freeware circuit simulator for Osx (Mac)

Status
Not open for further replies.
Many talk about a program called psud. Does this have a Mac OSX version? If not. I downloaded some programs that are not GUI. I would like to find a program that I can plop the parts onto the simuboard. (why not call it that it isn't a real board). of known values from the database of parts/ including tubes. and run it through. Some of the things that I would like to simiulate

voltage and current in points of the circuit
Signal gain/loss in amplification

Frequency response curves and audio input filter tweaking.

I don't have the qt librairies on my mac but... I do have them on my linux boxen that are often tied up with another person browsing Ebay.
 
Wine is definitely the cheapest route since you will not need another operating system...if other operating systems are available try VirtualBox which is free but the OS is not.

If you want to spend more money try VMWare fusion for Mac. It'll cost money but works well. I've used them all.

I've not tried psud w/ wine yet but that sounds promising, will have to give it a whirl.

the problem with any virtualization software, they are memory hogs. Try wine, see if it works, then start shelling out the $

Installing Wine on Mac OS X

./e
 
Eagle works on osx CadSoft Online: EAGLE Layout Editor it's free too.

ALso you can download sun's virtual box witch is free and works better than whine.
I dowloaded the Eagle editor. find the tube libraries. and unforuntatly got totally lost figuring out how to set the values that I needed for calculations. Nor could I find a 3 secondary center tapped plate transformer in the library. Nor do I know how to edit symbols to create a transformer that has a 500VCT, 6.3V and 5V secondary windings with a 120 mains primary. Nor did I figure how to connect the objects together! Sure with a ruler and pencil that is easy but.... my pencils don't calculate and my eraser doesn't rock and roll 🙁

My Emac has a 1ghz G4 processor so neither Wine or Vmware would be any good under OSX 10.4.11

My Intel Linux boxen are 1.9ghz intel processors. I believe those are P4s but it has been so long since I reallly worked on the Linux hardware other than running aptitutude to update the debian software every few days.
 
Last edited:
I will be watching this thread for new ideas too. I have Qucs which looks pretty powerful but there are zero tube models for it and it does not use spice as the core so spice models won't work and as of the last update I got its ability to translate spice models is not adequate for anything but the simplest of spice models (no good for tubes).

I too could not figure out how to get Eagle to work with existing spice tube models. I have a power PC architecture so I can't use wine. So as of now I use LTspice and PSD under wine on a separate linux box and use a thumb drive to transfer the results to my iMac.

I haven't really tried virtual box and the like. I think I have a copy of NT around somewhere but I am not sure where it is and haven't had time to mess with it anyway.
 
I will be watching this thread for new ideas too. I have Qucs which looks pretty powerful but there are zero tube models for it and it does not use spice as the core so spice models won't work and as of the last update I got its ability to translate spice models is not adequate for anything but the simplest of spice models (no good for tubes).

I too could not figure out how to get Eagle to work with existing spice tube models. I have a power PC architecture so I can't use wine. So as of now I use LTspice and PSD under wine on a separate linux box and use a thumb drive to transfer the results to my iMac.

I haven't really tried virtual box and the like. I think I have a copy of NT around somewhere but I am not sure where it is and haven't had time to mess with it anyway.

Copy of nt ? WHAT, that is useless lol

ATleast use windows xp or 2000.

Eagle is so easy to use.
 
I dowloaded the Eagle editor. find the tube libraries. and unforuntatly got totally lost figuring out how to set the values that I needed for calculations. Nor could I find a 3 secondary center tapped plate transformer in the library. Nor do I know how to edit symbols to create a transformer that has a 500VCT, 6.3V and 5V secondary windings with a 120 mains primary. Nor did I figure how to connect the objects together! Sure with a ruler and pencil that is easy but.... my pencils don't calculate and my eraser doesn't rock and roll 🙁

My Emac has a 1ghz G4 processor so neither Wine or Vmware would be any good under OSX 10.4.11

My Intel Linux boxen are 1.9ghz intel processors. I believe those are P4s but it has been so long since I reallly worked on the Linux hardware other than running aptitutude to update the debian software every few days.

