PicBasicPro, MPLAB IDE, and Win98SE

[Dick Ivers]

Has anyone been able to get this combo of components to work? Compile attempts return "Unable to execute mpasmwin" error message. I have been to MELABS support, and have followed all of their setup instructions without any luck. There seems to be something wrong in the path setup, but MELABS cannot come to an answer.

[BigWumpus]

...it's running !

[Dick Ivers]

PBP being used is v2.46a.

Error message from MPLAB is:

Executing: "C:\pbp\Pbpw.exe" -p16F84 -ampasmwin -oq -z "BLINK.BAS"
PicBasic Pro Compiler 2.46, (c) 1998, 2005 microEngineering Labs, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.

ERROR: Unable to execute mpasmwin.BUILD FAILED: Wed Dec 07 10:25:47 2005

The path to mpasmwin is C:\progra~1|\microc~1\mpasms~1\

Any ideas?

[Melanie]

Have you declared your path to MPASMWIN?

From the error message it looks like it can't find it.

I run Windows XP/Pro... and happilly execute PICBasic in a DOS Box.

When you first call up a native DOS box it dumps you into your personal Documents and Settings subdirectory... in my case it's...

H:\Documents and Settings\Melanie

Now this in reality is no good to man or beast. So I've created a batch file (called run246.bat) whose job it is to drop me into my current PBP directory (version 2.46 hence the name) and to provide the needed paths for my environment... so my batch file simply contains the lines...

cd\data-reference\pic\pbp246
path h:\data-reference\pic\pbp246;h:\Program Files\Microchip\MPASM Suite

Simple... works every time... even with Win98... all I simple have to do is Open a DOS Window, type [b]run246[\b] hit ENTER and I'm in business ready to play with whatever compiler takes my fancy.

How do I create a Batch File?

Simple too... just type EDIT when you first open your DOS box.

How do I open a DOS Box?

In Windows XP you'll find it in the Accessories sub-menu... they've called it "Command Prompt".

[Dick Ivers]

Melanie,

Thanks for your astute comments. Your suggestions are bringing me tantalizingly close to the solution to this problem.

I believe you have corrrectly identified that mpasmwin cannot be found because of a path anomaly. The fix you suggest works if the complilation process is started from the DOS prompt. However, I am actually trying to compile from within MPLAB IDE, and that produces the error message.

I not sure, but maybe Win98 autoexec.bat has something to do with this. I can see that correct path is on the last line of the autoexec.bat list. I think that line went in automatically when v2.46 was installed. I'm not savvy enough about autoexec manipulations to know what to try next.

Perhaps I should think about an upgrade to WindowsXP.

rivers

[Melanie]

It's been a while since I played with Win98... I do recall it truncated long Filenames/Paths and it has a Limit to Paths... 64 characters seems to ring a bell but don't hold me to it...

It's possibillity that your path to required files exceed this limit. As a last resort, reinstall PBP and MPLAB in sub-directories whose names are 8 characters or less and whose total path length is no more than three sub-directories deep. If that doesn't work, then an OS upgrade is probably on the cards. Win98 is little more than Win95 with half the bugs removed, and Win95 was really a glorified Windows V3 bolted onto an MS-DOS OS substrate. Both truncate long filenames and paths outside the Windows environment to make them a maximum of eight significant characters in each path segment or filename. It is possible that the latest MPLAB software relies on a more complex path structure which is being altered by the old OS.

Also... I believe the AUTOEXEC paths are only applied when you enter DOS mode not when you run an installed program by clicking on a Menu Line... paths for those can be found by Right-Clicking on the Menu item and opening the Properities option. It's more likely the path theirin is incorrect.

[Acetronics2]

Hi,Mel

Win98 sends you a warning if the Path data is too long ...

But I remember to have seen in a readme file from Melabs, that PBP and MPLAB should not be "too far" one from the other ...
That's why , on my HD, PBP is located in a sub-folder of MPLAB IDE folder.

It has worked fine for years with W98SE ...

Alain

[trying]

I used it before but now use xp but I think you may find help here
http://www.microengineeringlabs.com/support/mplab.htm

Windows 95/98/ME

The search path is specified in a file called autoexec.bat, that should be located in the root directory of your C drive (C:\). You can edit the file with a text editor such as notepad, or run msconfig (Win98 only).

The path statement uses the format: PATH=path1;path2;.... Add the paths to MPLAB and PICBASIC PRO to the end of the line, separating each path with a semicolon.

An example path statement is: PATH=C:\WINDOWS;C:\PBP;C:\PROGRA~1\Microc~1\MPASMS ~1.
Notice that long directory names must be shortened to their 8 character DOS equivalent. For example, the "Program Files" directory must be shortened to "Progra~1".

Restart your computer after making changes to the autoexec.bat file.

[Dick Ivers]

Okay, finally...programs are now compiling correctly in MPLAB IDE. Fixed with a path statement as suggested above; added into the autoexec.bat file, e.g. PATH=C:\WINDOWS;C:\PBP;C:\PROGRA~1\Microc~1\MPASMS ~1.
It took a couple of tries to get the syntax right, but working now.

Thanks