FlexPropGui installation under Linux
domeu
Posts: 9
in Propeller 2
Hi there, I want to install MicroPython on P2.
For that, I do need to install FlexProp on Linux (I'm using a Linux Mint derived from Ubuntu). Windows is banned here!
As the documentation is not ready (link missing) on https://www.parallax.com/propeller-2/get-started/micropython/ then I did try to find my way but I'm stuck with an error.
Here what I do
sudo apt update sudo apt-get install wish sudo apt install build-essential sudo apt-get install g++ git clone --recursive https://github.com/totalspectrum/flexgui.git cd flexgui git submodule update --recursive make install
which creates the ~/flexprop in my user folder.
Then I do the following to start FlexProp
cd ~/flexprop export ROOTDIR="`pwd`" # execute the GUI ./flexprop.tcl
And it throw the following error
domeur$ ./flexprop.tcl Error in startup script: can't read "spin2gui_version": no such variable while executing "set aboutMsg " GUI tool for FlexProp Version $spin2gui_version Copyright 2018-2021 Total Spectrum Software Inc. ------ There is no warranty and no gua..." (file "/home/domeu/flexprop/src/gui.tcl" line 9) invoked from within "source $ROOTDIR/src/gui.tcl" (file "./flexprop.tcl" line 25)
Some help would be welcome.
Any suggestion?
Comments
Everybody welcome @domeu, a Python microcontroller coder with some significant experience in authoring. If there's anything we can do to help get him going I'd be most grateful and I'll document the FlexProp/Linux combination for others as a Quick Byte, should it be manageable for me to do so. @ersmith any tips on the Linux install?
Welcome again, @domeu!
Ken Gracey
This is my recipe for FlexProp in Ubuntu.. The update part doesn't work, I delete the source folder and redo the clone.
Don't forget permissions needed for serial access...
Thanks to ERsmith, Dgately, Wuerful for the help!
Original install:
dgately wrote: »
» show previous quotes
All the source is available in the github flexprop repository...
https://github.com/totalspectrum/flexprop
As ersmith stated, you can easily build the whole project (i.e. GUI, all the binaries for compiling & loading) on WIN10, Linux, macOS...
I suggest (on Linux or macOS) something like:
$ mkdir source
$ cd source
$ git clone --recursive https://github.com/totalspectrum/flexprop.git
$ cd flexprop
$ make clean # only if you had previously run make
$ make install
Note: '--recursive' allows git to include all of the projects sub-modules (PropLoader, loadp2, & spin2cpp).
If successful, you'll find a new flexprop directory in your home directory, where you'll find the flexprop.tcl GUI, tools & sample code:
$ cd ~/flexprop
$ ls
License.txt bin doc include src
README.md board flexprop.tcl samples
$ ls bin
fastspin flexcc flexspin loadp2 mac_terminal.sh proploader
Use flexprop.tcl if you like or the tools in the bin directory from the Linux/macOS command line. It's "all there".
Note: flexprop may have some requirements for successful building... If make install does not work, you can probably get help here in the forum...
dgately
try running "wish ~/flexprop/flexprop.tcl" without the quotes
Thats how I start it on my mac.
Welcome @domeu ! I don't know what could have gone wrong, your installation steps looked OK to me and I just tried the same thing on a fresh Ubuntu 18.04 installation; I had to add a "sudo apt-get install bison" after the "build-essentials" but otherwise it was identical. In my case things worked though :(.
The spin2gui_version variable should be set in a file called ~/flexprop/src/version.tcl. Does that file exist for you?
If things don't work (as in this case) it's always worth doing a "make clean; make install" again. It's possible that somewhere in the initial build the version.tcl file got borked (or didn't get built the first time around).
Great, this time, the flexprop.tcl is running :-)
Will now tries to upload P2MP
@ersmith
I did clone the wrong Git.
When a followed the instructions AND THE RIGHT Git at https://github.com/totalspectrum/flexprop ). Everything when right
MicroPython is now Flashed with instruction from n https://www.parallax.com/propeller-2/get-started/micropython/
So the P2 module and USB-Serial modules are working properly.
HOWEVER REPL does not respond to KeyStroke ?!?! (not echo back in the terminal).
I can connect Putty to /dev/ttyUSB0 at 115200 baud.
