For low pin-count devices (8 to 28 pins), a Header board is usually required. See the Header Board Specification (DS51292) or Header help file (hlpHeader.chm) for a list of available headers by device.

For high pin-count devices (40 to 100 pins), a Header board may be available, but is not required. See the Header Board Specification (DS51292) or Header help file (hlpHeader.chm) for a list of available headers by device.

2 Operating System Support

This tool has been tested using the following operating systems:

32-Bit: Windows^® 2000* SP4, Windows XP SP2, Windows Vista™ and Windows 7 OSs

64-Bit: Windows XP 64, and Windows Vista 64 OSs

NOTE: Windows NT^® and Windows 98/ME OSs are NOT supported.

* Some communication bandwidth issues may occur if this operating system is used. Resolution of these issues is in progress. If the bandwidth issue happens the operating system shows a dialog specifying that the USB HID controller does not have enough bandwidth. If this dialog does appear, the communications with PICkit 3 will not work until the PC is restarted.

3 Reference Documents

The following documents may be found on our website or MPLAB IDE CD-ROM:

· PICkit 3 Programmer/Debugger User's Guide (DS51795)

· Header Board Specification (DS51292)

· Transition Socket Specification (DS51194)

On-line help (Help>Topics) is also available for this tool:

· Debuggers>PICkit 3

The default location of the Help file is:

· C:\Program Files\Microchip\MPLAB IDE\PICkit3\hlpPICkit3.chm

4 What's New in v8.56

Bug fixes.

5 Repairs and Enhancements Made in v8.56

PK3-187: Cannot program a PIC16F690 using PICkit 3 as programmer.

PK3-206: Debugging fails for the PIC18F14K50/PIC18F14K22 device using PICkit 3 as debugger, also occurs on REAL ICE and MPLAB ICD 3.

PK3-198: PICkit 3 fails to program the debug executive for a PIC18F14K50 header.

PK3-179: Preserve program memory is non functional for PICkit 3 for certain PIC32MX devices.

PK3-173: PICkit 3 takes long time to connect to the target.

PK3-171: PICkit 3 will fail programming on a dsPIC33FJ256GP710 if a very specific address range is used.

6 Known Problems

The following is a list of known problems. For information on common problems, error messages and limitations, please see Troubleshooting in the online help file for the PICkit 3 (hlpPICkit3.chm). Bolded prefix represents internal tracking numbers.

6.1 General Issues

PK3-90:	The power on/off button will always start in on state when opening the workspace.
PK3-91:	MPLAB automatically applies power when switching between PICkit 3 and MPLAB ICD 3, if power from PICkit 3 was selected at the time of the switch.
PK3-104:	Preserve EEPROM option will not be available for devices with greater than 8k of EEPROM memory.
PK3-116:	Upper unimplemented bits in the configuration word are being programmed to a '0' for the PIC24FJ64GA004 family devices.
PK3-173:	PICkit 3 take a long time to connect to the target.
PK3-190:	Powering a device from the PICkit 3 can result in an invalid device ID error.

6.2 PIC12F/16F Devices

· On PIC16F88X devices it is necessary to pull the RB3/PGM pin low for ICSP programming. This is due to a silicon issue.

· If you cannot enter debug mode with one of the devices listed below, set the PWRTE (Power-Up Timer Enable bit) to DISABLED.

PIC16F1937 / PIC16LF1937

PIC16F1936 / PIC16LF1936

PIC16F1934 / PIC16LF1934

ICD2-109(Modified): PIC16F648A Family: If AC162049 is being used, remove the R1 pull-up resistor. Some devices require that a .1uF bypass capacitor be placed from the Vdd pin to the Vss pin of the device to successfully program the device. If programming failures still arise, try increasing this value incrementally to a maximum of 10uF.

ICD3-179: Headers AC162059, AC162070, and AC162096: You cannot simply switch between MPLAB ICD 2 and another debug tool when using these headers. For a workaround, see the PICkit 3 on-line help file, Limitations section, for the PIC16F505/506/526 device families.

SSR 26344: Below 4.5 V, PICkit will not overprogram User ID's on these devices:

PIC12F635	PIC16F684	PIC16F689	PIC16F914
PIC12F683	PIC16F685	PIC16F690	PIC16F916
PIC16F636	PIC16F687	PIC16F785	PIC16F917
PIC16F639	PIC16F688	PIC16F913	PIC16F946

6.3 PIC18F Devices

RI-400: If you are not able to enter debug mode when power-up timer is enabled for the following devices, please disable power-up timer during the debugging session. (If the final application firmware requires power-up timer enabled, please enable it after the debugging session is complete and program the part with the final application firmware.)

