Boot code for the Sphere and Sphere II is stored in onboard flash and can be updated in the field. You may need to do this to support performance improvements or newer features of Windows CE builds.
Select the boot code for your system based on the amount of DRAM installed and the version of the board you are using.
2.10 (4-May-2012) - Updates boot code to recognize Numonyx flash.
1.11 (6-Nov-2007) - Enable AC97 power immediately on power-up
1.10 (26-Oct-2007) - Clear screen buffer at boot - Fixed RTC problem
1.08 (21-Aug-2006) - Enabled inactivity shutdown of SDRAM clock - Allows flash erase by address in boot menu. - Base address of flash is 0x60000000. To erase all but boot loader, range is 0x60040000 to 0x62000000. Note: Erase this range prior to flashing a new bootloader.
1.05 (25-May-2006) - Supports P30 flash Note: Does not read real-time clock
1.04 (4-Aug-2005) - DIP switch settings same as Bitsy family (switches 3 & 4 not used)
Sphere II CE bootloader v1.11 has a 'known-issue' with Sphere II Rev A boards which can result in the corruption of the boot-code.
Data-points for this issue are as follows: - The issue occurs only when loading or reloading bootloader v1.11 - The issue occurs intermittently; it does not occur on every attempt to load or reload bootloader v1.11 - The issue does NOT occur when booting as part of a 'normal' boot process - The issue does NOT occur on Sphere II Rev B boards
During boot, the Sphere Windows CE bootloader displays the contents of the EP9315 PwrSts register (address 0x8093_0000) along with interpretive text.
On the Sphere, the meaning of the output is as follows: - "Cold start: 432023xx" -- the Sphere was power-cycled or the reset button was pressed - "Warm start: 43208Bxx" -- the watchdog timer was triggered
The "4320" portion of the register indicates that this is the EP9315 manufactured by Cirrus Logic. xx is the value of a counter that gets reset at power-on reset.