I've spent the last two days trying to get the 32-bit Linux version of IDE 1.6.5 installed and running on my laptop. I can compile code and load it, but as soon as I attempt to use File->Open or File->Save the IDE locks up. Freezes. Will not do anything further and must be killed and restarted.
If I run the IDE as 'root' -- if I start the 'arduino' shell script with sudo -- the freeze does not occur... but, of course, anything I save belongs to 'root'.
The details are buried eight pages into this thread:
Using Arduino > Installation & Troubleshooting
IDE 1.6.5 is now available for download
but this evening I discovered something which prompted me to start a new topic. In an effort to figure out what was happening I downloaded and installed every 32-bit Linux version of the IDE from 1.6.0 through 1.6.4; the problem is not present with IDE 1.6.0, but appeared in v1.6.1 and is present in subsequent versions.
OS: Ubuntu Linux 10.04 (32-bit)
uname -a: Linux bagheera 2.6.32-44-generic #98-Ubuntu SMP ...
Mon Sep 24 17:32:45 UTC 2012 i686 GNU/Linux
Can anyone suggest any changes to the 32-bit Linux version of the IDE that were make between 1.6.0 and 1.6.1 that would have made parts of the user interface (my interpretation of the symptoms) fail if not run as root?
Or -- since this could always be the result of something I've overlooked on my end -- can anyone report that they are successfully running a 32-bit Linux version of the IDE later than 1.6.1 on 32-bit Ubuntu 10?
My thanks in advance for any assistance anyone can offer.
Well this won't be of much help. I'm running 10.4 (kubuntu) and other than the ncurses thing, have had zero problems with any of the 1.6.x versions (or any other versions). Running arduino out of the unzipped tarball in my home directory.
If you have the disk space you can install a later ubuntu alongside 10.4. So you will have the new and old versions available through a menu choice.
tf68:
Well this won't be of much help. I'm running 10.4 (kubuntu) and other than the ncurses thing, have had zero problems with any of the 1.6.x versions (or any other versions). Running arduino out of the unzipped tarball in my home directory.
Thank you for responding, I'm sorry it took me so long to reply.
Believe it or not, the information you provided is helpful.
You're running on an nearly-identical system, and while this doesn't help me home in on what the problems is, it tells me two things: (1) the... er, 'root' of my problem is likely to be something specific to my system rather than Ubuntu 10.04, and (2) nailing it down is likely to require quite a bit of time and effort. That, in turn, tells me I should accept the discomfort of running as 'root' until I can upgrade my laptop to 32-bit or 64-bit Ubuntu 14.04.
Another option -- one I haven't explored yet -- would be to see how much I can get done with a "backlevel" version of the IDE, say 1.6.0. Tradeoffs, tradeoffs...
Could you clarify your reference to "the ncurses thing" and how you got past it?
tf68:
If you have the disk space you can install a later ubuntu alongside 10.4. So you will have the new and old versions available through a menu choice.
Good luck!
edit: It is 32 bit.
Hah! <grin!>
The drive is split between WinXP and Ubuntu, and the Linux partition has about 6Gb free. Oh. That may make upgrading a bit nasty... New drive? New laptop? Decisions, decisions...
Ncurses. Having to add a symbolic link, libtinfo.so to libncurses.so so that avrdude would run.
Unless 1.6.5 added somthing you really need I think the earlier 1.6.x stuff should work ok.
The 1.6.5 release added the new file dialog maybe that is the problem??? Try 1.6.4 it has the old file dialog.
Edit: Run the ArduinoIDE from a terminal. Do you get any helpful/useful error messages when you try and use the File dialog?
tf68:
Ncurses. Having to add a symbolic link, libtinfo.so to libncurses.so so that avrdude would run.
Ah. this fix in /lib:
sudo ln -s libncurses.so.5.7 libtinfo.so.5
Unless 1.6.5 added somthing you really need I think the earlier 1.6.x stuff should work ok.
The 1.6.5 release added the new file dialog maybe that is the problem??? Try 1.6.4 it has the old file dialog.
I tried installing back-level IDEs 1.6.0 through 1.6.4 (see the other thread for the ugly details), and the problem first appears with v1.6.1. I didn't do much with 1.6.0 past seeing the the freeze wasn't present.
Edit: Run the ArduinoIDE from a terminal. Do you get any helpful/useful error messages when you try and use the File dialog?
Unfortunately, no. I modified the 'arduino' shell script to dump the environment variables to the console, but this is all I get:
frank@bagheera:~$ ~/Apps/arduino-1.6.5/aduino-2 & # Show env var values
[1] 4626
CURDIR: /home/frank
APPDIR: /home/frank/Apps/arduino-1.6.5
LD_LIBRARY_PATH: /home/frank/Apps/arduino-1.6.5/lib
JAVA: ./java/bin/java
PATH: /home/frank/Apps/arduino-1.6.5/java/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games:/opt/mspgcc/bin:/usr/lib/jvm/java-7-oracle/bin:/usr/lib/jvm/java-7-oracle/db/bin:/usr/lib/jvm/java-7-oracle/jre/bin
Picked up JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS:
All of which precedes the appearance of the IDE. Once the IDE has come up and I select either File->Open or File->Save, the IDE hangs with no other output, either from the IDE window or into the Treminal window.
I noteiced that thre's a WinXX 'debug' version of the IDE. Wish there was a switch or something on the Linux version which would provide more information for the developers. An error message such as "Idiot is still running Kernel 2.0.0" would be really helpul about now.