Substitue for obsolete ATMEL serial EEPROM

Thread Starter

pleriche

Joined Oct 29, 2017
84
For a DAB radio which no longer remembers the initial program scan results over a power cycle, I'm looking for a replacement for what I take to be an ATMEL serial EEPROM. It's marked:

ATMEL061B
FS014B

(In both the markings, the B may actually be 8.)

This is on a Frontier Silicon DAB module. On a Polish forum I found a discussion of a visually almost identical Frontier Silicon board which I dentifies the chip as AT45DB041D. Hoping this would be compatible, I obtained one and fitted it since I couldn't find a source of the original, but the radio doesn't even scan with this fitted. (Reinstalling the original, the radio behaves exactly as before.)

Can anyone point me to a datasheet for the original chip or a compatible replacement?
 

Papabravo

Joined Feb 24, 2006
21,159
For a DAB radio which no longer remembers the initial program scan results over a power cycle, I'm looking for a replacement for what I take to be an ATMEL serial EEPROM. It's marked:

ATMEL061B
FS014B

(In both the markings, the B may actually be 8.)

This is on a Frontier Silicon DAB module. On a Polish forum I found a discussion of a visually almost identical Frontier Silicon board which I dentifies the chip as AT45DB041D. Hoping this would be compatible, I obtained one and fitted it since I couldn't find a source of the original, but the radio doesn't even scan with this fitted. (Reinstalling the original, the radio behaves exactly as before.)

Can anyone point me to a datasheet for the original chip or a compatible replacement?
Atmel was acquired by Microchip some years back. They can tell you if the part is obsolete and may have a datasheet in their archives. Your only other alternative is the gray market.
 

Deleted member 115935

Joined Dec 31, 1969
0
For a DAB radio which no longer remembers the initial program scan results over a power cycle, I'm looking for a replacement for what I take to be an ATMEL serial EEPROM. It's marked:

ATMEL061B
FS014B

(In both the markings, the B may actually be 8.)

This is on a Frontier Silicon DAB module. On a Polish forum I found a discussion of a visually almost identical Frontier Silicon board which I dentifies the chip as AT45DB041D. Hoping this would be compatible, I obtained one and fitted it since I couldn't find a source of the original, but the radio doesn't even scan with this fitted. (Reinstalling the original, the radio behaves exactly as before.)

Can anyone point me to a datasheet for the original chip or a compatible replacement?
why do you think its the eeprom that s died ?
 

DickCappels

Joined Aug 21, 2008
10,152
You can go to microchip.com and search the part number to find out more about the part, if it was ever sold under that part number.

Keep In mind the fact that special versions of some parts are marked with a part number that you might not be able to trace back to the basic part.
 

narkeleptk

Joined Mar 11, 2019
558

Deleted member 115935

Joined Dec 31, 1969
0
Because if I were designing a DAB radio that needed to remember its settings over a power cycle I'd use a serial EEPROM. And there seems to be one in there!
Good reason,

The reason I ask, is a similar project ,

I use a super cap, and the registers in the uProc that are on the "stay alive" for things like station / volume settings, that only need a few registers, but change frequent and fast .

I use the EEPROM as the program and other "bulk" storage storage ,

Advantage is the EEPROM has a limited write endurance, takes "high power" to write, and is SLOW
and the super cap keeps things alive for at east 6 months if there is no power and the Registers are instant.

OK, this unit is battery or mains powered, so could be different.

Hence my question about the EEPROM,
 

Thread Starter

pleriche

Joined Oct 29, 2017
84
You can go to microchip.com and search the part number to find out more about the part, if it was ever sold under that part number.

Keep In mind the fact that special versions of some parts are marked with a part number that you might not be able to trace back to the basic part.
Complete blank drawn at the Microchip website- clearly a long since retired part. But archive.org has archives of the Atmel site of the relevant era, but still can’t find it. Near misses athttps://web.archive.org/web/20070608045540/http://www.atmel.com/dyn/products/devices.asp?family_id=668 but a miss is as good as a mile. There’s AT25DF041A and AT25FS040 but not FS041. Maybe if I look even harder … … not so easy on a small screen on holiday using landlady’s ancient WEP- encrypted WiFi!
 

DickCappels

Joined Aug 21, 2008
10,152
I'm sorry to hear (read) that. I did some searching on the web and all I could find is your request for help on a Microchip forum.
 

Thread Starter

pleriche

Joined Oct 29, 2017
84
It is a mask not the actual part number. You likely will not find any information about it. Did you do as I suggested and try to read your spare as a 24c04?
I’ll investigate that when I get back home - it wouldn’t be hard to swap in a 24c04 just to try. But without a logic analyser, working out whether it expects a SPI or I2C part might not be easy.
 

narkeleptk

Joined Mar 11, 2019
558
I’ll investigate that when I get back home - it wouldn’t be hard to swap in a 24c04 just to try. But without a logic analyser, working out whether it expects a SPI or I2C part might not be easy.
I wouldnt do any work while still attached to pcb
id just solder the eeprom to an adapter and try to read the different eeprom types that it could be based on the layout thats being used on the pcb. Usually if you get data that makes sense you know your in the right family. Then you go up in the sizes til its starts repeating itself or starts looking funny.
 

Thread Starter

pleriche

Joined Oct 29, 2017
84
I wouldnt do any work while still attached to pcb
id just solder the eeprom to an adapter and try to read the different eeprom types that it could be based on the layout thats being used on the pcb. Usually if you get data that makes sense you know your in the right family. Then you go up in the sizes til its starts repeating itself or starts looking funny.
From what I can make out, a DAB ensemble carries around 10 programmes, there are around 20 DAB frequency allocations here in the UK, and to store a programme name, description and technical details would probably take around 50 bytes. So we'll be needing a minimum of 10kB of storage, or 80 kilobits. EEPROMS (certainly ones around when this radio ws designed) don't have that capacity, so swapping in a 24C04 is highly unlikely to work. I guess it's got to be an SPI serial flash device. Further rummaging on the Atmel site at archive.org I still can't find the exact device, but it looks like AT25DF041A might just work. I've ordered one, and we'll see what happens when it arrives next week.
 
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