CH341A problem reading bios chip

[JPToadstool]

Morning all,

Trying to create a BIOS backup of a Winbond 25Q80DVIG chip. I bought the CH341A with test clip from Amazon (this one). I could not get it to read with the test clip, I assume the test clip was not making contact with the pins. I have de-soldered the chip and soldered it onto a breakout board included, but when trying to read the BIOS, I get a power surge warning in Windows and a too high power draw error on Mac.

Is this likely to be bad soldering, or another issue?

[stj]

Re: CH341A problem reading bios chip

do you get that error without the flash chip installed in the programmer?

[JPToadstool]

Re: CH341A problem reading bios chip

do you get that error without the flash chip installed in the programmer?

No, only with it.

[luckydip]

Re: CH341A problem reading bios chip

Did you insert the test clip correctly into the programmer (see pic)?

Do you get a red light when you plug it in?

Can you detect the chip in the software?

[JPToadstool]

Re: CH341A problem reading bios chip

Hi, thanks for the responses. I am not using a test clip as it didn't seem to be making contact with the pins with soldered to the M/B. I have desoldered and soldered onto the breakout board. I have a red light on power when plugging in - running without the breakout board installed shows the first message in the Terminal window. Plugging in with the breakout board and BIOS chip results in the second message and the notification about disabling USB.

[luckydip]

Re: CH341A problem reading bios chip

Hi, thanks for the responses. I am not using a test clip as it didn't seem to be making contact with the pins with soldered to the M/B. I have desoldered and soldered onto the breakout board. I have a red light on power when plugging in - running without the breakout board installed shows the first message in the Terminal window. Plugging in with the breakout board and BIOS chip results in the second message and the notification about disabling USB.

Sorry, I have no experience in using this with macbooks. Have you got a pc to test it with?

Looks like a connection/communication issue

[JPToadstool]

Re: CH341A problem reading bios chip

Okay, I tried the CH341A on an old Thinkpad I had laying around, also had a 25xx chip, and it read this using the clip whilst attached to the board just fine. I'll try desoldering the chip to another breakout board and see how that goes.

[JPToadstool]

Re: CH341A problem reading bios chip

I re-soldered it to a new breakout board and it worked fine. Thanks for your help though

[SMDFlea]

Re: CH341A problem reading bios chip

Some of the ch341a black pcb versions need a volt mod - https://www.eevblog.com/forum/repair...er-supply-fix/