MCUXpresso for VSCode cannot install Zephyr Developer. Continually asks to restart.

[ClarkS]

I am attempting to install MCUXpresso for VSCode, the MCUXpresso Installer, and the software kits for Zephyr Developer on a new MacBook Pro M4 Max. I have previously successfully installed on an older Intel MacBook Pro.

I can successfully install VS Code, the MCUXpressor extension, and the MCUXpresso Installer. When I try to install the Zephyr Developer kit, it will not completely install and it continually wants me to reboot VS Code to reload environment variables. As far as I can tell, errors are preventing it from continuing with the install. 

I have reinstalled VSCode after deleting the .vscode hidden file. That restored VSCode to its original state and forced me to reinstall the MCUXpresso extension. That did not fix the problem. The problem apparently is caused by errors while loading certain zephyr components. 

Here is the exact sequence of events and screen shots:

1. Delete VSCode, the hidden .vscode configuration file, and MCUXpresso Installer.
2. Reinstall VS code
3. Reinstall the MCUXpresso Extension. I note that the MCUXpresso icon does not appear in the VSCode toolbar until I restart VSCode. I'm not sure but I think it automatically appeared on the older MacBook.
4. Restart VSCode. MCUXpresso is installed and available in the tab bar.
5. Click on it and in the Quickstart Panel, select Open MCUXpresso Installer. The arm64 version of the installer is installed showing the Changelog. See screenshot.
6. When the Changelog goes away there are errors shown.
[error] Error running command /Users/clark/zephyr-sdk-0.17.0/arm-zephyr-eabi/bin/arm-zephyr-eabi-gcc: spawn Unknown system error -86
[info] Latest MCUXpresso Installer version is installed.
See screenshot.
7. Click on Zephyr Developer and Show Details. See screenshot.
8.Click Install. Immediately a window pops up that says MCUXpresso Installer has updated the environment variables and instructing me to restart VSCode. See screenshot.
9. In order to restart I note that I must close both VSCode and MCUXpresso Installer. If I do not close the installer, the app hangs while trying to determine what has been installed. It appears to permanently hang. 
10. Close hung MCUXpresso Installer.
11. In the Quickstart panel, click Open MCUXpresso Installer. This brings me right back to the installer changelog screen as shown on step 5. This process appears to repeat indefinitely.

I can have not found a way to continue the installation of Zephyr Developer kit. The app continually tells me to reboot. 

[Harry_Zhang]

Hi @ClarkS 

Based on your information.

I think the issue is related to Apple Silicon architecture compatibility — particularly with precompiled Zephyr SDK toolchains (like arm-zephyr-eabi-gcc).

I need to confirm this issue with internal teams.

 I will inform you as soon as there is a result.

BR

Harry

[ClarkS]

I just received my intel MacBook Pro back from repair. The logic board and SSD were replaced so I had to totally reinstall the OS and all apps from scratch. 

One of the first apps I installed included VS Code and the NXP MCUXpresso for VS Code extension. Then I attempted to install the Zephyr Developer kit. It failed in exactly the same way it did on my new MacBook Pro with Apple Silicon CPU.

I do not think this problem is isolated to only Macs with Apple Silicon since this MacBook is Intel. Furthermore, this old MacBook was running VSCode and the NXP extension just fine before it died. It dies about 10 days ago. So something changed in the last few weeks that has caused it to misbehave as it is now. I'm pretty sure VSCode recently was upgraded.  I don't know if MCUXpresso for VSCode was upgraded or not. 

I hope you can quickly find the source of the problem. As It stands right now, I still have an intel iMac that functions and I'm certainly going to prevent any upgrades on it until this problem is ixxid. 

[Harry_Zhang]

Hi @ClarkS 

The MCUXpresso Installer for macOS requires Homebrew to be installed as a prerequisite. It is mentioned in the attached log files that Homebrew is not present on the system. In this case, it is related to is being a new macOS installation, which does not include Homebrew out-of-the-box. Unfortunately, it cannot be automatically installed, so this action will have to be performed manually by the user before attempting any future operation using the MCUXpresso Installer.

The hang encountered on the Loading packages page is an effect of closing the MCUXpresso Installer application using the window's "X" button, instead of going through right clicking the dock icon -> Quit. (This behavior will be fixed in the next release)

BR

Harry

[ClarkS]

Thank you for that reminder. Of course, I had to install homebrew to install the missing files using the command line. I forgot to install it first. What a mess. Homebrew is now installed on all our macOS development machines - intel and apple silicon. 

Now that homebrew is installed, I’d like to repeat the complete zephyr install using vs code and the NXP extension. But first I’d like to remove the zephyr files that have already been installed so the extension fully reinstalls zephyr. Is there any way to do that besides a format of the hard drive?

Regarding the MacBook with the M4 processor, with homebrew installed, will the extension install the ARM64 zephyr SDK?

[Harry_Zhang · Accepted solution]

Hi @ClarkS 

1.Is there any way to do that besides a format of the hard drive?

I think you can find the installed path.

For windows.

And delete the related files.

2.Regarding the MacBook with the M4 processor, with homebrew installed, will the extension install the ARM64 zephyr SDK?

Yes

BR

Harry

[ClarkS]

One last thing to report regarding the install on the old Intel iMac. Even though the extension is no longer able to add all the Zephyr prerequisites, I was able to install all of them using a combination of command line commands from the Zephyr project website and the MCUXpresso Installer, I believe I ran the Installer first. After it died. I performed certain command line from the Zephyr website. That did not include the Device Tree Compiler. I, followed up with the Installer again to see if it would install the Device Tree Compiler. It did.

I am now in the process of obtaining the latest Zephyr Repository. Once I get that installed on this old MacBook Pro, I will quickly determine if I can build and run previous Zephyr apps. 

Tomorrow I will do the same process with the M4 Mac MacBook Pro.

I will advise you tomorrow about my results. 

[ClarkS]

I have additional information to report. I have found other hidden config files. When I delete them, it restarts the Zephyr Developer install process but eventually reverts to a loop like I earlier described. I did find a log folder and I will attach the 3 logs I find there. 

[ClarkS]

I just reinstalled MacOS onto my new MacBook Pro. Obviously that eliminated the previous faulty install of Zephyr Developer kit. 

It did not help. I am still stuck at being forced to reboot because of the environment variables. There are still parts of the Zephyr kit that are not installed. It does not appear to be possible to get the Installer to complete the install.