I2C_EEPROM

Arduino Library for external I2C EEPROM - 24LC512, 24LC256, 24LC64/32/16/08/04/02/01.

Description

This library is to access external I2C EEPROM up to 64KB (= 512 Kbit) in size. MicroChip 24LC512, 24LC256, 24LC64, 24LC32, 24LC16, 24LC08, 24LC04, 24LC02, 24LC01 and equivalents.

Also confirmed working M24512-W, M24512-R, M24512-DF (See #68). Not supported is the identification page functions.

The I2C_eeprom_cyclic_store interface is documented here

RP2040

There are at least two boards modules for the RP2040 that use a different Wire libraries. One from "Earle F. Philhower" and an "MBED" one. See issues #53 and #55 for details.

In 1.7.3 defines are checked to select between these two and as far as tested this seems to solve the issue #53 while being backwards compatible. If a better solution is found, it will be implemented.

Breaking change

Version 1.8.0 introduced a breaking change. You cannot set the pins in begin() any more. This reduces the dependency of processor dependent Wire implementations. The user has to call Wire.begin() and can optionally set the Wire pins before calling I2C_eeprom.begin().

Links

• https://github.com/RobTillaart/I2C_24LC1025

Schematic

        +---U---+
    A0  | 1   8 |  VCC = 1.7V to 5.5V
    A1  | 2   7 |   WP = write protect pin
    A2  | 3   6 |  SCL = I2C clock
   GND  | 4   5 |  SDA = I2C data
        +-------+

Default address = 0x50 .. 0x57 depending on three address lines (A0, A1, A2).

Interface

#include "I2C_eeprom.h"

The interface is kept quite identical to the I2C_24LC1025 library. https://github.com/RobTillaart/I2C_24LC1025

Most important difference is 32 bit memory addresses.

Constructor

• I2C_eeprom(uint8_t deviceAddress, TwoWire *wire = &Wire) constructor, optional Wire interface.
• I2C_eeprom(uint8_t deviceAddress, uint32_t deviceSize, TwoWire *wire = &Wire) constructor, with optional Wire interface.
• bool begin(uint8_t writeProtectPin = -1) initializes the I2C bus with the default pins. Furthermore it checks if the deviceAddress is available on the I2C bus. Returns true if deviceAddress is found on the bus, false otherwise. Optionally one can set the WP writeProtect pin. (see section below). If the WP pin is defined the default will be to not allow writing.
• bool isConnected() test to see if deviceAddress is found on the bus.
• uint8_t getAddress() returns device address set in the constructor.

Write functions

• int writeByte(uint16_t memoryAddress, uint8_t value) write a single byte to the specified memory address. Returns I2C status, 0 = OK.
• int writeBlock(uint16_t memoryAddress, uint8_t * buffer, uint16_t length) write a buffer starting at the specified memory address. Returns I2C status, 0 = OK.
• int setBlock(uint16_t memoryAddress, uint8_t value, uint16_t length) writes the same byte to length places starting at the specified memory address. Returns I2C status, 0 = OK.

Update functions

• int updateByte(uint16_t memoryAddress, uint8_t value) write a single byte, but only if changed. Returns 0 if value was same or write succeeded.
• uint16_t updateBlock(uint16_t memoryAddress, uint8_t * buffer, uint16_t length) write a buffer starting at the specified memory address, but only if changed. Returns bytes written.

Read functions

• uint8_t readByte(uint16_t memoryAddress) read a single byte from a given address.
• uint16_t readBlock(uint16_t memoryAddress, uint8_t * buffer, uint16_t length) read length bytes into buffer starting at specified memory address. Returns the number of bytes read, which should be length.

Verify functions

Since 1.6.0. - experimental, needs extensive testing.

Same as write and update functions above. Returns true if successful, false indicates an error.

• bool writeByteVerify(uint16_t memoryAddress, uint8_t value)
• bool writeBlockVerify(uint16_t memoryAddress, uint8_t * buffer, uint16_t length)
• bool setBlockVerify(uint16_t memoryAddress, uint8_t value, uint16_t length)
• bool updateByteVerify(uint16_t memoryAddress, uint8_t value)
• bool updateBlockVerify(uint16_t memoryAddress, uint8_t * buffer, uint16_t length)
• bool verifyBlock(uint16_t memoryAddress, uint8_t * buffer, uint16_t length) Returns true is buffer equals memoryAddres for length bytes.

