If you’re completely new to burning chips, you may want to take a look at the Beginners’ Guide before reading the rest of this article.  You will probably still need to read this guide in order to choose the correct programming parameters unless you’re in the situation where you’re programming a chip that is the exact same size as the chip you are replacing.  Programming chips with offsets comes into play in two situations:

1. If the chip you are programming is of a larger capacity than the binary file you are putting on it, you need to use an offset to ensure the tune ends up in the right spot on the chip.
2. Switching adapters which hold multiple programs require the use of offsets to fit multiple programs on a single chip for a switching adapter.

Both of these cases will be covered in this article.

Chip Offsets With a Single Tune:

We’re going to assume you have either TunerPro or Flash n Burn open at this point and the chip physically oriented correctly.  If you need help with this, look at the Beginners’ Guide before continuing.  We will be selecting the correct buffer and chip addressing to ensure the chip is burned properly and can be used.

When in the software:

1. Select the type of chip you’ll be programming from the drop-down menu. This will likely be either the AT29C256, 27SF512, AT90F040 or Moates J3 adapter (F3/F3v2).
2. Pick the ‘Load file to buffer’ option, and navigate to the file you want programmed on the chip. Select it, and it will be loaded to memory on the PC. Take note of the file size indicated in the message window. (You can typically “hover” over the filename before opening it and Windows will pop up an information box iwth the file size)  It will likely be one of five sizes: 4k, 16k, 32k, 56k or 64k bytes.
   • The file you have loaded will determine your buffer addressing (start/end)
   • 4k byte = 0000/0FFF
   • 16k byte = 0000/3FFF
   • 32k byte = 0000/7FFF
   • 56k byte = 0000/DFFF
   • 64k byte = 0000/FFFF
3. In the top right part of the window you will see the Chip Addressing offset values that need to be changed. The buffer addressing along with the chip size will determine what offsets you need to use. (Flash n Burn usually automatically selects sane offsets based on your chip type and file size in order to place your buffer at the end of the chip, where it usually belongs.)
   The following table summarizes what offsets you need to use depending on chip used and file size:

   File Size	Chip	Buffer Start -> End	Chip Start -> End
   4k (4096)	AT29C256	000000 -> 000FFF	007000 -> 007FFF
   16k (16384)	AT29C256	000000 -> 003FFF	004000 -> 007FFF
   32k (32768)	AT29C256	000000 -> 007FFF	000000 -> 007FFF
   4k (4096)	27SF512	000000 -> 000FFF	00F000 -> 00FFFF
   16k (16384)	27SF512	000000 -> 003FFF	00C000 -> 00FFFF
   32k (32768)	27SF512	000000 -> 007FFF	008000 -> 00FFFF
   56k (57344)	27SF512	000000 -> 00DFFF	002000 -> 00FFFF
   64k (65536)	27SF512	000000 -> 00FFFF	000000 -> 00FFFF
   32k (32768 EECIV)	F3/F3v2	000000 -> 007FFF	032000 -> 039FFF
   56k (57344 EECIV)	F3/F3v2	000000 -> 00DFFF	032000 -> 03FFFF
   64k (65536 EECIV)	F3/F3v2	000000 -> 00FFFF	032000 -> 03FFFF
   216k or 224k (EECV)	F3/F3v2	“bank” format: non-linear!	convert to 256k!
   256k (EECV)	F3/F3v2	000000 -> 03FFFF	000000 -> 03FFFF

   While the correct values are often selected, you can manually enter them.  For a single-tune single-chip scenario, you generally want the buffer (or file content) to be placed at the ‘end’ of the chip. The notable exceptions to this rule are 32k EECIV Ford tunes (which need to start at 0x32000 and end before the end of the chip) and 216k/224k Ford EECV bins (which are not in linear memory format and need converted to 256k before programming).

