modelsim ase 10.4d/quartus lite 16.0,15.1 on linux source font problem

[Altera_Forum]

I can't read vhdl/verilog source because of too small font around 1pt. 

tools->edit preference->source windows->fixed font or text font size setting change was no effect. This problem is same after version down to quartus prime 15.1. Modelsim(vsim) looks porting soft from windows .net.wm application. So I can't find how to change X11 font setting. Does anyone know the workaround of this problem ?

[Altera_Forum]

--- Quote Start ---  I can't read vhdl/verilog source because of too small font around 1pt. tools->edit preference->source windows->fixed font or text font size setting change was no effect. This problem is same after version down to quartus prime 15.1. Modelsim(vsim) looks porting soft from windows .net.wm application. So I can't find how to change X11 font setting. Does anyone know the workaround of this problem ?  --- Quote End ---    I second that question. Modelsim 10.4d, solved the freetype2 problem, compiled and symlinked the 32-bit libraries (freetype2-2.5.0.1-1-i686). Modelsim starts with no warnings but the source window font is not readable (very small). I can't find a solution online, would someone at Altera point us in the right direction?

[Altera_Forum]

--- Quote Start ---  I second that question. Modelsim 10.4d, solved the freetype2 problem, compiled and symlinked the 32-bit libraries (freetype2-2.5.0.1-1-i686). Modelsim starts with no warnings but the source window font is not readable (very small). I can't find a solution online, would someone at Altera point us in the right direction?  --- Quote End ---    same here. vsim command put no error message on terminal. It seems it's good to follow the altera installation manual except vsim source window font. I would like to know if it is the same problem on the supported platform, such as Redhat.  I'm going to try CentOS.

[Altera_Forum]

ARCH GNU/Linux Ker. 4.6.2-1 x86_64 

I think it is something wrong with the Tcl/Tk interface and its interaction with the XServer on UNIX machines. Maybe a conflict/incompatibility with the freetype2 libraries and Tcl/Tk.  I had located a strange passing of arguments inside the /*Altera_install_DIR*/modelsim_ase/linuxaloem/tk8.5/ttk/fonts.tcl file. In the X11 section it queries the pkgconfig for specific font packages, specifically : (sans-serif && monospace) or (Helvetica && courier). Also it sets the sizes with a negative sign (i.e. -12, -14 etc.) contrary to the MS Windows or OSX sections. On proper editing of these lines nothing happens, wchih leads me to believe this is not an actual control file, nevertheless it seems an installation of the Helvetica font may prove beneficial for further inquiries. Tomorrow I will try installing the infinality complete font package by bohoomil. I will further post on my progress.   cr4150n

[Altera_Forum]

Also it may prove useful Installing the Tcl/Tk version 8.0 (32 bit versions) as it seems that the mti.tcl file actually require these specific libraries (I guess the 32bit versions) as well as the itcl and itkl libraries. 

can you try installing these libraries on your system ? I will try these as well.   cr4150n b4ilum

[Altera_Forum]

--- Quote Start ---  ARCH GNU/Linux Ker. 4.6.2-1 x86_64 I think it is something wrong with the Tcl/Tk interface and its interaction with the XServer on UNIX machines. Maybe a conflict/incompatibility with the freetype2 libraries and Tcl/Tk. I had located a strange passing of arguments inside the /*Altera_install_DIR*/modelsim_ase/tcl/vsim/fonts.tcl file. In the X11 section it queries the pkgconfig for specific font packages, specifically : (sans-serif && monospace) or (Helvetica && courier). Also it sets the sizes with a negative sign (i.e. -12, -14 etc.) contrary to the MS Windows or OSX sections. On proper editing of these lines nothing happens, wchih leads me to believe this is not an actual control file, nevertheless it seems an installation of the Helvetica font may prove beneficial for further inquiries. Tomorrow I will try installing the infinality complete font package by bohoomil. I will further post on my progress. MO  --- Quote End ---    You made a big progress. On Win10_64, source window put chars normally.  I have finished install CentOS and Quartus Lite 16. vsim console said vsim need 32bit lib install.  It seems the problem is same on ARCH. So I come to think I don't need to try the near platform CentOS. CentOS's repo  has very few(pretty poor). I wonder which dist linux have rich repo.  Anyway I will investigate the problem from your hints. I think the problem might be among C and tcl. I didn't idetify where, but I saw the negative signs in the 'strace output' of vsim on Ubu...  However I don't think strace might not be effective tool to see inside the quartus and modelsim. I would like to know what tools do you use.

[Altera_Forum]

--- Quote Start ---  ARCH GNU/Linux Ker. 4.6.2-1 x86_64 In the X11 section it queries the pkgconfig for specific font packages, specifically : (sans-serif && monospace) or (Helvetica && courier). Also it sets the sizes with a negative sign (i.e. -12, -14 etc.) contrary to the MS Windows or OSX sections. MO  --- Quote End ---    On CentOS7_64, I confirmed vsim10.4d worked. tcl source window fonts was READABLE and FINE at this moment after the required 32bit depended library.   As for negative font size, all source windows font specifications are so. Such as,  textFont {Courier 10 Pitch} -12  menuFont {VL Gothic} -12  fixedFont {Courier 10 Pitch} -12. And these are completely different on Ubu... They might be font configuration depends on the platform(such as debian or redhat). So I think you don't need to care.  I don't know Xft well. But I can post the font configuration command results if you can specify the command to separate the issues.

