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Rather than have to run things on my PC at work I thought I'd run it on my iMac at home. So I downloaded the LTSpice and installed it on my iMac. I'm running OSX 10.9.5
Boy did they screw it up - I mean the user interface is awful compared with the PC version.
Well, first off, I can't figure out how to edit text/directives on the schematic ? When I hold the 'control' key and click the mouse the Edit menu doesn't allow editing of the text. What gives ?
Boy did they screw it up - I mean the user interface is awful compared with the PC version.
Well, first off, I can't figure out how to edit text/directives on the schematic ? When I hold the 'control' key and click the mouse the Edit menu doesn't allow editing of the text. What gives ?
You need to be using at least a 2-button mouse. Right click works.
But yeah, I agree... the Mac LTSpice version sucks. Hope they improve it further but I doubt it.
On the other hand, running a Windows 7 VM (via Parallels) and running LTSpice there works out great.
Well, Mike Engelhart principally focuses on the Mac version now, partly because the Win version somehow needs to not have any changes done to it anymore. So, if you like it like that, then keep using the Windows version! 🙂
Yes, it is new, but 'different' is not necessarily 'awful'.
(To your specific point, are you talking about the Mac 'splat' key or the 'control' key? Generally commands on a PC that use 'control' port to a Mac on the 'splat' (command) key. The control key on a Mac does different things - with a left mouse lick, it turns it into a right click, for example.)
All the best!
Yes, it is new, but 'different' is not necessarily 'awful'.
(To your specific point, are you talking about the Mac 'splat' key or the 'control' key? Generally commands on a PC that use 'control' port to a Mac on the 'splat' (command) key. The control key on a Mac does different things - with a left mouse lick, it turns it into a right click, for example.)
All the best!
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The mac famously does not use multi button mice and yet this port of the software to the mac seems not to recognize that. I have been unable to find any combination of key presses and mouse clicks that allows me to edit text - including spice directives - and so far that makes it unusable for any real simulations.
The interface is built without the simple menu of command options across the top of the window that we have on the PC version - this is an amazing blunder - it should at least be an option.
It seems to be a case that somebody was more interested in the art and presentation and failed to go and ask users to evaluate the functionality. It's been this way for a long time already so somebody has failed to learn.
I may sound ungrateful - the software is free afterall - but after using it on the PC I know how fantastic this free tool really is so I get a little frustrated !
I'll try plugging in a PC mouse to my Mac and see if that makes it useable.
The interface is built without the simple menu of command options across the top of the window that we have on the PC version - this is an amazing blunder - it should at least be an option.
It seems to be a case that somebody was more interested in the art and presentation and failed to go and ask users to evaluate the functionality. It's been this way for a long time already so somebody has failed to learn.
I may sound ungrateful - the software is free afterall - but after using it on the PC I know how fantastic this free tool really is so I get a little frustrated !
I'll try plugging in a PC mouse to my Mac and see if that makes it useable.
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It seems more like a beta build or a proof-of-concept that it can work on a Mac. Now they need to improve UI, at least make it on par with the PC UI.
Cmd-click on top of the directive or any text is not recognized, because it still thinks you're on an empty area of the schematic page. Only a true right-click from a mouse works.
I hate everything is right-click based, (i.e. missing icons on top). Very poor UI as it stands now.
It's like they took the effort to design a new car, but forgot to put a useable steering wheel.
Cmd-click on top of the directive or any text is not recognized, because it still thinks you're on an empty area of the schematic page. Only a true right-click from a mouse works.
I hate everything is right-click based, (i.e. missing icons on top). Very poor UI as it stands now.
It's like they took the effort to design a new car, but forgot to put a useable steering wheel.
Yes, a two button mouse works just fine on a Mac, in fact I wouldn't use it otherwise.
Go to the System Preferences, and change the 2nd button (right half of the mouse) to 2nd button. Command-Clik does the same thing for those that prefer a 1-bitton mouse,
dave
no need for a two button mouse just press control CTRL ( Not apple cmd) and click to bring up on screen right click menu🙂
Sure, but most mice have two buttons, and apple's single button mouse leaves a lot to be desired, anyway.
MacOS has supported all of the same PC USB mice and keyboards for about 5-8 years now. Plug it in - it works!
I use the Apple Magic Mouse, and while it's annoying in some ways, you get 2D scroll and three buttons, and it has good battery life. Yeah, you don't see actual buttons, but if you right click or left click, it knows.
Again, try it and see! The days of Apple's ADB mouse and keyboard are long long gone… well over a decade, left behind with 200MHz CPUs and 4GB SCSI drives. All of the USB stuff works on everything these days, and why not.
I use the Apple Magic Mouse, and while it's annoying in some ways, you get 2D scroll and three buttons, and it has good battery life. Yeah, you don't see actual buttons, but if you right click or left click, it knows.
