Can I use MCNP on ARM devices?

[Nikel]

TL;DR

I’m a first-year Physics student planning to learn MCNP this summer and looking for a new laptop. Since MCNP is made for x86 processors, I'm trying to find out if it has native ARM support, or if there are reliable workarounds to run it smoothly on an ARM-based laptop. I'm asking here assuming this is the best place to find MCNP users who might have faced the same issue.

Hello everyone,

As a freshman Physics student, I plan to learn MCNP and improve my skills in this field over the summer break. This might not be the ideal place to ask, but I am currently looking for a laptop that can smoothly run MCNP for this purpose.

My main question is regarding the architecture compatibility: since the program is natively compiled for x86 processors, what are my options for running it on an ARM-based laptop? Alternatively, does MCNP offer native support for ARM-based systems?

As I mentioned at the beginning, this might not be the exact forum for such a query, but I wanted to ask here because I assume this is where MCNP users are most likely to be concentrated. I am hoping someone who has encountered a similar dilemma or found a workaround could share their insights.

Thank you in advance for your help!

 

[Astronuc]

One has to look at the operating system (OS) for a given computer.

MCNP should run on any ARM-based laptop, whether an Apple system using (Apple's OS or MacOS) or on any Windows based system as long as MCNP is compiled on a system using the same or equivalent OS.

Normally, one obtains an MCNP executable, so the executable has to be compiled using a compiler program compatible with the OS.

 

[Alex A]

My information may be out of date, but I've checked RSICC and the situation does not seem to have changed. The only option that would let you run it locally on an ARM machine is to request the source code and compile it. The person to ask if this is feasible is the person teaching the MCNP course. If it needs to be done formally through RSICC for version 6, source code requests have more checks and things are a lot slower. If you are outside the US it may be tougher than if you are inside, and requests are hugely expensive for non US universities (free for those in the US, over a thousand dollars otherwise). A very powerful laptop is not needed and remote access to a computing cluster (which either has an existing install, or you install) may be normal anyway. Talk to the teacher as soon as possible, if you are outside the US prepare to be disappointed, if you are inside the US...maybe? Either way good luck!

I've read @Astronuc's reply and I suspect he has misunderstood what an executable is (they are fixed for an architecture and OS). Compiling requires the source code. For my part I've assumed that the macos binary is x86 only - I may be wrong about that. Again, ask your teacher.

 

[Nikel]

My information may be out of date, but I've checked RSICC and the situation does not seem to have changed. The only option that would let you run it locally on an ARM machine is to request the source code and compile it. The person to ask if this is feasible is the person teaching the MCNP course. If it needs to be done formally through RSICC for version 6, source code requests have more checks and things are a lot slower. If you are outside the US it may be tougher than if you are inside, and requests are hugely expensive for non US universities (free for those in the US, over a thousand dollars otherwise). A very powerful laptop is not needed and remote access to a computing cluster (which either has an existing install, or you install) may be normal anyway. Talk to the teacher as soon as possible, if you are outside the US prepare to be disappointed, if you are inside the US...maybe? Either way good luck!

I've read @Astronuc's reply and I suspect he has misunderstood what an executable is (they are fixed for an architecture and OS). Compiling requires the source code. For my part I've assumed that the macos binary is x86 only - I may be wrong about that. Again, ask your teacher.

Thank you for the detailed response. First of all, I am based outside the US, and my intention is actually to learn MCNP on my own through online resources rather than taking a formal university course.

Based on both of your replies, it seems clear to me now that there is no native ARM support available out of the box. If running it on an ARM-based system requires requesting the source code and compiling/tweaking it myself, that is definitely beyond my current technical reach :D

Given the situation, it looks like my best bet is to avoid the hassle entirely and go with a modern laptop powered by a standard x86 AMD or Intel processor.