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Comments (and Bugs)

7.0.81

• When running LasiCkt the options "Write Tracking Text Script" and "Show Count Messages" are reversed in the setup. Normally you will check both so you may not notice a difference. Count messages will always be written to the Log file. To be fixed in the next update.

7.0.77 

• There is an old bug in the LasiLL utility where the physical units in the newly created TLC file are always written as "um". This will cause a warning when you Import the TLC cell file if the drawing units are not "um". You can ignore it since it will not change the drawing units and the cell dimensions will still be correct.

 Tips

Windows 8

LASI will run on Windows 8 but the touch screen user interface is not very well suited for multiple directories or precise graphics. You still need a mouse. If Lasi7.exe is run from a tile the LASI editor Startup dialog will usually pop-up and you will have to browse to a LASI drawing folder. Expect more tips on Windows 8 as we get more experience.

Windows 7

If you have Vista or Windows 7, and if you notice anything unusual when running LASI that wasn't seen with XP, please let us know. We test LASI on 64-bit Windows 7, but can't check everything. Although many people use XP they eventually will be on Windows 7 (or 8) if they get new computers.

Some things noticed on Windows 7:

• If you install the main program or any of the tutorial setups and you get a popup that the programs "might have not installed correctly", reinstall with the  the recommended settings option, or just ignore the message.

• You might want to check or uncheck some of the graphic settings under Control Panel/System/Advanced System Settings/Performance/Visual Effects. Under Custom, setting "Use visual styles on windows and buttons" and "Smooth edges of screen fonts" and maybe a few other features can make running LASI on Windows 7 more agreeable. Avoid the "Animated" windows and Aero Peek.

• We have noticed that when "Use visual styles on windows and buttons" is set that when drawing a very large number of objects redrawing partly finishes and then goes into a continuous redraw loop. This occurs after another application has been opened ... and even after it is closed. This does not seem to happen if Windows 7 "Use visual styles on buttons and windows" is turned off. Unfortunately when turned off this gives a classic Windows 2000 style which is pretty much out of date. We are still investigating.

  To stop this draw loop, press SPACE and then Zoom into a smaller drawing area where there are less objects to draw. Putting large cells in outline using Outl also reduces the objects to draw. Restarting the LASI editor clears the problem until another application is run.

  On large layouts to make more resources available when running certain utility programs, LasiCkt or LasiDrc for example, it is a good idea to close the LASI editor and then reopen it after those programs have run. Start a utility from the LASI editor System mode, then close the editor. Run the utility and when the utility is finished, restart the editor.

• If using a non-Aero theme and a drawing redraws when a tooltip pops-up or closes, check "Hide Tooltips" under Cnfg.

• Be sure to set the permissions for LASI Drawing Folder files to Full Control for your User. Without the permission to read, write, delete, etc. you will get error popups when running the editor and utilities.

Miscellaneous

• If you are running XP try reducing the size of the Active Title Bar under display Properties/Appearance/Advanced. This seems to default to a size that is a bit large for LASI graphics.

• If a utility program's control panel chops off buttons or is generally the wrong size you can either resize it like any window, or you can reset it to the default size and position.  To do this move the control panel so that its upper-left corner is off-screen above or off-screen left. Close the program with the "X". When you restart the default size and position will be reset.

• Try running Spice and Notepad.exe out of LASI with the Run button. Open and edit the CIR file with Notepad. You can change the variables and statements in the CIR file and then resimulate. If you change the layout or schematic however, you need to rerun LasiCkt, and you will probably have to close Spice.

• Although we really didn't plan it that way, if you have your Windows File Types set properly with the target application as Lasi7.exe, you can just click on a TLC cell file and LASI will run with that cell. There is a drawback to this however. Since a TLC file is a text file you might want to read it as a text file and not start LASI.

• If you are starting a layout without layers defined, you can Import layer definitions for various MOSIS processes from the TLD files in the \Lasi7\Resource folder.

• Depending on your monitor, the orange color used for Connector Text in the layouts might need to be adjusted with Cnfg/Colors by changing the green to 160, 144 or 128 to make it stand out more over yellow.