EEVblog #53 - Mr Murphy and Microchip PIC Silicon Bugs

Dave tangles with Murphy's Law and Microchip silicon bugs with his latest project.

[EEVblog]

No argument there! The ICSP is a fundamental operational part of the chip. I can excuse some obscure bug in the brownout timing or something, but not the ICSP port!

[EEVblog]

PIC32 has plenty of bugs too, check the errata!
PIC32 wasn't low power enough in standby

[EEVblog]

I've modded this board to work, but I'll wait and see if there are any other changes that need to be made. If there are then I'll swap the pins, if not then I could leave it be and be careful to order Rev 5 silicon.

[EEVblog]

Most likely, if it all works the way I expect. Expect another blog on the project in detail in the future if it all comes together.

[TheMrTape]

Hi Dave, I'm disappointed that I didn't get to know what silicon bugs consist of, why they're there and why they're apparently not easy to get around in the manufacturing process(since they mention them in their datasheets, instead of fixing the problems before mass producing them). I'd like you to do a video on it if you find it relevant. On a side note, humor like 5:41 ensures that it's entertaining to learn from your videos, don't hold any of that back. Thanks for your worldwide contributions

[Afrotechmods]

As much as I love Microchip and their PIC line, they really need to get their act together as far as silicon bugs. I swear there was one time around 2004 where half the samples I had would die within hours because their ESD protection was not up to spec. Lost many hours my life because of bad TI chips too.

[MrElektrolyt]

same thing happend with us . There where 5 Bus options on the Chip - used Nr 5 with of course only working transmit mode. But this time you had to call the chip company directly. Only problem here is: We have a shipping date in like 3 months and the last rev of this safety critical hw took over a month

[jan.tichavsky]

So what now, get chip with the good revision and replace it or redesign the board?

[ldisc]

Murphy and I are old friends, though I do wish Murphy could take a vacation every once in awhile. lol!

[LoneTech]

The project is looking great! Sorry to hear about the problem, but at least it sounds patchable with some pain. Will those calculators be orderable?

[esavarem]

I have spent hours trying to debug why I can't get I2C to work on my Pic32 Ethernet starter kit on the expansion board headers. Guess what, on that specific board that specific I2C pair is not connected to the so labeled pins on the expansion board (it goes to the ethernet PHY instead)...

[williefleete]

it surprises me that they release parts with those kinds of problems.
its almost like they are saying unused as new with damaged third program pair

[svampebob]

6 years later, Dave's Lawn mowing franchise is still not a thing... bet Murphy messed with the spark plugs again.

[wjfo]

I'm just now starting out on Microchip MCU's (PIC12F683) and all I want to do is a simple blinky LED Hello World to start I got the program compiled to HEX clean etc, But everything I try with PICKit3 gives me "Connection Failed" ... Mac OS X, PC Win7, MPLAB X, MPLAB-IPE, whatever! It doesn't work! How long, how hard and how deep will I have to dig and dig to get the little PIA PICKit3 to work!!? So far I've not found anything for firmware updating or whatever... Really getting tired of screwing with Microchip apps and their connection problems with PICKit3!

[misisisososo]

Hello! How could I please find out the revision number of my PIC182320 ?

"well no shit sherlock" LMFAOOOO

[DJSolitone]

I agree with you Dave, Murphy is a true "Universal Constant", and actually the only monotheist religion I believe in...

[ArumesYT]

Would be nice if those errata were actually present in the part files of schematics software like Eagle and KiCad... You should get a warning when you try to use those pins.

[playvectrex]

Unlike the Monty Hall Problem, in this case it was NOT always better to switch. Hahaha... Sorry Dave, it can happen to the best of us.

[joeles]

at least you would get a better tan with Jim's Mowing.. ;)