gmvhdl aka direct VHDL - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: legacy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 21, 2014, 01:56:06 am
content: What do you thing about the productDirectVHDL(for Windows and MacOSX) by green mountains ?they saidQuote

author: Bassman59
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 23, 2014, 05:36:41 pm
content: Quote from: legacy on May 21, 2014, 01:56:06 amIt seems woefully out of date (dated 2008!) and they have no apparent interest in maintaining it.And the caveat "these products are no longer available" onthis pagedoesn't bode well.

author: legacy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 25, 2014, 12:27:34 pm
content: Paying 53 euro (through paypal) i got a copy of DirectVHDL-v1I have installed the program and it has being reporting me that an "activation key" is required in order to workso I will feedback as soon as they email me my activation key.also i found that there is XilinxiSimNever heard before, I am using ISE v10.1 Project Navigator only, never tried iSimbut i can give it a try

author: hans
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 25, 2014, 08:00:18 pm
content: Xilinx ships an integrated simulator tool inside ISE. Works pretty well.You also have ModelSim, which you can easily acquire a student license. No questions asked. Valid for 6 months..If I look at those screenshots, I see a textbox with basically 3 buttons (new/save/run) on it, and almost no further options.How will I know the simulation is really good?It seems like a bit of a toy TBH.

author: Lukas
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 25, 2014, 10:12:28 pm
content: Quote from: hans on May 25, 2014, 08:00:18 pmThere's also the free Modelsim Altera Web Edition which simulates up to 10k lines of code.http://www.altera.com/products/software/quartus-ii/modelsim/qts-modelsim-index.html

author: legacy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 26, 2014, 09:38:59 pm
content: i do not have iSim installed with Xilinx ISE v10.1should i download and install separately ?i am evaluating the opportunity to pick up a larger disk and to instill Altera Web Edition + their Modelsim

author: legacy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 26, 2014, 09:41:39 pm
content: Quote from: hans on May 25, 2014, 08:00:18 pmyes, i confirm it is a toytoday i got my license key which does NOT unblock any hidden featuresthe program is a toy, and the only good is thatit is able to make you to directly set stimulus to a very easy and didactical entityi asked money back

author: legacy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 27, 2014, 10:34:28 am
content: To short this story: today i got the answer "no money back"which ends with an offensive reply like "fu*k off"good seller, good companyto summarize:why you should not buy from Green Mountains- the seller has refused to provide an evaluation version of the product (license limited to n days in order to try the software)- the seller has sent me a copy of the software which is not able to work until you get the license key- as result I was not able to evaluate the program until i got the license key- and once i got the license key i found that what i got paying for it is different from what i have read in the product description, in particular about these:a) the VHDL Editor - IS NOT - an advanced editor, it provides syntax coloring but it does not provide and it does not assist you with the syntax-error detection (what is the sense of an editor which is not able to edit)b) there are no VHDL tutorials in the installed folder, poor materials provided, just on example which is not working and of which the only reaction of the program is a long list of errors- asking money back comes into offensive replywhat i think:They called this "tool" ?

author: Scrts
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 27, 2014, 10:43:51 am
content: I am actually amazed why people buy some software only to try it, when there's a clear market standard, which probably everyone use and there's also free version of that software...I think there's also free ModelSim Xilinx edition, since they gave up with ISim AFAIK.

author: legacy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 27, 2014, 12:03:19 pm
content: i haven't bought "to try it"i have bought because i have trusted its features as they have been describedModelsimand such a stuff are notiterative VHDL editor, they aresimulatorsthat means much more power when you are already skilledbut it also means much more issues when you are a beginnerbtw thank you for the support, i will go toModelSimto end this story

