PIC Curiosity board not uploading program

Thread Starter

z_iron

Joined May 24, 2020
23
I'm an EE student very new to the world of PIC. I bought the 8-bit LPC pic curiosity board. The programmer is the on-board PKOB4 instead of using the pickit programmer. I've written a very simple piece of code and when i tried uploading it to the board, the PKOB4 was not coming up even though i selected it, the message "The last tool used for this project is unavailable" and nothing happens when i reselect the PKOB4. and press OK. Why is this happening and how do i fix it?
Apologies for the newbie question. Thanks.
 

AlbertHall

Joined Jun 4, 2014
12,345
For this board you must select low voltage programming in the project properties.
Have you tried one of the demo programs for this board?
 

Travm

Joined Aug 16, 2016
363
Is it plugged in?
MPLABX?
There are a number of steps you need to just do correctly when setting up a project on MPLABX.
You're following the instructions in the correct Microchip user guide?
 

be80be

Joined Jul 5, 2008
2,072
These boards are nice just one problem you have to be careful if you hook the pins up before programming you can kill the programmer.

I mistakenly hooked the pins that loaded the the chip now my board no longer
shows up.
 

JohnInTX

Joined Jun 26, 2012
4,787
Right click your project and select properties.
Then under Hardware Tool -> Microchip Kits -> Curiosity/Starter Kits (PKOB) or whatever shows up for your particular chip selection.
Enable Low Voltage Programming in the chip config. for these boards - they do not have a HV generator.
Config fuses are set from the toolbar using Window>Target Memory Views->Configuration Bits.
Set the config for your project and click the Generate Source Code To Output button.
Copy / Paste the config source to your program source.
 

Thread Starter

z_iron

Joined May 24, 2020
23
Is it plugged in?
MPLABX?
There are a number of steps you need to just do correctly when setting up a project on MPLABX.
You're following the instructions in the correct Microchip user guide?

Hi, yes its plugged in and im using MPLABX. What are the steps you're referring to? and im following the Curiosity Low Pin Count (LPC) Development Board User’s Guide.
 

Thread Starter

z_iron

Joined May 24, 2020
23
What chip are you using? Has it ever been used before? That is, is there any chance LVP has been turned off?

According to Post #6 here:: https://www.microchip.com/forums/m1084263.aspx
Microchip may supply chips that have LVP turned off. I was not aware of that. So, check whether that is a possibility.
Right click your project and select properties.
Then under Hardware Tool -> Microchip Kits -> Curiosity/Starter Kits (PKOB) or whatever shows up for your particular chip selection.
Enable Low Voltage Programming in the chip config. for these boards - they do not have a HV generator.
Config fuses are set from the toolbar using Window>Target Memory Views->Configuration Bits.
Set the config for your project and click the Generate Source Code To Output button.
Copy / Paste the config source to your program source.
For this board you must select low voltage programming in the project properties.
Have you tried one of the demo programs for this board?
I have already set low voltage programming mode beforehand, nothing has been connected to the pins either, im just using the on-board LEDs. MPLAB simply wont acknowledge that there is programmer connected to the computer, is this a driver issue would i need to install a separate driver. Windows knows its connected (shown in the control panel) but MPLABX doesn't. Everytime i try to run the program i'm greeted with the same "The last tool used for this project is unavailable" as seen in the screenshot.

20200525_113443.jpg
Cap2ture.JPG
Capture.JPG
 

jpanhalt

Joined Jan 18, 2008
11,087
I have already set low voltage programming mode beforehand, nothing has been connected to the pins either, im just using the on-board LEDs. MPLAB simply wont acknowledge that there is programmer connected to the computer, is this a driver issue would i need to install a separate driver. Windows knows its connected (shown in the control panel) but MPLABX doesn't. Everytime i try to run the program i'm greeted with the same "The last tool used for this project is unavailable" as seen in the screenshot.
Unfortunately, I do not do LVP. I am still wed to my ICD3, and of course, MPLAB 8.92 recognizes when that is attached even without a target. But it gives an error for the lack of a target. Are you sure that a LVP programmer (PKOB) will be recognized by MPLABX without a chip?

A quick search revealed several hits for similar problems. These two attracted me:

https://stackoverflow.com/questions...plabx-pkob-how-can-i-get-it-to-work-on-curren
and this:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/micro...uriosity-board-a-review-and-quickstart-guide/

If your board came with a chip installed (16F1619?), I would try it with that chip installed. Otherwise put in a brand new,* genuine Microchip chip, be sure the configuration for LVP and chip is set correctly, and see what happens.

*By that I mean one that has not been programmed with a PK2-to-4 programmer or any other HV programmer.
 

Travm

Joined Aug 16, 2016
363
Is the chip you're using brand new?
Some chips don't support debugging on different platforms and can throw errors similar to what your seeing.

Does it correct when using the original chip?
 
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