TurboKnots Installation Guide

TurboKnots is a powerful tool for working with knots and knot theory. This guide provides instructions for installing TurboKnots on Linux, Windows, and macOS systems. By following these steps, you can set up TurboKnots on your local machine and access its full range of features.

Installation on Windows

To Install Ubuntu Linux on Windows:

  1. Click on the search bar and type Powershell.
  2. Right-click on Windows Powershell and choose Run as administrator.
  3. Type wsl --install -d Ubuntu.
  4. After Ubuntu is downloaded and installed, it will prompt you to set up a username and password. Enter your desired credentials.

To Install Fonts Used by TurboKnots:

  1. Go to Powerline Fonts on GitHub, press the green Code button, and download the ZIP folder.
  2. Extract the ZIP folder.
  3. Open Powershell as Administrator (press Windows key + X and select Windows PowerShell (Admin)).
  4. Click Yes in the pop-up.
  5. Navigate to the fonts-master folder inside the extracted folder. If it is in your Downloads folder, type:
    cd ${HOME}\Downloads\fonts-master\fonts-master.
  6. Type: Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass, and press Y for yes.
  7. Type: .\install.ps1.
  8. After the fonts have finished installing, run Set-ExecutionPolicy Default and press Y for yes.
  9. Now, close the Powershell window and open the Ubuntu terminal.
  10. Right-click the top of the window and click on Properties.
  11. Go to the Fonts tab and choose DejaVu Sans Mono for Powerline.
  12. Press OK. You should now be able to see all the characters!
Installation on macOS
Installation on Mac Computer with Intel Chip

TurboKnots can be run on a Macbook with an Intel chip by using a virtual machine from Multipass. You can install Multipass by running the following commands:

  1. brew install multipass
    (This is the command to install Multipass)
  2. multipass find
    (This is the optional command for checking if the install image is available)
  3. multipass launch 22.04 -n primary -c 2 -m 4G -d 1G
    (This example command will launch a 22.04 Ubuntu VM named primary with 2 CPUs, 4 GB of RAM, and 1 GB of disk space. You can adjust the numbers based on your preferences. Please note that TurboKnots only requires a maximum of 1 GB disk space.)
  4. multipass shell
    (This is the command to start the Ubuntu shell from Multipass after launching the VM)

More details can be found through the following link: How to run Ubuntu 22.04 VMs on Apple M1 ARM-based systems for free (This link is for Intel Macs, not ARM Macs).

You do not need to install a Desktop environment (no GUI is needed), so the part for setting up graphical mode is optional and can be ignored for running TurboKnots.

Installation on Mac Computer with Apple Silicon Chip

Since the architecture of a Macbook with Apple Silicon chip is not x86-64, you will need to install an emulator instead of a virtual machine. Please assign at least 3 GB of hard disk space for the emulator to avoid any issues.

  1. Download UTM. UTM is a free virtualization software that can create both emulators and virtual machines.
  2. Download the server install image (ubuntu-22.04.2-live-server-amd64.iso). This image allows you to install Ubuntu permanently on a computer for use as a server. It will not install a graphical user interface.
  3. Once UTM is downloaded and opened, click on the + symbol, then select the Emulate option.
  4. Operating system: Choose Linux, then click Browse at the Boot ISO Image section. Select the .iso server install image you downloaded in step 2.
  5. Hardware: Specify 2 or more CPU cores (recommended 4 CPU cores), and enabling hardware OpenGL acceleration is optional.
  6. Storage: The default storage size is 64 GB for the emulator, but you can change it to a smaller size (15-20 GB) if you are only using it for TurboKnots.
  7. Shared Directory: This can be ignored. Simply click Continue.
  8. Summary: Choose Open VM setting. Changing the emulator's name is optional. Click Save.
  9. Right-click the emulator name with a penguin icon next to it in the UTM interface. Select Edit. Under System, enable Force Multicore. Under QEMU, enable Balloon Device. Click Save.
  10. Click the circular Play icon, then press the return button on your keyboard to select Try or Install Ubuntu Server. Wait a few minutes until the language selection screen appears.
  11. The installer is user-friendly, and you can continue with the default options. If you have any questions, refer to this installation guide.

