When working with embedded systems, it is often easiest to use a downloadable firmware file rather than recover the firmware from the device.
Mostly these are ROM images in the form of a .bin file. Sometimes, they are Motorola SREC files (often called .s19 files or .mot files).
These are easily converted into bin files using many available tools. The SREC files tend to only contain records where there is actually data/code and the gaps are filled with padding values during conversion. Padding tends to be 0x00 or 0xFF.
This can gives us a hint about the data segment of the image - it allows us to tell if the memory has been initialised with 0x00/0xFF intentionally by the compiler/assembler, or if it is just padding. Sometimes this can make identifying data structures easier.
Is there anything else an SREC file can leak?