kicad-developers team mailing list archive

[Nick Østergaard <oe.nick@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Maciej

It looks like your patchs works for the windows build. At least I
don't get the errors that Wayne mentioned and I see a square wave with
the patch applied. So committing that will essentially fix the
nightlies.

Additionally I noticed a small bug with the plot view. When resizing
the window in any size, the y-axis will increase in value, which will
make the graph smaller. This does not happen when maximizing the
window.

2016-10-14 15:30 GMT+02:00 Maciej Sumiński <maciej.suminski@xxxxxxx>:
> Yes, I override three Spice variables:
>
> - unset interactive
> Disable interactive mode. You should expect hang ups when the option is
> enabled and you get an error during parameter evaluation (it asks you
> whether you want to continue, but there is no way to confirm).
>
> - set noaskquit
> Do not ask the user whether to quit the simulation.
>
> - set nomoremode
> Disables stopping output until a return key is pressed whenever there is
> a large number of lines to be displayed.
>
> I hope these three settings are reasonable. I override them as they have
> no meaning when ngspice is used as a shared library, but in a different
> configuration they cause troubles. Note that I do not put them into any
> config files, these options are set only when simulation is run in KiCad.
>
> Regards,
> Orson
>
> On 10/14/2016 03:12 PM, Wayne Stambaugh wrote:
>> I didn't look that carefully but are you overriding any settings from
>> the user config?  I would prefer that you didn't so I don't spend time
>> trying to figure out why my config settings are not being respected.
>>
>> On 10/13/2016 11:13 AM, Maciej Sumiński wrote:
>>> It still loads the original configuration files (when possible) and
>>> afterwards it checks a few extra locations (relative to the executed
>>> binary path). This gives a chance to package maintainers to provide a
>>> proper spinit file. If it fails to find a custom spinit file, but it
>>> detects a path to codemodel libraries correctly, it will just load them.
>>>
>>> Regards,
>>> Orson
>>>
>>> On 10/13/2016 04:08 PM, Wayne Stambaugh wrote:
>>>> Does this patch override the users configuration or does it just solve
>>>> the default configuration issue on windows and osx?  If so, that's not a
>>>> good thing.  I'm fine if respects the users config.  I still stand by my
>>>> original investigation that this is a package configuration issue, not a
>>>> broken code issue but if no one is willing to resolve those issues and
>>>> your patch respects the user config, then I'm OK with it.
>>>>
>>>> On 10/13/2016 9:49 AM, Maciej Sumiński wrote:
>>>>> Finally, I could get back to the issue. If we really focus about the
>>>>> consequences, the real problem is not that spinit is not processed, but
>>>>> the codemodel libraries are not loaded.
>>>>>
>>>>> Looking at the default spinit file:
>>>>> - most of the lines are comments
>>>>> - one causes problems ('set interactive', has to be unset later)
>>>>> - three others have no special meaning in shared library mode (aliases
>>>>> and 'set x11lineararcs')
>>>>> - the only meaningful lines are the ones that load codemodel libraries
>>>>>
>>>>> To fix the problem, there is a patch which:
>>>>> - Allows ngspice to load the default spinit/.spiceinit files (no changes
>>>>> here).
>>>>>
>>>>> - Looks for codemodel files in a few paths relative to eeschema
>>>>> executable. If a valid path is found, then an ngspice variable __CMPATH
>>>>> is set.
>>>>>
>>>>> - After the default initialization, looks for spiceinit (note it is
>>>>> spiceinit not .spiceinit) file in a few paths relative to eeschema
>>>>> executable. If one is found, then it is executed. If we decide to
>>>>> provide our spiceinit file (see the attachment), then thanks to __CMPATH
>>>>> variable we can point to the right codemodel directory.
>>>>>
>>>>> - If no spiceinit was found, but we know the correct path to codemodels,
>>>>> then they are simply loaded.
>>>>>
>>>>> - Unsets a few variables which may cause simulator hangups.
>>>>>
>>>>> Once the patch is committed, codemodels should work out of the box for
>>>>> the common msys2 builds and nightly Windows installers, even without a
>>>>> custom spiceinit. If OSX bundles provide codemodel libraries, then there
>>>>> is a chance it will work for them as well, otherwise we can add another
>>>>> search path.
