After posting my other question RE: pulling my stock BIN file using a header... I came up with one more worry. What if I mess up the factory BIN file while trying to download it? Is there a way to get another BIN file from someone/somewhere? Do BIN files differ from vehicle to vehicle with the same year/engine/trans combos, or are they all the same for those combinations?

Sorry guys, I'm just a wuss when it comes to modifying something that could kill my daily driver. I need back up plans!!!

Well, push comes to shove the engine will run in limp mode. My first start at this was to remove the EPROM, read it, socket it, then reinstall it. All the while I was at my place of work, not even at home.

Another MEMCAL is the best backup, and yes they can vary from vehicle to vehicle. Only way to really mess it up would be to put it into the prom reader backwards.

RBob.

It's not so much the memcal I'm after entirely (at least I don't think so, memcal is the entire removable module, right?). It's having the stock bin to be able to download to the new chips on the Moates adapter. The download file is called the BIN, right?

Just making sure I have the terms right so that I know what I'm asking for here...

What I want it to come down to is... Pull the stock memcal, put it in a sealed static free bag, pull BIN file from somewhere else, save it, modify it, save as new file, download to new chip, install new memcal adapter,chip, and computer into car. It's just one way I can think of to keep the stock memcal/chip as a known good.

ftp://ftp.diy-efi.org/pub/gmecm/

RBob.

Thanks for the FTP directory. Now I just have to figure out which BIN file to start with.

What number is written on the silver Delco sticker that covers the quartz window on the EPROM in the standard Memcal?

That's your bin's BCC (Broadcast Code). If you can download a bin from the ftp site, you have a basis for comparison (using the chip compare routine on your PROM programmer) to check for variations between your chip and the one you download.

There is also a PROMID code on the chip, but you've got to pull the memcal and read it with a programmer to find that.

As I understand it, you should get almost no errors when you do the comparison with the bin from the ftp site (you're likely to have a different date code, that's all). When you download and save your original binary, you can compare any chip you burn a copy of it to and in that case, you should get no errors at all.

John

Thanks John!

If you have a 730ECM then just use Craig Moates' program. It will allow you download the bin directly through the ALDL port.

Tim