Bug? B4R IDE Board Selector problem

[gjt211]

Is there a way to select a board (Tools->Board Selector) without choosing a serial port?
I frequently create projects when I am not in my office or home, so I don't have an Arduino connected. When there is no board connected, I am not able to select a board because I don't have the ability to choose the serial port. The board selector always says "Please fill all fields".

It would be nice if I can start a project, select a board (without choosing the serial port) and start writing/compiling code.

Is there a way around this limitation?

 

[Erel]

Is the serial ports list empty? Don't you see COM1 or similar port?

 

[gjt211]

Hi Erel,
There are no ports visible, as there are no comm ports on the laptop. When I plug in a arduino board the port is visible, but if I want to start on a new project without having a board plugged in, then it won't let me as there are no ports to choose from.

 

[Erel]

The IDE remembers the last settings. You don't need to open the board manager at all if you just want to compile.

 

[gjt211]

Ok, that is good to know, but I just set this up on a new laptop and I don't have a board handy to connect. So I am not able to write and test-compile any code it seems. Primarily because I can't select the board I want to use.

 

[Erel]

As a workaround you can go to:
C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\Anywhere Software\B4R

Edit b4xV5.ini and set the following properties:

BoardName=Arduino/Genuino Mega or Mega 2560
BoardArgs=arduino:avr:mega:cpu=atmega2560
SerialPort=COM55 Arduino Mega 2560

Close the IDE before you edit the ini file.

 

[gjt211]

Hi again Erel,
Thanks for your quick reply and workaround. Greatly appreciated!

I understand that COM55 (in your example) doesn't exist, but it's just a number to allow me to get started writing code.
Can you give me the BoadrName/Args for an ESP8266/NodeMCU 12 (NodeLua 0.9 I think)?

Kind regards

 

[Erel]

Try this:

BoardName=NodeMCU 1.0 (ESP-12E Module)
BoardArgs=esp8266:esp8266:nodemcuv2:CpuFrequency=80,FlashSize=4M3M,UploadSpeed=115200