Extender card with intercepting EEPROM for testing and programming un-programmed memory modules on a PC motherboard

A motherboard-based memory-module tester comprising:

• a personal computer motherboard having a microprocessor for executing programs;
• a plurality of memory module sockets on the personal computer motherboard for receiving memory modules containing memory chips;
• an extender card having lower contact pads for fitting into one of the plurality of memory module sockets;
• a test socket on the extender card for receiving a memory module under test, the memory module under test having a programmable chip for storing a configuration;
• memory-signal wiring traces on the extender card for passing memory signals through from the lower contact pads to the test socket, the memory signals being generated by the personal computer motherboard to access the memory chips on the memory module under test;
• a configuration chip on the extender card that stores a configuration for the memory chips on the memory module under test;
• configuration wiring traces on the extender card that pass configuration signals through from the lower contact pads to the programmable chip through the test socket and to the configuration chip;
• wherein the configuration signals carry a dynamic device-address;
• device-address inputs on the configuration chip that are coupled by wiring traces on the extender card to device-address signals from the personal computer motherboard, the device-address signals uniquely identifying one of the memory module sockets in the plurality of memory module sockets;
• and
• device-address wiring traces on the extender card for connecting to device-address inputs on the programmable chip through the test socket;
• wherein at least one of the device-address wiring traces to the programmable chip is an altered address so that the device-address inputs to the programmable chip differ from the device-address inputs to the configuration chip;
• wherein when the dynamic device-address on the configuration wiring traces matches the device-address inputs to the configuration chip, the personal computer motherboard reads the configuration from the configuration chip on the extender card, but when the dynamic device-address on the configuration wiring traces matches the device-address inputs to the programmable chip, the personal computer motherboard writes the configuration to the programmable chip on the extender card,
• whereby the configuration is read from the configuration chip on the extender card, but written to the programmable chip on the memory module under test.

A method for testing and programming a memory module using a personal computer (PC) motherboard comprising:

• inserting a memory module under test into a test socket, the memory module under test having memory chips and a module configuration chip that is un-programmed;
• re-booting a personal computer (PC) motherboard;
• reading a configuration stored in an intercepting configuration chip on an extender card that contains the test socket and is plugged into a memory module socket on the PC motherboard;
• configuring a memory controller on the PC motherboard using the configuration from the intercepting configuration chip on the extender card;
• testing the memory chips using the memory controller after configuration, by writing to the memory chips on the memory module under test through the extender card, and reading the memory chips on the memory module under test through the extender card to test the memory chips;
• and
• programming a configuration into the module configuration chip on the memory module under test by the PC motherboard generating signals to send the configuration to the module configuration chip through the extender card,
• whereby the memory module under test is tested using the configuration from the extender card and programmed with the configuration using the PC motherboard.