* You can request one for free, and you don’t need a verified university address. Unlike the Intel edition, this option requires a license. Don’t bother attempting to run it on Linux using the Windows Emulator (Wine). The student edition of ModelSim only works on Windows. For example, the installation directory, as shown below. Change the TranscriptFile setting to a different path. You can quickly fix that by going to the installation directory (C:\intelFPGA0.1\modelsim_ase) and editing the modelsim.ini file with administrator privileges. It’s because the transcript file isn’t writable.
How to make ModelSim from Quartus Prime Lite work on Ubuntu 20.04 Couldn’t open “transcript”: permission deniedīy the way, if you get this error in ModelSim after installing: If you are running Ubuntu Linux, you need to do a few changes to make it work.įollow my recipe to get going with ModelSim on Ubuntu: You can create a free account by clicking the Register links on the right-hand side of that page. When you click the Download button, the webpage will ask for a username and password. Instead, go for the ModelSim-Intel FPGA Edition (includes Starter Edition). You don’t need to install the Quartus tool to use ModelSim. Make sure to select the Lite Edition, as shown in the image below. Go to Intel’s Download Center for FPGAs to fetch the installer. You can use this ModelSim version for VHDL code targeting any architecture, not just Intel FPGAs. This is currently my favorite ModelSim option because it works on Windows and Linux, even Ubuntu, and it doesn’t require a license. Works on: Windows, Linux (Red Hat or Ubuntu) But they all look and feel the same, and they are sufficient, even for advanced VHDL projects. That’s why you will find many installation options for ModelSim on this list.Īll free ModelSim versions are speed-restricted in some way. ModelSim / QuestaSim, produced by Siemens EDA (formerly Mentor Graphics), is one of the most popular HDL simulators. I recommend installing another operating system in a virtual machine to get around the problem.
Mac OS is the most challenging platform because there’s only one open-source simulator that works natively. But with a little effort, you can make it work in other distros, including Ubuntu. FPGA vendors usually only support the Red Hat Linux distribution. Microsoft Windows is the easiest to install on, but many simulators also have a Linux version. But fortunately, there are many free and legal alternatives that you can download and install. Professional VHDL simulators are more expensive than most individuals can afford.