Instructions on MPLAB-ICE 2000 Emulator Module
Thanks to Tushar Parlikar '01, for writing the original version of this document.

1. IMPORTANT: Be careful when starting up the MPLAB-ICE 2000 Pod. 
    Follow this sequence of events: 

  1. First shutdown the PC you are going to connect the module to, 

  2. then connect a parallel port cable between the PC’s parallel port and Emulator Pod, 

  3. then connect the processor module into the emulator pod, 

  4. then connect the device adapter into the emulator pod, then connect the Emulator Pod power cable into the Emulator Pod, 

  5. then restart the PC, and 

  6. finally turn on the ICE-2000 emulator pod power. 

  7. Once the PC starts up, open MPLAB-IDE. For every subsequent time that you disconnect the ICE 2000 Pod from the PC and reconnect it, make sure you follow this procedure. I think that it is OK if you simply turn off the module while you are not using MPLAB-IDE, provided you turn it back on before you start MPLAB-IDE. If you are not careful, you may “fry” the Emulator Pod, so make sure you follow the instructions in this paragraph.

2. Once you start the MPLAB-IDE, go to “Options_Development Mode”. A window with several tabs will pop up. Click on the “tools” tab. Choose “MPLAB-ICE Emulator” as the tool. Make sure that the PIC chip and processor module are correct from the displayed list e.g. for the PIC16C505, this should be PIC16C505, PCM16XA0; for the PIC16C73A, this is PIC16C73A, PCM 16XB0/1. Click on the “ports” tab. Make sure that you select a port e.g. LPT1 or LPT2 that works for your PC. Do not check the “Force LPT compatibility mode” box – Windows NT in particular does not like that. MPLAB-ICE works with ECP or equivalent bi-directional parallel port protocols. Click on the “clock” tab. Enter the location of the clock you will be using e.g. on-board or target-board, the type of clock e.g. RC, LP, XT, and this clock’s frequency in MHz, kHz or Hz. Click on the “power” tab. Select the location of your power source i.e. either module-power or target-board power. Follow the same procedure for the rest of the tabs (“configuration”, “pins” and “breaks”), in each case selecting the options that suit your target board circuit.

3. Once within MPLAB-IDE with MPLAB-ICE already set-up as in (2) above, use the Debug and Window menus respectively, to run, halt, and debug your code, and to watch the values of important registers in the PIC change. MPLAB-ICE is extremely powerful, and the MPLAB-ICE help menu in the MPLAB-IDE will get you started on how to take advantage of this powerful tool. Also, the MPLAB-ICE user guide is downloadable at http://www.microchip.com. This guide is basically a printout of the help files that are accessible from within MPLAB-IDE.

4. If you have any trouble with the MPLAB-ICE Emulator Pod or with MPLAB-IDE, contact Microchip’s tech support staff, at either tech.support@microchip.com, or on their phone line, at (800)-437-2767, (480) 786-7627 (very helpful). You can also contact Microchip’s Development Systems staff at 1 (800) 755-2345. Check out the Microchip Web site in case these numbers and email address change.