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Products => Computers => Programming => Topic started by: RoGeorge on February 29, 2024, 11:33:21 am

Title: WaveForms for Analog Discovery or for sound card - Ubuntu install from AUR
Post by: RoGeorge on February 29, 2024, 11:33:21 am
Quick notes for how to download and install WaveForms in Ubuntu or other alike Linux using deb packages, and without logging into a Digilent account:
Code: [Select]
	mkdir digilent
	cd digilent
	wget [url]https://digilent.s3.amazonaws.com/Software/Adept2+Runtime/2.27.9/digilent.adept.runtime_2.27.9-amd64.deb[/url]
	wget [url]https://digilent.s3.amazonaws.com/Software/Waveforms2015/3.21.3/digilent.waveforms_3.21.3_amd64.deb[/url]
	sudo apt install ./digilent.adept.runtime_2.27.9-amd64.deb
	sudo apt install ./digilent.waveforms_3.21.3_amd64.deb
	waveforms

Should appear in the GUI launcher, too, as WaveForms.  There are a few more generic dependencies, but these are usually already installed on many Linux flavors, and if not, they should be available in their repositories:
   - qt5-multimedia
   - qt5-script
   - qt5-serialport
   - libusb
https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/digilent.waveforms (https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/digilent.waveforms)


WaveForms is the Digilent's software to control their Analog Discovery and alike hardware.  In case you don't have an Analog Discovery board, you should buy one.  Very versatile tool for an electronics lab.  In case you are broke AF, most of the features will still work with any casual sound card, or select an Analog Discovery DEMO (software emulated hardware).  :)

WaveForms has a lot of software goodies, and many will work with just a sound card, though some might not work without an Analog Discovery board (i.e. the curve tracer).  If curious for a deeper look into what it can do, Dave did a few reviews for Analog Discovery, in this one the software review starts at minute 12:00.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SbNnaMM1tQ&t=721s (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SbNnaMM1tQ&t=721s)
Title: Re: WaveForms for Analog Discovery or for sound card - Ubuntu install from AUR
Post by: tggzzz on February 29, 2024, 01:18:27 pm
Do the new versions force that eyeball-hurting geocities-channelling anti-ergonomic colour scheme on people?

There are very good reasons that black-on-white superceeded greem/orange-on-black in the 1980s. The readability is better. The ergonomics are better - ambient reflections are less visible.
Title: Re: WaveForms for Analog Discovery or for sound card - Ubuntu install from AUR
Post by: 2N3055 on February 29, 2024, 02:37:36 pm
Quote from: tggzzz on February 29, 2024, 01:18:27 pm
Do the new versions force that eyeball-hurting geocities-channelling anti-ergonomic colour scheme on people?

There are very good reasons that black-on-white superceeded greem/orange-on-black in the 1980s. The readability is better. The ergonomics are better - ambient reflections are less visible.
It does not look like that on Windows..
See how it looks in Dave's video..
Title: Re: WaveForms for Analog Discovery or for sound card - Ubuntu install from AUR
Post by: tggzzz on February 29, 2024, 03:05:17 pm
Quote from: 2N3055 on February 29, 2024, 02:37:36 pm
Quote from: tggzzz on February 29, 2024, 01:18:27 pm
Do the new versions force that eyeball-hurting geocities-channelling anti-ergonomic colour scheme on people?

There are very good reasons that black-on-white superceeded greem/orange-on-black in the 1980s. The readability is better. The ergonomics are better - ambient reflections are less visible.
It does not look like that on Windows..
See how it looks in Dave's video..

What's windoze? What's a yoootooob video?  >:D

But good :)
Title: Re: WaveForms for Analog Discovery or for sound card - Ubuntu install from AUR
Post by: DiTBho on February 29, 2024, 05:46:01 pm
the annoying part ... binary-only.
I can recompile for neither my MIPS laptop nor for my (boss's) Ampera Arm64 workstation  :o :o :o
Title: Re: WaveForms for Analog Discovery or for sound card - Ubuntu install from AUR
Post by: SiliconWizard on February 29, 2024, 09:07:52 pm
Quote from: tggzzz on February 29, 2024, 01:18:27 pm
There are very good reasons that black-on-white superceeded greem/orange-on-black in the 1980s. The readability is better. The ergonomics are better - ambient reflections are less visible.

Yes, tell that to the herd of dark theme lovers. Be wary, they may cancel you.
Title: Re: WaveForms for Analog Discovery or for sound card - Ubuntu install from AUR
Post by: tggzzz on February 29, 2024, 09:19:29 pm
Quote from: SiliconWizard on February 29, 2024, 09:07:52 pm
Quote from: tggzzz on February 29, 2024, 01:18:27 pm
There are very good reasons that black-on-white superceeded greem/orange-on-black in the 1980s. The readability is better. The ergonomics are better - ambient reflections are less visible.

Yes, tell that to the herd of dark theme lovers. Be wary, they may cancel you.

Same with those that think flat interfaces are good, whereas in reality you can't predict whether white letters "Off" on a black patch means
- It is an indicator meaning it is off
- It is a button meaning push to switch off
- It is a button meaning it is off, but you can push it to do something unspecified

It was like that one the mid 80s, due to crap hardware. We all breathed a sigh of relief when HP (Of all companies) introduced 3D widgets in Motif. Microsoft copied them when Win3.1 became available.

