I have a Windows UWP application that communicates with an Arduino via a Bluetooth serial connection (using the Firmata Protocol).  For debug purposes the configuration includes a hardware serial adapter.  I developed and tested this configuration via Visual Studio 2017.  The Arduino breadboard includes an external real-time clock that sends its time back via the Serial Monitor.  Using VS 2017 and VM, the Serial Monitor displays the current time every second, as expected.  The current Windows 10 version is 1903 Build 18362.115.
Recently I decided to start a transition to VS 2019.  As a confidence test, I built and ran the above described application(s) in VS 2019.  My Windows app operates normally, sending and receiving data to the Arduino via Bluetooth.  However, when the Serial Monitor is opened, it appears corrupted and does not display the RTC time.  I switched to VS 2017 in the same Windows environment, and the Serial Monitor displayed the time every second, as expected.

Is this a known issue with VS 2019 and VM?

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Hi,

There is a log with microsoft that the windows 1903 build with large scaling do not render. The have set the issue to triage so we await their feedback.

However it would very useful if you can confirm the version of visual micro you have installed in both IDE's. You can see the version in vs2017 via "Tools>Extensions and Updates>Arduino IDE for Vs" and n vs2019 click "Extensions>Extension Manager"

Thanks

Hi Tim,
VS 2019: VM version is 1905.5.24.0; in checking I see there is apparently a new version: 1905.29.0.  (I'll update, but it sounds like there is a MS issue).

VS 2017: VM version is the same; there is also an update available to 1905.29.0.

Thanks,
Don Wilson

Thanks, I don;t think the update will fix it we probably need to wait a few days for a response from Microsoft but we are also testing to see if there is a short term workaround we can implement. Unfortunately it is visual studio that draws the tool windows we just pass it a standard window user control.

Showing the window before setting it up resolves the issue. Obviously no reason why windows 1903 should cause different behavior in all vs2019 versions but it is fixed now.

Requires Visual Micro 1905.29.4 or above

Hi Tim,
Here is the most recent result for my configuration.  The only difference for 2019 is that the SM and Expression boxes are now opaque instead of being translucent.  There is still no data in the SM for VS 2019.  VS 2017 is working just fine.  (I did not have any breakpoints, so there was no data reported in Expressions.)

Was I supposed to change some other VS 2019 setting in addition to using VM 1905.29.5?

Hopefully the situation will ultimately be resolved, but it is not a show-stopper for me, since VS 2017 is working as it has in the past.

Thanks for your help!

Regards,
Don Wilson

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Thanks, I think I spoke too soon. The new .8 release seems to work except the first time the ide is loaded after install/update of the extension. In VS2019 16.1.1 this seems to happen more than with earlier 2019 versions.

However you will hopefully confirm that if the serial monitor fails to display after the update then after a restart of vs it display okays?


fyi
These updates have all been workarounds for a bug in vs2019, unfortunately if we can't workaround then we have to wait for Microsoft fix the real issue. For new users they won't understand so it's not good for visual micro to have this problem. Very annoying.

Hi Tim,
I pleased to report that VM 1905.29.8 seems to work now with VS 2019 (and still with VS 2017).

Thanks for your help!

Regards,
Don

Thanks for the update.

I found the platform explorer needed the same workaround and also tool windows can still fail if they are opened before the IDE has finished processing background tasks after startup (little icon bottom left of IDE). Microsoft have since reported the issue is now under investigation.

So grab the the 1906.3 release if you get any issues with the platform explorer.

Thanks again.