Lessons Learned
What lessons have you learned this past week about programming?
Observations from Pilla/Rhine:
- Does everyone have their home computer working with WinAVR + Create?
- Make sure all HW/Labs have Name/Cohort/Date/Assignment (in top comments if turning in code).
- When making a new program in the lab or at home...
- You must create a new project folder under your OWN directory as we specified--do not deviate from our lab rules! Penalty??
- Do not edit the files under TEAMS Template - make a copy into your new project folders before you edit.
- Use the same directory structure at home, please, for a seamless home-to-class transition.
- We won't mention any names...BF and DM and AM.
- Naughty Create List
- Problem solving tips for WinAVR errors at each step
- Make Clean - This step does not look at your code, it only looks for the location of your files.
- If an error says that there is not rule for Make Clean, then there is something wrong with your project setup. If you have multiple projects open in WinAVR, make sure the one you are trying to compile is selected as the Active Project. Otherwise, make sure you have carefully followed the instructions for creating a new project folder, and that all the files opened in WinAVR are the files in that folder.
- If an error says that WinAVR can't find make.exe, then reinstall WinAVR using the Windows user name that you are currently signed on to.
- Make All - This step sends your code to the compiler, so errors in here are probably syntax errors.
- When you get a list of errors in the output, scroll up and start from the top. A single mistake or typo at the top of your code can generate many errors for code that will be correct once the top error has been fixed.
- It only takes one or two seconds to compile your code, so each time you correct a single error, you should try to Make Clean and Make All again. This will help keep you from changing correct code.
- If you get lots of errors in create.c or create.h, it is easiest to move to another computer. This should only happen occasionally in the OS314 computer lab, and is due to a conflict between WinAVR and another programs files.
- Program - This is when you load your program into the Command Module, so most errors are related to COM port or driver issues. These errors are relatively minor, and will pop up again and again, so please becoming familiar with correcting them. It will save you a lot of time.
- If your computer cannot recognize the Command Module and asks you to install new hardware, then you need to download the two Command Module drivers from the Wiki. They are in the Robot Links, under the Hardware section near the bottom. If you use Windows 2000, you will need to do this.
- If you get an error code 1 or 2, it means that WinAVR cannot communicate with the Command Module over the selected port. Make sure the Command Module is plugged in and turned on, with the USB LED lit up. Press reset to make sure it is ready to load your program. If the error persists, then follow the instructions in the Robot Notes section to make sure WinAVR is looking at the right COM port.
- If you get a long and messy error code, and your COM port settings are correct, then you need to make sure the libusb0.dll file is in the place it belongs. Read the WinAVR installation note in the Robot Notes. This is related to an installation bug for WinAVR, which needs to be corrected. Once it is correct, you should not see it again.
Observations from Troutt/Merrill:
- Some robots have "screwy" cliff sensors!
- Mark will share a great debugging/troubleshooting story
