Another EPROM burner question...

modessitt

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Thinking about picking up this:

http://www.mcumall.com/comersus/store/comersus_viewItem.asp?idProduct=4312

Reading through the supported devices, it says it tests 2532's, then later says it works (as in programs?) TMS2532's. Now, that should mean it can program a standard 2532 if I need one for a Pac-Man or Joust, right?

I don't want to buy it if I can't program 2532's....
 
you should be ok with this unit. Do be aware that 2532 and 2732 is bugged. Most fixed this issue by stepping up the external power.

Kevin
 
Don't bother. All Willems suffer from an inability to program old NMOS parts reliably. You can sometimes get it to work by jacking the voltages high enough and putting a beefy enough secondary power supply on it, but you would be much better served for classic arcade ROMs waiting for a BP Micro or Data I/O to show up on EPay.

They will work well for CMOS parts, but anything that requires 21V or 25V to program, pfftttt! Lotsa luck.

Internally there is a DC to DC converter that does the step up and it just doesn't perform. And there is no incentive to fix it because the electronic jocks that work in this stuff are all working with new parts. They just don't care about the old arcade vintage parts. If they can be read, Whoa, bonus dude! But as one guy posted on one of the Willems boards, "nobody uses that shite anymore, so who cares...".

ken

PS: There are 2 BP Micro EP-1s on EPay right now. They are old, but still supported by legacy BP DOS & Windows software you can download from the BP Micro site. I run a BP-1140 with the Windows software on an XP computer and it works great.
 
I bought a pocket programmer and never looked back. Sure they are expensive but I have no problem doing 2532, 2732 and everything else. The only issue I have ever had with it turned out to be a bad usb cable. I highly reccomend it if you have the extra money. http://secure.transtronics.com/EPROM Programmer.html

My next purchase will be the prom adapter for it.
 
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mod is not a newb :) If he wants to save money and quick-fix the bug, he would be fine after that on the 2 chips mentioned above. For newbs just doing 27128-27040 these are perfect. Newbs wanting 2532/2732, avoid then.

Kevin
 
I agree Kevin. I had never used a programmer before this one so I did alot of research and read up on all the problems people were having with the older chips and those cheap chinese burners. I decided that since I was learning something new I would keep it as simple as possible and get one that didnt require jumping through hoops to program certain chips.
 
How fast did the 29a do those proms?

I agree Kevin. I had never used a programmer before this one so I did alot of research and read up on all the problems people were having with the older chips and those cheap chinese burners. I decided that since I was learning something new I would keep it as simple as possible and get one that didnt require jumping through hoops to program certain chips.
 
I use a dual powered Willem PCB3 and it'll do 2732's and 2532's just fine.
An adapter is required for the 2532's, simple enough to make yourself, but I've done many no problem. (Williams games mostly)

And several other 21v to 25v chips work just as well with this one. ;)

Probably the most common ones I do are 2532's, 2732's, 2716's and 2764's.

Every now and again I get an odd manufacturer that it doesn't like, but most of the time only bad chips cause me problems. Chips that won't erase correctly, etc. Every now and again a double program pass is needed, but nothing really to gripe about.

There's buggy software versions, but with the right version it seems to work fine.
And yes....proper documentation on these does suck. Took me a while to get everything set up correctly the first few times around.
 
About half a second each...seriously. I programed something like 70 proms in 20 minutes.

Proms yes, but those only have 32-256 bytes.

2532/2732 have 4096 bytes, and using the old 50ms algorithm found on the 29B,
you're looking at about 4 minutes each to program.

And don't forget that you're downloading the image to the programmer
via a serial link at 9600 baud. (...not too bad for a 2732, but go get a coffee
if you're doing a 27c512 ! )

;-)

Cheers,
Steph
 
Proms yes, but those only have 32-256 bytes.

2532/2732 have 4096 bytes, and using the old 50ms algorithm found on the 29B,
you're looking at about 4 minutes each to program.

And don't forget that you're downloading the image to the programmer
via a serial link at 9600 baud. (...not too bad for a 2732, but go get a coffee
if you're doing a 27c512 ! )

;-)

Cheers,
Steph


Wow, mine does a 2532 in about 4 seconds and that includes time to verify :)
 
Wow, mine does a 2532 in about 4 seconds and that includes time to verify :)

I don't think we're talking about the same programmer.

The OP was asking about a 29A programmer.

I think you are talking about your Pocket programmer.

Even so, the only programming algos which will program a 2532 in 4 seconds
are "Quick Pulse" and "SNAP". And the "only" 2x32 eprom I know that supports that
is an AMD 2732B.

I don't know what kind of 2532 eproms you have, ...but I want some ! ;-)

The 29A / 29B only support the "Standard 50ms" programming algo.

4096 bytes * 50msec/byte = 205 sec = approx 3.5 minutes

Make sense ?

Steph
 
Well, I decided to go with an older BP Micro EP-1 that is known to do what I need. I should have it soon, then I'll see if I can figure out how to use it. i have a bunch of non-working and semi-working boards that I need to verify have good ROMs before I spend a lot of time trying to troubleshoot...
 
Come on Steph, dont make me get my stopwatch out :) No seriously, got me curious now.

Damn, your right. It took 10 seconds to program and verify. Yes, im talking about my pocket programmer III USB. I recently borrowed a friends data I/O to do a batch of proms.
Chips are TI 2532-35JL
 
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I was reading an article, I forget where, that was talking about EPROM burning speed. They were talking about how some of the software was not burning the correct algorithm in order to get speeds up and how you get more bad EPROMs and how the data didn't last as long. Pretty interesting article wish I could find it.
 
FWIW, I just smashed my Willem last week after it fried my last 3 2532's. Using the same settings that I've had luck with. As best I can tell... with Willems, mark your calender, because they go on their period every other week or so.

They're cheap, and they work on pretty much over other chip I've used in them, mainly 27C64 and 27C101, but 2532's were a nightmare to get verified correctly, even though 2732's weren't.

I just plopped down $70 (with shipping) for an EMP-20, so hopefully I won't have to deal with as many headaches.

I'd definitely put down the extra money and get something that will last and not make you want to strangle a kitten.
 
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