Post by thread:The unused 40 pin pickstart socket.

> Can the unused 40 pin pickstart socket be used forprogramming 40 pin > PIC chips?. Based on partially tracing the connections, it appears that the extra 40 pin footprint on the PICSTART-16B was intended for use in programming the 17C42. The firmware on the board probably doesn't support it, and the MPSTART program on the PC certainly doesn't. They probably planned to sell a board with the 40 pin socket as a PICSTART-17, but they haven't done so (yet). The 40 pin pads would not work at all for programming the 16C64 and 16C74. You might be able to wire an adapter to program these parts, and tell the software that you're programming a 16C71. You would only be able to use the first 1K words of program though. The PICSTART-16B1 doesn't have the extra 40 pin pads at all. The PICSTART-16C will program the 16C64 and 16C74, and is rumored to program the forthcoming 28-pin 16C63 and 16C73 as well. By the way, the latest firmware for the PICSTART-16B and PICSTART-16B1 is version 1.7. If you use the 16C84 I would strongly recommend upgrading, and if you use the 16C58A you _must_ upgrade. The upgrade should be available free from your Microchip representative. Eric