Before You Debug Using Windows & MPLAB X IDE

1 December 2011 Before You Debug Using Windows & MPLAB X IDEI nstructions for updating Windows USB drivers to allow MPLAB IDE access to Debug toolsAfter downloading Microchip's new MPLAB X IDE and marvelling over its new features, you may have discovered that the IDE is not communicating with your trusty hardware debugger or programmer. What's going on?This webinar shows what you need to do to get your Debug tools up and running in MPLAB X IDE. This information is only relevant if you are Using the Windows version of the IDE and are Using it with the MPLAB REAL ICE, ICD 2 or 3, the MPLAB PM3 or the PIC32 starter kit -- Pic32 SKDE. This webinar will also explain how you can continue to use your version 8 MPLAB IDE with the same debugger tools after you have installed MPLAB X.

2 2011 Microchip Technology Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Before You Debug Using MPLAB X IDE Slide 2X versus 8 USB drivers Different USB drivers used by the IDEs: MPLAB X uses generic WinUSB driver MPLAB v8 uses custom driver Debuggers must use the matching driver You must update the debugger to use MPLAB X You must revert thedebugger to useMPLAB v8 MPLAB X indicatesincompatible driversThe MPLAB X IDE uses different USB drivers to its predecessor, MPLAB IDE version 8. Rather than Using custom USB drivers, MPLAB X uses the generic WinUSB driver to communicate with Debug Debug tools you connect to your PC must be Using the same driver as the IDE.

3 Before you can use MPLAB X, you must update the drivers in your Debug tools. This also means that if you plan to use MPLAB version 8 after running MPLAB X, you need to revert the drivers back for them to work with the older X will show you if the wrong driver is loaded in the Project Properties dialog. The blue exclamation mark, indicating an incompatible driver, can be seen in the graphic on this slide under my REAL ICE tool. 2011 Microchip Technology Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Before You Debug Using MPLAB X IDE Slide 3 Run MPLAB driver switcherAn application called " MPLAB driver switcher" is provided that allows you to easily swap the Debug tool drivers back and forth.

4 It is installed when you install MPLAB X. An icon for it can be found on the desktop, and it also appears in the Windows start menu, under Programs > Microchip > MPLAB X you run this program, connect your debugger to your computer with the USB cable. As you are updating the debugger's drivers, it must be connected during this procedure. Also, quit MPLAB IDE if it is the driver switcher and watch the video insert on this slide to see the program in switcher program knows the default location of the IDEs and hence the drivers to install, but if you have installed these elsewhere, click the Advanced button and browse to find the indicated files in your IDE's change driver, first indicate which Debug tool you have connected and intend to update.

5 I will update my REAL ICE so I need to select this from the list. Now indicate for this tool the driver you wish to install. Choose either the MPLAB 8 or MPLAB X radio button. I want to use this debugger with MPLAB X, so I'll click the MPLAB X button. Click 'Apply Changes' to start the conversion. The update process can take a few can update more than one tool in the one step. You must connect all the Debug tools to be updated. Indicate the desired driver for each tool and leave the driver selection to 'Do Not Change' for any tool not being you have more than one of each debugger tool, you might consider updating only some of them, so that you have tools on hand for both MPLAB X and MPLAB 8. Make sure you label which tool is the update process is complete, you will see a report which should indicate 'No error'.

6 And that's all there is to it. Close the application and re-run your IDE. 2011 Microchip Technology Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Before You Debug Using MPLAB X IDE Slide 4 Check the projectproperties Click Refresh Debug ToolStatus to see tool detailsMy project properties in MPLAB X now indicates that the Debug tool is correctly set up and can be used by the IDE. Notice that the blue exclamation mark is no longer indicated next to the REAL ICE in the upper graphic on the the project dashboard, shown in the lower graphic, I clicked the 'Refresh Debug Tool Status' button which updated the Debug tool details, and which are shown at the bottom of this can alternatively update the drivers Using the 'Device Manager' in 'System Properties' from the Window's 'Control Panel', but the switcher application is much easier to use and is remember, that if you do need to run MPLAB 8 after updating to the generic drivers, you must switch back to the custom drivers Before you can use your Debug tools with this IDE.