Low Power Application on SAMC2x Using MPLAB® Harmony v3 Peripheral Libraries: Step 1

Last modified by Microchip on 2023/11/10 11:00

Verify whether MPLAB® Harmony Configurator (MHC) Plugin installed in MPLAB® X IDE

Verify that MHC is installed.
Launch MPLAB X IDE from the Microsoft Windows® Start menu. Close any projects and files that are currently open.
Go to Tools > Embedded.

You will see MPLAB® Harmony 3 Configurator in the menu:

Tools > Embedded > MPLAB Harmony 3 Configurator​​

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Create MPLAB Harmony v3 Project using MPLAB X IDE

Select File > New Project from the main IDE menu.

In the Categories pane of the New Project dialog, select Microchip Embedded. In the Projects pane, select 32-bit MPLAB Harmony 3 Project, then click Next.

Creating a new project​​

If “32-Bit MPLAB Harmony 3 Project” is not displayed, install MHC. 

In the Framework Path edit box, browse to the folder you downloaded the framework to. If you haven't done this, or want to download it to a different folder, click the Launch Framework Downloader button, then click Next.

Using the Launch Framework Downloader button to navigate to folder

For more information on the framework downloader, see the "Download MPLAB Harmony Framework" section of the "MPLAB Harmony Configurator Overview" page. 

In the Project Settings window, apply the following settings:

  • Location: Indicates the path to the root folder of the new project. All project files will be placed inside this folder. The project location can be any valid path, for example: <Folder of your choice>\dev\samc21_low_power.
  • Folder: Indicates the name of the MPLABX .X folder. Enter "sam_c21_xpro" to create a sam_c21_xpro.X folder.

Note: This must be a valid directory name for your operating system. 

  • Name: Enter the project’s logical name as "low_power_sam_c21_xpro". This is the name that will be shown from within MPLAB X IDE.

Note: The Path box is read-only. It will update as you make changes to the other entries.

  • Click Next to proceed to Configuration Settings.

Configuration settings​​​​

Note: Clicking on the Show Visual Help button will open a help window providing a detailed description of the various fields in the Project Settings window.

New Project Wizard Help​​​​

Follow the steps below to set the project’s Configuration Settings.

  • Name: Enter the configuration name as “sam_c21_xpro”.
  • Target Device: Select ATSAMC21J18A as the target device.

Note: You can select the Device Family or enter a partial device name to filter the list in Target Device to make it easier to locate the desired device. 

  •  After selecting the target device, click Finish to launch MHC.

Note: The New Project Wizard opens a Configuration Database Setup window to allow you to review the packages that will be used by the current project.

Selecting the target device​​​

While the MHC tool launches, it will ask for the packages to be loaded. In the Load checkboxes list, select the csp package (by default this option is selected) and uncheck all the other packages.

Click Launch to launch the MHC Configurator tool with the selected packages.

Launching the configuration tool with selected packages​​

 The MHC plugin’s main window for the project will be displayed.

MHC plugin main window​​

Before proceeding, set up the compiler toolchain. Click on the Projects tab on the top left pane. Right-click on the project name low_power_sam_c21_xpro and select Properties from the drop-down.

Setting up the complier toolchain​​

Make sure that XC32 (v2.20) is selected as the Compiler Toolchain for XC32. Click on Apply and then click on OK.

Selecting XC32 in the toolchain​​

Tool Tip: If you closed MHC accidently, and would like to open it again, go to Tools > Embedded > MPLAB Harmony 3 Configurator.

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Verify Clock Settings

Launch Clock Easy View by going to the MHC tab in MPLABX IDE and then select Tools > Clock Configuration.

A new window, Clock Easy View, is opened in the project’s main window.

Launching the Clock Easy View​​

Click on the Clock Easy View tab, scroll to the right, and verify that the Main Clock is set to 48 MHz.

Verifying clock is set to 48 MHz​​

Tool Tip: Double-click on Clock Easy View tab to maximize the window.

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