18FxxQ43 support

[mpgmike]

Charles, are you figuring out a way around this dreaded pic-as crap yet? The Microchip Forum makes it out to be a dysfunctional nightmare.

[Charles Leo]

No good news yet. I'll keep working on it.

I published version 3.1.3. You (Mike) should replace the previous beta version because I fixed HPWM for the 16F184xx family that you're using. I made some changes to the installer to help guide users to MPLABX 5.35.

[Ioannis]

Thank you Charles for the update and the efforts to keep our beloved PBP alive.

Ioannis

[mpgmike]

I did update it. You mentioned several things that didn't seem to be part of the Beta I had, so I just updated. Thanks again for your efforts.

[longpole001]

Hi charles , is there an expected update time to support the q43 series , cheers

[Ioannis]

I have also strong interest on that chip to.
Any good news please?

Ioannis

[Charles Leo]

It's proving to be troublesome, especially in our device programmers. I've called in some help.

[Ioannis]

OK, thank you.

Ioannis

[longpole001]

hi charles , has q43 support any closer to being completed ?

[mpgmike]

I know he is working on it. I think I may have helped him some with it. (Imagine that! ME helping CHARLES!!)

[Ioannis]

It is a different beast and understand that this needs more time to make it work. Thanks for the help you offer to accomplish this task!

Ioannis

[Charles Leo]

I have new files for the programmer, clues from Mike, and a few days to work without interruption. I'm hopeful. Taking another stab at it.

[Charles Leo]

I've made some progress. The programmer is now working and PBP is working except for some of the peripheral-based commands. I hope the rewrites are limited to HPWM and READ/ERASE/WRITECODE. I think the HSER commands and ADCIN are ok.

[Ioannis]

Thanks for the report. Will this cover all Q43 chips?

Ioannis

[mpgmike]

The Microchip Forum has had quite a few threads from ASM guys starting with the release of the Q10 (the 1st of the Qxx series). The memory is organized totally differently than previous Kxx versions. (If you look at the data sheets for the PIC18FxxK42 and PIC18FxxQ10 there really aren't any stark differences in peripherals, just Memory locations.) There are the MOVF vs MOVFF commands (which the K4x used). To make changes to any Registers affecting PWMx on the Q43 you MUST set PWMxCON0.LD bit for the changes to have any affect; this has a serious impact on the PBP3 HPWM command. Plus there's a whole lot more stuff they changed.

Microchip has introduced many new parts with new peripherals since the original PBP was created. Due to similar memory structures with older parts that PBP was created for, it didn't take much for us to utilize these newer peripherals; albeit without specific PBP commands. However, lately MC has radically changed many many things. MPLABX no longer supports MPASM in favor of PIC-AS (pronounced PIC ***), which is a totally different animal. PBP uses MPASM for all the heavy lifting behind the scenes. This change is why the new PBP version Charles is developing will use MPLABX v5.35, as it is the last version to use MPASM.

That's what I do know. What I don't know is if Charles will be creating new PBP Commands that will manipulate some of the newer peripherals like CLC, DMA, AT, specialty UART/SPI/I2C communications protocols, CRC, 8/16 bit Timer0, TMR2/4/6 HLT, ADC2, USB, CAN, HEF, PPS, CWG, SMT, NCO, PMD, ZCD, HLVD, Temperature Indicator, Vectored Interrupts......... Oh, and any new integrations would require a total re-write of the PBP Manual!!


In my estimation it would take a team of at least a half dozen software engineers about 2 years to bring PBP back to the full-functionality it enjoyed when the latest and greatest was a PIC16Cxx. Kudos to Charles for tackling this major upgrade. I expect this new upgrade to allow us to use the Data Sheets to manipulate the SFRs for these new peripherals to get them functional, but without new Commands added. In addition to being able to successfully generate a functional Hex file, Charles has to get the U2 Programmer capable of working with these new platforms.

I know he contemplated whether or not to even consider tackling this monumental project. I was actually surprised when he announced he accepted the challenge. I know PBP users are dwindling. The sales of PBP3, U2 programmers, Dev Boards, and so forth may possibly cover the cost of the ads, but not much more. In other words, PBP is not a profitable venture any more. Charles has committed to supporting us -- legacy PBP users -- regardless of profits (it's in his contract!). If you're the religious type, include Charles in your prayers. Give thanks to our creator that such virtue still exists in today's world.

Charles, thank you very much! If you need any other help, please just ask. If I'm not the one with the answer, there really are some bright PBP users on this Forum. Someone surely has the new clues you need to conquer the latest speed bump.