I can see the REPL prompt appearing in putty when pressing the reset button on the Edge Module Breadboard (when sending REPL prompt, the USB-Serial led is RED --> OK )
When I do type on the keyboard, the USB-Serial bling in blue --> char are sent to the P2. But nothing appears on the terminal (No echo from REPL and USB-Serial does not blink red).
Pressing the ENTER key doesn't do anything (eg: showing REPL error message because of invalid key stroke).
I did also tried the Mu-Editor in "ESP mode" (this should be mentioned in the installation doc).
The REPL doesn't respond to keyboard Stroke.
Any suggestion or additional test ?
Yes Mu editor in ESP mode is fine.
I think someone else reported this problem too, let me find what fixed it for them
Try this to replace "step2"... let me know if it works, thanks
Great, this new step2 did effectively uploaded running version of MicroPython to the P2, REPL is now running.
I can reach REPL from Mu editor and Putty (terminal Emulator)... but an important issue still exists (I will post a new comment)
It is not possible to manage file on the P2 from Mu Editor (click "file" icon produce and error).
As I'm use to terminal MicroPython tool like RShell (very popular tool) and Ampy (from Adafruit Industries), I did tried them to get more information.
Here what I did grab with RShell
domeu@dom$ rshell --port /dev/ttyUSB0 --buffer-size 32 Using buffer-size of 32 Connecting to /dev/ttyUSB0 (buffer-size 32)... Trying to connect to REPL connected Testing if ubinascii.unhexlify exists ... b'OK\r\nexit\r\n\xff\x00\x00' Traceback (most recent call last): File "/home/domeu/.local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/rshell/main.py", line 1307, in connect ip_address = socket.gethostbyname(port) socket.gaierror: [Errno -2] Name or service not known During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred: Traceback (most recent call last): File "/home/domeu/.local/bin/rshell", line 8, in <module> sys.exit(main()) File "/home/domeu/.local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/rshell/command_line.py", line 4, in main rshell.main.main() File "/home/domeu/.local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/rshell/main.py", line 2966, in main real_main() File "/home/domeu/.local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/rshell/main.py", line 2928, in real_main connect(args.port, baud=args.baud, wait=args.wait, user=args.user, password=args.password) File "/home/domeu/.local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/rshell/main.py", line 1313, in connect connect_serial(port, baud=baud, wait=wait) File "/home/domeu/.local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/rshell/main.py", line 1337, in connect_serial dev = DeviceSerial(port, baud, wait) File "/home/domeu/.local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/rshell/main.py", line 1627, in __init__ Device.__init__(self, pyb) File "/home/domeu/.local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/rshell/main.py", line 1391, in __init__ unhexlify_exists = self.remote_eval(test_unhexlify) File "/home/domeu/.local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/rshell/main.py", line 1515, in remote_eval return eval(self.remote(func, *args, **kwargs)) File "/home/domeu/.local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/rshell/main.py", line 1493, in remote self.pyb.enter_raw_repl() File "/home/domeu/.local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/rshell/pyboard.py", line 203, in enter_raw_repl raise PyboardError('could not enter raw repl') rshell.pyboard.PyboardError: could not enter raw replAnd what I get
The Ampy did return the following error message
domeu@dom$ ampy --port /dev/ttyUSB0 ls b'OK\r\nexit\r\n\xff\x00\x00' Traceback (most recent call last): File "/home/domeu/.local/bin/ampy", line 8, in <module> sys.exit(cli()) File "/home/domeu/.local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/click/core.py", line 829, in __call__ return self.main(*args, **kwargs) File "/home/domeu/.local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/click/core.py", line 782, in main rv = self.invoke(ctx) File "/home/domeu/.local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/click/core.py", line 1259, in invoke return _process_result(sub_ctx.command.invoke(sub_ctx)) File "/home/domeu/.local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/click/core.py", line 1066, in invoke return ctx.invoke(self.callback, **ctx.params) File "/home/domeu/.local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/click/core.py", line 610, in invoke return callback(*args, **kwargs) File "/home/domeu/.local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/ampy/cli.py", line 194, in ls for f in board_files.ls(directory, long_format=long_format, recursive=recursive): File "/home/domeu/.local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/ampy/files.py", line 162, in ls self._pyboard.enter_raw_repl() File "/home/domeu/.local/lib/python3.6/site-packages/ampy/pyboard.py", line 198, in enter_raw_repl raise PyboardError('could not enter raw repl') ampy.pyboard.PyboardError: could not enter raw replApparently, there is an issue with the response provided in RAW REPL mode
b'OK\r\nexit\r\n\xff\x00\x00'
I will do additional checks with a standard Pyboard to check what is the expected response.
