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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : pickit3 troubles
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| WhiteWizzard Guru  Joined: 05/04/2013 Location: United KingdomPosts: 2817 |
Thanks for screenshot - everything ok there. Like Jim says, it points towards your usb-serial converter working at incorrect levels. Wait until you pick up a true FTDI converter and all your problems will be solved. At least we eliminated it being caused by a silly error. Let us know how you get on once you have the correct convertor . . . For everything Micromite visit micromite.org Direct Email: whitewizzard@micromite.o |
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Bryan1 Guru Joined: 22/02/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1345 |
Thanks for the help guys and hopefully that TTL dongle will be here before the weekend. Now I do have 4 left of the simmstick bare boards with the sea of holes and a few base mounts. I'm going set them up with a micromite on each once I've proven each circuit on the breadboard. Can't wait for the fun to begin Regards Bryan |
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| robert.rozee Guru Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 2350 |
fyi, i have been using CP2102 usb to ttl serial bridges with no issues at all, both with micromites and arduinos. these are available on ebay as a fully assembled 'dongle' for a few dollars, and the silabs chips are so cheap that nobody bothers to clone them. for programming i have made up a box with a ZIF socket following geoff's suggested circuit, but with a 22uF tantalum on pin 20 and 0.1uF between Vcc and ground. as well as an ICSP header the box also has a 4-pin header for connecting back to the USB bridge. there is no need to bridge out the 10k resistor on the reset pin - this resistor is just not needed if ICSP is not there. obviously don't plug in PICKIT3 and usb bridge at the same time! so for running MMbasic, the 3v3 Vcc comes from the CP2102 bridge. for ICSP programming Vcc comes from the PICKIT3. it is necessary to go into the 'advanced mode' of MPLAB IPE to turn on the PICKIT3 power output - to date i have not been able to make this setting permanent. for comms i use teraterm, and the only setting i needed to make was selecting the comm port and setting the baud rate (after which i saved the settings). again, have seen no issues at all. hope this may offer a little help. i think i have the most basic setup possible, and have encountered no real issues once i figured out that power needed to be turned on in MPLAB IPE. rob :-) |
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| Bryan1 Guru Joined: 22/02/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1345 |
G'day Guy's, here is the one I'm getting $6.30 delivered aint a bad price and it is in Oz too, I have bought from Kalex before and found them to 1st class to deal with. I do like how the output comes out in header pins supplying 5V and 3V3 along with the RX/TX, so with the simm base I'll make up a circuit so when the umite needs an upgrade just put the board in the simm socket plug the ttl module into a header and reprogram each board quickly and easily. I'm also thinking of bringing down each I/O to simm buss which will make the prototyping of the boards easier. Now I do have some of those microchip mcp usb chips but no 12 mhz crystals so down the track I'll have a go at milling a smd board on my cnc. |
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| robert.rozee Guru Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 2350 |
seriously, i would avoid anything that uses a prolific chip. there are just too many clones out there that 'half work' or are limited to a certain release of drivers. and prolific have in the past actively (and quite legitimately) attempted to make their drivers incompatible with specific cloned versions of their chip. the product linked to being sold by ebay seller 'kalex_electronics_australia' is merely a chinese assembly being resold by an australian retailer. with silabs and ftdi based usb to serial bridges you have a great deal more certainty of getting a genuine chip (i have never heard of either being cloned), and a guaranteed supply of genuine drivers from the manufacturer. and to answer the obvious question: yes, i have been through prolific driver hell, several times over the years. problems have included total failure to load, intermittent functioning, just occasional failure, inverted levels with some clones, and the list goes on. i have had just ONE product that used a genuine prolific chip, and it performed flawlessly - but it also cost $20 and contained a couple of additional support IC's and a couple dozen passive parts. rob :-) |
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atmega8 Guru Joined: 19/11/2013 Location: GermanyPosts: 722 |
i agree to Robert, profilic is shi..... Problems over Problems, FTDI worked for me in every Situation under every OS. |
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| JohnS Guru Joined: 18/11/2011 Location: United KingdomPosts: 3816 |
I've had no problem with any of the very cheap prolific-type devices. Drivers have just worked without installing any new ones. Must be cos I'm on Linux I suppose. I recommend it. John |
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vasi Guru Joined: 23/03/2007 Location: RomaniaPosts: 1697 |
Bryan, you can make your own with Microchip parts, customized to your liking. You will never need something else for your lab. It is incredibly reliable. Hobbit name: Togo Toadfoot of Frogmorton Elvish name: Mablung Miriel Beyound Arduino Lang |
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Grogster Admin Group  Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9308 |
My 2c only: I have also had issues with the Prolific clone adaptors. The old saying: "The cheapest thing is not necessarily the best" applies well here, as the PL2303 clones can be had on ebay for only a few bucks, as your link shows. I have to side with the FTDI crowd - they just work. Costs a few bucks more, but if that causes less brain-strain, then it is money WELL spent.  Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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| paceman Guru Joined: 07/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1329 |
Bryan, I've been using the Prolific PL2303 based converter that Don McKenzie sells from Dontronics for $5.30 (+GST) on my 28pin uMite with no troubles at all. Here's the link Dontronics The driver can be downloaded from the same link and my Win XP based system loaded it fine. Given these were supplied from Olimex they're no doubt a considerably better risk than some of the PL2303 based cables than the others have mentioned. These cables have a DKU-5 model no. on the back and also these markings: R/N: WTO48000317 M/N: TY-USA Made in China Don also has several versions of FTDI based cables available but they're about $18 each. His stuff is posted here from Melbourne and I get it within two or three days. Greg |
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| WhiteWizzard Guru Joined: 05/04/2013 Location: United KingdomPosts: 2817 |
Totally agree with Grogster - and likewise have had BIG issues with getting Prolific serial adaptors to work consistently and reliably. Time after time I see peoples comments along the lines of: "An FTDI device may cost a little more; but they avoid all the head-scratching that plagues so many of the cheaper devices." If you have been lucky with a cheap device that works (for now), I guarantee another person somewhere on the planet (with exactly the same device as yours) will be struggling to make it work. Just take a look at the early posts when Geoff launched Beta testing. People using FTDI devices were busy Beta testing; while many people (but not all) with non-FTDI devices were busy trying to get basic coms working before they could even begin! I rest my case . . . . For everything Micromite visit micromite.org Direct Email: whitewizzard@micromite.o |
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| Grogster Admin Group Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9308 |
I remember that when I first started playing with USB programming of PICAXE chips, I was fully convinced that there was something wrong with the PICAXE programming editor software, as I just had problem after problem with detecting the chips and with downloading the program. Once I spent a few extra bucks and got an AXD027 USB programming lead, I have never looked back, and it has ALWAYS worked from that point on. Not sure if the PICAXE 027 cable uses the FTDI chip, but if it does, then I would not really be surprised. Those that work with the FTDI chip work, those that don't - don't.
