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> jealousy For what it’s worth, you could do a similar hack with 5 minutes of work and zero background knowledge if you’re willing to take a leap of faith: 1.
by NavinF 4y ago
> jealousy
For what it’s worth, you could do a similar hack with 5 minutes of work and zero background knowledge if you’re willing to take a leap of faith:
1. Break open a used detergent cartridge and notice that there’s only one chip inside
2. Google the number on the chip and click the first link to figure out that it’s a “I2C Serial EEPROM”. Clearly it’s some sort of memory chip since they advertise its capacity
3. Without knowing exactly what an “I2C eeprom” is, google something like “i2c eeprom rewriter” and buy the first result: a $10 BIOS programmer for desktop PCs (which use the same 24 series eeproms)
4. Clip the programmer onto the memory chip and plug it into your PC’s USB port.
The author went a lot further because that’s what he wanted to do, but you don’t have to. He figured out the USB connector’s pinout, but your programmer comes with a clip that attaches directly onto the chip. He reverse-engineered the data on the chip and built a custom programmer, but you could just click the read button in your programmer’s software to back up the data from a brand new cartridge and then write that data to used cartridges.
- throw_a_grenade 4y agoFor those willing to take leap of faith: be careful about electronic element orientation aka polarity: on each element (where it makes difference) pin number 1 is marked in some way (a dot, cut corner, red wire, coloured band, ...), though rarely there is physical restraint preventing you from putting the clip the other way around. Doing this will fry the eeprom and/or rewriter (on this particular chip it switches power rails and this will cause excessive current flow), but most importantly, it might cause frustration worse than failed compilation for syntax error. Like missing semicolons, this will eventually happen to you. Just be prepared for it.
- javajosh 4y agoSo, I don't want to sound ungrateful But the what you say is true for ALL the roads someone else has traveled. It's true for electronics and learning the french horn and bread-making. It's true for making jewellery, learning to sew, to cook thai cuisine, and grinding your own optics. That's why the "apathy" in the list of emotions. I want to marvel at others who dwell in interesting spaces, without feeling the need to join them. I know I could, and it's tempting. But I already have a long list of interests, historical and current. Sailing, billiards, photography, piano, writing. I also know how to write in cursive, drive a stick, and change a diaper with one hand. I get that more is available; I want it, and I don't want it.