# Flash Device Information

To access this dialog box:

1. Double-click a Flash card.
2. Select Configure > Flash Device Information.

The following information is displayed:

- Device Name (ciscoFlashDeviceName)
- Device Description (ciscoFlashDeviceDescr)
- Device Up Time (ciscoFlashDeviceInitTime)
- Total Size (bytes) (ciscoFlashDeviceSize)
- Max. Number of Partitions (ciscoFlashDeviceMaxPartitions)
- Min. Partition Size (bytes) (ciscoFlashDeviceMinPartitionSize)
- Number of Partitions (ciscoFlashDevicePartitions)
- Total no. of Chips (ciscoFlashDeviceChipCount)
- Is Removable (ciscoFlashDeviceRemovable)
- Device Controller (ciscoFlashDeviceController)
- Jumper State (ciscoFlashDeviceProgrammingJumper)

Device Name (ciscoFlashDeviceName)

Flash device name. This name is used to refer to the device within the system. Flash operations get directed to a device based on this name. The system has a default device. This is the primary or most-used device in case of multiple devices. The system directs an operation to the default device whenever a device name is not specified.

The device name is therefore mandatory except when the operation is being done on the default device, or, the system supports only a single Flash device. The device name is always available for a removable device, even when the device has been removed.

Device Description (ciscoFlashDeviceDescr)

Description of a Flash device. The description explains the device and its purpose. Current values are:

- System Flash: For the primary Flash that stores full system images
- Boot Flash: For the secondary Flash that stores bootstrap images

ciscoFlashDeviceDescr, ciscoFlashDeviceController (if applicable), and ciscoFlashDeviceCard objects collectively give all information about a Flash device. The description of a removable device is always available, even when the device is removed.

Device Up Time (ciscoFlashDeviceInitTime)

System time at which the device was initialized. For fixed devices, this is the system time at boot up. For removable devices, it is the time at which the device was inserted, which can be boot-up time, or later (in case the device was inserted later). If a device (fixed or removable) is repartitioned, device uptime is the time of repartitioning.

Device uptime enables a management station to determine whether a removable device has been changed. The application retrieves this object before any operation and compares it with the previously retrieved value.

Note that the time is not real time but a running time maintained by the system. The running time starts from zero when the system boots up. For a removable device that has been removed, this object is zero.

Total Size (bytes) (ciscoFlashDeviceSize)

Total size of the Flash device. The size of a removable device is zero if the device has been removed.

Max. Number of Partitions (ciscoFlashDeviceMaxPartitions)

Max number of partitions supported by the system for the Flash device. Default is 1, meaning that partitioning is not supported. This value is defined by system limitations, not by the Flash device itself. For example, the system might impose a limit of two partitions even if the device is large enough to be partitioned into four based on the smallest partition unit supported.

On systems that execute code from Flash, partitioning is a way to create multiple filesystems in the Flash device so that writing to or deleting a filesystem can be done while running code residing in another filesystem.

For systems running code from DRAM, partitioning is a way to subdivide a large Flash device for easier file management.

Min. Partition Size (bytes) (ciscoFlashDeviceMinPartitionSize)

Minimum partition size supported for the device. For systems that run code directly from Flash, the minimum partition size must be the bank size.

This object enables a management entity know the minimum partition size as defined by the system. If the system does not support partitioning, minimum partition size is equal to the device size in ciscoFlashDeviceSize. The maximum number of partitions that can be configured is equal to the minimum of ciscoFlashDeviceMaxPartitions and (ciscoFlashDeviceSize / ciscoFlashDeviceMinPartitionSize).

Number of Partitions (ciscoFlashDevicePartitions)

Number of Flash device partitions actually present. The number cannot exceed the minimum of ciscoFlashDeviceMaxPartitions and (ciscoFlashDeviceSize / ciscoFlashDeviceMinPartitionSize).

If the partition spans the entire device, the number of partitions is equal to 1, which means there is no partitioning.

A partition contains one or more minimum partition units (where a minimum partition unit is defined by ciscoFlashDeviceMinPartitionSize)

Total no. of Chips (ciscoFlashDeviceChipCount)

Total number of chips within the Flash device. This object provides upfront information to a management station on how much chip information to expect and helps double check the chip index against an upper limit when chip information for a partition is retrieved randomly.

Is Removable (ciscoFlashDeviceRemovable)

Indicates if the Flash device is removable. In general, Flash devices, such as PCMCIA Flash devices, that can be inserted or removed without opening the hardware casing are considered removable. Socketed Flash chips and Flash SIMM modules are not treated as removable. Further, removable Flash devices are expected to have the necessary hardware support:

- on-line removal and insertion
- interrupt generation on removal or insertion

Device Controller (ciscoFlashDeviceController)

The hardware card that controls Flash read, write, and erase. Relevant for AGS+ systems where Flash may be controlled by the MC+, STR or ENVM cards that might not actually contain the Flash chips.

For systems that have removable PCMCIA flash cards controlled by a PCMCIA controller chip, this object may contain a description of the controller chip. Where Flash is a direct memory-mapped device accessed directly by the main processor), this object has an empty (NULL) string.

Jumper State (ciscoFlashDeviceProgrammingJumper)

State of a jumper (if present and if it can be determined) that controls programming voltage, called Vpp, to the Flash device. Vpp is required for programming (erasing and writing) Flash. For certain older technology chips it is also required for identifying the chips. Identification is required to identify the programming algorithms to be used. Different chips require different algorithms and commands.

This object is used in conjunction with ciscoFlashPartitionStatus whenever that object has the readOnly(1) value. In such cases, this object indicates whether the programming jumper is a reason for the readOnly state.