ICD stops working suddenly

Guest · Guest

Hello folks -

I have been using the same ICD for a year or two (or more?) now. I am running with MPLAB IDE ver 5.70 and am under the impression that later versions don't support serial port based ICDs (maybe I am wrong about this). Anyway, I have been using this COM port based ICD almost daily to program mostly the PIC 16F877 parts in either debug or "stand alone" mode. Never had a problem before, and I firmly believe that "if it ain't broke don't fix it" which is why I never bothered to get newer hardware. Maybe its time though....?

Yesterday, after I programmed a part (debug mode), when I hit the ICD GUI "Run" button, I got the following message: "Error performing requested operation." Then, I performed a self-test of the ICD, and the results were: "Debug Module: Not Exist." If I uncheck "Debug mode" and program the part for normal operation, it will run fine in "stand alone" mode. Then, when I specify I want Debug mode, the program address ranges change (get smaller) to reflect the fact that some code space is eaten up by the debug/ICD code. However, after programming I still get an error. Its funny, but the ICD window sits there after programming and tells me "Waiting for user command." It taunts me! I can make code changes and run in stand alone mode, so my ICD is still working OK as an in-circuit programmer,which is what I use it for much of the time. I re-burned the ICD firmware for the unit, to no avail. A few days before this happened, I started getting communication errors between my PC and the ICD, and needed to reestablish communication frequently. I doubt this is the problem though, and these errors have vanished.

Any pointers? Thanks very much.
Bill

Guest · Posted: Mon Mar 22, 2004 11:19 am

Are you using ICD version 1.23? I starting getting comm errors with that version and had to switch back. I have a bug report into CCS about it now...

You might try an earlier version just to see what happens.

Guest · Guest

I am using ICD version 1.44.00 and have been using it for several months at least with no issues whatsoever.

My comms. errors started abruptly, and I never had them before this, even with this version of the ICD.

I'm getting another board with a different PIC on it tonight, and will see if I have the problem still.

Thanks for the note.

Haplo · Joined: 06 Sep 2003 Posts: 659 Location: Sydney, Australia

So you are using the MPLAB ICD, not the CCS ICD. I've had this problem before on a number of occasions:
1. Bad connections from the ICD board to the PIC,
2. Bad circuitry to support the MCLR pin (one of my resistors was loose).
3. Bad power supply connection, it reset the circuit in the middle of programming (causing ICD Comm Error) or after it was programmed (causing "Error performing requested operation." )

I've also noticed that sometimes ICD fails in 'noisy' environments.