My PIC16F18345 has stopped working properly as an I²C device. It could send data (I could read from it) but it could not receive (I could not write to it.) Debugging this behavior, I got as far as determining a flag on a status register is not being set correctly by the MSSP module. This is beyond my means to repair or work around in software. In the last post I described an ugly hack of a I²C protocol to let me get a little bit of work done, but what I really need is a new chip. I placed an order from Microchip Direct and the replacements are on their way.

In the meantime, I borrowed a PICkit 3 programmer and a tube of chips from Tux-Lab to see if I can continue working until my order arrived. The chip is PIC16F1847, an older design with fewer features but in the same general family as the PIC16F18345 I've been learning. I could not load the exact same compiled code onto the chip, but the C code I wrote was fairly painless to migrate. The steps were:

  1. Created a new PIC16F1847 project in MPLAB X.
  2. Configured the chip for I²C communication in MCC.
  3. Click "Generate" to create all the boilerplate code.
  4. Copy the C code I wrote (not the generated boilerplate) from the PIC16F18345 project to the PIC16F1847 project.

That compiled successfully right away, freeing me to make other changes. The pin layout of the PIC16F1847 pin is nothing like that for my existing board, so I had to set it up on a new breadboard. Since I'm rewiring anyway, I incorporated a different, brighter 7-segment LED display unit. This unit uses common anode pins to select the active digit each of which demand more current than a PIC can source. So I also incorporated some 2N2222 transistors to let the PIC control sourcing that current from the positive power rail instead of supplying that power itself.

The remaining key difference is that the PIC16F1847 is an 18-pin chip, where the PIC16F18345 is a 20-pin chip. Before, I had an extra pin unused, but now I'm one pin short for my project. I decided to temporarily sacrifice the decimal point until my 20-pin chip shipment arrives.

This is good enough to get me back up and running. Here's the setup displaying "1847"

UpAndRunningPIC16F1847