Difference between revisions of "GE Medical Flashpad Digital Xray Detector"

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== Teardown / Internal Pictures / Hardware analysis ==
 
== Teardown / Internal Pictures / Hardware analysis ==
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[[File:GE Flashpad under the hood.jpg|thumb|none|220px|the Carbon fiber sleeve is held by 9 screws and can taken off without force.]]
 
[[File:GE Flashpad under the hood.jpg|thumb|none|220px|the Carbon fiber sleeve is held by 9 screws and can taken off without force.]]
 
[[File:Ge flashpad powersupply pcb in handle.jpg|thumb|none|220px|Power supply PCB]]
 
[[File:Ge flashpad powersupply pcb in handle.jpg|thumb|none|220px|Power supply PCB]]
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[[File:Ge flashpad uwb pcb backside.jpg|thumb|Backside of UWB PCB]]
 
[[File:Ge flashpad uwb pcb backside.jpg|thumb|Backside of UWB PCB]]
 
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[[File:Ge flashpad power supply pcb backside.jpg|thumb|Backside of Power supply PCB]]
 
[[File:Ge flashpad power supply pcb backside.jpg|thumb|Backside of Power supply PCB]]
 
[[File:Ge flashpad main pcb closeup1.jpg|thumb|Main area of the PCB with its Altera Cyclone 3 FPGA]]
 
[[File:Ge flashpad main pcb closeup1.jpg|thumb|Main area of the PCB with its Altera Cyclone 3 FPGA]]
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[[File:Ge flashpad bottom connector ethernet isolation pcb.jpg|thumb|Isolation PCB for bottom connector]]
 
[[File:Ge flashpad bottom connector ethernet isolation pcb.jpg|thumb|Isolation PCB for bottom connector]]
 
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[[File:Ge flashpad main pcb powersupply section.jpg|thumb|Powersupply section for FPGA and ROIC]]
 
[[File:Ge flashpad main pcb powersupply section.jpg|thumb|Powersupply section for FPGA and ROIC]]
 
[[File:Ge_flashpad_main_pcb_closeup_3.jpg|thumb|AD9764AR 14-Bit, 125 MSPS DAC and DS1682 integrated elapsed-time recorder]]
 
[[File:Ge_flashpad_main_pcb_closeup_3.jpg|thumb|AD9764AR 14-Bit, 125 MSPS DAC and DS1682 integrated elapsed-time recorder]]
 
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[[File:Ge flashpad main pcb closeup 4.jpg|thumb|left|Accelerometer is a 834-0500 500G 3 Axis unit. abd TJ500AE SPDT GIGABIT LAN SWITCH]]
 
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[[File:Ge flashpad bottom connector.jpg|thumb|left|bottom connector for docking stand]]
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[[File:Ge flashpad main pcb closeup 5.jpg|thumb|left|Ethernet transformers and ADM34 RS-485/RS-422 Transceiver]]
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[[File:Ge flashpad main pcb closeup 6.jpg|thumb|left|Altera EPM570f100c5n CPLD ]]
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[[File:Ge flashpad main pcb closeup 7.jpg|thumb|left|Spansion GL512P10FF1R1 512 Mbit NOR flash IC holding everything.]]
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[[File:Ge flashpad main pcb closeup 8.jpg|thumb|left|24LC256I 32k EEPROM for storing the accelerometer events.]]
 
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Revision as of 11:55, 11 June 2026

Overview

The GE Flashpad is a Digital Radiography image sensor from approximately 2010, originally used in the GE Optima 220AMX mobile X-ray unit. It was designed to replace analog film in radiology, dramatically reducing image acquisition time from hours to seconds.

Flashpad with Anti-Scatter grid (left), manual and recovery dvd for 220amx and tether cord (right)

Due to its high original cost and specialized application, used units occasionally appear on professional B2B marketplaces in the $15,000–$50,000 range. On eBay, prices typically fall between $1,500 and $5,000, though units at this price point are often in poor condition and may fail the built-in self-test or not function at all.

Note: All findings on this page are based on a single unit and the time spent working on it. Information is subject to speculation and may not be fully accurate.
Note: AI assistance was used in writing this page for improved formatting and readability, as well as in the process of finding information, testing, and analyzing firmware dumps and backups.

Purpose and Motivation

This project documents the reverse engineering of the GE FlashPad wireless digital radiography detector used with the Optima XR200/220 AMX mobile X-ray system, with the goal of freeing these detectors for independent use.

