Replacing faulty microcontroller

[alfred75]

Hi guys!

I have a power inverter with a faulty Freescale microcontroller MC908MR32CFUE .

Is there an easy & cheap way to read the program of the microcontroller and download it to a new chip?

I contacted the manufacturer and they suggested me the CW10.3 software and a P&E multilink. But I'm curious if there is another way.. ?

 

[ec_nisarg]

even if you have proper tools to read ic, you can't read it, because original manufacturer must have locked the micro from being it read, they do this to protect their code from being copied,
still you can give it a shot, if they have not locked the controller,

 

[albert22]

Even if not code protected. If the microcontroller is faulty as you said, you may not be able to read it at all. Or it may contain corrupted data. You will need a 2nd working inverter to read the right code.

 

[alfred75]

Yes albert22, I have another working power inverter so the mcu must be good.

I guess I'm gonna take a shot to try to read the program if the price of the tools are not that expensive.

 

[albert22]

In that case you may give it a chance. I see that the uC is smd so check the circuit around it for a programming connector. Like ICP (in circuit programming) or JTAG. If you can access the correct pins (usually a few) you may be able to read the good one without desoldering it from the board.
I dont know that specific uC but checking the web or ebay you may find inexpensive programmers or the schematics for a simple one that you can build.
A final notice: some code protected uC send scrambled data when read. And this will be useless to program the new one. Check the configuration bits (sometimes called "fuses") to see if the protection is turned on.
Every manufacturer wants to protect their intellectual property so it is difficult to find an unprotected chip in a product.
Good Luck

 

[ec_nisarg]

now a days microcontroller also lock the fuse settings, so you can't read fuse settings either...