[Tutorial] Using a CK3 PRO/CK3i to upgrade your Nand-X

With the release of Nandpro v3.0 there is a new feature that allows Nandpro to flash XSVF files to boards (e.g. the Coolrunner boards). To get this feature you've to upgrade the code on the nand-x to the new version included with Nandpro v3.0.

TX have a CK3 Pro/CK3i cable but it's in short supply in the usual places (CK3.co.uk/Modtraders) and I wanted to crack on with my glitching so I took it upon myself to DIY the cable following the instructions.

If you have a CK3 Lite this will not work - I suggest either borrowing a CK3i or Pro, purchasing a CK3i or waiting for the X360USB2 which will have the X360USB and CK3i in the one product.

You need a DVD drive power cable for the update. Unlike other guides that butcher the DVD drive cable I had just one cable spare and wanted to save it. So I used a small, sharp punch to lift the tabs holding in the crimped cables and pull them out. Sure, it's a little more tedious but I got to save my cable.



As in the picture above, jab in the point and lift gently, making sure to keep your tool out of the path of the raised piece of metal from the crimp and then pull out the wire. Be gentle with the connector, it's flexible to prodding and lifting but only to a point and if you break a tab you might as well stop and splice them. You want to remove all but 5 cables (Pins 1, 2, 5, 6 and 7) from one connector. For neatness I completely removed the unneeded cables, they're trivial to put back in and it gets them out of the way.





I own a CK3 Pro Rev D. If you do not own a Rev D then you do not need to do the next step.

You need to solder a wire from Pin 1 on the PL2148 chip to the underside of the CK3 Pro. Yes, this involved removing the padding that it comes with but if you're careful with the removal it'll lift with the sticky tape in place and you can put it back afterwards. Here is the wire I soldered to Pin 1




And here is where it needs to be soldered to (Pin 1 on the power cable). You do not need to remove this wire for flashing, so you can just leave it there when it's done and put the padding back on.



Solder up five wires to the 6-pin port on the nand-x. This is not the same port as you read/write the nand with, that's the 7-pin port beside it. Just look for ISP and that's the right port. Solder the 5 wires to GND, 3.3v, TXD, RXD, ISP but leave RST alone.



No you have to join the wires together in the right sequence.

CK3 Pin | Connects To | Nand-X
1 | | TXD
2 | | RXD
5 | | GND
6 | | 3.3V
7 | | ISP


In order to prevent solder blocking the cable going back into the connector I soldered the wires into the crimp fold as in the picture.



Provide +12v power to the CK3 and plug in the USB too so that it shows up as a COM port in Jungleflasher on the Mkflash tab. There should only be a red light on the Nand-X to indicate power, no green/yellow light should be on.



Download FlashMagic and install it. Open it up and enter the following:

• Device: LPC2148 (Click select device, then Arm 7, then LPC2148)
• Baud Rate: 9600
• COM Port: The COM port Jungleflash says your CK3 is on
• Oscillator: 12, but if you have trouble flashing then 14.745
• Hex File: ArmV3.hex from the Nandpro 3 folder
• Tick 'Erase Blocks used by Hex File'
• Tick 'Verify after programming'

Click Start and watch the progress bar at the bottom. It should be counting down in Hex to 0x0000000 as it flashes the device.



After flashing it will verify the flash from 0x00000000 to 0x00008000 or so.



Once done, turn off the power to the CK3, removed the USB cable and connect it to the Nand-X - the yellow/green LED should turn on in addition to the power.



That's it, you've updated your Nand-X