Electronic – dsPIC33 and Programmers

This is mostly a Microchip centric question. I'm very new to Microchip world. So any info beyond my questions is most certainly helpful to me…

I purchased one of these demo/break-out boards from Microchip:

http://www.microchip.com/stellent/idcplg?IdcService=SS_GET_PAGE&nodeId=1406&dDocName=en024149

I tried plugging in the supplied dsPIC33 module and programming by connecting to the header my PicKit2 programmer. I wired up one wire for the Vss, one for the Vdd, one for the PGD, and one for the PGC lines.

The PicKit2 programming software and MPLAB both complain that the Vdd voltage is measuring zero (as if to say the voltage supply has a short?). Then I noticed the PicKit2 getting very hot!

I quickly unplugged it, let it cool down, and verified that it still worked on other circuits I have & it did.

This particular demo board has a jumper marked 5v and according to the manual, I can power the board with 5v or 9v. So I pulled the jumper and put 9v on the board and reconnected my PicKit2 and still got same results.

Questions:

1. Do all the Vss lines need to be wired to ground? I only wired one Vss to the PicKit2
2. Do all the Vdd lines need to be connected to the 3/5v supply line? I only had one.
3. Is it even possible to program via this demo board, a socketed dsPIC33 chip (see link above).

I have other dsPIC33s I can program external to this demo board. They are mounted on a circuit board that was not designed by me. This board has a header I can connect the PicKit2 directly too. I don't have a schematic for the board either so I'm not sure if the Vss and Vdd lines are tied together or not; I just know I can programm the same dsPIC33 chip on this board with my PicKit2.

I'm considering purchasing their MPALB ICD 3 programmer? What benefits does the MPLAB ICD 3 programmer offer over the PicKit2 programmer?

My goal is to simply be able to program socketed dsPIC33 Microchip micros and have access via header break-out to various signals for quick prototyping.

Based on the comments so far, come clarifications:

1. I forgot to mention above that I did have the MCLR pin wired as well.

2. I should add, that I checked, double checked, & triple checked that non of my jumpers were touching, chip was oriented in the socket correctly (pin-1 aligned with PCB pin-1 and checked written documentation for the board), and jumper wires were on the correct pins. Why it got so hot is puzzeling me. I will look to connect a RJ11 type jack to the J3 port into the PicKit2 to see if that makes a difference but have my doubts. I used purchased jumper wires with molded ends for connecting to headers so, for example, pins 11 & 12 are the Vss and Vdd pins, there is no way the wires could have been touching each other. Their header connectors are insulated and such…