I've recently begun using the PIC microchips and picked up the Mike Predko book.
I'm having some troubles getting the "El Cheapo" board to program properly.
Here is my config:

 Win2K
 LPT1 (0x378) - ECP/EPP v1.7 Parallel Port
 MPLAB v6.61
 El Cheapo v.084
 El Cheapo board, P/N 136437-4 (with online revisions)

 PIC16F84-10/P
 Programming example from the book, regaddr.asm (regaddr.hex)

The El Cheapo software seems to recognize the board (yellow light icon is on). I
have chosen 16F84 as the chip to program. When I select "Program", I receive
the following message:

       Programming Failure at Address 0x00
       0x0186 was Written, but 0x03FFF was Read Back

I am using a DB25 Male-DB25 Male "straight through" cable (for a switchbox), and
and 18V, 1000mA power supply. I have also tried another power supply. I've gone
through all of the El Cheapo debug steps a number of times, and the only thing
strange that I've seen is in Step 4. A DMM reading is unstable here (between
pins 1 & 14 of U3), but the circuit is completely built, so I am unsure whether
that is normal at this point. All other steps and DMM readings look exactly as
they are described.

I did find that I had to add a 470 ohm resistor to R2.  The orientation of Q1
and Q2 seem correct, but I wasn't clear on the Zetex-modified comment (part I
am using is Fairchild 2N7000, standard TO-92). I'll try flipping this part
around, but otherwise, I am at a loss. Any advise you can give me would be
greatly appreciated.
__________________________________________
Christopher Sorg
Multimedia Artist and Instructor
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago
http://www.csorg.org

__________________________________________
Christopher Sorg
Multimedia Artist and Instructor
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago
http://www.csorg.org
_______________________________________________
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