On 10/29/07, Byron Jeff wrote: > > Thoughts? > > Only two. Did you program the chip? Did it work? A minor breakthrough today. I took all the unused inputs on the 74HCT573 and tied them to ground. Using FPP again, and a very simple bit of code compiled for an 'F84A, I was able to successfully do the following: - read the PIC (returned "blank" or all 0's every time I did it) - program the simple code to the PIC - verify the PIC - restart FPP - read the PIC again, noting that what was read matched my original code This worked on 2 different 'F84A's, one of which I had programmed years ago (it actually returned the old code the first time I read it), and one which was brand new. I tried the same with an 'F628A using 'F628A code, but no love there. At least I know the programmer works now. Maybe the 'F628A is dead, or maybe it doesn't like the 16.3v I was putting into MCLR (or maybe it's dead because I was putting 16.3v into MCLR). For the "what cable works" file, this was done using a ~5' Belkin parallel cable. I haven't gotten around to making a Cat5 based one yet, but was anxious to try a test after grounding inputs on the latch. FPP was set to us the following timings (I haven't tried any lower, as my time is cheap, so a few extra seconds of programming time won't bother me): Prog cycle delay: 50ms Power up delay: 100ms I/O delay: 50 ticks I think I've got a 7808 around here I might try to wire in against my 7805, to get MCLR down to a more appropriate level, and try the 'F628A again. If it is fried, I have a couple other PICs a bit higher up in the line I could try to write something simple to, just to try. So, what *really* made things work this morning? I ordered a PicKit2 direct from Microchip last night. I'm sure that scared something into place! To answer the next question, "why use FPP instead of WinPicProg," well, I tried WPP too.. while it was working fine the other day, today it doesn't seem to want to find my parallel port. Go figure. -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist