Trouble Burning Commando Roms

zenomorp

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Hey guys. I have a Top853 burner. I can't for the life of me get it to burn the free play roms for Commando. Can't burn the original rom info back onto them either. They erase and verify erased quite easily, but when I put the roms in the burner, select the correct chip (in this case cm04 is TMM27256D-20 and cm03 is M5L27128K), load the correct info to the buffer and hit "write."

It sits there for a second then give me a write error "Write...Error at 00000 (FF)." It's not writing a damn thing because the chip still checks good for erasure after the burn attempt. The only real success I have with this burner on a regular basis is when I burn the 8mb and 4mb Toshiba roms for boards like MK. I can burn those all day and night with no problems. When I try to burn anything besides those, it never seems to work.

I tried to burn my own Vs. SMB HSS roms and ran into this exact same issue. Had to order the kit instead.

Any ideas? Thanks.

- Mike.
 
Yes. The programmer is plugged in the back of the computer. There is no voltage option when selecting the chips. The only selection choices I have in the chip list are TMM27256A and TMM27256AD. There are no voltage options.

That link is the exact chip I am trying to burn. Verifies blank every time, but the burner won't even attempt to burn the info to it because after I try and get the error, it's still blank.

Like I said, this exact same issue happens when I try to burn Vs. roms too. This thing has no problem burning M27C040/080/4001 chips. I can burn those all day with no issues. If I try to burn any roms other than those, I just get errors. Makes no sense.
 
Yes. The programmer is plugged in the back of the computer. There is no voltage option when selecting the chips. The only selection choices I have in the chip list are TMM27256A and TMM27256AD. There are no voltage options.

That link is the exact chip I am trying to burn. Verifies blank every time, but the burner won't even attempt to burn the info to it because after I try and get the error, it's still blank.

Like I said, this exact same issue happens when I try to burn Vs. roms too. This thing has no problem burning M27C040/080/4001 chips. I can burn those all day with no issues. If I try to burn any roms other than those, I just get errors. Makes no sense.

this has been a problem in the past and got mixed results but my fav is in this link...post #2

http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=192978&highlight=top+853+software

I use a needhams pb10 myself but I want something that can do bi polar proms too. Looking for a data I/O 29 B with all of the extras.

The TrueUSB GQ-4X mention in post #15 is what many are going to and new are only about $100.
 
Thanks. I'll check out the programmer you talked about. So far the ONLY roms I've been able to burn are the 27c040/080/4001 ones I mentioned. NOTHING else has worked. I'm about to perform "post #2."
 
Thanks. I'll check out the programmer you talked about. So far the ONLY roms I've been able to burn are the 27c040/080/4001 ones I mentioned. NOTHING else has worked. I'm about to perform "post #2."

I hope I was of some help to you, I just did not want to see you waste too much time with that 'thing'. I got a good laugh out of that 2nd post when I first read it.
 
i replied to your nintendo rom thread just want to make sure you've confirmed the delay via the datasheet as well as erased the chip w/ your uv box. sometimes the chip can be bad as well, but it's probably the programmer. I recently tried using it to program some 2716's for Tighe with no luck :( but it did burn the 128 chips he dropped off for his galaxian :p

if only the top had provisions for external power
 
I actually looked up the specs for the chips and set the delay accordingly. Nothing. The chips verify as empty when I read them in the burner after eraser, so unless they went bad from erasing, they should still be good.
 
I actually looked up the specs for the chips and set the delay accordingly. Nothing. The chips verify as empty when I read them in the burner after eraser, so unless they went bad from erasing, they should still be good.

damn was worth a try, granted the UV box could have killed them if they were cooked to long or 1 to many times but i doubt that as well.
 
I'll jump on the voltage bandwagon with this one... the "C" versions of EPROMs are much easier to program. They don't require as much juice as others. Even plugged into the back of the computer, there's a chance it's just not able to step the voltage up enough, steady enough, to burn those EPROMs.

It's a common thing with TOPs and Willem programmers. They CAN handle the chips... technically, but in all honesty, unless those guys are being powered by an external voltage source (not just USB) then they're not going to be able to reliably handle some of those EPROMs. It can verify and read them all day long with no problems, but can't handle programming them.

Best option is, and I hate saying it because I sound like one of those guys that just says "well, you haven't thrown enough money at the problem..." but... that's said... I think the best option would be to hunt around and try to find an old school programmer and go from there. They do make new programmers that can handle everything, but they aren't cheap. Keep an eye on fleabay or post in the wanted section here for a good, reliable, burner. I have an EMP-20 that I got very cheap from here and I love that thing. ... My Willem that I had before it... took a hammer to it and never looked back.

And with that out of the way... maybe someone on here will have a spare EPROM they could burn for you and float you. I'll check my tubes later to see if I have anything that might help.
 
Well, I verified that it's not a voltage problem. I de-cased the burner and soldered wires to the 5vdc and ground test points. Hooked them to a 6vdc power supply so there is not roughly 10 volts supplying the burner vs. the normal 5 volts....

Nada. Same problems.
 
Well, I verified that it's not a voltage problem. I de-cased the burner and soldered wires to the 5vdc and ground test points. Hooked them to a 6vdc power supply so there is not roughly 10 volts supplying the burner vs. the normal 5 volts....

Nada. Same problems.

funny i was wondering if there were provisions inside for such a hook up, unfortunately tho it didn't work :(
 

at $269.95 I will stick with my Needham's pb10 and an old computer with an isa slot. The programmer cost $35 and some double stick carpet tape, to put the zif socket on case $2 at Dollar General. Computer came from dump, gave the guy there a sub and soda from Subway cost $6. So for $43-45 dollars I am very happy.

The GQ-4x is only about $100 but I still want something that can do proms.
 
Success!! Purchased a GQ-4X TrueUSB programmer and my problems have vanished. Burned my roms just fine first time with no issues. Thanks for the advice guys and just wanted to share that the GQ-4X works great.

It has an external power connection. I used a 6vdc power supply from the local Radio Shack. The software has a power test and it tests for the following...

*****************************
* Testing VCC Without Load *
*****************************
VCC 3.6V test passed (code:0x1f)-
VCC 5V test passed (code:0x0)-
VCC 5.5V test passed (code:0xc)+
VCC 6.2V test passed (code:0x5)+
VCC 6.5V test passed (code:0x1)-
*****************************
* Testing VPP Without Load *
*****************************
VPP 3.6V/5V test passed (code:0xa)-
VPP 12V test passed (code:0x10)+
VPP 12.7V test passed (code:0xd)+
VPP 15V test passed (code:0xa)+
VPP 21V test passed (code:0xa)+
VPP 25V test passed (code:0x13)+
*****************************
* Test Completed *
*****************************

Love this thing!

:)
 
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