author: legacy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 27, 2014, 12:16:56 pm
content: also i have download co'nix (cooperative unix for windows)in order to have a gentoo box inside Windows XPand inside this cooperative gentoo/linux virtual machinei have emerged- icarus for verilog- gnat, ADA gcc compiler, it is required by ghdl- ghdl for vhdl- gtkwave, it's a wave viewer (plus gtk and X11, off course)on the Windows XP side i am using mobaXterm (home free edition)+ X11 support for XP (it's included in the mobaXterm package)i have fetched "geany" (it is a scriptable IDE, usually used for C/C++ project)modifying it in order to have scripts to handle the wholei have a "my_make_project_for_geany script"which generates aMakefileused by geany to compile vhdl to obj/app (ghdl)in order to simulate -> the tool produces the wave resultit is not iterative, it is not as friendly as expected withdirectVHDL, but it works!!!so i am ~ ready to edit and simulate a vhdl codeand i have to arrange the same for icarus in order to simulate verilog codebloody fight

author: hans
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 27, 2014, 02:54:28 pm
content: Quote from: Scrts on May 27, 2014, 10:43:51 amI always look at free versions of most software first. If there aren't any for a particular platform, then probably that platform is not to be used by hobbyists and low entry market.If there is and but it doesn't cut it, well bummer. Maybe there are workarounds..As for iSim and ModelSim; I agree ModelSim is better, but I have had a small period with no VHDL tools installed. So when installing Xilinx ISE, I clicked "install all" and was happily surprised that it had a sim integrated.Not much of a deal to use Modelsim next to it though.Saying ModelSim is only useful for advanced people is bullshit. I have used ModelSim since I was as student because we had an awfully outdated program "VisualHDL for VHDL" (dating back to 2005) at college, which had a habit of crashing during saving and only running well on XP.VHDL was never popular at our college for that reason (V-H-D-Hell) I think, so in that regard I was "all alone" in figuring it out.If you have just a little clue what you're doing (or should be doing) with a simulator, it's not hard. Load your file, edit your code, start waveform session, select signals to debug, and run the simulation for X seconds. Repeat till your happy.

author: legacy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 27, 2014, 04:57:57 pm
content: Quote from: hans on May 27, 2014, 02:54:28 pmthat is what i can do now withghdl + gtkwavebut, when you edit (VHD-HELL) code you have to recompile the whole(geany, the IDE, is invoking ghdl -e/-a file.vhd, which invokes GNAT)then reload the wave with gtkwaveedit:working in progress for icarus (verilog) … i can't say/confirm that geany is useful, too

author: miguelvp
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 27, 2014, 07:02:45 pm
content: Sorry for the bad experience, like I replied to you on another thread, for the $49 they wanted you could get this:http://parts.arrow.com/item/detail/arrow-development-tools/bemicrocvOr if you just want to simulate without hardware then just install Quartus II web edition (free) and simulate all day long.It even has templates for VHDL (and verilog, and system verilog, even AHDL) if you right click on the editor.time constrains analysis, signal tap, etc, etc, etc.You can also change the Editor to Sigasi and others.If you prefer a different simulator it allows you to use them, like the full fledged modelsim and other EDA software.I haven't tried Xilinx toolchain yet. But I'm impressed with what you can do with the free Altera toolchain.

author: legacy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 27, 2014, 09:53:15 pm
content: I got two development boards (spartan s3e-500)i am fine about hardwarei did a lot of experiments with verilogand also i have written a lot of dummies devices for a SoC plus a tone of C drivers(i am skilled about C and assembly, i am a beginner about HDLin particular i know something about verilog but i don't know vhdl very well)i have never developed anything serious in hdl, especially from scratches !i have only fixed/modified/adapt other guys' workso i bought good books (1) and i aimed for a didactical tool thatcould help me to speed up the learning curveedit:(1)FPGA Prototyping Using VHDL Examples Xilinx Spartan-3by Pong P. Chu

author: legacy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 27, 2014, 09:54:50 pm
content: Quote from: legacy on May 26, 2014, 09:38:59 pmi decided to upgrade to v13, it's in downloading now !i bought an external larger usb-disk, i will install there(for linux, this time i want to try ISE for linux)

author: Bassman59
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 28, 2014, 10:36:20 pm
content: Quote from: legacy on May 25, 2014, 12:27:34 pmThe version of ISim in ISE 10.x is woeful. Download ISE 14.7 (the latest and last-ever version), the simulation support is very much improved.