[Altera_Forum]

I do not use any specific tools, my heuristics are pretty dumb, always analyze the directories for "suspicious" files, a very tedious method thoug :( plus a little bit of logic. 

as of your rich distro question .. well Arch is the way to go. A pretty steep climb, but you're not a novice I suppose, so you'll manage. I will try setting up infinality font packages today, as it replaces the entire font rendering system including fontconfig, they contain Helvetica as well, they also look pretty neat. Please specify your GNU/Linux distribution, to make things clear.

[Altera_Forum]

it may prove useful running vsim with specific command line arguments like LD_LIBRARY_PATH, see further : 

 export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$LD_LIBRARY_PATH:/mnt/media/Disk_H/Altera/lib-32-freetype2-workaround  you edit the /bin/vsim file (well the file it links to i.e. "../vco"), then add this after the "#!/bin/sh" lines. where lib-32-freetype2-workaround is a directory where you put your versions of libraries in my case freetype2-2.5.0.1-1-i686 and the correspondig names (symlinks). This is a solution from the ARCH Wiki, the most "elegant" they say, as it does not mess up the freetype2 libs system-wide. We must work the other libraries too, just need to know precisely which. You said it works well on CentOS, please verify all the versions of the aforementioned libs if you can. It needs more isolation.  cr4150n

[Altera_Forum]

I'm confused. I can't understand to install new tcl/tk and freetype font. Will it be good ? 

 I think problem might be between font initialization process of vsim. Because all CentOS font specification includes negative size. as you know, tcl/tk accept negative font size, which indicate physical pixel size. But as for positive font size spec indicate point size, which varies depends on the platform resolution(such as 97dpi). And on the NG behavior vsim of Ubuntu16.04, vsim specified all positive font size, it is similar to windows10. And vsim has font scaling in the menu. I think positive font size spec divided by font scale which lead to too small font around 1pt. I think this is the root cause. And we can't input negative font size(by window). On the by name window, we can input negative font size, but vsim behave strangely. quartus16 update1 might be a little bit good behavior. I think the problem might be around font initialization process depends on the OS.  Anyway, after adding epel repo and installing 32bit library, CentOS has gone now ;-(. Please wait a while.

[Altera_Forum]

Please input negative font size in the default by-name text font vsim menu. 

You can read source font. And after a while, source font will come to unreadable font. That is the strange I mean. Please try.

[Altera_Forum]

adjusting font scaling to -1120 px per 11 inches gives giant fonts in modelsim 10.4d source window, without any of the library tricks described earlier.. this is huge.. :3 

 Note: please do not replicate this, it seems to break the modelsim interface permanently :( need to find the control file to readjust the font scaling option.

[Altera_Forum]

I don't think tcl/tk font scale accept a negative value. please confirm manual. 

As for the control file, according to the modelsim command manual, they might be .modelsim or modelsim.ini. pref.tcl might be possible, I think.  As for the negative font size specifying, I found the behavior has been quite strange via editing the preference menu(by name). So I recommend editing default textfont size of $HOME/.modelsim file to the negative value(such as -12 or -10), and don't touch. I think you can specify any fixed font as you wish.  I'm going to test these settings. My environment is Ubuntu16.04_64 and CentOS7.2_64.  On CentOS, all defualt fonts were specified by negative value at first, but preference menu does not show negative value on the menu. The behavior is slightly strange. I guess this is also some trick by Altera or Mentor. That's why I think it might be no use to reinstall fonts or libraries.

[Altera_Forum]

do you find ? 

 I guess default scale initialize file might be 'screenscalesV2' of $HOME/.modelsim, because my screen setting exists only there.  the scale value syntax might be,  host-name:0.0 {pixels-point inch pixel} here, pixels-point is tk scaling factor of pixels/point. it's around 1(me, 1.3546). I'm not sure how they calculate it.

[Altera_Forum]

Hi,  

 I am using Quartus Prime Version 15.1.2 Build 193 02/01/2016 SJ Standard Edition (as well as Quartus 13.1) on Windows 10. I am having issues with the GUI. Some buttons are too small for the writing inside to be readable. For example, in Qsys, every elements in the lists under "IP Catalog>Project", "IP Catalog>Library" as well as the lists under "Hierarchy" are overlapping each other and therefore unreadable. Also, when I select an IP from the IP catalog, the font is too small to be readable.   Can you help me to figure out which settings I have to change? Thank you very much for your help.

[Altera_Forum]

I also installed Quartus16 on win10_64, and I don't find out any Qsys overlapping font problem now. 

I mainly use linux sorry. I'm not familiar with windows. However, I found out I didn't have IP  catalog dialog in Quartus16 :( I have to look into them well.  I didn't find out any option menu to customize font in Qsys. It also look like tcl/tk app, but ...

[Altera_Forum]

I ran into this too in Ubuntu 16.04 LTS with modelsim 10.5 ASE. I fixed it as follows : 

1. Open ~/.modelsim 2. Find: PrefDefault = ... textFontV2 {Verdana 12} 3. Change 12 to -12, so it will looks like this: textFontV2 {Verdana -12} 4. Save ~/.modelsim 5. Reopen modelsim