   
   To do this manually:

   • Ensure Buffer Addresses are correct for the file size you have loaded.
   • Adjust the Chip Addressing start value and end value until the end value is the maximum value for the chip AND buffer address values are correct.
   • A short list of common chip addressing settings:
     • 64k bin: 000000 start 00FFFF end ( SST27SF512 chip )
     • 32k bin: 008000 start 00FFFF end ( SST27SF512 chip )
     • 16k bin: 00C000 start 00FFFF end ( SST27SF512 chip )
     • 4k bin: 00F000 start 00FFFF end ( SST27SF512 chip )
     • 56k Ford EECIV bin: 032000 start 03FFFF end ( Ford F3 chip )
     • 256k Ford EECV bin: 000000 start 03FFFF end ( Ford F3 chip )
     • 112k Ford EECV bin: SPECIAL need other software ( Ford F3 chip )
     • 216k Ford EECV bin: SPECIAL need other software ( Ford F3 chip )
     • BEB files CANNOT be programmed with FnB / TP.  Must program using Binary Editor
     • eBIN file CANNOT be programmed
4. Once you are satisfied with the offsets, perform a normal Erase/Blank/Program/Verify cycle!  Consult the Beginners’ Guide for more information.

Using Switching Adapters:

Using our switching adapters (G2X, G3, GX, TwoTimer, F3, F3v2,F8) requires programming chips using offsets of making “stacked” bin files.  Switching adapters use chips that are larger than an ECU requires, allowing the extra space to be used for multiple programs.  The “extra” space gets divided up into chunks, each of which can store an individual tune.  There are two approaches to creating proper chips for use with switching adapters, both equally valid:

1. Lump all tune files together on your PC into one bin file “stacked” which is the same size as the chip, program chip at once.
   • The “Bin Stacker/splitter” function in TunerPro can be used to prepare a single file from a group of tunes.  (You can also use a hex editor or other tool)
   • This “stacked” file contains all the tunes and can then be programmed like a “normal” file using TunerPro, Flash n Burn, etc.
   • “Normal” programming cycle: Erase, Blank check, Load tune/buffer, Program chip, Verify.
   • Entire chip gets programmed at once, all tunes for the ECU get programmed on the chip in one operation as part of the “stacked” file.
   • Requires preparation of new “stacked” file and reprogramming of entire chip if any individual tune changes.
2. Program the chip multiple times, once for each tune, different small selected area of chip Program/Verify cycle instead of whole chip.
   • Instead of relying on a program to create a “stacked” file, knowledge of chip addressing is used to place tunes at correct places within a chip.
   • Programming cycle changes slightly: Erase, Blank check happens at very beginning of cycle ONLY ONCE.  Does NOT happen before every Program/Verify operation, like normal.
   • Erase/Blank is followed by multiple Program, Verify operations.  Each operation is for one tune.  Each operation will have different start/end addresses which are a portion of the chip.
   • Does NOT require preparing any special files in advance – uses the same bin files which would be used for single-tune programming.
   • If you want to chance a tune which is already programmed, the entire chip must be erased and all tunes individually reprogrammed.

As a rule of thumb, tunes start at the end of the chip and count down.  i.e. “Tune 0” is in the highest addresses on the chip, or the top slot in a stacked bin.  “Tune 1” will be the next lower slot.  Some adapters have chips which can hold more tunes than there are address lines for switching.

Each switching adapter we sell has different numbers of available slots, slot sizes and corresponding chip addresses start/end:

