I bought TL866II plus recently and it performs very well. I used it to read and write flash DIP32 BIOS chips, read UV EPROM, read and write PLCC32 chips, program Atmel microcontrollers and read and write SOIC8 flash chips. AFAIK the TL866II Plus is the most modern version, other ones are out of production (if you see other versions they may be clones made by other manufacturers). XGECU claims to be the original manufacturer of TL866II Plus, they have store on aliexpress, I bought it there and works fine.
It is worth having these accessories: PLCC32 - DIP32 adapter for BIOS chips on newer motherboards and SOIC8 clamp for reading tiny serial flash chips. These are probably the most common and must-have, but you may also need to have more adapters for unusual hardware.

You will need chips with correct capacity* and voltage. 486, P1 is usually 1mbit and 5V, P2-P3 2mbit and 5V, newer hardware may use larger capacitt chips, sometimes 3.3V.

* you may be able to use larger capacity chip by flashing multiple copies of BIOS images, so it fills the entire capacity.

TL866II Plus. Or the newer T56.

But ONLY order from the company that actually makes them. There are a massive number of counterfeit ones being sold.

If ordering from eBay, here is their store:
https://www.ebay.com/str/xgecuofficialstore

Here is there web site:
http://www.xgecu.com/en/

cyclone3d wrote on 2020-11-29, 22:47:

TL866II Plus. Or the newer T56. […]
Show full quote

TL866II Plus. Or the newer T56.

But ONLY order from the company that actually makes them. There are a massive number of counterfeit ones being sold.

If ordering from eBay, here is their store:
https://www.ebay.com/str/xgecuofficialstore

Here is there web site:
http://www.xgecu.com/en/

Thanks for reminding me! Need a new one so will order the Programmer PLUS +13 adapter+clip shipped from USA for $73~
Don't need all 13 of the adapters but would hate to have to order one later.....

Thanks adalbert + cyclone3d!

I found the store on aliexpress, they have a ver 10.27 + 16 adapters for the Tl866 ii plus.
IS there a real difference between ver 10.27 and .33 ?

Nexxen wrote on 2020-11-30, 01:09:

IS there a real difference between ver 10.27 and .33 ?

That is their software version which you can DL newest one from their website , the newest is v10.50.
http://forums.xgecu.com/viewthread.php?tid=20 … =1&extra=#pid23

Horun wrote on 2020-11-30, 00:52:

cyclone3d wrote on 2020-11-29, 22:47:

TL866II Plus. Or the newer T56. […]
Show full quote

TL866II Plus. Or the newer T56.

But ONLY order from the company that actually makes them. There are a massive number of counterfeit ones being sold.

If ordering from eBay, here is their store:
https://www.ebay.com/str/xgecuofficialstore

Here is there web site:
http://www.xgecu.com/en/

Thanks for reminding me! Need a new one so will order the Programmer PLUS +13 adapter+clip shipped from USA for $73~
Don't need all 13 of the adapters but would hate to have to order one later.....

Are you 100% sure that the one from the USA seller is a legitimate one? The TL866A I ordered looked exactly like the real one but was a counterfeit one. The real software can detect if it is genuine or not.

Not got the programmer yet, but have bookmarked the official eBay link and downloaded the app. Thanks guys

cyclone3d wrote on 2020-11-30, 01:43:

Horun wrote on 2020-11-30, 00:52:

cyclone3d wrote on 2020-11-29, 22:47:

TL866II Plus. Or the newer T56. […]
Show full quote

TL866II Plus. Or the newer T56.

But ONLY order from the company that actually makes them. There are a massive number of counterfeit ones being sold.

If ordering from eBay, here is their store:
https://www.ebay.com/str/xgecuofficialstore

Here is there web site:
http://www.xgecu.com/en/

Thanks for reminding me! Need a new one so will order the Programmer PLUS +13 adapter+clip shipped from USA for $73~
Don't need all 13 of the adapters but would hate to have to order one later.....

Are you 100% sure that the one from the USA seller is a legitimate one? The TL866A I ordered looked exactly like the real one but was a counterfeit one. The real software can detect if it is genuine or not.

Is right from their store: https://www.ebay.com/str/xgecuofficialstore by seller xgecupro (760 ) but is shipped from Kentucky.
You can see it near the bottom of the main store list once you click TL866II Plus programmer.
That brings up this page: https://www.ebay.com/itm/XGecu-TL866II-Progra … SA/192899374231
same seller xgecupro (760 ) . Ebay may be lame but am sure there is only one account with same exact name/and all matching credentials....

Oh...haha.. didn't notice that. Pretty sure when I ordered, it came from China. They must have an intermediate warehouse in the US now.

For some reason, they don't ship to the UK.

cyclone3d wrote on 2020-11-30, 04:34:

Oh...haha.. didn't notice that. Pretty sure when I ordered, it came from China. They must have an intermediate warehouse in the US now.

Thanks for double checking. Last time I looked was about a year ago and as you said: only shipped from China.
Am going to put in the purchase tomorrow AM unless you saw something strange that I missed.

debs3759 wrote on 2020-11-30, 04:38:

For some reason, they don't ship to the UK.

Hmm that is odd. Maybe a UK china virus customs thing ?....

I'll just ship to my drop shipper when I buy one. CPUShack has sheds full of stuff people have shipped via him 😀

debs3759 wrote on 2020-11-30, 04:58:

I'll just ship to my drop shipper when I buy one. CPUShack has sheds full of stuff people have shipped via him 😀

It looks like the warehouse in USA does not ship to UK but the top listings from warehouse in China do.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/XGecu-TL866II-Progra … ip/192725987183

Great, thanks

Ok, back to post n.1

Are there more suggestions on chip models I should buy?
I have in mind some kind of starter kit with multiple "usually" used blank chips to have at hand.
I don't know much on the subject.

Up?

It really depends on what motherboards you have.

cyclone3d wrote on 2020-12-03, 16:30:

It really depends on what motherboards you have.

286-Ryzen 😀

So, 64/128/256/512KB Dip-xx (covers a lot). These aren't used in modern motherboards. I usually play with old stuff like 80286 - S775
Some boards are still 15+ years old and have a plcc.
I know I'll have time around Xmas/New Year to do something, this is the reason I ask in order to get them before Christmas.

My issue is that I don't know what to buy yet as I don't have the necessary experience on the subject.
Basically it's just to have what covers a high % of bios chips I can encounter, a "starter pack".
I modify a bios to have large HDD and it doesn't work, I can just try on a test rom... thing I'd like to do on many boards.

Maybe a suggestion for a good site where I can learn could be a good idea.

Thanks in advance to nay suggestion.

Even having the same size EEPROM as the board you are working on doesn't always work properly. Some boards want specific types of EEPROMs.

Just get a few of each size like you have listed and that should cover most everything.

Then when you run into something that doesn't work you can go searching to figure out exactly what you need.

A lot of the older boards (486 and below) used EPROMs... so there isn't necessarily an easy way to tell exactly what EEPROM will work without trial and error. Chances are that if there are BIOS mods or upgrades for specific boards, somebody else will have already figured it out.