AT24RF08
The ATMEL AT24RF08 (24RF08 for shorts) is a 8KiB serial access EEPROM with an RFID interface. Its serial interface is similar to that of the AT24C08 EEPROM, and it is better described in the AT24C08 datasheet.
Serial interface access to the EEPROM is available through the I2C bus on some ThinkPads, at I2C addresses 0x54 - 0x57 with an additional "access protection page" at address 0x5c. Since the chip itself is not an I2C client, a bridge of some sort is likely being employed. This is probably the reason for the Problem with lm-sensors killing some older ThinkPads.
The RF interface is not used on the ThinkPads, but the EEPROM also has a memory protection map, which the BIOS uses to protect access to sensitive data. Note that this means the EEPROM suffers at least two write cycles every boot (unprotect/protect).
ThinkPads store critical information on this EEPROM, including the BIOS admin password. Editing this EEPROM bypassing the BIOS requires hardware hacking to access the chip's serial interace directly, however. It also requires special programs to access the chip's serial interface and decode the password. The procedure is detailed in Recovering BIOS Passwords.
External Sources
- ATMEL
- ATMEL - Direct link to AT24RF08C datasheet
- ATMEL - Direct link to AT24C08 datasheet
- ATMEL - AT24RF08C product page
- ATMEL - AT24C08 product page
