Install MsysGit on Win 10 (for Unix Developers)

Download Msysgit.

Install to C:\dev\git

Keep all the default installation options

Choose "Use Git from the Windows Command Prompt"

Have Git use Plink from PuTTY

Make sure Windows does NOT mess with line endings.  Leave them alone.

The reason for this, is sometimes we compute file hashes, like PHP Composer for example, and if there are \r characters in the file then Windows computes the hashes differently than Unix, which is stupid.

For this to work, you must use a decent text editor that understands that there are many ways to end a line, not just \n\r.

Voila!  You now have Git, and it is configured correctly for cross-platform development.

Updates

10-May-16: Updated line endings option - NEVER automatically change line endings!  This way you get full control over line endings from your editor.  So if your line endings are messed up, it's your own fault, and you can easily fix it.

Installing MinGW-W64 + MSYS on Win 10 x64 (or Win 8.1 or Win 7)

(This is a repost of something I did last year, I accidentally deleted it from Blogger).

Update:  I installed this on Windows 10, and updated the procedure based on experience since the original post.

I'm a Unix/Mac guy.  I use Windows for gaming but I've never really developed on it before, because why.

When I did transition to windows relatively recently for development, I used cygwin, which worked pretty well and was Unix-like enough for me to be OK with it.  However I can't make Windows apps in cygwin, and now needing to do some prototyping for cross-platform Windows tools, I need MSYS instead of Cygwin.

After a few attempts at doing this, reading various blogs that all say to do it different ways, and not really knowing which pre-compiled code I can trust versus not trust, here is a methodology I'm happy with and generally feel is relatively safe to install.

After following this procedure:

• MinGW (64-bit) will be installed to C:\MinGW-W64
• MSYS (32-bit) will be installed to C:\msys


• MSYS will use your Windows Home directory as its own.


• You'll have a "MinTTY" shortcut to start a mintty terminal running a bash shell
• (Windows will now feel very similar to Mac/Linux)

Download/install MinGW-W64

Go to http://sourceforge.net/projects/mingw-w64/

Download the latest installer and run it.  Choose these options:

Version: (choose the highest)
Architecture: x86_64
Threads: win32
Exceptions: seh
Build revision: (choose the highest)

Install path: C:\MinGW-W64

Note here we're using win32 threads, NOT posix threads.  On Windows, win32 threads apparently run much faster than posix.  This means that when you compile things from MinGW you must ensure that you choose the win32 thread options or you'll likely have problems compiling.

NOTE: If it fails to install (sometimes it cannot download the toolchain) then that's fine, just ignore it for now and move on to below, updating the toolchain.

Download/install MSYS

Go to http://sourceforge.net/projects/mingwbuilds/files/external-binary-packages

Download the latest revision.

Unzip to C:\

This creates the location C:\msys

Create a directory for mingw

Using Windows Explorer, navigate to C:\msys and create a new folder named mingw.

The full path of the new folder you created will be C:\msys\mingw

Don't put anything in this folder.  Leave it intentionally empty.

Mount /mingw for MSYS

Edit C:\msys\etc\fstab

It should contain (at the very least) these lines:

#Win32_Path           Mount_Point
C:/MinGW-W64/mingw64  /mingw

I also recommend that you mount your Windows homedir to /home/yourname, so that your total fstab will look like this:

#Win32_Path           Mount_Point
C:/MinGW-W64/mingw64  /mingw

C:/Users              /home

Make sure there is an empty line at the end of the file.

* If you opened any msys consoles, close them now and reopen them.

Download/install YASM

Go to http://yasm.tortall.net/Download.html

Download the latest "Win64.exe" file, for example something like http://www.tortall.net/projects/yasm/releases/yasm-1.3.0-win64.exe

Move the downloaded yasm-1.3.0-win64.exe to C:\msys\bin\yasm.exe

Configure a decent Terminal

You now have a standard Windows cmd terminal (aka Shit).  To get a nice Unix-like terminal we'll install Git for Windows which has a nice MinTTY terminal that acts similar to xterm.

Continue on in HowTo: Set up Win 10 as a Unix-like Dev Workstation until you get PuTTY/Pageant set up and Git.

Once you have Git installed you will have Git Bash, which uses MinTTY, and is a pretty nice terminal that works well with msys.

What next?

Now you have a bare-bones terminal.

You need to set up your %HOMEPATH%\.bashrc and related dotfiles to really start customizing it to look and feel the way you want.

Check out my Github home dir to see an example of how I set mine up.

References

qt-project.org has nice info about MinGW and MinGW-W64, including info RE threading and exception models, pros/cons of each, etc.

EDITS

14.Aug.16 - Removed instructions for installing old school mintty; I now suggest using Git for Windows since their mintty is much newer/nicer.

27.Jul.16 - Fixed /etc/fstab mount point.  Added empty C:\msys\mingw folder so that /mingw is visible to filesystem search utilities.

06.May.16 - Updated based on new MinGW-W64 version. No longer need to manually create MSYS shortcut.

