Hi guys,
Quite an adventure, but I'm making progress!
BTW there is a note on the Wiki that says "NOTE2: Only use the Pickit 3 utility and not MPLAB to program the firmware." The instructions that Rick pointed to are explicit in the use of MPLAB. Can someone please fix the wiki? Or am I allow to? Probably admins only. While we're at it, there should be a prominent link to the directions Rick pointed out in the "PIC Programming" section of the wiki. Can someone fix that also?
Turns out the PICKit 3 has two modes, MPLAB mode and the other mode used with the stand alone programmer app (forget what they call that mode). Anyway, mine was in "that other mode" and I was trying to use it with MPLAB. So, in MPLAB, I was getting the following error:
PK3Err0033: 4 bytes expected, 0 bytes received
That's because it was in the wrong mode. The solution is to quit MPLAB, start the standalone PICKit 3 programmer, and go to "Tools -> Revert to MPLAB mode". Quit the programmer and restart MPLAB and continue with the procedure in the instructions in the wiki. Import the firmware (checksum didn't match what's on the wiki BTW, mine was 0xf8cd8ee4), select the device (this seems to persist once you've set it), select the PICKit 3 and voila! Finally getting somewhere (see first attachment).
I am using the power supply for the EtherDongle. You can either do that or use the PICKit 3 to power the ED. OK, that abbreviation makes me uncomfortable :-) let's spell it out - EtherDongle :-) (comic relief)
Bingo! (see second attachment) Now on to the next step, trying to get the PC and Vixen3 to talk to the EtherDongle...
Gary