Can VM203 be used with Linux?

Modules Microcontroller Programmer - Experimenting Project
1

Hi all,

I was thinking of acquiring a VM203 PIC programmer but before I do I was wondering if someone could answer the following question.

Can this programmer be used with MPLAB X IDE running on Kubuntu Linux ?

Best regards,

Stuart

2

I am not sure.
This device behaves like a PicKit2,and i don’t know if Microchip even supports pickit2 anymore.
Which IC do you want to program?

3

Good morning,

Thank you for your swift reply.

I wanted to start by using a 16F84A which I already have and then move on from there.

I have already installed MPLAB X IDE and MPLAB IPE, both v5.30, onto Kubuntu Linux 19.04 without any problems. The hope is that I can use the Velleman VM203 in this setup, using the IPE to download
software to the PIC.

Best regards,

Stuart

4

It seems the PICKit 2 doesn’t work with MPLAB IPE.
According to this document only the following programming tools work with MPLAB IPE:

  • MPLAB ICD 4 In-Circuit Debugger
  • MPLAB PICkit 4 In-Circuit Debugger
  • J-32 Debug Probe
  • MPLAB PM3 Programmer
5

Good afternoon,

Thank you for another swift reply. It would seem that I have got hold of the wrong end of the stick with regards to MPLAB IPE. So, I guess that I just need to know if the VM203 programmer would work with MPLAB X IDE v5.30.

Best regards,

Stuart

6

Yes, seems to work in Windows version. You can check in the Linux version by opening or creating a project and then checking in the Project Properties if the PICkit2 exists there under Alternate Tools. (No programmer is needed to be connected to check.)
The device is programmable with PICkit 2 and VM203 if the two dots there are yellow or green.
The complete Device Support list can be found in the Windows version in the folder:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microchip\MPLABX\v5.30\docs
BTW: PIC16F84 and PIC16F84A are not supported to program with the PICkit 2 using MPLAB X IDE v5.30.

pickit 2
pickit 2902×581 30.3 KB

7

Good morning,

Thank you for such a clear response. I did as you suggested and found that, in “Project Properties” and with “Device:” set to PIC16F84A, in “Hardware Tool:” PICkit2 was prepended by a single red circle which I take it means that PICkit2 cannot be used to program that particular PIC chip.

However, I noticed at that time that both PICkit3 and PICkit 4 were both prepended by two colored circles, the first being red and the second being green. Do you happen to know what that color scheme indicates ?

Please accept my thanks for all of your help so far.

Best regards,

Stuart

8

Yes, this indicates the PIC16F84A can’t be programmed with PICkit 2 directly from within MPLAB X IDE.
But, in Windows environment it can be programmed using PICkit 2 V2.61 software and the HEX file from MPLAB X IDE.
You’ll find the supported device list and all PICkit 2 related documents and software here: PICkit 2 Development Programmer/Debugger

This indicates that both PICkit3 and PICkit 4 have no debug support but full programming support for this device.

When there is only one circle, it means the whole device support.
When two circles, first indicates the debugging support and the second one the programming support.

Red color indicates no support.
Yellow indicates preliminary, beta support, not production tested.
Green indicates full, production tested support.