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I am trying to install the latest version of the Libero SW tools set from Microsemi/Actel on my Ubuntu laptop.

The web site of the company says that their SW only supports the RH linux and they don't mention Ubuntu anywhere on their site. But I only have access to Ubuntu and therefore need to find a way to install it so I can work on my project.

I have followed the instruction of Microsemi and installed all the necessary libraries before running the installation program, but I still can't get this to work.

Does anyone knows if SW for RH can be installed on Ubuntu? Do I need to add extra libraries that are not part of current installation I have?

My installation is "Linux 3.8.0.32-generic x86_64"

Thanks in advance for your help.

FarhadA
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    This question appears to be off-topic because it is about installing software. Even though the software is used for electronic design, the question belongs on a Linux-oriented site. – Joe Hass Jan 18 '14 at 21:50
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    Hi Joel, I know that it is not directly related to the group, but the Ubuntu team and the people there have no idea what Libero is and I have a much better change to get an answer from the members here than there. Also, this question can benefit others in the group who want to install this on their computers and face the same type of challenge I am facing. – FarhadA Jan 18 '14 at 22:00
  • It might help many readers here to know how to regrow hair on the top of their heads, but it still doesn't belong here. You need to ask people who are fluent in _both_ RedHat and Ubuntu distributions and I think such a question belongs on a Linux/RedHat/Ubuntu site. – Joe Hass Jan 18 '14 at 22:10
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    @Joe Hass : the software in question is ONLY of interest to electronic engineers, and a big yawn to most Ubuntu users, hairless or otherwise. –  Jan 18 '14 at 23:20
  • It is just sad that a legitimate question receives such and arrogant respond. I am sorry I asked the question, I am an electronic engineer not a Unix Guru and I thought I am dealing with like minded engineers no but once again, it proves me that SE is not a place for professionals. – FarhadA Jan 19 '14 at 07:03
  • Probably easiest solution is to install virtualbox from repositories, then create a CentOS VM in which you install Libero. CentOS is far more identical to RHEL than Ubuntu, but in contrast to RHEL the updates are free. For RHEL you need a support contract to receive the updates. – jippie Jan 19 '14 at 08:33

1 Answers1

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I have successfully used them on Debian so it can be done, (including Modelsim) with patience and a bit of fiddling. The FlashPro JTAG download cable and SW tool, however, is stubbornly Windows-only, so when it comes to downloading a bitfile, I ended up borrowing a Windows machine.

Reviewing old notes, I see I had to install a few packages (from "testing", in my case)

apt-get -t testing install libmotif4:i386
apt-get -t testing install lsb-core
apt-get -t testing install libxtst6:i386

Then there were startup errors:

Cannot register service: RPC: Authentication error; why = Client credential too weak
Wind/U: unable to register OLE to RPC

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/13111910/rpc-authentication-error
suggested the following command (which worked here but DOES have security implications) to modify these settings

echo 'OPTIONS="-w -i"' | sudo tee /etc/default/rpcbind

Then it transpires that Synplicity is supplied with startup scripts so old they pre-date 3.x kernels! The following scripts are affected...

/opt/actel/Libero_v9.1/Synplify/bin/config/platform_check
/opt/actel/Libero_v9.1/Synplify/bin/config/platform_set

Modify platform_check line 23 to read:

    2.4.* | 2.6.* | 3.2.* )

(or 3.8 in your case)
Modify platform_set line 18 to read

              2.* | 3.*)    PLATFORM=linux;

The following script is how I start the tools : it's not the whole story as far as installing them but will give pointers as to what you may need to set up, install or fix.

#!/bin/bash
# startup script for Libero
#
# Run this script as
# source /path/to/Libero.sh
# because running it as
# /path/to/Libero.sh
# will not export the environment variables...
# 
# Edit license path and hostname to suit your system!
# Note - this assumes the license file is in the same folder as the license demons.
#
HOSTNAME=xxxx
LICENSE_PATH=~/Projects/Actel/Licensing
LICENSE_DAEMON_PATH=$LICENSE_PATH
LICENSE_NAME=License2013.dat

# start the license server (in the background)
# only start it once! If the following is non-blank, 
# assume a licence server is running.
TEST= `ps ax |grep lmgrd |grep -v grep`

echo $TEST

if [ "$TEST" == "" ]; then
   echo "Starting license daemons."
   $LICENSE_DAEMON_PATH/lmgrd -c $LICENSE_PATH/$LICENSE_NAME &
else
   echo "License daemons already running."
fi

# Setup licensefile path so that Modelsim can find the correct licenses
export LM_LICENSE_FILE=$LICENSE_PATH/$LICENSE_NAME

# Synplify needs port@hostname to find its license
export SNPSLMD_LICENSE_FILE=1702@$HOSTNAME

# Setup DISPLAY so that Wind/U windows emulation works
export DISPLAY=:0

# allow Synplify to find Actel tools
export ALSDIR=/opt/actel

# on Debian, fix the famous Multilib problem again...
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu

# run this to cleanup the Wind/U registry...
/opt/actel/Libero_v9.1/Libero/bin/actel_wuclean -R

# and finally start the tools
/opt/actel/Libero_v9.1/Libero/bin/libero
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  • Thanks a lot, I will take a look at this and see what I can do. I can't even get the tool to install, so there must be something basic, but can't figure it out yet. – FarhadA Jan 18 '14 at 22:01
  • "can't get it to install" doesn't give us much to go on. Errors or messages about missing libraries might help –  Jan 18 '14 at 22:49
  • Well, the problems are many, first of all, it stopped when trying to install the fonts, re-installing it as root, helped with that and now I am stuck where it stops during the installation of some Java blocks, but since the whole installer is using JRE, I assume it has something to do with the version of my JRE. I read on other sites that I might have to install it using a Virtual RH installation and then move it to my Ubuntu, I might try that and see how it works. – FarhadA Jan 19 '14 at 06:46
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    When I ran into JRE problems, careful examination of the messages showed missing i386 components (the x86_64 ones were installed) but something (possibly JRE) was 32 bit. –  Jan 19 '14 at 09:53
  • Specific questions with specific detailed error messages are probably well suited to AskUbuntu, and will probably get a better response than I could give. –  Jan 19 '14 at 12:14
  • Well, I did not get a single answer or comment to my question on the askubuntu! I guess I have to find the solution myself with the hints you gave me here. – FarhadA Jan 22 '14 at 21:09