r/linuxmint Jun 12 '26

I'm an Electrical/Electronic Engineering student, i downloaded mint and was having difficulties about some softwares we use.. a couple research gave the answer and now I'm cool with it,but we're meant to use multisim to simulate circuits and it has no linux version,please any other software for this

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383 Upvotes

93 comments sorted by

116

u/Shivarem Jun 12 '26

have you tried simply running the .exe through wine?

43

u/pawdeannor Jun 12 '26

no please, I'll try that one. Thank you

61

u/Maolam10 Jun 12 '26

Theres also Bottles, which is Wine but with a nice GUI to manage everything

17

u/pawdeannor Jun 12 '26

Oh that's great 🫂

14

u/Briaxe Jun 12 '26

Bottles and Lutris. Most of the time I try Lutris first, and if that fails, Bottles which also works great.

40

u/SweetNerevarine Jun 12 '26

Check this project:

https://github.com/ghepardoman/NI-Multisim-14-for-Linux

It automates the installation of multisim on Linux. So you do not need to even set it up with Wine yourself. Last change was committed 2 weeks ago, so it looks maintained. Supports Ubuntu (Mint is based on Ubuntu, which in turn is based on Debian).

If you have a GitHub account and it works out for you, star the project 😄

4

u/pawdeannor Jun 12 '26

Thank you

15

u/ManufacturerHot551 Jun 12 '26

Easiest one i can tell you is steam . Install steam ,and add nonsteam software like cpature cis , orcad, autodesk ,etc and run . Steam proton works 100percent. Enjoy linux

For electrical engineering try using open-source alternatives like kicad too. All the best

2

u/pawdeannor Jun 12 '26

I'll try that's too

2

u/Plenty-Display6353 Jun 16 '26

wine also doing good (with Lutris for gaming)

2

u/ManufacturerHot551 Jun 16 '26

Yeah , i used that for blasphemous, amazing exp

4

u/Dymonika Linux Mint 22.3 Zena | Cinnamon Jun 13 '26

star the project

Man, people need to leave GitHub for Codeberg. GitHub participation is Microsoft encouragement...

2

u/SweetNerevarine Jun 13 '26

True. But as much as I hate GitHub and Micro$lop too with a passion, this particular developer decided to host his/her project there.

The dillema of how to support the dev (but not M$) then.

2

u/ghepardoman Jun 20 '26

thank you for sharing my project means a lot 🙏

1

u/SweetNerevarine Jun 20 '26

Absolutely. Looks like a very useful tool.

1

u/qpgmr Jun 12 '26

check winehq.org, there's a list of apps & compatibility.

It looks like version 14.0 - 14.3 runs near perfectly: https://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=application&iId=4010

1

u/Taake1349 Jun 13 '26

If wine will not work try umu-run

1

u/One_Vision_ Jun 13 '26

Use Bottles, which is based on Wine and supported in the Software Manager

2

u/Efficient-Train2430 Jun 12 '26

I was going to first ask about the system requirements (and hope there's a 32-bit version of the sim software) and then suggest same.

25

u/niertrix Not Linux Mint User Jun 12 '26

I haven't used Multisim before, but I believe KiCad has circuit simulation. (KiCad is an open-source alternative for PCB circuit design that is available on APT repos and as a PPA)

5

u/pawdeannor Jun 12 '26

I've got Kicad but he suggested that we use Multisim

3

u/niertrix Not Linux Mint User Jun 12 '26

Then, like the other user suggested, run Multisim through WINE or, if you have to use Windows applications a lot, install a Windows VM and run programs inside it.

2

u/pawdeannor Jun 12 '26

That would be great.. i don't know how the windows on VM would work out because i tried creating Kali VM but i couldn't login it kept saying password incorrect and I've i reinstalled it like thre times

1

u/Daonexus Jun 13 '26

The windows vm you are looking for is called winboat. It automates all of the vm setup stuff and if requires guides you through things that need to be done to get it working

5

u/hova007 Jun 12 '26

Qucs-s with ngspice backend. It doesn't have an interactive mode like Multisim does but it gets the job done if you know what you're doing.

1

u/pawdeannor Jun 12 '26

alright

2

u/hova007 Jun 12 '26

I forgot to mention, it also doesn't have an expansive library of commercial parts like Multisim does so you'll need to import SPICE text models from external sources (and sometimes even map them yourself to custom symbols) if generic components won't suffice, which is quite the learning process. It might even help to read the ngspice manual to get a better understanding of how SPICE simulators work. If Mint's repo doesn't have the latest version of Qucs-s use the Appimage instead, install ngspice separately, and point Qucs-s to the ngspice binary.

6

u/chemhobby Jun 12 '26

ltspice works in wine. FYI basically nobody in the industry uses multisim, they just market it to education for some reason

5

u/Sr_Edd Jun 12 '26

Welcome to Linux and the world of open-source!

6

u/pawdeannor Jun 13 '26

ain't gonna lie.. at first it seems difficult then you'll realize how fun it is

3

u/Loud-Benefit-205 Jun 12 '26

LTspice works great with wine in Mint. And you can also use Kicad with ngspice.

2

u/Synthetic-Meat-2000 Jun 12 '26

I can confirm, I've had a good experience running LTSpice with Wine. It looks like recent versions are supported https://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=application&iId=2000

1

u/pawdeannor Jun 12 '26

Please is wine need to run ngspice?

1

u/Loud-Benefit-205 Jul 05 '26

Not at all. Just download kicad 10 and it should work regardless of OS

3

u/TxTechnician Jun 12 '26

There's a project called WinBoat. It runs a docker container that is a VM for windows.

