. Try known-good chip

Dump Issues

Dump contains all 0xFF

Symptoms: Entire dump is empty (0xFF bytes)

Causes:

• Chip is erased/empty
• RE# signal not working
• Data bus issue

Solutions:

1. Check RE# wiring
2. Verify data bus connections
3. Try reading chip ID first (if that works, data bus is OK)
4. Chip may actually be empty

Dump has repeating patterns

Symptoms: Same data repeats every N bytes

Causes:

• Address lines not connected
• Partial address bus failure

Solutions:

1. Check all address-related signals (ALE)
2. Verify column and row address cycles

Corrupted data / bit errors

Symptoms: Data looks mostly correct but has errors

Causes:

• Signal integrity issues
• Timing too fast
• ECC errors in original data

Solutions:

1. Shorten wires
2. Add decoupling capacitors
3. Use ECC correction in analysis
4. Try slower timing

GUI Issues

App won't start

Windows:

• Install WebView2 Runtime
• Run as administrator

macOS:

• Right-click → Open (bypass Gatekeeper)
• Check System Preferences → Security

Linux:

• Make AppImage executable: chmod +x OpenFlash*.AppImage
• Install webkit2gtk: sudo apt install libwebkit2gtk-4.1-0

UI is blank or frozen

Solutions:

1. Check for antivirus blocking
2. Try running from terminal to see errors
3. Delete config: ~/.config/openflash/
4. Reinstall application

Hex viewer is slow

Symptoms: Scrolling is laggy with large dumps

Solutions:

1. Use page navigation instead of scrolling
2. Reduce page size in settings
3. Close other applications
4. Large dumps (>1GB) may be slow

Firmware Issues

Pico not entering bootloader mode

Solutions:

1. Hold BOOTSEL before connecting USB
2. Keep holding until drive appears
3. Try different USB port
4. Check USB cable

STM32 won't flash

Solutions:

1. Set BOOT0 jumper to 1
2. Reset board
3. Flash via ST-Link or serial
4. Set BOOT0 back to 0

Firmware crashes / resets

Symptoms: Device disconnects during operation

Causes:

• Power issue
• Firmware bug
• USB enumeration problem

Solutions:

1. Use powered USB hub
2. Update to latest firmware
3. Report issue with steps to reproduce

Performance Issues

Dump is very slow

Expected speeds:

• STM32F4: ~200KB/s (fastest)
• RP2040: ~100KB/s
• ESP32: ~80KB/s
• STM32F1: ~50KB/s

If slower:

1. Check USB connection (use USB 2.0+ port)
2. Close other USB-heavy applications
3. Avoid USB hubs if possible
4. For ESP32: use USB instead of UART if available

Still Having Issues?

1. Check GitHub Issues for similar problems
2. Ask in Discussions
3. Open a bug report with:
   • OS and version
   • Hardware used
   • Steps to reproduce
   • Error messages/logs