Can only open Skeinforge in DOS box

Hi all,

I'm new to all this, and have enjoyed a few weeks of following other people's posts moving slowly, learning, and resolving all my problems. But now unfortunately I have a problem I can't find the solution to in the forum. I'm a mechanical engineer, not a computer scientist - so I'd be very grateful for any help with these computer bits, and look forward to contributing more to the mechanical bits once I get the gist of everything!

Before anything, a bit about my set-up:

• I have Windows 7
• I have a RepRap Mendel Pro that I purchased in Dec 2012 (yes, it's taken me this long to get round to finish building it...)
• I installed everything by following these instructions to the letter.
• As per the instructions in that link, I have ended up with Python 27

So, my problem is that I can only seem to open Skeinforge (as in \Software-master\skeinforge\skeinforge_application) through the DOS box (cmd.exe). If I try to open it by double clicking on the icon in Windows I get an error flashing up in a DOS box that disappears very quickly, though after a few attempts I managed to capture it in a screen shot (attached here).

I can still open Skeinforge fine through the DOS box (by typing python skeinforge.py), but not being able to open it through Windows means it doesn't interface nicely with pronterface, not to mention I have that uneasy feeling something's wrong and it might come back to bite me later.

Another topic (scroll all the way down to the last post) reported similar problems that could be fixed by going into Environment/System Variables and doing something with the values of TK, and TCL. I do not appear to have any reference to either TK or TCL in my Environment/System Variables, and unfortunately do not know enough about Python or Windows to know what this means, nor whether it is relevant to this problem or not.

Many thanks in advance for any help anyone can offer.

Cheers,

Eddie

this probably means something is crashing. you need to remove all python files, and then go in Documents (was My documents in windows xp) and look for a .skeinforge folder and delete it. if you don't see it then you need to enable viewing system folders and hidden folders.

from there this guy has a guide to install python, pronterface and skein 41

[the3dprinter.blogspot.com]

this is not my guide but one i found with a google search. this one references 64bit windows 7


if you are not using 64 bit version of windows 7:

print run can be installed on its own and should run on xp/windows 7 32 bit here after uninstall instructions from above
printrun can be found here as well : [koti.kapsi.fi]

hope this helps get you in the right direction.

Solved!

I did try your propals James - many thanks for trying to help. But unfortunately I ended up worse off then before! I think those instructions must be a bit out of date as half of the versions of the installations required were no longer available, and I had to choose a newer versions somewhat at random. No doubt I messed up somewhere. It's worth noting that in the installation instructions I originally followed (link in my first post at the top) the author asks that you install the indicated versions regardless of whether or not you have 64-bit Windows 7.

Anyway, after a bit more Googling I eventually stumbled across this post, and that solved my problem. Basically, all I had to do was actually go ahead and Skeinforge an example file (e.g. the test.stl file in the same folder as the Skeinforge application). That solves the problem!

Sounds like it was a minor bug anyway and nothing I should have worried about too much...

I would not say it is minor, it kept you away from printing! glad to see that a fix presented itself for you!