[sdiy] dsPIC

[Csaba Zvekan]

On Dec 6, 2008, at 1:14 AM, Tom Wiltshire wrote:

>
> On 5 Dec 2008, at 23:37, Eric Brombaugh wrote:
>
>> karl dalen wrote:
>>> Im looking into some ICDs for the dspic GP802, there are loads of  
>>> demo packages from everyone, wich do you use? I rater do my own  
>>> ISP, ICD
>>> but most seams to be based on a F877 as middle man, no real JTAG
>>> as on Cortex M3, PC P-port to JTAG + buffer and thats it, then go  
>>> full blown debugg, dsPIC no? hassle much stress program to dsPIC  
>>> get easily
>>> bored and sentence building goes banana in massage!!??!!
>>> So, ideas? This pain in arse? No? Full debugg or only demo hello  
>>> world? http://se.farnell.com/microchip/dm330011/kit-starter-mplab-for-dspic/dp/1621788
>>
>> I've been using the true-blue Microchip ICD2 (hey - kinda rhymes!)  
>> lately. I tried the Olimex ICD2 knockoff a few years ago, but  
>> switched when I found that it couldn't talk to the 3.3V dsPICs  
>> reliably. It was a few $$ cheaper, but somewhat 'raw'. I've got no  
>> idea what other sorts of low-end interfaces there are these days.
>>
>> The main concern I'd have with non-Microchip programmer/debugger  
>> interfaces is that they might not work well with the MPLAB  
>> development environment. With a genuine ICD2 you can download code  
>> to flash as well as run/stop/single-step & examine internal  
>> registers. No idea if that's possible with other interfaces.
>>
>
> I use ICD2 too, but mine is a far-eastern knockoff, not a microchip  
> original. That said, I've never had a problem with it, and it talks  
> to 3.3V chips fine, and downloads code. I've never tried single  
> stepping and examining internal registers.
>
All though I have a original Microchip ICD2 Programmer/Debugger that  
came with my dsPICDEM 1 board I hardly ever use it. Instead I use a  
PICKIT2 clone for 39$ made in China. The reason is that I hardly  
debug  .I upload the fresh code and see how things work. Not sure if  
that is the professional approach though. :)
But I like to se it working before I continue with my code. Then again  
I sometimes simulate calculations.
If I am really stuck with my code and want to supervise some values I  
simply hook up my two wire Interface and display things and values on  
my LCD.

http://www.csaba.ch/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=17&Itemid=30

It even works on low pin PICs with little memory.(there is also a  
ATMEL version of the same thing I wrote in C)
You see the thing is RJ11 modular jacks are rather expensive compared  
to the cheapo 6 pin headers. I know I could make a little converter  
but haven't got the time for it yet :) .

>> You've touched on a big difference there - unlike ARM, there really  
>> are not any alternatives for development tools in the MCHP world.  
>> Since they give the most of the software away though and the  
>> hardware is fairly reasonably priced it's not a huge disadvantage.
>
> I have a lot of fun with a £40 clone ICD2 and a breadboard with a £5  
> chip on. It isn't expensive.
I totally agree.

Csaba
>
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> T.
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