Saturday, December 21, 2024

Open Source Analog Design - VM that Aggregates All the Tools

Why not a downloadable VM you can play with VMWare Player? What am I missing?


Actually, that's exactly what it is. Download it and you'll be up and running 10 minutes with Oracle VirtualBox

Can you do a Monte-Carlo simulation with open-source tools? Who knew? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGxs2TnDgrU

Supposedly useful stuff here from Tim Edwards of efabless : https://github.com/RTimothyEdwards/open_pdks

Answer to "How to get true dual monitor experience with this VM"

Sam Altman is the greatest. I don't think Google could have got me this. Maybe Stefan Schippers and Uri Shaked don't care, but I do. Why? Why settle for less? I want TRUE dual monitor experience.

The file you download opens up and lets you use Xschem. Good. Now, dual monitor experience please? 

Is there a way to get a VM running on VirtualBox to use both monitors on my laptop that I have connected to two external monitors, lid closed?

Yes, you can configure a VirtualBox virtual machine to use multiple monitors if your laptop is connected to two external monitors and the lid is closed. Here’s how to set it up:

1. Enable Multiple Monitors in VirtualBox Settings

  • Power Off your virtual machine if it is running.
  • Open VirtualBox and select your VM (do not start it yet).
  • Click on Settings → Display.
  • Under the Screen tab, adjust the Monitor Count to 2 (or more, depending on your setup).
  • Allocate enough Video Memory for multiple monitors. For example, you may need at least 64 MB for 2 monitors.

2. Set Up Guest Additions

  • Start your virtual machine.
  • Install Guest Additions on the guest operating system (if not already installed):
    • From the VirtualBox menu, select Devices → Insert Guest Additions CD Image.
    • Follow the installation instructions in your guest OS.
  • Reboot the guest OS after installation.

3. Configure the Guest OS

  • After booting, VirtualBox will detect the additional monitors.
  • Move to the Display Settings within the guest OS (e.g., Windows/Linux) to configure how the monitors are arranged (extend, mirror, etc.).

4. Enable Full-Screen Mode on Multiple Monitors

  • Once the VM is running, press Host Key + F to enable full-screen mode.
  • Press Host Key + F again to span the VM across both monitors.
  • Alternatively, from the VirtualBox menu bar, go to View → Virtual Screen X → Select Use Host Screen X for each monitor.

5. Adjust External Monitor Settings

  • Ensure your external monitors are set up correctly on your host operating system:
    • Go to the Display Settings of your laptop's OS.
    • Arrange the monitors as desired and ensure they are enabled.
    • Confirm that your laptop display is disabled if the lid is closed.

Notes:

  • The Host Key is usually the Right Ctrl key by default, but you can change it in VirtualBox preferences.
  • For performance reasons, ensure your system's graphics capabilities and RAM are sufficient for running a VM across multiple monitors.

This setup will allow your VM to span across both external monitors while your laptop lid is closed.

I get this with step 3

Could not insert the C:\Program File\0racle\VirtualBox/ VBoxGuestAdditions.iso disk image file into the virtual machine tinytapeout_analog_vm. as the machine has no optical drive. Please add a drive using the storage page of the v'rtual machine settings window.


The error indicates that your virtual machine doesn't currently have a virtual optical drive to load the Guest Additions ISO. Here’s how to fix it:

Add a Virtual Optical Drive

  1. Power Off the Virtual Machine

    • Ensure the virtual machine is completely powered off (not suspended).

  2. Open the VM Settings

    • In VirtualBox, select your VM (e.g., tinytapeout_analog_vm) and click on Settings.

  3. Add an Optical Drive

    • Navigate to Storage in the settings window.
    • Under the Storage Devices section, locate the Controller: IDE (or SATA Controller).
      • If you don’t see any controller, click the Add Controller icon (bottom right) and select Add IDE Controller.
    • Click the + icon next to the controller to add a new device.
      • Select Add Optical Drive.
    • A dialog will appear asking if you want to choose a disk. Select Leave Empty for now.

  4. Attach Guest Additions ISO

    • Click the newly created optical drive (it should say "Empty").
    • Click the Disk Icon on the right side of the settings window.
    • Select Choose a disk file... and navigate to the Guest Additions ISO:
      • It is usually located in the VirtualBox installation folder:
        C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxGuestAdditions.iso.

  5. Save and Start the VM

    • Click OK to save your changes.
    • Start the virtual machine.

Install Guest Additions

Once the VM is running:

  1. Mount the ISO

    • If the Guest Additions CD doesn’t automatically mount, open the guest OS file explorer and look for the mounted ISO (it may appear as a CD or DVD drive).

  2. Run the Installer

    • Inside the ISO, find the appropriate installer for your guest OS:
      • For Windows: Double-click VBoxWindowsAdditions.exe.
      • For Linux: Run the VBoxLinuxAdditions.run script from a terminal.

  3. Reboot the Guest OS

    • After installation is complete, reboot the guest OS to apply changes.

Resume Multi-Monitor Setup

After Guest Additions is installed, you can follow the earlier steps to configure multi-monitor support for your VM

The error "An error occurred while loading the archive" indicates that the Ubuntu VM is having trouble running the Guest Additions installer. Since the VM is running Ubuntu, the steps for installing Guest Additions are different from those for a Windows guest. Here’s how to properly install Guest Additions on Ubuntu:

Step 1: Install Required Packages

  1. Open a terminal in your Ubuntu VM.
  2. Update your system and install essential packages:
    bash
    sudo apt update
sudo apt install build-essential dkms linux-headers-$(uname -r)

Step 2: Mount the Guest Additions ISO

  1. In the VirtualBox window, go to the Devices menu at the top.

  2. Select Insert Guest Additions CD Image.

    • If you get a message saying the ISO is missing, download it manually from VirtualBox Downloads under the "Guest Additions" section.
    • Alternatively, locate the ISO on your host machine (usually at C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxGuestAdditions.iso) and mount it manually in the VM's Storage Settings.

  3. In Ubuntu, the Guest Additions ISO should automatically mount as a CD/DVD. If it doesn’t:

    • Open the file explorer in Ubuntu and locate the CD drive.
    • Right-click and choose Mount.

Step 3: Run the Installer

  1. In the terminal, navigate to the mounted ISO:

    bash
    cd /media/$USER/VBox_GAs_<version>/

    Replace <version> with the version number visible in the mounted ISO folder name.

  2. Run the installer script with sudo:

    bash
    sudo ./VBoxLinuxAdditions.run

  3. Follow the installation process. If it succeeds, you should see a message indicating the installation was successful.

Step 4: Reboot the VM

After the installation completes, reboot your Ubuntu VM:

bash
sudo reboot

Step 5: Enable Multiple Monitors

Once the VM restarts:

  1. Go to the VirtualBox View menu → Virtual Screen 1 → Use Host Screen 1.
  2. Configure multi-monitor support by enabling and arranging additional screens in VirtualBox and within Ubuntu’s Settings → Display.

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