Simple PIC18F4550 Test Fails

[Kirk Fraser]

The attached circuit and program to blink LED's on a PIC18F4550 failed. I posted this on the Microchip forum and got answers I mostly don't understand. What is needed to set up or program my beginning system to work? One guy said I should write to LAT registers instead of PORT registers but another said it should be visible. Is there a problem with the 48MHz crystal or does it need a special setup command? I get nothing, like a short or something.

The idea was to have the program activate every possible pin for blinking to test the duration of the loop. I don't show LED's for every free pin in the diagram but only in the program so I could use a couple of spare LED's to plug into random open pins on my proto board to make sure it works before developing the next part of the circuit. The chip still appears good (free of destruction by static) because it can still be programmed.

Can anyone please tell me how to make it work? Since PicBasic Pro provides Parallax Stamp programming capabilities for PIC Microchips, is there a way to make testing as easy as on a Stamp? Thank you.