Use Cases

Use cases

Back up a chip before touching it

1. Insert the chip and click its socket card.
2. read → save as, for example, laptop_bios_backup.bin.
3. verify against that file. A match proves the backup is good.

Keep the backup somewhere other than the folder you flash from.

Flash one chip

1. Click the socket, press write, pick the image. Or just drag the image onto the socket's card.
2. If the size doesn't match, accept the pad or truncate offer, but only if you know the image is meant for this chip.
3. Confirm. Blank check, write and verify run automatically; the card shows ✓ verified at the end.

Flash four identical chips at once

1. Insert four chips of the same type. The ALL card should say 4 identical chips.
2. Select ALL (Alt+A), press write, pick the image.
3. All four are erased and written in parallel, then verified one by one.

This takes about as long as one chip plus the verifies.

Flash different chips, or different images, one after another

The broadcast only works for identical chips. Same image, different chips: select ALL, tick one-by-one, press write and pick the image. Each socket is written in turn (see Operations).

Different images or operations: use the queue:

1. Insert all chips first.
2. Select CS0, write image A.
3. While it runs: select CS1, write image B; select CS2, verify against image C; and so on.
4. Walk away. The jobs run in turn; check the log or the cards when you're back.

Don't swap chips while the red warning is shown.

Produce many identical boards

Use Production Mode with ALL:

1. Select ALL, tick production mode and pick the image. If your chips aren't all the same type, tick one-by-one too.
2. Fill the sockets and press Enter.
3. After swap chips, take the chips out, put new ones in and press Enter again.

The flash log records every chip's unique ID, so you can trace each part later.

Check a pile of already-flashed chips

1. Insert up to four chips, select ALL, press verify, pick the expected image.
2. Each chip is checked on its own and gets ✓ verified or ✕ failed.

Recover a chip after a failed or interrupted write

A stopped or failed write leaves the chip partially programmed. Just write it again; erase isn't needed first. If it fails again, lower the speed (for example to 8M), reseat the chip and retry. See Troubleshooting.

Update the Pico's firmware

1. Open ⚙ settings (Ctrl+,). latest release says whether an update is available.
2. Click latest (x.y) and confirm. The Pico restarts by itself, takes the new firmware and comes back; the log shows each step.
3. Check on the Pico: it now shows the new version.

For a firmware file you built yourself, use from file… or drop the .uf2 on the window. See Settings.