SPI on PIC16F876 and EEPROM

[Ttelmah]

Given the 876, has internal EEPROM, that is far the easier solution.

Digikey part number?. Any logo?.

[beaker404]

Agreed.
Digikey PN 497-8690-1-nd
no logo on the chip.
I have since re-coded and am using the 876 internal EEPROM for my calibration number storage.

[Ttelmah]

Gets interesting....

K612, says it was manufactured in week 12 2006. The 'K' is the assembly site code, and SGS-Thomson don't list a site corresponding with K.

I have found codes for Muar, Bouskoura, AMKOR, UTAC, CARSEM, Cirtek, Malto, Morocco, and the Philippines, for these packages, but not K....

K is a _sub contractor_ assembly code for Hong Kong.

Potentially starts to smell a little.

[beaker404]

Agreed, smells fishy, think they are counterfeit? why clone or copy such a cheap chip anyway?

[Ttelmah]

They can make so much money. Small chips like these will typically ship in 100000 off quantities, for most users.....

[newguy]

At my last job my predecessor tried to save some $ by buying some 68376 processors and Si9979 motor control ICs from some overseas chip broker instead of getting them from reputable sources (where they were still available at the time).

The counterfeit 68376's wouldn't run/boot at all and the counterfeit Si9979's would all explode in spectacular fashion shortly after power was applied.

...There are other reasons why he was let go...

[Ttelmah]

It's worth being aware that there have been a lot of counterfeit 'real chips'. Companies contracted to remove/destroy waste from chip plants, taking 'reject' chips and packaging/marking them as if they were real. These tend to 'almost work', often having just individual memory cells failed, or failing when the temperature becomes high.
You can also get batch faults on genuine parts. Recently had a batch of crystal oscillator modules with a huge failure rate, bought direct from a manufacturer. Turned out the sealing process used to put the can on hadn't worked properly, and you could pull the can off. Problem was that when they were put through PCB manufacture, the cans leaked, and you had many failing..... Their testing had tested a large percentage for 'function', but they only sample occasionally for 'sealing', so a large number had been shipped with the same fault....
There will also always be chip failures even with real parts, unless you are spending a lot of extra money and specify '100% tested' parts.
This is one reason why when prototyping, it is always worth buying more than one off of any part.