FAQ Linux specific

Back to The general FAQ for GreatCow Basic

This is a work in progress! When You feel it lacks important Questions, please report

Hint: It is always a good Idea to consult the Help System first. Many Questions are discussed there.

For Linux Mint is an installation Guide available.

1. Installing

What distribution of Linux is supported?

All Recent Linux versions will do because there is no graphics in the compiler core it is very unlikly the compiler won't work.
The Desktop using does not care.

Why is the rar File for Linux encrypted?

There are software portals that do nothing other than catalog and provide free software for download. That's not really a big deal, but they are often out of date and offer ancient versions. In addition, they earn advertising revenue that does not benefit the project. Btw. the password is GCB

What are the requirements for Linux for installing and using Great Cow Basic?

You need a recent Linux (32 or 64 Bit System) on a not too old Computer. FreeBASIC 1.05 or newer must be installed (because the Great Cow Basic Compiler will be build with it) rar or unrar for unpacking the Source and rsync is used by install script.

Is there an native IDE for Linux?

Geany is known to work very well at least by one User. See here for Configuration and setup. But there are plenty of other IDE available which some might be usable, also.

What kind of Emulator will work?

wine seems to run, but no much experience in deep, now. Please use Wine 2.0.3 or newer. With this Version is the PPS Tool is running very smooth usable. A hint from the Editor, using the native Compiler to about 10 times faster than the wine solution. Consider that.

2. Configuration

how do I Flash without using the MPE IPE GUI?

A solution is to using the command_line Utiliy

java -jar /opt/microchip/mplabx/v3.65/mplab_ipe/ipecmd.jar -TPPK3 -P18F25K22 -M -F"%d/%e.hex"

The Bold Values have to be set individually. The key here is NOT using space between the switch and the Parameter. There are far more Command switches available, try

java -jar /opt/microchip/mplabx/v3.65/mplab_ipe/ipecmd.jar -?

For Help Page. But a better Approach is to use a Wrapper Script like here.

Have I care about Unix LF Linefeed and Windows CRLF Cariage Return Linefeed

No, Great Cow Basic doesn't care about. Feel free to take what you want.

What means "awk: /opt/GCBASIC/preprocess.awk:24: (FILENAME=/opt/GCBASIC/include/glcd.h FNR=1722)Warning: unknown multibyte data was found. Your data may not match the locale you set"

It means a harmless warning about not compatible Multibyte Files. It has been proven, they can savely ignore. Btw: they appear only for the first compile