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BST with Terminal not working — Parallax Forums

BST with Terminal not working

HumanoidoHumanoido Posts: 5,770
edited 2011-05-29 20:41 in Propeller 1
I've tried four versions of BST on 2 computers (Mac OSX 10.4 and Windows XP) and the Lerner program (found at the link) will not run in the terminal. However, on the PC with XP & Parallax Serial Terminal and Parallax Propeller Software Tool it loads and works fine. Why is bst not working with the bst terminal in either computer?

http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?130922-Lerner
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?130922-Lerner/page2

Comments

  • Dave HeinDave Hein Posts: 6,347
    edited 2011-05-26 05:58
    Humanoido, try a simple "Hello World" program that repeats every second to see if it works. Or, try loading the program to EEPROM instead of RAM. Maybe BST is resetting your Prop before it switches to the terminal. What Prop board are you using?
  • Cluso99Cluso99 Posts: 18,069
    edited 2011-05-26 17:22
    I am running bst with the terminal on XP SP3 and it works fine (bst 0.19.1, compiler 0.15.4-pre3 which I am sure is not the latest).

    When you open bst, open the terminal and set the port and connect, then go back to the editor section. Now, when you download, bst will automatically switch to the terminal.
  • Mike GreenMike Green Posts: 23,101
    edited 2011-05-26 17:54
    I use BST on a Mac as Cluso99 described and it works fine. I open the terminal window, configure everything, and connect to the Propeller, then I go back to the editor, work on my program, and download it. During the download, I click on the terminal window to bring it forward. It finishes downloading. The program starts up and its output appears in the terminal window as expected. This is on a Macbook with the current MacOS and the current BST version. I haven't tried Lerner yet.
  • HumanoidoHumanoido Posts: 5,770
    edited 2011-05-26 21:53
    Dave Hein wrote: »
    Humanoido, try a simple "Hello World" program that repeats every second to see if it works. Or, try loading the program to EEPROM instead of RAM. Maybe BST is resetting your Prop before it switches to the terminal. What Prop board are you using?

    I will focus on getting the BST terminal runnnig on the MacBook OSX 10.4. This has 0.19.4-pre9 bst.

    Is coding the BST terminal exactly the same as coding the PST? I have no idea how to write the simple test program for bst. Can you show me a sample to run?

    Lerner was compiled into eeprom but nothing changed.

    I'm using the PEK circuit. Programs from PEK that don't use the terminal and blink LEDs load and run fine. It's a terminal connect problem. I think it's a port problem. Shouldn't I see port numbers to choose from? I'm seeing "/dev/tty.usbserial-A700fMKc".

    I know Lerner is loaded and running because the Prop chip is drawing 20 ma. (prop idles around 4 ma) I just can't see anything on the bst terminal. I think its a port problem and the terminal is just not connecting. Yes, I tried ALL the settings and the procedure to connect as Cluso and Mike mentioned.
  • HumanoidoHumanoido Posts: 5,770
    edited 2011-05-26 22:45
    I'm reinstalling the usb drivers and realize there are questions. I used the 32 bit driver. Is that correct, or use the 64 bit?

    After downloading Mac OSX X86 (32 bit) 2011-02-28 2.2.16, I get two installers (FTDIUSBSerialDriver_10_3.mpkg and FTDIUSBSerialDriver_10_4_10_5_10_6.mpkg) Which one to install?
    http://www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/VCP.htm
  • HumanoidoHumanoido Posts: 5,770
    edited 2011-05-26 23:21
    It finally works! I am beside myself.

    You have to fly this from the seat of your pants, apparently. I went back to this version bst, reinstalled the driver, chose 32 bit, chose the second option installer FTDIUSBSerialDriver_10_4_10_5_10_6.mpkg, then had to play around with the terminal in bst. I moved baud down and then back to the original requirement, flipped the bits back and forth, and continued to tell it to connect when it disconnected.

    Finally, I left it disconnected and the rascal connected automatically. Finally got rid of the duplication echo and all the question marks that appeared. This has been the most unintuitive mac install of any program and has taken days to get working. With all the versions of bst out there and no details for a simple install, it has been a challenging experience.

    First you go through the selection of bst and don't know which version will work. There is no indication of which version works on which Mac OSX. Not everyone is using the newest OSX version. Is it for 10.3 or 10.4 or 10.5 or 10.6? So you randomly pick a version and its the one with bugs in it and compile is halted.

    But wait, the recommended web site for the latest download is outdated. You need the help of a master on the Parallax Forum to give you the correct link. So now you download another version and go through all the install steps again (and again).

    If you get past THAT hurdle, next comes the usb driver, with similar unanswered questions to download from another company (3 so far). Even after making that choice, another two drivers come up from the download. Very confusing. Do you need to load one over the other or both or one, there are no instructions to say. Parallax, where are you?

    After that, you've got settings on the terminal and need to know how and when to connect. Are there instructions for this? No. This whole thing is definitely not a Mac experience. But, it's the only software that runs on a Mac. The PC with Parallax Propeller software by comparison was effortless and seamless. I think Parallax should support Macs as well.

