Why do no options in the "Create / Update" menu work? (Quartus Prime Lite on Linux)

[Serqetry]

Hello,

Can someone please help me?  I'm losing my mind here.  I have installed several different versions of Quartus Prime Lite on Linux trying to find one that actually has options in the "Create / Update" menu under File that are not greyed out and non-functional.  As far as I can tell, there aren't any.  This is causing me a huge problem because I am taking an FPGA course and the instructor keeps saying to use options in this menu such as "Create HDL Design File from Current File" and "Create Symbol Files for Current File"... and I cannot do these things!!

I figured out how to use quartus_map to turn schematics into HDL, but you cannot create symbols from bdf files.  So I am stuck.

Can someone please explain what is wrong?  Are these options just not available on Linux or something? (that would make no sense since they are there but greyed out).  I've found nothing in the Quartus Prime standard edition documentation that would explain this.  I've seen a few people say they have the same problem in forum posts but no one ever responds with a solution.

Any information on this would be greatly appreciated!

[sstrell]

Not sure those are in Lite edition or just Standard edition.  Also not sure if that is Windows only.  That feature no longer exists in Pro for sure, but I'm not sure about Lite vs. Standard and Linux vs. Windows.

And stupid question: you have a schematic file (.bdf) open and a symbol selected when you try to use those options?

[Serqetry]

I've tried every combination of selecting that there is, those options never become available.  Right now I guess I have to use Quartus Prime Lite 16 running in a Windows 10 VM just to use options in that menu.  The options are all available there, you don't have to have anything selected at all, they just operate on the currently viewed file.

This makes no sense.  How am I supposed to make a bsf file from a bdf file if those menu options don't work?

[ShengN_Intel]

Hi,

Probably have to create a file first for example .bdf file. In Project Navigator, double-click the .bdf file. Then only go to File -> Create / Update.

Thanks,

Best Regards,

Sheng

[Serqetry]

I've done this.  The bdf file is selected and open, but the options are still all greyed out except for "Create/Update IPS File..."

I feel like these features have just been broken on Linux and no one at Intel has noticed.

So how does one make a bsf symbol file from a bdf file without these options?  If it has been removed from the Pro version, what is the alternative?

[ShengN_Intel]

Hi,

I had tried with Quartus Lite latest version 23.1 on Ubuntu Linux environment without any problem check screenshot.

How about try with latest version 23.1.

Thanks,

Sheng

[Serqetry]

Thank you, it does work on Ubuntu 22.04 with the latest version of Quartus Prime Lite.

I don't understand why it is broken on every other Linux distro I tried.  I realize they weren't officially supported distros but they seemed to work fine except for the options in that menu and also the help files were broken.  My main system is not Ubuntu so I'm hoping I can get this to run in a container with Distrobox.

[Serqetry]

Thank you for the screenshot it is much appreciated.  Now I know it actually should be working.

I have not tried it on Ubuntu yet.  I'll give that a try.

[ShengN_Intel]

Hi,

You may check the Operating System (OS) Support here link https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/programmable/support-resources/design-software/os-support.html

Thanks,

Best Regards,

Sheng

[Serqetry]

Yes, I have looked at it.  There aren't a lot of options for desktop users... Ubuntu is really the only choice, and I don't like to use Ubuntu.  Quartus Prime Lite seems to run fine on many unsupported distros, but on my distro of choice (Garuda Linux) the "Create / Update" menu and the help files fail.  Fortunately the help files are nothing more than an interface to view local web pages in Firefox.

I have made another discovery... when the "Create / Update" menu doesn't work, it is entirely something wrong between Quartus and X11... because if you switch to a Wayland session, the problem goes away.  It seems to me like some kind of bug or library incompatibilty which could be addressed to make it work across more Linux distros, even if they aren't officially supported.  And it's definitely on the X11 desktop side because I was unable to get it to work with Distrobox containers even though the container contained Ubuntu 22.04 LTS which is supported.

For now I've got a workaround... when I need to access this menu I can switch to a Wayland session.  But permanently switching is not an option for me until they fix the horrendous UI scaling in Wayland (if they ever do).

Anyway thank you again for your assistance, it helped me narrow down this weird incompatibility with X11 so I know how to get around it.

[ShengN_Intel]

Hi,

Sorry for any inconvenience causing. Please expect that there'll be some bugs when not officially supported OS/Distro is being used based on prior experience. Btw, glad to hear that you have workaround to resolve the problem.

Thanks,

Best Regards,

Sheng