Author Topic: EEVblog #411 - MiniPro TL866 Universal Programmer Review (Read 1448454 times)

firewalker · « **Reply #1875 on:** July 01, 2020, 01:30:25 pm »

When the chip is soldered on a board, the supply of the programmer can turn on other ics that interferes with the communication with the memory chip and the programmer.

Also a common problem with cheap clips for soldered ics is bad contact.

Alexander.

james38 · « **Reply #1876 on:** July 01, 2020, 08:01:38 pm »

I have also one.
The problem is often that the chip contact pins are very deep in the clamp.
On the other hand you must also note that you have a limited
current supply from the programmer.
If the whole board consumpts more it does not work too.

powersola · « **Reply #1877 on:** July 04, 2020, 01:35:50 pm »

Hi all,

after some years I'm going to pull the trigger and buy one of these programmers.

I read all the thread, very informative. After surfing aliexpress I'm stuck between deciding about "TL866A" (of course knowing it would be a counterfeit one, or an old CS converted to A) or a TL866II Plus.
As far as I understand, the TL866II Plus would surely be genuine because no clones are around as of today.
On the other side, the CS/A models have "radioman" 's knowledge and support tools available.

The "II Plus" model is sold by "XGECU Official Store" on AliEx, but after many years in there, and having more than 1000 order history, I have suspect that that's not the real XGECU official store as the name would suggest.

The price is almost the same, more or less.

What do you recommend as of today?

Thank you.

Shock · « **Reply #1878 on:** July 04, 2020, 09:42:46 pm »

If you have a newer device to read or program that is only supported on the TL866II Plus it makes sense to buy it. The VPP max voltage was lowered to 18V but there are workarounds to get 21V. The downside is if it bricks or dies, no manufacturer support. This is the more expensive option.

The advantage of the older TL866A/CS model is community support, schematics and being fully repairable and recoverable. The VPP max voltage goes to 21V without messing around so this may suit someone programming older devices. Ideally an original TL866A/CS is better than a clone. Clones may come with subtle differences and be cheaper quality.

I'd also consider the adapters you are getting with the programmer as you want as many as you can get as cheaply as possible so you don't need to buy or make them later. If you are buying a TL866II Plus you still need to get it from a genuine seller otherwise there is a chance you'll end up being sent a TL866A/CS clone.

The differences are listed on the manufacturers website.
http://www.autoelectric.cn/en/tl866_main.html

powersola · « **Reply #1879 on:** July 05, 2020, 09:07:47 am »

Quote from: Shock on July 04, 2020, 09:42:46 pm

If you have a newer device to read or program that is only supported on the TL866II Plus it makes sense to buy it. The VPP max voltage was lowered to 18V but there are workarounds to get 21V. The downside is if it bricks or dies, no manufacturer support. This is the more expensive option.

The advantage of the older TL866A/CS model is community support, schematics and being fully repairable and recoverable. The VPP max voltage goes to 21V without messing around so this may suit someone programming older devices. Ideally an original TL866A/CS is better than a clone. Clones may come with subtle differences and be cheaper quality.

I'd also consider the adapters you are getting with the programmer as you want as many as you can get as cheaply as possible so you don't need to buy or make them later. If you are buying a TL866II Plus you still need to get it from a genuine seller otherwise there is a chance you'll end up being sent a TL866A/CS clone.

The differences are listed on the manufacturers website.
http://www.autoelectric.cn/en/tl866_main.html

Thank you Shock.
I usually program oldish (and mostly common) devices, so I probably won't have any advantage having support for the latest cutting-edge micros.

The VPP Max thing is interesting to know. This, and the community support, is what is making me go for the TL866A/CS.

However, when can I find a good one? I know that the original ones were removed from the marked since some time. Any suggestion will surely be appreciated

Thank you for your helpful reply,
Have a nice day

Shock · « **Reply #1880 on:** July 05, 2020, 09:58:18 am »

Well unlikely you would get a new original one anywhere. But for secondhand ask in the buy/sell/wanted here and keep an eye out on different ebay websites. The manufacturer has a webpage that shows how to identify the original from clones. http://www.autoelectric.cn/EN/note.html

I can't comment on the clones as mines genuine. Aside from the ethics of counterfeit products, like with most of these cheap Chinese products you have to do your own quality control and testing. Ebay tends to have a slightly more honest feedback system and better buyer protection from bad sellers. So purchasing there gives you time to check things over.

powersola · « **Reply #1881 on:** July 05, 2020, 11:13:50 am »

Quote from: Shock on July 05, 2020, 09:58:18 am

Well unlikely you would get a new original one anywhere. But for secondhand ask in the buy/sell/wanted here and keep an eye out on different ebay websites. The manufacturer has a webpage that shows how to identify the original from clones. http://www.autoelectric.cn/EN/note.html

I can't comment on the clones as mines genuine. Aside from the ethics of counterfeit products, like with most of these cheap Chinese products you have to do your own quality control and testing. Ebay tends to have a slightly more honest feedback system and better buyer protection from bad sellers. So purchasing there gives you time to check things over.

