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Just to say I'm completely new to the world of PROM and I'm a bit bewildered.

My ultimate aim is to be able to program these Russian 4k bipolar PROM chips, which are the equivalent of Epson IP3604, in order to use with my Soviet Mikrolab КР580ИК80.

I am aware of various "universal" chip programmers, including relatively inexpensive ones from China, and the expensive one offered on the above site, but as none of these mention the IP3604, I am cautious.

So my question is - is there a modern device which can flash these chips, and if not what do I need to look for on eBay? From some YouTube videos I've watched I guess in the latter case I might then have to go chasing other hardware which can interact with old chip programmers.

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4 Answers 4

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I checked the device support list for my Dataman S4, but it doesn't go all the way back to 4Kbit (512x8) devices. The S4 isn't quite a universal programmer, as it can only supply power and Vpp on certain pins of its socket, and so on, but it would be more likely to support relatively old devices than a new unit.

I wasn't even able to find a datasheet for the Epson IP3604, but I did find one for the Intel version, M3604A. At that time, memory devices were Intel's main focus, and Epson would have been one of several second-source suppliers. This is not an EEPROM - those came in much later - but a one-time-writable PROM.

Hence I would strongly suggest that you build an adapter to accept a newer type of chip in your Mikrolab. Modern 8Kx8 EEPROMs are still in production, widely supported in programmers, and very cheap.

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  • Thank you. In the meantime I had discovered it was a PROM - I suppose the shop only had modern categories to put things under, so it mislabeled this an EEPROM. I'll edit my question to make it more accurate.
    – harlandski
    Commented Dec 24, 2019 at 3:07
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You can create such a device yourself. If you know how to program the 556PT5, you might end up with creating a simple dedicated programmer circuit. Then you can drive your programmer circuit using аrduinо, rаspbеrrу рi or anything alike.

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  • I know how to program the КР580ИК80, but I don't have any specific understanding of the EEPROM, only that the one included with the Mikrolab contains demo programs, which can be accessed as extended memory. It might be my naivety, but I was hoping to just write the binary programs I have written onto a new chip, then run them normally on the Mikrolab. I don't have anywhere near enough knowledge of electronics at the moment to make my own programmer.
    – harlandski
    Commented Dec 23, 2019 at 16:51
  • As a possible workaround, you could take a conventional 27c16 EPROM and make crossboard to fit into 556PT5 socket. Depending on the way your computer selects the 556PT5, you might get away with simple signal wiring or you might need a couple of additional logic elements, since 556PT5 has somewhat 4 chipselects.
    – lvd
    Commented Dec 23, 2019 at 17:18
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I am not sure if any modern EEPROM programmer could do it. PROMs are too outdated nowadays. Better look for an older EPROM programmer. PROMs and EPROMs have similar programming process, using the high voltage (+12 V in the most usual cases), so it could, maybe, know how to program a PROM.

But my personal opinion: the best way is to find a datasheet, look for a programming process and use the Arduino (Mega would be better) to build a dedicated programmer. Programming those memories are generally the same: select an address, send the desired data and then send a short 12V pulse to the programming pin (often named "Vpp").

One more thing should be mentioned: PROMs are OTP (One-Time Programmed) devices. It depends on the exact type, but the majority of PROMs are full of 1s at all memory cells and they are programmed to 0s. Once you write the 0 in a memory bit, there is no way to write 1 back. But in the (very rare) case you need to re-program the PROM and the changes are only 1-to-0, you can alter its content.

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I am grateful for the different answers, and I will probably try one of them, but for the sake of completeness, the people who sell the chips got back to me, and told me that the STERH 007 programmer, can be used with this chip, and sure enough it is listed as one of the supported chips. The downside is the cost - 250 USD for the basic model, plus the cost of adapters - and that's the manufacturer's price! Right now that's beyond my budget, but I thought I'd share it here as it seems to cover a lot of old PROMs and EPROMs, only a fraction of which are Russian-made.

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