>>>>>
>>>>> I know it may look like an ugly hack, but sincerely I have no better
>>>>> idea at the moment. I am going to leave it here for comments for a few
>>>>> days, if there are no objections, I will commit the changes.
>>>>>
>>>>> Regards,
>>>>> Orson
>>>>>
>>>>> On 10/06/2016 05:53 PM, Wayne Stambaugh wrote:
>>>>>> I have some additional information that may prove useful:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> 1) Using relative paths in the spinit file does not work on windows.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> 2) Placing a spinit file in the path where the ngspice and libngspice
>>>>>> binaries reside works with no need to set any environment variables.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Option 2 could be used by the installer.  The installer itself would
>>>>>> have to create the spinit file by substituting the install path for the
>>>>>> path of the .cm files.  I'm not sure if this would work on osx.  Maybe
>>>>>> one of our osx devs could test this.  If it does, than that would
>>>>>> resolve the simulation init issues.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I've attached a simple circuit that demonstrates the issue.  When the
>>>>>> .cm files are not located, the simulation will run with the following
>>>>>> warnings and cause the output of the op-amp to be an impossibly high 260V:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Error on line 0 :
>>>>>> a$poly$e.xu1.eos %vd [ xu1.53 xu1.98 ] %vd ( xu1.3 net-_u1-pad1_ )
>>>>>> a$poly$e.xu1.eos
>>>>>> MIF-ERROR - unable to find definition of model a$poly$e.xu1.eos
>>>>>> Warning: Model issue on line 0 :
>>>>>> .model a$poly$e.xu1.eos spice2poly coef = [ 1.7e-3 1 ] ...
>>>>>> Unknown model type spice2poly - ignored
>>>>>> Error on line 0 :
>>>>>> a$poly$e.xu1.eref1 %vd [ vdd 0 0 0 ] %vd ( xu1.98 0 ) a$poly$e.xu1.eref1
>>>>>> MIF-ERROR - unable to find definition of model a$poly$e.xu1.eref1
>>>>>> Warning: Model issue on line 0 :
>>>>>> .model a$poly$e.xu1.eref1 spice2poly coef = [ 0 0.5 0.5 ] ...
>>>>>> Unknown model type spice2poly - ignored
>>>>>> Error on line 0 :
>>>>>> a$poly$e.xu1.eref2 %vd [ net-_u1-pad1_ 0 /out 0 ] %vd ( xu1.97 0 )
>>>>>> a$poly$e.xu1.eref2
>>>>>> MIF-ERROR - unable to find definition of model a$poly$e.xu1.eref2
>>>>>> Warning: Model issue on line 0 :
>>>>>> .model a$poly$e.xu1.eref2 spice2poly coef = [ 0 0.5 0.5 ] ...
>>>>>> Unknown model type spice2poly - ignored
>>>>>> Error on line 0 :
>>>>>> a$poly$e.xu1.eo3 %vd [ xu1.98 xu1.30 ] %vd ( vdd xu1.42 ) a$poly$e.xu1.eo3
>>>>>> MIF-ERROR - unable to find definition of model a$poly$e.xu1.eo3
>>>>>> Warning: Model issue on line 0 :
>>>>>> .model a$poly$e.xu1.eo3 spice2poly coef = [ 0.7175 0.5 ] ...
>>>>>> Unknown model type spice2poly - ignored
>>>>>> Error on line 0 :
>>>>>> a$poly$e.xu1.eo4 %vd [ xu1.30 xu1.98 ] %vd ( xu1.44 0 ) a$poly$e.xu1.eo4
>>>>>> MIF-ERROR - unable to find definition of model a$poly$e.xu1.eo4
>>>>>> Warning: Model issue on line 0 :
>>>>>> .model a$poly$e.xu1.eo4 spice2poly coef = [ 0.7355 0.5 ] ...
