noob question again :o)
is mplabX stable and good enough to trash my old mplab v8.63
X seems to have nice features, is it working fine with pickit3 and other hardware ?
thanks
Can you not keep both on your machine?
I'm working with Code Composer Studio these days, and I learned the hard way that you cannot always have both v3 and v4 installed on the same machine. It sometimes works, but as soon as it doesn't work with a particular piece of hardware, you have to decide which one to remove.
I have not been writing PIC firmware since MPLAB X came out, so I am behind the times...
not easy to say but I'd say on site is still beta4 (for few months already). I use beta4 on linux regularly. Both C18 and C32 without any problems. The IDE does not have all the features mplab8 has (no proper simulation still - especially for c32, no pickit2 support ...) but I mostly don't use them with mplab8 so I don't have problems .. the only serious downside I see is missing pickit2 support (I do own pickit3 but pk2 is much better device)
[quote author="arhi"] .. the only serious downside I see is missing pickit2 support (I do own pickit3 but pk2 is much better device)[/quote]
Ouch! Thanks for pointing this out. I never noticed that restriction before. My PIC firmware projects have been developed under XP, since OSX was not an option at the time. I downloaded MPLAB X and dabbled a bit, but did not realize I would not be able to load my PIC flash.
There is command-line support for PK2, so I guess you're not completely stuck, but if I read you correctly it seems that debugging with PK2 would not be possible.
you can use the separate gui for pk2 (unfortunately no such thing for pk3 after almost 2 years :( ) if you are on windows, but on linux it is kinda messy .. osx even worse :( ...
no idea why they dropped pk2 support on mplabx - probably pk3 is so shitty device that they noone was purchasing it so they are pushing ppl to move to pk3 even when pk2 is much much better (faster, and better supported, and if you don;t use pic32mx - perfect) ... and with pk3, not only that they missed to provide tools to support it, but it is also closed source, compared to pk2 that is completely open .. that's why you have native support for pk2 on linux
PicKit2 support is coming for MPLAB X, confirmed by the Microchip dudes on their official forums. Don't fret.
[quote author="amramsey"]PicKit2 support is coming for MPLAB X, confirmed by the Microchip dudes on their official forums. Don't fret.[/quote]
COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!!! That is uber cool news :D
[quote author="arhi"]That is uber cool news :D[/quote]
I dug up the thread just to make sure I wasn't dreaming.
http://www.microchip.com/forums/tm.aspx ... e=1#529826 (http://www.microchip.com/forums/tm.aspx?high=&m=528331&mpage=1#529826)
JMH08 appears to be working on the programmer support in MPLAB X based on his/her other posts in the Beta forum, so hopefully engineering sense prevails and marketing doesn't squash it. ;-)
I use pk2 with my Linux platform without any problems. Just have to compile the sources. But the thing is I don't use it as a debugger, just for programming purposes.
But if MPLAB X will have support for pk2, I would say: COOL!
i'v been thinking about building a icd2 clone, as i already have a pickit2 and want to try out mplabx, any when support for the icd2 will be phased out?
[quote author="sqkybeaver"]i'v been thinking about building a icd2 clone, as i already have a pickit2 and want to try out mplabx, any when support for the icd2 will be phased out?[/quote]
My guess is that the ICD2 is on its way out. ICD3 has been promoted for quite a while now and they've stopped updated the device definitions for ICD2.
There are pickit3 clones on Ebay for around $30 with shipping. That might be an option. I haven't tried them so I'm not sure how close they are to an exact clone.
I got a pickit3 clone from sure electronics and it does work ok. The built qualitify is what you may expect from a clone, If you gonna use it 8 hours/day you better get an official one.
