This may be the beginning of the end to a long Right To Repair War with Hakko…
Over the last weekend, I finally tackled a long-postponed project: backing up the firmware of the Hakko FM-203 Soldering Station (Teardown). I’d been putting it off because the Renesas R5F21258SNFP microcontrollers (MCUs) used in these devices are typically secured with read protection, and is secured accessing them requires an In-System Programming (ISP) ID code. I had to get creative as I did not want to invest a lot cash in to this on sockets and adapters. Despite the challenges, the backup was a success.
Email to Hakko
Early Monday morning, December 2nd, I emailed Hakko via their web form with the following message:
“Hakko FM-203 Soldering Station Firmware V2.0 Backup and ISP Code Recovery was a Success. No Longer Proprietary and Confidential It Has Been Published. Please Release the Most Current Firmware and Schematics.”
I also included a link to the live demonstration of the process.
The ISP Code for Firmware V2.0
To assist the repair community, I submitted the recovered In-System Programming ID Code:
0xffdf, 48 0xffe3, 4B 0xffeb, 30 0xffef, 30 0xfff3, 32 0xfff7, 35 0xfffb, 36
Hakko’s Response
By Tuesday afternoon, Hakko’s Chris Stuber had uploaded the firmware to their knowledge base (kb.hakkousa.com) and informed me they are in the process of revising the FM-203 non-repair manual Watch This Video This development raises hope that they may soon release the schematics.
I urge everyone interested in repair information to register for their KB access by emailing techsupport@hakkousa.com. Share any responses you receive—transparency is crucial.
I verified that the File was Uploaded it seems to be valid data.
If you’re working with aFM-203 and it was or is Firmware V3.01, such as needing to restore a corrupted MCU note that the ISP ID Code differs:
ISP Code for Firmware V3.01
0xffdf, 48 0xffe3, 4B 0xffeb, 30 0xffef, 32 0xfff3, 35 0xfff7, 36 0xfffb, 42
This breakthrough underscores the importance of Right to Repair and demonstrates the power of persistence in unlocking repairability for all.
I will make a video at a later date on how to update and restore the firmware.
If Schematics For all Hakko Equipment are Posted I will Update. I will be optimistic.
Last Updated on December 4, 2024 by Steven Rhine