EEVblog #411 - MiniPro TL866 Universal Programmer Review

[radioman]

@autoelector, thanks for clarification! You have no relationship with the autoelectric company. Now i know who you are, my apologies! but after you contacted me last year you should  have answered to my question regarding to your relationship with autoelectric. You never answered me and this led to my misunderstanding.

The question is: for what purpose do you need a firmware updater/generator for this new TL866II+ ? are you a cloner?(i know you really are!)

[vortex]

hi how are you radioman i have a dead jhw 2013 that laying around a while now after update that mess up the bootloader
could you please take a look at the dump i read from c8051f340 by tnm5000
thanks

[ebastler]

hi how are you radioman i have a dead jhw 2013 that laying around a while now after update that mess up the bootloader
could you please take a look at the dump i read from c8051f340 by tnm5000
thanks

Is the JHW 2013 technically related to the TL866 in any way? (Besides the fact that they are both programmers...) I had not realized that radioman is offering "remote repair on demand". 

[radioman]

hi how are you radioman i have a dead jhw 2013 that laying around a while now after update that mess up the bootloader
could you please take a look at the dump i read from c8051f340 by tnm5000
thanks

Sorry but this thread is for TL866 only. Technically speaking that jhw2013 is some chinese clone of the ezp2013 which in turn is a clone of ezp2010 

I had not realized that radioman is offering "remote repair on demand". 

Ha ha! That was a good one! nor i!

[vortex]

i know this thread is only for TL866 but i said maybe you can help anyway i just use tl866 firmware updater to fix mine thanks for your help

[flarn2006]

I have a TSOP48 chip (specifically an AM29F160DB) that I want to read from, and I bought a TSOP48-to-DIP48 adapter thinking that's what I would need. But now that I have the programmer, I see that it only has room for 40 pins, and I'd need a special adapter. But the thing is, I was looking forward to messing with that chip this weekend, and I can't find anyone selling that adapter who can get it to me soon enough. I'm thinking I can use the DIP48 adapter, which should arrive tomorrow, on a breadboard, and just wire the pins to the programmer manually...but the software just says to use the adapter, and doesn't show any alternative methods or any information about how the adapter is wired. Someone listed the pinout of the top part on this page, but what about the bottom part? Anyone know?

[orion242]

There is an IC of some sort on the TSOP48 adapter.  Not sure what it is as the markings are sanded off.  Might be a bit more to it than just some bodge wires.  I have a few spares, but they ain't shipping to you before the weekend at this point.

[oPossum]

There are three chips on the adapter board. Two are 74HC373 octal latches. The other is a microtroller that identifies the adapter.

[flarn2006]

There are three chips on the adapter board. Two are 74HC373 octal latches. The other is a microtroller that identifies the adapter.

Why does it need to identify the adapter? If the software specifically asks for the adapter isn't that enough?

[flarn2006]

There is an IC of some sort on the TSOP48 adapter.  Not sure what it is as the markings are sanded off.  Might be a bit more to it than just some bodge wires.  I have a few spares, but they ain't shipping to you before the weekend at this point.

Sanded off? Why?

[oPossum]

Adapter schematic: https://proghq.org/wiki/index.php/TL866_TSOP48_adapter
Compatible firmware for the microcontroller: https://github.com/radiomanV/TL866/tree/master/TSOP_Encryption

[tsmith35]

There is an IC of some sort on the TSOP48 adapter.  Not sure what it is as the markings are sanded off.  Might be a bit more to it than just some bodge wires.  I have a few spares, but they ain't shipping to you before the weekend at this point.

Sanded off? Why?

It's a cheap form of IP protection. Makes it just a bit harder to duplicate by sanding off the markings, but it usually only stops amateurs.

[Circlotron]

I have a TL866CS that I got 15 months ago and have put about 1000 1Mx8 eproms through it and it has been great. I use it on WINE on Linux, and someone wrote setupapi.dll to make the programming software (version 6.60) work properly with WINE. I decided I wanted to get another 3 units and run them side by side but now I see they have been replaced by a later version.

The question is, will the older software work with the newer programmers, or if there is newer software, will it work okay under WINE?

[radioman]

I use it on WINE on Linux, and someone wrote setupapi.dll to make the programming software (version 6.60) work properly with WINE.

