Thanks for the Help! I should have guessed the big semiconductor companies wouldn't let us understand their products, how else could they make $100+ for all their development kits, IDEs and programmers so we can use their $2 chips. JW thanks for giving me a general idea of how the flash is accessed to be programmed. Using multiplexers to switch in and out internal circuits would allow access to the flash as well as protect other circuits on the chip from the higher programming voltages. as for how the flash is programmed, correct me if i'm wrong but it is a process called hot-electron injection in which higher voltages and currents pass across the source and drain of a MOS transistor. The transistor has a floating gate that collects stray electrons on their way across the channel. once there they become trapped and build up a charge that changes the bias on the transistor, giving you a logic zero. This is like when electrons in a vacuum tube strike the grid on their way to the plate and become trapped there. if they are not allowed to return to ground the grid will develop a negative bias and cutoff current through the tube.