NOTE: This post is here for historical purposes only. It has been moved to Exactsteps.net.

If you are doing development on the MinnowBoard MAX board having the ability to read from, write to, and erase the onboard SPI Flash memory is very useful. The SPI Hook tool from TinCanTools provides exactly this functionality. Priced at only $29USD the SPI Hook provides an affordable alternative to much more expensive tools such as the Dediprog SF100 SPI Flash Programmer that retails for $230USD. The SPI Hook is not as fast as more expensive tools but for most development needs it’s fast enough. The SPI Hook also provides a virtual Serial Port for communicating with the MinnowBoard MAX.