picp README -- version 0.6.8 (19 December 2005)

Includes utilities (convert and convertshort) that convert picdev.c to a
resource configuration file (picdevrc).

For installation instructions, please read INSTALL.

for help and a list of supported devices type "picp" without any other
arguments. More complete documentation may be found in PICPmanual.html.

The current version of picp may be downloaded from
http://home.pacbell.net/theposts/picmicro

Your PICSTART Plus programmer must have version 3.00.40 firmware or
later; go to http://www.microchip.com to download the latest. You can
check the version number of your firmware by typing
	picp /dev/ttyS0 12c508 -v
where /dev/ttyS0 is the serial device the PICSTART is attached to and
12c508 is any supported PIC device.

picp is free software; please read the included file LICENSE.TXT.
Comments, suggestions, installation problems, successes, etc. should
be directed to j_post <AT> pacbell <DOT> net.

The PICSTART Plus was reverse engineered without the benefit of any
documentation or help from Microchip. If you have any insights or
useful information into the meaning of the remaining processor
definition codes please pass them along (see picdev.h for the current
state of knowledge). At some point MPLAB was modified to send yet
more part-specific data at start up using a previously unused command
(0x82).  picp 0.4c supports this new data but I have no idea what it
does or why it wasn't needed before. Anyone with a better understanding
of the PICSTART Plus protocol is encouraged to come forward.

There is a report that USB serial ports don't work in RedHat9. Using the
2.4.26 kernel solves the problem.

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REMAINING DEFICIENCIES:

picp cannot write to the oscillator calibration space of devices with
more than one calibration word (specifically the PIC14000) via the
command line flag '-wo'.  Since the calibration space is actually in
program space you should be able to write to this region with '-wp',
but it is untested.  '-ro' should work but is untested on the PIC14000.

The code protect masks in the part definitions are incomplete for most
devices. This will not affect the ability to program parts but it does
prevent picp from detecting if a device is code protected and
generating the appropriate warning.

Erase program and erase ID locations (-ep and -ei) don't work for some parts,
at least with the Warp-13 programmer. At this time the reason is unknown.
If this problem occurs with a particular chip, try erasing the flash device
(-ef).

Although picp supports multiple commands (eg: picp /dev/ttyS1 16F84 -ef -wp file.hex),
I only test using one command at a time (testing time would grow beyond reason
otherwise). If a particular combination of commands doesn't seem to work, try
invoking picp separately for each command.

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IN CASE OF DIFFICULTY:

Every effort was taken to define all devices correctly, but the possibility
of errors still exists. If you have difficulty with a particular device,
type "picp <device>" to dump what picp believes are the characteristics of
the device. Please forward any errors or bugs to j_post <AT> pacbell <DOT> net.

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 See HISTORY for a revision history

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