EEVblog #411 - MiniPro TL866 Universal Programmer Review

[Southerner]

Could that be the cause of your present problem too? Maybe the config fuse settings you chose are "impossible" due to that inverted interpretation?

If I am unchecking the config option then to me that would mean that no fuses get written.  Am I incorrect?

[ebastler]

No, that part should be correct I assume. But what I understood from your posts was that without setting the fuses at all, the PIC does not work in the circuit (as one would expect?). And that, if you try to have the configuration fuses programmed, the programming fails with an error message.

So I was wondering whether the error message is due to the fact that the PIC does not accept the fuse settings you are trying to program. And whether that may be due to the fact that you have those settings inverted.

EDIT: Just looked at the Miniprog software. Where is the dialog field where one can set the actual configuration fuse bits?! For other PICs (and other brands of MCU) there are dedicated checkboxes which mirror the MCU-specific config bits. It looks like the PIC16F628A is not fully supported?

[quicknick]

Hello everyone! Does this adapter make any sense? (schematic is from the MiniPro software itself):

Just built one on perfboard (used 1N4148 for the diodes) as I'm trying to save a bricked X470 Aorus mainboard, but it only reads an ocean of zeroes from a MX25U12873F (main BIOS chip, desoldered from the board). Programming it with the right BIN takes time as it should, but verification immediately fails as the chip still contains only zeroes!

According to this post: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/repair/msi-b350m-mortar-bios-refresh-for-raven-ridge-apu/
the TL866CS should be able to work with the 25U12873 when 25U12835 is selected.
I ordered the more elaborate 1.8V adapter seen in the above post, but it'll be a while until it arrives. Meanwhile, is there any chance of getting the DYI adapter to work?

[walter.aranda]

Hi, I am facing the same problem while trying to program an AM29F080B to upgrade a THS7XX firmware over MiniPro TL866CS. The chip is read correctly (without the ID checked), but when trying to write, it indicates that it's not possible due to an overcurrent issue. I wanted to know if capacitor C22 (which disables overcurrent protection) is the one shown in the attached image

[Spongey]

Short version... I wrote this perl script called "iclu" to help with a little project of mine. I couldn't find anything that really suited my needs. I'm mentioning it here in case others find it useful.

Longer version... I got a T48 a couple of months back and I've been having fun playing with it. I put all my old logic chips through it and most things passed. One chip I had (an 8255) was failing and I wondered why. This started me on a long journey discovering how to do various things. I ended up writing a multi purpose perl script. Currently it can: make logic tests more readable, add new logic tests, parse and create lgc and lis files. It even has (very provisional) support for reading (but not programming) non-standard ROMs. Most features work with both minipro and Xgpro.

Current (very experimental) version is on gitlab here.

Any feedback welcome.

[Squarewave]

Can anyone help with this one? RS are selling the T48, under SEEIT, for a lot more money?

https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/chip-programmers/2864076?cm_mmc=UK-PLA-DS3A-_-google-_-CSS_UK_EN_ePMax_Prio2-_--_-2864076&matchtype=&&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwooq3BhB3EiwAYqYoEqQiL1xACFlJWC0HqvCOg1oDlSMVJ5WOu1pBEAwUs9ONxLckfVZoFBoCTUoQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

[ebastler]

Can anyone help with this one? RS are selling the T48, under SEEIT, for a lot more money?

Umm -- what kind of help were you looking for?

[Squarewave]

Can anyone help with this one? RS are selling the T48, under SEEIT, for a lot more money?

Umm -- what kind of help were you looking for?

So really, like, people's thoughts on why there's kind of two of what appears to be the same at different prices?

[ebastler]

So really, like, people's thoughts on why there's kind of two of what appears to be the same at different prices?

Same thing, but different vendor, that's what drives the different price. RS ships locally and provides proper warranty, so some markup is justified. And on top of that RS know that their customers are lazy, buy where they have always bought, buy from a vendor who is already set up in their purchasing system etc. -- so they add more markup, less justified.

I am pretty sure you will find the same with other test and measurement equipment, tools, and workshop equipment they sell. And with electronic components too, I guess. Last time I bought from RS was many years ago, when they still offered free shipping on small orders (but expensive prices for the actual goods.)

[Squarewave]

So really, like, people's thoughts on why there's kind of two of what appears to be the same at different prices?

Same thing, but different vendor, that's what drives the different price. RS ships locally and provides proper warranty, so some markup is justified. And on top of that RS know that their customers are lazy, buy where they have always bought, buy from a vendor who is already set up in their purchasing system etc. -- so they add more markup, less justified.

I am pretty sure you will find the same with other test and measurement equipment, tools, and workshop equipment they sell. And with electronic components too, I guess. Last time I bought from RS was many years ago, when they still offered free shipping on small orders (but expensive prices for the actual goods.)

Ok that's quite interesting, so it's not just some 'chinese knock off' product, it is a trusted product then to be in the RS inventory. We use RS at work, for most of what we buy, the prices are ok, about average, but there are indeed products which have a significant mark up!

[Spongey]

I've written another experimental little utility program for the T48. This one is called "mprom" and an experimental version called "mprom-bb". It is here.

What it does is allow parallel ROMs to be read fairly painlessly using a T48. It has some similarities to the prom.c code in minipro (which isn't currently compatible with T48) but it's more flexible. Adding a new ROM is just a case of adding pin definitions to an XML file (see roms.xml in the utility).

The "mprom-bb" version can theoretically be extended to use the ISP pins for chips needing more than 40 pins in an adapter. That needs some additional configuration with adapter pin maps which I currently don't have. Anyone wanting to help out with that please send me a message.

Although this has been tested with a T48 it should also work with a TL866II+. It will not work with TL866A/CS.

