There was an error with your serialport module

[beaniebag]

Each time I run Visual Studio Code I get the following error message now:

There was an error with your serialport module, Pymakr will likely not work properly. Please try to install again or report an issue on our github (see developer console for details)

Vs Code details are:
Version: 1.36.0 (user setup)
Commit: 0f3794b38477eea13fb47fbe15a42798e6129338
Date: 2019-07-03T13:25:46.372Z
Electron: 4.2.5
Chrome: 69.0.3497.128
Node.js: 10.11.0
V8: 6.9.427.31-electron.0
OS: Windows_NT x64 10.0.17134
Pymakr: 1.1.2

I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling previous versions but that just removes the error and pymakr doesn't load.

[10caret100]

Same issue here. I spent the better part of 4+ hours troubleshooting a tool, which is supposed to be way out of Beta already.

It actually (kind of) worked on very first install (PyMakr 1.1.2), but was very fragile and would constantly lose connection to the PyCom boards (PySense w/ FyPi) and I'd have to restart VSC, and re-connect, and do a little magic dance, etc., etc., to make it work again.

Please stabilize this tool, as it is representative of PyCom's ecosystem and it being in such a fragile state is not good for the overall perception of the company.

The PyCom modules are very promising, indeed, but without a stable dev env, I don't think we'll consider using the modules for our current project (which, if PoC work proves them to be suitable, we'll likely order 1000s of units in the future). Stable dev tools (that, at the very least, install without errors) is a strict passing criteria for making this decision, though.

Tech info:

Version: 1.36.0 (user setup)
Commit: 0f3794b38477eea13fb47fbe15a42798e6129338
Date: 2019-07-03T13:25:46.372Z
Electron: 4.2.5
Chrome: 69.0.3497.128
Node.js: 10.11.0
V8: 6.9.427.31-electron.0
OS: Windows_NT x64 10.0.17763

[Josverl]

Apparently this is caused by VSCode switching to a newer version of Electron, which requires a different binding for the serialport module in order to work.
I agree that the ability to connect, and to connect reliably is something that should be addressed. In fact there has been quite some effort spend on this in the past to address similar issues in previous version jumps in VScode / electron, but It seems that the additional logic (ref: #42) that was included to handle these , and select the correct bindings, did not do its job in the current instance.

Making cross-platform serial port work for any future version of Electron is notoriously challenging.

Perhaps an automated integration test running against VSCode Insider would at least provide advance warning for the DevTeam to prepare, and include the new bindings in advance.

[10caret100]

I understand the conundrum, but, ideally, PyCom should come up with a solid workaround until this issue is addressed adequately in a future release. Feel free to let us know if there's anything the community can do to help? Which parts of the code base are the offending ones?

[beaniebag]

Currently the work around for me is to use another IDE. I've been using atom in the mean time till a fix comes out for vs code version.

[Josverl]

Revert to a previous version of vscode is an option, but not simple, as you need to prevent it from autoupdating again.
I'll see if I can build a private version for Windows for the interim. If that works I'll post here.

[GC-RnD]

simply put... when can we expect a fix

[Josverl]

well , i'm only a member of the community, so I have no SLA,
If you are a paying customer than I assume you can call pycom support to log a ticket.

meanwhile I've been doing some diffing into the wonders of electron and the integration of modules in a multiplatform environment.

if you open a command window and paste the below commands,
that should download & install a better version of the serialport\binding that offers the integration into electron , whish is version specific.
4.2.5 is the Electron version that you can also see in the VSCode > Help > About

updated ( thanks Jose)

npm install -g prebuild-install
cd %userprofile%\.vscode\extensions\pycom.pymakr-1.1.2
cd node_modules\@serialport\bindings
prebuild-install --runtime electron --target 4.2.5 --tag-prefix @serialport/bindings@ --verbose --force

the output should look something like this

prebuild-install info begin Prebuild-install version 5.3.0
prebuild-install info looking for cached prebuild @ C:\Users\josverl\AppData\Roaming\npm-cache\_prebuilds\a3ab8a-bindings-v2.0.8-electron-v69-win32-x64.tar.gz
prebuild-install info found cached prebuild
prebuild-install info unpacking @ C:\Users\josverl\AppData\Roaming\npm-cache\_prebuilds\a3ab8a-bindings-v2.0.8-electron-v69-win32-x64.tar.gz
prebuild-install info unpack resolved to C:\Users\josverl\.vscode\extensions\pycom.pymakr-1.1.2\node_modules\@serialport\bindings\build\Release\bindings.node
prebuild-install info install Successfully installed prebuilt binary!

