Frequent ContributorGetting ModelSim Intel Edition to work on Ubuntu 17x and higher.
In the event you've installed or upgraded to Ubuntu 17x or 18 and are trying to get ModelSim to work, you may encounter the following error:
Thanks to @mfro for posting the link! :)
Error in startup script:
Initialization problem, exiting.
Initialization problem, exiting.
while executing
"InitializeINIFile quietly"
invoked from within
"ncFyP12 -+"
(file "/mtitcl/vsim/vsim" line 1)
** Fatal: Read failure in vlm process (0,0)This guide is for you. This is due to the fact that some of the needed libraries for ModelSim are missing or not correct in Ubuntu 17x and higher. Keep in mind that Quartus tools and ModelSim have been tested and work well with Ubuntu 16.04 and this guide is only for Ubuntu 17x and higher.
Follow these steps below to get ModelSim working:
- Install the required dependancies/libraries:
Open a new terminal prompt and type or copy paste the following command:
You need to have super-user or root privileges to do the following.
sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install build-essential
sudo apt-get install gcc-multilib g++-multilib \
lib32z1 lib32stdc++6 lib32gcc1 \
expat:i386 fontconfig:i386 libfreetype6:i386 libexpat1:i386 libc6:i386 libgtk-3-0:i386 \
libcanberra0:i386 libpng12-0:i386 libice6:i386 libsm6:i386 libncurses5:i386 zlib1g:i386 \
libx11-6:i386 libxau6:i386 libxdmcp6:i386 libxext6:i386 libxft2:i386 libxrender1:i386 \
libxt6:i386 libxtst6:i386
This will install a set of packages that are needed for the next steps.
Download the Freetype package from the following link:
http://download.savannah.gnu.org/releases/freetype/freetype-2.4.12.tar.bz2
In the terminal prompt, type the following:
cd ~/Downloads
tar -xvf freetype-2.4.12.tar.bz2
cd freetype-2.4.12
./configure --build=i686-pc-linux-gnu "CFLAGS=-m32" "CXXFLAGS=-m32" "LDFLAGS=-m32"
make -j8
This will compile the freetype library and you should have a /obj/.libs folder where you compiled it.
Now, type the following:
mkdir /<path_to_quartus_install>/modelsim_ase/lib32
sudo cp ~/Downloads/freetype-2.4.12/objs/.libs/libfreetype.so* /<path_to_quartus_install>/modelsim_ase/lib32
sudo vim /opt/modelsim_ase/bin/vsim
Search for the line that says
dir=`dirname $arg0`
and add the following line under it:
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=${dir}/lib32
Save exit the file.
Now, try starting ModelSim. If you still get any error, you may need to do the following fixes as well:
In the terminal prompt, edit the following file
sudo vim /opt/modelsim_ase/bin/vsim
Search for "linux_rh60" This should be in an if-else loop at around line 212.
Edit the last line in the if case *) vco = "linux_rh60 and change it to
vco = linux.
Then scroll to the start of the file and search for the following:
mode=${MTI_VCO_MODE:-""} and change it to
mode=${MTI_VCO_MODE:-"32"}
Save and exit . Now try starting ModelSim. It should load the gui.
