about inchworm+ and unicorn ...

hi , i am a newbie to this forum ...

i bought an inchworm+ and an unicorn a year ago , and i just finished the assembly today , the module inchworm+ works fine , i tried to program a pic 16f877a and a 18f4550 with the module's ISP connector by connecting an external 40-pin zif socket , i pluged an external 12 volts source to the inchworm+ module , i connected the module to my pc via a rs-232 cable , and the module works fine with mplab-ide downloaded from the official site microchip ...

everything is ok for the inchworm+ , i think ...

but the module unicorn sucks ...

i downloaded the file Unicorn 18F4550 +BOR.zip and the file EXTRACT_ICD2_4550.zip from the official website blueroom electronics , i tried to program the 18f4550 with both of the files , none of them gives satisfaction , the unicorn just refused to be recognized by windows , when i pluged the unicorn to the pc wia an usb cable , windows found an unknown device , and mplab-ide could not identify the presence of the inchworm+ ...

so what's going wrong ?

since this is my first post , i won't use any link ...

thanks for your help ...

ps : i apologize for my english , i am not a native english speaker ...

The Inchworm+ / Unicorn combo requires a driver to work in Windows. When you installed MPLAB 8.xx that driver should be available. Here's the official Microchip ICD2 troubleshooting guide. I've also attached a working Unicorn ICD2 hex file.
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thanks , i'm going to try your file ...

i just installed the latest mplab-ide , the version is 8.66.00.00 , if the problem persists , i will try to uninstall and reinstall it ...

another question :

each time when i change the device to be programmed , for example previously i programmed a 16F877A , then i changed the device , i put a 18F4550 on the socket in order to program it , the mplab-ide always asked me to DOWNLAOD again the operation system , but when i kept the same reference , for example to program and then erase and then reprogram then erase again the 16F877A ( same chip , or another chip , but the same reference ) , the mplab-ide didn't ask me to download the operation system , why ? ...

the unicorn still doesn't work ... windows found always an UNKNOWN DEVICE ... should i apply a +5V ( VDD ) to the unicorn , even if the unicorn is already connected to the usb port of the pc ? ...

ok , now the problem is fixed , the drivers are found in the path : --> "C:\Program Files\Microchip\MPLAB IDE\ICD2\Drivers" , the unicorn module is recognized by windows 7 , and comparing to the rs-232 transfert , the usb is really fast , 1 second vs 1 minute ...

here are some pictures ...

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Hi;
are the Inchworm+ / Unicorn combo still available?