I don't think it will currently work with a T56 either but feel free to try it out.

Any reports welcomed especially if you don't mind experimenting a bit to get some things working.

[hooverphonique]

whatever I do no chips will properly ID and I can't get anything in or out of them even if I bypass the ID check.

I have had the exact same problem with my TSOP48/SOP44 adapter attached to TL866CS since day one (never changed ATTINY, it recognizes as 'V3').. Did you ever figure it out?

[Spongey]

Yet another minipro experimental utility I've written. This might be of wider interest...

It's a python GUI that allows you to explore logic (and other) chips. You can set pins to appropriate logic levels and read back the results.

I'm working on getting it into a usable state: demo video here.

It has been developed using a T48 and should work fine on a TL866II+. Untested T56 support is also present. I don't think it's practical to get it going on the older TL866A/CS: I don't have acess to one and it would be a lot of work and it is missing some features of later models.

Currently at an early stage of development and it's a bit of a learning curve for me with python: which I hadn't used much before.

Update: very preliminary version is here.

Comments welcome (private message, gitlab or on this thread).

[joeqsmith]

I bought one of these cheap programmers to get me by after my EETOOLS died during a lightning strike. 

Needed to use it and the stupid thing will not allow me to run until I update their software.  WTF happens when their sever dies or they stop supporting it?  What if you took it to a place with no internet service?   

Any way to disable this "feature" and allow the thing to run forever with no updates? 

[Spongey]

Did you get the alert when you started up telling you to update the firmware or the flashing blue "update is available" message?

Which model did you get? If you somehow managed to get an ancient TL866A/CS clone be careful: the official software deliberately bricks what it thinks is counterfeit unless you run a patch first.

[Quarlo Klobrigney]

O yes it does. Look at my post of how and what I had to reflash the "Fireware"

[joeqsmith]

The message was about the outdated software, not firmware.  Programmer is a TL866-II Plus.   Software is XGecu Universal Programmer.  I downloaded 12.90 to get the job done.  Pisses me off that they would lock me out until it was updated.  I can see cases where this would be very bad.   Surely there is a way to disable any mandated updates.

[Quarlo Klobrigney]

Bright lights
I was answering 3 other emails and only saw the topic header.....
Oops.

[Spongey]

In normal use I've never had it lock me out requiring a software update so I wondered what could be happening here.

I've had a blue "update is available" nag message flashing in the corner but the older software has still worked.

Did you get an alert saying "The current application software is too old..."? If so that's when the firmware is newer than the software is expecting. That will lock you out because the two are incompatible and it could screw up. That shouldn't normally happen unless they shipped newer firmware with older software.

[joeqsmith]

...
Did you get an alert saying "The current application software is too old..."? If so that's when the firmware is newer than the software is expecting. That will lock you out because the two are incompatible and it could screw up. That shouldn't normally happen unless they shipped newer firmware with older software.

You inadvertently solved it.   This is indeed describes the problem.   

I had loaned out the programmer and the latest version of the software was installed and used with it.  I had not used the programmer since.   Guessing that new software installed newer firmware.   

[Quarlo Klobrigney]

Regarding the original 866 programmer, the original Windoze program works fine in wine but the USB programmer hardware is not seen. 


However, it does work just fine in terminal using the repository from https://gitlab.com/DavidGriffith/minipro.git , and ~/minipro$ minipro -p 93C46 -r dump_93C46.bin .


Anyone have any sucess in Mint & Wine from https://reversatronics.blogspot.com/2016/12/tl866-minipro-under-linux.html ?

[Spongey]

Regarding the original 866 programmer, the original Windoze program works fine in wine but the USB programmer hardware is not seen. 

If you're using Xgecu Xgpro it wont work as it doesn't support the TL866. You need the older Xgecu minipro (as distinct from the open source version of the same name) under Windows.

WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING

If the older Xgecu minipro program decides your TL866 is countefeit it will try to brick it. The TL866 hasn't been manufactured for some years and any versions for sale almost certainly wont be genuine. There are ways to patch the firmware so it will look genuine and it is possible to recover from the bricked version too by opening the device up. Check out earlier in this thread for details.

[Quarlo Klobrigney]

Just this:

[coromonadalix]

Did you get the alert when you started up telling you to update the firmware or the flashing blue "update is available" message?

Which model did you get? If you somehow managed to get an ancient TL866A/CS clone be careful: the official software deliberately bricks what it thinks is counterfeit unless you run a patch first.

the last fw version for the old  tl866 A /CS is 6.85,  known case(s)  was to use an 32 bit system to do the fw upgrade, sometimes on w64  the programmer stalled but could be recovered, and yes minipro could invalidate non genuines

patch is attached, convert cs into the A  model with icsp connector, and recovery

1: Install the Programmer's software in C:\MiniPro (I used the current version included in the .zip).
2: Plug in Programmer (hope you chose to install the USB driver in the above step).
3: Run Programmer Software and look at the very bottom line. It should show your version TL866CS.
4: Exit back to Desktop.
5: Run the TL866.exe program.
6: Click the browse button [...] and browse for your update.dat file in C:\MiniPro.
7: Select the "Firmware Dumper" button, and hit the "Reflash" button
8: Click "Advanced", then select "A Bootloader", then hit "Write"
9: Unselect "Code protection bit", then hit "Write"

A: Hit OK to exit that menu, then select "TL866A firmware" and hit "Reflash"
B: When reflash is done, hit "Reset", wait, and hit "Reset" again.
C: Exit the TL866.exe program.
D: Run Programmer software again, look at bottom line. It should say TL866A.

schematics of the first gen tl866 A/CS  and second gen  tl866-II

[Quarlo Klobrigney]

There is nothing wrong in Windoze as I already said.
This problem is in Linux.