Argon & Benzene - SPI NOR Flash programmer & reader

◾ About the project

This project consists of two boards: Argon and Benzene.

Argon is a SPI NOR flash programmer & reader. It's based on the FT2232H microcontroller (with two UARTs - A & B). The board has three LED indicators of data - on TX, RX and CS lines and some sockets to be able to plug in the logic analyzer. Version 1.0 of Argon is available in the releases section.

Benzene is a DIP-8/DIP-16 to Argon adapter. It includes mostly a few capacitors and resistors to allow SPI flash to run smoothly. There is also a 555 timer with LED indicator on CS line goldpins to attach the logic analyzer. Version 1.0 of Benzene is available in the releases section.

Argon works best with Benzene attached - they are designed to match each other (you can put two Benzene boards on top of the Argon). Argon can be also used separately as USB<->UART/FIFO/I2C/SPI converter (similar to FTDI Mini Module).

Both boards were designed using KiCad 5.1.6.

◾ Software

Argon software is available in this repository.

◾ Known issues

Argon 1.1

• No known issues, but wasn't assembled yet.

Benzene 1.0

• Logo is too small and illegible (not very important, so won't be fixed by now)

Project

• KiCad libraries are a bit chaotic (not very important, so won't be fixed by now)

◾ Usage examples

Argon is meant to be used as SPI NOR flash reader & writer with:

• Benzene & flash soldered to DIP-8/DIP-16 board adapter
• Benzene & flash inside DIP-8/DIP-16 adapter
• Benzene & clip with DIP-8/16 adapter to read or program flash placed on another board

It can be also used standalone as USB<->UART/FIFO/I2C/SPI converter (all FTDI Mini Module functionalities in the nicer and more readable form).

Note: all photos show Argon in version 1.0.

◾ Schematics and designs

All of them can be found in the releases section as KiCad files, gerber files, pdf and svg format.

▪️ Argon 1.1

▪️ Benzene 1.0

◾ Other hints

When assembling your own Argon or Benzene please use LED's resistors calculated for your chosen colours.

◾ License

Argon and Benzene are available on Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 4.0 International license (more in license file). You are free to use it, modify it and produce as many of your own boards as you need :)