PKOB programmer with Proton

[Pic-ignorant]

I have a few Pic dev boards with the PKOB pickit-onboard, is there a way of using these in PDS, without having to program via MPlab IPE? I like the convenience of just a usb connection, but not a fan of IPE

BR
John

[See_Mos]

Do you have any more information about your dev boards?

From what I read on the internet the PKOB is basically a PicKit 3 added to a development board so the PicKit Plus software should work OK and PicKit Plus is what many of us use with Positron.

[top204]

I've heard a lot of talk about this PICkit-Plus, but have not used it. Is it kept up to date with the newer devices?

[Gary Scott]

I've heard a lot of talk about this PICkit-Plus, but have not used it. Is it kept up to date with the newer devices?

Pickit-Plus is a pay to play so I would think it's frequently updated. Also there is a Pickit-Minus which appears to be free and was updated 1 month ago

[tumbleweed]

I don't think Pickit-plus (or pickit-minus) supports using the PKOB/PKOB4 as a programmer.

You may be stuck using the IPECMD commandline program from mplabx if you don't want to use the IPE.
The one nice thing with IPECMD is you can even use a pickit4, ICD4, or SNAP too.

[Pic-ignorant]

Do you have any more information about your dev boards?

From what I read on the internet the PKOB is basically a PicKit 3 added to a development board so the PicKit Plus software should work OK and PicKit Plus is what many of us use with Positron.

One of them is a Curiosity HPC, and I have a couple of dsp33 boards


https://www.microchip.com/en-us/development-tool/dm164136

[Pic-ignorant]

Thank you for all of the useful advice. I have contacted the pickit plus developers for clarification regarding using their software with PKOB

BR
John

[rick.curl]

I've heard a lot of talk about this PICkit-Plus, but have not used it. Is it kept up to date with the newer devices?

In my opinion Pickit Plus is well worth the money, and it is kept up to date. It does not support PKOB yet, but I spotted a post from Evan (it's primary author) on the Microchip forum asking questions about how to add support for it.  If it's possible to add support for it I'm sure Evan is working on it.

-Rick

[JonW]

They are the same guys who do Tiny Bootloader and they will generate custom bootloaders for a small fee too.

The curiosity boards are really good for the money and you can literally drag and drop Hex files as they appear as a Fat12 drive. 

[tumbleweed]

It does not support PKOB yet, but I spotted a post from Evan (it's primary author) on the Microchip forum asking questions about how to add support for it.  If it's possible to add support for it I'm sure Evan is working on it.

The post I saw was from back in 2020, and I'm not sure that he's made any more progress. The post ends with...

And/Or.... it this worth it (Should I just ignore the many requests we get to permit PICKitPlus software to support these boards) ?

You have to watch out since some of the newer boards come with the PKOB4 (pickit4 clone) instead of the PKOB, and that definitely wouldn't use the same code.

[GaryC]

I really like PICkitPlus, works fast and is simple to use.

Gary

[top204]

I implemented a Tiny+ Bootloader from a single PIC18F device for a person a couple of years ago, so when the PIC was plugged into another PIC, it would transfer the new program to it via the serial interface. The slave's program was held in the host's flash memory, along with the slave's EEPROM data that was requiring changes. All written in Positron8 of course, so it was extremely efficient.

It worked extremely well, and was made into a dongle type unit, so customers could update their equipment just by plugging in a little gadget and pressing a button. The dongle itself also had a bootloader on it, so it was a bootloader with a bootloader on a single 90 pence device. And the bootloading dongle could have its program updated via a PC interface. :-)

I had to create a new firmware for the slave unit, because the 18F device was so new, and the tiny+ did not support it, but I also wrote that in Positron BASIC, dropping into Asm when required.

Bob.... Many, many thanks. Evan has just emailed me with the software link and told me it was you who purchased it for me. How can such a like-mined bunch of people on this forum be so bloody good to each other, when the rest of the world seems to just want to do harm to others?? Are we that! different? LOL.

[RGV250]

Hi Les,
Glad you got it and hope you find it useful. I did have a bit of a panic moment as it needs a Pickit 2 or 3 so I hope you have one of those, I think everyone has.
I do not think the version I sent you has command line as I could not stretch to that one, I never use command line myself.

Bob

[Pic-ignorant]

I got a response from Pickit Plus today regarding compatibility with PKOB boards. An excerpt below.

'The answer is yes. My question is why?. The boards have a USB interface that emulates a USB drive. And, programming happens via the on-board programmer.'

[tumbleweed]

There are two versions of the Curiosity HPC board: rev1 (PKOB) and rev2 (PKOB4).
Not all of the Curiosity boards support drag-and-drop programming via a USB drive interface... they work more like the PK3/PK4.
Unless they've changed it, the HPC is one of them.

The Curiosity Nano boards all have an emulated USB drive, so they support drag-and-drop programming.