    Don't get me wrong, I like the one option on the Mac that makes a Propeller chip work which is bst and Brad has accomplished spectacular things with it, and put in features that are not on Parallax' PC software (which I need in my applications), and I applaud his great accomplishments and hard work and support and good results with bst. I just wish the process was a little easier to install and fully supported by Parallax.

    BTW, Lerner is doing well. I don't want to shut him off now that the terminal is actually working. Lerner is good - he'll talk forever, continually learning if you have patience to teach him, and he lives up to his name. The next step is an option to replace the terminal with a serial feed to the Propeller speech synthesizer and hear him talk.
  • Cluso99Cluso99 Posts: 18,069
    edited 2011-05-27 19:51
    I did not have any driver issues on XP. Apart from deciding which version to download, all worked fine. I use the GUI version, not the command line version(s)
  • AleAle Posts: 2,363
    edited 2011-05-27 23:32
    Humanoido I wish you read the last posts on the BST thread... because I had some problems with it too, specially with the terminal and I described them there. I settled on the pre13 version because it is the one that works better (pre12 has indentation problems and 14... I don't remember).
    We did a page at the propeller wiki but I do not know if anybody is reading that nowadays...
  • HumanoidoHumanoido Posts: 5,770
    edited 2011-05-28 10:45
    Ale wrote: »
    Humanoido I wish you read the last posts on the BST thread... because I had some problems with it too, specially with the terminal and I described them there. I settled on the pre13 version because it is the one that works better (pre12 has indentation problems and 14... I don't remember). We did a page at the propeller wiki but I do not know if anybody is reading that nowadays...

    Thanks Ale, is there a link for the BST thread? I typed in bst in the forum search field and it finds nothing.
  • AleAle Posts: 2,363
    edited 2011-05-28 10:49
    It is now on the 1st. page : http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?107051-Mac-Linux-Windows-IDE-Ver-0.19.3-quot-Now-with-new-improved-PropBasic-quot-release/page76
  • SSteveSSteve Posts: 808
    edited 2011-05-28 10:56
    Humanoido wrote: »
    Thanks Ale, is there a link for the BST thread? I typed in bst in the forum search field and it finds nothing.

    I don't think the search engine works for terms of three or fewer characters. Here's the thread: http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?107051-Mac-Linux-Windows-IDE-Ver-0.19.3-quot-Now-with-new-improved-PropBasic-quot-release

    Unfortunately, Parallax can't support BST since they didn't write it and no one except Brad has access to the code.
  • dgatelydgately Posts: 1,633
    edited 2011-05-29 01:02
    Humanoido wrote: »
    It finally works! I am beside myself.

    After that, you've got settings on the terminal and need to know how and when to connect. Are there instructions for this? No. This whole thing is definitely not a Mac experience. But, it's the only software that runs on a Mac. The PC with Parallax Propeller software by comparison was effortless and seamless. I think Parallax should support Macs as well.

    Wow, you're being really harsh! This is "free" software. I thought maybe the lerner program was too large for BST or used some function that broke BST. So, I downloaded lerner, compiled it (with the one fix mentioned in the lerner forum), checked to make sure the terminal was set for the proper baud rate and after loading the EEPROM, it just worked!

    I've been using BST for several months, with no issues and am just glad to have a decent, free IDE that works. Downloading the proper FTDI driver is not BST's problem. Selecting the terminal's baud rate is not a problem, it's flexibility. And, once you have it set up, compiling and loading automatically brings the Terminal to the front.

    I would not have gotten as involved with the Propeller if it were not for BST!
  • HumanoidoHumanoido Posts: 5,770
    edited 2011-05-29 08:48
    dgately wrote: »
    Wow, you're being really harsh!...

    I'm definitely not harsh at all and I believe you overlooked the good words I have for this software. If only you had the patience to read my entire post...

    Humanoido Quote: Don't get me wrong, I like the one option on the Mac that makes a Propeller chip work which is bst and Brad has accomplished spectacular things with it, and put in features that are not on Parallax' PC software (which I need in my applications), and I applaud his great accomplishments and hard work and support and good results with bst.
  • HumanoidoHumanoido Posts: 5,770
    edited 2011-05-29 08:56
    SSteve wrote: »
    I don't think the search engine works for terms of three or fewer characters. Here's the thread: http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?107051-Mac-Linux-Windows-IDE-Ver-0.19.3-quot-Now-with-new-improved-PropBasic-quot-release Unfortunately, Parallax can't support BST since they didn't write it and no one except Brad has access to the code.
    Thanks for the search tip regarding the strange search engine. I hope that Parallax can support the Parallax Propeller Software Tool for Mac in the future.
  • dgatelydgately Posts: 1,633
    edited 2011-05-29 20:41
    Humanoido wrote: »
    I'm definitely not harsh at all and I believe you overlooked the good words I have for this software. If only you had the patience to read my entire post...

    Humanoido Quote: Don't get me wrong, I like the one option on the Mac that makes a Propeller chip work which is bst and Brad has accomplished spectacular things with it, and put in features that are not on Parallax' PC software (which I need in my applications), and I applaud his great accomplishments and hard work and support and good results with bst.

    Understood! :thumb: I just would't want a prop newbie Mac user to give up on the Propeller because BST is not a one-click install and go solution...

    dgately
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