Xray capture of a PCB for Reverse Engineering

Large numbers of these detectors reach the used market, but each one is cryptographically and administratively bound to its original Optima 220 AMX console. Once separated from that console, or once the console is decommissioned, the detector is effectively useless even though the hardware is fully functional. The aim of this work is to remove that artificial barrier so that a standalone FlashPad can be paired, configured, and read out by any host, without the half million dollar console it was sold with.

The intended beneficiaries are:

  • Hobbyists, researchers, and engineers who want a high quality flat panel detector for their own imaging projects.
  • Veterinary practices, which can put surplus human grade detectors to good use at a fraction of the cost of new equipment.
  • Clinics and hospitals in countries and regions where a complete commercial system is unaffordable, allowing serviceable detectors to keep providing diagnostic imaging instead of being scrapped.
xray of a current clamp multimeter

This is done for human good. Every detector returned to service is one less piece of working medical hardware sent to landfill, and potentially one more place that can offer X-ray imaging where it otherwise could not.

All files, findings, protocol documentation, and tools produced by this project are public and open source, so that anyone can study, reproduce, and build on the work.

Technical Specifications

Pinout Diagram of the Tether cable
Professional Tether wiring to attach a Ethernet Cable and 12V socket to it.

The Flashpad uses a ~40 × 40 cm CsI scintillator bonded to a TFT photodetector array mounted on glass. The assembly is highly sensitive to shock and impact damage.

Parameter Value
Resolution 2048 × 2048 px
Bit depth 16-bit per pixel
Spatial resolution Up to 5 lp/mm (theoretical)
Scintillator material Caesium iodide (CsI)
Detector type TFT photodetector array (glass substrate)
Panel size ~40 × 40 cm

The theoretical 5 lp/mm spatial resolution is primarily limited in practice by the focal spot size of the X-ray source. Use of an anti-scatter grid can improve effective resolution.

Status of Reverse Engineering

What Status
Connect, beacon, ACK Works
PORT_SETUP Works
SIGNATURE_REQUEST / serial number readout Works
Script download (Scripts 7, 8, 1) Works
EXECUTE_SCRIPT Works
EXECUTION_COMPLETE (dark acquisition) Works
EXECUTION_COMPLETE (standard acquisition) Needs real X-ray trigger to test
Image data on port 6660 Does not work yet, under investigation. Will not send Imagedata yet.

Hardware Features

Shock logging

The unit contains an internal accelerometer that logs significant shock events — but only when a battery is inserted. As there is no backup battery, shock events occurring while unpowered are not recorded.

Wireless connectivity

Some units include a UWB transmitter for Wireless USB; others may be equipped with a Wi-Fi module instead. The detector can also be operated over the tethered connection alone.

Ethernet interface

There is a 100MBit Ethernet interface trough the Tether Cable which can be tapped and used for Communication. Exposed metal contacts on the bottom connector are isolated via relays by default. Enabling Gigabit Ethernet connectivity requires shorting or driving two specific pins. This has not been investigated further at this time.


Communication Protocol

This section documents the URP/PDAP protocol used by the GE Flashpad (codename Apollo) to communicate with a host over Ethernet. All findings are based on live capture tests, configuration files, and reverse-engineering of the GE SuperBee software stack.

Note: All findings are based on a single unit and may not be fully accurate.

Network Setup

All findings were over Ethernet only, no UWB or WIFI has been used. Default detector IP is 192.168.1.30. Set your host to a static IP in the same subnet, 192.168.1.1 works fine.

At first by sending random bytes over Python it answered to port 48879 (0xBEEF), which seems to be either the default port or set by Python. After SYSTEM_SETUP it got set to 5550.


Role IP Port Direction
All commands: host -> detector 192.168.1.30 8100 (UDP) Host sends here
Discovery beacons: detector -> host - 4500 (UDP) Detector sends here initially
Protocol replies: detector -> host - 5550 (UDP) Detector sends here after setup
Image pixel data: detector -> host - 6660 (UDP) Detector streams frames here

In practice you can listen on port 5550 for everything (beacons and replies) by advertising that port in both SYSTEM_STARTUP and PORT_SETUP. The detector sends to whichever port was most recently configured.

Protocol Layers

Two layers, carried over UDP:

URP (Unified Registration Protocol)
8-byte wrapper on every packet. Handles sequencing and acknowledgement.
PDAP (Proprietary Detector Access Protocol)
The actual command layer, present inside URP packets when CmdFlag = 0.

