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Fluke 9010A ROM & RAM testers

willwatts

Nov 15, 2014
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Fluke 9010A is used to test different ROM's and RAMS
You have to type in the address starting and ending address

I have seen techs take out a ROM or RAM chip one by one and check using a Fluke 9010A to test the ROM and RAM chips until they find the bad one

But what is a better way of troubleshooting ROM and RAM chips?

What programs or devices do you guys use to test ROM's chips and RAM chips?

Also the ROM and RAM chips have a frequency , if you put in a ROM or RAM chip that has a different frequency it won't work in a circuit , why is that?

How do you know when using a Logic Probe that you have a bad address line on a ROM or RAM chip? because the logic probe is not pulsing?

I am new at troubleshooting ROM and RAM chips, so what are some common troubleshooting failures or signs to know you have a bad ROM or RAM chip?
 

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What do the techs say when you ask them these questions?
 

davenn

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What programs or devices do you guys use to test ROM's chips and RAM chips?

there are only few times that RAM or ROM chips are individual on boards and with all the surface mounting on gear newer than ~ 10 - 14 years
the chips are not removable. If they come as a module as in a PC then you remove the module and replace it and throw away the old module

Also the ROM and RAM chips have a frequency , if you put in a ROM or RAM chip that has a different frequency it won't work in a circuit , why is that?

http://www.ebay.com/gds/RAM-Speeds-...DDR2-DDR3-DDR4-DDR5-/10000000020781305/g.html


I am new at troubleshooting ROM and RAM chips, so what are some common troubleshooting failures or signs to know you have a bad ROM or RAM chip?

it doesnt work ie. read/write errors
 

willwatts

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What do the techs say when you ask them these questions?

They take each ROM or RAM chip one by one and test them using software problems

Read Device into buffer and load the ROM or RAMs code into the computer

The Software program will tell them what errors the chips have

But they have to do this one by one for each IC chip
 

willwatts

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if you put in a Slower RAM or ROM speed chip into a Faster speed RAM or ROM chip socket it won't work or vise versa, why is that? the speed of the RAM/ROM chip does what?
 

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They take each ROM or RAM chip one by one and test them using software problems

Read Device into buffer and load the ROM or RAMs code into the computer

The Software program will tell them what errors the chips have

But they have to do this one by one for each IC chip

That's not what they say, it's what they do. But I guess they're not willing to talk to you much either.

If that's what they do, then that's what you should do until you have more experience than them.
 

willwatts

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Well they use a logic probe when testing the signals on the RAM and ROM chips. If the signal is either a high or low NOT pulsing or toggling they say that data signal is bad. Is this true for all RAM and ROM signals have to be pulsating and not stuck high or low?

The tech say if the RAM or ROM signals are a high or low and not pulsating , there is an address error

Is this true that RAM and ROM signals are always pulsating? it's not a static high or low state
 

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Is this true that RAM and ROM signals are always pulsating? it's not a static high or low state

Impossible to tell without knowing the type of memory and/or the device it's in.
 

willwatts

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so RAM and ROM signals can be a static logic High or Low?

The techs use a read/writer ROM programmer device. They load the code/data that is in the ROM chips into the computer and save it to a file. They got to the buffer editor to see the address codes. Sometimes the buffer editor will highlight the Bad address. You can compare the loaded file to another ROM file to see any errors.

In-Circuit ROM check:
Can you use a read/write ROM programmer device to check ROM chips that are in circuit , that are soldered to a PCB? to check if their is any address errors or code errors?

Most of the read/write ROM programmers device i have seen you have to desolder the ROM chips and put it in the ROM programmer device socket and use the software to read it and load the program into it.
 

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so RAM and ROM signals can be a static logic High or Low?

Sure, but it depends on the pins, the type of the memory device, and the circuit it's in.

The techs use a read/writer ROM programmer device.

I bet they don't. Even they can't program ROMs

Sometimes the buffer editor will highlight the Bad address

Without knowing the device under test and/or the programmer and/or the technique they're using it's hard to say if you're right or wrong. They may be able to determine that certain memory addresses are not able to be written to, or which read back incorrectly. And that's essentially the major test.

Can you use a read/write ROM programmer device to check ROM chips that are in circuit , that are soldered to a PCB? to check if their is any address errors or code errors?

Have you asked them?
 

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