I Purchased some more Odd but still useful BP Microsystems Adapters On Ebay. These are only Capable to about 10 Target devices see list bottom of page.
See Video Below for unboxing and initial testing.
I had a BP Microsystems SM329BGACT Adapter that Was In Error Would Not Allow the Programmer to Even Boot Said Was Invalid and put itself into demo mode.
I messaged BP Microsystems they sent me a link to the software repo to try older versions of bpwin and it was no success. BP Mmicrosystems messaged back and pointed out the Adapter ID was SM329BGAACT it should be SM329BGACT I Looked and Verified Yes it was Indeed a SM329BGACT.
When I spoke with BP Microsystems on the phone, they mentioned that if there was an issue, I might need to send the unit to them for repair or get a replacement. There was no way I was going to send it in and pay for a repair, especially without knowing the cost, how proud BP Micro is of the adapters I am sure it would be expensive more than the cost of the adapter on the used market and I definitely wasn’t going to buy a new replacement for 2 Target devices. Their list price is a whopping $2,942.79—ouch! It’s much better to find these used on FeeBay for a fraction of the cost. BP Microsystems is a chip programmer company but would make you send it to them for repair if the firmware was corrupted but they still continued to investigate the error which was good.
Myself being impatient waiting on BP Microssyems, I attempted to read In circuit with a clip but it would fail :(. So I removed the 93C46 the chip that holds the Adapter ID to see if i could change it form From BGAACT to BGACT myself.
I was able to Read the Chip No Problem out of circuit and Indeed there was a Text String SM329BGAACT
I changed it From BGAACT to BGACT in the buffer.
Programed a new ST 93C46 just in case the chip had a fault and installed it in the adapter .
The programmer now boots and detects this adapter this adapter has only had 25 operations/insertions. An Insertion could be a Read,Write,Verify,Etc.
Additionally this adapter passes the self tests. 🙂
I will make a follow up video soon.
I’ve backed up the firmware for all the adapters I own, both for archiving and potential future repairs since one has already been corrupted. Each backup includes the adapter ID string, which is visible, along with the insertion counters. I will also try to decode the insertion counters. However, there’s a consistent “AA 55 33 A2 01 00 00 00” string present in all the adapters, and I’m not entirely sure what it represents. Check the images below for reference.
Adapter Details and Links.
FSM313BGACT 313 PIN BGA BGA(625)
Microsemi SM313BG-ACTEL-2 Actel Programming Adapter (Revision 2)
BP Micro Site Say it will work with the 1710 and it does. List Price $2,311.39
Transistors Knocked off are marked 2X = KST4401 or MMBT4401
FSM313BGBACT 313 PIN BGA BGA(625)
Microsemi SM313BG-ACTEL Actel Programming Adapter (Revision 1)
BP Micro Site Say it will work with the 1710 and it does. List Price $2,311.39
3 Target Devices
Actel A14100A-BG313
Actel A14V100A-BG313T
Actel A54SX32-BG313
FSMPA272BGACT 272 PIN BGA BGA(400)
Microsemi SMPA-272BG-ACTEL Actel Programming Adapter
BP Micro Site Say it will work with the 1710 and it does. $1465.52
5 Target Devices
Actel A500K050-BG272
Actel A500K130-BG272
STAPL A500K050-BG272
STAPL A500K130
STAPL A500K130-BG272
FSM329BGACT 329 PIN BGA BGA(529)
Microsemi SM329BG-ACTEL Programming Adapter
BP Micro Site Say it will work with the 1710 and it Does (Repaired) $2,942.7
2 Target Devices
Actel A54SX32-BG329
Actel A54SX32A-BG329
BP Microsystems Right to Repair Score. 09/20/2024 F
Was a Solid B Until This e-mail from a Robert Trenary Customer Care Manager BPM Microsystems. It seems they did not like me repairing MY adapter.
I Made a Phone call I will be releasing that phone call on youtube soon, I now have to scrap the video I was making.
Last Updated on September 21, 2024 by Steven Rhine