Run Propeller Tool twice on one PC?
ManAtWork
Posts: 2,080
Is it possible to run the Propeller Tool twice to load and debug two target boards at the same time? I'm currently developping software for a system where a servo controller (with P2) is comunicating with an encoder (also with a P2, of course). If I find a bug in one of the programs it often means I also have to modify the program for the other target. So I have to unplug the Prog Plug here and plug it in there all the time.
If I have two Prog Plugs I could theoretically run the Propeller Tool twice and assign a different COM port in each of them. Is this possible? Double clicking on the PropTool icon when one instance is already running does nothing.
Ok, I know, I could load both programs into one single PropTool window and only change the tabs and COM ports. But the COM port settings are in a sub-dialog and navigating through the menu and buttons every time is quite annoying.
Comments
Hi ManAtWork
I can't swear it'll work at the present case, but, most (if not all) Windows applications can be installed more than once, to be runned concurrently, provided you choose different install directories for each instance.
In order to test it, it's wise to start by editing the desktop icon name that is currently pointing to the first (and standard installation), so to ease differentiating the individual instances, and avoid creating unnecessary trouble afterwards.
Perhaps adding a hint to the Comm port attributed to each one, also provides some help in selecting between them during usage.
It'll also e helpfull to use some registry cleaner (Ccleaner (free), perhaps) beforehand, in order to unclobber your system registry, by removing old (and unnused) registry entries and garbagge, that usually are only "forgotten gecko tails", lost ancient traces, and memories.
Restarting the system after the registry cleanup also helps; it's an old method for not so recent windows versions (like my own ones), but uses to work nicelly, and never does anything bad.
Hope it helps...
Henrique
Why not use flexProp or PNUT for the second P2?
Use VMWare. Let the PC do the hard work. The host can hand off the user-selected USB devices directly to the virtual machine.
Just mentioning it because it's not actually that daunting of an effort to fire up a VM once you've got a base OS install to clone.
Virtualization solves a ton of roadblocks. As an added bonus with regular backups it also helps you capture a working instance of the development environment. That way you can refer back to it for future reference years from now, or to a time last week before some breaking update.
AFAIK, if you disable the 'Associated files launch into single editor' option (Edit -> Preferences -> Files and Folders) you can open multiple instances.
Ah, that works, thanks!
If I double click on the PropTool icon when one instance is already running still nothing happens. But opening another source file with the explorer now opens a second window.
Close all instances after the change, then double clicking on the icon should work too.