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Linux: bundled server fails to start when VS Code inherits Vivado LD_LIBRARY_PATH #204

@hongjr03

Description

@hongjr03

This issue is from @asir66.

Description

When VS Code is launched from a shell that has sourced Vivado's environment, the bundled VIDE language server may fail to start due to an incompatible libstdc++.so.6 being loaded from the Vivado installation.

The VS Code output only shows generic LSP errors such as:

write EPIPE

and eventually:

The Vide language server crashed 5 times in the last 3 minutes.
The server will not be restarted.

However, the actual server stderr contains:

/home/asir/vivado/2025.2/Vivado/lib/lnx64.o/Default/libstdc++.so.6:
version `GLIBCXX_3.4.26' not found

/home/asir/vivado/2025.2/Vivado/lib/lnx64.o/Default/libstdc++.so.6:
version `GLIBCXX_3.4.29' not found

Environment

  • Debian 13 (trixie)
  • Vivado 2025.2
  • VIDE VS Code extension 0.1.8
  • VIDE server 0.1.8

Root Cause

Vivado injects its own library directories into LD_LIBRARY_PATH, including:

Vivado/lib/lnx64.o/Default

As a result, when the bundled VIDE server starts, the dynamic linker loads Vivado's libstdc++.so.6 instead of the system version.

The Vivado-provided library does not contain the newer GLIBCXX_* symbols required by the server binary, causing the process to terminate before initialization.

Expected Behavior

The extension should make the failure mode easier to diagnose. Possible improvements include:

  • Surface server startup stderr when initialization fails.
  • Detect common dynamic-linker failures (GLIBCXX_* not found, incompatible libstdc++.so.6, etc.) and provide a more actionable error message.
  • Document known conflicts with EDA tool environments such as Vivado, Quartus, ModelSim, and similar tools that modify LD_LIBRARY_PATH.

Additional Notes

The issue is reproducible only when VS Code inherits Vivado's environment. Launching the server with a clean LD_LIBRARY_PATH allows it to start normally.

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