PIC18F4620/4610/2620/2610

PIC18F4680/2680/4681/2681

PIC18F4520/4420/2520/2420

PIC18F4550/2550/4455/2455

PIC18F8490/8410/6490/6410/8390/8310/6390/6310

PIC18F8722/8627/8622/8527/6722/6627/6622/6527

PIC18F2525/4525

PIC18F87K90/PIC18F86K90/PIC18F85K90/PIC18F67K90/PIC18F66K90/PIC18F65K90

PIC18F87K22/PIC18F86K22/PIC18F85K22/PIC18F67K22/PIC18F66K22/PIC18F65K22

· Watch window – It will take 1 cycle for the watch window to update properly for PORTx registers. Use an instruction that reads the port such as ‘MOVFF PORTx, PORTx_copy’ before the breakpoint is reached. This affects the following devices:

PIC18F4620	PIC18F84J90	PIC18F65J11
PIC18F63J90	PIC18F84J95	PIC18F83J11
PIC18F64J90	PIC18F85J90	PIC18F84J11
PIC18F64J95	PIC18F63J11	PIC18F84J16
PIC18F65J95	PIC18F64J11	PIC18F85J11
PIC18F83J90	PIC18F64J16	PIC18F8722

· For the PIC18F14K22 family, MPLAB IDE debug/programming tools will not work below 1.9v. The work-around is to run the device above 1.9v.

· PIC18F2520 MCUs: Table Read Protect (EBTRx) will not work unless Code Protect (CPx) is enabled. Also, once Table Read Protect is enabled, you cannot perform a Verify on the protected block.

· For PIC18F8720, MEMCON cannot be read if in a microcontroller mode. This is a silicon issue.

· PIC18F45K20/46K20 MCU family: There is a silicon issue that prevents some device revisions from being programmed with "power from programmer". The workaround is to use "power from target" OR increase the capacitance across VDD, VSS (for example to 47uF.)

6.4 PIC24F/H Devices

SSR 29399: PIC24F devices can start to run after programming but before verification. This can result in a verification failure if the code performs self-write to either program memory or Data EE.

ICD2-81: For PIC24F devices during a programming/verify operation (or subsequent verification operation) of user code that performs self-writes and/or self-erases to program space, a verify sequence may fail if the code execution occurs within the first execution cycles following reset.

Workaround: Place a delay in your code before the code section that performs the self-write and/or self-erase. The specific delay value may need to be adjusted, but 100 ms would be a conservative value to start out with. Here is a C language example that illustrates the workaround:

int main (void)

{

// Place 100 ms delay here before any self-write/self-erase code

: : :

}

PK3-78: PICkit 3 cannot program a PIC24F16KA102 device at 2.0 v using PICkit 3 as debugger.

PK3-116: Upper unimplemented bits in the configuration word are being programmed to a '0'. [PIC24FJ64GA004 device].

RI-412: PIC24FJ256DA210 Family: Data Memory not functional unless 96 MHz PLL is enabled. This is a silicon issue that is being worked on.

6.5 dsPIC30F Devices

PICkit 3 does not support preserve EEPROM memory during programming.

PK3-115:

PICkit 3 is unable to erase the debug executive programmed by MPLAB ICD 2. The symptom of this problem is “Failed to program debug”. The workaround is to erase the device using MPLAB ICD 2. Power cycle the device and then program with PICkit 3.

6.6 dsPIC33F Devices

PK3-171: PICkit 3 will fail programming on a dsPIC33FJ256GP710 if a very specific address range is used.

6.7 PIC32 Devices

PK3-101:	PK3 programming-to-go does not support the PIC32MX devices at this time.
PK3-172	Full Range button under programming options for PICkit 3 is not functional for the PIC32MX devices.
PK3-179:	Preserve program memory is non-functional for PK3 for certain PIC32MX devices.

7 Important Notes

7.1 16-Bit Devices

1. RB0 and RB1 pins:
If the PICkit 3 is selected as a debugger, it initializes all the A/D input pins - AN0 (RB0) through AN15 (RB15) pins - as "digital" pins, by setting all 16 bits in the ADPCFG register.

If you have selected a pair of "debug pins" (EMUD/EMUC, EMUD1/EMUC1, EMUD2/EMUC2 or EMUD3/EMUC3) that are multiplexed with A/D input pin functions on the particular dsPIC30f device being used, then you must never clear the bits in the ADPCFG register that correspond to those A/D pins.

For example, if EMUD3 and EMUC3 are used as the debug pins on a dsPIC30F2010 device, then bits 0 and 1 of the ADPCFG register must remain set at all times. Similarly, if EMUD and EMUC are used as the debug pins on a dsPIC30F5011 device, then bits 6 and 7 of the ADPCFG register must remain set at all times. In such cases, you must also take proper precaution to isolate the application circuitry from the corresponding A/D pins during debugging.

