ZIF PICmicro issues

[MW]

Hello,

I have just taken delivery of my ZIFPic micro programmer and I am not having much luck with it.

I have installed the drivers by pointing to the supplied CD (ESLAM V2.4). My PC now recognises the device as a Matrix PICmicro Programmer. The driver version is 1.0.0.6.

The problem is that the programmer is unable to ID any on board chip, erase any chips and ultimately I get "programming failed: Scheme is zero or negative". I have tried a variety of different PICs, 18F and 16Fs and I have tried both ZIF sockets. Same result regardless. I have oriented the chips correctly in the sockets, and noted and set the jumpers in the appropriate positions

I have Flowcode V5.0.0.0 and PPPV3 3.11.15.30 FW=8

Is there anything more I should be doing or do I have a faulty unit?

Cheers
MW

[JohnCrow]

Hi

I would first try downloading the latest driver from the Matrix website
The ones on the supplied cds are not always the latest versions
http://www.matrixmultimedia.com/faqs_updates.php

[Steve]

Hi,

I've looked into this and it seems that a small number of faulty units have been shipped in error. I sincerely apologise for this error and we will contact you and the other recipients shortly with instructions on returning the units (at our cost) and receiving a replacement.

Once again, I'm really sorry for this error.

Kind regards,
Steve.

[JCMB]

"a small number of faulty units have been shipped in error" !
How many have been shipped not faulty ?
"we will contact you and the other recipients shortly" !
My first mail about this pb is dated 9 february 2012 !

[Steve]

Hello JCMB,

In all, only 8 of the units that have been sent out were faulty. We have traced all recipients (including you) and have sent an email explaining the situation. We are sending out replacements today. As for the faulty units, you can either dispose of them or dismantle them and use the internal boards separately.

You were one of two recipients were not originally identified as receiving a faulty board, which is why it has taken a while for you to receive information. Unfortunately, the person you were in contact with here was not aware of the fault and did not know of the replacement procedure we had put in place. I apologise for this.

With regards,
Steve.

[Stanga]

As the other previously unidentified customer I would like to ask which drivers exactly should be used.
Also, what are the jumper switches for? I looked far and wide for any info on the HP6339 and how to set it up, but nothing came up. No datasheet, nothing. Maybe those pieces of information have been added since then?

My questions might seem pedantic, but the programmer will be used by a member of my staff who has no PIC programming skills and is entirely reliant on me telling him how to use the programmer. This is not easy since he is at the other side of the world. Shipping the HP6339 to him and then shipping it back to see if it was indeed faulty as he claimed took me two week and two FEDEX couriers bills.
After receiving a dead HP488 when I first bought it (and now the replacement has gone dead and which I shall have to replace) and now getting a dead HP6339 I am of course a bit shaken by the experience. Especially since I am using these devices in developing commercial products.

[Steve]

I've just looked and the datasheet for the HP6339 does not seem to be up on-line. This is a problem and I will rectify this straight away.

Regarding the HP488s, this is a worry. Although we have shipped thousands of these devices over the years and we get very few returns or support problems with this device. You should contact us via the "support" page explaining the reasons for the failure and that should initiate a returns procedure. I do want to get to the bottom of this issue because there must be an external factor involved in getting this device to work.

[MW]

Hi,

I was really happy with how quickly this issue was acknowledged and satisfied with the resolution. My replacement unit arrived promptly also. I have only just today got around to opening the box and plugging it in however. Unfortunately this unit is behaving in exactly the same way as the previous one. I mean exactly, see my initial post, that's what this one is doing. Just to cover off on a really obvious conclusion, this is definitely the replacement unit I am working with now, not the initial
one.

Is it possible I have been sent another bad one?

Cheers
MW

[DavidA]

Hello MW,

I sincerely hope not as we should have checked every single replacement that went out.

- The board is stilll detected by the PC as PICmicro programmer?
- Is the error message the same?

[Benj]

Hello MW,

If you open the PPP software and click on configure and then click autodetect without a chip in the Zif socket then what happens?

I think one of the problems with the original board you received was that it didn't have the original chip removed from the programmer base board.

Another problem with the original board was that the power supply jumper was not in the USB position which meant that any autodetect or programming process was failing.

[MW]

Hi Ben,

It is unable to detect any chip. I have tried several different types of 16F and 18Fs in both sockets, with the external chip select jumpers moved appropriately. I am happy to open it up if that is the next step.

Cheers
MW

[DavidA]

Hello MW,

Could I ask a strange question, what colour are the screws on the top of the HP6339? Are they silver or black?

have you tried reinstalling Flowcode/PPP?

Can you ensure that only one version of PPP is running at a time?

Is the error message the same?

[MW]

Hi David,

Yes it is detected as a Matrix Programmer.

The screws are black.

I have just removed and reinstalled Flowcode/PPP, same result.

I have removed all previous versions of PPP from my machine so now I am definitely just running 3.11.

And the error message is different. Now I get the warnings about not being able to identify and then erase the chip then I get this:


Finished reading PICmicro contents
Programming failed: <config1>
That took 18.127 seconds
Return code = 0

[MW]

I have persevered and I have found that I can get the ZIF programmer to very occasionally program a chip. But in no way is it reliable. My PICKIT3 will program the same chips every time with no problems at all.

I have always found Matrix equipment and support to be second to none but I think there are problems with this product. I sincerely hope to be proven wrong.

[DavidA]

Hello MW,

It is very strange as i can program any chip here without much of a problem, have you noticed any pattern with the chips you cna program?

[MW]

Hi,

I am far more likely to be able to program a chip by using a Pic straight out of the box ( never been programmed before), restarting Flowcode immediately before I hit 'program to chip' and not attempting to autodetect the chip. Once a chip has come been programmed or if I have used autodetect programming will fail.

Cheers
MW