MPLAB and my WPR3 programmer

Hi all

I got a programmer named WPR3. It offers to program PIC16 and PIC12, as well as some cards and EEPROMs. I only need the PIC part.

It is an older type, which is directly controlled by the parallel port, a type which should have been common at the time. Though I have not found much on the net.

My basic problem is that my MPLAB will not use/accept it, and I dont know where to get drivers, which mode to pick ets. MPLAB by default offers MPLAB ICD2, MPLAB ICD3, PicKit3, AN851 Quick Programmer Beta and Real Ice.

I use a labtop with a docking station. My LPT is on the docking station

Any ideas?

WBR Sonnich

Reply to
Sonnich Jensen
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Forgot to mention, that is has a serial port too. Could this be AN851?

I cannot find much about that either.,,,

S
Reply to
Sonnich Jensen

Use the programming s/w that came with the programmer? Most 3rd party programmers have their own s/w, you generate the hex file in MPLAB and then program the PIC using the 3rd party s/w.

Reply to
Rocky

Well.... there is none.... but it should be a standard that was common at the time. It is some 5+ years old.

Reply to
Sonnich Jensen

Serial may be more common at that time.

USB was getting more popular at that time.

If microchip didn't make the hardware, why do you think they have the software to support it?

Reply to
linnix

(...)

Does the LPT port work?

formatting link

Open a terminal session and type: debug

You will get a dash prompt on the screen:

-

Type d 40:0 F It will look like:

-d 40:0 F

This means "Please tell me the addresses of all the parallel and serial ports that are on this machine. Arrange them so that the COM ports are on the left and the parallel ports are on the right side of the screen. Just the first 16 addresses will be fine".

The computer's response will look something like:

0040:0000 F8 03 F8 02 E8 03 E8 02 - 78 03 78 02 BC 03

Which means: "I see three parallel ports. Their addresses are: 378, 278 and 3BC at logical address LPT1, LPT2 and LPT3, respectively. I also see four serial ports. Their addresses are 3F8, 2F8 3E8 and 2E8 at logical addresses COM1, COM2, COM3 and COM4 respectively.

When you are done with debug, type: q

.. and then 'exit'.

So:

-q (Gives you your terminal back) > exit (dismisses the terminal)

--Winston

That will be very helpful. Beware that lots of early hardware vendors did not give you a choice and had LPT1 hard coded at 378! If your parallel port is at LPT3, your programmer software may not see it.

--Winston

Reply to
Winston

MPLAB is an attempt to dumb things down :-)

The usual way embedded firmware is developed is to compile & link the program to produce a hex file (there are many formats but Intel and Motorola are most common). This hex file is loaded into the software that comes with a programmer. After that all you need to do is insert the chip in the programmer, select the device from the list with devices the programmer supports and click the 'program' button in the programmer's software.

--
Failure does not prove something is impossible, failure simply
indicates you are not using the right tools...
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Reply to
Nico Coesel

Well, I still need that software.... :)

Reply to
Sonnich Jensen

Problem is that MPLAB needs to talk over the parallel bus. If Microchip did not make that programmer, it's unlikely to have any firmware for it. Even if they did, they are likely to migrate away from it. Of course, you can reverse engineering the protocols and DIY, but it might be cheaper (in time) to buy a Microchip supported programmer.

Reply to
linnix

There is no reason (other than perhaps convenience of initial setup) to have a Microchip IDE supported programmer. The IDE (or command line tools) output a standard Intel hex file.

The programmer software eats the hex file and sends it to the programmer, over parallel, USB, serial, whatever, which programs the chips. As it ever was.

Development is another story, and anyone still doing burn and crash development needs to move to more modern methods.

Reply to
Spehro Pefhany

Did you try contacting the manufacturer? If you don't have or can't get the software for your programmer you're better of tossing it in the bin.

I'm going to buy me one of these:

formatting link

I only need a programmer about once every two years so this seems like very good value for money.

--
Failure does not prove something is impossible, failure simply
indicates you are not using the right tools...
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Reply to
Nico Coesel

But the OP is looking for MPLAB support for his programmer. With MPLAB supported programmer, it is more convenient for one click "compile-build-download-run".

Again, the problem is having the software (MPLAB) to talk over parallel.

Reply to
linnix

He could keep an eye out for the same programmer on Ebay and offer the seller some cash to copy the software.

--
You can't have a sense of humor, if you have no sense.
Reply to
Michael A. Terrell

Thanks very much for the link. I have several but they require a parallel or serial port which is getting obsolete. Yours is the first I've seen with usb that doesn't cost a small fortune. It also has a very impressive list of devices it can handle, and the ones I need are on the list.

It's on order. Thanks!

Mike

Reply to
Mike

+1

--Winston

Reply to
Winston

On a sunny day (Tue, 08 Nov 2011 11:23:45 -0800) it happened Winston wrote in :

Ridiculous, like saying carry a dictionary around because learning to speak a language becomes soo complicated with all those new words. That shitty PIC 16 instruction set is minute compared to even a Z80. :-)

Reply to
Jan Panteltje

Why bother with something vendor specific? If you talk about a waste of time... :-) Last time I had to write code for PIC I made a little wrapper around the Hitech compiler to make it behave like GCC so I could use Eclipse.

--
Failure does not prove something is impossible, failure simply
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Reply to
Nico Coesel

I only use PIC24 and PIC32. The compiler behaves just like GCC, no wrapper necessary. I don't see much differences in programming them vs. TI/LMI or NXP ARMs.

Reply to
linnix

I received it today and it seems to work. The software is not top notch (but that seems to be the case for any programmer). OTOH the software supports automatic serial number and date injection which is nice.

--
Failure does not prove something is impossible, failure simply
indicates you are not using the right tools...
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Reply to
Nico Coesel

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