If your application needs to use certain A/D pins as analog input pins, then your code must clear the corresponding bits in the ADPCFG register during A/D module initialization.

For example, if AN4 and AN5 are required as analog input pins, then bits 4 and 5 of the ADPCFG register must be cleared.

2. SLEEP, IDLE, WDT, Clock Switching:
For dsPIC devices, debug operations can be executed on programs which use SLEEP or IDLE mode, Watchdog Timer, and/or Clock Switching.

3. Debug during SLEEP or IDLE Mode:
When the device is in SLEEP and IDLE mode and a Halt command is issued, the PICkit 3 debugger will wake up the device and halt execution on the instruction immediately following the PWRSAV instruction.

4. Interrupts:

In general, single-stepping an instruction will not generate an interrupt or trap, because the corresponding interrupt/trap status flag bit would not get set. Essentially, the interrupt or trap condition would be ignored.
However, if the user has explicitly set an interrupt/trap flag bit, either in the user program or by modifying the status flag values in the MPLAB Watch, SFR or File Registers window, then the interrupt/trap would get generated, and the user would be able to single-step into the Interrupt or Trap Service Routine.

5. Break Point Behavior:
If a break point is set on an instruction that follows a taken branch, the Breakpoint will be triggered even though the branch went elsewhere.

6. Break Point Behavior and Skidding:
It is possible that a breakpoint halt will exhibit program memory skidding in that the execution stops N instructions after reaching the breakpoint. The following definitions are provided and referred to:

· One skid - A breakpoint occurs AFTER the instructions is executed (PC+2)

· Two skid - A break point occurs AFTER the NEXT instruction (PC+4)

Break Point Behavior:

· If a Non-Program-Flow, modifying, Single-Word, Two-Cycle instruction (such as Table or PSV) precedes a break point instruction, then the breakpoint occurs BEFORE the instruction at the breakpoint address is executed (ONE SKID).

· All other instructions have a "TWO SKID", which means the break occurs AFTER the NEXT instruction is executed.

7. The CAN module, unlike the other peripherals, does not get frozen in the following situations:

· during a Halt

· during a stop on a Breakpoint

· after a Single-Step

For example, if you set a Breakpoint and run to it, the CAN module continues to run in the background, and it may seem that data transmissions and receptions have completed immediately.

8. DISICNT register:
In five dsPIC30F devices (dsPIC30F6010, dsPIC30F6011, dsPIC30F6012, dsPIC30F6013 and dsPIC30F6014), since the DISICNT register continues to decrement even when the device is halted by the debugger, the DISICNT value will always be seen as 0x0000 in the Watch, SFR and File Registers windows. To monitor the DISICNT value, add code to copy the DISICNT register contents to a W register or memory location and monitor the value of the corresponding W register or memory location in the Watch, SFR or File Registers window.

9. ADCMD bit in PMD1 register:
The user application must not set the ADCMD bit (bit 0 of PMD1 register). This would lead to incorrect ICE operation.

10. SPLIM register:
When using the PICkit 3 as a Debugger, your software must initialize the Stack Pointer Limit register (SPLIM) before using the stack (device errata).

11. Single-stepping a DO loop:
In five dsPIC30F devices (dsPIC30F6010, dsPIC30F6011, dsPIC30F6012, dsPIC30F6013 and dsPIC30F6014), single-stepping through a DO loop in dsPIC30F assembly code results in the loop getting executed one less time than expected.

12. Pass Counter feature in Advanced Breakpoints:
For a specified Pass count of 'N', the code will break after 'N+1' occurrences of the breakpoint instead of 'N' occurrences.

13. If you need to use the Fail-Safe Clock Monitor feature on a dsPIC device when using the PICkit 3 for debugging your application, a Watchdog Timer Device Reset will occur, even if the Watchdog Timer has not been explicitly enabled in the application. To work around this issue, use the "CLRWDT" instruction in the main loop of your application code. This will ensure that the Watchdog Timer gets cleared before it causes the device to reset.

8 Reserved Resources

Due to the built-in in-circuit debugging capability of ICE devices, and the ICSP function offered by the debugger, the PICkit 3 programmer/debugger uses on-chip resources when debugging, i.e., some device resources are reserved for use by the debugger.

Refer to the on-line help for the most up-to-date list of resources used by the debugger.

9 Number of Hardware Breakpoints Per Device

To see the number of breakpoints supported for your device and the number of breakpoints used in your project, use the Device Debug Resource toolbar. For more on this toolbar, see MPLAB IDE on-line help.