• G2X: 27SF512 chip (00000/0FFFF), 16x 32kbit/4kbyte slots on chip:
  1. F000/FFFF
  2. E000/EFFF
  3. D000/DFFF
  4. C000/CFFF
  5. B000/BFFF
  6. A000/AFFF
  7. 9000/9FFF
  8. 8000/8FFF
• G3: 29F040 chip (000000 / 07FFFFF), 16x variable size slots, Ex remote required, addressing varies according to settings on adapter
• GX: 29F040 chip (000000 / 07FFFFF), 16x 64k slots, Ex remote required, addressing varies according to size of base file.
  • There are 16 slots on the chip.  Each slot is 64k ( 0x0FFFF) in size.
  • Tunes smaller than 64k typically need to be top-justified so that they END at the end of each window
  • When using the Ex remote (or no switcher – floating switch inputs) slot “0” will be at the end of the chip and bigger numbers on the Ex remote will mean slots closer to the beginning (0x000000) of the chip.
• TwoTimer: 27SF512 (00000/0FFFF), 2x 256kbit/32kbyte slots, idles in “high position”
  1. 8000/FFFF
  2. 0000/7FFF
• F3 (version one – switch pin and 2 tunes): special case.  Cannot program entire device at once, stacking NOT possible.  Program chip twice, manually change state of switching pin during programming. Note: “Erase chip” function does NOT erase whole chip, only erases the “bank” selected by the jumper
• F3v2 (version two – 4 pin connector and dial switch, 8 tunes): special case.  Cannot program entire device at once, stacking NOT possible.  Program chip multiple times, manually change state of switch during programming to select different slots. Note: “Erase chip” function does NOT erase whole chip, only erases the “bank” selected by the switch
• F8: special case.  Use F8 device utility to prepare and program tunes.

If you are interested in purchasing Moates.Net products in bulk, or would like to be a reseller of our products, the following discount structure is available to you:

10% off for 10 – 19 pieces more of a given item
15% off for 20 – 49
20% off for 50 – 99 and
25% off for 100+ units

NOTE!
This discount can be applied retroactively as well for a 12 month rolling total. For instance, if you buy 5 units at regular price of $20 each and then later on purchase 6 more units in a 12 month period at $20 each, then a discount will be applied to the total so you’ll get a partial refund of 10% on all 11 units, or $22.

Furthermore, if you subsequently purchase 12 more units, you will be eligible for the 15% price break on all 23 units, giving you an additional $47 off. The total net discount on ALL same items purchased in a 12 month rolling period would effectively be 15%. We chose a 12 month rolling time period instead of a calendar year so you won’t lose your discount if you buy in December and then more in January.

This may seem confusing, and it does add to order processing complexity on our side. However, it is designed to lower the risk level for entry-level shops and resellers. You don’t need a big buy-in, since the retroactive discount structure takes care of you!

This discount structure is not valid for small incremental orders (one part here, one part there), and does not apply to individual drop shipments. Instead, it is limited to quantity orders of 3 or more pieces at a time going to the same destination. So if you buy 3 units and 8 units, then you get the 10% discount on all 11. If you then buy 1 separate unit separately, the 1 separate unit doesn’t get the discount and doesn’t count toward the total accumulation for bulk retroactive discount.The reason for this is that the 1 piece at a time approach still requires all of the administrative order processing burden on our side, and part of the reason for bulk discounts is that it is easier for us to ship quantities of units than shipping them individually.

Group buys:

Pre-arranged group buys are available. The same normal discount structure as described for bulk discounts applies based on the number of participants, but the minimum individual order quantity of 3 isn’t required.

Any purchase made on the website or over the phone under a group buy situation should be CLEARY INDICATED, preferably in the comments section of the order. That way we know what to do with it.

For example, one group buy coordinator will contact us ahead of time and initiate the group buy period (up to two weeks in duration). We will agree on the close-out date for the group purchase.

If the coordinator wants to have all of the units shipped to them and then distribute them to the individual purchasers, then it will be handled no differently than a standard bulk discount situation.

If the buyers decide to pay for the units individually at our webstore and have them shipped separately to each buyer, then that is also fine. In this case, full price will be charged initially. At the close of the group buy, a discount will be applied as a partial refund to each participant separately.

The total discount will depend on the total number of participants. So for 10-19 it’d be 10% and for 20-49 it’ll be 15%. We usually don’t know how many participants are involved until the close of the group buy period, so that’s why the partial refund / discount is delayed until that time.

Hope this helps!

We are a small technically-oriented outfit that focuses on product development not fancy packaging, phone support, and marketing.  We bring you high-quality, value-priced products aimed at self-starters willing to read documentation, learn independently and most importantly try things on their own without someone providing guidance every step of the way.

