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I've got a HP-488-00-3 PICMicro development board with a PIC18F452-I/P chip which I am trying to program with the ICD2 debugger. The appropriate software is installed, I built one of the ASM example files that came with MPLAB (it was written for the 18F452 chip). The program appears to build properly and gets programmed onto the chip, but then an error shows up in my output window saying that debug mode couldn't be entered.
Here's a sample of what I've been getting:
MPLAB ICD 2 Ready
Programming Target...
...Validating configuration fields
...Erasing Part
...Programming Program Memory (0x0 - 0x7DBF)
...Loading DebugExecutive
...Programming DebugExecutive
...Programming Debug Vector
...Programming RSBUG
Verifying...
...Program Memory
...Debug Executive
...Debug Vector
...Verify Succeeded
Programming Configuration Bits
.. Config Memory
Verifying configuration memory...
...Verify Succeeded
Connecting to debug executive
ICD0083: Debug: Unable to enter debug mode. Please double click this message for more information.
MPLAB ICD 2 Ready


I've already followed the error link to the troubleshooting manual and looked at their suggestions - none of them applied to this case. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Hello

In MPLAB under Configure - Configuration Bits you should have the option to enable or disable the dedicated in circuit port. This will probably have to be enabled for the debugging to work.

I'm not seeing anything like that in the configuration bits. Might it be under a different name?

I'm actually rather skeptical as to whether the chip is being programmed at all, because it's not behaving like the code would imply. I don't know, however, whether that's a bug in the asm code or a lack of programming on the part of the software, or an incompatibility with the board.

Benj wrote:Hello

In MPLAB under Configure - Configuration Bits you should have the option to enable or disable the dedicated in circuit port. This will probably have to be enabled for the debugging to work.

Hello

I see what you mean about the missing configuration setting. Not really sure what to suggest here. Is this chip actually capable of debugging?

Flowcode programs our boards fine using the ICD2 so it is not the hardware at fault.

I know that MPLAB does strange things with the configuration. Eg it only embedds it into a hex file after a File -> Export so im not sure if it will be placed into the hex file as it is programmed. This may explain why your program appears not to be runnning. Im not an expert on MPLAB though.