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Programming NOR ST M29W160ET 70N6 Problems - HELP NEEDED

Ardov

New Member
Hi! I recently bought the XPORT version of the FlashcatUSB to program some memory chips. These are the NOR Parallel Flash M29W160ET.

My FlashcatUSB PCB is version 1.1 and i have upgraded its firmware to the latest 4.37 XPORT firmware.

Chip is a TSOP-48. The jumpers are correctly configured on the Extension I/O Port at 29 position, that is on the right for all three jumpers.

The software detects the memory chip correctly.
The memory chips that i bought from a chinese supplier were already written with a firmware image that appears to be a Sharp TV firmware. I want to erase the chip.

When i try to erase the chip, the proceedure appears as it has been completed successfully but the chip isn't really erased as the previously written contents are still there.
When i am trying to write my own binary to the chip, it fails to erase each memory sector. A window pops up saying "Flash Erase Failed".

Is this a FlashcatUSB hardware/software problem or are the memory blocks protected? And if the chip is protected, shouldn't the software issue the appropriate commands to unlock and program it?

Also is there a chance that the chip is factory locked? The codes on the chip read:

ST M29W160ET - 70N6 L (what does this L mean??? - i haven't found any explanation in the documentation and datasheets - perhaps factory (L)ocked???)

Thanks in advance!
 

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It might be possibly factory locked. But thats okay, as there is a command to unlock it. I have a M29W160 that I will test for you tonight using your same setup.
 
Pantheon, i really thank you for your help on this! I am trying to revive a dead Yamaha Super Audio CD player which cost me a fortune and unfortunately i bricked it during a special firmware update. Now i will have to desolder the M29W160 and replace it with a different one with the correct firmware written to it.

To be honest i bought the FlashcatUSB XPORT and the M29W160 chips only for this project.

So you are my only hope and i am waiting for your results and solution!

Thank you for all your efforts and your willingness to help!
 
So there is actually 2 variants: M28W160 and M29W160 . Besides the different pin outs, the M29 does not have the status-register that the M28 has, and therefore should probably use a hardware delay instead. I have modified the Flash library and will send you a link with beta firmware/software to test.
 
Thanks for your support and your effort Pantheon. I am going to try it tonight, after work and i will report back on what happened!
 
Pantheon, i upgraded firmware to 4.80 and i tested that 530 BETA version, but i still get the same errors as before.

I tried to perform a Full Erase, i tried to write FFs but nothing works. The chip still retains the same old data.

Is there anything else that can be done?

I studied the M29W160ET documentation and it shows a flowchart with the procedure to be followed by programmer equipment.
 
Thanks! Please keep me updated when you find a solution so that i can continue with my project.
 
Okay, I found a M29W160EB. It should be similar to yours (except bottom boot). I'll test it in a bit.
 
Pantheon, thank you for the help! WIth the new version i managed to properly erase the chip and write my own binary image!

But i noticed a glitch on how the memory contents are displayed. This has no effect on the written or read back data. It affects only the appearance of the data in real time as passed by the i/o handlers. Also, the memory addresses appear incorrectly due to incorrect size detection. Console though recognises it correctly.

I believe both "issues" are interconnected because technically the software recognises the chip correctly but the data displayed are for a 32MBit chip such as the ST M29W320ET/EB.

Have a look at those screenshots (one is from the new version, the other from the "older" 528 build):
 

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Library is correct. Do you have the Multi-Chip Select feature enabled? (Settings->MISC)?
 
Indeed that was the setting! I disabled it and everything works like a charm!

Thank you Pantheon for all your help and support, once again!
 
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