mbed sterm needs mbed-os project imported

[coisme]

I installed Mbed CLI into a new Windows 10 environment with executable binary Mbed_installer_v0.4.10.exe. Right after that, I tried connecting to K64F via serial terminal using mbed sterm command. The command resulted in error.

However, if I import mbed-os, the command works. Once installed mbed-os was installed, the mbed sterm command works even if I delete the mbed-os directory. Does this mean the Mbed CLI installer doesn't install necessary Python modules and mbed import resolved it?

(K64F is already connected to my PC. COM port can be seen on Device Manager.)

C:\Users\Owner>mbed sterm -b 115200
[mbed] Working path "C:\Users\Owner" (directory)
[mbed] Program path "C:\Users\Owner"
[mbed] Detecting connected targets/boards to your system...
[mbed] ERROR: Couldn't detect connected targets/boards to your system.
       You can manually specify COM port via the '--port' option.
---

C:\Users\Owner>mbed import https://github.com/ARMmbed/mbed-os.git
[mbed] Working path "C:\Users\Owner" (directory)
[mbed] Program path "C:\Users\Owner"
[mbed] Importing program "mbed-os" from "https://github.com/ARMmbed/mbed-os.git" at latest revision in the current branch
[mbed] Auto-installing missing Python modules (colorama, urllib3, prettytable, junit_xml, pyyaml, jsonschema, future, six, mbed_cloud_sdk, requests, idna, pyserial, jinja2, intelhex, mbed_ls, mbed_host_tests, mbed_greentea, beautifulsoup4, pyelftools, manifest_tool, icetea, pycryptodome, pyusb, cmsis_pack_manager)...

C:\Users\Owner>mbed sterm -b 115200
[mbed] Working path "C:\Users\Owner" (directory)
[mbed] Program path "C:\Users\Owner"
[mbed] Detecting connected targets/boards to your system...
[mbed] Opening serial terminal to "K64F"
--- Terminal on COM4 - 115200,8,N,1 ---
ato connect to network (-3014). Retrying...                                <-- Serial output
Unable to connect to network (-3014). Retrying...                     <-- Serial output
Unable to connect to network (-3014). Retrying...                     <-- Serial output
Unable to connect to network (-3014). Retrying...                     <-- Serial output

C:\Users\Owner> rd /s /q mbed-os

C:\Users\Owner> mbed sterm -b 115200
[mbed] Working path "C:\Users\Owner" (directory)
[mbed] Program path "C:\Users\Owner"
[mbed] Detecting connected targets/boards to your system...
[mbed] Opening serial terminal to "K64F"
--- Terminal on COM4 - 115200,8,N,1 ---
Unable to connect to network (-3014). Retrying...                       
Unable to connect to network (-3014). Retrying...                  

[ciarmcom]

Internal Jira reference: https://jira.arm.com/browse/MBOCUSTRIA-1105

[theotherjimmy]

@coisme This is true of many other Mbed CLI subcommands. mbed compile does not work outside an mbed-os project either.

[coisme]

@theotherjimmy I understand that mbed compile needs mbed-os because it compiles an Mbed OS project. However, mbed sterm is a serial terminal, and my experiment above indicates mbed-os repository itself is not required. I'd like to request that mbed sterm works with only installing Mbed CLI because it is a nice feature for beginners.

For example, let's think about a beginner developing a Mbed OS program on online compiler. Usually, he/she needs to see the serial output from his target board to check if the program works correctly. At that time, if mbed sterm works just after installing Mbed CLI from executable, it is very easy for that user. Otherwise, user have to care about OS, terminal software, and a COM port.

[linlingao]

We'll treat this as a feature request then.

[coisme]

@linlingao Ok, thank you!

[bridadan]

Hey @coisme, I took at look at this. Turns out mbed sterm doesn't require mbed-os to be cloned locally, but it does need mbed-ls to be installed if you do not supply the --port argument. Just run pip install mbed-ls to install it, then it should work.

[coisme]

Hi @bridadan, thank you for your research. Is it possible to include mbed-ls in the installer package? It is ideal for beginners that installing .exe is the only requirement for using mbed sterm.

[bridadan]

Seems reasonable to me.

@theotherjimmy how do you feel about adding mbed-ls and pyserial as python dependencies for Mbed CLI? Since it directly imports them?

[theotherjimmy]

I think it's the correct thing to do @bridadan.