Re: help needed with PIC
Maybe your serial port cannot supply the voltage levels required by the JDM programmer. It is common with some notebook computers (and even some desktop) that have only -5V and +5V for the serial communication. As JDM needs at least -9 and +9V to give the Vpp voltage (13,3V) to enter the programming mode, such serial ports doesn´t work. Try to measure the voltages in the pin MCLR/Vpp during the programming procedure.
Check for new designs for the JDM with external power supply, so it doesn´t depend on the serial port as source of power.
When using the ICPROG, you have to setup it properly (ports, time delay, etc, parameters that depend on your computer speed, etc).
An alternative is to build parallel port programmers as "Tait" derivate programmers.