>>>>>> Unknown model type spice2poly - ignored
>>>>>> Reducing trtol to 1 for xspice 'A' devices
>>>>>> Doing analysis at TEMP = 27.000000 and TNOM = 27.000000
>>>>>> Warning: vv3: no DC value, transient time 0 value used
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Let me know if you have any other questions or comments.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Cheers,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Wayne
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On 10/6/2016 10:56 AM, Nick Østergaard wrote:
>>>>>>> Hi Maciej
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> In the latest nightlies they are now stored in lib/ngspice/
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I guess that should equate to a relative path to the executables to
>>>>>>> ../lib/ngspice/*.cm, given that the exe's are in the bin folder on the
>>>>>>> same level as lib.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> So feel free to submit your fix. Also, are there any demos that make
>>>>>>> use of those cm libs such that it can be tested?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Nick
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> 2016-10-05 23:16 GMT+02:00 Maciej Sumiński <maciej.suminski@xxxxxxx>:
>>>>>>>> Hi Nick,
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Are the .cm files included in the Windows nightlies installer? If so,
>>>>>>>> could you tell me what is the relative path to the directory storing
>>>>>>>> them? The easiest way to fix the problem is to send a few commands to
>>>>>>>> ngspice before a simulation starts.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Regards,
>>>>>>>> Orson
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> On 10/05/2016 10:23 PM, Nick Østergaard wrote:
>>>>>>>>> Is this really needed?  What exactly does the .cm files provide?
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> When I run the latest nightly I can run the allen key demo without
>>>>>>>>> problems as far as I can see.  Maybe some other simulation modes do
>>>>>>>>> not work properly?
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> 2016-09-30 14:37 GMT+02:00 Wayne Stambaugh <stambaughw@xxxxxxxxx>:
>>>>>>>>>> That would work as a long term solution as well.  I was trying to at
>>>>>>>>>> least prove that it can be done without make changes to the current
>>>>>>>>>> code.   Until a full solution is implemented, users (me) will have an
>>>>>>>>>> interim solution if they want to use the spice simulator.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Cheers,
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Wayne
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> On 9/30/2016 3:40 AM, Maciej Sumiński wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>> We have also discussed on IRC another possibility, which is loading the
>>>>>>>>>>> extensions manually instead of having ngspice process its initialization
>>>>>>>>>>> file (spinit). This way we can adjust the paths during runtime.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> Regards,
>>>>>>>>>>> Orson
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> On 09/29/2016 08:51 PM, Wayne Stambaugh wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>> After much cursing and many config attempts, I finally have a working
>>>>>>>>>>>> spice simulation solution on windows.  I'm guessing similar parallels
>>>>>>>>>>>> can be applied to osx as well.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> Option A: running from a mingw32 or mingw64 terminal.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> 1) copy the installed spinit file (by default will be in
>>>>>>>>>>>> ${MINGW-PACKAGE-PREFIX}/share/ngspice/scripts) to ~/.spiceinit.
>>>>>>>>>>>> 2) change the msys2 paths (/mingw##) in ~/.spiceinit to absolute windows
>>>>>>>>>>>> paths with / not \ (in my case C:/msys64/mingw##).
>>>>>>>>>>>> 3) Launch kicad.exe from the terminal.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> I realize this is not very elegant and will only work with either the 64
>>>>>>>>>>>> or 32 bit mingw (not both without editing .spiceinit) but it works and
>>>>>>>>>>>> is handy for mingw users.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> Option B: configuring windows and run kicad from a shortcut.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> 1) locate the installed spinit file
>>>>>>>>>>>> ($INSTALL_PATH/share/ngspice/scripts) and change the msys2 paths
>>>>>>>>>>>> (/mingw##) to absolute windows paths with / not \ (in my case
>>>>>>>>>>>> C:/msys64/mingw##).
>>>>>>>>>>>> 2) Run kicad, open the config paths dialog, and add an environment
>>>>>>>>>>>> variable SPICE_LIB_DIR with path to the spinit file minus the last
>>>>>>>>>>>> "scripts" path ($INSTALL_PATH/share/ngspice).
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> I also tried copying the .spiceinit file from option A to %USERPROFILE%
>>>>>>>>>>>> but that did not work when launching kicad from a shortcut.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> Option B a cleaner solution but still requires some configuration by the
>>>>>>>>>>>> user.  This is going to be an interesting problem to solve for our
>>>>>>>>>>>> package devs.  We need to figure out a way to generate or modify the
>>>>>>>>>>>> spinit file base on where it gets installed by the installer on
>>>>>>>>>>>> platforms where this is relevant.  We will also either have to set an
>>>>>>>>>>>> the SPICE_LIB_DIR environment variable or teach ngspice how to find the
>>>>>>>>>>>> correct spinit file at run time.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> At least now windows users have a way to have the same functional spice
>>>>>>>>>>>> simulation as linux users.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> Cheers,
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> Wayne
>>>>>>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>