The entire process can be broken down into 3 main categories.
[1] EPROM chips
[2] Programming hardware (ie, EPROM burner)
[3] Programming software and source code
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[1] EPROM chips
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This step is generally the easiest. A quick google search will get you an idea of what EPROM chip, chips or family of chips can be used on your target platform. Sometimes you'll even be able to read the info off of your donor carts' existing EPROM chips. These chips can be sources on sites like digikey, direct from manufactures and on sites like eBay. If you're buying bulk, look around a bit as prices can vary a lot.
[2] Programming hardware (ie, EPROM burner)
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EMROM burners have come down in price a lot in recent years. Even USB models can be had for under $100, generally. However, I still find you get more bang for your buck with the parallel models. If you have a parellel port (or a USB parellel port) then I'd recommending looking in that direction to save a bit of money. I have a Willem EPROM burner from SIVAVA (https://www.sivava.com/EPROM_Programmer_5.html) and I've had no complaints with the linux programming software for it. Obviously, you want to make sure that the programmer supports the target chip you aim to use! If you are certain that you'll only ever be programming a certain type of chip, you can go pretty cheap here but I recommend a unit that supports as wide a variety of chips as your budget can afford, it'll save you in the long run.
I also have a homemade ATMega-based burner and there are lots of options for using AVR chips or Arduinos to build your own EPROM burner. A good resource can be found here (http://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?topic=163682.0). The downside here is that a simple burner like this will probably only support one chip or family of chips. You could design a more complex burner but then you're doing a lot more work and it's probably easiest to just spend $50 on a more professional device.
[3] Programming software and source code
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The first thing you'll want to look into is the code that you plan on using or writing. Depending on the target platform, you will probably find a variety of software packages for writing and burning your code. Some will be full-fledged IDEs with all the compilation, linking, and burning done with a click of the build button and others will simply be a little utility that takes your finished object code and burns it.
Without knowing exactly what you aim to do, it's hard to say exactly what sort of software you'll need but for bare minimum burning capabilities there are lots of open-source options and your EPROM burner hardware will probably have it's own software or recommended software. One thing to keep in mind if you aim to do the coding yourself (as opposed to simply burning pre-built code) is that you probably want to do a bit of research into the most accurate emulators available for your target platform, it's better to do as much of your debugging on an emulator as possible for your platform.
Last edited by jefftheworld (Oct 22, 2013 12:31 pm)
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