Every UDP packet starts with a URP header:

[SeqId : 4 bytes LE] [CmdFlag : 4 bytes LE]
  • CmdFlag = 0 -- data packet, PDAP command follows.
  • CmdFlag = 1 -- bare ACK, no PDAP body. SeqId echoes the packet being acknowledged.

Both sides must ACK every data packet immediately. The detector silently drops packets with a SeqId it has already seen, so always increment SeqId for each new command.

When CmdFlag is 0, the PDAP header follows immediately:

[cmd_type : 4 bytes LE] [payload_len : 4 bytes LE] [payload ...]

Connecting to the Detector

The connection sequence is:

  1. Broadcast SYSTEM_STARTUP to tell the detector where to reply.
  2. The detector sends a BEACON back -- ACK it and sync your sequence counter.
  3. Send PORT_SETUP to configure the reply and image ports.
  4. Send SIGNATURE_REQUEST to read the detector identity (serial number, model, firmware, MAC).

Step 1: SYSTEM_STARTUP

Broadcast UDP to 192.168.1.255:8100. Always uses SeqId = 0.

URP : [00 00 00 00]  SeqId = 0
      [00 00 00 00]  CmdFlag = 0
PDAP: [01 00 00 00]  cmd_type = 1
      [06 00 00 00]  payload_len = 6
      [15 AE]        host reply port = 5550 (big-endian)
      [C0 A8 01 01]  host IP = 192.168.1.1 (network byte order)
import socket, struct

sock = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_DGRAM)
sock.setsockopt(socket.SOL_SOCKET, socket.SO_BROADCAST, 1)
sock.bind(("0.0.0.0", 5550))

HOST_IP   = "192.168.1.1"
DET_IP    = "192.168.1.30"
HOST_PORT = 5550
IMG_PORT  = 6660

def make_urp_packet(seq_id, pdap_bytes):
    return struct.pack("<II", seq_id, 0) + pdap_bytes

pdap = struct.pack("<II", 1, 6) + struct.pack(">H", HOST_PORT) + socket.inet_aton(HOST_IP)
sock.sendto(make_urp_packet(0, pdap), ("192.168.1.255", 8100))

Step 2: Receiving the BEACON and ACKing

The detector broadcasts a BEACON (cmd_type=1) roughly every 2 seconds. After sending SYSTEM_STARTUP you should get one quickly. Parse the detector SeqId from the URP header and ACK it:

data, addr = sock.recvfrom(4096)
det_seq = struct.unpack_from("<I", data, 0)[0]

# send bare ACK
ack = struct.pack("<II", det_seq, 1)
sock.sendto(ack, (DET_IP, 8100))

# all subsequent commands start from here
host_seq = det_seq + 1

Step 3: PORT_SETUP

Tells the detector which host ports to use for replies and image data.

PDAP: [02 00 00 00]  cmd_type = 2
      [04 00 00 00]  payload_len = 4
      [15 AE]        host cmd port = 5550 (big-endian)
      [1A 04]        host image port = 6660 (big-endian)
pdap = struct.pack("<II", 2, 4) + struct.pack(">HH", HOST_PORT, IMG_PORT)
sock.sendto(make_urp_packet(host_seq, pdap), (DET_IP, 8100))
host_seq += 1
# expect bare ACK from detector

Step 4: Reading the Serial Number (SIGNATURE_REQUEST)

Empty command, the detector replies with a 54-byte payload containing its identity.

pdap = struct.pack("<II", 3, 0)   # cmd_type=3, payload_len=0
sock.sendto(make_urp_packet(host_seq, pdap), (DET_IP, 8100))
host_seq += 1

# reply is 70 bytes total: 8 URP + 8 PDAP header + 54 payload
data, _ = sock.recvfrom(4096)
payload = data[16:]   # skip URP (8) + PDAP header (8)

mac      = payload[0:6]
serial   = payload[22:34].rstrip(b'\x00 ').decode()
model    = payload[34:46].rstrip(b'\x00 ').decode()
fw_bytes = payload[46:54]
firmware = ".".join(str(b) for b in fw_bytes)

print(f"MAC:      {':'.join(f'{b:02X}' for b in mac)}")
print(f"Serial:   {serial}")
print(f"Model:    {model}")
print(f"Firmware: {firmware}")

Expected output:

MAC:      40:F4:A0:00:78:4D
Serial:   UA45829-7
Model:    5340000-7
Firmware: 1.6.0.4.2.0.1.3

Running an Acquisition

After the connection sequence above, download scripts to the detector and then execute them.

