From Serial Port Utility is a professional communication software for serial port. Serialport Utility makes it more efficient for development of hardware-software application. It will boost the speed to design, development, debug and test applications and hardware devices, such as relay boards, Electronic Total Station, Global Positioning System, chemical and medical analysis instruments and DMX devices. It can send and receive data in high speed. Data can be viewed in Text, Hex and decimal format.

It's also able to create complex structure data, like ZigBee/XBee API data framework or GIS Garmin data package. All data are stored in lists which can be accessed easily from GUI. Data can be sent automatically with flexible auto sending rules.

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When you buy or download PBP you get an integrated development environment (IDE) called MicroCodeStudio or MCSX for short. There's a Standard version and a 'Plus' version.

You get the Standard version for free, you need to pay for the 'plus' version. The plus version appends a P in the name so MCSPX for short.

MicroCodeStudio is developed by Mecanique, PBP is developed by MeLabs. The bootloader (called Microcode loader) is not included in the free version of MicroCodeStudio. In the MCS(P)X you can install as many programmers you like, the Microcode Loader can be one of them.

Pressing the Compile & Program button automatically compiles, assembles and then invokes the selected programmer, passing the newly created.hex file and any parameters you've specified. See Mecaniques. On the left hand side you can select to read about the Standard and Plus versions. But remember: For the bootloader (and that applies to all bootloader) you mist FIRST program the blank PIC with the actual bootloader.

A bootloader is not a substitute for a proper device programmer. Yes, it'll work with PPB but you still need a real device programmer to get the bootloader into the chip the first time. With Microcode Loader comes a bunch of.hex files, matched for specific devices running at specific clock frequencies. You need to take the appropriate.hex file, use a device programmer (PICKit3 for example) and program the PIC with that file. Only from that point and only if you actually run the PIC at the clock frequency the bootloader file was built for will you be able to bootload the chip using the PC application.

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Actually, the bootloader doesn't know a thing about which compiler you used to generate the.hex file so it should work equally well with Proton, Swordfish, C18, MicroPascal or any other compiler but you need to make sure that the compiler you're using knows about the existence OF the bootloader so it offsets the program in order to not overwrite the bootloader startup code/call. With PBP you use DEFINE LOADERUSED 1 to do that for the Microcode Loader. In fact, Swordfish is developed by the same people/company (Mecanique) doing the MicroCodeStudio and MicroCodeLoader.

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The Proton IDE looks VERY similar to MicroCodeStudio so I'm willing to bet that they are pretty much the same with some minor tweaks depending on which compiler is used (ie Crownhill, the developers of Proton (and owners of this site) simply buys the IDE from Mecanique, just like MeLabs is doing). Screenshots on the both the Proton website and Swordfish website shows the same MicroCodeLoader as with PBP. The Amicus18 does NOT come preloaded with MicroCodeLoader firmware and does NOT work with the MicroCodeLoader without changing the VID/PID parameters of the FTDI serial port chip on the board. For more information on that, see. You're just all over the place aren't you, 3-4 compilers, 2-3 devlopement systems, different IDEs, different bootloaders - it must be confusing. It is for me, trying to follow along what you're trying to acomplish.

The Firewing board is a PIC18F46K22 loaded with a 'special' (ie not MicroCodeLoader) bootloader. The AMICUS18 board is a PIC18F25K20 loaded with another 'special' (ie not MicroCodeLoader) bootloader. The Firewing development board is supported by the free Firewing compiler, just like the AMICUS18 is supported by the free version of the Proton compiler but at the end of the day they are both just a PIC on a PCB and the PBP compiler supports both of those PICs + hundreds of others. The 'problem' with both the AMICUS18 and Firwing development board is that their respective DRIVER (ie what needs to be installed on the PC) are custom tailored to the specific board (ie, when you plug it in it shows up as an AMICUS18 or a Firewing Communication port (despite it being just Another COM-port)) in the device manager of the PC. This allows the their specific bootloader application on the PC (ie not MicrCodeLoader) to find the board without knowing which COM-port it is but it also means that A) it won't work on Windows 10 (becasue the device driver is not signed and Windows 10 refuses to load it) and B) it won't easily allow you to load ANOTHER, generic, bootloader (like the MicroCodeLoader) into the PIC without first messing about with FTDI chip on the board, changing its settings so the board presents itself as a normal COM-port. 1) Choose a PIC that can do what you need 2) Choose a compiler that can generate code for the desired PIC 2) Choose an IDE that integrates with the compiler (or don't, it's not strictly NEEDED). 4) Then, optionally, choose a bootloader that works with the PIC you're targeting.

Don't try to do it all at once. Henrik Did not get email alert about your response.

'Don't try to do it all at once.' It's more a case of looking into how 'user friendy' and 'wallet friendly' different Basic's are.

Using a PICKit3 makes them all wallet friendly. Just not like the old days of Basic Stamp where you could click and download. That definitely corrupts people for later work with PIC's. Good point about Amicus w/Proton and Firewing w/Swordfish.

Putting a PIC on a breadboard is very wallet friendly. Have you noticed nobody has replaced the Olimex 14 pin PIC boards etc. With USB versions? Now on to 'How much are Proton and Swordfish like Basic Stamp Basic?' PICBasic is very much like PBasic and then it has plethora of more specific commands. Very much like CCS compilers. I know you can compile PBP in later versions of MPLABX.

I just tried it using MPLABX V3.60 and it works. Not so sure about using things like the debugger or simulator, but I haven't used PBP much in a long time.

You need to keep MPLABX updated to support newer chips. You can choose to install just the IPE and that should get you newer part support for programming.

MPLABX allows you to install multiple versions so you can always keep v2.35 around too. Installing the IPE should get you the command-line tools. MPLABX/IPE is the only programming tool (from microchip) that will be updated, so we're sort of stuck with it you want to use the Pickit3. You need to keep MPLABX updated to support newer chips. You can choose to install just the IPE and that should get you newer part support for programming. MPLABX allows you to install multiple versions so you can always keep v2.35 around too. Installing the IPE should get you the command-line tools.

I bit the bullet and installed ide/ipe ver 3.55 and version 2.35 still works yeah and the pk3 can pgm the new chips from mcspx. The pbp toolchain does not work with mplabx 3.55 as suspected for me anyway,code will still compile though. For reference the icsp (no connector fitted) port on the 'Curiosity Board' will not actually work as programmer,I guess the pkob interferes with the process,making mplabx pkob the only programmer that works but only for ide versions that the pbp3 plugins don't function in. Would have been nice to use the board with pbp3 easily. Progress is over rated. There's an mplabx command-line tool 'ipecmd.exe' supposedly similar to 'pk3cmd.exe' that sounds like it should work with any of the programmers, and it has a PKOB setting.

There's a readme in the docs folder. Might be worth trying that w/the curiosity. Thanks it's alive the ipecmd command line utility can be used to program your curiosity board from mcs ide programmer filename ipecmd.exe command line -tS BURxxxxxxxxx -p$target-device$ -f$hex-filename$ -e -m where BURxxxxxxxxx is the serial no of your curiosity pkob it works very nicely.