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The PIC programming software described in the March 2001 article for the PIC Programmer & Checkerboard is not suitable for use with Windows 2000 or XP. Some constructors have also experienced problems with newer (1GHz+) PCs. Here’s how to resolve the problems. contain the files. We named ours “C:\ IC-Prog”. It’s then just a matter of unzipping the first two files into the new directory and creating a shortcut on your desktop (or start menu) to “icprog.exe”. The help file (icprog.chm) should also be saved in this new folder. By PETER SMITH For Windows NT/2000/XP users, the serial/parallel port driver should be installed as the next step. Launch IC-Prog (ignore any error messages) and from the main menu select Settings -> Options (see Fig.2). Click on the Misc tab and from the list of displayed options, click on the “Enable NT/2000/XP Driver” check box (do not change any other settings on this tab!). Follow the prompts to restart your machine so that the driver can be installed and started. Note: if the port driver is not properly installed, you will get a “Privileged Instruction” error when- T O RESOLVE THE VARIOUS is sues, it is necessary to switch to more up-to-date programming software. As presented, the hardware is compatible with the original “Tait Parallel PIC Programmer”. Various software packages that support this type of programmer are freely available on the Internet. Using IC-Prog We suggest “IC-Prog”, as it is well-supported and free for personal www.siliconchip.com.au use. You can obtain the latest version of IC-Prog from www.ic-prog.com In all, you’ll need to download three files: the application (icprog105a.zip), the driver for Windows NT/2000/XP (icprog_driver.zip) and the help file (icprog.chm). Note that the filenames will change over time as IC-Prog is improved and updated. Unlike most Windows applications, IC-Prog is not self-installing, so you’ll need to manually create a folder to Installing the port driver July 2003  79 Fig.1: this is the main IC-Prog window. This easy-to-use package programs PICs reliably and it’s free! ever IC-Prog attempts to access the parallel port. Setting up IC-Prog Before use, IC-Prog must be set up to suit the programming hardware. From the main menu, select Settings -> Hardware to bring up the “Hardware Settings” dialog (Fig.3). Choose “Pro Pic 2 Programmer” as the programmer type and “Direct I/O” as the interface method. Next, check the “Invert MCLR” and “Invert VCC” boxes (do not check any of the other “invert signal” options!). You should also select the LPT port that you’ll be using with the programmer. No other settings in this dialog should be changed. Using PICALLW A few constructors have asked if PICALLW can be used with the Fig.2: this dialog box lets you enable the serial/parallel port driver for Windows NT/2000/XP. Be sure to follow the prompts to restart your machine so that the driver is properly installed and started. 80  Silicon Chip programmer. We’ve checked it out and it appears to work fine but note that, at the time of writing, there are some documented problems when installing it on Windows NT/2000/ XP machines. You can download PICALLW from www.picallw.com Unzip the down­ loaded file into a temporary folder and double-click on the setup file to launch the installation Depending on the version of the software, you may also need to install a separate port driver for Windows NT/2000/XP. Refer to the release notes on the website for details. Once the installation completes, launch PICALLW from the start menu and configure it for the “P16PRO” type programmer (Fig.4). Next, from the main Settings menu choose Hardware Setup/Test to bring up the dialog shown in Fig.5. This menu allows you to select the parallel port lines that control the various programmer signals, as well as their polarities. Simply click on the “P16PRO 74LS07” button and the software will set everything correctly. Click on OK to close the window. That’s it! General information Both of the programming packages described above support a variety of different PICs and serial-programmed EEPROMs. However, the programming hardware can only be used with the PIC16C84 and PIC16F84(A) devices. Be sure to select the correct type of PIC Fig.3: this is how the settings should look for the PIC Programmer hardware. If necessary, change the LPT port to suit your setup. You may also need to increase the I/O Delay slightly if you have a very fast PC. www.siliconchip.com.au Fig.4: the main PICALLW window. Select “P16PRO” from the drop-down list for compatibility with the PIC Programmer hardware. The software usually detects the correct LPT port automatically but if necessary, it can be changed manually via the “Settings” menu. from the drop-down list in the main window at the start of your programming sessions. Note: it is not a good idea to have more than one programming package installed on your system at any one time. Make sure that you have completely removed one package (including the port driver) before installing another. Errata Finally, constructors of this project should note the following errata (some of these corrections have been published before and are also included here for the sake of convenience): (1). On the PC board, there is insufficient space to fit the 2200µF 25V filter capacitor but a value of 1000µF 25V will be adequate. (2). The schematic diagram on pages 64 & 65 (March 2001) has the following errors: (a) contact 7 of DIPSW5 and DIPSW6 should connect to the RUN contact of S3a (the connection at CON3 is correct); (b) Contact 8 of DIPSW5 and DIPSW6 should connect to the RUN contact of S3b (the connection at CON3 is correct). (c) The sections of IC1 are shown as inverters. IC1 is in fact a 7407 non-inwww.siliconchip.com.au verting hex buffer. The PC board and component overlay on page 67 are correct. (3). On the Liquid Crystal Display Veroboard, add a 4.7kΩ resistor so that it is connected between pins 2 & 6 of the display. (ie, effectively connected as a pull-up resistor between RA4 of the PIC and +5V). (4). Substitute the paragraph on page 69 (third column) which starts “The RA4 input on the micro . . . ” with the following text: “Close pole 5 of DIPSW2, situated at the top centre of the PIC Programmer board. This action uses the associated 10kΩ resistor as a pull-up resistor for bit RA1 of the PIC micro, which is ultimately pulled low by the operation of the switch (S6) to start the chase sequence”. Also, the text on page 69 (third column) refers to jumper J2 and switches SW3 and SW4. These should be JP2, S11 and S12, respectively. The circuit diagram and overlay are correct. (5). The specified minimum DC input of 15V is too low to accommodate the worst-case voltage drops across the diode bridge (DB1) and the 12V regulator (REG1). For reliable operation, the minimum input voltage should be 17V. 12VAC plugpacks will probably meet the minimum voltage after rectification but note that this will vary model to model. To check if your plugpack (either AC or DC) has sufficient output, apply power to the circuit and measure the voltage between the output of REG1 and ground. The reading should be close to 13.2V. (6). The programming voltage (Vpp) applied to the MCLR pin of the PIC is divided down by a 100Ω series resistor and two 470Ω resistors to ground. This reduces the Vpp voltage to below the minimum required for PIC16­F84(A) micros and may result in unreliable programming. To correct this problem, replace one of the 470Ω resistors with a 4.7kΩ resistor. (7). Some early kits were provided with a female 25-pin ‘D’ connector together with a gender changer. This arrangement will not work because it crosses over several connections. As specified in the parts list, CON2 must be a male type. For connection to your computer, use a short, good-quality (shielded) parallel printer extension cable. SC Fig.5: all you need to do to here is click on the “P16PRO 74LS07” button and PICALLW will set the correct options for the PIC Programmer. You may need to increase the “Prog Delay” value slightly if you have a very fast PC. July 2003  81