A couple of years ago I bought a K8048 kit for programming PICs. I built it and connected it to my PC. It wouldn’t work at first - ‘K8048 not found at Com1’. I fiddled endlessly with settings, but had not joy. Then - a few days after the original build - I tried it and it worked. It worked flawlessly thereafter. I built a PIC-based electronic ignition system for my XS250, a car alarm and various LED flashing devices.
Since originally having the K8048 and using it a lot, it eventually went into storage next to my favourite old Psion 3a. Between then and now, I’ve had more kids, a replacement PC, extensive root canal work, a couple of great big motorbikes and an ant problem. Recently, though, I wanted to get back into the PIC side of things and drafted a rough design for a binary clock - based on a PIC at its centre. I dug out my trusty K8048 and plugged everything in. Alas! ‘K8048 not found at Com1’!
I put this failure down to a poor original build, so went and bought a new VM111 (the ready-made K8048) from Maplin. Let me just say that the soldering on the back was brilliant compared to my own efforts. It even came with a brand new serial cable! Last night I plugged it into the serial port on my PC, but unfortunately I got: ‘K8048 not found at Com1’.
I am using Windows XP and the PC has a serial port built into it (the motherboard had been specifically selected to ensure this).
I have tried the following:
- Changing the serial port settings in Windows device manager (many times).
- Changing the BIOS settings (many times - from IRQ3 to IRQ4 to ‘Auto’)
- Changing the serial cable for some older ones I’ve got in a box of bits.
- Changing the settings in the programming software.
- Checked the power supply - it is 12Vdc unregulated.
Important: The power light comes on on the board. The included PIC can be run successfully (it lights the different lights on the testing part of the board).
When I put it into program mode, the little read/write light comes on and the ‘Tardis-like’ red flashing light begins its ‘dance of joy’. If I then try to ‘write’ from the software the error message comes up on the screen, but the little light goes off. The little light comes back on when I ‘OK’ the error message. I guess this means that the serial port must be connected and that I must have selected the correct one?
I’ve read through the other posts at length. Some people have had this problem, but their solutions did not work for me. The problem is identical on both my K8048 (now lovingly restored) and on my brand new ‘gleaming’ VM111.
Any help or suggestions greatly appreciated. This is a great product and I got a lot of enjoyment and value out of it last time round. Every new electronics project I can now think of (and there are quite a few) is PIC-based - so I need this baby working!