Which cheap eeprom programmer should I buy? TL866CS/II/A?

[Greybeard]

I'm looking for a cheap eeprom programmer and found some TL866CS/II/A versions in this price range.
I also found some threads about problems with these programmers.

I want to read and write some serial EEPROMs, old UV-EPROMs and FRAM replacements for out dated DALLAS/MAXIM NVRAMs of my vintage instruments.

What programmer can you recommend?

[Noy]

If you need 21V and no ISP the CS with ISP needs A.
The New II Plus isnt the right device for vintage gear..
You need Adapters for 21V eeproms.

[Greybeard]

If you need 21V and no ISP the CS with ISP needs A.
The New II Plus isnt the right device for vintage gear..
You need Adapters for 21V eeproms.

Is the TL866A usable for 21V and ISP?
Is it still available new (I don't think so)?

[Noy]

Original manufacturer:
http://www.autoelectric.cn/en/tl866_main.html

As far as i know you can made an A out of an CS.

[Greybeard]

If this list is correct, A and CS cannot program FM18W08 and FM16W08 (FRAM).
http://www.autoelectric.cn/minipro/MiniProSupportList.txt

TL866II (plus?) can program these FRAM:
http://www.autoelectric.cn/MiniPro/TL866II_List.txt
This list lists an AM2716 which is a 25V type EPROM.

What adapter is needed for TL866II (plus?) to program old 21V/25V EPROMs?
Is there an adapter from the programmers maker to program 21/25V EPROMs?
Or is it that simple:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/program-21v-25v-roms-in-lower-voltage-programmers
https://www.dr-bosch.com/volker/umbau/index.html#VppAdapter

Is there a TL866II without "plus" and what exactly is the plus?

[coromonadalix]

sometimes for the series II   you add a coin cell on the vdd to boost the programmation voltage,  the series II  voltages limitation quite stupid, you had 21volts, now 18volts

stupid enough to tell people  switch to another brand / model programmer

[Greybeard]

stupid enough to tell people  switch to another brand / model programmer

Exactly. But I don't want to pay much more.
Is there a reasonable competitor in that price range?

[coromonadalix]

not sure there is .... i think the makers saw they have been cloned, and they saw you could fw change the tl866 model for another one while adding the icsp connector

i'm sorry to say   you'll have to invest more to have some peace of mind



I had the tl866, bought an gq-4x from mcumall (was doing great), bought an tnm5000 (made a big mistake to sell it, the software got mature)  ended up with an Elnec Beeprog programmer, there was always something missing, could do this and not that ......  i'm running some legacy devices  like gal, pal and no longer manufactured xilinx cpld (i was getting huge problems to find the programmers for them)

I have pic, avr, stm32  programmers ... and a bunch of stuff now sitting in a drawer, The Elnec programmer is replacing all of them,  i was lucky to find it at a very low price, but still $$$ pricey

The mcumall GQ-4x  doesnt cost a fortune and will do more parts ... still around 120$ cad 

The tnm5000 is a very good contender for many many parts, but still pricey, but accept cheap zif or dip sockets ...   looking to buy another one for my job.

Unless someone can hack the tl866II executable to add parts,  you'll be limitted one way or the other

Many people forget the tl866 programmer was first used in car stuff and got an huge spark of interest.

my 2 cents

EDIT
Woah the tnm5000 price has gone up drastically, i paid 250usd for it    they have jacked up the prices ....  thats so wrong .... 



Maybe the TOP 3000  TOP 3100 series are good the prices seems okay, GQ-4x  tooo

[Greybeard]

Buying a programmer for several hundred bucks is no alternative for me, because I need the programmer very rarely.

The hardware of the TL866 (old and new) series seems not to be a problem for my understanding (besides the lack of 21/25V supply of the II+) .

Has nobody reverse engineered the II+ hardware to develop own open software by the community (I have not read the whole TL866 mammoth thread https://www.eevblog.com/forum/blog/eevblog-411-minipro-tl866-universal-programmer-review/ )?

PS: Is this for TL866II+ ?
https://gitlab.com/DavidGriffith/minipro/-/tree/master

[Noy]

You can usw Linux flashrom tool  with tl866 as far as i know.

[zeeloli6]

@greybeard - If there was a typo and instead of TL886II+ you meant the TL866II+ (I only call this out because it wasn't entirely clear from your last reply) it explicitly says the plus model is supported on line 14 of the README.md file. Thus you should be good to go!  Here's the relevant snippet:

Code: [Select]

12  ## Features
13  * Native support for Linux, BSD, and other flavors of Unix.
14  * Compatibility with Minipro TL866CS, TL866A, and TL866II+ from
15  Autoelectric (http://www.autoelectric.cn/en/tl866_main.html)
16  * More than 13000 target devices (including AVRs, PICs, various BIOSes
17  and EEPROMs)
18  * ZIF40 socket and ISP support
19  * Vendor-specific MCU configuration bits
20  * Chip ID verification
21  * Overcurrent protection
22  * System testing


[Greybeard]

@greybeard - If there was a typo and instead of TL886II+ you meant the TL866II+ (I only call this out because it wasn't entirely clear from your last reply)

Yes, that was a typo...

... it explicitly says the plus model is supported on line 14 of the README.md file. Thus you should be good to go!  Here's the relevant snippet:

Code: [Select]

12  ## Features
13  * Native support for Linux, BSD, and other flavors of Unix.
14  * Compatibility with Minipro TL866CS, TL866A, and TL866II+ from
15  Autoelectric (http://www.autoelectric.cn/en/tl866_main.html)
16  * More than 13000 target devices (including AVRs, PICs, various BIOSes
17  and EEPROMs)
18  * ZIF40 socket and ISP support
19  * Vendor-specific MCU configuration bits
20  * Chip ID verification
21  * Overcurrent protection
22  * System testing


I recognized later: it seems to be for Linux (I use Win7 and Win10)... 

[coromonadalix]

to my knowledge  no one has hacked the minipro software

[Greybeard]

to my knowledge  no one has hacked the minipro software

I hope the chinese software will work - in some way...

[Zucca]

Good reading here, tons of info.

I am happy with a TL866CS hacked to TL866A. There is a lot of chinesum in it BTW... so happy but nothing wowwww...

Somebody with spare time should start an eeprom programmer open source project, the potential would be immense.