restart vscode, and pymakr should start working again

[JoeCharlieH]

well , i'm only a member of the community, so I have no SLA,
If you are a paying customer than I assume you can call pycom support to log a ticket.

meanwhile I've been doing some diffing into the wonders of electron and the integration of modules in a multiplatform environment.

if you open a command window and paste the below commands,
that should download & install a better version of the serialport\binding that offers the integration into electron , whish is version specific.
4.2.5 is the Electron version that you can also see in the VSCode > Help > About

cd %userprofile%\.vscode\extensions\pycom.pymakr-1.1.2
cd node_modules\@serialport\bindings
.\node_modules\.bin\prebuild-install.cmd --runtime electron --target 4.2.5 --tag-prefix @serialport/bindings@ --verbose --force

the output should look something like this

prebuild-install info begin Prebuild-install version 5.3.0
prebuild-install info looking for cached prebuild @ C:\Users\josverl\AppData\Roaming\npm-cache\_prebuilds\a3ab8a-bindings-v2.0.8-electron-v69-win32-x64.tar.gz
prebuild-install info found cached prebuild
prebuild-install info unpacking @ C:\Users\josverl\AppData\Roaming\npm-cache\_prebuilds\a3ab8a-bindings-v2.0.8-electron-v69-win32-x64.tar.gz
prebuild-install info unpack resolved to C:\Users\josverl\.vscode\extensions\pycom.pymakr-1.1.2\node_modules\@serialport\bindings\build\Release\bindings.node
prebuild-install info install Successfully installed prebuilt binary!

restart vscode, and pymakr should start working again

I couldn't execute the last command in terminal:
.\node_modules\.bin\prebuild-install.cmd --runtime electron --target 4.2.5 --tag-prefix @serialport/bindings@ --verbose --force

EDIT: I need to install prebuild from the repo

[JoeCharlieH]

Finally managed to get it working.
Thanks for the temporal solution @Josverl.

Apparently, you need this dependencies to solve the problem: prebuild, prebuild-install

npm install -g prebuild
npm install -g prebuild-install

Next, you navigate to the bindings folder of the pymakr module:
cd %userprofile%\.vscode\extensions\pycom.pymakr-1.1.2\node_modules\@serialport\bindings

Finally, just paste this command on the terminal:
prebuild-install --runtime electron --target 4.2.5 --tag-prefix @serialport/bindings@ --verbose

[Josverl]

Thanks Jose,
prebuild-install can be in many different locations , it was included on my machine so i used what i though was the minimal solution , but now i think that was some pollution from earlier attempts on my machine :-(
I would assume you only need npm install -g prebuild-install but the prebuild module will do no harm

[Josverl]

@RalphHogenbirk , I now see 3 possible patterns for a more robust solution:

1. run the prebuild-install --runtime electron --target X.Y.Z --tag-prefix @serialport/bindings@ as part of the installation.
   Only when VSCode skips to a new electron version users will need to re-install
2. run prebuild-install -- ... each time the extention starts.
   on upgrade users still get one-error / warning, or the code issues a >reload window command to avoid a restart. However this will add to the load time of the extension
3. include run prebuild-install -- ... as part of the dev / build process : download and include multiple prebuilds ( win / linux / mac) and for multiple electron versions. and (dynamically) load the correct modules for the platform and electron version
   this will make the package slightly larger, but I think it has the best user experience

[ferrarimarco]

Hi! I'm having the very same issue on VS Code 1.36.0 on MacOS. Any ETA for a stable fix? Thanks!

[RalphHogenbirk]

Only seeing this now, sorry guys! VScode drastically increased the electron version in the last release (3.1 to 4.2) so the serialport build is failing. I'm rebuilding it now, will try to get a quick fix out today or tomorrow.

