fsTimer
Free, open source software for race timing
Download and install fsTimer
Installing fsTimer for Windows, Mac, or Linux requires following a few steps, totalling about 10 minutes. The installation instructions depend on the type of system, so scroll down to find your computer.
The latest version of fsTimer is version 0.7, released on January 10, 2017. Read
here for a list of the new features.
If you previously used an earlier version of fsTimer: Version 0.6 came with major changes to the packages that it requires. If you used version 0.5 or earlier, then you downloaded Python 2.7 and PyGTK. These packages no longer work for the current version - we now use Python 3.4 and PyGObject. If you used an earlier version of fsTimer, you will still need to follow the instructions below to install the new packages that fsTimer now relies on.
Windows installation
Step 1: Install Python 3.4.4. You can download Python here:
python-3.4.4.amd64.msi.
This is the 64 bit version. If you have a
32 bit computer, then you can download the 32 bit installer
here. When the download is finished, run the file and it will bring up the installer for Python. You can accept all of the default options by pressing "next" a few times for the installation to finish.
Step 2: Install PyGObject. You can download PyGObject from here:
PyGObject for Windows.
From that page, download the latest version of pygi-aio (as of this writing, pygi-aio-3.18.2_rev5-setup.exe). Near the top of the page it says "Looking for the latest version?", followed by a direct link to download the latest version.
Run the installer:
- First it will ask if you have a portable Python installation. Choose "No."
- Next you choose the Python destination to install. Python 3.4, which you installed in Step 1, should be on the list. Check the box next to 3.4.
- Next is a long list of packages. Check the boxes next to: "Base packages", "ATK", "GDK-Pixbuf", "GTK+", and "Pango." Be sure not to miss any of these! Then press "Next."
- The next two windows are additional lists of packages. We don't need any of these ones, just press "Next" for both. Finally it will prompt if you are ready to install, continue and the installation will finish.
Step 3: Install fsTimer. You can download the latest version of fsTimer here:
fstimer-0.7.zip.
The zip file contains a folder "fsTimer"; simply extract this folder to the location that you want fsTimer to be installed and the installation is done.
Make sure you unzip the file! By default if you open a zip in Windows it will open it without actually extracting the files. fsTimer will not work unless you actually extract the files - right click on the zip and choose "Extract files."
To run fsTimer, just enter the fsTimer folder that you extracted and double-click on "fstimer.py" (it may just show "fstimer" if extensions are hidden - it will be the "fstimer" file with the blue and yellow Python symbol next to it).
Important: The first time you run fsTimer, a black window will open but then it will take up to a minute for the fsTimer window to open (this is Python loading for the first time). This will only happen on the first load; subsequently it will load instantly. But please be patient and give it a full minute to load the first time.
Mac OS X installation
The best way to install fsTimer in Mac OS X will depend on what version of OS X you have. You can read
here about how to find out what version of OS X you are using.
OS X version 10.9 or later: Download and run the fsTimer Mac installer here:
fstimer-0.7.pkg. Once the installation is complete, fsTimer will be listed in your Applications directory (see
here for help). Clicking on fsTimer in the Applications directory will lead to two links: one labeled fsTimer that will actually start the software, and the other labeled fstimer-0.7 that will take you to the project directory. Result printouts will be saved inside the project directory.
If you have Macports installed: Do not use the installer above, it writes files to /opt/local and will bork your macports install. Follow the instructions below to set up the necessary packages using Macports.
OS X version 10.8 or earlier: You will have to install the fsTimer dependencies using Macports. Follow the directions
here to install Macports. Once Macports is installed, open the terminal and run the following three commands to get all of the packages that fsTimer uses:
sudo port install gtk3 +quartz
sudo port install py35-gobject3
sudo port install adwaita-icon-theme
Download fsTimer here:
fstimer-0.7.zip. Unzip the directory and move it wherever you want it to be, and the installation is complete. If you installed Macports to its default location (/opt/local), then go into the fsTimer directory and run "fstimer_mac.command" (or "fstimer_mac" if you don't show extensions) and it will start.
If you installed Macports somewhere other than the default /opt/local, then execute fstimer.py with the Macports python3.5.
Linux installation
Check that Python 3 and PyGObject are installed. These are in the respositories, for Debian as python3 and python3-gi. Download fsTimer (
fstimer-0.7.zip). Extract the folder and execute fstimer.py with python3.
Source code
The package
fstimer-0.7.zip contains the Python source code for fsTimer. It is also available on
Github.