When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Yup, that's about it. Most use a modified IDE cable header; Traxions promintro over at DIY-PROM details this.
There's also a thread there right now that gives insight into why some PROM burns fail...It seems that it takes longer to erase a 27C128 via UV each time you burn it...The thread says after as little as 10 burns, it can take over an hour to erase, and it may still fail to limp-mode when in use... http://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/show...threadid=75332
Like many others here, I've desoldered the GM EPROM from my MemCal and soldered in a lo-mount ZIF socket, and burn to a 29C256 chip, which is Flash programmable. I choose to "double" my code, so even though the ECM (supposedly) only reads from high memory, I have the lower 128k covered as well.
BTW: Mike Davis estimated that it took 400 burns to get his chip "right on".
Can you save the original program in case you need to go back?
You pretty much have to. You download your cars binary file through the ALDL (or directly from the MemCal/EPROM) and save it to your HDD. Then you edit it with TunerCat or whatever editor you use. Then save the edited BIN. Then burn that BIN to the new chip (or directly to the MemCal, as Marco said above).
Sounds complicated; but the first time you burn a lower fan temp (the easiest mod) and install it and see it actually *work*, you start feeling pretty confident about it all...