Re: gEDA-user: Re: How to program PAL/GAL?

[Dave McGuire <mcguire@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Mar 14, 2007, at 8:31 PM, Andy Peters wrote:
> > > We had a 2900 at my last job.  I hadn't seen one since my first  
> > > job out of college, where I used one to program Altera MAX7192  
> > > parts.  The magic adapter cost like $500 (in 1992 dollars).  The  
> > > stupid floppy disk on the thing kept failing for no reason, and  
> > > Data I/O charged boo-coo bucks to fix it.
> >
> >   That's why I maintain my own equipment.  My 2900 had a dead  
> > floppy drive when I bought it.  I replaced it with one from the  
> > closet and it has worked great ever since.
>
> At the time, I worked for a Big Defense Contractor (hey, I was  
> young and stupid), and the thing was under a repair contract.  If  
> it broke, a call was made and it got fixed.

  Ugh.  That's why big companies take so much time and money to do  
the simplest of things.

> > > Gimme a JTAG dongle and in-system-programmable parts any day over  
> > > UV-erasable ancient crap.
> >
> >   So, in your world "Data I/O 2900" somehow implies "UV-erasable"  
> > and "ancient"?  You are making grandiose negative statements about  
> > something that you clearly don't know a whole lot about.  (and I'm  
> > not trying to sound like a prick here...just being honest)
>
> Honestly, yes, it does imply ancient to me.

  Well I'm sorry to have to correct you, but that family (they're  
all the same basic design, the 2900 being the smallest) is a current,  
top-of-the-line product.

>   I do know that Data I/O still sells programming tools, and I know  
> that you can program a lot of modern devices on a 2900, and I also  
> know that if you're doing huge production runs, you'd have things  
> programmed (even ISP devices) before stuffing on some big Data I/O  
> rig that does a tray-load at a time.

  The 2900 isn't a production programmer.  Even the UniSite with a  
SetSite adapter (8 chips at a time) isn't what I'd call "high  
volume".  Their point of existence is to read and/or program damn  
near any programmable device quickly and easily, while supporting  
literally dozens of different file formats for the data.  A JTAG  
dongle can't do that.  There are jobs for which the JTAG dongle is  
the best tool, and such a job likely can't easily be done with a  
standalone development programmer.

> But for prototyping and small-to-moderate production runs, given  
> the choice between a JTAG dongle and a Data I/O

  If you only work with a few different kinds of parts, and never  
have to repair anything, that may be a more convenient way to do it.   
I work on all kinds of stuff, I frequently program various types of  
devices (yes even UV EPROMs) for repairs or for other people.  For  
general work on different kinds of stuff, the flexibility of dealing  
with it all using one universal smaller-than-a-PC box with the  
usability and reliability of an appliance (as opposed to a Windows  
toy that needs to be reloaded every few weeks) simply cannot be  
beat.  In fact, it is indispensable, especially if you're as  
impatient as I am.

> that occupies a whole table, we'd rather have the table space.

  Here is my UniSite:

  http://www.neurotica.com/misc/UniSite.jpg

  (please pardon the mess, I've just moved and am still getting  
things situated)

          -Dave

--
Dave McGuire
Port Charlotte, FL




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