> Hi everyone,
>
> I am looking for a nifty scheme for program identification codes which
> I would put into the IDLOCS configuration memory. The idea is that
> even if the device is code protected I can read the IDLOCS and check
> what software and its revision number. But rather than simply using a
> sequential number system, does anyone know of a scheme for encoding
> the ID number to produce a the 32-bit number that would go into
> IDLOCS?
>
The ID locations span 4 addresses in the Test Eprom area and Microchip
recommends that only the lower 4 bits of these locations are used (the
rest must be 0).  This will ensure, according to them, that they will
always be readable, irrespective of the code protection bit.  Thus you
have 16 bits of storage that can always be read back unscrambled.

Niki