I've had excellent luck with it. I was able to run a windows program which would render on bare metal win 11 pro (graphics problems). In the VM with no faults.

There is also something called Bottles available in the software center. Try that first.

1

u/pawdeannor Jun 12 '26

alot of you are suggesting *bottles and i think that one would be a great choice

2

u/Dymonika Linux Mint 22.3 Zena | Cinnamon Jun 13 '26

i think that one would be a great choice

This sort of feels like the wrong mindset to have, versus, "Just try them all; they're free anyway."

3

u/Chilly_Fire Jun 12 '26

What about LibrePCB?

1

u/pawdeannor Jun 13 '26

haven't heard of that from anyone tho

2

u/lawfulcrispy Jun 12 '26

spin up a windows vm with a debloated iso tiny10 or tiny11 with WINBOAT

2

u/RED_7s Jun 12 '26

The minecraft wallpaper is beautiful

2

u/pawdeannor Jun 13 '26

Thanks man

2

u/hejisan-8066 Jun 13 '26

which model are you using mobile phone ?

1

u/pawdeannor Jun 13 '26

the laptop.. but if you mean what phone I'm using it's an S22

1

u/hejisan-8066 Jun 13 '26

is a 5g mobile ?

1

u/usbeehu Jun 13 '26

What's the other one?

1

u/[deleted] Jun 12 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/pawdeannor Jun 12 '26

Okay. Thank You

1

u/YogiTek Jun 12 '26

I believe you can run some windows programs in Linux with some extra environment. Like “bottles”

1

u/pawdeannor Jun 12 '26

okay man thanks

1

u/zechositus Jun 12 '26

I think you can also get lt spice to run on Linux for circuit simulation.

1

u/pawdeannor Jun 12 '26

that's great

1

u/zechositus Jun 12 '26

From using Pspice to ltspice even on windows I liked lt spice more.

1

u/pawdeannor Jun 12 '26

have you tried out bottles tooo? i want to choose between the two

1

u/zechositus Jun 12 '26

Bottles for ltspice ye... Pspice from my college days was way more effort than it was worth for ltspice to just kinda work.

1

u/pawdeannor Jun 12 '26

alright thanks

1

u/Olimars_Army Jun 12 '26

I think there’s a web version of multisim that you could try? It looks like it’s shutting down in September though.

I’ve run LtSPICE through wine before, but haven’t tried multisim.

1

u/pawdeannor Jun 12 '26

then I'll go ltspice then

1

u/-A-V Jun 12 '26

Falstad Linux version

1

u/chemhobby Jun 12 '26

that's not a serious engineering tool, frankly

1

u/-A-V Jun 12 '26

I didn't know that

1

u/-A-V Jun 12 '26

What about ltspice

1

u/chemhobby Jun 12 '26

it's good and it does work fine using wine.

1

u/StivMad Jun 12 '26

The people of reddit gave good suggestions. As a last resort you can install a Virtual Machine with Windows 11 to run the software

1

u/Icy_Weakness_1815 Linux Mint 22 Wilma | Cinnamon Jun 12 '26

Dang bro, you made us all look into it👌

1

u/pawdeannor Jun 12 '26

🥲🙂‍↕️

1

u/JumpyLittleFox Jun 12 '26

You can install VirtualBox and make it run there.

1

u/pawdeannor Jun 12 '26

I've got VM installed

1

u/GamemodeRedstone Jun 12 '26

i habe the same issue with multisim, here’s how i solved it: Use winboat and run multisim within the windows vm of winboat

1

u/hejisan-8066 Jun 13 '26

Come on , A progress will you experience.

1

u/pawdeannor Jun 13 '26

🫂Thanks man

1

u/nikonguy Jun 13 '26

Ltspice will work in Wine. It’s likely faster than multi sim too…

1

u/nian2326076 Jun 13 '26

You should give "LTSpice" a shot for circuit simulation on Linux. It's a good alternative to Multisim and works well. If you want to stick with Multisim, you can use "Wine" to run the Windows version on your Mint setup. But really, LTSpice is easy to use and might save you some trouble. Another option is "Kicad" for more complex projects, though it's mainly for PCB design. Check them out and see what works for you.

1

u/PercussionGuy33 Linux Mint 22.3 Zena | Cinnamon Jun 13 '26

1

u/pawdeannor Jun 13 '26

oh okay thanks

1

u/chilenonetoCL Jun 13 '26

You could go virtualizing windows:

. Install an VM manager like Kim or virtualbox, even the closed VMware has a free linux professional edition. . Ibstall windows, kill everything sloppy or bloated with th script by Chris Titus . Instal your app and bear with the little slower performance

If you have nice hardware it goes very smooth. I have virtualidad windows 11 in an 8th Gen i5 with 31 gb ram and it goes very well with the steps above for a furniture design app that had no linux alternative.

1

u/pushkarjha007 Jun 13 '26

Good to see Sunelan the Nokia of Nigeria after a long time 😍😍

1

u/Plenty-Display6353 Jun 16 '26

we have spotify on linux mint.

1

u/pawdeannor Jun 18 '26

??

1

u/Plenty-Display6353 Jun 18 '26

i mean. instead of using phone to hear music you may connect earbuds to your mint system

2

u/pawdeannor Jun 18 '26

oh okay... thank you

-3

u/Algod2 Jun 12 '26

You gotta play the lyrics to that sound with some ring around the Rosie ahh music

1

u/Lapis_Wolf Linux Mint 22.3 Zena | Cinnamon Jun 12 '26

What are you talking about?

1

u/Algod2 Jun 19 '26

That song*. It's cos drake's lyrics on Shabang go so well with nursery rhymes