alphaMELTS 1.9
Download alphaMELTS 1.X series (legacy)
The current version is 1.9 posted on August 30th, 2018
α alphaMELTS software is available in compiled executable form, for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. Supplementary updates of the alphamelts executable, without the ancillary files, are provided for bug-fixes and new features. A lightweight Linux VirtualBox installation of alphaMELTS provides an alternative to activating the 'Windows Subsystem for Linux' or installing the Perl program on Windows. See the list of pros and cons if you are trying to choose between WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) alphaMELTS, VM (virtual machine) alphaMELTS and the native Windows version.
Please log in and then choose your operating system from the links on the right. Download links and brief OS specific instructions will be given. Please see the *README* for a package file list, a list of changes since previous alphaMELTS versions, and checksums for downloads. To reset this page and display the WSL and VM alphaMELTS pros and cons, click the DOWNLOAD tab above.
VM alphaMELTS has its own installation process that can be viewed by selecting it from the right. For the other alphaMELTS versions, double-click the .zip archive to expand it and then run the installation script. For a full description of this process please see the 'Installation' section of the documentation (please right-click and choose 'Save As...' or similar) and the Operating System specific boards on the forum. It should be possible to install alphaMELTS 2 using the same procedure but substituting 'install2.command' for 'install.command', 'package' for the name of the download folder, and 'run-alphamelts.command' for 'run_alphamelts.command'; 'install2.command' will select the appropriate executable for the operating system ('alphamelts_linux' in the case of the WSL).
- There is no need to install Perl or VirtualBox on the host Windows machine. Perl is included in the WSL/Linux installation by default.
- Fewer run-time resources, such as diskspace and memory, are required than for the VM (virtual machine) alphaMELTS. Windows programs like ExcelTM and MatlabTM that may be running simultaneously should show no noticeable slowdown. You can even start Windows programs from the same command line that you use to run MELTS software.
- Whilst the alphaMELTS installation script will probably not be able to set the Path automatically in the more recent WSL Ubuntu installations, it is easier to troubleshoot than native Windows or Mac/Linux. Setting up access to files and folders is much simpler than on VM alphaMELTS.
- alphaMELTS is particularly powerful if invoked from the terminal command line and there are several command line tricks that can be used to make things easier (e.g. did you know that typing '!run' at the Linux/Mac command line is usually enough to start run_alphamelts.command with all the command line switches used in the most recent run?). There are lots of online resources for getting started with the command line (bash shell) on Linux or Mac. Conversely few people have reason to use the Windows command line these days and it can be difficult to find up to date information about it for Windows 10.
- It is possible to run the rhyolite-MELTS graphical user interface (GUI) on Windows if the WSL is enabled. If used with MELTS_Excel's 'Combine tbl' function, which automatically tabulates and plots output from the GUI, a smooth clean workflow can be set up. See the alphaMELTS links page for more details.
Cons of WSL alphaMELTS:
- The WSL is only available on 64-bit Windows 10 that has the Fall Creators update installed (version 1709; released October 17th, 2017).
- The Meltsout and MELTS-PEC-corrector programs are not installed, though executables are available. See the alphaMELTS links page for more details.
- Microsoft intended that the WSL be a command line tool only (though it turns out that relatively simple GUIs, such as the rhyolite-MELTS one, will run; see the alphaMELTS links page for details). This design means that you cannot double-click the .command scripts in the WSL alphaMELTS package. However, having started a script from the command line, you can still drag and drop files and folders from Windows Explorer.
- Enabling the WSL requires administrator privileges, whereas alphaMELTS has options for installation without administrator privileges.
- VM alphaMELTS includes alphaMELTS 1.8 and 1.9 (plus 'with-readline' for tab-completion), alphaMELTS 2 (beta) and alphaMELTS for Python
- rhyolite-MELTS is already installed for you (and is in the Path) as well as a selection of additional software including Jon Snow's Meltsout program, Victor Kress' PEC correction program, and VMD are all pre-installed.
- There is no need to install Perl, and the Path has been set up for you. This means alphaMELTS can be run in the Shared folder, which is also mostly set up by default (see the VM alphaMELTS installation instructions). Output files are then written to a Windows folder and data can be easily imported into programs, such as ExcelTM and MatlabTM, for plotting.
- As described above, getting started on using the command line, and getting support from us is easier on *nix based systems.
- 32-bit support is gradually being withdrawn by Microsoft, VirtualBox and Ubuntu, but VM alphaMELTS has the most up to date versions of the various 32-bit applications.
Cons of VM alphaMELTS:
- VirtualBox must be installed, and then started each time alphaMELTS is going to be used.
- Installing VirtualBox requires administrator privileges on the host machine, whereas alphaMELTS has options for installation without administrator privileges.
- Working within the Shared folder (e.g. having to have it be called 'Shared' and not being able to move it while the virtual machine is running) can be restrictive. Also installing updates is less convenient than on the WSL.
- Running VM alphaMELTS means running a second operating system simultaneously, so the host machine will need to have a reasonably fast processor and at least 1GB RAM total (preferably 2GB+).
- The VM alphaMELTS files are large, requiring several GB of free hard disk space (currently ~5GB). Downloading the 2GB alphaMELTS_Lububntu_64.ova or alphaMELTS_Lubuntu_32.ova file will also take quite a long time over some connections.
- The Lubuntu 18.04-based version of VM alphaMELTS (32-bit and 64-bit) will be the last posted version, though 64-bit users will be able to install Linux updates to alphaMELTS 2 etc.
Consult the documentation (please right-click and choose 'Save As...' or similar) to get the alphaMELTS software running correctly, including the sections on 'Setting up alphaMELTS', 'Bugs and Fixes', and 'What to do if (pH)MELTS misbehaves' (opens in a separate window). Also check the Errata and bug fixes section of the alphaMELTS support page for any temporary problems and workarounds (last updated July 4th, 2020).
Note: the alphaMELTS GitList server contains the very latest versions of the scripts and example files for alphaMELTS. Some of these files may be under development and will not necessarily work correctly with the publicly available alphamelts executable. When minor bug fixes are made to scripts or example files, between alphaMELTS releases, a link to the appropriately dated GitList version of the file(s) will be given on the alphaMELTS support page.
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