Thanks again Shock.
I checked already on eBay, but of course it's full of "stock" photos, and it's difficult to have a reasonable idea of what you'll get in your hands.
For the buy/sell/wanted section I can give a shot, but being from Europe it doesn't help. Shipping from US is very very expensive (and customs too... in Italy parcels from USA are heavily taxed).

I can see that the II Plus have VCC Voltage down to 1.8v. Probably useful? Now I'm going to understand what I can/can't do with the II Plus, and with the CS/A.

I see that they have a dealer listed on the website, from aliexpress, that could be a good resource for ordering the genuine II Plus. Even the "XGECU Official Store" I mentioned earlier is the 1st listed on their website, so they seem to be legit.

Whoa, that's so hard to make a choice

Have a nice day,
Thank you

Mark5 · « **Reply #1882 on:** July 12, 2020, 03:20:26 pm »

Hi everyone,

Has anybody here noticed the recently added feature of the TL866II+ (also available for the new T56) that would allow for custom chips programming to be added ?
Does anyone knows how this feature works ?
It seems that adding a custom chip requires a "short" file that probably describes the pinout and other required stuff for the custom added chip, but I can't find any information on this.

BTW, to answser the previous post, the new T56 seems to be able to do whatever the TL866 and TL866CS could do. The only problem of that device is it's price...

james38 · « **Reply #1883 on:** July 13, 2020, 02:59:27 pm »

This Feature only copy the new unknown Chip Id which was not lists and link it to a known Chip Programming Profile.
You cannot add a new Chip with new programming algorithm.

You can provide this similar when you disable the Chip ID check.
Check it out in Menu under Select IC / Add by User.
So far as i know they mean this one.

ganimir95 · « **Reply #1884 on:** July 17, 2020, 08:51:00 am »

Hello,
Everyone i don't know if this is the right place where i can share my problem which is regarding with my TL866cs version 6.85 but i will try. Excuse me if i did something bad

So the problem is as follow.
I had 2pc of AM28F020C chips and i tried upload into them 256kb Bin.file so i did it 2 3 times successfully but when i tried to do it one more time. My software show me the error which was the same as the picture bellow. So after that error occurred i was struggling 2 days how to fix it. I tried a lot of thing but unfortunately without any success. So today i decided to find why this mistake occurred. I took New chip AM28F02OC which was working okay.i uploaded to him the same 256kb bin.file as i uploaded on the other 2 chips and i did it without any errors. Then i decided to Erase it. and to read the (empty) chip after that when i did it. I save the empty fail into the "Desktop" and i uploaded back to the chip which was already empty. I did it and after that i decided to upload the file which wasn't empty back on it and guess what.My minipro showed me the same mistake he had shown me before on the other 2 chips. Now i have no idea how i can fix all the 3 chips which i have on my hand. I will be very glad to hear some suggestion or advice how i can fix this issue

(I forget to say that all the 3 chips which i have now are working perfectly on Minipro tl866 10.22 version.)

james38 · « **Reply #1885 on:** July 18, 2020, 12:02:20 am »

Looks familiar to me.
I remember that i had a similar problem with another Chip (M28P128) and the miniPro.
In my case the first write on a fresh chip was always ok.
Then I erased it and as I want to write again it fails like yours.

The issue was a softwarebug in erasing the chip.
The workaround was, that I manually fills all with 00 then write it to the chip.
This works without error.
Now erase the Chip again. This has worked for me.
Now I had a really erased chip.

Have a try.

ganimir95 · « **Reply #1886 on:** July 18, 2020, 04:24:15 pm »

Thanks mate,
I will try this method tomorrow

Best regards,
Ganimir

tsmith35 · « **Reply #1887 on:** July 19, 2020, 09:06:36 pm »

Quote from: james38 on July 18, 2020, 12:02:20 am

The workaround was, that I manually fills all with 00 then write it to the chip.
This works without error.
Now erase the Chip again. This has worked for me.
Now I had a really erased chip.

That's real DIY. Wonder what the programmer is putting on the chip when it tries to erase it...

