On Mon, Sep 02, 2013 at 05:31:43PM +1000, James Cameron wrote:
> G'day,
>=20
> I've been away from PIClist for a bit, doing Forth on ARM.  As part of
> getting back into PIC, I've validated my tool chain for 16F84, some of
> which I still have lying around.  Very old equipment parallel port
> programmer used, but with modern sources for SDCC and GPUTILS.
>=20
> See http://quozl.linux.org.au/pic16f84-sdcc-blink/
>=20
> I'm interested to know if there are any more recent programming tools
> for the classic David Tait parallel port programmer?  I used an old
> build of prog84.

You have been away for a very very long time.

My first suggestion is that you upgrade your chip. I'm partial to the
enhanced 16F line:

http://www.microchip.com/pagehandler/en-us/family/8bit/architecture/enhance=
dmidrange.html

Specifically parts such as the:
12F1840 (8 pin)
16F1825 (14 pin)
16F1847 (18 pin)
16F1938 (28 pin)

each max out the available program and data memory for the chip size. each
runs at up to 32 Mhz. All of them embed a ton of periperals. And each and
every one of them run rings around the 16F84 in both capability and cost.

Next is that with the parallel port programmers you have, your programming
capabilities will be severely limited. Development has languished simply
because the supporting hardware isn't readily available anymore. I have
pretty much abandonded my 1 chip parallel programming project, and have not
received any type of support request for it in several years.

The better bet is Microchip's PicKit2:
http://www.microchipdirect.com/ProductSearch.aspx?Keywords=3DPG164120

USB interface. Programming capability for everything except for the
absolute newest chips (including all of the ones I listed above). Very well
supported in Linux using pk2cmd which is as close to a Linux supported
project as you will get. To get the latest chip support you'll need to
compile the latest version (1.21 I believe) from source. It's on
Microchip's PicKit2 development page:

http://www.microchip.com/stellent/idcplg?IdcService=3DSS_GET_PAGE&nodeId=3D=
1406&dDocName=3Den023805

Be aware that chip support for the device is developed using device files.
The reason that you need version 1.21 of the software is to support the
latest device files with chips such as the ones above.

In addition, each of the chips in the enhanced midrange family are self
programmable. I have developed a fairly stable serial port bootloader based
on Frank Sergeant's PikMe bootloader:
http://utoh.org/pikme/

The host software is Python based and works well with both Linux and
Windows using a USB serial port and a trivial voltage clamp to protect the
PIC input pin from the serial port voltages. It's almost ready for wide
release.

Finally just for awareness, microchip's development environment has been
recoded to be entirely Java based. So it's cross platform now. While I
still use gputils for development, I've done enough testing with MPLABX to
say that it can be used for development too. Personally the IDE drives me
nuts though.

Hope this helps,

BAJ


>=20
> --=20
> James Cameron
> http://quozl.linux.org.au/
> --=20
> http://www.piclist.com/techref/piclist PIC/SX FAQ & list archive
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--=20
Byron A. Jeff
Chair: Department of Computer Science and Information Technology
College of Information and Mathematical Sciences
Clayton State University
http://faculty.clayton.edu/bjeff
--=20
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