Dataman Forum

Hi,
Im trying to read a PAL16L8ACN (Lattice) PLD. I do not know if this device has had its security bit set or not but its never been a problem before. Every time I click READ, the programmer looses its USB connection and then comes back and I have the refind programmer to continue.
The software gives me the following message
Communication error! (V:0/P:00/HW:00/EC:08/DS:FF/CE:38/DE:0100C350)

I am certain this device is working as the PCB it was taken from is in full working order.

Thanks

JonT

Hello JonT,

I am going to have to ask you to run the "self test" and "self test plus" options from the Programmer menu, then use the "Help > Create problem report" option which will dump the results to a text file on your desktop.

Please email this log file to [email protected] which I will pick up. Hopefully this will show us what the problem is.

Regards
Neil Parker
Dataman Programmers

Hello JonT,

After looking at the log file we believe that this problem is connected with the very large current demands of the mentioned device: AMD/MMI PAL16L8A.

We have tested our sample chips and none show the problem you are reporting, but power consumption during the programming of bipolar chips can vary significantly from chip to chip.

The standard internal power supply of the programmer might not be sufficient for reading/programming some versions of bipolar PROM/PLD's. In this case a communication error may arise.

The solution to this problem is to use more powerful - external - power supply adapter. This is sold as the "48Pro+PSU-Upg" and is suitable for use with the Dataman-48Pro+/Pro2 programmers.

Best regards,
Neil Parker
Dataman Programmers