School of Computer Science

CDA 4150: Computer Architecture (Fall 2005)

Instructions on Cygwin and virsims

 

Why we need to install Cygwin?

  • We need X-win support to run virsims, which is a tool for view waveforms and debugging our verilog code.
  • With X-win, we can run graphic interface software such as xemacs. It's more convenient for those don't familiar with unix.
  • Cygwin is free.

Computer labs: Cygwinx is available on campus in CC2 -113 and CC2-104.

Installation:

  1. Download cygwin setup program here: http://www.cygwin.com/setup.exe
  2. When downloading the cygwin tools and you get to teh packages screen, be sure to expand the +Net listing and select openssh and openssl and then expand the +X11 listing and select WindowMaker and xorg-x11-base. (You can choose other packages as you like, such as xemacs in +Editors). Install.

  3. Cygwin by default runs the bash shell locally on your machine. It will start in the directory you specify with the HOME environment variable. To set an environment variable on XP, Right-click My Computer, choose Advanced, and then Environment Variables at the bottom. In the User Variables section click new, then create a HOME environment variable with the value of your user directory. For example, I created a directory called c:\users\hgao and made my HOME environment variable be c:\users\hgao. The process is similar on Windows 2000 machines.

  4. The bash shell reads a file called .bashrc in your HOME directory. Edit your .bashrc file. Here is my .bashrc:

    alias vi=vim

    alias h=history

    alias c=clear

    alias more=less

    alias sr=source

    alias rm='rm -i'

    alias ls='ls -F'

    alias f=finger

    alias ssh='ssh -2'

    alias ssh1='ssh -1'

    alias traceroute='tracert'

    alias gmake='make'

    alias wt='echo -n ""'

    alias xwinclip='xwinclip >& /dev/null &'

    export USER=hgao

    PS1="hgao@gretzky \!> "


    gretzky is my machine name and the \! will give you an increasing number for every command you type.

  5. Double-click the Cygwin icon.

  6. Now you are ready to "ssh monroe.cs.ucf.edu -l [id]" as using putty. For X-win support, you need to do more.
  7. In Cygwin, type "cp /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc ~/.xinitrc" and edit your .xinitrc to add a line at the begining of the file:
    xhost +monroe.cs.ucf.edu

  8. To start the X server from the cygwin window, simply type startx at the command line. A new window will pop up.

  9. Now ssh to monroe from this window. Once on monroe you may need to set you DISPLAY environment variable to your home machine. To find out your IP address, type ipconfig in a local window and you will see it. For example, it might say your IP Address is 132.170.107.51. Then on monroe you can type setenv DISPLAY 132.170.107.51:0. Then when you start virsims or other windows they should display on your windows machine in the Cygwin X window. You can test by typing xterm on monroe and seeing if it brings up a window on your home machine. X traffic arrives on port 6000 so if you are behind a firewall you need to open port 6000 and if you are behind a NATD box or residential gateway, you need to redirect port 6000 on the gateway (the public IP) to port 6000 of your private IP address (your PC).


To use virsims:

  • cd to your lab0 directory. The following instruction is using lab0 as an example.
  • You can view the waveforms created by your Verilog code by editing demofulladder.v and uncommenting the first two lines in the initial block. Then make and run simv as before. This now produces a trace file in your directory called vcdplus.vcd. To launch the VCS wave viewer type:
    virsims
    This will bring up a VirSim toolbar. Choose waveform from this toolbar to bring up the viewer. To load your trace file, choose Files->Open from the File menu, then highlight the vcdplus.vpd file in the Files window and hit OK. Back in the viewer, choose Window->Hierarchy to bring up the signal selection window. Click on "main". This was the top-level module name in your demofulladder.v file. In the Signal Select window, choose the signals you want to add, and then hit Add. Go ahead and add them all. You can X the window when done. Back in the viewer you may wish to Zoom out 4 or 5 times for better viewing. Check out your waveforms. This type of debugging will become extremely useful as your Verilog designs get more complicated. Via the File menu you can also Save your configuration so you don't have to go through the signal selection process each time you start VirSim.

Resources: