Foundation evaluation on linux

Ok, So I'm trying to convince myself that spending the $3000 on 
Foundation will be a good move, with one of the main reasons being that 
I won't have to constantly switch back and forth from Windows (to run 
Foundation, or WebPack currently) and Linux (to run everything else).

I ordered (and eventually obtained - Xilinx *please* don't use DHL in 
the UK, it took 3 *hours* on the phone to re-arrange a missed delivery!) 
the evaluation pack, but this appears to only run on Windows, so it's 
essentially useless to me anyway - to be fair it did say it was Windows 
only, but I was hoping it would be the same package with a temporary 
licence.

So, I'll consult the collective wisdom of the group - which is probably 
what I ought to have done in the first place :-) Can I ask if there's 
anyone who's used Foundation on both architectures...

  o If there are any differences between the two ?
  o Is there anything you can't do from the Linux environment ?
  o Is Linux a completely self-contained environment for development ?
  o How stable is it ?
  o What version of Linux are you running it on ?
  o Have you tried it on an AMD64 processor ?
  o Anything else I've missed ?

(These being the main reasons I wanted to evaluate first...)

Cheers,

Simon.

Simon wrote:
> ...
> So, I'll consult the collective wisdom of the group - which is probably 
> what I ought to have done in the first place :-) Can I ask if there's 
> anyone who's used Foundation on both architectures...
> 
>   o If there are any differences between the two ?

The main thing I notice is that some toolkit was used to convert the 
Windows gui to run under Linux. The resulting "feel" of the GUIs is a 
bit sluggish compared to the Windows versions. But it is not too bad. I 
have very recently switched to using the "native" Linux tools exclusively.

I am running both ISE and EDK in the native Linux versions, but I will 
admit to not using the EDK gui much. I set up the initial project with 
the GUI, and then mostly edit and run the resulting files at the command 
line.

I would like to get ChipScope, but alas, that is (still?) not available 
on Linux.

>   o Is there anything you can't do from the Linux environment ?

ChipScope. I have not run into any other problems yet. I would have to 
say I am pleasantly surprised, considering the complexity.

>   o Is Linux a completely self-contained environment for development ?

It works for me. I recently reformatted the disk on my main design 
machine, and Windows is gone. My laptop is still dualboot, but I don't 
do serious design work there.

>   o How stable is it ?

I haven't had a problem.

>   o What version of Linux are you running it on ?

RH 9, kernel 2.4.20.

>   o Have you tried it on an AMD64 processor ?

No, but I doubt any of the programs are compiled for a 64 bit processor, 
so I am not sure there would be a big performace improvement. I would 
certainly be interested in knowing if there were, though!


-- 
My real email is akamail.com@dclark (or something like that).

Duane Clark wrote:

> Lots of useful information

Cheers Duane, appreciate it :-)

Simon.

Simon wrote:
> So, I'll consult the collective wisdom of the group - which is probably 
> what I ought to have done in the first place :-) Can I ask if there's 
> anyone who's used Foundation on both architectures...
> 
>  o If there are any differences between the two ?
>  o Is there anything you can't do from the Linux environment ?
>  o Is Linux a completely self-contained environment for development ?
>  o How stable is it ?
>  o What version of Linux are you running it on ?
>  o Have you tried it on an AMD64 processor ?
>  o Anything else I've missed ?

I'm running it on Linux/AMD64 (A dual Opteron) w/ SuSE Linux.
It works well enough that I can't say anybody here has even
bothered to install it under Windows.

All the GUI stuff is embarassingly slow. That toolkit they are
using is clearly a dog in need of a slug. However, all the command
line tools work just fine. It seems to be stable enough.

impact also works fine, but none of the external hardware
devices work on AMD64. The PC-IV cable can be made to work
on any i386 Linux, because there is a .a and source code shell
to allow you to compile the drivers for your kernel (if you must)
but that precompiled .a file cannot be used on AMD64, so the
Linux drivers are useless on AMD64. Impact makes ACE files
well enough.

-- 
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