The current methods to run an Intel FPGA workflow on Apple Silicon involve two possibile approaches:
- Using a WoA Virtual Machine: Performance is terrible (already in amd64 Windows platforms is terrible, adding two virtualization layers on top of it leads to eternal compilation times) + space wasted for all the Microsoft bloatware
- Using a Docker Container: Performance is better than WoA, but the USB drivers are not working
Running Linux on UTM with Rosetta enabled should tackle these problems
This guide could possibly work also when installing Debian directly on the Mac with Asahi Linux, but it is not recommended for beginners: with the standard installation procedure the Linux Kernel uses a default page size of 16K, and the rosetta binary is not designed to run with this page size. By recompiling the Linux Kernel to use 4K page sizes it should work flawlessly, but expect slower perfomance and/or higher power usage on the overall system. Easier methods exist when using Asahi (especially the Fedora Remix), such as FEX-Emu, but I don't have tested them personally.
- Download UTM
- Download Debian Netinstall for ARM64 (also Ubuntu works, with minor workarounds for repos)
- Create a new virtual machine that utilizes the Apple Virtualization Framework, enabling Rosetta
- Note: To use USB, please use QEMU with Total Store Ordering enabled and install the Rosetta environment by patching the Apple provided binary. To enhance synthesis time, set NUM_PARALLEL_PROCESSORS to 1 in your QSF file.
- Install Debian
- Install support for binfmt utils:
sudo apt install binfmt-support- Create the directory /opt/rosetta
- Create a new service file for the Rosetta service on /etc/systemd/system/rosetta.service:
[Unit]
Description=Enable Rosetta 2 Translation Layer
[Service]
Type=oneshot
ExecStart=/bin/sh /opt/rosetta/rosetta_start.sh
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
- Enable the Rosetta service on boot:
systemctl enable rosetta.serviceDepending on whether you choose using AVF or QEMU, the setup of Rosetta slightly changes:
- Create the required directory for the Rosetta mount:
sudo mkdir /media/rosetta- Create /opt/rosetta/rosetta_start.sh and copy the following script:
#!/bin/sh
sudo mount -t virtiofs rosetta /media/rosetta
sudo /usr/sbin/update-binfmts --install rosetta /media/rosetta/rosetta \
--magic "\x7fELF\x02\x01\x01\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x02\x00\x3e\x00" \
--mask "\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xfe\xfe\x00\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xfe\xff\xff\xff" \
--credentials yes --preserve yes --fix-binary yes- Reboot the virtual machine
- On your macOS Host, run:
softwareupdate --install-rosetta --agree-to-license
grep RosettaUpdateAuto.pkg /var/log/install.logFrom the last command, you should get where the latest install package for Rosetta has been downloaded.
- cd to a known directory, and extract the install package:
pkgutil --expand-full /Library/Updates/Rosetta/SoftwareUpdate/RosettaUpdateAuto.pkg ./Rosetta
cd ./Rosetta/RosettaUpdateAuto.pkg/Payload/Library/Apple/usr/libexec/oah/RosettaLinux- Patch with radare2 the rosetta binary by following this guide
- Copy the patched rosetta binary with scp to your guest VM in /opt/rosetta/rosetta
- Create /opt/rosetta/rosetta_start.sh and copy the following script:
#!/bin/sh
sudo /usr/sbin/update-binfmts --install rosetta /opt/rosetta/rosetta \
--magic "\x7fELF\x02\x01\x01\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x02\x00\x3e\x00" \
--mask "\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xfe\xfe\x00\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xfe\xff\xff\xff" \
--credentials yes --preserve yes --fix-binary yes- Reboot the virtual machine
- Enable multiarch repos
sudo dpkg --add-architecture amd64- Install the required libraries for Quartus
sudo apt update
sudo apt install libbz2-1.0:amd64 libglib2.0-0:amd64 libnsl-dev:amd64 libfontconfig:amd64 libx11-xcb1:amd64 libxext6:amd64 libsm6:amd64 libdbus-1-3:amd64 libxft2:amd64 libxtst6:amd64 libxi6:amd64 libgtk2.0-0:amd64 libcrypt1:amd64 libgtk-3-0:amd64These libraries where tested for Quartus 24.1std, if for other versions Quartus crashes (cli outputs aborted (core dumped)), use strace to debug for missing libraries
The installation script for Quartus checks if SSE3 instruction are supported on the current CPU, the main problem is that this script doesn't run on the Rosetta environment, failing the checks.
