Version: 2021-06-19 Retro Chip Tester Professional http://8bit-museum.de Rev.1.x Retro Chip Tester Pro Page 2 © 2019-2021 http://8bit-museum.de This page is intentionally left blank Retro Chip Tester Pro Page 3 © 2019-2021 http://8bit-museum.de Table of Contents 1 General information about the Retro Chip Tester Professional ................................ 7 1.1 Overview .................................................................................................................................................... 7 1.2 Let’s go .................................................................................................................................................... 14 2 Assembly .................................................................................................................... 15 3 Power supply .............................................................................................................. 21 3.1 … via USB or barrel connector with DC/DC module (recommended) ...................................................... 23 3.2 … via screw terminals without DC/DC module ........................................................................................ 24 3.3 … via USB or barrel connector without DC/DC module ........................................................................... 25 4 Programming the Tester (fuses and firmware) ......................................................... 26 4.1 Programming the Fuses........................................................................................................................... 27 4.2 Programming the Firmware ..................................................................................................................... 30 5 First start-up ............................................................................................................... 31 6 Testing Chips .............................................................................................................. 32 6.1 Key assignment ....................................................................................................................................... 32 6.2 The menu ................................................................................................................................................. 34 6.3 Searching a Chip ..................................................................................................................................... 39 6.4 Testing of SRAMs and DRAMs ................................................................................................................ 41 6.4.1 Inserting chips................................................................................................................................ 41 6.4.2 Selecting the current chip .............................................................................................................. 42 6.4.3 Output of the test result ................................................................................................................. 43 6.4.4 Saving the test result ..................................................................................................................... 45 6.5 Special memory modules ......................................................................................................................... 50 6.5.1 Testing SIMM and SIPP modules .................................................................................................. 50 6.5.2 Testing ZIP memory ...................................................................................................................... 53 6.5.3 Testing 7481 or 7484 bipolar SRAM .............................................................................................. 55 6.5.4 Testing MK4008 and MK4006 (DRAM, 1024 x 1) .......................................................................... 56 6.5.5 Self-defined SRAM and DRAM memory modules ......................................................................... 57 6.6 Problematic memory modules ................................................................................................................. 60 6.6.1 Testing Intel 2107 and compatible DRAMs .................................................................................... 60 6.6.2 Testing Harris 6508 (and if needed compatible SRAMs) ............................................................... 62 6.6.3 Testing MM74C920 (and if needed compatible SRAMs) ............................................................... 63 6.6.4 Testing ITT4027 (and if needed compatible SRAMs) .................................................................... 64 6.6.5 Testing SIMM/SIPP modules ......................................................................................................... 65 6.6.6 DRAMs from Russian or Eastern European production ................................................................. 65 6.7 Testing of ROM, PROM, EPROM or EEPROM ....................................................................................... 66 6.7.1 Identifying content.......................................................................................................................... 66 6.7.2 Reading of ROM, PROM, EPROM or EEPROMs .......................................................................... 67 6.7.3 Enlarging the internal ROM database ............................................................................................ 68 6.7.4 Special features when reading ROMs and PROMs ....................................................................... 69 6.7.5 Dumping an Intel 1702A ................................................................................................................ 73 6.7.6 Dumping characters ROMs RO-3-2513 or Motorola MCM6670 series .......................................... 75 6.7.7 Dumping character ROM 2513 (+5V/-5V/-12V version) ................................................................. 76 6.7.8 Dumping the ROMs MM4204 and MM5204 .................................................................................. 76 6.8 Reading of the "electronic signature" of an EPROM ................................................................................ 77 Retro Chip Tester Pro Page 4 © 2019-2021 http://8bit-museum.de 6.9 Testing logic ICs (74xx, 40xx) .................................................................................................................. 78 6.9.1 Chips with special power supply .................................................................................................... 79 6.9.2 Pin assignment of logic chips ........................................................................................................ 81 6.9.3 Testing Russian Chips ................................................................................................................... 83 6.9.4 Testing very old bipolar logic chips ................................................................................................ 84 6.10 Testing of other devices ........................................................................................................................... 88 6.11 Reading out PALs (Programmable Array Logic) ...................................................................................... 89 6.11.1 Preparation .................................................................................................................................... 90 6.11.2 Starting the readout process .......................................................................................................... 92 6.11.3 Further possibilities for use with example ...................................................................................... 93 6.12 Testing of SOIC (SOP) components ........................................................................................................ 95 6.13 Settings menu / configuration menu ........................................................................................................ 96 7 Connecting the SD card adapter ............................................................................... 98 7.1 Connection to the 6-pin header ................................................................................................................ 98 7.2 Connection to the SPI connection via the 6-pin. ISP connector ............................................................... 99 8 Warnings ................................................................................................................... 100 9 Known Issues and Limitations ................................................................................ 101 9.1 Detection of errors (memory chips) ........................................................................................................ 101 9.2 Testing “non-volatile static RAM” (NVRAM) (“Zeropower” RAMs) ......................................................... 107 9.3 Detection of errors (logic chips and memory modules) .......................................................................... 108 9.3.1 Invalid signal level........................................................................................................................ 108 9.3.2 Defective input or output drivers .................................................................................................. 109 9.3.3 Other problems ...........................................................................................................................