Five Dollar Eprom Programmer


A couple years ago I spent a good week wiring up a fairly complex EPROM programmer so I could burn a prom for my jeeps EFI system. Today I ran across this $5 version. build built by Jay Kominek He uses shift registers to handle the addressing and IO lines, all driven directly by the parallel port. There’s no way to escape the number of pins that have to be wired up, but the schematic itself is pretty simple.
[By the way, arcade supply shops are a great source for cheap UV erase EPROMS.]

[Update: I’d forgotten about the voltage change (3 vs 5 if I remember) needed to write UV EPROMS vs EEPROMS. With a little mod, you can certainly use this for EPROMS as well.]

23 thoughts on “Five Dollar Eprom Programmer

  1. Great hack! I had wanted to build something similar, basically a parallel to serial EEPROM adapter. Using some 7400 or 4000 series shift registers I could reasonably approximate a simplified I2C bus, and get to reuse all the old EPROM and EEPROM chips I have. The goal was originally intended for a Basic Stamp, but could work with a PIC or a standard serial port with a little more work. If anybody knows how to do the whole I2C bus approximation in discrete logic easily, please post. Implementing the automatic address shift, rollover, and controll registers seems pretty hard without a micro of some sort.

  2. Is there a source of information on programming the eeprom in a fuel injection system? All i can seem to find is the “Send use the box and 3000 and well send it back chipped” sites.

  3. maybe it’s me, but wouldn’t most people who would use eeproms already be into microcontrollers? seems to me that you could build an equally simple pic or avr programmer that would perform better.

    neat project, but i don’t see the application.

  4. i made the programmer because i was a poor college student (this design dates to 2000), and i couldn’t afford any sort of microcontroller programmer. this could be made without any programmed parts (besides a computer, anyways), and i could find, scrounge or beg the shift registers.

    (also, i’ve been reading hackaday for awhile now, and got a real kick out of seeing some of my work featured. thanks. :)

  5. I’m with “Psychorngd” and “verycool” I’d like to know what you did with your EFI. I have a 92 XJ and I am currently embarking on adding a homemade electric turbo and some problems deal with the EFI and air density.

  6. I been looking for one that uses the USB port. My laptop went out after trying to find away to bypass the factory password that came up when I was trying to install my laptop back to the factory settings. I did something that killed the eeprom I was told. Whatever I did they said Laptops couldn’t be done that way that my laptop was toast. Somebody else told me about an eeprom programmer could get my laptop back up and running, but the factory password would still be on it and I should contact Toshiba to see how to get the factory password off of it. But as usual I bought something from a company that don’t won’t to help their customers. Check that one off as not buying any more. That and the Phillips smart tv is two I will never buy again. Bought a 55 inch and no help getting apps. Don’t buy either one

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