Dominique
Ok great that you got further along, Dominique
We haven't tried Rshell or Ampy yet, but do have Pyboards.
We have our own way of managing files one the P2, ozffs. To list the files type `files from serial tty or from usb keyboard or wireless keyboard. That will list the files in the extended flash memory, if there are any. The ` is the backtick character shared with the tilde ~ character at upper left of keyboard, typically
The difference is probably because when the P2 native micropython image exits it simple stops (and prints the exit message and from the terminal with chars 255 0 0) while the other platforms appear to now do a soft-reset and restart their REPLs. The difference comes about due to the original port the P2 native port started from (minimal vs stm32/esp32 which are more widely supported and have had far more work and changes done on them recently).
OZFSS
Understood for ozfss and tried it. I got an error on `files and on `save demo because it says
So I cannot save MicroPython files on the P2 at the moment.
I did also notices that file extension is not used in ozffs. Is this possible to save bitmap or binary files on the file system.
Soft Reset - Ctrl-D
I did noticed that Ctrl-D (so named soft-reset) does completely stuck (Freeze) the REPL on the P2.
On usual MicroPython life cycle, we are use transfert files, then to soft-reset in REPL session to start with clean session (from inside REPL). Then you can import your module from REPL with "import modulename".
This is a very convenient way do develop large code file or tune a micropython driver for some hardware.
So the defective support of Soft Reset is the reason why the RShell, Ampy and Mu file manager tool completely fails to work.
MicroPython FileSystem not accessible from MicroPython
It also appears that I can't open a file in write mode from the REPL session
The following code
does returns an OSError: 1
The soft reset behavior from the other ports is something that could potentially be ported in an updated release assuming it didn't interfere with the stuff OzPropDev added to intercept serial characters and control things from another hidden level.
For the filesystem you might need to open up a FAT volume and init the SPI interface for it. There are typically some extra steps needed there before you can start to read/write files and unfortunately a volume is not automounted by default because the SPI bus is shared with the SPI flash which is part of the ozffs thing and outside of MicroPython's reach.
Any advice on compiling flexprop on Arch?
I'm getting the following errors and not sure if it is a makefile incompatibility with Arch or if it indicates missing dependencies on my system:
After executing:
make install INSTALL=~/flexprop
I get:
if test -f /home/otis/flexprop/Makefile; then echo "ERROR: Install directory contains a Makefile (possibly installing to original source)"; exit 1; fi
make: *** No rule to make target 'spin2cpp/version.h', needed by 'src/version.tcl'. Stop.
No "flexprop" directory exists at the target path thus no Makefile can exist there....
The error is the line with the
***, which is that it cannot find the file spin2cpp/version.h. That most likely means that you forgot to clone the submodules of the project (one of which is spin2cpp). The detailed steps to follow are:It's very important to remember the
--recursiveflag on thegit clonecommand.I am having it seems the same problem installing. I followed the instructions on Umbuntu from this point and the terminal responses.
git clone --recursive https://github.com/totalspectrum/flexprop
Cloning into 'flexprop'...
remote: Enumerating objects: 6377, done.
remote: Counting objects: 100% (990/990), done.
remote: Compressing objects: 100% (362/362), done.
remote: Total 6377 (delta 660), reused 937 (delta 622), pack-reused 5387 (from 1)
Receiving objects: 100% (6377/6377), 6.97 MiB | 1.10 MiB/s, done.
Resolving deltas: 100% (3608/3608), done.
