Thanks Kurt for the detailed response.
I have a better understanding of SPI now. However, if transfer_buf and write_buf are essentially the same except the read buffer(memory), I don't understand why I would get a different reading.
e.g.
Writing System_Reset 0x56 + 0x0 + 0x26 + 0x0
RECEIVED 0x0 + 0x0 + 0x0 + 0x0 + 0x0
Transfering System_Reset 0x56 + 0x0 + 0x26 + 0x0
RECEIVED 0x85 + 0xC0 + 0x74 + 0x2A + 0x8B
I am not sure if I am even sending the intended command to MOSI properly, so i'll have to wait until Monday to get access to a logic analyzer at school.
Regarding CS pin(10), do you have a sample code as an example to show me how to get the CS pin to GPIO instead of SPI after initialization?
-Danny