Bob,
        My first experience with a PIC was similar except I was using a
10MHz crystal.  The problem turned out to be my not setting the
configuration bits correctly for the crystal I was using.  You need HS
mode and the default is XT.  When programming your chip, the configuration
word should be 3ffE.  Do this with care as the code protection bits are in
this word, and if you clear them; your done with this chip.

Hope this helps,
Fred Thompson
fthompso@mail.win.org

On Thu, 11 Sep 1997, Bob Blick wrote:

> Hi,
>
> On a perfboard prototype I'm working on, I'm having startup problems. Of
> my bag of 16C74A/JW chips, only one or two of them like to work. If I put
> in a real low-speed crystal instead of the 20MHz it's supposed to run at,
> I can sometimes coax it to run.
>
> Putting a scope on the crystal pins verifies that the oscillator is
> running, but I suspect it's burping or slow getting up to speed or
> something.
>
> This perfboard nightmare has a ZIF socket on it, so the whole thing is
> less than a favorable environment.
>
> I recall seeing a thread with similar woes, but don't remember if anyone
> came up with a solution.
>
> Any takers? I've messed with caps, series resistors, etc, with no real
> success.
>
> Sure slows things down to only have 1 or 2 chips to work with.
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Bob
>