ROE Initialisation (Script 7)

Always run this first. It initialises the readout electronics and takes about 4-5 seconds. The detector sends host event ID 17 when done.

Dark / Offset Acquisition (Script 1)

No X-ray source required. Runs a dark-field exposure for offset calibration. Use this to verify the acquisition pipeline without a generator.

Standard Acquisition (Script 0)

Requires an actual X-ray exposure. EXECUTION_COMPLETE will not arrive without a real X-ray trigger.

Sequence Overview

HOST                                     DETECTOR
 |                                           |
 |-- SYSTEM_STARTUP (broadcast) ----------->|
 |<- bare ACK -------------------------------|
 |<- BEACON (cmd_type=1) --------------------|
 |-- bare ACK ------------------------------>|
 |                                           |
 |-- PORT_SETUP (cmd_type=2) -------------->|
 |<- bare ACK -------------------------------|
 |                                           |
 |-- SIGNATURE_REQUEST (cmd_type=3) ------->|
 |<- SIGNATURE_REPLY (54 bytes) -------------|
 |-- bare ACK ------------------------------>|
 |                                           |
 |-- GENERIC_SCRIPT Script7 (ROE init) ---->|
 |<- bare ACK or SCRIPT_DOWNLOAD_REPLY ------|
 |                                           |
 |-- GENERIC_SCRIPT Script1 (dark acq) ---->|
 |<- bare ACK -------------------------------|
 |                                           |
 |-- EXECUTE_SCRIPT (cmd_type=6) ---------->|
 |<- bare ACK -------------------------------|
 |<- EXECUTE_SCRIPT_REPLY (~230ms) ----------|
 |-- bare ACK ------------------------------>|
 |<- DETECTOR_STATE_NOTIFY (~890ms) ---------|  state_id=17
 |-- bare ACK ------------------------------>|
 |                                           |
 |<- EXECUTION_COMPLETE (0x10000) -----------|
 |-- bare ACK ------------------------------>|
 |                                           |
 |<- IMAGE_XFER_STATUS_QUERY (0x30000) ------|
 |-- bare ACK ------------------------------>|
 |-- IMAGE_XFER_STATUS_REPLY (cmd_type=9) ->|  numMissed=0
 |<- bare ACK -------------------------------|

Sequence Counter Rules

  • SYSTEM_STARTUP always uses SeqId = 0.
  • After the first beacon, set host SeqId to beacon_SeqId + 1.
  • Increment SeqId by 1 for every new data packet (CmdFlag=0).
  • Bare ACKs echo the SeqId of the packet being acknowledged and do not consume a SeqId.
  • The detector silently drops any packet with a SeqId it has already processed, so never reuse one.


Sensor Readout and Host Registration

This section documents the reverse engineered sensor telemetry interface and the host registration (pairing) mechanism of the GE Optima XR200/220 AMX FlashPad (URP detector, SuperBee, FW 1.6.0.4.2.0.1.3). All commands are PDAP over UDP to the detector at port 8100; replies return to the host command port.

Sensor Readout

The detector exposes an analog sensor interface (the DEM, Detector Environment Monitor) that is independent of the image transfer path and works regardless of acquisition state.

Commands

cmd_type Meaning Request payload Reply payload
0x7900 Raw sensor read [sensorId:4 LE] [value:4 LE] (12 bit ADC count)
0x7902 Converted sensor read [sensorId:4 LE] [value:4 LE] (engineering units, signed)
0x7904 Detailed / radio [selector:4 LE] [value:4 LE]

Note: cmd 0x7902 IS supported on this firmware and returns calibrated engineering units (millivolts for the supply rails, signed; 0.1 degree C for temperatures). Earlier documentation that marked 0x7902 as unsupported is incorrect. The host side conversion coefficients are not required; the detector performs the conversion internally.

The full sensor map (name, sensorId) was recovered from the detector's own [Sensor] configuration table, read back over the upload interface (see the Registration section for the read protocol).