Submodule 'PropLoader' (https://github.com/totalspectrum/PropLoader) registered for path 'PropLoader'
Submodule 'loadp2' (https://github.com/totalspectrum/loadp2) registered for path 'loadp2'
Submodule 'spin2cpp' (https://github.com/totalspectrum/spin2cpp) registered for path 'spin2cpp'
Cloning into '/home/mcgyver/flexprop/PropLoader'...
remote: Enumerating objects: 1671, done.
remote: Counting objects: 100% (141/141), done.
remote: Compressing objects: 100% (44/44), done.
remote: Total 1671 (delta 111), reused 116 (delta 97), pack-reused 1530 (from 1)
Receiving objects: 100% (1671/1671), 492.13 KiB | 1.12 MiB/s, done.
Resolving deltas: 100% (1246/1246), done.
Cloning into '/home/mcgyver/flexprop/loadp2'...
remote: Enumerating objects: 1000, done.
remote: Counting objects: 100% (215/215), done.
remote: Compressing objects: 100% (111/111), done.
remote: Total 1000 (delta 141), reused 173 (delta 104), pack-reused 785 (from 1)
Receiving objects: 100% (1000/1000), 402.17 KiB | 1.11 MiB/s, done.
Resolving deltas: 100% (650/650), done.
Cloning into '/home/mcgyver/flexprop/spin2cpp'...
remote: Enumerating objects: 46472, done.
remote: Counting objects: 100% (419/419), done.
remote: Compressing objects: 100% (173/173), done.
remote: Total 46472 (delta 315), reused 303 (delta 246), pack-reused 46053 (from 3)
Receiving objects: 100% (46472/46472), 19.37 MiB | 1.10 MiB/s, done.
Resolving deltas: 100% (33282/33282), done.
Submodule path 'PropLoader': checked out '44472262021f7a73691bf66566c47fe73373117f'
Submodule path 'loadp2': checked out '46279542564f180fc131b4761bcd8bbbf967b996'
Submodule path 'spin2cpp': checked out 'fcac18469be505cd9bcbe8215446cf908c57dcfa'
Submodule 'Test/spinsim' (https://github.com/Wuerfel21/spinsim) registered for path 'spin2cpp/Test/spinsim'
Cloning into '/home/mcgyver/flexprop/spin2cpp/Test/spinsim'...
remote: Enumerating objects: 242, done.
remote: Counting objects: 100% (42/42), done.
remote: Compressing objects: 100% (29/29), done.
remote: Total 242 (delta 25), reused 27 (delta 13), pack-reused 200 (from 1)
Receiving objects: 100% (242/242), 505.01 KiB | 1.12 MiB/s, done.
Resolving deltas: 100% (117/117), done.
Submodule path 'spin2cpp/Test/spinsim': checked out 'abf969f43ed193792241ef8822ad0a1d60a69d0d'
mcgyver@mcgyverspc:~$ cd flexprop
mcgyver@mcgyverspc:~/flexprop$ make install INSTALL=~/flexprop
ERROR: Install directory contains a Makefile (possibly installing to original source)
make: *** [Makefile:70: check_dir] Error 1
It seems you cloned the git repository to ~/flexprop. It should be cloned elsewhere. Clean the /flexprop directory, makedir something like ~/flexprop_src, cd here, then git clone and make. Then cd ~/flexprop and run flexprop from there.
Looks like your FlexProp download folder and install folder have same name somehow…
Maybe try make install into a different folder than FlexProp ?
As others have said, you're trying to install into the same directory, which isn't supported. Please follow all of the instructions, including the ones that say
mkdir -p srcandcd srcbefore doing the clone.This is what I pasted in at first try. The second try (after deleting all src/flexprop adds) from cd $HOME line seems to do ok though there are some warnings, it seems to be loading.
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install build-essential xxd
sudo apt-get install bison git tk8.6-dev
sudo apt-get install texlive-latex-recommended pandoc
cd $HOME
mkdir -p src
cd src
rm -rf flexprop
git clone --recursive https://github.com/totalspectrum/flexprop
cd flexprop
make install INSTALL=~/flexprop
cd ~/flexprop
./flexprop
Anyway I hate I can't pinpoint the difference or error I evidently made.
Can one put all the steps into a script file to make it easier?
Just cd to home and then run the script ?
Flexprop has been getting lots of updates recently so have to do this a lot…
Defining INSTALL creates the path to where the flexprop directory will be created. This would create "~/flexprop/flexprop" as the resultant directory path (And, only if there was already a flexprop directory at ~/). Just "make install" will do what you want....
dgately