NefMoto

As I have now acquired two of these stupid ECU's with these riser boards on them and have no use for them I figured it would be a fun opportunity to try and rescue these and get some soldering experience. I don't care if i break them, they are close to worthless anyway in this condition.

http://nefariousmotorsports.com/forum/index.php?topic=958.0title=

I came across this thread, and wondered where I can purchase these chip holders as i can't find them online. I can find 29F400BB and 29F800BB chips online (ebay, ali) would they be compatible? As they literally cost less then 1 euro a piece. Or would it possible to use the old chips soldered to the riser board.

You can use those one soldered into cryptoboard wo additional hw
Flash it with bootmode then and there will be stock ecu

Amazing!

Thanks for your knowledge once again.

This is not always the case. Often on cryptoboard there is other chips, like 29F800TA etc.
Make sure it's the BB variety, then you can re-use it. If it's not you will have to buy a chip. Make sure you get the industrial or at least extended temperature range version.

One more case that may interfere even BB-chip was used on riser board.
Chip can't be erased/written in boot mode if chip from riser was written in external programmer with option "protect sector(s)".
То reset this protection you must use external tool programmer before solder chip back to ecu board.

Very good knowledge, appreciate the input

Would I be able to use any blank 29F800BB chip and just flash it through bootmode?

Yes, just make sure it's SI or SE at least.

were the riser boards for like APR EMCS or whatever? I know other companies use these as like scramblers iirc and the whole point really is to just make data unreadable without having access to their encryption scripts.. and essentially all the data is there.. its just been scrambled.. thats why when you read the ecu (if its readable at all) the addresses and maps and everything, nothing matches up.. but it still appears as map data in winOLS.. its just that the maps are now at different addresses that only with the dectyption method (un-scrambler) would you be able to actually decipher and then modify.

Thats my understanding of these things.

I would say, personally, that you would be better off saving yourself the time and trouble, by simply discarding these ECUs or reselling them if possible, and just sourcing some ECUs that don't have riser boards on them. there are SO MANY of these ECUs out there.. in fact a lot of us just have spare ECUs sitting around that (I know me atleast) have just forgotten about and are collecting dust up on shelves and if you ask very nicely someone might even be willing to send you one of these for a small amount of money or in some cases completely free, or just for the shipping cost..  :)

I know that, but it's good earning experience soldering some of these old ECU's.

He wanted to practise soldering on a ECU (:

Just replace the chip or reprogram if it’s the correct one. Nothing special in that

Remember that you don’t know what solder have been used.
-Always a good idea to mix it with low melt solder, so you put less heat on the board. (You can do without)
-You just solder it on the old solder and melt it all so it mix with :)

Well, small update. As my first small soldering ever i completely ruined my first ECU. I don't think i'll touch one again, this is harder than i thought it would be haha.

You should really know the basics and physics before touching electronics.
If you understand the basics then it doesn't matter what you solder. Well, BGA is somewhat different from other things.

I'll need to learn somehow, i've looked at some tutorials beforehand but it's still rather hard to do.

I have a few spare boards you are welcome to have. Not ecu's, just random bits and pieces I have gathered over time for parts and learning. Mainly SMD type. I'd say, get some old boards, mess them up and try to fix them again. Stick with low voltage devices until you are fully aware of the potential risks from capacitors and such.

One of the basic understanding is that the moment you've molten the core the flux is gone. So just taking an iron and prodding something or even worse pushing hard on it, gives zero results.
Some flux has to be always molten in. Otherwise the solder gets instantly oxidized and you get nowhere. Just the basics. If you know the basics you can't screw up. Any time you are applying any kind of force, you are doing it wrong.

if you want to learn to solder, get some prototyping board and some 555's and LEDS and stuff, maybe a little kit with different resistors and capacitors, then build some little circuits. Get good, with your results actually working with new parts before attempting repair work.