Other

• uint32_t getDeviceSize() idem
• uint8_t getPageSize() idem
• uint8_t getPageSize(uint32_t deviceSize) idem
• uint32_t getLastWrite() idem
• uint32_t determineSizeNoWrite() function that determines the size of the EEPROM by detecting when a selected memory address is not readable. (new in 1.8.1).
• uint32_t determineSize(bool debug = false) function that determines the size of the EEPROM by detecting when a memory address is folded upon memory address 0. It is based upon the observation that memory wraps around. The debug flag prints some output to Serial.

Warning: this function has changed (again) in 1.4.0

Test results determineSize()

Type	returns	Memory	Page Size	Notes
-	0			connect error, check device address / wiring
24LC512	65536	64 KB	128
24LC256	32768	32 KB	64
24LC128	16384	16 KB	64
24LC64	8192	8 KB	32
24LC32	4096	4 KB	32	not tested with hardware
24LC16	2048	2 KB	16
24LC08	1024	1 KB	16
24LC04	512	512 b	16
24LC02	256	256 b	8
24LC01	128	128 b	8

The function cannot detect smaller than 128 bit EEPROMS.

Experimental since 1.7.1 can be used for debugging and overruling constructor.

• uint32_t setDeviceSize(uint32_t deviceSize) overrules constructor setting. returns set size == 128, 256, ... 32768, 65536
• uint8_t setPageSize(uint8_t pageSize) overrules constructor setting. returns set size == 8, 16, 32, 64, 128.

UpdateBlock()

(new since 1.4.2)

The function updateBlock() reads the block of data and compares it with the new values to see if it needs rewriting.

As the function reads/writes the data in blocks with a maximum length of I2C_TWIBUFFERSIZE (== 30 AVR limitation; 128 for ESP32) It does this comparison in chunks if the length exceeds this number. The result is that an updateBlock() call can result e.g. in 4 reads and only 2 writes under the hood.

If data is changed often between writes, updateBlock() is slower than writeBlock(). So you should verify if your sketch can make use of the advantages of updateBlock()

ExtraWriteCycleTime (experimental)

To improve support older I2C EEPROMs e.g. IS24C16 two functions were added to increase the waiting time before a read and/or write as some older devices have a larger timeout than 5 milliseconds which is the minimum.

• void setExtraWriteCycleTime(uint8_t ms) idem
• uint8_t getExtraWriteCycleTime() idem

It is also possible to adjust the I2C_WRITEDELAY in the .h file or overrule the define on the command line.

WriteProtectPin WP (experimental)

(since 1.7.4)

The library can control the WP = WriteProtect pin of the EEPROM. To do this one should connect a GPIO pin of the MCU to the WP pin of the EEPROM. Furthermore the WP should be defined as a parameter in begin(). If the WP pin is defined the default will be to not allow writing. The user has to enable writing either by manual or automatic control.

In the automatic mode the library only allows writing to the EEPROM when it actually writes to the EEPROM. So it keeps the EEPROM in a read only mode as much as possible. This prevents accidental writes due to (noisy) signals on the I2C bus. (#57)

Status

• bool hasWriteProtectPin() returns true if WP has been set.

Automatic control

• void setAutoWriteProtect(bool b) if set to true, the library enables writing only when the EEPROM is actually written. This setting overrules the manual control. If setAutoWriteProtect() is set to false (== default) the manual control is leading.
• bool getAutoWriteProtect() get current setting.

Manual control

• void allowWrite() allows writing by setting WP to LOW.
• void preventWrite() disables writing by setting WP to HIGH.

Limitation

The library does not offer multiple EEPROMS as one continuous storage device.

Operation

See examples

Future

Must

• improve documentation

Should

• investigate multi-EEPROM storage
  • wrapper class?
• improve error handling,
  • write functions should return bytes written or so.
• make deviceSize explicit in examples?

Could

• investigate smarter strategy for updateBlock() => find first and last changed position could possibly result in less writes.
• can setBlock() use strategies from updateBlock()
• pageBlock(): incrBuffer is an implementation name, not a functional name.

Wont

• investigate the print interface?
  • circular buffer? (see FRAM library)
  • dump function?

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