Thanks for the tips Rick. I'm afraid I'm getting nowhere programming the PIC. I've never done this before. I bought the PICKit 3, downloaded the software for it (just the stand alone programmer app, I've tried both version 1 from the DLA wiki and version 3.1 from the Microchip website. I was able to get version 3.1 to connect to the PICKit 3 (see attached), but version 1 wouldn't even get that far.
I downloaded the pixelnet hex file and tried to do a "File -> Import Hex" in the app, but I think that's premature. Notice it says "no device found". So, looks like I'm in the same situation as Segull. Frankly I'm surprised there isn't at least a short tutorial on how to do this. It doesn't look straightforward or self explanatory at all. I looked at the PICKit 3 User's Guide from Microchip, but it talks mostly about debugging, not much there on how to simply program a device. Is the app supposed to recognize the device right away?
I tried "Device Family -> PIC32", and then got what you see in the second attachment, "No device detected. Ensure proper capacitance on VDDCORE/VCAP pin."
The app will not quit gracefully, when I try to exit it throws an exception and refuses to quit. I have to kill it by force. (Ctrl-Alt-Delete, End Task).
Adventures in DIY eh? :-) Oh well, this is why I got started in March for next Christmas :-)
BTW in case it matters I'm running Win7 Home Premium, Version 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1 Build 7601, x64 version
Processor AMD A8-3500M APU with Radeon(tm) HD Graphics, 1500 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
I'm pretty sure I've got good solder joints, though a few of them did 'frost' a bit. Does that mean a cold solder joint? Those that did this, I tried heating longer, reheating, etc but the result was the same. I've successfully soldered a DIY drone board set before, so I don't think I've done anything fatal. That device worked just fine and it was a lot smaller and harder to solder. I did make sure I got solder on the pads on the top side of the board.
The last three attachments are of the board and setup.
Thanks in advance, you guys are great. I'm really excited and I know this is going to be awesome when I get it working. I have my smart strings already and the SSCs are on the way. Right now I'm just hoping to get basic blinky flashy with the LE I built.
Gary