I have also been working on this issue.
I'm working with MPLABX v2.26 on Linux (Ubuntu 14). I have been bouncing back and forth from windows XP in order to use the stand alone apps for pickit3.
My specific issue is, "Your PICkit 3 firmware version 01.22.08 is too old. You must have firmware version 01.26.10 or higher to use MPLAB X."
The userguide, DS52116A page 51, says:
• How can I manually download the firmware?
You can download it manually. Select File>Project Properties. Under Categories,
click “PICkit 3”, and select “Firmware” from the Option Categories drop-down.
Uncheck “Use Latest Firmware” and click on “Press to browse for a specific firmware
version”. Browse for the Firmware File, located in the Directories pane
under MPLABX\mplab_ide\mplablibs\modules\ext\PICKIT3.jar. In the Firmware
Files pane, select the .jam file you want and click OK. Click Reset on the Project
Properties dialog.
Has anybody actually had success with this? It appears to me that this feature is non-functional. I am able to follow all of the steps, and whether or not I click RESET (which appears to actually undo the operation of selecting a different firmware), I can find no evidence that the pickit3 firmware is updated/changed. I still get the same message regarding my firmware version. Am I just not doing this correctly? Is there something I should look for to know that it succeeds (other than trying to run/debug again)?.
The "pickit 3 standalone programmer app v1.0" crashes before it opens if I have the pickit3 attached to the PC. Others around the interwebs have stated they can update the firmware
I have gotten the "pickit 3 programmer app and scripting tool v3.10" to communicate with my pickit3 and also read/write from/to my target (WHOOHOO!) by "installing operating system". But then I change back to "MPLAB mode" and still get the exact same message from MPLABX: "version 01.22.08 is too old". So it doesn't seem like the app is loading new firmware, but loading the same old firmware back once I hit MPLAB Mode. Am I missing something? Can someone be more specific about steps for this.
Since I am working with Linux, I have had great success with gputils in assembling code and getting my hex files. And now I have MPLABX to compile C. So I could do the workaround and use the standalone app to do the programming, but I paid $50 for this debugger, because it DEBUGS, and I cannot do that with the standalones! I have been having trouble finding the cause of the bazaar behaviors of my chip, so I finally broke down and got the pickit3. And, SERIOUSLY? All of these brand new software and hardware components that Microchip recommends aren't compatible with each other? This is disappointing.
If anyone has any further information, please help. I will post anything more that develops on my end. THANKS!
Also note:
I recently installed MPLABX on my windows XP machine, but the pickit3 serial number doesn't show up at all when choosing a debugging/programming device. This is probably a side question, and an issue with windows drivers, but I wasn't able to try the pickit3 with MPLABX before playing with it in the standalone programs, so I hope I didn't goof it up!