This document contains the minimum requirements your computer must meet
if you wish to install the software included on this CD-ROM. This
software includes the GNU Tools
and the Xilinx FPGA Tools. It also
includes various utility programs
that you might need.
There are actually two different sets of requirements that your
computer must meet, depending on whether you need to install the Xilinx
FPGA Tools or not. Case A is when only the
GNU Tools need to be installed. Case B is when
both the GNU Tools and the Xilinx FPGA Tools need to be
installed. You will need to read the instructions specific to your UNSW course to find out which tools you
need.
If you only need to install the GNU Tools, the minimum (and not very
exacting) requirements for your computer are:
| Processor: |
An Intel Pentium 120MHz (or later) processor, or a compatible
processor (eg, Intel Celeron, AMD Athlon, AMD Duron), |
| Operating System: |
Either (1) Linux (strongly preferred) or (2)
Microsoft Windows. |
|
| The GNU Tools
work best under the Linux operating system (or any other Unix-like
operating system). It is possible to run the tools under
Microsoft Windows with the Cygwin Unix emulator, but this is not really
recommended. |
|
|
| The Linux distribution used must be reasonably new:
anything later than 1997 should be OK. More details are provided in
the installation instructions for the GNU Tools under Linux. |
|
|
| The version of Microsoft Windows used must be Microsoft
Windows NT 4 or later (including Windows 2000, Windows XP Home and
Windows XP Professional), or Windows 98SE (Second Edition). You should
positively avoid Windows 95, Windows 98 or Windows ME (Millennium
Edition). |
|
| Memory: |
A minimum of 32 MB of memory, although 64 MB is
much better! |
| Disk Space: |
Either (1) about 110 MB of free disk space under
Linux, or (2) about 400 MB of free disk space under
Microsoft Windows. |
| Other: |
You should have all of the usual peripherals: a decent screen
(1024 × 768 is recommended as a minimum resolution), keyboard, mouse,
CD-ROM drive… |
If you need to install both the GNU Tools and the Xilinx FPGA Tools,
the minimum requirements for your computer are:
| Processor: |
An Intel Pentium-II 350MHz (or later) processor, or a compatible
processor (eg, Intel Celeron, AMD Athlon, AMD Duron), |
| Operating System: |
Either (1) both Linux and Microsoft Windows (a dual-boot
system), or (2) Microsoft Windows by itself, or (3)
Linux, with Microsoft Windows running under an emulator or virtual
machine. |
|
| The GNU Tools
work best under the Linux operating system (or any other Unix-like
operating system). It is possible to run the tools under
Microsoft Windows with the Cygwin Unix emulator, but this is not really
recommended. |
|
|
| The Xilinx FPGA
Tools require Microsoft Windows to run. This means that you will
either (1) need to keep rebooting to use the different tools at different
times (highly inconvenient, to say the least), (2) run everything under
Microsoft Windows (much more convenient but not optimal) or (3) install a
Microsoft Windows emulator or virtual machine under Linux (requires
significantly more disk space). There is no “best”
solution. |
|
|
| The Linux distribution used must be reasonably new:
anything later than 1997 should be OK. More details are provided in
the installation instructions for the GNU Tools under Linux. |
|
|
| Running Microsoft Windows from within a virtual machine
environment under Linux requires suitable software. You might like to
investigate VMware
Workstation for Linux from VMware’s Web site. Please note that students are
eligible for substantial academic discounts; details are available
directly from VMware. |
|
|
| The version of Microsoft Windows used must be Microsoft
Windows 2000, Windows XP Home or Windows XP Professional. Although the
Cygwin Unix emulator does run under Windows NT 4 or Windows 98SE
(Second Edition), the Xilinx FPGA Tools do not. |
|
| Memory: |
A minimum of 64 MB of memory, although 128 MB is
much better! |
| Disk Space: |
Either (1) about 110 MB of free disk space under
Linux and 690 MB of free disk space under Microsoft Windows,
or (2) about 1100 MB of free disk space under Microsoft
Windows, or (3) about 2½ GB of free disk space under
Linux when using a virtual machine (ie, enough to store a complete copy of
Microsoft Windows plus the applications themselves!) |
| Other: |
You should have all of the usual peripherals: a decent screen
(1024 × 768 is recommended as a minimum resolution), keyboard, mouse,
CD-ROM drive… |