Recomended Programer ???

[Franko]

Can anyone recomend a good programer?
I have been using EPICwin on my old laptop running 98SE and it's done OK,
but I'd like start using my PC...

Gateway 835GM
Pentium D 2.8ghz
XP Media Center OS

I've tried everything I know of to make EPIC work on this platform and it just won't.

Any suggestions?

Thanks
Franko

[Melanie]

This sounds like the old Windows XP problem where it automatically polls the ports for connected devices and in so doing screws up any programming you may be doing on that port in the process.

I don't use EPIC but many people do. You may have to acquire updated software to continue using it on an XP type machine. You can also disable polling... or lastly you can always reinstall 98SE...

[crematory]

Hi

If you stop polling problem you can use it, also, it may be a problem with the driver, reinstall the driver again, and stop the polling, I had these problems when I started using XP.

[Darrel Taylor]

Hi Franko,

I use the EPIC with Media Center version of XP and they work great together. All you need to do is modify the registry a bit.

Go to this page at meLabs
http://www.melabs.com/support/patches.htm

Down at the bottom, in the Stop Windows XP from polling printer port section, is a file you can download that automatically makes the registry changes for you.

HTH,
   Darrel

[Franko]

Thank you all.

Darrel, I saw that file but not exactly sure how/where to add it. I know how to get into the regedit.

Can you please advise me ?

I also tried the meprog beta version and it gave it's own strange problems.

Thanks

[Darrel Taylor]

Piece of cake. Just click on the file, then choose RUN when prompted, or save it somewhere on your hard disk, then double click on it after downloading.

It will prompt if you want to add this information to the registry. Click Yes. It will give a confirmation that it was completed. Then re-boot the computer for it to take effect.

HTH,
   Darrel

[Franko]

Darrel,

I hope I'm missing something and not just being a dimwit,but when I click on the link "Download XP_stop_polling.reg (1K)"at meLabs all that comes up is the text. I don't see any place to choose run or anything. Bad link or ???

Thanks

[Darrel Taylor]

Somethings probably messed up the association with the .reg files.

Right click on the link and choose Save Target As..., and save the file to your hard disk.

Open regedit, and go to the File | Import dialog and locate the file that you saved.

Darrel

[Franko]

OK, The reason the file wasn't working is because I was using Firefox as my browser and the meLab site evidently doesn't support it for that kind of file.

I changed back to IE and the file worked perfect.Now I keep getting the unable to start driver PICLPTNT error.

This happened before and I got it working but I can't remeber how I fixed it before.

Thanks for the help and your patience.

[Franko]

I removed the PICLPTNT driver and reinstalled it as administrator and that took care of that, I checked the registry and the stop polling file is there.

The last,most persistant problem is "code programing error 0000".
No matter what PIC is in the epic or none at all. I'm using the same EPIC,same cable,same power supply that worked perfect on the old laptop.

Does anyone have any other ideas ? I appreciate all the help.

Thanks,

Franko

[Melanie]

Do a forum search on "error 0000". Your problem is probably covered in the list.

[Franko]

Hi all,

Well, I increased the voltage in the Epic via VR1 from 13.4v to 13.7v and it stopped giving the error code 0000 and indicated that it was programming and verifing with no problem. But it actually was not programming the PIC at all.

So, after trying everyones ideas and mine, I've switched back to my old 98SE laptop and will order a serial Epic soon."I don't know what else I can do"

And I did do searches here and at the meLabs site also, but still ???

Thank you all for your time and kind and helpful responses !

Franko

[yettie]

franko,

i'm using the EPIC parallel programmer at 15V input. Verify that you opened the correct HEX file by opening the View-Code (MENU). Of course 3FF means nothing.

regards,

[Luciano]

Hi,

Just a test, no guarantee on the result....

You should be able to find the parallel port setup in one of the probably
many menus of your BIOS setup. There should be some form of menu describing
the mode the parallel port is set to. In my BIOS one of four options has
to be selected:

Normal
Bi-Direct
EPP
EPP/ECP

Try first "Bi-Direct" and then "Normal".

Best regards,

Luciano

[Franko]

Hi,

Yettie, I'm pretty sure I loaded a good HEX file each time,but I'll try again.My input is 16v to the Epic.I was referring to the output from the onboard adjustable regulator to the onboard 5v reg.

Luciano, I did not check that. I'll give it a try !

Thank you very much !

[CocaColaKid]

I too ran into nightmares with XP and finally gave up and purchased a couple of serial programmers. Both of them work flawless. The only issue that I have had is programming multiple PICs the main window drop out of focus once the programming is complete. Just means that you have to clip to window to focus on it, you can't just hit the Ctrl-P keys. Now they seem to have a newer version 1.31 I believe that resolves this issue. If anyone wants a couple of EPIC parallel programmers I know where there are a couple for cheap :)

[Franko]

CocaColaKid, "nightmares with XP" is right !
Looks like This...

http://www.picbasic.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=1164

is part of what I was asking here. I'm going to select a serial or USB programmer
to replace the P-EPIC.

Thank you all.

[Franko]

HEY !

I'ts working !

For some reason the cable that worked with my laptop didn't work when I hooked to my PC. Got another printer cable as a last ditch effort "I hate to give up on anything" and it works.

The new cable also works with the laptop so I don't know if the old one has an intermitent problem or what.

I hope this might help others here avoid some trouble with their EPIC.

My sincere thanks to all those who helped me here.

Franko

[crematory]

Hello

Some cables do connect all ground pins together, and some don't, I had this problem before, but I didn't think you will face such a problem.