I'm the author of that setupapi.dll. So:

The question is, will the older software work with the newer programmers, or if there is newer software, will it work okay under WINE?

The old minipro software will not work with this new TL866II+ device. On the other hand there's a new setupapi.dll for this new device.
Here is the link: https://github.com/radiomanV/TL866/tree/master/wine/TL866II
You can edit the udev rule file which you created for the TL866CS and add the new device rule. Then copy the setupapi.dll file to the Xgpro software directory and you're good to go!
Good luck!

[flarn2006]

Anyone know of any way I can get this to work with an NXP P89C51RD2BA?

I have a device that uses a P87C51RB2BA (PLCC44), and I want to experiment with firmware modifications, but the P87 is only OTP (one-time programmable, like a CD-R.) So I bought the P89 chip, since it's rewritable and has the same exact pin configuration. I forgot to check the list of supported chips and it turns out it wasn't in the list, but I figured it would likely be compatible, even though I wasn't positive, so I didn't cancel the order. It arrived today, and I tried telling the software it's a P87C51RD, but apparently it isn't compatible enough.

Is there any way I can get it to work? Any supported chips that are compatible enough with the P89 that it will work if I choose that one? Is there some kind of unofficial patch or something I can install to add support? Barring that, does anyone know of any chips that will work in a device in place of a P87C51RB2BA, that can be programmed more than once? I want to experiment with the code, but I don't want to buy a whole bunch of blank chips.

[Circlotron]

The stuff for my "gang programmer" arrived today...

[ebastler]

The stuff for my "gang programmer" arrived today...

Neat.    
Does the TL866 software have an option to drive multiple programmers in parallel, or how do you intend to control them?

[Circlotron]

The stuff for my "gang programmer" arrived today...

Neat.    
Does the TL866 software have an option to drive multiple programmers in parallel, or how do you intend to control them?

This is XGPro running on WINE using radioman's setupapi.dll 

[EEVblog]

The stuff for my "gang programmer" arrived today...

Neat.    
Does the TL866 software have an option to drive multiple programmers in parallel, or how do you intend to control them?

It is supposed to, or at least a new version coming will 

[Circlotron]

These newer programmers are a bit slower!
ST M27C801 1Mx8 EPROM, the old programmer took 165 seconds, these new ones take 281 seconds! So my 4 new programmers are really only equal to 2.35 old ones...

[TERRA Operative]

The stuff for my "gang programmer" arrived today...

FWIW, those USB hubs are generally really really crappy.....

youtube.com/watch?v=4RfMiyjQ12s

[Circlotron]

The stuff for my "gang programmer" arrived today...

FWIW, those USB hubs are generally really really crappy.....

youtube.com/watch?v=4RfMiyjQ12s

I wonder if my USB hub is making the programmer slower than the older ones, as I mentioned ^^

[Circlotron]

These newer programmers are a bit slower!
ST M27C801 1Mx8 EPROM, the old programmer took 165 seconds, these new ones take 281 seconds! So my 4 new programmers are really only equal to 2.35 old ones...

Whoops! My bad.
I was using the default 50uS "Puls Delay" (sic) instead of 25uS.
Not sure what it does but the 25uS still programs reliably and is a whole lot faster than 50uS.

[dexters_lab]

I posted this question in another part of the form but someone suggested i post it here as it's related to the TL866

I've been needing to read out some vintage PROMs for a project to emulate a quantel paintbox within MAME

i have a TL866 but it doesn't directly support many of these old PROMs in the machine so i have been making up adaptors to convert the pinout to something basic like a AM2716 which is supported doing a direct pin mapping for the data and address lines. Most of the devices i am reading are much smaller in size so any unused address lines are just left unconnected and i make the appropriate conenctions for the chip select. I then edit the results in a hex editor to account for differences in length etc as all these devices are all smaller than the 2k 2716, this has worked really well on several other devices 27S19, 63S441, 27S33 & 28L22

However i am having issues reading an AMD AM27S29 (512*8 PROM), i am getting very inconsistent reads, sometimes large portions differ on each read and sometimes it's just a few bytes

I have checked and rechecked my wiring and re-soldered everything and can't see any errors, shorts or bad connections etc so i am not sure what's causing this

anyone have any thoughts on this issue or things i could try to get error free readout?

[oPossum]

Put a 'scope on Vcc. Some of those old chips are quite power hungry and may be pulling Vcc too low.