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Anobium edited this page Oct 17, 2020 · 28 revisions

PKCMD-LX Introduction

The PICKitPlus for Linux commandline program is called PKCMD-LX.

The program can be used for reading and writing Microchip’s PIC range of microcontrollers, using the Pickit 2 or Pickit 3 device programmers.

Program Definition

PKCMD-LX is a 32-bit or 64-bit command-line interface to the PICkit 2 or PICkit 3 device programmer.

This interface is designed for programming devices in an environment where batch/script files or custom-controlled software is desired.

The PKCMD-LX executable requires the "PKPlusDeviceFile.dat" file for execution. This file should be kept in the same directory as the executable AppImage.

Note

To call the PKCMD-LX executable from other directories and still allow it to find the device file the device file may be explicitly specified on the command line using option -b (-B).

PKCMD-LX is a commandline-only solution. Refer to the "PICkit 2 User’s Guide" or "PICkit 3 User’s Guide" for more information about the specifics of the PICkit 2/3 device Programmer.

Device Support List

Device support is dependent on the device file version installed with the PKCMD-LX. See the PICKitPlus web site for an up-to-date list of supported devices.

When selecting a part using the -P option (see PKCMD-LX Usage), you can use the full name or short name.

Note

-P 16f690 is the same as -P PIC16F690

System Requirements

PKCMD-LX has been tested on a number of 32-bit and 64-bit Linux distros. It should work on all flavours, within specified limits:

  1. Requires libc v2.13 or above. This is linked to the distribution, and is typically out of your control. If your libc version is too low, often your only recourse is to install a newer distro.
  2. Requires root (or sudo), at least until it is fully installed and configured.
  3. Requires fuse (i.e. the fusermount command), if you want to run PKCMD-LX without root privileges.
  4. Expects libfuse v2.9.0 or greater, although older versions may work. For example, v2.8.5 prints warning messages but does seem to function.
  5. If you have a limited or evaluation license, you will need internet access to use the program. Full licenses do not have this limitation.

Supported Linux Distributions

Distributions known to have a compatible version of libc include:

  • Arch 2011.08.19
  • CentOS 7.8.2003 (released in 2020)
  • Debian 7 (Wheezy)
  • Fedora 15 (Lovelock)
  • Gentoo 11.2
  • Mint 11 (Katya)
  • openSUSE 12.1
  • Slackware 13.37
  • Ubuntu 11.04 (Natty)

Distributions that do not use libc (such as Abyss, Alpine, Sabotage, Vanilla and Void) will not run PKCMD-LX.

A compatibility-test program is available free of charge on our website. Potential users can download and run that, to see if the full product is compatible with their system.

Installation

Installation is fairly straightforward.

  1. Download the .tar.gz using the link provided.
  2. Unpack the .tar.gz file. It contains two AppImages: one 32-bit, the other 64-bit.
  3. Move the appropriate AppImage for your PC architecture, along with the provided DAT file, to whatever location you wish.
  4. You may then delete the .tar.gz file and any extraneous files you do not require.
  5. Ensure that the AppImage has the executable permission (using chmod +x /path/to/appimage)
  6. Execute the AppImage with whatever parameters you desire. Use -h for help.

See also: PKCMD-LX Usage

Note

You must be root, or use sudo.  You can set up non-root access by running the program (as root) with the --configure-no-root instruction. This instruction takes an optional username and/or groupname argument. Examples:

  • --configure-no-root
  • --configure-no-root someuser
  • --configure-no-root someuser:somegroup
  • --configure-no-root :somegroup

If in doubt, simply give it your username (to give you access) or the :users group (to give all users access).

AppImage

PKCMD-LX is distributed as an AppImage.   Using an AppImage enables the development team to provide native binaries for Linux users the same way we do for other operating systems.   An AppImage enables the development team to package the PKCMD-LX application for common Linux operating systems, e.g., Ubuntu, Debian, openSUSE, RHEL, CentOS, Fedora etc.  

The PICKitPlus AppImage comes with all dependencies that cannot be assumed to be part of each target system in a recent enough version and will run on most Linux distributions without further modifications.  

Almost all major distributions are compatible with AppImages, without requiring the user to make modifications to the base system.   AppImages are portable. You can place the AppImage on a USB flash drive and run it from there, on any machine, if you wish.  

To summarise:  AppImages provide an easy and unified user experience that is simple to install and use.

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