[Techtoolslist] EPROM Programming Woes...

Mon Apr 9 10:09:33 EDT 2018

So, I have this working fairly consistently now...  in the end, my 29B with a Unipak2 is pretty solid.... I made the jump to Promlink 6.1 now that Im running DOSbox and things are much more predictable. I can also run at 19.2 Baud which is making the file transfer for these files (32KB) much better albeit, still quite slow. After going through dozens of EPROM, I found that some of mine just wouldn't program at all anymore, they would start and then fail, I could erase them, but they just wouldn't ever program again, so my thoughts are that

1. They were bad to start
2. My other USB programmer fried them by programming them incorrectly, I'm junking this now (Xtronics PPUSB-2), anyone want it? (free)

I ended up ordering a TL866 off Ebay for $58 to do my larger EPROM's... the 29B is solid, but the PROMLINK UI is painful enough and the files slow enough, that it will be nice to have two options. The 29B is obviously the best choice for the BIPOLAR PROMs or other oddities.

PS - Also, still looking for Unipak2 version 23 Firmware if anyone has those images (two EPROMs)... mine is already at v21, so I won't have any PAL issues!

Thanks all!
Jess

-----Original Message-----
From: Techtoolslist [mailto:techtoolslist-bounces at flippers.com] On Behalf Of Andy Raven
Sent: Monday, April 9, 2018 7:59 AM
To: Technical Tools Mail List <techtoolslist at flippers.com>
Subject: Re: [Techtoolslist] EPROM Programming Woes...

Hi,

Have you tried smaller Eproms to see if they have they same issue?
It could be a number of issues:
- Does the 29B use the fast programming method (or similarly named) process for those particular eproms? Or the slow default method?  If the former, can you manually change it to use the early slow method to see if the problem persists?
- If it supports and uses fast programming, it's worth taking a measurement of VCC to make sure it's increasing it from 5v to 6, 6.25 or 6.5v (depending on the chip) correctly.  Some programmers claim to support fast programming, but don't actually increase the VCC voltage as per the datasheet.  This still works on eproms in reasonable condition, but on older ones it often doesn't work.

If it was a communication problem, I would imagine it would fail in the blank check test sometimes too.

Andy

On 28 March 2018 at 17:33, Joe Magiera <joemagiera at ameritech.net> wrote:

> Jess,
>
> I have an EE Tools Top Max and I often have the same problem.  What I 
> have noticed (and I could be way wrong here), is I think my cable 
> between my programmer and PC is suspect.  It seems like for 
> short/quick things (verify an EPROM is blank, or do a read of an 
> EPROM), it works fine.  But for anything longer, something hangs up 
> and the programming effort of that EPROM is screwed up.  But then if I 
> have the cable as straight as I can, or just one nice large smooth 
> curve, it will work fine and I can program 20 EPROMs in a row with no 
> problem.  But then I bump or move the cable and the programming will 
> abort or hang up.
>
> Just sharing my experience.  It would seem obvious to me to try a new 
> cable, but as yet, I haven't done that (go figure).
>
> Joe
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Techtoolslist [mailto:techtoolslist-bounces at flippers.com] On 
> Behalf Of Jess Askey
> Sent: Wednesday, March 28, 2018 12:01 AM
> To: Technical Tools Mail List
> Subject: [Techtoolslist] EPROM Programming Woes...
>
> Heya Folks...
>
> I have had a need to program a bunch of EPROMs lately (27128 
> varieties) and Im not sure if there are sunspots or something, but I 
> can't seem to program anything on either my 29B OR my Intronics USB 
> Programmer... I have successfully programmed like 4 EPROMs out of like 
> 40 attempts. My EPROM's are old pulls from either Atari boards or 
> other used ones I have acquired over the years in storage sticks.
>
> They are either
>
> ST 27128A
> Fujitsu 27128
> SEEQ 27128
> TI TMS27C128
>
> Im being fairly careful about the programming voltages and the 29B 
> identifies the IC before programming it.
>
> On the 29B I just get an Error #22 Programming Error right away.
>
> Sorta the same thing on my Intronics.... Set it up, verify blank, 
> program, error right away.
>
> Are these just too old? Anyone have any good tricks?  The strange part 
> is that I was having this exact same issue last night, then all of a 
> sudden my 29B programmed 3 in a row just fine... today, nothing.
>
> Thanks
> Jess
>
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