T48 Device Programmer
History
The T48 Device Programmer expands on the popular MiniPRO TL866 that has been around for many years. I bought my TL866II (below) back in 2018. Before that I owned the original TL866. I really didn’t need to upgrade from the TL866II as it handled everything I needed to do at home.
At work however, I did need to do some work that was not supported by the TL866II. At the same time a member of my forums needed a programmer, so I thought I would take the opportunity to upgrade and pass on my programmer to my friend / forum member.
I ordered a T48 kit on Amazon similar to this one, which was the basic unit with a USB cable. The quality seemed very good, even the USB cable. The ZIF socket was solid and the software was pretty straight-forward. The only issue I had initially was getting the software from the site in China. First, it took me a while to get the site to connect (seemed to be down a lot). Then, the download timed out several times. Finally, the download completed, however it was a RAR file, so I had to use an online converter to turn it into a ZIP file. During installation, my Anti-Virus Software (Microsoft Defender) reported it as malware. Posts I found online indicated it may be a false positive, but that didn’t fill me with confidence, so initially, I installed it on a walled off PC.
Problems Early On
Initially, I was very happy with the unit, so for work I ordered a second kit that came with multiple adapters, similar to this one.
In the course of my day job I read, write and verify many EPROMs and NVRAMs in many footprints. I even ordered a TSSOP48 adapter for a very specific flash memory that I often need to program. I don’t remember exactly which version of the software I was originally using; I believe it was V10.35, but over time the software reports that the version is too old and must be updated. Failure to update the software means you cannot use the software! This was not an issue with the software for the TL866II, however the software for the T48 / T56 must be kept up to date. This is something I do not appreciate, since an update can break things, leaving you down for an indeterminate amount of time. As of this review, my T48s are all only partially usable.
This is where things went bad for me. One of the most common devices I program is the DS1225AD. This NVRAM is an 8K non-volatile RAM module with a parallel interface. One day I read one of these modules and saved the file as a backup. When I replaced the module and tried to write the backup data to it, I got an error! Occasionally, we get a bad module, so at first I assumed that to be the case and got a new one from the tube. Same error! So, next I grabbed a known good DS1225AD and it failed the same way.
At this point, I figured the programmer had gotten damaged by a bad module, so I grabbed another identical programmer we purchased for work and was shocked to find it gave the same error on the known good module. Now I knew the issue wasn’t the programmer hardware, but rather the software. Because of the constant updates, I can’t be sure which update broke things, I think it was around V12.60 when things started going wrong. And it wasn’t just the DS1225AD. Other 8K or similar ICs were also having issues, though other devices seemed to work fine. Most 32K devices seemed to work, while most 8K devices seemed to fail programming and / or verify, despite reading just fine.
It’s not just the programming of the affected devices that is broken. Even if you load a ROM image and compare it with the current device, you get an error, despite the data being the same. Notice that the previous screenshot of the programming failure was taken using V12.96 of the software, which has been updated at least twice since this issue was first noticed, while this screenshot (verification) was taken using V13.04, current at the time this article was published, and still not working.
If I had to guess, I’d say at some point the definition file for the supported parts got corrupted and nobody noticed. To that end, I took it upon myself to report the issue. First I tried to sign up on their support forums, thinking things would be more interactive, however the verification stuff is in Chinese and it’s not a simple matter of translation. I cannot get past that stage, so I cannot post on their forums. Next I tried their email address multiple times. This is posted on the top of the website. I never got a reply and the issue has persisted for the last 5 updates (more than 6 months), making these units mostly unusable.
I have access to a device programmer from another manufacturer (Xeltek), and while I have found an interesting bug in their software, it’s difficult to recreate and most users probably wouldn’t notice it. But it certainly doesn’t affect the normal operation of the hardware / software. I really do hope the developers of the XGPro software can identify and correct the issues causing these failures, which undoubtedly make some people think their hardware or components are defective.
Assessment
While I never really had an issue with the original TL866II, this T48 quickly became a source of frustration. With no support being provided, I have no choice but to find another solution and not recommend these device programmers to anyone who depends on them. As I stated, the last 5 version of the software have a serious but that affects an unknown, but considerable number of older devices and there’s no apparent support for the devices, unless you’re Chinese and / or can access their forums perhaps. My units are currently crippled by a persistent software bug. My recommendation would be for them not to require the software to be the most recent version to simply operate.
Resources
XGecu Website (Chinese Site / English Language) – External Link