23.Jun.15 - Removed Win 8.1 specific stuff.  Updated instructions per new MinGW-W64 v5.1.0.  Confirmed that updating the toolchain is not necessary, at least for v5.1.0 and removed that part of the instructions. Moved msys to C:\msys

11.May-15 - Updated for Windows 10. Added Windows home directory mount. Moved MSYS directory inside MinGW-W64 as we no longer need easy access to it with the Windows home diretory mounted.

17.Sep.14 - Added some clarifications. Added mingw64 toolchain update.  Added references.

Install php-yaml on Windows 8.1

Install php-yaml on Win 10 (or 8.1)

Related to my previous post Install PHP 5.6 on Win 8.1 x64, I needed to work with YAML from PHP.  The instructions for how to do this are confusing, at best.

Simplified instructions:

1. Go to http://pecl.php.net/package/yaml
2. Download the zip file for the latest version (as of the time of writing this, 1.2,0).  There is a little Windows Icon and the word DLL is linked to the zip.
3. Download the 5.6 Thread Safe (TS) x86 version
1. Thread Safe
2. x86 (32-bit), NOT the x64 (64-bit), since we're running 32-bit PHP
4. Copy yaml.dll to C:/dev/php (or wherever you installed PHP)
5. Copy php_yaml.dll to C:/dev/php/ext (or the ext directory under your PHP install location)
6. Edit C:/dev/php/php.ini
1. Add this line:
   extension=C:/dev/php/ext/php_yaml.dll
7. Confirm that it works:
1. php --re yaml

Install PHP 5.6 on Win 8.1 x64

Install PHP 5.6 on Win 8.1 x64

Following the instructions here http://windows.php.net/download/

I downloaded the VC11 x86 Thread Safe (32-bit), even though I'm on 64-bit Win 8.1

The 64-bit is experimental and oh well, I don't need PHP to do super crazy number crunching anyway.

Installation instructions

• Create dir C:\dev\php
• Extract the zip contents into that directory
• Add C:\dev\php to the system environment path
• copy C:\dev\php\php.ini-development to C:\dev\php\php.ini

Set Time Zone

• edit C:\dev\php\php.ini
• Add this line:
  date.timezone = America/Los_Angeles

Change the time zone to match whatever yours is.  This example works for PST in the US.  To see all supported time zones go to http://php.net/manual/en/timezones.php

Get SSL working:

• edit C:\dev\php\php.ini
• Uncomment this line:
  ;extension=php_openssl.dll
• And change the line to read this:
  extension=C:\dev\php\ext\php_openssl.dll

Enable CURL:

• edit C:\dev\php\php.ini
• Uncomment this line:
  ;extension=php_curl.dll
• And change the line to read this:
  extension=C:\dev\php\ext\php_curl.dll

Enable XSL (for PHPDoc):

• edit C:\dev\php\php.ini
• Uncomment this line:
  ;extension=php_xsl.dll
• And change the line to read this:
  extension=C:\dev\php\ext\php_xsl.dll

Install XDebug:

• Download from here:
  http://xdebug.org/download.php
• Make sure you pick the one that matches the version of PHP you installed.
• For example I got "PHP 5.6 VC11 TS (32 bit)"
• Windows will tell you this type of file is not safe.  Duh.  Save it anyway
• Save it to C:\dev\php\ext
• edit C:\dev\php\php.ini
• THIS IS NOT AN ORDINARY EXTENSION
• Add it by adding this line at the bottom:
  zend_extension="C:\dev\php\ext\php_xdebug-2.2.5-5.6-vc11.dll"
• Of course make sure the filename matches the one you downloaded.

Install Composer

Download Composer, it should work fine now:

https://getcomposer.org/download/

Thanks to:

http://php.net/manual/en/openssl.installation.php Alan 3 years ago added some great tips on how to do this very thing.

Configure MinGW-W64+MSYS to use PuTTY Plink/Pageant

Configure MinGW-W64+MSYS to use PuTTY Plink/Pageant

I forgot to document this last time so I figured I'd post to save anybody the trouble of figuring out how to do it again.

Install Putty/Pageant/Plink

Check out this blog post to see how I recommend you install PuTTY/Pageant.

For purposes of this document we assume you installed Pageant into:

C:\tools\PuTTY\pageant.exe

Load SSH keys into Pageant

Start Pageant and load in your SSH keys.  (Quick explanation here).

Configure Windows System Environment Variables

Windows key => "Environ" => Edit the system environment variables => [Environment Variables...]

Look in System variables, modify these if they exist, otherwise add them:

GIT_SSH = "C:\tools\PuTTY\plink.exe"

SVN_SSH = "C:\tools\PuTTY\plink.exe"

Click [OK]

Open new MinTTY (or other MSYS terminal)

Close any MSYS terminal or MinTTY that you have open, and open a new one.

