Shop OBEX P1 Docs P2 Docs Learn Events
Got Propeller Tool working under Linux — Parallax Forums

Got Propeller Tool working under Linux

Oldbitcollector (Jeff)Oldbitcollector (Jeff) Posts: 8,091
edited 2012-06-29 08:22 in Propeller 1
I know, I know.. I've got BST too, but I wanted to see if I could make this work.

It does. Here's what I did to get Propeller Tool working under linux. (Linux Mint)
  • Installed Oracle VM Virtual Box with an XP image.
  • Connected COM1 Port Mode: Host Device to /dev/ttyUSB0


End result is that I have the best of both worlds working on my machine now.

OBC

Comments

  • Daniel HarrisDaniel Harris Posts: 207
    edited 2012-06-19 20:40
    I believe I've used Wine before to get the Propeller Tool running under Ubuntu. If I remember right, it was a pretty straight forward thing.
  • jazzedjazzed Posts: 11,803
    edited 2012-06-19 20:53
    Virtual Box is great!

    Got a dozen Linux VMs for testing. Want to add a Windows XP VM soon. Wish I could put MacOSX on it too.
  • pik33pik33 Posts: 2,397
    edited 2012-06-19 21:02
    Daniel Harris wrote: »
    I believe I've used Wine before to get the Propeller Tool running under Ubuntu. If I remember right, it was a pretty straight forward thing.

    It cannot find a serial port with wine, until you use a .reg file I found somewhere in this forum. A serial console doesn't work with Wine without this hack, too.

    Still, this don't work everytime; from time to time it cannot upload a program to a Propeller.
    Propeller serial console works with Wine and this .reg file even when Propeller Tools cannot find a Propeller.


    Consider using Lazarus as programming tool when making new Propeller Tool for Propeller 2. It can compile the same source code for Win, Lin and Mac and even Android. Write once, compile everywhere. BST is made with it.
  • Peter JakackiPeter Jakacki Posts: 10,193
    edited 2012-06-19 21:13
    I've been using VirtualBox for years now and the WINXP image I started off with continues to grow (now at 41GB) and expand and cloning it is a breeze. However I don't really think that if you are running Prop Tool under VirtualBox that it could be considered running "under Linux", well at least that's the way I see it. I mainly use VirtualBox for my old Protel99SE and other non-Wine friendly programs. Of course Prop Tool doesn't run properly under Wine especially the serial ports even after you have coaxed it into seeing them but VirtualBox handles this as if it were the real thing.
  • 4x5n4x5n Posts: 745
    edited 2012-06-19 21:39
    Daniel Harris wrote: »
    I believe I've used Wine before to get the Propeller Tool running under Ubuntu. If I remember right, it was a pretty straight forward thing.

    Getting the propeller tool to work in an xp VM with virtualbox wasn't a big deal. I couldn't get it to work under wine though. I forget the show stopping problem I ran into. If memory serves it involved getting it to recognize the prop.
  • onewheeltomonewheeltom Posts: 40
    edited 2012-06-28 09:33
    I know this has been mentioned before, but a Linux native version of the Propeller Tool would be welcome. WINE/Virtual box requires Windows licenses.

    Perhaps Crossover :

    http://www.codeweavers.com/products/

    would be an option. I have used it to run Internet Explorer on a Mac....worked well.

    --tom
  • 4x5n4x5n Posts: 745
    edited 2012-06-28 09:39
    onewheeltom wrote: »
    I know this has been mentioned before, but a Linux native version of the Propeller Tool would be welcome. WINE/Virtual box requires Windows licenses.

    Perhaps Crossover :

    http://www.codeweavers.com/products/

    would be an option. I have used it to run Internet Explorer on a Mac....worked well.

    --tom

    I agree that getting a native and supported development tool for spin and pasm that runs on Linux is important. I don't think that wine requires a windows license. I do know that end users don't need one. :-) I just wish I could get the prop tool to work with wine. I can get it to install and start but it won't communicate with the prop. :-(
  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    edited 2012-06-28 09:43
    WINE does not require any Windos licenses.

    Pascal is nice but the new crossplatform Propeller Tool is comming along nicely in C++ using the Qt GUI libs. Look for SpinSIDE. The future of tools for Prop I and II is looking very bright.
  • 4x5n4x5n Posts: 745
    edited 2012-06-28 15:49
    Heater. wrote: »
    WINE does not require any Windos licenses.

    Pascal is nice but the new crossplatform Propeller Tool is comming along nicely in C++ using the Qt GUI libs. Look for SpinSIDE. The future of tools for Prop I and II is looking very bright.

    A new prop tool is in the works?!!???!?!???!!!?? :lol: Any idea of when it'll be available?
  • evanhevanh Posts: 16,109
    edited 2012-06-28 18:32
    Codeweavers are the maintainers of Wine with semi-regularly freezes being bundled into Crossover. The only difference is Crossover is packaged to be more GUI friendly than Wine. Anyone wanting to donate money to the Wine project should buy a copy of Crossover.

    Consider them as just-in-time porting. There is also Winelib - http://www.winehq.org/docs/winelib-guide/winelib-introduction - for those interested in the more traditional, and controlled, porting method of recompiling with select target bindings.
  • evanhevanh Posts: 16,109
    edited 2012-06-28 18:41
    Configuring a comport is explained here http://www.winehq.org/docs/wineusr-guide/misc-things-to-configure
  • 4x5n4x5n Posts: 745
    edited 2012-06-28 19:07
    evanh wrote: »
    Configuring a comport is explained here http://www.winehq.org/docs/wineusr-guide/misc-things-to-configure

    Tried it and still couldn't get it to work. :-(
  • Peter JakackiPeter Jakacki Posts: 10,193
    edited 2012-06-28 21:38
    I don't think Wine is ever going to be any good for communications ports, be they serial or usb etc. The trouble is that Window's programs still run normally it's just the API that looks like a Windows API which is fine for fairly standard things such as dialog boxes and file access etc but never seems to work well with I/O ports. I guess they would require a lot of resources to tune the plethora of dlls etc out there. The whole reason for dlls in the first place was to stop reinventing the wheel and cut down on code (pfft). Now we have so many flavors (must be a good thing!!) of dlls for the same but slightly different task. I always seem to get some arcane errors or weird glitches trying to do anything much out of the ordinary on Wine.

    So I recommend you use VirtualBox and install a licensed copy of Windows in it (VirtualBox itself does not require a license). I can vouch for the effectiveness of running real Windows programs in a VirtualBox environment. However, if you can use a native Linux version of a program or something similar then give consideration to this option. That's why I use BST and many others do so also but the only problem with BST is that Brad has "disappeared" (BRAD, WHERE ARE YOU! (hope you're okay)) and there is no source code to work with to keep it up-to-date.
  • evanhevanh Posts: 16,109
    edited 2012-06-29 08:22
    pik33 wrote: »
    It cannot find a serial port with wine, until you use a .reg file I found somewhere in this forum. A serial console doesn't work with Wine without this hack, too.

    Still, this don't work everytime; from time to time it cannot upload a program to a Propeller.
    Propeller serial console works with Wine and this .reg file even when Propeller Tools cannot find a Propeller.

    Hmm, found this tid-bit http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?104577-Proptool-on-linux-under-wine-1st-step&highlight=wine+comport but no actual details ...
Sign In or Register to comment.