I have a Microchip PICkit 2 programmer that I've successfully used to program 16F88 and 16F688 devices in their DIP versions, using no other hardware except a breadboard, by simply connecting the Vpp, Vdd, Vss, ICSPDAT, and ICSPCLK pins of the PK2 to the corresponding pins on the PIC.
I have just made a breakout board to start breadboarding with a 16F54, which happens to be in an SSOP (surface-mount) case. I soldered the device to the board and have continuity-tested all of the pins and their corresponding breakout points. Everything seems to be in order electrically, and there are no shorts. But the programmer (or the program controlling it) won't recognize the device.
Output from pk2 (Linux):
Device ID 0x0fe0 Fatal error> No PIC or unsupported PIC found
"pk2 -list" indicates that 16F54 is a supported device.
At this point, I know I've tried to do too many new things at once: It's the first time I've tried to solder a surface-mount PIC, the first time I've worked with the 16F54 in particular, and the first time I've attempted to work with a PIC that didn't have its own internal oscillator.
Apart from etching a new breakout board and trying again with a fresh PIC, or (grumble) installing Windows and trying with MPLAB, is there anything I ought to be trying or looking for to verify that the device I'm using is or isn't functional?
Thanks PSM