Where to get Free SPICE

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Contents:

Chapter 3) Apple Macintosh and clones

  3.1) 680x0 Macintosh

    3.1.1) PSpice 6.0

Evaluation version of MicroSim PSpice 6.0 for Macintosh is now available:

You can ftp version 6.0 for Macintosh from the site klingon.ee.iastate.edu in directory /pub/mac/pspice/ and files:

    3.1.2) Spice3e2 & NUTMEG

Spice3e2_14 is a version of University of California at Berkeley's SPICE3e2 ported to the Macintosh. Circuit netlists can be created with any editor and then read into the simulator. The size of the design is only limited by the amount of memory available.

Integrated with the simulator is Berkeley's NUTMEG, a SPICE post-processing program. With this program you can display data in either a textual or graphical form. NUTMEG also allows you to manipulate the analysis output by doing mathematical operations on it.

This program is FREEWARE and may be redistributed on a not-for-profit basis. File is 1.65MB in size!

You can ftp Spice3e2 & Nutmeg from the following sites (given in URL format):

    3.1.3) PSpice 5.1

This is version 5.1 of MicroSim PSpice for the Mac. It was released in January 1991, and it will run under System 7. It requires a Math Co-Processor, and runs quite fast.

You can ftp it from the following mirrors:

(From the Editor)

There have been reports that PSpice 5.1 (or 5.4 if you can dig it up) don't work with any of the PowerMac (whether you have the Math emulator or not). I would be interested to hear otherwise. Please

Thanks!

    3.1.4) Mac FPU Emulator

If you have a power mac, or a 680x0 mac WITHOUT a floating point coprocessor and you want to run Spice, you need to obtain a Software FPU (Floating Processor Unit) cdev.

Here's the blurb and sources for the shareware version:

SoftwareFPU is a Macintosh utility which allows applications requiring a Floating Point Unit (FPU) to work on computers without one, such as the IIsi, IIvi, LC series, Classic II & Color Classic series, Performa series, Power Macintosh, and some models of PowerBook, PowerBook Duo, and Quadra series. Put the SoftwareFPU control panel in your Control Panels folder and restart and FPU applications that formerly crashed will begin working. SoftwareFPU requires a 68020, 68030, 68LC040, or PowerPC processor. SoftwareFPU is fully System 7.5 compatible.

The shareware 68K-only version of SoftwareFPU is available on America Online (keyword MUT), CompuServe (GO MACSYS), via anonymous ftp (ftp.netcom.com, /pub/jo/johnneil), from our Web site (http://www.jna.com) or from Macintosh User's Groups around the world. If you use shareware SoftwareFPU you must register with John Neil & Associates. The shareware version will work on Power Macintosh computers but is not PowerPC-native. A commercial 68K/PowerPC version with twice the performance on Power Macintoshes can be obtained by registering with John Neil & Associates. Current registered 68K-only users can upgrade to the 68K/PowerPC version for $10.

To register, send a check, money order, credit card, or purchase order to John Neil & Associates, P.O. Box 2156, Cupertino, CA 95015. The registration fee for the shareware 68K-only version of SoftwareFPU is just $10. To receive the "fat" 68K/PowerPC version with twice the performance on Power Macintoshes, send $20. You can register on-line using CompuServe (GO SWREG), or by calling (800) 663-2943, or by fax at (415) 661-2944, or by e-mail at sales@jna.com. All registered users will receive a special registered version of SoftwareFPU in the mail that allows the startup "thank you" balloon to be hidden. Sorry, the registered version cannot be delivered by e-mail, but overnight delivery is available.

Registration information and a registration form are available in the "OrderForm.hqx" (147KB BINHEX) file or by clicking the "Plea" button in the SoftwareFPU control panel.

The shareware 68K-only version of SoftwareFPU is available officially from the authors at ftp://www.jna.com/pub/jna/Software/Shareware/

Or, you can [Search For Most Current Version]

    3.1.5) PSpiceShell

This is a shell for use with freeware demo version of electrical engineering software called Pspice (by MicroSim Corp of Irvine CA). Smoothes the transition between text editing and pspice environments.

Should be available on these mirrors:

  3.2) PowerMAC

    3.2.1) PowerFPU Emulator

(From John M. Neil)

PowerFPU is a new high-performance 68K FPU emulator for the Power Macintosh from John Neil & Associates. By working closely with the built-in Apple 68K emulator and re-directing 68K FPU calls to the high-speed PowerPC CPU, PowerFPU provides extremely fast 68K FPU emulation. PowerFPU is over ten times faster than SoftwareFPU, John Neil & AssociatesU other low-cost FPU emulator, and faster than some versions of the Motorola FPU chip itself! The chart below shows where PowerFPU performance falls in the range of Macintosh FPU performance:

Time to execute JN&A FPU TimeTest 1.1 FPU benchmark, in seconds (smaller is faster)


SoftwareFPU 3.02 (emulation)           20.6
(Power Mac 8100/80)

16MHz 68881 FPU (chip)                  2.53
(Mac II)

16MHz 68882 FPU (chip)                  1.65
(SE/30)

PowerFPU 1.0 (emulation)              * 1.60 *
(Power Mac 8100/80)

40MHz 68882 FPU (chip)                  0.65

40MHz 68882 FPU (chip)                  0.65
(Mac IIfx)

40MHz 68040 FPU (integrated)            0.085
(Quadra 840AV)
With PowerFPU you can run all 68K FPU applications at full-speed on your Power Macintosh!

PowerFPU is currently available through John Neil & Associates for a special introductory price of $75. Registered SoftwareFPU users may upgrade to PowerFPU for $50 ($60 for 68K-only SoftwareFPU users). PowerFPU requires a Power Macintosh computer or Macintosh computer with a PowerPC upgrade card. PowerFPU can be ordered by calling (800) 663-2943, or by fax at (415) 661-2944, or by e-mail at sales@jna.com, or by sending a check, money order, or credit card information to John Neil & Associates, P.O. Box 2156, Cupertino, CA 95015. Ground/Airmail shipping is $3, and overnight delivery is $10 ($15 international). Shipping & handling charges may be higher for orders placed through the (800) number.

For information on where to get SoftwareFPU, see previous sections.

    3.2.2) PSpice 6.0

Evaluation version of MicroSim PSPICE 6.0 for Power Macintosh is now available:

Note: You will also need 'a' FPU (math) emulator, either SoftwareFPU (shareware but slow) or PowerFPU (under $80 but blazing!).

You can ftp version 6.0 for Power Macintosh from the site klingon.ee.iastate.edu in directory /pub/mac/pspice/ and files:

(From Gil-the-Great)

Well, I brought it home, I unstuffed it with plain ol' Stuffit Expander and it worked like a CHARM! It doesn't run lightning-fast on my PowerMac because I'm using Software FPU, but it runs, and that's enough for me. Mac PSpice 5.1 doesn't run on PowerMacs with or without Software FPU, so I've really really been looking for version 6.0 for a very long time.

This article was processed/generated by Filip Gieszczykiewicz | [mailto]. The most recent version is available on the WWW server http://www.repairfaq.org/ [Copyright] [Disclaimer]