Building simulator on Ubuntu 15.10?

I'd like to run the simulator on my main work computer, which necessarily runs a more modern version of Ubuntu. I've not had any success trying to install LinuxCNC in Ubuntu 15.10 (obsolete dependencies, listed below), nor with a supported distro in VirtualBox (I forget the error, but I'd be happy to try again if others have had success).

The instructions for installing a precompiled simulator package are about four years out of date, and really just say to build the source anyhow.

Has anyone here had luck building the simulator for Ubuntu 15.10? Installing the 64-bit deb by installing old print and python packages from an earlier release?

The following packages have unmet dependencies:
linuxcnc-uspace : Depends: libboost-python1.49.0 (>= 1.49.0-1) but it is not installable
Depends: libgnomeprint2.2-0 (>= 2.17.0) but it is not installable
Depends: libgnomeprintui2.2-0 (>= 2.17.0) but it is not installable
Depends: libudev0 (>= 0.140) but it is not installable

There is no point trying to get Linuxcnc working on 15.10, unless it has drivers for your hardware that are not available for 14.04LTS because they are not backported (unlikely).

The version you have installed will cease to be supported by Ubuntu in June 2016, 15.04 is already obsolete.

14.04LTS is supported until April 2019 and you can already install Linuxcnc on it.

I am not a fan of VM's, they can have problems with memory and CPU usage and make a meal of something a normal install takes in its stride, but that may be your best bet if you are a version number junkie and must have the highest version available

regards

If you absolutely want to run a simulator on your latest Ubuntu, I would recommend building from source so it ties with the libraries shipped with Ubuntu, and survive better the frequent Ubuntu OS upgrades.
I did not timed it, but a LinuxCNC build (without doc) on my 10 years old computer takes less than 15 minutes...

A good alternative would be a VM wit a supported OS

justice wrote:

nor with a supported distro in VirtualBox

Out of curiosity I tried the latest Debian live CD in VirtualBox, and it does work for me (on an old OS-X host). I didn't try the simulator per say, but the RTAI kernel runs...

Out of curiosity I tried the latest Debian live CD in VirtualBox

Yup, works for me now too. Remarkable how much can change in a couple of years! Thanks for the tip, much easier than trying to build all the missing dependencies.

On my 64bit Ubuntu 15.10 I use the version from buildbot.
Just follow the instructions on the buildbot.linuxcnc.org/ page ensuring you use the Jessie (simulation only) "jessie master-rtpreempt" entry.

Works great for me.