Use eagle on a windows xp box, connecting the objects is very VERY easy, just select the tool. If you need help just ask.
 
Yes, I must have been confusing Eagle with another one that I tried. I don't remember what it was but it had about 5 or 6 tube models and they were all oddball radio tubes. There was supposedly a way to make your own symbols and connect them to spice sub circuits but I could never figure it out so I deleted it.

As to NT, on second thought it might have been XP-pro. Will have to look around and see if I can find the CD.

Another one I have is MI-sugar which looks like it might work if I can figure out the documentation on how to create symbols and work with subcircuits.
 
Last edited:
Eagle is not a circuit simulator.

Eagle is available for Win, Mac and Linux. It is not a simulator. It is for drawing schematics and laying out PC boards. I use it for my PC boards.

PSUD is a simulator, but it is only for power supplies. That's what the first two letters stand for. It will not show signal loss of gain or amplification.

LTspice is a simulator and schematic drawing program that works with tubes, solid state devices and just about any circuit. It shows gain, distortion, harmonic stectra and just about anything that you can figure out how to ask it. It is made for Windoze and the Linear web site claims that it works with wine on Linux. I don't know if it works on other emulators or virtualization programs.

All three are often used by the tube heads here. The accuracy of any simulation depends on the quality of the models. Many of the vacuum tube models found on the web are quite good, some aren't. All tend to fall apart when you go into areas of operation that the model maker didn't expect. Positive grid current is a good example.
 
Eagle is available for Win, Mac and Linux. It is not a simulator. It is for drawing schematics and laying out PC boards. I use it for my PC boards.

PSUD is a simulator, but it is only for power supplies. That's what the first two letters stand for. It will not show signal loss of gain or amplification.

LTspice is a simulator and schematic drawing program that works with tubes, solid state devices and just about any circuit. It shows gain, distortion, harmonic stectra and just about anything that you can figure out how to ask it. It is made for Windoze and the Linear web site claims that it works with wine on Linux. I don't know if it works on other emulators or virtualization programs.

I downloaded spice for the Mac. I don't know how to use the program, it is the backend and compiles cleanly in the shell with the compiler, this uses ascii text files that have the parameters you define, the manual is huge and complex! the graphical spice front end package needs the qt library which my mac doesn't have. Linux has it though, although I usually work on my Mac. PSUD would have been great if it was portable to Linux or even OSX. I have to go back to my electrical engineering textbook (it has been quite long ago.) and refresh my skills on the formulas. It would have been great if I could drop a few parts into a virtual circuit and get results instead of having to do all these calculations by hand. Isn't that what a computer was intended to do? Compute?
 
Im a mac guy and used to use Mi-sugar, but it was unfinished didnt have the features or support of the PC software (but it still worked). When my wife got her PC laptop I immediatley tried LTspice (free) and never turned back. If your serious about sims do your self a favour and get a cheap PC. LTspice is free, used by a lot of the members (and heavily supported, look at the SPICE sticky thread) on DIYAUDIO.
 
I found some OSX compatible apps a while back. See this thread.

You can draw the circuit in Xcircuit and have it output a SPICE netlist that you then simulate in MacSpice. It's not as nice as a schematic editor with built-in simulator, but it should work.

So far, I've been pretty happy with VMware, Windoze XP, and the student edition of Orcad 9.3.

~Tom
 
So far, I've been pretty happy with VMware, Windoze XP, and the student edition of Orcad 9.3.

If you have already done the VMware / XP thing, then LTspice should be at least tried. It's free, fairly easy to use, and there is a complete instruction book on Linear Tech's web site. It does schematic capture, then analysis (simulation) and then you can poke around in your schematic with "probes" and see the waveforms. It's used by a lot of people here, so you can find help.
 
Well first problem is the mouse. I found some tutorial info on xcircuit and of course it is written for multi button mice. By reading far enough I found that I could use shift click for the middle mouse button so I was able to at least draw a line. I just hope I never need the right mouse button. Apparently there is some programmer friendly (but user unfriendly) way of using some standard to modify the user interface but I haven't time to investigate right now.

Anyone figure out a way to make the mac mouse fully functional with xcircuit?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.