Circlotron · « **Reply #1888 on:** July 19, 2020, 10:31:49 pm »

Quote from: tsmith35 on July 19, 2020, 09:06:36 pm

That's real DIY. Wonder what the programmer is putting on the chip when it tries to erase it...

Maybe an ASCII text message, something like “Help! SOS. I’m being held prisoner at xx street address and forced to design chip programmers!”

james38 · « **Reply #1889 on:** July 19, 2020, 10:34:23 pm »

I have to say that this happened with V 6.50.
I have dont tested it again with later Versions.
Maybe it was fixed in a Version later but i don't know it.

ganimir95 · « **Reply #1890 on:** July 20, 2020, 05:06:32 am »

Hello,
I tried to fill all the values 00 and write it into the chip but it giving me the same error as before. The chip, can verify only "FF" data.
Any other suggestion how i can solve that software bug or how can i get around it

james38 · « **Reply #1891 on:** July 20, 2020, 01:05:23 pm »

What happens when you erase the chip and then make a blank check?
Does it succeed?

Maybe you can try to write FF instead of 00.
Uncheck first "Erase before" when you doing this.

If this doesn't help try a similar Chip Type from another Vendor.
Type 28F020 an try one from the listed vendors (Catalyst,Intel,Issi ...).

ganimir95 · « **Reply #1892 on:** July 20, 2020, 02:16:17 pm »

Hello,
This is what happened when i First erase the chip and the do a Blank check. For me everything looks okay for me.

If i write FF instead of 00 the chips is programing without any problem. But if i try to put something different in the datasheet which is filled with "FF" doesn't matter what. it will show me the Error code adress.....

james38 · « **Reply #1893 on:** July 25, 2020, 02:16:25 am »

The strange thing is, that you can programm it 2 times and then ist not writable anymore.

This does not looks like a software bug.
The Chip also has no fuses. Its a simple Flash.

Since the pro II has pin detection he can detect if some pins are not connected.

In some case i have also connection failures on my adapters which the pro II detects. Then I reseat the chip an all is ok.

Have you checked the adapter? Maybe its faulty.
Otherwise I don't know what it could be.

Parni · « **Reply #1894 on:** July 27, 2020, 07:46:21 pm »

I have exactly the same problem. Any solution for this?

I'm using Xgpro v.10.27 and in Windows 10. Immediately after I run the "Reflash Firmware" I get a message "Reser Error! Please remove Programmer"

Is the programmer bricked or can I do something about it? Please help...

Parni · « **Reply #1895 on:** July 27, 2020, 07:52:47 pm »

Is this fake?

EEVblog #411 - MiniPro TL866 Universal Programmer Review

firewalker · « **Reply #1896 on:** July 28, 2020, 12:40:54 pm »

Looks genuine to me.

Alexander.

Parni · « **Reply #1897 on:** July 28, 2020, 04:03:24 pm »

Update regarding the firmware update, I got it working with Windows7, not sure if there is an issue with Windows10 and Xgpro v.10.27 ?

ebastler · « **Reply #1898 on:** July 28, 2020, 05:57:51 pm »

Quote from: Parni on July 28, 2020, 04:03:24 pm

Update regarding the firmware update, I got it working with Windows7, not sure if there is an issue with Windows10 and Xgpro v.10.27 ?

This post reported problems with an older version of the XGpro software which were resolved by running it with elevated privileges ("run as administrator"). Do you possibly have different privileges set for the Windows 7 vs. Windows 10 accounts you tried? Or just give "run as administrator" a try under Win 10.

DenisVS · « **Reply #1899 on:** August 09, 2020, 06:18:02 pm »

Hi!
I have a problem with my new Xgecu TL866II Plus that I bought from Aliexpress.
The part of my available chips read and write pretty well (27512, Atmega32, 24c01, pm49fl002t, pm49l004t, w78e58p, am29f010), whereas others (cf25q16bs, mx25l1636e, en29f0002nt) have a constantly pin errors.

Empirically the first pin operates incorrectly because with some trouble chips the software shows pin 1 error.

I completely checked contact by multimeter through board before 70th pin of the PIC24FJ256GB110 and adapter if required and no luck.

I thoroughly soldered D109, R119, Q301, D201, then I clean out the flux around the connector and no result too.

I not even decoupled the PCB's.
Now I converse with the Chinese seller, but not confident about the outcome, he answers very reluctantly.

Please tell me on what to do next.


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Author Topic: EEVblog #411 - MiniPro TL866 Universal Programmer Review (Read 1448454 times)

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