Compatible EPROMs for Dragon Game Cartridges?
Posted: Tue Oct 30, 2012 2:48 pm
Does anyone know which EPROM chips would be suitable direct replacements for the 4K (TMS2532-55 JL) and 8K (Unknown?) Dragon Game Cartridge ROMs?
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The 25xx series is almost exclusively Texas Instrument TMS Eproms.
As the story goes, TI developed the TMS-2716 (2K Eprom),
but like the 2708 before it, it needed three voltages sources
to program/use them . This was more complicated and therefore more
expensive.
At roughly the same time, Intel also launched "their" 2716 chip
which was different than the TMS-2716 in that it only needed
a single voltage to program (25v) and a 5V to operate.
The Intel pinout was also a bit different than the TMS pinout.
Akin to the Beta Vs. VHS battle, only one could survive
and Intel proved to be the more popular, and thus, most
other manufacturers produced Intel-like 2716.
Bowing to pressure, TI also produced an Intel-like chip
but could not call it 2716 since they already had a 2716.
So they identified it as the TMS-2516.
And thus was born the 25xx series.
Unfortunately, the story doesn't end there...
After the 2K chips came the 4K chips (xx32)
Intel simply used the same pinout as it's 2716
and added an extra addressing pin, thus the 2732.
TI again decided to use a different pinout
and to differentiate itself from the Intel 2732,
it named it the TMS-2532.
So 2532 != 2732
Virtually all 2532 you'll find are TI chips.
Only very few manufacturers other than TI made 2532
I found two of the 4K EPROM chips in an original Dragon Data game (Starship Chameleon) cartridge.KenH wrote: On which cartridge did you find this EPROM?
Yes, both are socketed. I have seen inside around half a dozen Dragon game cartridges over the years, and all of them had socketed EPROM chips.KenH wrote: Is it socketed?