Overview

This device was created to allow cheap and easy programming of 28Cxxx (64, 128, 256) EEPROM chips. These are old school parallel chips that are interchangeable (with a minor adaptation of two pins) with the classic 27Cxxx chips found in all sorts of old devices from the 80's. Arcade machines, automotive ECM's, BIOS chips in old PC's, etc. Those old 27 series chips required a UV light to erase, and a "high" voltage programmer. These 28C chips are electrically erasable, so they're far easier to work with.

New in version 2.0

The PCB has been updated with a charge pump circuit to boost the voltage. It now supports programming SST27SF512 and W27E512 chips. Function of this charge pump circuit has not been tested yet, but I believe it to work. Consider this feature experimental until I can get some feedback from someone with one of those chips. Slight price increase due to the increased component count (costs more, takes far more time to assemble).

Details

This uses a standard run of the mill Arduino to program the chips. Simply plug this shield into an Arduino (tested on the Uno/Diecimila/Duemilanove, Leonardo probably won't work on the Mega without major changes to the sketch). You simply load the provided sketch onto your Arduino. Install LibRx/Tx into your Java environment, then run the provided Java app. You can then put a chip into the ZIF socket, click Read from chip, or Load BIN and Program to chip. It's worth noting, this is a bit experimental. It has worked fine for me, both reading 27Cxxx chips as well as burning some 28C256 chips. But you should be aware, it's intended for the very technically savvy crowd. Each unit is assembled and tested before shipping, I can only provide minor support (directing you to the software needed to use this item), beyond that it's on you to make it dance.

Use Cases

I personally built this board in order to be able to reprogram the ECM in my 80's car. It originally had a 27C64 chip in it, and I've now got the factory performance tune on a 28C256 in there. The person that wrote the software and came up with the original circuit design did it so that he could burn roms for his home-built 6502 computer. I've tinkered with vintage Arcade machines in the past, and I know they use 27XXX eproms, so if you wanted to change the games or load other games, this programmer would be a cheap way to do that.

Source

You can download the Arduino sketch and the JAVA apps source here: https://github.com/presslab-us/MEEPROMMER

You can download the JAVA App here: http://www.neonsquirt.com/JBurn2_rpress2.zip

You can download the OSHW PCB files here: http://www.neonsquirt.com/eeprom_burner2.zip

And finally, credit to the creator of the software/circut: http://www.ichbinzustaendig.de/dev/meeprommer-en (Note, software on this site is outdated) With special thanks to "rpress" who added support for the Arduino Leonardo. Created the charge pump circuit. Added support for the 27SF512 chips to both the Arduino sketch and the java app. TREMENDOUSLY improved the speed of programming the chip.