Note: At the Storage Configuration step, the default option is to use the entire disk. This refers to the virtual disk you created, not the actual hard disk. Confirm by checking if it shows something like dev/vda local disk. It will erase everything in the virtual disk, so back up any files if necessary.

  1. After installation is complete (which may take a while), you will see a Reboot option. Do not reboot immediately. Instead, go back to the UTM interface, remove the installation media (the .iso server install image). Go to CD/DVD, and select clear.
  2. Now restart/reboot the emulator.

Note: You might see the following error message, but you can ignore it. It will disappear after about 20 seconds:

BdsDxe: failed to load Boot0001 UEFI QEMU DVD-ROM QM00001 from PciRoot (0x0)/Pci (0x1F,0x2)/Sata(0x0,0xFFFF,0x0): Not Found

Another Note: If you see the message below, simply press the return button on your keyboard to start the Ubuntu login:

Ubuntu 22.04.2 LTS ubuntuserver2204 tty1

Before running the installation command, ensure the following tools are installed on your Linux system:

  • wget: A command-line utility for downloading files from the web. Install with:
    • On Ubuntu/Debian: sudo apt-get install wget
    • On Fedora: sudo dnf install wget
    • On Arch Linux: sudo pacman -S wget
  • tar: A standard tool for handling archive files. If missing, install with:
    • On Ubuntu/Debian: sudo apt-get install tar
    • On Fedora: sudo dnf install tar
    • On Arch Linux: sudo pacman -S tar
  • Pascal Compiler (e.g., Free Pascal Compiler): Necessary for building and running TurboKnots. Install with:
    • On Ubuntu/Debian: sudo apt-get install fpc
    • On Fedora: sudo dnf install fpc
    • On Arch Linux: sudo pacman -S fpc

Once all of this is done, you can run the following command to download and set up TurboKnots:

rm TurboKnots.tar.gz*; wget https://cariboutests.com/games/knots/TurboKnots.tar.gz; tar xfz TurboKnots.tar.gz

Explanation of the Command
  1. rm TurboKnots.tar.gz*: This removes any files matching the pattern TurboKnots.tar.gz* to clear out old versions of the TurboKnots archive.
  2. wget https://cariboutests.com/games/knots/TurboKnots.tar.gz: This downloads the TurboKnots archive TurboKnots.tar.gz from the specified URL.
  3. tar xfz TurboKnots.tar.gz: This extracts the contents of the downloaded archive. Specifically:
    • x – Extract files from the archive.
    • f – Use the specified file (TurboKnots.tar.gz).
    • z – Decompress the file (since it is compressed with gzip).

By following these steps, you can ensure that you're working with the latest version of TurboKnots.

TurboKnots Usage Guide

Once TurboKnots is installed, you can start using the program by running the executable. Follow these steps to execute TurboKnots:

  1. Open a Terminal: Launch a terminal window in your Linux environment.
  2. Navigate to the TurboKnots Directory: Use the cd command to change to the directory where TurboKnots was installed. For example: cd /path/to/turboknots
  3. Run TurboKnots: Execute the program by running: ./TurboKnots

Ensure that you have the necessary permissions to execute the program. If you encounter any permission issues, you may need to adjust the file permissions using: chmod +x TurboKnots

With TurboKnots running, you can now begin working with knot manipulations and calculations as needed.

Additional Features of the Linux TurboKnots Program

While the TurboKnots web interface provides a convenient way to use a portion of TurboKnots features, the Linux TurboKnots program includes some additional features, such as:

Loading Options:
  • Gauss Encoding
  • Net Encoding
Saving Options:
  • TXT File (ASCII image of the knot)
  • HTML File
  • LaTeX File
  • 3-Dimensional Encoding
  • Net Encoding
Tools:
  • Extracting Prime Knots
  • Rotating Knot
  • Showing Specific Moves (e.g., Showing all Reidemeister 1 moves that can be made on the current knot)
Performance Improvements:
  • Significantly Shorter Loading Times in the Linux TurboKnots Program

If you require these features, consider running TurboKnots directly on your local machine using the installation guide provided above.

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