Again, try it and see! The days of Apple's ADB mouse and keyboard are long long gone… well over a decade, left behind with 200MHz CPUs and 4GB SCSI drives. All of the USB stuff works on everything these days, and why not.
Have you looked at an Apple mouse since the year 2000? The newest Apple mice have 3 'buttons', 2D scrolling, and multi-touch gestures like pinch and swipe. The top of the mouse is a capacitive sensor, sort of like a touch screen, so it's able to do multi-touch and all that, just like the tablets.
Show me a PC mouse that does that! 🙂
(and, as said before, just plug a PC mouse or keyboard into a Mac and it works.)
Have you used LTspice on the Mac? The problem is even if you ctrl-click on top of a .dot command (or a component), it still doesn't allow you to edit the .dot command text, or the component. i.e. You're still presented with the normal right-click menu, as if you right-click on an empty area on the page.
That's the problem.
Me thinks it's a bug in LTSpice Mac version.
Yes, ctrl-click doesn't act like a right click - the behavior is as described. But, you can use a two button mouse and that works. So, yes, it's a bug of some sort, but the workaround is to just get a 2 button mouse. My Apple Magic Mouse does that properly, as would an ancient Logitech 2 button scroll mouse, and probably lots of others.
FWIW, you can plug in multiple USB mice and keyboards. For example, if the machine comes with a trackpad that is somehow unable to do right click (like the early Intel MacBooks), you can just add a USB mouse and both will work.
FWIW, you can plug in multiple USB mice and keyboards. For example, if the machine comes with a trackpad that is somehow unable to do right click (like the early Intel MacBooks), you can just add a USB mouse and both will work.
Right, tight, right.... that is what my fingers woulddo, i'll blame a flu on the wrong key mentioned above...
dave
Apple hasn't made a single button mouse in something like a decade. But there has always been the ability to set it so that it acts as a single-button mouse.
dave
This is from my last generation wired mouse.
Can be set up with up to 4 buttons.
dave
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All Macs I have support two mouse buttons via the touchpad. Tap with one finger for a left click, two fingers for a right click. Not rocket science... 🙂
I agree that the Mac version of LTspice is a diamond in the rough right now. It would be nice with a simulation setup menu, for example. But it works well enough. It's very UNIXy (if that's even a word), though.
I give LT props for making an actual Mac version available, though. It even seems to simulate circuits faster than the Windoze version.
~Tom
I agree that the Mac version of LTspice is a diamond in the rough right now. It would be nice with a simulation setup menu, for example. But it works well enough. It's very UNIXy (if that's even a word), though.
I give LT props for making an actual Mac version available, though. It even seems to simulate circuits faster than the Windoze version.
~Tom
I went to the LTspice World Tour presentation recently, and the creator of LTspice, Mike Engelhard, stated that the Mac version is the one that he pushes forward and adds new features to. He said that people really didn't want the Windows version to change much, so the Mac version is where he can make UI improvements and the like. FWIW, he uses the Mac version, not the Windows version. I'm not sure about the basic simulation engine and whether the Mac and Win versions are in sync, but I would expect so. Still, there are some pretty clever optimizations in the recent versions that might be hard to do on both Win and OSX.
I guess I'm posting a lot to this thread because I think that LTspice is an amazing simulator, perhaps the best in the world. This is also amazing since it's free. Mr. Engelhard is a brilliant guy, and LTspice is very advanced, easily the best SPICE on the planet. Sure, there are going to be some bugs, but I completely disagree with the "sucks huge" declaration. I've only used it on the Mac and it's completely serviceable.
Still, this is indeed a bug, so why not report it? It's a simple OSX UI event trapping error and it can be fixed, and you can work around it in the mean time.
I guess I'm posting a lot to this thread because I think that LTspice is an amazing simulator, perhaps the best in the world. This is also amazing since it's free. Mr. Engelhard is a brilliant guy, and LTspice is very advanced, easily the best SPICE on the planet. Sure, there are going to be some bugs, but I completely disagree with the "sucks huge" declaration. I've only used it on the Mac and it's completely serviceable.
Still, this is indeed a bug, so why not report it? It's a simple OSX UI event trapping error and it can be fixed, and you can work around it in the mean time.
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So... I found one of those blue tooth Apple mouse in my desk draw. It's the one you can click left and right and has a swipe surface instead of a scroll knob thingy. I put in new batteries and got it into action. Now I can right click and access the text in Spice! I'll play with it a bit more now. Interesting that it does appear to run faster than the PC version, actually it seems to run faster on my relatively aged iMac than on my new PC laptop. Of course, it's all subjective.
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The keyboard shortcuts aren't too impressive either - F8 doesn't initiate a 'grab' action, rather it launches iTunes - I use the 'grab' feature a lot when editing so now it's a pain to use. And F3 does other things within OSX. It seems to me that Mike really can't be pushing this forward, I'm not even convinced he uses it.
I'm afraid LTSpice for the Mac is a fail.
I'm afraid LTSpice for the Mac is a fail.
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