Can this be done by removing connection to WP# signal line?
And I have an question about capacitors I have been wondering about. Does a capacitor impact the circuit it is in? For example, i have an 3.3V source and I place a big large capacitor for example 10uF instead of 0.1uF specified. Does this capacitors capacity "Pull out" the voltage and make it drop below 3.3V on that rail for a short period of time? Can some one explain that relation of it inside of a circuit please? Thanks.
No, WP# must be permanent pulled low and HPM [hardware protection mode] must have been activated to enable memory protection. Removing the WP# connection may release the HPM if it was enabled.
The chip is driven by 3.3v power supply which also drives other critical circuits hence 3.3v problem is unlikely. The 0.1uF capacitor is placed there to reduce signal glitches and not for DC filtering. Placing a large capacitor on the circuit may place undue loads onto the switching power supply and may affect the starting up timing condition. This is definitely not advise.
Can you explain how did you come to the conclusion that the firmware was erased.?
If you have the ability, the easiest I would think of is to replace the CMOS flash memory with a new chip. It is not all that unlikely for a failed flash memory chip.
Of course, there may be other causes for example internal software driver upgrade process initiated by the computer itself etc..