Solution if PineSAM does not start (windows 11)

[River-Mochi]

If PineSAM does not start in Windows 11

1. Is Bluetooth toggled ON in Windows settings? Pinecil can not communicate to PineSAM or Joric's BLE App or any other bluetooth app if bluetooth services on windows is not turned on.

1. a. If Bluetooth is Off, then Pinesam will not start and the processes will end which is why the script will exit and say it can not find the Process ID. There will be an error message like this if Bluetooth on windows settings is off or bluetooth is broken.

1. b. is Pinecil on the list of Windows bluetooth devices? if yes, then Remove it. if Pinecil is added as a device to windows system like bluetooth speakers, then it can not connect to PineSAM or any other bluetooth app. Windows Bluetooth simply needs to be ON. PineSAM takes care of connecting directly to Pinecil and then PineSAM invisibly on the backend uses the windows bluetooth services (which must be toggled on). This is why Pinecil can not be added directly to the list of Windows bluetooth devices.

2. All Zip files: Unblock in properties before extracting any zip (if you see "unblock" choice, then check box to allow it the correct permissions).

If you don't see "unblock", then you are fine also.

3. If you get the error that that the script is "not digitally signed" then delete the extract folder, right click on the orginal Zip file downloaded and look for "Unblock" in the properties (see 1 above) and check to unblock the zip before extracting it.

If PineSAM still does not start, check the powershell terminal for error messages.

4. if you see `Powershell could not load **PSReadline module**` This is a permissions issue in Powershell. Even if you don't see this error, it could be a permission issue in Powershell (pwsh) that causes the python script to not run.

Reference reset permissions to RemoteSigned

Solution set Powershell permissions

• My profile permissions in Powershell mysteriously changed today back to defaults by windows and once I reset it to RemoteSigned, then everything worked. Only need Localmachine to say it is RemoteSigned.
  Get-ExecutionPolicy -list to see what powershell is currently set to; if LocalMachine is not RemoteSigned, then

# change it with:
Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned

Once RemoteSigned is set it should be persistent on windows reboots; but the profile can be just reset in windows for unknown reasons. If it's left on "Restricted" which is windows default, then no scripts can be run at all in powershell which is kind of why people want use powershell in the first place.

• Started a new powershell terminal as admin, run setup-dev.bat, then run-dev.bat and PineSAM should work. run-dev.bat does not need to be run as admin.

5. Accept any Pop-Up warnings: if you use the easy premade Windows Binary version from Releases page and you see Windows pop-ups security alerts. Click on Allow Access for both server.exe and main_server. exe.

6. If you use the PineSAM _Sources-all-xxx_ version, then first run `setup-dev.bat` to setup the back end. Then use `run-dev.bat` to start PineSAM. Accept pop-up windows that appear asking if this app should be allowed.

7. if it doesn't work and the Powershell permission is correct (RemoteSigned), sometimes rebooting the PC/laptop, then starting powershell terminal as admin again resolves it. Reboot is just the fastest way for me to clear all Pinecil connections. If Pinecil is connected to windows bluetooth system for example, then PineSAM can not connect to it. Make sure Pinecil is not connected to Windows or Phone bluetooth or Joric's API browser app.

Side Note

• setup-dev.bat sets up the backend system and only has to be run one time per version downloaded to set everything up.
• after that only need the run-dev.bat to start PineSAM when you want to solder.
• setup-dev.bat only needs to be run again if a new version is downloaded, and then use the one that is inside the folder of the new release.

[River-Mochi]

Powershell Hints

Powershell (pwsh) is a terminal app that is easier to use and more robust than original windows command/cmd. It comes pre-installed on windows 11 (also works in Linux/MacOS).

1. Download free Powershell here.
2. If you are getting multiple powershell terminals opening for PineSAM and prefer just one window.
3. Right click on powershell bar, go to Settings >Startup, and pick "Attach to the most recently used window".
4. This means if the script opens a separate window for main_server.exe and serve.exe and the original powershell terminal you opened, they will now be 3 tabs in one single tidy powershell box.