author: Bassman59
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 28, 2014, 10:38:48 pm
content: Quote from: Scrts on May 27, 2014, 10:43:51 amNo, you have that backwards. They stopped providing the free ModelSim XE when ISE 11.x was released (a few years ago) and instead they provide ISim, which is actually not that bad at all.If you want free ModelSim, it's included with MicroSemi's Libero, Altera's Quartus, and Lattice's tools.

author: legacy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 28, 2014, 11:26:28 pm
content: Thank you! I got ISE 13.1, that is bigger than ISE 10.1, it seems 9Gbyte, too much for me!I installed it into an external hard drive (just in order to evaluate it, i do not like having program running in usb external drive)cause i have enough space to accommodate it to the internal drive(i also have Labview, NI multisim and many more applications installed, plus linux in the second partition)Also i gotModelSim PE Student Editionby Mentorit seems a funny simulator, i have been toying with if for 2 hours around easy examples and my old vhdl codeand i am happy with it, it is easy to use, intuitive, and it uses only 300MbyteAbout the license … well it requires a fixed node license, which means you have to register your student licensefrom the machine you want the program installed to, and you can't change the machine without repeating the license validationnot too bad, but this way it may be better if installed inside a virtual machine (Virtual Box, for example)I have to evaluate ISE 13.1, do you think i'd better update to ISE 14 ?How big is it when installed ? It may be i can install it for linux,removing old stuff i should have 20Gbyte free in the ext3 partitionThe next month it may be i will buy a bigger internal hard drive, something like 500Gbyte instead of the actual 120Gbyteof which Windows XP has the 50%, the other 50% is for linux, and .. 60Gb today are not enough for such a stuff.

author: Bassman59
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 29, 2014, 12:23:02 am
content: Quote from: legacy on May 28, 2014, 11:26:28 pmI think that 13.x included both ISE and Vivado; for 14.x they got smart and made the two separate downloads. I'm sure that if you check the Xilinx download page it'll tell you the size of the thing you need.QuotePretty much all EDA software is like that. Whatever. It's not a big deal.QuoteThe simulator is improved in 14. Not much else is, I think, but anyways 14.7 is the absolute end of the line for ISE so you might as well use it.QuoteIt's huge, like 15 GB, but then again, my machine has a 1.5 TB main drive so I don't really care.

author: legacy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 29, 2014, 12:32:00 am
content: i got a laptop 2 years ago and it come with a preloaded hard drive of 120Gbyte, the 500Gbyte is considered an upgradebtw, i will follow your suggestion: 20Gbyte have been removed on the linux partition and ISE v14.7 is in downloadinganyone has a comment about the Mentor Graphics Modelsim PE Student Edition ?

author: legacy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 29, 2014, 12:55:56 am
content: As far as you can read from their web siteModelSim PE Student Editionis intended for use by hobbitsin pursuit of their home (educational) projectsthat's happening with me:i'd like to learn VHDL & Verilog by examplessimulating things before putting bitstream on the tiny target(in order to toy with cheap Logic Analyzer)About the performances …it seems the PE Student Edition has a capacity of 10K lines of executable codeif your project is under this limit the performance is about 30% of PE-full-versionwhile exceeding capacity will reduce the performance to about 1% of PE-full-versionthat means 100 times slower than PEbut who cares about a project larger than 10K lines ?a project bigger than 10K line is ouf of the "hobby" definitionalso - i think - you can split a project into modulesand put modules "one at once" in the simulatoram i right ?

author: miguelvp
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 29, 2014, 01:28:49 am
content: Quote from: legacy on May 29, 2014, 12:55:56 amNice freudian slipYes, we are all hobbits here, myself included!