I've read the introductory article and thought I understood everythig, BUT... I've got my ECM out and am wondering how to get the EPROM itself out of the rest of the stuff. ACtually what I have is a carrier board from Ed Wright with a fastchip. The old Memcal (I think that is the teminology for the whole piece) plugs in sideways to the Ed wright board. The old EPROM does not connect, so Im using the old rest of the stuff and the new EPROM chip.

I have two flash reprogamable chips that look just like the chip that says FASTCHIP on it. Do you just pry the chip right out? Also what the heck is this ZIF socket I was reading about.
Sorry to be so stupid on this. IM sure its simple once you know what to do. I dont' want to wreck the chip by trying to pry it out.

Waiting with my ECM in hand and wondering.........
Larry

 

I've got a Craig Moates adapter, but i assume they're similar, i'm gonna throw up pics to help you out some...so hold on

 

this is what your trying to get down to, you pull the two tabs sway from the memcal (the thing you see when you first open it up, mine had a brown part that plugged into this socket, and a blue cover with a cork thing ontop), just pull these clip things to the side and pull up.

 

then, once you pop that blue cover off the memcal, you see something like this. You can leave it all together or chop it in half like i did (the part i drew in with the EPROM is the part i chopped off and threw away).

 

OK I just reread the introductory article and apparently I skipped over a whole section. I know how to get the whole memcal out, as shown in the photo you put up, what Im trying to do is get the EPROM or chip itself out, to put it in the pocket programmer and read it, then modify the bin, burn new chip etc.

I now know what the ZIF (Zero insertion force) socket is as well. The chip I got from Ed Wright is inserted into an adapter and the old memcal and old chip pluggen in sideway as the article describes in option for removing the chip. I don't see a zif under the chip so I guess I could get one and avoid wear on the chip in the future, but I believe I should be able to pry out the FASTCHIP from the adapter and work with it now that way right?


help please

 

then take your adapter, and put the memcal on it, and your new prom (mine has a nice little socket, some are the press in kind)

 

YEs I see, you didn't need the part with the old chip, its just sitting there on mine doing nothing. Craig MOates adapter comes with a ZIF and the one I got from Ed Wright doesnt. I should be able to pry out the chip though, I hope

 

Yea OK. When you say yours has a "Nice little socket" to put the chip in, thats the ZIF. I need on of those, I assume you can buy them at Radio shack or something. But according to the introductory article in the tech section, I should still be able to pry out my eprom from the adapter the way it is and put a new one for now
again, I hope

 

ok, well your gonna have probs getting the stock prom out of the memcal because they were usually soldered in, and trying to pull them out usually damages the part of the memcal the prom plugs into, and the prom itself beyond repair.

the best bet, if you want a stock bin, is to just go download one, they're pretty standard, you can find bins on the net.

if your trying to pry the new chip out of your adapter, then yea, you can just pull it out, make sure you don't bend the pins

 

I have an adapter, its just not from MOates, its from Ed WRight. The stock eprom is setting on the original memcal deal doing nothing. The Eprom that is plugged into the board came from Ed WRight and it say "FASTCHIP" on it and is plugged into the adpapter, just not with a ZIF, or "Nice little socket". Theoretically it shoud come out, not being soldered, IM going to look at it again carefully to see if it could be soldered

 

By the way, I really appreciate you taking the time with the photos and everything

 

no problem, it's the result of extreme boredom....

 

got the eprom out. The socket that if fits in looks exactly like the one in the picture in the introductory article in the tech section. It wasn't soldered but taking those eproms in and out will definetely cause wear on the chips and the socket as is stated in the article. Im going to radio shack and see if the have a ZIF tomorrow I guess. NOw begins the hard part, trying to figure out how to program and tune. Most of the threads I read on here sound like Chinese to me, LOL

 

one more thing. does it matter which way you put the eprom in the programmer, thats for the one from the car, or the blank one?

thanks

 

If you ask for a ZIF socket at Radio Shack, they will probably look at you like you're speaking Chinese. Good luck finding anything more than a resistor or capacitor at RS unless you're looking for telephone or an alarm clock. You'll probably have to look at places like Digikey or Jameco for the ZIF. Either that or mabye a local electronic supply store.

 

LOL, thanks for the tip. I definetly would like to get one, I got the eprom out and programmed a new one and put it back in but those pins are so delicate. I think the ZIF would save a lot of headache in the long run. Any specific locations recommended?

 

Yeah..... Digikey or Jameco.... or Craig Moates also has them.

 

Get from Craig, along with some chips if you need.

Most electronics supply places charge you a handling fee (at least $5) if you don't order a certain amount (DigiKey is $25 and JDR was $50). I wasted $10 that way because I didn't need to place two large orders.

I found myself buying 3 29C256s to try and justify the handling fee, but it still kinda sucks. If anyone wants I have 2 siting around.