Matrix user forums

Hi all,
This is what i have done so far.

Bought the EB006 in november 2011, my invoice says version 7 but it doesnt like the one of the picture in the datasheet;
_i have 3 caps by the USB connector instead of 2 chips on the picture
_I have 6 headers instead of the ICD2 socket

I have installed the PPP3 software from the CD (using Win7 32bits)
The installation is going ok but once i run the soft i have a message that a NTPORT.dll is missing.
if i dont uninstall it and i install the "old version3.9" still provided in the CD
the installation is slightly different but it works. altough i have a warning "DPinst.exe does not execute on your current system"
however the PPP program now is running.
once the old version installed I can run the newest version. i have in the "about" section, Version 3.11.15.30 Firmware version 8
in the windows device manager i have under "Custom USB Devices", "Matrix PICmicro Programmer" without any alert or warnings


now here comes the problem of communication
just using PPP3 (no FlowCode)
using a 16F877A
using USB power only (J11 on left position)
J12, J13, J14 on the USB position (right, towards the center of the board)
J18, J19 on OSC (left position)
SW2 on RC
SW1 on Slow (fast makes no difference)

I configure the PPP3 with Chip PIC16F877A, RC, Watchdog OFF (the Autodetect says "PIC16F74 was not found in this list, please use Expert config screen")
in the Expert Config, Autodetect will change pic to 16F74" although it was a 16F877A in the comboBox
If i click agin it will display "Could not ID the onboard chip"
So I leave the 16F877A and make sure the LVP is ON, Oscillator on RC
If i try to erase, it says "PICmicro has not been erased retry another 10 times".
If i try to send the RC-LVP.hex from the test files, it says "Could not ID the onboard chip - assuming it's the one specified in the configuration screen ie PIC16F877A"
but if i clcik OK, I have "Hex file has Config2 word, but selected chip does not, continue?", then i have "Picmicro has not been erased, Continue?", yes again and then
i have "Programming failed: <config1>


Well as you can see I have ONLY problems
so thanks a lot for any help...
I have also tried with a Windows 7 64 and I have same messages
Trying to write down step by step what is going on was really hard as it rarely do the same thing twice in a row!
sometimes i have "Device not recognized, please enter the name"

Thanks for any help

Hello,

What device are you using on the board, is it the 16F877A? Do you have any other chips plugged into the board (sounds like a stupid question but you'd be surprised), Have you got a power supply you could try with the voltage source jumper in the PSU position to see if this solves the problem? Do you have any other circuitry connected to your board? Are all the jumpers connected across horizontally?

Hi,

Yes, I use the 16F877A, but i have also tried the 16F887 and the 18F4520, none of them have been recognized, or been able to erase or program.
I have nothing else plugged, just the EB006 on its own.
I have tried briefly with a external power supply but no success, i will try again tonight.
As for the jumpers,
J12, J13, J14 on the USB position (right, towards the center of the board)
J18, J19 on OSC (left position)
SW2 on RC
SW1 on Slow (fast makes no difference)
(i made sure i have switched the PSU one when i tried with an external power supply).

To me it sounded more like an installation problem ?
Did you ever had anyone saying NTPORT.dll is missing ?

Many Thanks for your help

Hello,

The NTPORT error relates to the old parallel port style interface which used to be used by our v2 dev boards.

I have attached the DLL so you can pop it into your PPPv3 directory and remove the error message you are getting.

From your version information it sounds like you are running the latest release.

From your description, it seems that you have a V8 EB006 board. The part number in the top-right corner of the board will be EB006-00-8.

The only time I have seen a chip be mistakenly identified for another is when there are more than one target chips plugged into the board. By default, the EB006 is shipped with a 16F88 in one of the DIL sockets. This needs to be removed when using a different chip.

Hi,

Thanks for your help, indeed i didnt see the pic pre fitted, i must have thought it was a chip of the board...
the NTport.dll message is gone now after copying the file into the folder.

it look slik eit is detecting the chip 16F877A properly, program and erase properly.

Now the problem i have is that, using FlowCode 4, everything is working fine with a basic simple simulation,
as i have no other Eblocks board, i use my EasyPic5 (http://www.mikroe.com/eng/products/view ... nt-system/)
and nothing is working at all.

when i edit the C code generated by FlowCode, into the MikroC compiler, all the lines before the variables are messing everything up, also " mainendloop: goto mainendloop;" which i have to delete for
having something workable with the debugger.
i was expecting the hex file to do the same job on a Eblock or Mikro eveluation board.

but at least the installation is working now
so i guess i need to spend some time figuring out things

thanks again

Flowcode produces C code for the BoostC and HITECH compilers. If you want to use the generated C code with another compiler then you will need to convert the output so it is appropriate.

As for the hardware, you will need to set the configuration of the chip so that it is suitable for the board (e.g. clock speed / type). You will probably also need to set the connections appropriately for any components you use. I suggest you start with a simple LED flasher program to ensure you have the timing and clock set correctly.