- Run the following commands to install Quartus (please note that this is an unattended install of the lite version with only Cyclone V device support enabled, change CLI parameters and/or the wget url to install your desider edition, refer to ./setup.sh --help for the options available). Watch out for the free space on the /tmp directory (newer Debian Systems on default installations assign 1 GB to the /tmp directory)
sudo mkdir /eda
cd /tmp
wget https://downloads.intel.com/akdlm/software/acdsinst/24.1std/1077/ib_tar/Quartus-lite-24.1std.0.1077-linux.tar
tar xf Quartus-lite-24.1std.0.1077-linux.tar
sudo ./setup.sh --mode unattended --accept_eula 1 --installdir /eda/quartus/24.1std --disable-components quartus_help,arria_lite,cyclone,cyclone10lp,max,max10,riscfree --create_desktop_shortcuts 1- Patch the installation:
sudo cp /eda/quartus/24.1std/quartus/adm/qenv.sh /eda/quartus/24.1std/quartus/adm/qenv.sh.bak
sudo sed -i '/# We don'\''t support processors without SSE extensions (e.g. Pentium II and older CPUs)./i\
if test `uname -m` = "aarch64" ; then\
export QUARTUS_BIT_TYPE=64\
fi
' /eda/quartus/24.1std/quartus/adm/qenv.shsudo sed -i '/# We don'\''t support processors without SSE extensions (e.g. Pentium II and older CPUs)./,/##### Determine what bitness executables we should use/ {
/^[^#]/ s/^/# /
}' "/eda/quartus/24.1std/quartus/adm/qenv.sh"- Install the patched sqlite3 library:
wget https://github.com/federunco/federunco/raw/refs/heads/main/libccl_sqlite3.so
sudo cp /eda/quartus/24.1std/quartus/linux64/libccl_sqlite3.so /eda/quartus/24.1std/quartus/linux64/libccl_sqlite3.so.bak
sudo cp libccl_sqlite3.so /eda/quartus/24.1std/quartus/linux64/libccl_sqlite3.so- Download the desired version of Quartus (e.g. the Lite edition)
- Run the Quartus installer with the following arguments:
./qinst-lite-linux-23.1std.1-993.run --confirm - When asked to run the installer, DO NOT ENTER ANYTHING, copy the extracted installer located in
/tmpin a known directory - Select to not run the installer, the script should clean the tmp directory
- Edit the script located in
./adm/qenv.shand add the following before the line containing# We don't support processors without SSE extensions (e.g. Pentium II and older CPUs).
if test `uname -m` = "aarch64" ; then
export QUARTUS_BIT_TYPE=64
fi- In the current terminal window, run this command to skip CPU checks during installation:
export QUARTUS_CPUID_BYPASS=1 - Run the installation script, a GUI window should appear (if the installer throws Illegal Instruction, please run it in CLI mode)
After the installation has completed, open the installation directory (should be located in the home directory) and edit ./23.1std/quartus/adm/qenv.sh:
- Add the following before the line containing
# We don't support processors without SSE extensions (e.g. Pentium II and older CPUs).
if test `uname -m` = "aarch64" ; then
export QUARTUS_BIT_TYPE=64
fi- Comment out the lines between
# We don't support processors without SSE extensions (e.g. Pentium II and older CPUs).and##### Determine what bitness executables we should use
- Obtain all the required licenses for the current setup from the Self-Service portal
- Copy the generated license file in a known directory (best to keep it in the same install folder, for example /eda/licenses)
- Edit .bashrc, adding the following contents at the end of the file (adjust paths accordingly to your configuration:
export LM_LICENSE_FILE='/eda/licenses/[your_license_file].dat'
export PATH=$PATH:/eda/quartus/24.1std/questa_fse/linux_x86_64/
export PATH=$PATH:/eda/quartus/24.1std/quartus/bin/- Source .bashrc
Now Quartus can be run with the command
quartus, while Questa can be run by usingvsimon a terminal window.
During installation some temporary files might not have been fully removed from the virtual hard disk, resulting in unnecessary disk usage on the host system. The unused space can be reclaimed by running the fstrim command by releasing unallocated blocks:
sudo fstrim / -v- Create a new rule for UDEV (e.g.
/etc/udev/rules.d/51-usb-blaster.rules) and paste the following contents:
# USB-Blaster
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="09fb", ATTRS{idProduct}=="6001", MODE="0660", TAG+="uaccess"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="09fb", ATTRS{idProduct}=="6002", MODE="0660", TAG+="uaccess"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="09fb", ATTRS{idProduct}=="6003", MODE="0660", TAG+="uaccess"
# USB-Blaster II
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="09fb", ATTRS{idProduct}=="6010", MODE="0660", TAG+="uaccess"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="09fb", ATTRS{idProduct}=="6810", MODE="0660", TAG+="uaccess"- Reload all UDEV rules immediately:
sudo udevadm control --reload-rules
sudo udevadm triggerIf during flashing the Programmer hangs, kill the jtag daemon with sudo killall jtagd and reconnect the USB cable to the machine.
The same project was compiled on different machines with the same Fitter Seed (pipelined SystemVerilog FIR Filter, Cyclone V, 50 MHz clock constraint), obtaining the following compilation times:
- Windows Server on i7 10th Gen: 10min 3s
- Macbook Air M2 - WoA on UTM: 17min 14s
- Macbook Air M2 - Docker: 8min 10s
- Macbook Air M2 - Debian + Rosetta: 6min 43s
Can you help me with the bug
System:
Macbook Air M1
UTM apple virtualization + rosetta: Debian 12
Error
I run the follow command mention in the desktop file and got this error
Source list
I can't access the ubuntu link you mention, so I find debian 12 which have arm version'
my addition in source list file for install package you mention
Some addition info
The error above is of 24.1 version, and I can't install 23.1 version because the installer log this error