MicroCose Studio Plus problems

[J. Mark Wolf]

Don't know if this is the right forum for a MicroCode Studio Plus question, but the Mechanique web site directed me here so here's my question:

I'm using the latest and greatest MicroCode Studio Plus.

My PBP v4.6 program, for an 18F452, will download and run on my custom application board, but the "ICD Compile and Program" option (debug option)will not, at least reliably.

It will open the ICD explorer as though it is trying to run, but then the program just hangs and will do nothing. It won't run or animate or single step.

Any ideas?

There doesn't seem to be any serial port options for MCS+ to slow down baud rate as an experiment.

[picnaut]

Do you mean PBP version 2.46?

[J. Mark Wolf]

Do you mean PBP version 2.46?

Yup! My Phat fingers!

[J. Mark Wolf]

I discovered that my program would "Compile and Run" just fine, it just wouldn't "ICD Compile and Run" reliably, which is neccessary for single-stepping, animation and breakpointing, etc.

Further, I discovered that if I did a "ICD Compile and Run" on one of the small sample programs, that it would work fine, then afterwards a "ICD Compile and Run" would work temporarily with my program.

I've sent my source program to Mechanique for review.

[Squibcakes]

Anyone know the command line setting for Microcode studio to automatically compile and program a PIC?

I haven't been able to get IC-Prog to LOAD the program. It does everything else, ie sets the com port, selects the right pic chip etc but always starts up with an empty hex file.

The microcode studio help files says to use $hex-filename$, but this doesn't work.

so far I am using this, without luck:

-L$hex-filename$ -P -I -O1 -T146 -Q

Help much appreciated.
J

PS just downloaded the latest version of MC studio. Very nice.

[J. Mark Wolf]

Mechanique responded to my inquiry but did not have a magic bullet. They checked out my program at their facility, and experienced no issue with it. They asked how long my serail cable is (6 feet), and if I was using a MAX232 chip (yes), but could only suggest that I try enabling/disabling debug at various places in my program to help isolate the problem.

Has anyone else experienced unreliable operation of MicroCode Studio Plus on their systems?

[NavMicroSystems]

Has anyone else experienced unreliable operation of MicroCode Studio Plus on their systems?

MCS+ works just fine for me, never had any problem with the loader or ICD.

What kind of help are you expecting if you don't post your code and schematic?

[J. Mark Wolf]

What kind of help are you expecting if you don't post your code and schematic?

What I'm hoping is that someone will have had similar experience with their large programs and suggest possible fixes.

I doubt you would want to review my code. It nearly fills an 8KByte 16F877, which is why I'm porting it to PicBasic Pro, which supports the larger 18F devices.

The schematic of the serial port interface is directly from the Mechanique app notes.

[mister_e]

As most of my design use more than 16K now, i always use the Bootloader. Never had manyt problems with. The only problem that persist, and it's not a big one, is when i use the compile/program Button. Sometimes it works sometimes no. I have a message like "Reset target processor' blah blah. No big deal, use compile, wait 1-2 secondes, then program the PIC... must be caused by a slow machine.. i don't care too much about that problem..

I'm not a big ICD fan/user so i can't really comment one. The only thing i could suggest is, as you said, use multiple Disable/Enable... Sorry, this is not helpfull :(

Sure you must run your PIC at least @20MHZ for better results

[doctordhd]

Any answer to this?


Anyone know the command line setting for Microcode studio to automatically compile and program a PIC?

I haven't been able to get IC-Prog to LOAD the program. It does everything else, ie sets the com port, selects the right pic chip etc but always starts up with an empty hex file.

The microcode studio help files says to use $hex-filename$, but this doesn't work.

so far I am using this, without luck:

-L$hex-filename$ -P -I -O1 -T146 -Q

Help much appreciated.
J

PS just downloaded the latest version of MC studio. Very nice.