When was Prop Tool 1.3 released?
prof_braino
Posts: 4,313
I just notice there's a proptool v1.3. When did this come out? I didn't see these on the "more info" page. I think it was after April 20, as that's the last time I downloaded the prop tool, and the was v1.2 (R2). Aside from changes to the IDE (example "parallax serial terminal toggle" under the run option) is there anything drastic we need to know about?
Experience tells me to be wary: I started with Proptool v1.2. There was an update to the FTDI drivers, which made them incompatible with (my install of) prop tool v1.2. There was the out-of-sequence named prop tool v1.2 (R2) which was incompatible with with my fixed v1.2 with fixed FTDI drivers. The reliable fallback of wiping the hard disk and reinstalling everything from scratch is what finally solved the issues.
So, how does this one work? Can we just install v1.3 over v1.2 (R2), or do we have to uninstall v1.2 (R2) manually first? Do we have to futz with the drivers? Or do we need to use the Big Hammer approach as before and wipe the hard disk and reinstall windows from scratch, and start from there? After years of experience with windows software, "nuke 'em from orbit, its the only way to be sure" makes a LOT of sense to me. Windows install takes 45 minutes, and automatic updates takes about a day or two; diagnosing the root cause for any given windows related issue can take weeks with no progress.
It says "requires IE7" or newer. This looks different from earlier releases. If we removed the massive security risk that is IE, are we out of luck? Previous version of prop tool are listed, but I didn't find any links. Are those still down loadable?
And why can't the dates of the releases be shared, it there a reason omitting dates is desirable?
Experience tells me to be wary: I started with Proptool v1.2. There was an update to the FTDI drivers, which made them incompatible with (my install of) prop tool v1.2. There was the out-of-sequence named prop tool v1.2 (R2) which was incompatible with with my fixed v1.2 with fixed FTDI drivers. The reliable fallback of wiping the hard disk and reinstalling everything from scratch is what finally solved the issues.
So, how does this one work? Can we just install v1.3 over v1.2 (R2), or do we have to uninstall v1.2 (R2) manually first? Do we have to futz with the drivers? Or do we need to use the Big Hammer approach as before and wipe the hard disk and reinstall windows from scratch, and start from there? After years of experience with windows software, "nuke 'em from orbit, its the only way to be sure" makes a LOT of sense to me. Windows install takes 45 minutes, and automatic updates takes about a day or two; diagnosing the root cause for any given windows related issue can take weeks with no progress.
It says "requires IE7" or newer. This looks different from earlier releases. If we removed the massive security risk that is IE, are we out of luck? Previous version of prop tool are listed, but I didn't find any links. Are those still down loadable?
And why can't the dates of the releases be shared, it there a reason omitting dates is desirable?
Comments
I installed mine the day after you installed yours Leon.
So I guess I've been in the if it ain't broke don't fix it camp.
What about requiring IE? Are security problems with IE a non-issue anymore?
And I kinda wondered about the lack of "fanfair" over V1.3 myself... I love it, some great improvements.
-Tommy
I think I have one machine set up with 1.2.7 and 1.3 (and a copy of Propeller Tool for the S2, maybe). I don't had any issues....ok, I don't have any issues related to the Propeller Tool.
In order to find v1.3, be sure to drill down using Parallax's store menus, not from a Google link. The first hit for "propeller tool download" points to:
http://www.parallax.com/tabid/442/Default.aspx
and that's for v1.2.7.
-- Gordon
That seems to be a problem with a few Parallax resources. I printed out a copy of the Prop Manual before discovering that it was not the current version. Their web resources seem a bit disorganised. Probably just me.
Cheers
Richard
http://www.parallax.com/tabid/832/Default.aspx
73
Richard
http://www.parallax.com/Store/Books/Propeller/tabid/171/CategoryID/45/List/0/Level/a/ProductID/377/Default.aspx?SortField=ProductName%2cProductName
Regards
Richard
Which is great is if you found that page first. Your "fairly obvious" make an assumption that all searches will either start or end at that web page. As shown above, If we Google for prop tool we end up someplace else. While the page you listed is the right resource, it is NOT something that we can be required to "just know". While it is common in business etc to expect employees to "just know" stuff that has not been communicated, it is still not a good idea.
SOME experience users may know to look there first; ALL new users will NOT know to look there first. Depending on the sequence of exploration folks end up lots of different places. Folks that research everything first may search thru the web site and find that link. Folks that buy a prop based on another project on another website might not. It take a bit before we know what to trust. For example if we search the obex for the program that ships on the prop demo board, we find nothing. Can the search be trusted? Can the OBEX be relied upon? No to both, the prop demo board program exists and is downloadable, but we just have to get lucky to find it.
Like many things in life, the parallax website is not perfect, and this thread is highlighting a couple possible improvements. These can be examined and possibly addressed, or ignored and costly. Callous dismissal might not be the best course of action.
http://www.parallax.com/tabid/442/Default.aspx
Old tool, old documents.
Cheers
Richard
On the other hand, since many of these pages have duplicate content anyway, I would think the best approach is to mark the old ones with a canonical meta tag, which at the least Google respects. Over time, Google (and probably Bing and other SEs) will roll the page over to the new one. The ranking of the page will improve, too, as there won't be as much duplicate content.
The problem is that the SEs don't know which is the most authoritative page for these landing sites. The canonical tag helps to resolve that.
http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2009/02/specify-your-canonical.html
There are other ways to eventually flush out these older pages, allowing the newer ones to come up in rank. One method might be a 301 redirect (users no longer see the old page), and a no-index meta tag.
-- Gordon
Jim