Worth the effort to make my own eprom burner?
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Worth the effort to make my own eprom burner?
I did a search online, and ran into several websites that explain how to build a home made eprom burner. One of them totalled the cost to about $30, so they are pretty cheap. Would these be worth the time and effort to try to build? Do they have any limitations that other burners (ex: pocket programmer or something similar) don't have? Do eprom burners require seperate software to operate them, or does the editing software take care of that?
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Software was a concern for me. I haven't ran into any software that supports AT29c256 chips for custom burners.
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The BIN editing software like GMECMEdit and Winbin don't support eprom programmers (burners). Their function is to edit binary files.
You need specific software designed to drive the hardware configuration of the burner. I built a Glenn Pure burner (do a Google search and you'll find it). Like Plant Prot says, it doesn't program EEPROMs, and it won't do over 256Kbit chips without mods. It was a lot of work, and diagnosis of its initial problems was difficult.
Some of these DIY units have noise in the circuits which makes them unreliable.
My advice is not to go this way unless you have a good understanding of the hardware and software.
John
You need specific software designed to drive the hardware configuration of the burner. I built a Glenn Pure burner (do a Google search and you'll find it). Like Plant Prot says, it doesn't program EEPROMs, and it won't do over 256Kbit chips without mods. It was a lot of work, and diagnosis of its initial problems was difficult.
Some of these DIY units have noise in the circuits which makes them unreliable.
My advice is not to go this way unless you have a good understanding of the hardware and software.
John
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Go to Xtroncis, and buy the Pocket Programmer II.
It's not worth the headaches to chase around trying to diagnose software, and hardware problems, IMO. For $130 you'll have a proven setup.
And they also are the suppliers for the Romulator, and if you deside to get serious, you'll eventually go that route anyway.
Over the years I've tired a number of programmers, and Xtronics while not perfect has been 100x times better then anyone for support.
It's not worth the headaches to chase around trying to diagnose software, and hardware problems, IMO. For $130 you'll have a proven setup.
And they also are the suppliers for the Romulator, and if you deside to get serious, you'll eventually go that route anyway.
Over the years I've tired a number of programmers, and Xtronics while not perfect has been 100x times better then anyone for support.
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Wow, I wasn't expecting this much feedback this soon. That cleared things up pretty good. One more question though. I was looking on Ebay for a pocket programmer and I ran into a bunch of different eprom burners, most of them look rather old (like they are from the 80s). Would any of them do the job, or do some of them have limitations?
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Just take Grumpy's advice and buy a PP 
If you buy something that won't program EEPROMs, you'll also have to buy an eprom eraser.
You're likely to need advice when you start burning proms if you need advice now. It will be hard to get advice on why you can't get your mid '80's Acme burner to work, but there are lots of PP owners to help on TGO.
John
If you buy something that won't program EEPROMs, you'll also have to buy an eprom eraser.
You're likely to need advice when you start burning proms if you need advice now. It will be hard to get advice on why you can't get your mid '80's Acme burner to work, but there are lots of PP owners to help on TGO.
John
Last edited by JohnL; Jun 22, 2003 at 04:53 AM.
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