(I put the above in for comedy - it may not be strictly correct.) Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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| Bryan1 Guru Joined: 22/02/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1345 |
G'day Guy's, Still no module so decided to download the drivers from the fleabay site and you guessed it corrupt file and winrar won't extract the file. Anyway got onto 2 sets of drivers, one from the prolific Tw site and the other of a US based Profilic site. Like I said before I do have some of those smd microchip USB chips but no 12 mhz crystal so if this module doesn't work then off to find some crystals. I just hope this dongle will work and that will save more stuffing around... |
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| Bryan1 Guru Joined: 22/02/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1345 |
G'day Guy's, Well 7 working days to get a package from Victoria to SA is just ridiculous but anyway it's here albiet with a damaged usb port, I had to straighten out the ding just so I could fit it in the USB cable. So yet another occurrence of Oz post emulating the fed govt in reality ( isn't any). I installed the driver I got from the US prolific site and no worries came up as COM9 so fired up teraterm and saw the garble text again  Took out the 1K resistors and this time set the baud rate to 38400 and on startup up pops the startup screen showing beta 8 ( I thought I had done beta 15 but as a new beta is out I'll reprogram all the chips).
Anyway one happy camper and let the fun begin..... Cheers Bryan |
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| Grogster Admin Group Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9308 |
Crikey, mate - you had me worried!!! Great that you have it working. Well done. Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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| Bryan1 Guru Joined: 22/02/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1345 |
Ok in all I programmed 5 chips and just tried all of them and YAY all showed the startup screen so no magic smoke escaped them while trying with the WRONG USB dongle. Got a course to do tomorrow then I'll be onto setting up a lcd and going bang for buck on my first project with that 24 volt fridge. |
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palcal Guru Joined: 12/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1873 |
I have noticed a few references to the start up screen, ie with Geoff's logo and the particular version of the software. I have programmed 4 chips and progressively loaded the newer version of Micromite Basic but have never seen the startup screen, everything works OK but why don't I see the the startup message. It always showed with the Maximite. Paul. "It is better to be ignorant and ask a stupid question than to be plain Stupid and not ask at all" |
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| WhiteWizzard Guru Joined: 05/04/2013 Location: United KingdomPosts: 2817 |
Hi palcal, Assuming you are referring to a MicroMite, then you should just see two lines of text stating which Beta version you have (as follows): Micromite MMBasic Ver 4.5 Beta 15
Copyright 2011-2014 Geoff Graham There are NO graphics!! Which console program do you use? Regards, Phil For everything Micromite visit micromite.org Direct Email: whitewizzard@micromite.o |
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| Keith W. Senior Member  Joined: 09/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 118 |
HI palcal, If you see nothing on start up but the chip works otherwise, it may be that your comms interface does not start as fast as the Micromite. Refer my posts regarding turn on delay in the thread “Micromite Beta 10” on thebackshed. Geoff informed that the Micromite starts with very little delay but a Maximite has a half second delay at startup. I suffered corruption of the startup message because my RS232 interface did not start immediately at power up due to slow? power supply voltage rise (30 milliseconds). You could try shorting pin 1 (Reset)to 0-volts briefly to reset the chip AFTER you have turned it on, assuming pin 1 is pulled up with a 10K ohm resistor, not direct to 3.3Volts. The above assumes that Tera Term is open to the port before Micromite start up. Likely most Beta Testers are communicating via USB to TTL cables which are already ‘ON’ when the Micromite is powered; otherwise we would have heard more of this. Keith W. |
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| WhiteWizzard Guru Joined: 05/04/2013 Location: United KingdomPosts: 2817 |
Exactly like Keith says, with Pin 1 connected to a 10K resistor to +v, AND with TeraTerm (or whichever other console program you use) already running and connected to your USB-to-Uart adaptor, pulse PIC Pin 1 to ground to reset the MicroMite. You should then see the message that we all refer to. 
If not then we have a problem to address . . . . For everything Micromite visit micromite.org Direct Email: whitewizzard@micromite.o |
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