Installation and Licensing

[skytthe]

Hi

Is it possible to install the Xilinx ISE on a Mac? I have not been able to find a version to Mac, so I expect is doesn't exist.

But OSX is also build on UNIX like Linux, so maybe it would be possible to install the Linux-version on a Mac - if how is it done?

Hope somebody can help.

-Skytthe

[barriet]

OS-X is not supported:

http://www.xilinx.com/support/answers/18419.htm (Install - Operating System (OS) Support on Xilinx ISE Design Tools)

I would not expect the Linux version to work as-is either.

There has been at least one user reporting that it works under WinXP running under a virtual machine:

http://forums.xilinx.com/xlnx/board/message?board.id=EDK&message.id=4895 (Xilinx tools under macbook)

bt

[sonicwave]

I have ISE 12.2 running very well on a MacMini with a bootcamped Win7. Although I presume that shouldn't come as much of a surprise...;)

[bassman59]

---

skytthe wrote:

Hi

Is it possible to install the Xilinx ISE on a Mac? I have not been able to find a version to Mac, so I expect is doesn't exist.

But OSX is also build on UNIX like Linux, so maybe it would be possible to install the Linux-version on a Mac - if how is it done?

Hope somebody can help.

-Skytthe

---

There's no reason at all why Xilinx cannot support their tools on OS X.

Having said that (again), you can install the tools in a Windows or Linux virtual machine.

[mcgett]

> There's no reason at all why Xilinx cannot support their tools on OS X.

More accurately, there is no "technical reason" why the software couldn't be ported, but there is no significant market demand to justify the porting and testing costs required to support this additional platform.

A quick search implies that there are no  EDA tools from Synopsys, Mentor or Cadence, that have been ported to Mac OS X either.

[w1jp]

I don't necessarily get wrapped up in these OS discussions; however, I wasn't satisfied with your smug answer.

Part of the issue here is your choice of technology that increases your cost. Many of your competitors are choosing to build there tools on open platforms (Eclipse, NetBeans, Processing, etc. (IBM, Microchip, Atmel, AVR, Intel, Freescale, etc.)). While that doesn't alleviate the need to test, the costs of testing and support are drastically reduced.

I also find it interesting to note that you support Linux; however, the market share of OS X is nearly 35% more than that of Linux (1). I would wager that number being conservative for the engineering community. While I don't want to turn this into a pro-mac thread, I DO want to point out that because Max OS X is based on BSD Unix, I have switched my domain over to Mac as we get greater productivity using the body of simulation and design work out there for UNIX. My company (in the Fortune 20) is not going to make a move to 64-bit windows anytime soon.

Another interesting note—the only OS that did not grow in 2010 was Microsoft Windows! (2)

My suggestion is that you poll your community rather than make assumptions like this. Also take a closer look at the industry momentum. Eventually even Mentor Graphics will come around to open platforms. If we can make money doing it so can they.

$0.02,

Jon

w1jp

[crbowman]

I use OSX and I'd much prefer to see the Xilinx tools run natively on OSX then Windows.  Given that most of the Xilinx tools are simple command line programs and they've already been ported to Linux that should be fairly easy.  That being said, I have a VMWare virtual machine with Fedora 14 and the Xilinx tools installed and it works marvelously for me on my MacBook Pro.  I can even run the USB FPGA programmer.

[rcingham]

I am not, nor ever have been, a Xilinx employee.
I strongly suspect they know what OSs their most important customers want supported. These are the customers who buy many thousands, even millions, of ICs per year. The rest of us will have to make do...

[jspahn]

LOL.  I love this answer.  It comes straight from the Microsoft playbook.  Well, I do not know if Xilinx has been paying much attention, but MS is soon to be moving away from the desktop paradigm in order to essentially catch UP with Apple.  If you have not started on a OSX port yet, then you will be behind the curve much faster than you think.  Oh...and using competitors as an example of being behind the times is indicative.  Is Xilinx a leader or a follower?  Hmmmmm........  

[sjg69]

I'd love a native OSX port too, and as a cautionary warning, don't use Parallells to install your VM on OSX. I can't program my SP605 board under parallells. I can run everything else I've tried, and I can see the Xilinx USB device, and it is connected to the virtual machine, but I can't connect to the JTAG cable in xmd. I've since read that it works in VMware...

Oh yeah ... and now I'm hoping I can move my node-locked license to a different machine !

Simon