my board is black in color... not green
Back when I was writing this code, most older version boards were red, and most newer version boards were green.
This was a poor guide even back then, and is almost meaningless now, but I had already chosen names for the files.
There are two versions of the board, with completely different LCD wiring.
You have the new version (which I mistakenly refer to as "green")
..... but in any case, get the LED blinking first. Forget LCD for now. The pintest.hex file that I posted is as simple as you can get, and uses internal oscillator, so it does not matter about crystal frequency or whether the crystal is working.
I do not have ICD3, but I think you need to do a "release from reset" after programming.
You are "releasing from reset" aren't you?
Alternatively remove the programmer plug from the board to allow the board to run (but make sure you have power - with power LED lit)