| IC Tester HELP - Feedback section ABOUT Ictester program as IC Tester device comes with no warranty, so if you take or do some damage of any kind, I'll not take any responsibility for that. All software is under terms of GNU General License and you should get copy of it in all program packages. If not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA. Most people are asking why I wrote this software and build this device. Reason is simple, first I didn't have money to buy some IC testing device, and then I didn't have money to buy much new ICs what I need, so I desolder older boards which have ICs on it. After that, there was still the problem how to test if that desoldered ICs working or not. Then I dig from tons of schematics to find some simple and cheap testing device. I found several of it, but they all were too simple, they can only tell you if IC works or not. I use electronics as hobby and most of time I perform tests on many schematics, which results with a lot of burned ICs. In that manner, I need device which can tell me what and where is burn at IC, because if I need only one NOTAND gate to make some device and have damaged IC with one NOTAND gate that work, I'll not spent half hour to get in store for new IC and throw this one to trash. Why? Well if I burn on IC few gates that may happened again and why to burn new IC if I have some half burned? That's my philosophy, but I didn't tell how I made device. There was one schematics from 1983, on which you can test IC and results from each pins see on oscilloscope. So I try to adapt these schematics to computer, because I don't have oscilloscope. After two months and few prototypes I finally build this device, of course now has no similarity with original. This is it, but why I put this as free? If I try to sell this device, it will cost as similar devices and if someone has money to buy it, he/she have money to buy new ICs also. So that was no option, because there are already devices which can do that. Basically I need device to test only ICs which I have now, when I get new ICs, I'll make tests for them. Then I figured out, if I put this device free on web and there may be someone with ICs which I don't have, they may make test file for that IC and put it free. Then when I got that IC there will be already test file and I don't have to write that test file. BANCHMARK AND PROGRAM REQUAIRMENTS Here are benchmark results on different PC platforms. Ictester program use maximum of 410 Kbytes of memory on Linux. But I suggest that you have at last 2 Mb of memory, why? See benchmarks below for 286 with 2 and 4 Mb of memory, program is running faster.
Platform (CPU/CPU Speed) | Total memory | Operating system | Speed of setting data to device | Speed of reading data from device
286/16 MHz | 2 Mb | Minix 2.0.3 | 223 Hz | 592 Hz
DOS 6.22 | 312 Hz | 762 Hz
4 Mb | Minix 2.0.3 | 265 Hz | 686 Hz
DOS 6.22 | 341 Hz | 841 Hz
486DX2/80 MHz | 20 Mb | Debian GNU Linux 2.2.18 | 2300 Hz | 5461 Hz
DOS 7.0 (Windows 95) | 1776 Hz | 4233 Hz
DOS 6.22 | 1872 Hz | 4369 Hz
CONFIRMATIONS AND SHARING TEST FILES I need confirmation for each analyze file if it works or not. So if you have new ICs which aren't work yet, test it and then e-mail me if test file was working ok or if there was error. When you send me confirmation, please write entire label of IC, which includes prefix, root number and suffix. Then write which test file you use. E.q.: Here are confirmation of: UCY 7400 B, EL 7400 and SN7400N using test file 7400.adf, all went OK. SN 74L04J using test file 7404.adf, all went OK. You can use this form to send confirmation to me: Confirmation form Full name: Write here confirmation of tested ICs. E.q.: SN 74L04J using test file 7404, all went OK. If there's error in testing and you know that IC working fine, check if you connect it properly in test socket and if you are please send me e-mail with description where program reports errors and which ICs you use. Sharing test files? O.k. maybe this isn't right choice of words, what actually I want to say is: how you can send test file which you wrote into public database? That's simple, first DO NOT SEND ME DUMP TEST FILES, because I removing it from database and main purpose of that files are to get data from ICs. In future this files will be rearranged to something else, do you have any idea on what to rearrange it?. Second compress it with zip or any other archiver, and send it to me on e-mail sklaic@student.math.hr as attachment. If you have problem with that, you can put test file on web, and e-mail me url location where is it. After that I'll take a look if there may be some errors in test file and put it into database. Everybody is welcome to make changes in analyze files, if that improves detection of errors and testing itself. All changed files you can send to me as it described above for new files. TODO All changes in program or suggestion are welcome, send them to me on e-mail. What are left to do on program: Explain how signal to/from device is used. Write for what is used LED diodes. Port it to Amiga. COPTRIGHT All rights reserved © Silvio Klaic 2001-2005, sklaic@student.math.hr The program and this help are free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version. This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details. (C) Copyright Silvio Klaic, you can write to me at sklaic@student.math.hr