Licensing problems with QII/Modelsim in Debian Linux

Altera_Forum · ‎10-16-2008

Hello all,

I recently downloaded QuartusII (8.0 + SP1) for Linux and Modelsim AE. I have a project I need to support Altera FPGA's (I need to instantiate some Altera specifics such as block ram). I also requested a license though web.

I downloaded and installed and I am not able to run either "quartus" or "vsim", because they complain about the license:

In Quartus, it just says it needs a "full license" and shows nothing about the license information.

Modelsim shows:


$ vsim
Unable to checkout a license. Make sure your license file environment variable (e.g., LM_LICENSE_FILE)
is set correctly and then run 'lmutil lmdiag' to diagnose the problem.
Unable to checkout a license.  Vsim is closing.
** Fatal: Invalid license environment. Application closing.
$ lmdiag 
lmdiag - Copyright (c) 1989-2004 by Macrovision Corporation. All rights reserved.
FLEXlm diagnostics on Thu 10/16/2008 20:11
-----------------------------------------------------
License file: /opt/altera8.0/0015C5517CC3__0-0870286385002679.dat
-----------------------------------------------------
"quartus_lite" v2009.03, vendor: alterad
  uncounted nodelocked license, locked to ethernet address "0015c5517cc3"  expires: 15-mar-2009
This is the correct node for this node-locked license
-----------------------------------------------------
Enter <CR> to continue: 
"alteramtiwe" v2009.03, vendor: mgcld
  uncounted nodelocked license, locked to ethernet address "0015c5517cc3"  starts: 16-oct-2008,   expires: 15-mar-2009
This is the correct node for this node-locked license
-----------------------------------------------------

I'm clueless about what might be wrong.

vcom and vlog seem to work ok though (if I hack a project dir), but I presume they do not use the license at all.

Any help will be appreciated.

Álvaro

Altera_Forum · ‎10-30-2008

Sorry if this post looks like a troll, but I'm giving up on Altera and sticking with other vendors - I've been (on behalf of others) evaluating a few and most have been quite helpful in solving our problems, and, as such, we have our product implemented and running on their platforms.

I'd really like to support Altera FPGA's on this project, but, as I cannot run your tools - and I'm not to pay for something I am not sure it will work - I decided there will be no support for Altera at all. Truly sorry for this, but it's a decision I have to make.

Best regards,

Álvaro

Altera_Forum · ‎11-03-2008

Debian linux is an unsupported distro. Altera supports SUSE and Red Hat. Having said that, users have installed Altera on other distros too. Check this link for Quartus installation support for unsupported distros: Unbuntu, Debian and Fedora: http://nioswiki.jot.com/wikihome/operatingsystems/quartusforlinux

It appears that Quartus has a fairly good performance for Ubuntu and Debian. I have tried Quartus on Fedora but it had certain issues. I shifted to CentOS later and found that all the tools were working pretty good in CentOS. Following links should help, if you shift to CentOS:

ByteBlaster Installation: http://www.alteraforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3055

ModelSim AE Installation: http://www.alteraforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3230

USB Blaster Installation: http://www.alteraforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1207