Power rails (live readings)

All supply rails read correctly via 0x7902 and are within normal range for a flat panel detector. Representative readings:

Sensor sensorId Converted Value
DCIN_RAW 10 12100 mV +12.10 V (main DC input)
LCORE_UNREG 11 1724 mV +1.72 V
LPANA_UNREG 12 5776 mV +5.78 V
LNANA_UNREG 13 -5801 mV -5.80 V
SCAN_VCC 14 5086 mV +5.09 V (gate driver)
P5V_REF 16 5025 mV +5.03 V (5 V reference)
V_ON 17 11085 mV +11.09 V (TFT gate on)
V_OFF 18 -12378 mV -12.38 V (TFT gate off)
V_COMMON 19 -9385 mV -9.39 V
3V3 29 3177 mV +3.18 V (3.3 V logic)
VCC_UNREG 37 3399 mV +3.40 V
PARCPREG 38 3768 mV +3.77 V (ARC preamp +)
NARCPREG 39 -3732 mV -3.73 V (ARC preamp -)
PANA_UNREG 45 18352 mV +18.35 V (photodiode bias +)
NANA_UNREG 46 -19251 mV -19.25 V (photodiode bias -)

Switched rails that are inactive while the panel is idle (PARCVA_U, P5VA_SW, N5VA_SW, FGATE_NVC_L, FGATE_PVC_L, etc.) read at or near zero.

Known limitations

  • Temperatures (Temp_Surface, sensorId 336; Temp_Panel, sensorId 352): the raw 0x7900 read rails at 0x3FF (1023, the ADC maximum), indicating an open thermistor path while the panel is idle. This is a hardware/state condition, not a command problem, and the temperature is not readable from the host in this state.
  • Unimplemented sensors: sensorIds 70 (Accelerator), 78 (Gravity), and 256 to 259 (Battery status, name, life, capacity), and 272 (Grid status) are not implemented on this DEM. The detector returns the leftover conversion register contents (a duplicate of a previously read sensor) rather than a real value, so these rows must be discarded.
  • Accelerometer: functional through a separate addressing scheme using raw cmd 0x7900 with selectors 0x42 (X), 0x43 (Y), 0x44 (Z), returning 12 bit per axis counts.

Host Registration (Pairing)

URP stands for Unified Registration Protocol. The detector maintains a host list in its internal NOR flash. Image data is delivered only to a registered primary host, so registration is a prerequisite for image transfer.

Host identity (MAC and HostId)

Each host is identified by a 16 character HostId derived deterministically from the host's eth0 MAC address. The derivation (from the vendor generateHostId script) is:

  1. Take the eth0 MAC, remove the colon separators, convert to upper case (12 hex characters).
  2. Prepend the last 4 characters to the full 12 characters.
  3. The result is 16 hex characters.

Example: MAC 00:6f:00:01:0a:3a becomes 006F00010A3A, then the last four (0A3A) are prepended, giving HostId 0A3A006F00010A3A.

HostList structure

The host list is stored in flash at offset 0x940000 and can be read back over the upload interface as data category 0x71. Layout:

Offset  Size  Field
0x00    16    DetectorDeviceId (ASCII)
0x10    16    ConnectionSecretKey (ASCII; "XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX" when unset)
0x20    16    DetectorName (ASCII)
0x30    16    DetectorCode (ASCII)
0x40     2    CurrentNumberOfHosts (uint16 LE)
0x42     2    IndexToPrimaryHost (uint16 LE; 0xFFFF = none)
0x44   144*N  Host entries, 144 bytes each:
                +0x00  16  HostId (ASCII)
                +0x10  ..  host name / department string
                +0x50  ..  location string
...      4    CRC (big endian; see below)

HostList from the unit under test

Detector: MAC 40:F4:A0:00:78:4D, serial UA45829-7, model 5340000-7, firmware 1.6.0.4.2.0.1.3. DetectorName starShape_green. ConnectionSecretKey unset. CurrentNumberOfHosts = 3, IndexToPrimaryHost = 0xFFFF (no primary host).

Index HostId Derived MAC Name
0 2C6400045FB42C64 00:04:5F:B4:2C:64 Haus 207 / ITS
1 B044E8393512B044 E8:39:35:12:B0:44 Not Initialized
2 5CF800045FB15CF8 00:04:5F:B1:5C:F8 Not_Initialized

The unit is therefore not factory fresh; it carries registrations from a prior deployment, but no primary host is currently designated.

