Part U5 EOL

[lucid-void]

Part U5 | W25Q16JVUXIQ_TR | 8-USON
Is going EOL according to mouser:
https://www.mouser.be/en/ProductDetail/Winbond/W25Q16JVUXIQ-TR?qs=qSfuJ%252Bfl%2Fd7SDdIHLGOd1g%3D%3D

[centydev]

Hi,

The SPI flash has common footprint so you can find other vendor as long as you meet the:

• Footprint 8-USON (2x3)
• Voltage: 3.3V
• CLK Speed: 80MHz and above
• Flash size is 8Mbit or larger.

[lucid-void]

both replacement part you mentioned are 1.8V parts not 3.3V.

[centydev]

You are right. Let us search a bit more later today.

[lucid-void]

Found a working alternative to the (now hard-to-source) Winbond flash: the MX25V1635FZUI. It's a hardware drop-in — same USON-8 2×3 footprint, 16 Mbit, 2.3–3.6 V — but it needs a small software change to boot.

The catch is that Macronix puts its Quad-Enable bit in a different place (bit 6 of the single status register, not SR2 bit 1 like Winbond). The stock Winbond-style boot2 can't enable quad mode correctly, so you get the classic Macronix-on-RP2040 symptom: the RPI-RP2 drive appears, the UF2 copies, then nothing runs because the CPU can't XIP.

Fix is one line — build from source with the universal single-bit boot2:

board_build.arduino.earlephilhower.boot2_source = boot2_generic_03h.S

(You may need to switch that env from board = pico to board = generic with the right flash size, since the pico board pins its boot2.) boot2_generic_03h uses only the universal 0x03 read command, so it works with any flash including Macronix — the tradeoff is slightly slower XIP.

[lucid-void]

@centydev have you found any replacements worth your time?

[centydev]

@lucid-void, we are considering this part P25Q16SH