As far as I can tell they used the same schematic as microchip.
i don't think the price difference is big enough to justify purchasing clone ... with pk2 it was cool as you could make your own on a solder-less breadboard :D (I made it 10+ times for different needs and I still use my original pk2 too) .. but as for a "build quality" of pk3 .. donno what to say, it is much worse then pk2 :( at least the one I have, and it is original, from microchip directly. What I do see as a serious problem with pk3 is that (apart from not being open source) it is slow ?! it is so weird that newer device with much faster mcu is that much slower... yes, debugging is tad faster and it works properly with 32mx (only reason i use it) but it takes an age to initialize when you change the mcu ... it looks like darn thing change the firmware each time you decide to work on different mcu ... the pk2 works perfectly, you send it "script" and it executes it .. can't beat that :D (there's even avr programmer for pk2 so you can use pk2 as stk500 clone :D ) donno why they had to reinvent the wheel on this one :(
anyhow, I reeeeeeeeeeealy like that they decided to keep pk2 in the mplabx, I don't like they are late (in 10 days the deadline they defined themselves for mplabX being GA will happen ..), bus as I mentioned, C18 and C32 work super cool for me on linux (64bit fedora) and C32 works cool for me on my mac (osx snow leopard) .. C18 was unavailable for some time, now I think it is but I have not tested it. I hope they also make a stand alone gui for pk3 for linux .. but .. we'll see ...
has mplabX started supporting the pickit2? if it has i wont bother wasting the through hole 877 and 4550.
not yet, but you can both program and debug 877 and 4550 with pk3
thanks all for replying :o)
i did read few threads on microchip's forum and i finally decide to stay on MPLab...
MPLab v8.63 and my pk3 work fine for me for now for my few evening pic programming hobbies :o)
I still have a lot of thinks to explore on pics them-self :o)
[quote author="voidptr"]i did read few threads on microchip's forum and i finally decide to stay on MPLab...
MPLab v8.63 and my pk3 work fine for me for now for my few evening pic programming hobbies :o)[/quote]
Well, since you have the pk3 already, it seems like you're set to try out MPLAB X if you want, according to my interpretation of the comments here. I'm still stuck with a handful of official pk2 and clone programmers. :-(
void* it really depends on what os you use and what pic's you program and in what language. if you use windows with C18 or C30 or C32 or hitech then you can slowly migrate to mplabX but there's no rush, mplab8 works ok. If you are using some other compiler then stay with mplab8 as integration is not fully completed with mplabx (ssc c for e.g.). If you are on linux or osx - move to mplabX immediately (that why I moved) as wine is just too much hassle and mplabx works like a charm.
Note that mplab is discontinued and mplabX is the future, so sooner you start the move, easier it is going to be. I personally like the way mplabX works much more then mplab8, but I never used simulation inside mplab anyhow (and that is the thing that does not work properly yet) and I do use netbeans every day for programming outside embedded market ... (if they chose eclipse instead of netbeans I'd not be that happy)
try out mplabx beta5 .. there is PICKIT2 in the list of tools !!! (does not work for me on 64bit linux but..) ... many nasty bugs from beta4 are removed :D
Finally an update for OSX! Yesterday new XCode4 and today this :)
you can get pickit2 clone from bill (blueroomelectronics) that works flawlessly on mplabx on linux (as pickit2) or build usb pickit2 clone yourself, but investing into pickit3 is reasonable too. I for e.g. have both pk2 and pk3 and I use pk3 only with pic32mx and I use pk2 with all other pic's (as it actually works faster then pk3 in normal work)
I got my pickit3 clone from sure electronics and it does work fine with MPLABX and MPLAB 8.
The quality is mediocre but it does it job.
donno if Bill continued development on the junebug (pickit2 clone with some demo board). I don't have his direct contact anywhere near me now but you can easily contact him trough http://www.electro-tech-online.com/memb ... onics.html (http://www.electro-tech-online.com/members/blueroomelectronics.html) he is active on that forum every day so a PM there will get you in touch with him (also that is very good forum with huge amount of experienced microchip users)
Anyhow, pk2 is getting discontinued so if you are going to purchase a new tool I suggest you go with pk3. Check the price difference between original and clone (sure sells clone iirc) and make a decision if you want to go with original or with clone :) (imho if clone is 20+% cheaper - go with clone)