Looking for Adapter to program SNES chips with MiniPro TL866

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foldor
Posts: 7
Joined: Fri Dec 02, 2016 12:08 pm

Looking for Adapter to program SNES chips with MiniPro TL866

Post by foldor »

Hey all, I have a MiniPro TL866A programmer that I purchased from AliExpress here. I'm looking to program some SNES chips, specifically using MX29F1615 chips which are the flash version of 27c160. I've purchased them from this page. What I discovered though is that my programmer only has 40-pins, in it, and I need 42 pins to program these chips.

Does anyone know of an adapter I can use to make this work?
lidnariq
Posts: 11429
Joined: Sun Apr 13, 2008 11:12 am

Re: Looking for Adapter to program SNES chips with MiniPro T

Post by lidnariq »

You're almost certainly SOL.

The TL866 does support the uselessly smaller pin-compatible 40-pin 16-bit DIP ICs (27C240, 27C4002, 27C4096), but those max out at 512 KiB/256 KiW.

And that form factor only ever came in UVEPROM, so you won't be able to erase the MX29F1615 regardless.

For just programming, you might be able to add a 40-pin socket, divide your image into four 512 KiB slices, add a pair of wires for you to manually control A18 and A19, and then program each quarter using one of the 21 supported UVEPROMs.


On the other hand, the MX29F1615 programming protocol is pretty simple. Spinning your own programmer might be cost effective.
foldor
Posts: 7
Joined: Fri Dec 02, 2016 12:08 pm

Re: Looking for Adapter to program SNES chips with MiniPro T

Post by foldor »

lidnariq wrote:You're almost certainly SOL.

The TL866 does support the uselessly smaller pin-compatible 40-pin 16-bit DIP ICs (27C240, 27C4002, 27C4096), but those max out at 512 KiB/256 KiW.

And that form factor only ever came in UVEPROM, so you won't be able to erase the MX29F1615 regardless.

For just programming, you might be able to add a 40-pin socket, divide your image into four 512 KiB slices, add a pair of wires for you to manually control A18 and A19, and then program each quarter using one of the 21 supported UVEPROMs.


On the other hand, the MX29F1615 programming protocol is pretty simple. Spinning your own programmer might be cost effective.
Ok, so basically my two options are to try getting some UVEPROM's, and making a simple adapter with sliced data (sounds tempting), or to try and make my own programmer for the chips I have? I'm curious, how would I make my own programmer for the chips I do have? I have been researching, and found nothing but some *very* expensive programmers that list support.
lidnariq
Posts: 11429
Joined: Sun Apr 13, 2008 11:12 am

Re: Looking for Adapter to program SNES chips with MiniPro T

Post by lidnariq »

Does reading the datasheet for the MX29F1615 make sense, or does it confuse?

Basically, programming one seems to come down to having something (like an arduino or any other microcontroller) that can drive specific values onto the EEPROM's address and data lines, and then drive Vpp to 10V.

Programming the part is just doing that same thing over and over until every word has been programmed.
foldor
Posts: 7
Joined: Fri Dec 02, 2016 12:08 pm

Re: Looking for Adapter to program SNES chips with MiniPro T

Post by foldor »

lidnariq wrote:Does reading the datasheet for the MX29F1615 make sense, or does it confuse?

Basically, programming one seems to come down to having something (like an arduino or any other microcontroller) that can drive specific values onto the EEPROM's address and data lines, and then drive Vpp to 10V.

Programming the part is just doing that same thing over and over until every word has been programmed.
I wish I could say that it did make sense. I'm good with programming, but electrical stuff like this is out of my domain at the moment. I'm good at following directions to build something, so I'm currently trying to research existing designs like this one. (http://danceswithferrets.org/geekblog/?p=496)

I won't ask you to spend all your time helping me learn it all, but if you happen to know a good place to get started, or a good design to use I'd be super grateful. I have a few devices which might be good for this, like a Raspberry Pi.
lidnariq
Posts: 11429
Joined: Sun Apr 13, 2008 11:12 am

Re: Looking for Adapter to program SNES chips with MiniPro T

Post by lidnariq »

Unfortunately, a Raspberry Pi runs at 3.3V, and this particular EEPROM will disallow programming if it's supplied less than 3.5V... so you'll probably want to use something that operates at 5V (or is at least 5V tolerant)

That EEPROM programmer seems like a fine place to start.

Here's a few other simple DIY eeprom programmers:
http://web.archive.org/web/200902101312 ... re/eeprom/
http://www.devrs.com/e/tools.php#toolprgr

A lot of these are older designs that assume a PC with a parallel port; nowadays that's harder to get.

The biggest difference between an UVEPROM programmer and an EEPROM programmer is that the latter almost always has a special "key" sequence to enter before each operation; the former often can just be programmed each byte/word in sequence. On the other hand, the MX29F1615 requires high voltage, so looking at UVEPROM designs for a way to drive the Vpp/BYTE line between 10V and 5V might be a good idea.(I'd be tempted to kleverly misuse a MAX232)

Do you have any experience with digital logic at all? Browsing digital logic tutorials might not be a bad idea.


I made an AT28C64 programmer just using the 40-pin PIC18F4520; Oddbloke's design there is very close to suitable for programming the MX29F1615 too. (again, except for the Vpp/BYTE line).

The only thing I really have to say about Oddbloke's design is that it assumes that shuffling bits around in software is still fast enough to not matter; that's unfortunately not my experience. Connecting the address lines and data lines in order to the Atmega's output ports will make things easier.
Parafin
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Sep 05, 2014 10:22 pm

Re: Looking for Adapter to program SNES chips with MiniPro T

Post by Parafin »

I searched for TL866 adapter for 27 series eeprom. Check this deutsch forum, goole translate can help. https://circuit-board.de/forum/index.ph ... schreiben/ Finaly I bought similar pcb, from one pal from Ukraine. It works, 27c160, 27c322 are programmed good. You can check assembling video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSRBanac_i4
foldor
Posts: 7
Joined: Fri Dec 02, 2016 12:08 pm

Re: Looking for Adapter to program SNES chips with MiniPro T

Post by foldor »

Parafin wrote:I searched for TL866 adapter for 27 series eeprom. Check this deutsch forum, goole translate can help. https://circuit-board.de/forum/index.ph ... schreiben/ Finaly I bought similar pcb, from one pal from Ukraine. It works, 27c160, 27c322 are programmed good. You can check assembling video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSRBanac_i4
Thanks, I appreciate the help. So basically if I just suck it up and buy the actual 27C160 UV EPROMs and an EPROM eraser, I can program those with my TL866 by making an adapter? I figure if I was going the adapter route I might just do it on a bread board. Think that would work?
Parafin
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Sep 05, 2014 10:22 pm

Re: Looking for Adapter to program SNES chips with MiniPro T

Post by Parafin »

foldor wrote:
Parafin wrote:I searched for TL866 adapter for 27 series eeprom. Check this deutsch forum, goole translate can help. https://circuit-board.de/forum/index.ph ... schreiben/ Finaly I bought similar pcb, from one pal from Ukraine. It works, 27c160, 27c322 are programmed good. You can check assembling video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSRBanac_i4
Thanks, I appreciate the help. So basically if I just suck it up and buy the actual 27C160 UV EPROMs and an EPROM eraser, I can program those with my TL866 by making an adapter? I figure if I was going the adapter route I might just do it on a bread board. Think that would work?
Yes, it is simple adapter. It allows You to program EPROM by parts. You split the rom and programm by TL866 use 27c4002 option one by one, by changing jumpers. For 27c160 You should split to 4 parts and program EPROM 4 times.

If You need more help, feel free to PM me...
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