Vericut on Solaris 10 x64 (AMD Processor)

Chewie · 2006-06-07 22:25:37

My company recently purchased 6 new Sun Ultra 20's to run Wildfire 3.0 on the recommendation of Sun and PTC. After months of delays Wildfire finally got ported to the x64 version of Solaris. Had we known 3rd party apps we depended on previously when we ran Pro/E 2001 would not be available, we may have gone with Sparc based workstations. Alas Sun and PTC promised everything would work just fine. Long story short Vericut was not included in Wildfire 3.0 for Solaris 10 x64. At this point we would even consider getting the full version of Vericut if we could get it to run on our new systems.

Currently we have to use a workaround solution. Luckily when my company ousted all Microsoft programs we kept 3 Win2k machines for legacy engineering apps. However, switching back and forth between the Sun machines and these dated Windows machines is almost counter productive.

Any word if and when Vericut will be compiled for Solaris 10 x64?

SergeV · 2006-06-08 18:37:59

When we installed Wildfire 3 in-house, we noticed that VERICUT did not install automatically, you need to select VERICUT during the installation process.

VERICUT is supported on Solaris 10. VERICUT is compiled as a 32bit application on Solaris, but it will run on the 64Bit platform.

The full version of VERICUT could be a step above the imbedded as it would allow you to simulate the post-processed G-Code. It would still be integrated with your ProE system.

Chewie · 2006-06-08 21:30:31

I've already tried to install Vericut as an additional feature. The option for Vericut is not included with the Solaris 10 x64 bit version of Wildfire, only the Solaris 10 Sparc version. According to PTC it's because CGTech has not provided a AMD x64 compiled version.

SergeV · 2006-06-08 21:40:14

The Solaris 10 Sparc version will work with your O/S.

Chewie · 2006-06-08 23:14:28

It would seem to me if it did work it would have been included with the AMD version of Wildfire. Additionally there is no way to install the Sparc version of Vericut bundled in PTC because the Sparc version of the Wildfire installer will not even start on an AMD system. According to PTC they are awaiting a AMD port of Vericut.

SergeV · 2006-06-09 00:33:23

Send me an private message (PM) with your coordinates, I will send you a software CD that you can install.

regards,

Serge

SergeV · 2006-06-15 23:40:00

Chewie,

I just learned that VERICUT will not work on Solaris 10 with the AMD processor. We support the AMD processors on XP 32 and 64bit but not on Solaris 10.

Sorry about the confusion

Serge

Chewie · 2008-10-16 18:46:45

Sorry to bring this one back from the dead.

I was wondering if there have been any changes since I last inquired?

One of the engineers here just told me that PTC is going to discontinue all versions of Pro/E other than Windows and Solaris 10 AMD/INTEL. That would include Solaris 10 for Sparc processors if I am to believe what I was told.

I think he said by 2011 which is way out there but that day will be here before I know it I am certain.

Chewie · 2009-03-18 23:07:37

Bump

I just read the supported OSes for Wildfire 4.0 and Wildfire 5.0.

Wildfire 4.0 is supported on Windows, HPUX and Solaris 10 x64 and Solaris 8-10 Sparc.
Wildfire 5.0 will be supported on Windows and Solaris 10 x64 only.

So asking again if there are plans to support Vericut on Solaris 10 on Intel/AMD chipsets and not the Sparc chipsets?

BillH · 2009-03-18 23:48:48

Sorry, no, CGTech does not have plans to port VERICUT to Solaris on AMD.
There simply does not seem to be enough demand to justify what it costs us to port it and continue supporting it for years to come.
Bill

Chewie · 2009-07-20 17:39:02

:? That makes sense. Not.

I must say what an impressive use of Java and it's platform independence. /sarcasm

BillH · 2009-07-20 19:43:23

I'll try to explain. /not sarcasm

We don't plan to port VERICUT for Solaris on AMD because there do not seem to be enough users to justify our expense (porting cost plus on-going support expense year-over-year).