About Moates.Net and our products:

It is important for you, our users, to understand what we expect of you and what we aim for in our products.  Our philosophy at Moates.Net is simple: we want to bring enthusiasts the highest quality products for tuning their cars at a reasonable price.  What we mean by “enthusiasts” is simple: people who are motivated to learn about tuning their car.  It doesn’t matter whether you’re working on your own car or work for a shop – if you’re willing to learn about tuning a car, you are part of our target audience.

Our objective isn’t to make a fortune – there are plenty of companies out there that sell comparable products for a whole lot more.  With that said, there are trade offs in our approach.  Our products frequently do not even have boxes, let alone fancy packaging like other vendors.  Our products do not ship with much printed instructions – instead our documentation can be found online.  (Like this support site!)  We devote most of our resources to product development, leaving limited resources for intensive support.  We have chosen instead to provide inexpensive products with fewer frills aimed at a more educated user.

What We Expect of You

Here at Moates.Net, education and teaching are things we value highly.   We don’t expect everyone to be born knowing how to tune a car or use our products.  We expect anyone who purchases our products to be willing to READ and learn independently. We will help you if you run into trouble, but we expect you to READ documentation and try to do it on your own first.  We base a lot of the technical documentation and guides we develop on the questions that you ask.  (If you have any suggestions for additional guide topics, we are always willing to listen.)  Many of our activities, such as this support site and our YouTube channel with its video tutorials, are aimed at providing resources to further educate our users.

If it doesn’t work out…

Worst case, we have a no questions asked money back guarantee for any parts returned in the condition they were received.  (We can’t issue a full refund for items damaged through neglect, negligence or abuse.)  We hope this isn’t how things end, but you’re only out the cost of shipping and the time you spent trying to figure it out.

G1 Chip adapter picture

Overview

The G1 is an adapter that allows a chip or emulator to be plugged into OBD1 memcal based GM PCMs.

The GP1 kit is a G1 chip adapter and two 27SF512 flash chips packaged together at a lower price.

Compatibility

The G1 is compatible with the following vehicles:

• 1986-1993 TPI & LT1
• 94-95 TBI trucks

The G1 is compatible with the following chips:

• SST 27SF512
• 27C128/256/512 based eeproms

Details

Our revolutionary G1 adapter allows you to customize your ecu or pcm by bypassing your factory tuning, allowing you to insert your own custom programmed chip without the hassle of tearing apart your stock memcal. This can be useful if you plan on returning your car back to stock, or need to use your stock memcal as a template for a newly modified ecu.

(much of the content on the rest of this page is edited from Allan Reinke’s review on www.iroczone.com – thankyou very much)

So what exactly does this adapter do?  In case you don’t know, GM ECMs (1986 to 1993 TPI and some 94-95 TBI stuff) utilize a memory calibration “memcal” unit. This unit consists of the PROM (calibration code) and resistor packs (for limp mode, cold starts, etc.). The resistor packs consist of two chips. One a 16-pin and the other a 14-pin. These are custom laser etched type resistor packs making them extremely difficult to duplicate. In other words, you need these resistor packs, you cannot copy them (as of right now anyway) and your car will have a hard time starting without them. Some Memcals have a more compex ‘non-EPROM’ half which contains knock circuitry, and the original (or one very similar) Memcal needs to be used in conjunction with the adapter.

What the adapter does is allow you to plug in your resistor packs so your ECM will still use them, and at the same time, “bypass” your existing PROM chip so you can install your own.  By doing so, you can reprogram your ECM with no modifications to your factory memcal AND no soldering is required! The process of reprogramming your ECM is greatly simplified.  You no longer need to worry about destroying increasingly hard to find memcals with a bad soldering job when you use a G1 adapter!

Install Instructions

First things first. You need to access your ECM. This is easily done as it is located behind the dashboard, on the passenger’s side of the car. (In some other applications, it is located under the passenger’s seat area, in behind the dash, by the kickpanel, or under the hood usually up by the firewall.) If you look underneath the dash on the passenger’s side, you will see a wiring harness plugged into a silver box. This box is held in by two hex screws. First, carefully unplug the two connectors to the ECM (otherwise, you won’t be able to gain full access to the ECM as the wires will keep you from pulling the ECM all of the way out.) Each connector has a “latch” where you just push in the latch and wiggle out each connector. Take your time, they don’t just fall out.

