Honored ContributorOk, trying to repair an old ISA board that has an EP330PC-15 on it. I'd appreciate any information about this device.Yes, kinda old( 20 years) but this is alegacy device that must be maintained.
Altera website came up empty.. Thanks Jay
Honored ContributorOuch... This guy was obsoleted in 1996.
It's a apparently a simple EPLD/PAL. I found some apparent devices available from "Grey Market" sources.. But you would still need to know how it was programmed. If it's an ISA bus card, it was probably used as an address decoder.. If this is something that must be maintained for any period of time, I would highly recommend sending the entire system to someone for reverse engineering.. Because likely most of the components in the system are now obsolete. PeteHonored ContributorI appreciate the quick reply.
Any chance you have the pinout ? It's tied into an Intel 8344AH on the card and while I could reverse engineer it, having the pinout would kinda help. Google didn't seem to know what it was !Honored ContributorBest to try to contact Altera's support and ask for the datasheet.
Honored ContributorYeah, I tried but don't think anyone's willing to dust off a databook that old to email me the pinout......
..crazy thing is I know there's at least 500+ systems with these cards still in use !Honored ContributorThat's not very nice customer support...
For a device of that vintage, a few conventions MIGHT hold true: - Pin 10 is GND and pin 20 is VCC. - The array inputs are in one side of the package, while the outputs are on the other side. - There is a programming pin somewhere, arround to pin 1, 10, 11 or 20.Honored ContributorI remember that all HILO programmers (e.g. ALL-03, ALL-07) have been supporting EP330 and similar Altera devices.
Honored ContributorThe closest datasheet I could find was for the EP320. (Same family, but different device).
I Don't work for Altera however. I'm sure they have it in an old databook somewhere. Attached is a PDF for the EP320 with a 20 pin pinout. I would assume the EP330 has a similar pinout, but I could be wrong. However since they are all just Clocks/Input or IO, the actual functionality you would still have to reverse engineer. PeteHonored ContributorThanks Pete for the data...at least it's a start. It'd be nice to get the real info though.I've been 'stung' by similar devices only to find out the Enable pin have been inverted. That was a real head scratcher!
I've got most of the rev-eng done but coming up with what's 'inside' ther EP330PC-15 will be the big challenge. I'm kinda surprised Google didn't find it......oh well, the quest continues as I may have 500 piece to upgrade.Honored ContributorIn many cases, a PALCE16V8 should be able to replace the EP330 device, but there are some restrictions with output feedback, that's only available for 6 of 8 macro cells.
Honored ContributorWell it's a damn site friendlier and more forthcoming with information about Altera products than anyone in Altera is. I still haven't seen anything from Altera about this chip and need to find a replacement ASAP.According to info posted here,it's 20 year lifespan is almost up. I've got 500 units to 'upgrade' at $1,500 per unit. You do the math and you'll see why I'm not happy about the level of 'support' I've gotten so far.