Regarding platform independence, the java portion of VERICUT is certainly platform independent (same distributed code runs on Windows and UNIX). But VERICUT is not only written in Java. The intensive memory/compute portion of VERICUT is written in C/C++ and natively ported to each platform we support. Java code handles the GUI and graphics, plus some some file i/o. We decided on the Java/C++ design because it allows us to use the same source code for all platforms.

We still have work to do to support each platform. Unfortunately it doesn't just "magically" work even though its one source code. But that work is a whole lot less than maintaining separate source codes in different languages and development environments for each platform. I could certainly elaborate on my opinion of the "myth of platform independence", but it wouldn't contribute anything useful to this discussion.

We did a lot of testing back when we originally designed VERICUT and determined Java did not meet VERICUT's performance needs. We did more performance trials a few years later, looking at both hotspot and compiled Java, but still was not very good compared to compiled C.

That's where we are today. Certainly things will change in the future, we don't know how at the moment.

Bill

Chewie · 2009-07-24 21:12:42

Frustrating to say the least. Been 4 years now since PTC and Sun recommended that we upgrade our old outdated Sparc workstations to Sun Ultra 20's with AMD processors, because they work just as well and cost way less than Sparc processors. PTC promised us everything we used in Pro/E 2000 on Sparc would work on the AMD version of Wildfire 3.0. And now 4 years later and Wildfire 4.0 and Wildfire 5.0 later too, that is still a bold faced lie PTC is still making.

I see this as a paradox. Chicken or the egg. How can there be demand for a product that doesn't exist? I would think if you build it they would come. I would think if the software was available on Intel/AMD and the consumer had a choice of buying the $10,000 Sun Sparc workstation or the $2,000 Sun Intel/AMD workstation, the choice is obvious. Almost seems like Sun is giving kick backs to companies to not port to Sparc so they can justify keeping that part of Sun's business running.
I guess we're not in a recession like every newspaper and news channel keeps telling me and small business can still afford to just throw 50,000 dollars at 5 Sparc workstations and the accompanying software instead of spending $10,000 on 5 Intel/AMD workstations and the accompanying software. I wonder how many Vericuts could be sold if small businesses actually had money to buy your product if they hadn't blown their entire IT budget on just the hardware to support your software? :?

I guess I'll just have to wait and hope Oracle buys Sun and kills off the Sparc division before Vericut will be ported to Intel/AMD.... :mrgreen:

VERICUT Users' Forum

#1 2006-06-07 22:25:37

Vericut on Solaris 10 x64 (AMD Processor)

#2 2006-06-08 18:37:59

Re: Vericut on Solaris 10 x64 (AMD Processor)

#3 2006-06-08 21:30:31

Re: Vericut on Solaris 10 x64 (AMD Processor)

#4 2006-06-08 21:40:14

Re: Vericut on Solaris 10 x64 (AMD Processor)

#5 2006-06-08 23:14:28

Re: Vericut on Solaris 10 x64 (AMD Processor)

#6 2006-06-09 00:33:23

Re: Vericut on Solaris 10 x64 (AMD Processor)

#7 2006-06-15 23:40:00

Re: Vericut on Solaris 10 x64 (AMD Processor)

#8 2008-10-16 18:46:45

Re: Vericut on Solaris 10 x64 (AMD Processor)

#9 2009-03-18 23:07:37

Re: Vericut on Solaris 10 x64 (AMD Processor)

#10 2009-03-18 23:48:48

Re: Vericut on Solaris 10 x64 (AMD Processor)

#11 2009-07-20 17:39:02

Re: Vericut on Solaris 10 x64 (AMD Processor)

#12 2009-07-20 19:43:23

Re: Vericut on Solaris 10 x64 (AMD Processor)

#13 2009-07-24 21:12:42

Re: Vericut on Solaris 10 x64 (AMD Processor)

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