EEC 18 Tutorial: Installing the Quartus & Modelsim Software Tools

This document provides instructions for setting up the Quartus design tool, Modelsim-Intel verilog and FPGA simulator, and System Builder project file setup tool, for use in EEC 18 and EEC 180.

Setting up a Suitable Computer

As of early 2020, Quartus and Modelsim are available for only the Windows and Linux operating sytems. For students who own a MacOS-based computer, there are several options listed below.

Windows 10 is available for free for students from the university (perhaps only one copy per student).

The opinions below have been distilled from a variety of sources.

1. Borrow a Windows or Linux machine

   The obvious easy choice.

2. Dual boot Windows on your Mac using Boot Camp

   Installing Windows using Boot Camp might be a better choice if you have a Mac with very limited hardware resources such as a slow processor and a small amount of RAM. The major disadvantage of Boot Camp is that switching from MacOS to Windows (and back) requires a reboot each time which is very time consuming.

3. Install a Windows virtual machine on your Mac using VMware

   VMware Fusion Pro 11.x is available for free given the students access the CoE IT on the hub webpage, https://e5.onthehub.com/WebStore/OfferingDetails.aspx?o=f107e09e-42ce-e811-810b-000d3af41938&ws=282952ce-dd3b-de11-b696-0030485a8df0&vsro=8 VMware is also available on the UC Davis hub site but it is not free there.

   Both Parallels and VMware allow users to open up individual Windows programs directly from the Dock.

   VMware benchmarks much higher for 3D graphics and for gaming, especially with OpenGL.

   One student had slow VMware response until he allocated 2 GB RAM and 2 cores to the VM—then everything ran fine. 4 GB of RAM is even better.

4. Install a Windows virtual machine on your Mac using Parallels

   Parallels costs a discounted price of $39.99 on UCD IT hub webpage.

   Both VMware and Paralles have a set up wizard to go through the installation process; however Parallels seems to guide a lot more throughout the installation process. One report says that Parallels works better than VMware in terms of user friendliness.

   Both Parallels and VMware allow users to open up individual Windows programs directly from the Dock.

   Parallels tends to boot faster than VMware, transfer files faster, and saves battery life better than VMware.

   Parallels - https://ucdavis.onthehub.com/WebStore/OfferingDetails.aspx?o=40d7a407-38a2-e811-8109-000d3af41938 (UC Davis IT Hub page) - $39.99/year

5. ssh into ECE Linux machines and run Quartus and Modelsim there

   One problem with this approach is the unavailability of linux support for the System Builder tool. However, students can create a Quartus project directly and write verilog for the DE-10 board I/Os correctly in the top module once they are familiar, and that way there is no need for System Builder.

   The file installing.software.majority.zip includes a template top-level module and other required files which take care of pin assignments and I/O standard settings generated from System Builder. This process is a little tricky because of the dependencies among the files but the process is workable.

   All files inside the unzipped "majority" folder are for the "majority" project, which should be good for lab 1. Students can perform the following changes for a new project:

   • File name

     • Change all filenames inside the folder from "majority" to the new project name.

   • File contents

     • No changes in majority.htm and majority.sdc

     • In majority.qpf,
       Line 6, change PROJECT_REVISION = "majority" replacing "majority" with the new project name.

     • In majority.qsf,
       Line 7, set_global_assignment -name TOP_LEVEL_ENTITY "majority" replacing "majority" with the new project name.
       Line 14, set_global_assignment -name SDC_FILE majority.SDC replacing "majority" with the new project name.

     • In majority.v,
       Replace module name "majority" with the new project name.

   Command to run Quartus prime 16.1 : /software/Altera/16.1/quartus/bin/quartus &

   Command to setup Modelsim : setup modelsim

   Command to run Modelsim : vsim &

6. Dual boot Linux on your Mac

   This is believed to be possible but has not been investigated.

Installing Quartus, Modelsim, and SystemBuilder

Follow the instructions in the Quartus, Modelsim, and SystemBuilder Software Installation Guide.

Written by Bevan Baas and Satyabrata Sarangi
2020/03/30  Written
2020/03/31  Much new data and "majority.zip" added
2020/04/06  Expanded, debugged, added SystemBuilder install section
2020/04/16  Added Boot Camp section and corrected some typos
2021/01/04  Updated for EEC 18