A better programmer for PIC microcontroller?

Question

I work with a project which uses PIC32 and PIC24 controllers.My setup has a Console board(PIC32) which communicates with 3 slave boards(PIC24) over RS485.

I have two projects -One for Console and other for 3 Slaves under development.

Currently i use a ICD3 to program them and it literally sucks with those irritating bugs while removing them and programming them.I don't know if the issue is the ICD3 cable or the ICD3 itself which is pretty new.I get errors like- Device id error,FPGA error, etc

I use MPLABX 2.0 IDE and don't have MPLAB8 to avoid another nag of Driver switch.

• Is there any better and faster way to program when you have multiple boards and projects?

• Can i add any interface with USB for programming on on my board to avoid ICD3? Like Arduino? USB to USB on PC for faster change of board and programming?

• Spehro 'speff' Pefhany: RealICE works nicely for me, but then I think ICD3 is okay too.
• Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams: I thought PIC supported ICSP...
• Spehro 'speff' Pefhany: @IgnacioVazquez-Abrams Yes, we're talking about the the tools used for ICSP.
• Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams: Ah. "Removing them" had me confused. Anyways, pogo pins very close to the programmer.

Answer 1

I have an ICD3, and the real ice with lvds pack. I think you would find that the icd3 on MPLAB8 is much more solid. I find it similar to you with the icd3 on mplabx 2.0. The only reason I put up with it is that the ide is much nicer for coding. For debugging, mplab8 is 200% superior in all aspects. I do think perhaps, that the real ice is more solid with mplabx than the icd3, but that could vary depending on the mcu chosen. That said, the real ice seems to have a few of these annoyers too, though they appear to be much fewer with my target mcu of the pic32mx460f512l and the lvds pak.

I cannot understand this problem. Its like they hire the best for their silicon side, and fall short on their debugging/ide system. Its ok when it works, but these little bugs are annoying enough to look around at other offerings. However, my legacy projects and their unparalleled silicon/library offerings keep me from it.

• Erik Friesen: I know this silicon/library thing will generate comments, so, tell me where to find the competitors free graphics libraries to begin with.
• Gopi: Agree.Mplab 8 is stable with icd3.This is the reason i keep updating mplabx for stability.
• Gopi: Ya its working now.There is a option to set one project as Main project.I didn't check it.Now its ok.