[apeiris]

well , i'm only a member of the community, so I have no SLA,
If you are a paying customer than I assume you can call pycom support to log a ticket.

meanwhile I've been doing some diffing into the wonders of electron and the integration of modules in a multiplatform environment.

if you open a command window and paste the below commands,
that should download & install a better version of the serialport\binding that offers the integration into electron , whish is version specific.
4.2.5 is the Electron version that you can also see in the VSCode > Help > About

updated ( thanks Jose)

npm install -g prebuild-install
cd %userprofile%\.vscode\extensions\pycom.pymakr-1.1.2
cd node_modules\@serialport\bindings
prebuild-install --runtime electron --target 4.2.5 --tag-prefix @serialport/bindings@ --verbose --force

the output should look something like this

prebuild-install info begin Prebuild-install version 5.3.0
prebuild-install info looking for cached prebuild @ C:\Users\josverl\AppData\Roaming\npm-cache\_prebuilds\a3ab8a-bindings-v2.0.8-electron-v69-win32-x64.tar.gz
prebuild-install info found cached prebuild
prebuild-install info unpacking @ C:\Users\josverl\AppData\Roaming\npm-cache\_prebuilds\a3ab8a-bindings-v2.0.8-electron-v69-win32-x64.tar.gz
prebuild-install info unpack resolved to C:\Users\josverl\.vscode\extensions\pycom.pymakr-1.1.2\node_modules\@serialport\bindings\build\Release\bindings.node
prebuild-install info install Successfully installed prebuilt binary!

restart vscode, and pymakr should start working again

Josverl, Managed to get it back working with the instruction.. Thanks

[GC-RnD]

apeiris, Thank you for the update my VSC Pymakr is now function again. From: apeiris [mailto:notifications@github.com] Sent: Monday, July 08, 2019 11:09 AM To: pycom/pymakr-vsc Cc: Rich Golden; Comment Subject: Re: [pycom/pymakr-vsc] There was an error with your serialport module (#53) well , i'm only a member of the community, so I have no SLA, If you are a paying customer than I assume you can call pycom support to log a ticket. meanwhile I've been doing some diffing into the wonders of electron and the integration of modules in a multiplatform environment. if you open a command window and paste the below commands, that should download & install a better version of the serialport\binding that offers the integration into electron , whish is version specific. 4.2.5 is the Electron version that you can also see in the VSCode > Help > About updated ( thanks Jose) npm install -g prebuild-install cd %userprofile%\.vscode\extensions\pycom.pymakr-1.1.2 cd node_modules\@serialport\bindings prebuild-install --runtime electron --target 4.2.5 --tag-prefix @serialport/bindings@ --verbose --force the output should look something like this prebuild-install info begin Prebuild-install version 5.3.0 prebuild-install info looking for cached prebuild @ C:\Users\josverl\AppData\Roaming\npm-cache\_prebuilds\a3ab8a-bindings-v2.0.8-electron-v69-win32-x64.tar.gz prebuild-install info found cached prebuild prebuild-install info unpacking @ C:\Users\josverl\AppData\Roaming\npm-cache\_prebuilds\a3ab8a-bindings-v2.0.8-electron-v69-win32-x64.tar.gz prebuild-install info unpack resolved to C:\Users\josverl\.vscode\extensions\pycom.pymakr-1.1.2\node_modules\@serialport\bindings\build\Release\bindings.node prebuild-install info install Successfully installed prebuilt binary! restart vscode, and pymakr should start working again Josverl, Managed to get it back working with the instruction.. Thanks — You are receiving this because you commented. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub<#53?email_source=notifications&email_token=AEJ4GXYHHVNTVJ3WXGS2EC3P6NKAHA5CNFSM4H5TXIYKYY3PNVWWK3TUL52HS4DFVREXG43VMVBW63LNMVXHJKTDN5WW2ZLOORPWSZGODZNMNWI#issuecomment-509265625>, or mute the thread<https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AEJ4GX6IYYZPGMUBTLHUTCLP6NKAHANCNFSM4H5TXIYA>.