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Running Slic3r from git on Windows

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alexrj edited this page Jan 13, 2013 · 27 revisions

Slic3r in source code form could be run with Perl and its dependencies installed. It has been tested with CitrusPerl and StrawberryPerl.

You need to Get the source, install Perl, its dependencies to get Slic3r runs. The steps are outlined below.

Getting the source

You could download the zipped source from the github. For this, you just download and extract them anywhere you want. You don't need to install any Git software. If you want to participate in the development or hacking the code, (1) install git if you don't have already, and (2) clone the repository.

Installing Git for Windows

Git was developed as a Linux kernel development tools, and it has evolved to have a several Windows ports. Install either one of the following:

  • GitHub for Windows Simplified and GUI tools developed by GitHub team.
  • TortoiseGit GUI with shell integration. UI inspired by TortoiseSvn.
  • Msysgit. The port of the original Git library, provides command prompt and API. The GUI ports listed above actually depends and includes a copy of msysgit.

If asked, choose to run git from Windows prompt (adjust path environment) instead of git Bash. Line ending conversions don't matter, choose the default.

Cloning the source

It all boils down to this git clone command: git clone git://github.com/alexrj/Slic3r.git The GUI counterparts provide their own way to start working with a repo, but at the end of the day it's doing a clone. Consults the corresponding help documents.

Installing a Perl for Windows

You can choose between Citrus Perl or Strawberry Perl. Either will do. They include MinGW which faciliates installing additional Perl modules.

Citrus Perl has the ability to clone and re-distribute after customization and generate deployable executable. It installs cleanly install into a standalone folder and won't touch the Windows system in any ways. Side by side installation is easy. This is what the Slic3r used to built the deployable Windows binary. MinGW is downloaded separately (though automatically).

Strawberry Perl comes with the MinGW packaged in an MSI installer, and touch the environment variable such that integrates itself into the Windows shell. Side by side installation of different versions would be difficult if not impossible.

Citrus Perl

  • Download CitrusPerl 5.14 (preferred over 5.12) from http://www.citrusperl.com/download.html
  • Extract the zip to a folder. Choose a reasonable place, like C:\dev\CitrusPerl, as you won't be able to move it after the installation.
  • Run citrusutils.exe in C:\dev\CitrusPerl\bin
  • A window called citrusutils will be opened.
    • Click the "Set GCC" button to set the GCC compiler.
    • Select "Download the binary MinGW distribution used to build this Perl" and click Ok. It will now start downloading the compiler.
    • Select the Folder where you would like to install the compiler and click Ok. (You could ask it to extract to C:\dev\CitrusPerl too)
    • You can now close the citrusperl utilities.
  • Run citrusterm.bat in C:\dev\CitrusPerl\bin (it might be called citrusterm32.bat if you downloaded the 32-bit version), and you get a command prompt with Perl environment ready.

You will need to open the citrusterm prompt every time you want to launch Slic3r, or run Perl for that matters. Now continue with the installing dependencies section.

Strawberry Perl

  • Download a copy from http://strawberryperl.com/, 5.14 and 32 bit (even on 64-bit Windows) is tested at the time of this writing.
  • Install it, following the on screen instruction. Basically that means keep clicking Next.
  • Now your command prompt is loaded with Perl. You start the command prompt with...
    • In the Start Menu, All Programs, then Accessories, finally Command Prompt
    • Press Win+R, type cmd, then Enter.
    • For Vista/Windows 7: open the Start menu, type cmd in the search box, then Enter.

Now continue with installing the dependencies section.

Installing the dependencies

The Slic3r depends on few modules. We will be downloading, compiling and installing them. The cpan tool will do the magic for us.

  • First, verify your Perl command environment is working. Start the prompt as stated above, then type perl -v. You should get some meaningful message. Check your perl installation if not.
  • Then issue the following commands:
cpan JSON App::cpanminus
cpanm https://github.com/alexrj/Math-Libm/tarball/master
   (The above is to install a custom Math::Libm build, because one of the function is undefined in the MinGW math libarary)
cpanm Moo Math::Clipper Math::Geometry::Voronoi Boost::Geometry::Utils Class::XSAccessor Math::ConvexHull::MonotoneChain Math::PlanePath
  • Now cd to the folder where Slic3r source code is cloned, and proceed with the Build process to verify the dependence installed:
cd Slic3r
perl Build.PL

Starting Slic3r

If you got the dependencies installed, now you could fire up the Slic3r with still in the command prompt by:

perl slic3r.pl

To start slic3r with a single click You should create a shortcut with a target that shows to the full path of the "wperl.exe" file and then the full path to Your "slicer.pl" file. For example, C:\dev\CitrusPerl\bin\wperl.exe C:\Users\YourUsername\Documents\GitHub\Slic3r\slic3r.pl

Happy Slicing!

FAQ

  • Got "Can't write to cpanm home '/.cpanm' You should fix it with chown/chmod first." while issuing cpanm commands.

    You have to Shift-Right-click on the C: drive and click "Open Command Window Here" from the drop down list. Then in the command window type "mkdir .cpanm". You can close the command window and continue the install.

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