Forget history => condemned to repeat it. I hate seeing old mistakes.
Title: Re: WaveForms for Analog Discovery or for sound card - Ubuntu install from AUR
Post by: DiTBho on March 01, 2024, 07:46:45 am
Quote from: tggzzz on February 29, 2024, 09:19:29 pm
Forget history => condemned to repeat it. I hate seeing old mistakes.

well, in my opinion, "designing human machine interfaces" is something that shouldn't be done by an engineer (especially a firmware engineer) because... well, because it's like the architect of the Matrix: simply doesn't understand the (practical reality?!?) equations  :-//

designing human machine interfaces should be - at least - designed by a "designer", with a "product placement algorithm" in mind

So ... will the final product be for the mass? if so, must care the design maniacally.

This is exactly where a firmware guy would say "oh, it's not my priority! Let's put it into the -to-be-done-later-basket (if we will have the time), a debuggable interface has the highest priority, so my full attenction! Yep!"


:o :o :o
Title: Re: WaveForms for Analog Discovery or for sound card - Ubuntu install from AUR
Post by: tggzzz on March 01, 2024, 09:33:49 am
Quote from: DiTBho on March 01, 2024, 07:46:45 am
Quote from: tggzzz on February 29, 2024, 09:19:29 pm
Forget history => condemned to repeat it. I hate seeing old mistakes.

well, in my opinion, "designing human machine interfaces" is something that shouldn't be done by an engineer (especially a firmware engineer) because... well, because it's like the architect of the Matrix: simply doesn't understand the (practical reality?!?) equations  :-//

designing human machine interfaces should be - at least - designed by a "designer", with a "product placement algorithm" in mind

So ... will the final product be for the mass? if so, must care the design maniacally.

This is exactly where a firmware guy would say "oh, it's not my priority! Let's put it into the -to-be-done-later-basket (if we will have the time), a debuggable interface has the highest priority, so my full attenction! Yep!"

Hell no!

Unfortunately "designers" tend to be worse than engineers. Examples...

Designers are fixated on appearance, not content. I prefer Bauhaus, where form follows function.
Designers want to define where every pixel on a web page is. That leads to many appalling unusable web interfaces. Start with Farnell/aRSe and compare with DigiKey/McMaster.
Designers have perfect eyesight, and assume everybody else does too. (That's as near as this site gets to 80% grey and fonts with very thin strokes.
Designers make key information unreadable, e.g. the time to cook pasta in 2mm high yellow characters on an orange background (seriously!)
Designers ignore the 8% of men with some form of colour blindness, the elderly that can't grip.
Designers make nuke power station controls all the same, so operators have to tape beer cans to critical controls so they don't accidentally grab the wrong one in an emergency.
Designers forget hard-won lessons, and just to be new/fresh/"inventive" perpetrate Microsoft's flat GUI widgets[1]
Designers create skeuomorphic designs. I need say no more.
Etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc.....


[1] Jakob Nielsen is sane; he first came to my attention in the mid 90s.
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/ten-usability-heuristics/ (https://www.nngroup.com/articles/ten-usability-heuristics/)
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/flat-design/ (https://www.nngroup.com/articles/flat-design/)
Title: Re: WaveForms for Analog Discovery or for sound card - Ubuntu install from AUR
Post by: DiTBho on March 01, 2024, 09:48:14 am
the two "product designers" present in my open space must be exceptional exceptions as they are smarter at designing interfaces than the entire team (of engineers) in the open space.

for example, don't ask me to design anything, otherwise I'll do it with a text console on a XVGA crt-tube :o :o :o
Title: Re: WaveForms for Analog Discovery or for sound card - Ubuntu install from AUR
Post by: tggzzz on March 01, 2024, 10:04:17 am
Quote from: DiTBho on March 01, 2024, 09:48:14 am
the two "product designers" present in my open space must be exceptional exceptions as they are smarter at designing interfaces than the entire team (of engineers) in the open space.

for example, don't ask me to design anything, otherwise I'll do it with a text console on a XVGA crt-tube :o :o :o

If an interface is broken/unusable, an engineer will fix it (as far as possible).

Good UI designers are worth their weigh in gold.
Most designers aren't that good.
Ditto engineers :)
Title: Re: WaveForms for Analog Discovery or for sound card - Ubuntu install from AUR
Post by: DiTBho on March 01, 2024, 10:12:49 am
(
umm, just to give you my point ...
... one of the two re-designed the piloting interface of the underwater rover(1), with a whole series of ingenious widgets that show what is needed when needed

(1) my contribution here?
ok, my initial attempt was only a "proof of concept" to convince the manager that "it's feasable".
However, what I presented in the showroom was - "really embarrassing" - so he commented - two XVGA (special) cameras, interfaced with two XVGA viewfinders mounted on a face-mask cushion, which not only looked terrible (umm, too Gibson-sh), but also sucked great from the ergonomic point of view, in frist place, and, worse yet, it was full of cables here and there for both the internal platform (IMU) and the hardware gimmick to imitate steroscopic vision and, and since there is no limit to the worst, not only the pad is a very sneaky attempt to hide the Playstation1 Pad in a box of plastic glued to hide it better (because, uuu, I like the SPI-like signal interface, better than any USB-interface from my point of view, but I cannot tell this to the project manager), but also I made its interface on a kind of "finder bar" that never hided, wasting a lot of pixel for nothing.

Thanks god, those two designers "fixed" the user interface of my prototype, and then fixed the whole stuff, making it not only "really wereable", but also much more comfortable from the visual interface up, with all the visual features offered in widgets that appear only when you need to be iterate with them, and then disappear

I would never have come up with such an idea  :o :o :o
)