Confirm that everything should be working:

bash$ env | grep -i ssh
GIT_SSH=C:\tools\PuTTY\plink.exe
SVN_SSH=C:\tools\PuTTY\plink.exe

Use PuTTY to connect to the host you want to access

For each new host you must use PuTTY to connect.  This is especially important when you are using git or svn or something that doesn't directly access ssh.  If you haven't yet connected to that host with PuTTY, the connection will probably fail.

Example first Github clone

PuTTY => New Session

  Hostname: github.com

  Click [Open]

You'll get a message from Pageant, do you want to save this key?  Click [Yes]

Now you should be good to go,  you can close the PuTTY window, and go back into MinTTY and try to git clone.

$ git clone git@github.com:joyent/node

Cloning into 'node'...

Obviously you should clone a repository to which you have access.  Everything should work.

Strawberry Perl on MinGW-W64 + MSYS

Strawberry Perl on MinGW-W64 + MSYS

Following up to my bare bones MinGW-W64 + MSYS install, I've found it to be convenient to install a version of Perl that you can actually keep updated easily.  The Perl version that comes with MSYS is really old.

Install Strawberry Perl

I'm using Strawberry Perl from http://strawberryperl.com

Download and install it.  I installed to C:\perl

Modify $PATH via ~/.bashrc

Add the following code to your ~/.bashrc assuming you installed to C:\perl

# Force Strawberry Perl to the front of the path

if [ -x /c/perl/perl/bin/perl.exe ]; then

export PATH="/c/perl/perl/bin:$PATH"

fi

Exit your shell and start a new shell.

Make sure it worked

ross@win$ which perl

/c/perl/perl/bin/perl.exe

Success!  Enjoy your modern Perl.

Review: 2014 Razer Blade 14"

So my new 14” Razer Blade arrived a few days ago and I’m really enjoying it.

All in all, it’s a very nice machine.  The screen, when looking at apps that work for high DPI, and/or looking at pics/video that actually use the entire resolution (very hard to find) looks AMAZING.

Some games I installed actually support the insane 3200 x 1800 resolution, and WOW they look just incredible.  The graphics card in this machine doesn’t act like a laptop graphics card, it is VERY GOOD.

There are some caveats.

1. The screen resolution is SO HIGH and the screen itself is only 14” so the DPI is VERY VERY high.  It’s so high that many Windows apps aren’t yet prepared to handle it, and when you see them on the screen, they are the size of a proverbial quarter.
1. There are ways to get around this with each app, which involves configuring Windows to launch these apps in compatibility mode, but it requires work.
2. There is also a “Magnifier” app to let you zoom in, but that is annoying to use.
2. It’s on significant back-order.  It took 2 months for mine to arrive.  My buddy ordered one at the same time and he was just informed that his delivery got pushed back at least 1 more month.

RE Windows 8.1

1. It’s not as scary as people made it out to be.  They sort of added back the concept of the start button, and the vast majority of stuff I do is in desktop mode which works well.
2. My primary browser is Chrome, and it doesn’t work great at this high DPI.  It looks like shit really, and it only works in compatibility mode at the moment.  Google is aware of the issue and supposedly working to fix it, but who knows how long that will really take.  IE looks great, but it’s IE, which is notorious for its insecurity and so I refuse to use it except to download Chrome.

My only real complaints:

1. After getting used to the Track Pad on the MacBook Pro, I think every other track pad is going to piss me off.  This one is no exception.
1. It isn’t as sensitive as the MacBook Pro
2. It doesn’t support single-finger-click without picking your finger up and tapping it back down; that is one of my favorite features of the MacBook Pro track pad.
3. The left/right mouse click buttons are so close to the edge of the device that it’s challenging to use them when I’m sitting on the couch and actually using the device as, you know, a laptop.
1. Not an issue when sitting at the desk, which is mostly what I do.
2. Managing all the DPI settings for every app I install is annoying.
1. However you really only have to do this once, when you install, and then it’s done.
2. Also going forward more and more apps will have high DPI support that actually works.
1. Mac went through this same thing when they released high DPI Retina display.  This display is even HIGHER DPI than that though, and so the problem is even worse in this case.
3. In the long-run this won’t be an issue, but today it is.
3. 8 GB RAM limit
1. So far I haven't hit the limit, even though I've been running VMs and my IDEs simultaneously, but then again I haven't really been working with huge DBs etc that require a ton of RAM.  I expect 16 GB in a laptop these days, so the 8 GB limit makes me nervous.  I'd have put 32 in here if that had been an option.

Not sure I’ll really use the touch screen all that much, but my daughter loves it.  She hates the idea of a mouse, she’s so used to her iPad, iPhone, Android Phone.  Things should work when you touch them as far as she is concerned.  She likes surfing YouTube and Vube on my laptop now, which she refused to do on my previous laptops as they had no touch screen.

All in all, excellent job Razer!

This is a VERY SMALL laptop that I can easily travel with, and I haven't had to compromise on performance to get it.  It looks and feels amazing and it's a pleasure to work on it.