MPLABX - suddenly can't find CCS

[pmuldoon]

I ran some of the MPLABX updates and now it can't find the CCS compiler. I removed and reinstalled MPLABX (was v5.5 or so, now v6.05) but seem to still have the same problem.

I removed and reinstalled the CCS plugin and closed/re-opened and reinstalled the plugin but still get the msg:

[Ttelmah]

Step back.
The compiler is not in the DLL directory, it is in the PICC directory above.
The DLL's are libraries the compiler uses, but it is the exe in the directory
above that MPPLAB will want to actually run.
First thing to do is check the exe is there 'ccsc.exe'.
Then check that this runs. Run it. If you just double click it from explorer,
it should ask for the name of the file to compile. If this doesn't happen,
then something is wrong with the compiler itself.
Then, what version of the plug-in are you installing?. For a V6 compiler,
you need a very recent version. Is it possible you just have too old a plug-
in?. Get the latest 3.14. Have you actually downloaded the latest version
or just re-installed what you already had?. You need to download the
latest.
Where has the plug-in been put?. It should be in MPLAB off the PICC
directory.
Then try adding the compiler in MPLAB manually. MPLABX, Tools,
options, embedded, build tools, add, and browse to the PICC directory.
If the plug-in is correctly placed it should find the compiler.

I suspect your plug-in is too old for MPLAB 6.

[pmuldoon]

Thanks for the checklist.

I went thru all of what you said - same result.
I even renamed the plug-in directories to force the installer to create new. I had two of them, one was probably a remnant from earlier versions:
OLD_mplab_ide_OLD
OLD_MPLAB_OLD

The plug-in in MPLABX says it's V3.15 (even tho the ccs website still calls it 3.14)

The compiler ran from the directory, per your suggestion.

ccsdownload.exe reported the compiler versions as
PCM v5.074
PCH v5.108P which is a patch I requested to fix a compiler bug.

MPLABX suggests I download the demo. Maybe I should rename PICC and download the demo and see what happens?

Or, is there an environmental path that somehow is missing? I don't even know where windows keeps those anymore. Wait, that must be okay bc I just opened the cmd window and ran ccsc, so it must have a proper path.

Yikes, I'm starting to feel old!

[pmuldoon]

SOLVED:

after several attempts to delete & reinstall MPLABX and the CCS plugin, I finally landed on the solution. The missing step, apparently.

I went to:
Tools>Options>Embedded
and added a toolchain.

Once I pointed the base directory file picker to PICC it found everything it needed.

I guess the clue was in front of me all along..."can't find compiler".
I just didn't know where to look to tell it where to look.

Well, that was fun.