Need Advice: Software to Read an IC

I am looking for a free software I can use to read the program off an IC in a board I have. The chip is a Nuvoton M0516 and I am using a ST-Link V2 to connect with it. The ST-Link seems to communicate with the chip, but I have only been able to do a blank check, as the software does not have a read function.

My problem: I purchased 5 web relay boards from SainSmart and although I can change their IP address via web interface, they all have the same MAC address. My understanding is that it is assigned in the program on the Nuvoton (as opposed to hard coded into the ENC 28j60 chip by the manufacturer as would be typical with a NIC). It seems the vendor simply cloned the boards rather than adjusting the MAC for each copy.

My Goal: To read the program off one of the boards, try to figure out where the MAC address is coded (I suspect a monumental task in itself) and then to modify the address on four of the boards so I can use them all on the same network without issues.

Steps Taken:
-Worked with vendor support to no avail.
-Scoured the internet for help and suggestions, including posts on numerous forums.
-Reviewed a youtube vid about burning in new IP addresses to a different version of this board, but it does not seem to apply and is done through an arduino.
-Sent comments to various buyers via Amazon who had expressed similar concerns
-Tried a number of ic programming software packages that I could find via google searches, but they were either too proprietary (ether for the IC or for the ST-Link, or both) or I could not figure out how to use them (OpenOCD) since I am highly inexperienced.
--Nuvoton
--Keil
--ST-Link (although I can't remember the name at this moment)
--Various others over the past couple of weeks... too many to recall.

All suggestions are welcomed. Thank you.

 

Luck and a prayer mostly. Assuming the security bit isn't on and I can get to the code, I assume it will be in hex format. My hope is that by searching for the MAC address bits in hex, I might find a pattern of hex that translates to the MAC.

Beyond that, I have no real plan. I know it is a long shot. And clearly, I am not a programmer. If I were, I would just rewrite the entire code and reprogram the board with my own code. It's an option for me to consider, but would rely on the good will of others, since it is beyond my capacity.

 

Fish, Thanks for the input. You are most definitely correct that there are better solutions for what I am trying to accomplish. This really started out as a hobby project (and still is for that matter).

My ultimate goal is to place four, or five of these boards in different places in my house to control simple lighting fixtures and such. I am only using the network attachment side of the boards, and not the relay units. The reality is, although each board can control 16 channels, I will likely use only 1 to 3 on each board. The intent was/is to use my existing network in the home so I don't have to run a bunch of signal wires from a single, centrally located board to all over the house.

I build my own relays and simply control them from the control signal generated by the web-server boards.

This was supposed to be a relatively simple, fun project to help me learn html coding as I wrote a webpage to control the boards so I could do it from my phone. I also dabbled with using the Amazon Dash buttons and some widely publicized hacks as well.

All fun stuff and working well. The easy part was supposed to be buying these boards (which I got an insanely cheap deal on) and using them as a quick solution to network connectivity. (In days gone by I had worked with a friend who developed a light control system which used midi signals transmitted via 485 protocol. It was great fun for holiday lighting, but not practical for more "residential" uses.) But, that knowledge resource is no longer available to me.

I'm wondering if it is more practical to seek advice about blanking the boards and reprograming them. The main goal there being to have a network connected relay server that I can control via http, or similar commands over my existing home network. (Again, a task which is quite daunting to me, since I have no programming background beyond changing a few variables in a well-commented ASM file and compiling it to a chip.) I never really know how much to ask for/expect from a community forum, since they are a group of enthusiasts volunteering their help. I have so little to offer in return, it makes me feel like a leach.

Thanks again for comments and offerings.

 

Fish,
Thanks for the pointers. I will have to check out the wifi modules you've suggested. My fear is, that it will turn out that they are all mass produced with the same hard-coded addresses as well. I did a bit of research and found that there are some USB boards out there that are all coded the same and two can't be connected to the same computer. That, combined with my experience with the web-server relays, makes me think that all of these cheap DIY boards, no matter what the form factor, will just not work.

Most likely, I will buy two of the wifi units, and at worst, only use one. Then give up on the project. It's just not important enough to invest in a more professional set up. ...Just a fun project gone bad.

Thanks to everyone for the help.

 

Cool. Placing my order today. Thanks.