(Solved) Did Windows Update Break Propeller Tool v2.5.3? No, it was bad register data.
Duane Degn
Posts: 10,588
My PC updated last night and this morning. When I tried to open a .spin2 file I received the following error.
After closing this error, I get other errors as I try to open files.
I tried uninstalling and then reinstalling the Propeller Tool but I receive the same errors.
Is anyone else seeing this? Any suggestions?
Comments
Disable Windows Update.
-Phil
Now you tell me.
A couple of days ago my PC was using my internet connection's full bandwidth. The only program using the internet was a critical Windows program. I finally disabled my ethernet in order to let my wife have access to the internet for her job.
I wonder if I disrupted some crucial part of an update by cutting off internet access this way.
If I can't find a better solution, I'll likely start trying older version of the Propeller Tool to see if any of them will work.
@"Duane Degn" Try this. Locate a .spin2 file. Right click on the .spin2 file and select "open with Propeller Tool". See if this fixes your problem.
Happened to me several times, don't know what happens but Windows Update has nothing to do with it.
The only fix I found is to delete the last recently used entries from the registry, don't ask why but works for me.
Try this: open regedit, then go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\ParallaxInc\Propeller\2.4.0 and delete all FileXX entries (should be File01 to File10), exit regedit and start Propeller Tools, now it should work.
Just updated one box here. Not seeing any issues opening .spin2 files...
That didn't work but thanks for the suggestion.
I tried this and still received errors when starting the Propeller Tool. I uninstalled the Propeller Tool and deleted all the Propeller Tool register data. When I attempted to reinstall the Propeller Tool, I received a new error. I figure I need to restart my PC and try to install again.
It's good to know the update doesn't prevent the Propeller Tool from working.
Thanks for all the help. I'll update the thread when I have more news.
Success!
Uninstalling the Propeller Tool, deleting the Propeller folder from the register, restarting the computer and then reinstalling the Propeller Tool worked. @macca thanks for the regedit suggestion, I think that was what I was missing.
Thanks again for everyone's help.
Back to programing the Propeller 2.
I wonder why it's mucking up the registry?
Do you use the
FILEdirective? Propeller Tool has a nasty habit of attempting to open those included binary files into the editor and then choking on them. That seems to cause all sorts of whacky effects, so corrupting data that gets persisted into the registry seems plausible.I might have used the FILE directive years ago with the Propeller 1. I haven't used it with any of my Propeller 2 projects. I'm relatively confident I haven't used it on this PC. There's a small chance I opened an object with the FILE directive but I don't recall doing so.
I originally thought this was related to Windows update but I'm not sure that really had much to do with this. I'm still don't know why this happened but I'm glad there's a fix.
I just finished uninstalling and installing the Propeller Tool again.
I'm trying to figure out if I'm doing something to cause these errors. One thing I do which may be unusual, is I often have more than one instance of the Propeller Tool open. I uncheck the box "Associate files launch into single editor." Having two instances open makes it easier to reference a second program when I'm copying code.
I don't know if this is really causing the trouble, but it's only thing I can think of which I do different than most people.
@macca thanks again for the regedit suggestion. I make sure I clear the Propeller registry items before installing the Propeller Tool and I have much better success with the fresh install.
You are aware that you can drag out a tab into its own Window? It's a bit jank but it works.
I don't think I've tried dragging a tab out from the Propeller Tool. That may be an easier method sometimes. Thanks.
You are welcome.
I always use one instance of Propeller Tools but the error still pops up from time to time. I tried to reproduce without success, and for me just cleaning the last recently used files works (still don't know why they should cause that error). I made some customizations and if I have to clear the registry after these error and do them again each time I'll have already dropped Propeller Tools forever... I whish it open sourced so we can look what happens (and maybe build a multiplatform version... ).
I just tried pulling a tab out to be a separate window. I wouldn't call it "a bit jank". I think it's "VERY jank". I've never seen anything quite like it. Weird ghost windows are outlined as I move the window. Very strange.
The guy I work for/with wants to keep our code workable with Parallax's main Propeller IDE.
And to be honest, I'm so used to the coloring and format of the Propeller Tool it messes with my brain to program in any other IDE.
Duane
You would be surprised h0w quickly you would get used to, and prefer, VSCode. Having the commands, opcodes, variables, etc all colorised is so much better than what PropTool does.
PropTool can never hope to be an equivalent editor to VSC. And of course VSC is cross-platform including the latest RPi R2040.
You're probably right (you usually are). I'll give VSCode a try. There are things about the Prop Tool which I find annoying and it would be nice to have an editor with more features.
I'll start reading your thread on the topic and figure out what I need to do to get this working on my computer.
Thanks for the suggestion.
Assuming this is the same issue (error window behind UI, closes after 1s but Aero preview looks like same message), I've had this occur twice in the two weeks I've gotten back into poking at the uCs.
I took a stab at diagnosing and creating a reproduction case but is... convoluted. The following may or may not be true. Just having a bit of fun poking but... may not really be worthwhile.
File01's filename must be within a certain range of characters
** Adding characters to the File01 entry's filename would eventually top failing, and too little will stop failing as well
** Contents don't seem to matter
File01's path without filename & LastUsedDirectory needs to be a certain length or greater in order to fail (maybe...)
Though I do plan on moving to vscode as well, just wanted to experience the OEM tools first.
There is a better writeup and setup for VSC. IIRC it is in a Quick Byte. Perhaps someone can chime in with a link.
BTW I still keep PropTool v1.x as I really like the block copy/insert/delete functions - selecting a block of characters with ALT-click. While VSC can do this it is not as easy as in PropTool. And I find Notepad++ excellent for comparisons and I use it with Python for scripting at work. But for main P2 editing I use VSC.
Deleting all entries in the register will let me run the Propeller Tool without the error but deleting just "File" and "Find" entries isn't enough to fix the problem. I just tried deleting all the values before and including the "Replace*" entries and this seems to be working. This lets me keep some of my preferences.
I'll edit this reply if I can narrow down what needs to be deleted. I haven't tried changing the names of the entries nor have I tried changing the value of the entries.
The last time that happened to me I have deleted the LastUsedDirectory only and the error went away. There is definitely a relationship between the LastUsedDirectory and (at least) File01, for a short time I was able to constantly reproduce and fix the error by altering these two entries only, unfortunately now I can't reproduce it anymore (seems that the code is alive and changes itself from time to time...). I guess some undersized buffer allocated at runtime based on wrong assumptions about the registry entries.
Too bad Parallax doesn't seems to care about this problem.
Encountered this today. Removed the recent files list from the directory to fix it.
@"Jeff Martin" I uninstalled and re-installed 2.5.3 today. In the registry, the folder created was 2.4.0 -- not what I expected.
Thanks for helping to narrow down which files to delete. This should save me time the next time I get this error.