Digilent chipKIT Pro MX7 Reference Manual page 3

chipKIT™ Pro MX7 Board Reference Manual
1.1 Using the chipKIT Pro MX7 with Microchip Development Tools
The Microchip MPLAB IDE or the MPLAB X IDE can be used to program and debug code running on the chipKIT Pro
MX7 board using the built-in programming/debugging circuit.
The MPLAB development environment can be downloaded from the Microchip website. This software suite
includes a free evaluation copy of the Microchip C32 compiler for use with the PIC32 microcontroller family. The
licensed debugger is compatible with the MPLAB IDE version 8.63 or later, or all versions of MPLAB X.
When creating a new project, use the "Configure.Select Device..." menu to specify the PIC32 device being used.
Ensure that the device is set to PIC32MX795F512L.
In order to use the on-board programming/debugging circuit, it must be selected as the debugger or programmer
within the MPLAB IDE. Use the "Debugger.Select Tool" menu, or the "Programmer.Select Tool" menu, and select
"Licensed Debugger" as the programmer or debugger.
The licensed debugger interface uses USB connector J15, labeled DEBUG. Connector J15 is a USB micro-B
connector located on the left side of the board below the Ethernet RJ45 connector. Use a USB-A to micro-B cable
(provided with the board) to connect to an available USB port on the PC.
When the licensed debugger is selected as the programming or debugging device, the MPLAB IDE will check the
version number of the firmware running on the debugger and offer to update if it is out of date with the version of
MPLAB being used.
The PIC32 in-system programming/debugging interface uses two pins on the microcontroller. These devices
support two alternate pin pairs for this interface: PGC1/PGD1 or PGC2/PGD2. The PGC2/PGD2 pair is used by
default. Due to conflicting uses of the microcontroller pins, the chipKIT Pro MX7 is designed to use the PGC1/PGD1
pair of pins. Because of this, it is necessary to select the use of PGC1/PGD1 for the debugging interface. This is
done using configuration variables set using the #pragma config statement. The following statement must be
used to configure the microcontroller for use with the on-board licensed debugger circuit:
#pragma config ICESEL = ICS_PGx1
The MPLAB IDE may report an error indicating that the device is not configured for debugging until a program
containing this statement has been programmed into the board.
The MCLR pin on the PIC32 microcontroller is used by the hardware programming/debugging interface to reset the
processor. This same pin is used by the USB serial converter to reset the processor when using the MPIDE. It is
possible that the reset function from the USB serial interface can interfere with correct operation of the Microchip
programming and debugging tools. If this happens, jumper JP11 can be used to disconnect the USB serial converter
reset circuit. Remove the shorting block from JP11 to disable the reset circuit. If the shorting block has been
removed, it is necessary to reinstall it on JP11 in order to use the chipKIT Pro MX7 board with the MPIDE again.
Using the Microchip development tools to program the chipKIT Pro MX7 will erase the chipKIT boot loader. To use
the board with the MPIDE again, it is necessary to program the boot loader back onto the board. The programming
file for the boot loader programmed into the board by Digilent at the factory is available for download from the
product page for the chipKIT Pro MX7 on the Digilent web site. Additionally, the boot loader source code is
available in the chipKIT project repository at www.github.com/chipKIT32/pic32-Arduino-Bootloader.
To reprogram the boot loader using MPLAB, perform the following steps:
 Use the "Configure.Select Device ..." menu to select the PIC32MX795F512L
 Use the "Programmer.Select Programmer" menu to select the "Licensed Debugger".
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