Compatiability Matrix in Documentation

[jwkunz]

Today is Dec 29, 2022. Yesterday, I tried to install the casper tools into the software enviroment listed in the documentation:

https://github.com/casper-astro/mlib_devel/blob/m2021a/docs/src/Installing-the-Toolflow.md

That is, Ubuntu 20.04.5 and Vivado 2021.1 and Matlab 2021a.

I followed all of the "Note on Operating System" suggestions about libqt4, the gcc 6 workarounds, etc.

I could not solve the issue Craig Ramsey described following his methods. In fact, Model Composer 2021.1 is not officially supported in Ubuntu 20.04, so it bothers me that you have 2021.1 listed as the "stable" enviroment.

But, Model Composer 2021.2 is supported, and I was able to get everything working successfully using Ubuntu 20.04.5 and Vivado 2021.2 and Matlab 2021a.

I recommend changing the table to say Vivado 2021.2 instead of 2021.1. Maybe the mature folks in the community figured out how to get Vivado 2021.1 working with the casper tools in Ubuntu 20.04, but as a newcomer this was a frustrating barrier to entry that I believe is a documentation error.

[mitchburnett]

This is a good recommendation. In general, supporting 2021.1 has been unsatisfactory and very error prone. The sooner we can move past it the better. Thanks for reporting on issues with getting setup and the first steps in working with 2021.2. Pull requests at tackling this are welcome.

The matrix does say 20.04 LTS and we should probably be more specific about not supporting rolling releases or specify the last rolling release that the setup steps are known to work for. Because the word "stable" is harry at best. The compatibility matrix is better considered as a "best known and tested configuration"

What is your target platform? Because these configurations take into account more than just installation of the vendor tools, but also what the Toolflow does as well. So, just because the tools can install and "open" the next step is to begin to take into account what does and does not work for the various platforms. The Toolflow is getting better at being able to support updates in vendor tools with better dynamic source generation that is not dependent on a specific version. But, it is still not perfect.

Just to document the Ubuntu 20.04.05 issues:

Yes, in Ubuntu 20.04.05 there are new issues that continue to prevent 2021.1 to work. These issues are dependency differences between what the different minor releases for Ubuntu base use and what the Xilinx Model Composer and MATLAB Simulink are wanting to use. Particularly as the rolling releases continue packages are upgraded (in this case various libgmp libraries) and conflicts begin to occur when libraries are dynamically loaded.

To side step this issue requires altering the Model Composer installation directory. I have been successful in making these adjustments. But, altering the installation may have other consequences and not generally recommended. That being said I have not as of yet had any compatibility or seen any failures result because of it.

Assuming you have Xilinx installations at /opt/Xilinx (or change this path for where your installation is)

cd /opt/Xilinx/Model_Composer/2021.1/lib/lnx64.o/Ubuntu
mkdir exclude
mv libgmp.so* exclude/

cd /opt/Xilinx/Vivado/2021.1/lib/lnx64.o/Ubuntu
mkdir exclude
mv libgmp.so* exclude/

cd /opt/Xilinx/Vivado/2021.1/lib/lnx64.o
mkdir exclude
mv libgmp.so* exclude/

The libgmp libraries that match the wild card will be moved to the exclude directory and not searchable when Model Composer and Simulink are load up. If you have any issues the process is reversed by placing the files in the exclude/ directory back into their previous locations.