Checksum (CRC)

The HostList (and other flash data blobs) are protected by a 4 byte trailing CRC. Parameters:

  • Polynomial: 0x04C11DB7
  • Initial value: 0
  • MSB first, augmented message style (the data bit is shifted into the LSB; no input or output reflection; no final XOR)
  • Stored big endian

To generate: compute the CRC over the data followed by four zero bytes, then append the result big endian. Verification: the CRC over (data plus stored CRC) equals zero.

def crc(data, poly=0x04C11DB7, init=0):
    c = init
    for byte in data:
        for bit in (0x80,0x40,0x20,0x10,0x08,0x04,0x02,0x01):
            msb = c & 0x80000000
            c = (c << 1) & 0xFFFFFFFF
            if byte & bit: c |= 1
            if msb: c ^= poly
    return c
# trailer = crc(data + b"\x00\x00\x00\x00"), stored big endian

Read and write transport

Data blobs (including the HostList) are moved with a configure / buffer / finalize sequence.

Read (upload, detector to host), non destructive:

Step cmd_type host to detector detector to host
Configure 0x13 [uploadId:4 LE] [status:1][totalSize:4 LE]
Buffer 0x14 [bufId:4 LE][numBytes:4 LE] [bufId:4 LE][numBytes:4 LE][data]

Write (download, host to detector), persistent (writes flash):

Step cmd_type host to detector detector to host
Configure 0x0E [downloadId:4 LE][totalSize:4 LE] [status:1]
Buffer 0x0F [bufId:4 LE][numBytes:4 LE][data] [status:1][reserved:4]
Commit 0x10 (empty) [status:1]

bufId is a zero based chunk index. The HostList uses id 0x71 for both read and write. The commit command (0x10) reuses the firmware flash path, so a malformed download can corrupt flash; the operation is irreversible on this hardware.

Registering a new host

To register a host and make it the image destination, read the current HostList (0x71), append a 144 byte entry carrying the new HostId, increment CurrentNumberOfHosts, set IndexToPrimaryHost to the new entry's index, recompute the trailing CRC, and write the blob back via the download sequence (0x0E / 0x0F / 0x10).


FlashPad Detector: Internal Flash Dump and Data Files

This section documents how the full contents of the detector's internal flash were extracted over the network and what each recovered file contains. The detector under test is a GE Optima XR200/220 AMX FlashPad (URP detector, serial UA45829-7, MAC 40:F4:A0:00:78:4D, firmware 1.6.0.4.2.0.1.3).

Background

The detector's main storage is a Spansion/Cypress S29GL512P (marked GL512P10FFCR2), a 512 Mbit (64 MB) parallel NOR flash. A direct chip read requires bus access or desoldering and a programmer. However, the detector firmware exposes its stored data blobs, including a full image of the flash, through the read (upload) side of the data transport protocol. This makes a complete, byte exact dump possible over UDP with no physical access.

Extraction method

The upload interface is the read counterpart of the firmware download path and is non destructive (it only reports and returns data; nothing is written). Each data category is identified by an 8 bit upload ID:

Step cmd_type host to detector detector to host
Configure 0x13 [uploadId:4 LE] [status:1][totalSize:4 LE]
Buffer 0x14 [bufId:4 LE][numBytes:4 LE] [bufId:4 LE][numBytes:4 LE][data]

A configure request returns status 0 and a total size for a valid ID, or a non zero status for an unsupported ID. The dump tool sweeps all IDs from 0x00 to 0xFF, and for every readable ID it pulls the full blob in fixed size chunks (bufId is a zero based chunk index) and writes it to a file. The 64 MB flash image transfers as 65536 chunks of 1024 bytes.

Recovered files

A sweep of the unit returned 18 readable blobs:

Upload ID Size (bytes) Contents
0xFD 67108864 Full 64 MB NOR flash image
0xFF 16777216 16 MB region (firmware / FPGA mirror or image buffer)
0xFE 524288 Bootloader (512 KB; SPI loader, Nios reset code)
0x10 6815783 Calibration map, dose level 1
0x11 6815783 Calibration map, dose level 2
0x12 6815783 Calibration map, dose level 3
0x06 49254 Table referencing conditioner/generator serial UA2010-8U005
0x50 19938 Per mode calibration coefficients
0x51 19582 Per mode calibration coefficients
0x07 12187 Sensor conversion table (text; see Sensor Readout)
0x72 3001 Shock / drop event log (text)
0x0E 624 Panel geometry / configuration (binary)
0x71 504 Host list / registration record (see Host Registration)
0x0F 233 Host to detector compatibility table (text)
0x08 62 Serial and model strings
0x0A 48 Manufacturing codes
0x52 30 Serial string
0x0B 24 Small marker / identifier

