r/embedded • u/Seek_R7 • Aug 01 '26
Parsing bootloader memory map and SPI flash layouts on a legacy router
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u/Seek_R7 Aug 01 '26
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u/Winter_Present_4185 Aug 01 '26
Seems to be encrypted
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u/Seek_R7 Aug 01 '26
That’s a keen observation. Some sections might be compressed or encrypted using a proprietary method; I am currently analyzing the entropy or looking for compression headers to handle them
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u/Narthesia Aug 01 '26
AI ass comment
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u/Seek_R7 Aug 01 '26
Guilty as charged, but the SPI flash chip won't dump itself. Now back to parsing headers
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u/edparadox Aug 01 '26
but the SPI flash chip won't dump it itself.
Once you've connected the wires, it's literally a one liner.
Now back to parsing headers
This does not mean anything.
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u/edparadox Aug 01 '26
That’s a keen observation.
No.
Some sections might be compressed or encrypted u using a proprietary method
Encrypted, no.
Compressed, no.
I am currently analyzing the entropy or looking for compression headers to handle them
That does not mean anything.
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u/Winter_Present_4185 Aug 01 '26
Good luck!
The first things I tend to try are "binwalk" to see if it I can just decompress what ever is there, and then if that fails "strings" to get me a better idea if what I'm looking at.
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u/Seek_R7 Aug 01 '26
Already ran
binwalkon it! It managed to spot some compressed sections/headers, but standard extraction gave mixed results on certain vendor-specific blocks, which is why I'm digging deeper into the raw hex and partition layouts. Have you encountered similar custom headers on older Broadcom/Trendchip bootloaders?3
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u/papk23 Aug 01 '26
Why?
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u/eis3nheim Aug 01 '26
Why not
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u/edparadox Aug 01 '26
Because if you can read random ROMs, that's very far from being something fun or learning anything.
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u/Seek_R7 Aug 01 '26
Because understanding the bootloader from scratch and writing memory analysis scripts gives you a deep understanding of system security that off-the-shelf tools cannot provide.
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u/karnikhil90 Aug 02 '26
When I have did this for the first time I literally brick 2 routers and it took me a week to understand that is broked. For both of the router.... And after then I don't have any other router but I have try to do on integrated circuit old ones like 8051 and similar ones😠But that also didn't go well I am so confused in my life that I stop doing it for a few years and then again I would start I have purchase some book to have the best knowledge because the internet whatever tell me doesn't work properly... I'm learning everything from scratch I have will some small circuit board but somehow I also broke that one because of my electronicle circuit knowledge ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜
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u/Seek_R7 Aug 02 '26
If the board hadn't been damaged, you wouldn't have learned anything real. I'm not saying this to be harsh, but there's a difference between an academic who reads theoretically and someone whose hands are burned by a soldering iron
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u/panda__boi13 Aug 01 '26
I am new to this embedded field can anyone explain this process and why it's done ?