what is best setup?

[rondesgr]

My company finally purchased the Microchip PM3 programmer (with MPLab v8.56) and I would like use it with my Flowcode v4.3.7.63 profession edition and a 16F723a chip. What is the best set up?
1) Should I "compile-to-chip" from within Flowcode and send to the PM3? If so, how do I get Flowcode to recognize the programmer?
2) Should I just generate the hex from within Flowcode and then fire up the PM3 programmer to manually program the chip?
3) Should I compile and program from within MPLab? If so, MPLab doesn't show BoostC in its "set language tool locations". BoostC came with Flowcode v4, yes?

Thanks for your help,
Ron

[Steve]

I don't think there is a way to link the PM3 to Flowcode, so I think (2) is your best option.

[Benj]

Hello,

In the MPLAB directory there seems to be a command line programming utility for the PM3.

C:\Program Files\Microchip\MPLAB IDE\Programmer Utilities\PM3Cmd

Hopefully you can use the Flowcode's Chip -> Compiler options menu item to change the programmer location to that of the command line tool.

Eg
C:\Program Files\Microchip\MPLAB IDE\Programmer Utilities\PM3Cmd\PM3Cmd.exe

And the parameters as expected by the PK3 software. Not found a readme on this as of yet so you may have to experiment with the parameters.

[Benj]

PM3 COMMAND LINE HELP
Options Description Default
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Communication Ports 1 thru 5 supported. 1
Com ports 1-4 indicates RS232, Com Port
5 indicates USB.
A VddApp Device Specific
B<Operation><path> Environment Operation None
Operation L: = Load Environment,
All paths = full file
path. All paths located
on the PM3Card must be
preceeded by a 'P' All
Paths on the computer
must be preceeded by a
'C'
Operation S: = Save Environment,
All paths = full environment
path. All paths located
on the PM3Card must be
preceeded by a 'P' All
Paths on the computer
must be preceeded by a
'C'
Operation D: = Delete Environment,
All paths = full file
path. All paths located
on the PM3Card must be
preceeded by a 'P' All
Paths on the computer
must be preceeded by a
'C'
Operation C: = Copy Environment,
path = full file path to
the environment file of
the environemnt to be copied,
followed by the path to
the destination directory.
The two paths must be
separated by an asterisk
(*), and each path must
be preceded by either 'C'
if the path is on the
computer or 'P' if the
path is on the PM3.
Operation V: = View Environment,
path = full file path to
the environment file of
the environemnt to be viewed.
All paths located
on the PM3Card must be
preceeded by a 'P' All
Paths on the computer
must be preceeded by a
'C'
C Blank Check Device Do not Blank Ch

D<file> OSSuite File Selection None
E Erase Flash Device Do Not Erase
F<file> Hex File Selection None
G<Type><range/path> Read functions None
Type F: = read into hex file,
path = full file path,
range is not used
Types P,E,I,C: = ouput read of Program,
EEPROM, ID and/or Configuration
Memory to the screen. P and E
must be followed by an address
range in the form of x-y where
x is the start address and y is
the end address both in hex,
path is not used
H Read Checksum Do Not Read Che
um
I Display Device ID Do Not Display
K Display Hex File Checksum Do Not Display
L Low voltage programming Not Selected
M<memory region> Program Device Do Not Program
memory regions:
P = Program memory
E = EEPROM
I = ID memory
C = Configuration memory
If no region is entered, the entire
device will be programmed.
N Vdd Min Device Specific
P<part> Part Selection. Example: 16f877 None
Q Quiet Mode, no screen output Quiet mode off
R<on> <off> Safe/Restricted Mode None
S<file> SQTP File Selection None
T Vdd Nominal. Device Specific
U Overwrite calibration memory Do Not overwrit
V Vpp Device Specific
W Externally power target Power from PM3
X Vdd Max Device Specific
Y<memory region> Verify Device Do Not Verify
P = Program memory
E = EEPROM
I = ID memory
C = Configuration memory
If no region is entered, the entire
device will be verified.
Z Preserve EEData on Program Do Not Preserve
? Help Screen Not Shown

Each option must be immediately preceeded by a switch, Which can
be either a dash <-> or a slash </> and options must be separated
by a single space.

Example: PM3CMD /1 /P16F877 /Fc:\mycode /M
or
PM3CMD -1 -P16F877 -Fc:\mycode -M

Any option immediately followed by a question mark will envoke
a more detailed description of how to use that option.

Commands and their parameters are not case sensitive. Commands will
be processed according to command order of precedence, not the order
in which they appear on the command line. To see a list of the command
order of precedence type -?? on the command line.

The program will return an exit code upon completion which will
indicate either successful completion, or describe the reason for
failure. To view the list of exit codes and their descriptions,
type -?E on the command line.

Version 02.30.76

Copyright (C) Microchip Technology Inc. 2007

I found the readme - It is listed above.

[rondesgr]

Thank you, Ben.

On an unrelated note, I have a FLow4 question but can't find the "new topic" button after I've signed in. What magic step am I missing with this forum?

Thanks,
Ron

[Benj]

Hi Ron,

You can sign up to the v4 forum topic by following the instructions detailed here.

http://www.matrixmultimedia.com/mmforum ... =29&t=6524

Let me know if you have any problems.