Last week I got a PIC16F877A which wasn’t programmable with my own JDM, although I burned a lot of ..A chips with this programmer before.
I noticed that the voltage at MCLR# was lower than on a “common” PIC16F877A. It didn’t help to vary the software settings of IC-Prog like IO-Delay or Interface type of IC-Prog, so I finally tried to increase vpp by using an external PSU - with success!
Maybe (or hopefully) this is the solution for everybody who wasn’t able to burn a PIC (especially the new …A and the PIC18F types) yet:
- use either two 9V batteries or a PSU which delivers at least 15V. A regulator isn’t required, the zener diodes limit the voltage
- don’t forget the 220 Ohm resistor - it limits the current and protects the circuit
- plug the PIC directly into the JDM module socket when you burn it the first time, because an erased PIC requires the pull-down resistor at pin RB3 which disables the low-voltage programming mode.
Good luck!
Best Regards, Thorsten.
