Is pin 30 connected to anything on those boards? Pin 30 is most significant address bit with a 2 megabit chip. Maybe they're looking towards the future? <div><br></div><div>I had good success with programming some 1megabit eeproms salvaged from dead motherboards, none of my realteks came with 32pin sockets, but i found three that were extend-able. </div>
<div><br></div><div>You add the note about 28 pin chips in 32pin sockets to the wiki yourself.</div><div><br></div><div>The outdated information on EPROM programmers is probably due to each person burning eproms needing _access_ to one, not necessarily everyone owning their own. </div>
<div><br></div><div>I'm not sure a big list of peoples preferences on bootrom chip burning is a good idea. a better idea would be to have a list of pros and cons for each of UV, OTP, EEPROM.</div><div>"KyleK prefers to burn eeproms on realtek 8139's" a big list like that seems crufty, but maybe I have the wrong idea?</div>
<div> <br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Sun, Nov 29, 2009 at 5:08 AM, Paul Geraedts <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:p.f.j.geraedts@gmail.com">p.f.j.geraedts@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;">
Hello,<br>
<br>
The RTL8139 wiki page (<a href="http://etherboot.org/wiki/realtek8139roms" target="_blank">http://etherboot.org/wiki/realtek8139roms</a>)<br>
contains a lot of very useful information for new users.<br>
<br>
Among others it mentions that the 32 pins sockets are backwards<br>
compatible with the 28 pins chips. I agree with that, but I also<br>
observed that some PCB manufactures are a bit sloppy here. That is,<br>
for this to work they should have connected pin 32 (V_DD) to pin 30<br>
(NC). Meaningless for 32 pins chips, but vital for 28 pins ones: their<br>
pin 28 (V_DD) ends up in this pin 30 of the 32 pins socket and the<br>
chip would otherwise not be supplied with power!<br>
<br>
So I think it would be a good addition to the wiki page to mention<br>
that if 28 pins chips do not work in 32 pins sockets, then to check<br>
that pins 32 and 30 are properly connected together. A quick fix can<br>
be a wire pushed in both socket pins, but soldering is more reliable<br>
of course.<br>
<br>
<br>
Than something else. I think it is still a bit intimidating for new<br>
users to start working on the hardware side of gPXE. For instance what<br>
EPROM programmer to buy that is both cheap, modern and readily<br>
available? I couldn't find one in the wiki pages: most programmers<br>
mentioned there were outdated. After some additional research I<br>
finally bought a very nice one on EBay (TOP2005+, $45, proper English<br>
Windows software, unfortunately no Linux support AFAIK). The same is<br>
true for the type of chip to use: I eventually bought the 28 pins<br>
(ATMEL AT)27C512R. An OTP version of the original EEPROM: very cheap<br>
and no hassle with UV lights. A personal choice of course, but I think<br>
that a list where people can add their preference would be a nice<br>
addition to the wiki. The same holds for a list of chipset related ROM<br>
burning info: only accidently I discovered the realtek8139roms page. A<br>
summarizing list of all wiki pages on this topic would be very helpful<br>
here I'd say. If such lists are added, I would be happy to add my<br>
preference.<br>
<br>
The whole thing works great now: the combination of WOL and gPXE<br>
allows me to remotely boot the computers with whatever OS I choose<br>
without needing any physical access. Very nice system you guys<br>
implemented!<br>
<br>
Cheers,<br>
<br>
Paul<br>
_______________________________________________<br>
gPXE mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:gPXE@etherboot.org">gPXE@etherboot.org</a><br>
<a href="http://etherboot.org/mailman/listinfo/gpxe" target="_blank">http://etherboot.org/mailman/listinfo/gpxe</a><br>
</blockquote></div><br></div>