I never found any official documentation that would have helped me. The only way to figure this out, though, is to skim the forum thread and find your particular problem(s). It's just a matter of clicking on the right things. You do not need the whole image or another programmer to burn it. But I had to do this with my genuine and my clones. Maybe the latest version of software fixes this hole in the update bridge.

and if you get an old stock PK3 and downloaded say a specific version of X, I think this is where you get this issue. I waited a couple years before trying out X and PK3. I think early adopters probably didn't run into this problem. And I bet anything the number that pops up is lower than what is included in your version of X/IPE. The name is something along this line, with 6 digit number as follows: 0x.xx.xx.jar (it might have a prefix like 'fw_', but the memory is hazy) Incidentally, this 6 digit number will pop up in the dialog window when you first connect your programmer as 'firmware suite 0x.xx.xx,' or something along those line.

If this is the same problem I had, you can fix it by selecting 'manual firmware update' and finding the firmware suite file which comes with your version of X/IPE, which IIRC is in a folder called PK3.

So when it starts the family/device download, it fails to work. Instructions for use: Installing the microcontroller, 28-pin, 40-pin microcontroller left aligned 28/40P: (A) This flag line short-circuit cap on the A position. I think w/e firmware is initially loaded on the programmer can be incompatible with the version of IPE/X you are using, for instance. The PICKIT 2/3 Universal Programming adapter is designed to work in conjunction with the popular PICkit 2 or PICkit3 programmer. ^ I believe I encountered that problem, at first.

Pickit 3 pinout to 28 pin