I have updated the PIC programmers protocol specification at
http://www.embedinc.com/picprg/sw.htm as part of adding dsPIC support to the
ProProg programmer.  The host software including the PIC_PROG, PIC_READ, and
TEST_PICPRG programs have also been updated to support the new protocol but
still support previous versions also.

Programming dsPICs is a real bear, and it took me a lot longer to implement
than I expected based on experience implementing support for other PICs.  It
required substantial additions to the host software and protocol, in
addition to the programmer firmware.  To give you some idea, just the
dsPIC-unique module of the PICPRG (PICPRG_30.PAS) library is 590 lines long,
which doesn't include the additions required for new commands, updates to
the include files, etc.  The dsPIC specific module in the ProProg firmware
is 970 lines long.  To put this in perspective, the total PICPRG library
source code not including the apps is 10,000 lines long, and the ProProg
firmware 9,000 lines, and the current EasyProg firmware 5,000 lines.

Anyway, if someone wants to add dsPIC support for other programming
hardware, this new release at least provides working host software and a
thought out and tested interface spec.  Of course if the remainder is still
too much trouble, you can always run out and buy a ProProg ;-)


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(978) 742-9014, http://www.embedinc.com
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