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S29GL-N MirrorBit Flash Family
S29GL-N_00_B3  October 13, 2006
D a t a  S h e e t
Sector Protection
The device features several levels of sector protection, which can disable both the program 
and erase operations in certain sectors or sector groups:
Persistent Sector Protection
A command sector protection method that replaces the old 12 V controlled protection method.
Passw ord Sector Protection
A highly sophisticated protection method that requires a password before changes to certain 
sectors or sector groups are permitted
W P#  Hardw are Protection
A write protect pin that can prevent program or erase operations in the outermost sectors.
The WP# Hardware Protection feature is always available, independent of the software man-
aged protection method chosen.
Selecting a Sector Protection Mode
All parts default to operate in the Persistent Sector Protection mode. The customer must then 
choose if the Persistent or Password Protection method is most desirable. There are two 
one-time programmable non-volatile bits that define which sector protection method is used. 
If the customer decides to continue using the Persistent Sector Protection method, they must 
set the 
Persistent Sector Protection Mode Locking Bit
. This permanently sets the part to 
operate only using Persistent Sector Protection. If the customer decides to use the password 
method, they must set the 
Passw ord Mode Locking Bit
. This permanently sets the part to 
operate only using password sector protection.
It is important to remember that setting either the 
Persistent Sector Protection Mode 
Locking Bit
 or the 
Passw ord Mode Locking Bit
 permanently selects the protection mode. 
It is not possible to switch between the two methods once a locking bit is set. 
I t is important 
that one mode is explicitly selected w hen the device is first programmed, rather 
than relying on the default mode alone. 
This is so that it is not possible for a system pro-
gram or virus to later set the Password Mode Locking Bit, which would cause an unexpected 
shift from the default Persistent Sector Protection Mode into the Password Protection Mode. 
The device is shipped with all sectors unprotected. The factory offers the option of program-
ming and protecting sectors at the factory prior to shipping the device through the 
ExpressFlash  Service. Contact your sales representative for details.
It is possible to determine whether a sector is protected or unprotected. See 
 Autoselect Com-
mand Sequence on page 51
 for details.
Advanced Sector Protection 
Advanced Sector Protection features several levels of sector protection, which can disable 
both the program and erase operations in certain sectors.
Persistent Sector Protection
 is a method that replaces the old 12V controlled protection 
method.
Passw ord Sector Protection
 is a highly sophisticated protection method that requires a 
password before changes to certain sectors are permitted.