Flash image layout (upload ID 0xFD)

A block scan of the 64 MB image shows the following regions:

Range Contents
0x000000 to 0x800000 Firmware and FPGA configuration
0x800000 to 0x940000 Sparse configuration area
0x940000 Host list / registration record (matches upload ID 0x71)
0x1000000 to 0x2800000 Calibration and image data (16 to 40 MB)
0x2800000 to 0x4000000 Erased / unused (40 to 64 MB)

The host list strings (the DetectorName starShape_green, the registered host name Haus 207 / ITS, and the unset ConnectionSecretKey placeholder) appear at 0x940000, confirming that the 504 byte 0x71 read maps to this flash region.

Notes on individual files

  • 0x07 (sensor table): plain text, header DetectorSerialNumber = UA45829-7, revision 1.2. Lists every sensor by name, command (0x7902), and sensorId. Also carries panel geometry in its [Common] section: 16 bit depth, 2048 by 2048 pixels, active area from (12, 12) to (2035, 2035), pixel pitch 0.2 mm, corner radius 1416.8, panel saturation 150.
  • 0x10, 0x11, 0x12 (calibration maps): three distinct blobs of identical size, corresponding to the low, medium, and high dose calibration sets. Each begins with the firmware version and serial (header bytes 01 06 00 04 02 00 01 03 followed by the serial). Required to apply gain and offset correction to raw images.
  • 0xFE (bootloader): contains the strings spi_load.S and ../../boot and Nios II reset vector code.
  • 0x72 (shock log): text records of drop / vibration events with timestamps and per axis values; the same data is mirrored in the detector's small onboard EEPROM.
  • 0x06: references a different serial, UA2010-8U005, likely the conditioner or generator board rather than the panel.

Significance

The complete flash image and all calibration data are recoverable over the network without opening the detector, providing a full byte exact backup of the unit before any write operation. The calibration maps are needed for image correction, and the firmware image (the live, deployed build) is more complete than the partial firmware files shipped on the recovery media.


Known Dead Ends

Things that were tried and did not work or led nowhere:

0xBEEF (48879) as reply port
This was a bug in early test scripts. The port has no meaning in the protocol. Use 5550.
CmdFlag=1 as data packet flag
Early scripts had the URP fields swapped, setting CmdFlag=1 on data packets. The detector ignores all PDAP content in these packets. Power cycle the detector if this happened, it may retain stale port state.
Image data on alternate ports
Tried listening on 48879, 6660, 5550, 8100, 1050, 6661, 9999, 4444, 7000, 7001, 9001. Nothing arrived on any of them.
PORT_SETUP byte order (big-endian)
Current implementation sends port fields as big-endian. If the detector reads them as little-endian it computes port 44565 and 1050 instead of 5550 and 6660, which would explain why no image data arrives. Not yet confirmed.
Image data streaming automatically after EXECUTE_SCRIPT
Frames may not push during execution at all. The detector may require an explicit IMAGE_RETRIVAL_REQUEST (cmd_type=0x41) and IMAGE_RETRIVAL (cmd_type=0x98) after the 0x30000 notification before it streams anything. Not yet tested.


Teardown / Internal Pictures / Hardware analysis

the Carbon fiber sleeve is held by 9 screws and can taken off without force.
Power supply PCB
UWB PCB for Wireless USB using a RTU2705
Backside of UWB PCB
Backside of Power supply PCB
Main area of the PCB with its Altera Cyclone 3 FPGA
AD7892 is a 600ksps 12bit ADC, SN74LVC8T245 a 8bit bus transceiver and DG9408EDN a 8ch MUX
Isolation PCB for bottom connector
Powersupply section for FPGA and ROIC
AD9764AR 14-Bit, 125 MSPS DAC and DS1682 integrated elapsed-time recorder
Accelerometer is a 834-0500 500G 3 Axis unit. abd TJ500AE SPDT GIGABIT LAN SWITCH
bottom connector for docking stand
Ethernet transformers and ADM34 RS-485/RS-422 Transceiver
Altera EPM570f100c5n CPLD
Spansion GL512P10FF1R1 512 Mbit NOR flash IC holding everything.
24LC256I 32k EEPROM for storing the accelerometer events.