Next, get a hex screwdriver or other means of removing the two screws holding the ECM in place. Once these are removed, the ECM falls right out (be certain to catch it!).

GM TPI ECM

Now, with the ECM removed, you will need to use the screwdriver to remove the two screws holding the access plate on. Most of the time, the access plate will be stuck on the ECM. Use a small screwdriver and carefully pry around the access panel until it pops off.

TPI ECM – Cover removed

Once the access panel is off, there sits your memcal. If your Memcal looks like this, then the G1 adapter should work for you. If not, then look at some of the other adapters such as the G2 and see if that matches up. Using your fingers, press the latches on both sides, away from the memcal. Doing this will “pop” the memcal up.

TPI ECM – latches on memcal

Once the latches are fully out, the memcal should come right out.

TPI memcal – removed

The memcal will not usualy fit in the ECM (with the adapter) with it’s cover on. On some applications it will, such as some of the 1227730 and 1227749 units. So we will most likely need to remove the blue cover on the memcal so that it will fit back in there. Very CAREFULLY, remove the cover with a small screwdriver, prying the clips. Again, be careful, clips will break off.

pry GENTLY to remove memcal cover

You only need to do the one side just enough to pop the side up and the other side will come right off.

naked memcal :)

In this example, we are using a EPROM chip installed directly into the G1 chip adapter. This is a good “final” install after you have a program that you know works the way you want but it is not very easy to change the program in the chip. The advantage of this is that you are much more likely to be able to put the cover back on the ECM with just a chip installed. (i.e. no ZIF socket or emulator cable)  Install the chip with the U indention out. (Pin 1 faces left as in the picture) . If you are using a Flash chip such as the 29C256, then the chip will also have an arrow by Pin-1. This should also go out toward the edge of the adapter. Be sure to line up all of the pins on the chip and gently press it into the socket. Once you are comfortable with the feel, you will need to exert a little force to fully insert the chip. This can be tricky. Bent and broken pins can result if you are not 100% certain that all of the pins of the chip are lined up correctly.

However if you are just getting started tuning your car, you may want to use a ZIF socket (available from Moates.net for a small fee) or install the emulation cable from an Ostrich 2.0 or APU1 instead. You probably won’t be able to close the lid on your ECM, but it will be a lot easier for you to make changes to the program in the ECM.

After you have either a chip or emulation cable insterted in the G1 adapter, install your memcal onto the adapter. Simply line up the right side of the memcal to the right side of the pins on the adapter.

G1 adapter meets memcal

Press firmly and it should easily slide into place! In terms of original Memcal orientation on the adapter, make sure that the original ‘EPROM’ half is hanging off and that the ‘limp-home’ half is in contact with the angle header on the edge of the adapter.  It should look something like this:

G1 adapter with chip and memcal attached

Next, the G1 and memcal combination needs to be re-inserted into the ECM.  Place the adapter, memcal first, face down in the access panel. Then curve the adapter, memcal first toward the empty space in the ECM (bottom, but in the picture it’s up as the ECM is facing upside-down).


Once the adapter is in place, line up each side to each latch. See the pictures. Make sure it’s lined up before pushing down! You don’t want any bent pins in your ECM!

check one side

check other side

You have to ensure that the adapter is placed correctly in the ECM socket so that when you unlatch it, it’ll pop right up. It needs to be perfectly centered or you can bend pins in the ECM – not good. Once you are comfortable with the placement, press down on the adapter in the center of the two latches until the outer latches “click” and are in the “installed” position (up.)  Give yourself a pat on the back – you’ve completed the physical installation of the G1 chip adapter!

Reinstall the access panel (only if you are NOT installing the ZIF socket or if you are using a low-profile ZIF like the S4!!!) and reinstall the ECM in the car by following the steps you took to remove it in reverse. If you are using the ZIF socket for testing purposes, you’ll be happy to know that the access panel faces towards the front of the car, away from the dashboard. It may be a little neck tiring, but you will be able to replace chips while the ECM is installed.