Digilent 410-295P-KIT User Manual

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ChipKIT Pro MX4 Reference Manual

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running on the PIC32MX460 microcontroller is supported using an on-board programming/debugging circuit

licensed from Microchip.

The ChipKIT Pro MX4 is immediately useable with either the MPLAB IDE or the MPIDE. No additional hardware is

required to use the board with the Microchip MPLAB tools.

2.1 Using ChipKIT Pro MX4 with Microchip Development Tools

The Microchip MPLAB

IDE or the MPLAB

X IDE can be used to program and debug code running on the ChipKIT

Pro MX4 board using the built-in programming/debugging circuit licensed from Microchip.

The MPLAB development environment can be downloaded from the Microchip web site. This software suite
includes a free evaluation copy of the Microchip C32 compiler for use with the PIC32 microcontroller family. The
licensed debugger is compatible with the MPLAB IDE version 8.63 or later.

When creating a new project, use the “Configure.Select Device…” menu to specify the PIC32 device being used.
Ensure that the device is set to PIC32MX460F512L.

In order to use the on-board program/debug circuit it must be selected as the debugger or programmer within the
MPLAB IDE. Use the “Debugger.Select Tool” menu, or the “Programmer.Select Tool” menu, and select “Licensed
Debugger” as the programmer or debugger.

The licensed debugger interface uses USB connector J9, labeled DEBUG. Connector J9 is a USB micro-B connector,

located next to the power switch. Use a USB-A to micro-B cable (provided with the board) to connect to an

available USB port on the PC.

When the licensed debugger is selected as the programming or debugging device, the MPLAB IDE will check the

version number of the firmware running on the debugger and offer to update it if is out of date with the version of

MPLAB being used.

The in-system programming/debugging interface uses two pins on the PIC32 microcontroller. The PIC32 devices

support two alternate pin pairs for this interface: PGC1/PGD1 or PGC2/PGD2. PIC32 devices use PGC2/PGD2 by

default. The ChipKIT Pro MX4 is designed to use PGC2/PGD2. It is not normally necessary to select the use of

PGC2/PGD2 for the debugging interface, as this should occur automatically.

If for some reason, it is necessary to select the correct pins for the programming/debugging interface, this can

done using configuration variables set using the #pragma config statement. The following statement can be

used to configure the microcontroller for use with the on-board licensed debugger circuit:

#pragma config ICESEL = ICS_PGx2

The MPLAB IDE may report an error indicating that the device is not configured for debugging until the first time a
program is loaded onto the board, or a program that is configured to use PGC1/PGD1 has been programmed.

The MCLR pin on the PIC32 microcontroller is used by the hardware programming/debugging interface to reset the

processor. This same pin is used by the USB serial converter to reset the processor when using the MPIDE. It is

possible that the reset function from the USB serial interface can interfere with correct operation of the Microchip

programming and debugging tools. If this happens, jumper JP8 can be used to disconnect the USB serial converter

reset circuit. Remove the shorting block from JP8 to disable the reset circuit. If the shorting block has been

removed, it is necessary to reinstall it on JP8 in order to use the ChipKIT Pro MX4 board with the MPIDE again.

Using the Microchip development tools to program the ChipKIT Pro MX4 will erase the chipKIT boot loader. To use
the board with the MPIDE again, it is necessary to program the boot loader back onto the board. The programming