The REAL ICE™ firmware is NOT your application firmware. This is the code that is loaded into the REAL ICE that modifies its functionality for the project's selected device.
1
Open the Project Properties window.
2
Select REAL ICE under Categories.
3
Select Firmware from the Options Categories combo box
4
Auto or manual selection of memories and ranges to program: If you check this box, you can specify which firmware image MPLAB® X IDE should load in the box below.
Click in the right-hand text box to search for a firmware file (.jam) to associate with the emulator:
<install path>MPLABX/mplab_ide/mplablibs/modules/ext/REALICE.jar
To update the firmware version, be sure to click Apply and OK. Then click the Refresh Debug Tool Status icon in the Dashboard window.
MPLAB X IDE automatically downloads the correct firmware for your selected device. Only change this setting if you are having issues. See Emulator Firmware Update.