Page 1 of 1

IFR1200 CPU Card Corrupted - Eprom Corrupted ?

Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2019 11:13 am
by try2fix
Hi, hope someone can help, I have read that the eproms inthe IFR1200 can get orrupted over time - So Copied and burnt eproms from a working IFR1200 , put the new eproms in & the cpu card is now bricked- I put the old eproms back in with no change, I took from another IFR1200 a good working CPU card and put in the eproms and it is bricked now --- is there some kind of blanking program that has to be run before changing the eproms ? -- I removed the batt and discharged the caps to try to clear and still no go - the display is blank when the cpu card is not working, all you will get is @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ flash when you power down the unit - I put a good CPU card in and the unit works great --but now I have a few dead IFR1200s as I have Bricked there cpu card - any one got any answers please, Thanks

Re: IFR1200 CPU Card Corrupted - Eprom Corrupted ?

Posted: Tue Jun 18, 2019 11:02 am
by RFguy
I don't have an answer on your problem, but if you want to send it for repair, I highly recommend Kurt at KG Electronics. He only works on IFR1200's

https://kgelectronics.com/

Re: IFR1200 CPU Card Corrupted - Eprom Corrupted ?

Posted: Tue Jun 18, 2019 2:03 pm
by try2fix
k thanks

Re: IFR1200 CPU Card Corrupted - Eprom Corrupted ?

Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2019 1:39 pm
by driftinganomaly
I will add a second vote to consider sending it to Kurt at KG Electronics. We have sent several units to him over the last several years and he has repaired them all and had fair pricing.

Re: IFR1200 CPU Card Corrupted - Eprom Corrupted ?

Posted: Fri Jun 21, 2019 7:28 am
by jry
there is no blanking program. You have something wrong ...see below.

There are a number of vintages to the 1200 processor card ( at least three IIRC ) so not all firmware works in all boards.

Not sure if you have a multi ROM or single rom setup

Normally what you are seeing is due to

1. wrong firmware
2. wrong order on multi ROM setup
3.bent pin
4. inserting upside down and ROM chip blows

The firmware ROM's rarely fails ...I think I have seen may two bad firmware ROMS and one bad processor chip over the last ten years.

I would go back and verify your ROM's against the original image and make sure they are inserted correctly.

There are also variations in firmware based on the version of DUPLEX card used ...old DUPLEX only or the newer DUPLEX tracking version. The card boots but your DUPLEX offset is way off.

Re: IFR1200 CPU Card Corrupted - Eprom Corrupted ?

Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2019 10:34 am
by try2fix
Okay, thanks- I have all 3 of the versions from the old processor original to the new processor. I have been fixing up some ifrs for some ham use so I ended up with 4 plus my own 1200s -- I read that the eprom could get corrupted, just pull it out read it before it is bad and put in a fresh programed and you should be good for another 25 years or so....
So I borrowed a friends ifr1200s with tracking as I thought I will read and save all versions so if anything goes corrupt in time we can just reprogram and away we go---thats when all went wrong, I read off his, programed eprom, put the fresh in & dead card now, put his originalls back in, still dead, took the same card from another unit put in his originals, dead, put in its originals, dead --now I am afraid to try any more cards as it seems any change and it bricks them ????? I cannot see how this could be but it has happened to me so far- I checked and no bent pins, correct order and the correct way around--
So let me get this correct, you have changed a few with no issues at all, you just programed up a eprom/or eprom set and plopped them in a away it went ?

Thanks for the help so far, I sure need some help from experienced people like your self that have done it in real life and not just read about it


[Admin note:
Can I compair files to see if they are the same ? [ Trade the hash values if you want, but, a gentle reminder that asking for firmware is forbidden -Alex]

Re: IFR1200 CPU Card Corrupted - Eprom Corrupted ?

Posted: Wed Jun 26, 2019 5:08 am
by jry
have done more than I can remember and other than doing the mistakes I previously noted they all eventually worked fine.
Not sure it's possible to get the display connector on wrong but maybe that's another possibility.


You can try to get into the RS-232 port as well but never had a firmware update do any damage.

Re: IFR1200 CPU Card Corrupted - Eprom Corrupted ?

Posted: Thu Jul 04, 2019 3:51 pm
by VE3TUH
You need to read, and reread, your donor eproms. Until you get the same checksum more than once.
Then you need to take a BLANK eprom, and reprogram it with the donor information. Then compare bits with your originals, that all match.
As above, there are several different vintages, not all versions work on all control cards.
I have done this without issue, and I have here 2 different working vintage images. You can pm me possibly I can help.