Download desim_windows32.zip if you are on Windows. Download desim_linux64.zip if you are on Linux.
Video summary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mChDKp7fq-U&feature=youtu.be
Windows Instructions
Currently, there is no 64 bit version for Windows. Don't worry! You can still use this on a 64-bit Windows computer! It just means that your Modelsim installation needs to be 32 bits. If your version of Modelsim is 64 bits, please contact me and I will compile a 64 bit version.
Extract desim_windows32.zip and put the outputs wherever you want. Then, simply double-click run.bat in the GUI folder and then double-click demo.bat in the demo folder.
Troubleshooting tips are included in the README.txt file in the zip archive.
Linux Instructions
Download desim_linux_32.zip or desim_linux_64.zip depending on your installation of Modelsim, not your version of Linux! Extract it anywhere you like. Execute the run.sh script in the GUI folder, then execute the demo.sh script in the demo folder.
Note: you can either run the script by typing source run.sh on the command line. If you would rather double-click it, then you will first need to set executable permissions on it. Most file managers let you do this in the properties, or you can type chmod +x run.sh on the command line.
Troubleshooting tips are included in the README.txt file in the zip archive.
University of Toronto instructions
If you are on a DESL computer, see this youtube video: https://youtu.be/vz23mtuZfA0
If you are on an ECF computer, see this youtube video: https://youtu.be/AuOeL3lW_yU
If you are running on a home Windows computer, see this youtube video: https://youtu.be/VJjQdEuylsI
If you are on a home Linux computer, see this youtube video: https://youtu.be/KsLpCsyiTdE
The step-by-step written instructions are in the u_of_t_scripts.zip in README.txt.
Details
In either zip file, the gui folder contains a JAR file and all its dependencies. It also contains a batch file (run.bat) that you can double-click to start the GUI. You will need to have installed the Java runtime. For reference, here is the output of java -version on my computer:
java version "14.0.2" 2020-07-14
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 14.0.2+12-46)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 14.0.2+12-46, mixed mode, sharing)
You can put the extracted folder anywhere you want on your computer.
fakefpga.vpi is the special modelsim plugin you need to connect a simulation to a GUI. Place this in a publicly-accessible folder on your computer. By running vsim -pli PATH_TO_FAKEFPGA_VPI/fakefpga.vpi ... you can now call a special function in your testbench. This looks something like $fake_fpga(CLOCK_50, SW, KEY, LED, HEX, x, y, colour, plot, vga_resetn). If you're trying to run demo.bat and it's not working, it's probably because you have to fix the path in the last line of the script.
The GUI requires Java version 14 or newer. The demo requires Modelsim. I compiled against Modelsim Intel FPGA Starter Edition 10.5b 32 bit for the Windows binaries, and Modelsim 10.7c 64 bit for the Linux binaries.