In Circuit Debugger Needed for the 18F4685

[ScaleRobotics]

Hi Ed,

You could take a look at the two chips PIC18F4680 and PIC18F4685 and compare their registers. If they are very similar, you might get lucky, and be able to use the same ICD. I looked at about the first 100 registers or so, and they were the same. It's a little bit of a long shot, but who knows, until you try. To try, copy the 18F4680.inc file, and rename the copy to PIC18F4685.inc and then see what happens.

Edit: ok, scratch that, I get a ICD-ERROR-MODEL-BADMODELID when trying to do that.

And if that doesn't work, the answer that you did not want: You could change chips to a PIC18F4680, and there is an ICD for that in MCSP.

[Demon]

I don't see it in Mecanique MCSP ICD folder either (version listed below).

These guys say it's available in MPLAB. I've never used it, but it's free if you want to try it.
http://www.microchip.com/forums/m572791-print.aspx


EDIT: I just checked and there's no update available at this time for this version of MCSP.

[Demon]

http://www.mecanique.co.uk/code-stud...ICDModels.html

The ICD for MicroCode Studio Plus currently supports the following PIC microcontroller devices.
16F627(A), 16F628(A), 16F73, 16F74, 16F76, 16F77, 16F870, 16F871, 16F873(A), 16F874(A), 16F876(A), 16F877(A), 16F87, 16F88, 18F242, 18F248, 18F252, 18F258, 18F442, 18F448, 18F452, 18F458, 18F1220, 18F1320, 18F2220, 18F2320, 18F4220, 18F4320, 18F6620 and 18F8620

I would suggest contacting Mecanique and asking if/when they plan on adding support for that PIC in their ICD.
[email protected]

[Demon]

...
copy the 18F4680.inc file, and rename the copy to PIC18F4685.inc and then see what happens.
...

Even if all the chip properties are compatible, I'm guessing there is a label inside the file as well. I opened it in Notepad out of curiosity and it's garbled; need a HEX editor or something like that.

[Ramius]

Thanks Robert and I did send and email to [email protected] asking and no answer. This seems like a trend with many companies now a days to not answer. Maybe they are too busy or questions are caught in spam filters? Seems we are all becoming more and more dependent upon the knowledge of people like yourself and other which I am very thankful for.

Best, Ed

[Demon]

Mecanique has been good to us so far. I would think that they keep an eye on new PICs released by Microchip and do the best they can to incorporate them in their software.

It might not be a simple thing to fully support a chip. Maybe it's a long and tedious process? I wouldn't know.

That's why I do my best to stick to "common" PICs. I started with 16F628, then 16F877 and now 18F2550 and 18F4550.

[Ramius]

Thanks Robert and you are right about the more "established" chips. When you are planning a new project you tend to look more at what is newer that has the features you need and a little more. Mecanique was nice enough to send me a .zip file with all their current .icd files.

Best, Ed