Thanks Malcom,

It says that unsupported part error ID=1880 if there is no micro connected - so ya not sure really what it means. Downloading the latest update from Microchip was the first thing I did.

Am just wondering whats specific about these chips thats giving me a problem - is is just because they are new?

I see people on here have programmed them with no signs of issue - what are they doing that I'm not?