X-Fest devkit order leadtimes & software silliness....

Wondering if anyone else has experienced this....
After the recent X-Fest seminar in Cambridge UK, I ordered the Memex FPGA Design Starter kit on the
x-fest special offer, as it was a cheap way to get the BaseX software. 
I'm now told that the kit won't be shipped til mid-August. I have no problem with that as I don't
need the hardware immediately & already have the S3 starter kit.. 

However when I contacted Memec to ask if they could ship the software immediately (which
Incidentally they charged my card for 2 weeks ago), they claimed that this wasn't possible, and when
I pressed them they said they'd ask Xilinx but were fairly sure they wouldn't do it. 
  
I'm sure I'm not the only one who ordered this offer as it was a very good deal compared to the
normal price - has anyone else had any joy getting the software out of them ahead of the hardware ?

Seems like a pretty daft situation.....

If you just need synthesis, p&r, then ISE Webpack can be used as a stop gap 
for Spartan-3 devices up to XC3S1500.

John Adair
Enterpoint Ltd. - Home of Broaddown2. The Ultimate Spartan3 Development 
Board.
http://www.enterpoint.co.uk


"Mike Harrison" <mike@whitewing.co.uk> wrote in message 
news:cenia1pc7q3ptsc4rrhts8phl8085g2smh@4ax.com...
> Wondering if anyone else has experienced this....
> After the recent X-Fest seminar in Cambridge UK, I ordered the Memex FPGA 
> Design Starter kit on the
> x-fest special offer, as it was a cheap way to get the BaseX software.
> I'm now told that the kit won't be shipped til mid-August. I have no 
> problem with that as I don't
> need the hardware immediately & already have the S3 starter kit..
>
> However when I contacted Memec to ask if they could ship the software 
> immediately (which
> Incidentally they charged my card for 2 weeks ago), they claimed that this 
> wasn't possible, and when
> I pressed them they said they'd ask Xilinx but were fairly sure they 
> wouldn't do it.
>
> I'm sure I'm not the only one who ordered this offer as it was a very good 
> deal compared to the
> normal price - has anyone else had any joy getting the software out of 
> them ahead of the hardware ?
>
> Seems like a pretty daft situation..... 

"Mike Harrison" <mike@whitewing.co.uk> wrote in message
news:cenia1pc7q3ptsc4rrhts8phl8085g2smh@4ax.com...
> Wondering if anyone else has experienced this....
> After the recent X-Fest seminar in Cambridge UK, I ordered the Memex FPGA
Design Starter kit on the
> x-fest special offer, as it was a cheap way to get the BaseX software.
> I'm now told that the kit won't be shipped til mid-August. I have no
problem with that as I don't
> need the hardware immediately & already have the S3 starter kit..
>
> However when I contacted Memec to ask if they could ship the software
immediately (which
> Incidentally they charged my card for 2 weeks ago), they claimed that this
wasn't possible, and when
> I pressed them they said they'd ask Xilinx but were fairly sure they
wouldn't do it.
>
> I'm sure I'm not the only one who ordered this offer as it was a very good
deal compared to the
> normal price - has anyone else had any joy getting the software out of
them ahead of the hardware ?
>
> Seems like a pretty daft situation.....

Same deal downunder, Mike,
    I'm making do with a 60 day version of the software while waiting, which
the local FAE has promised to refresh for me if the kit takes too long.

Cheers
--
Alf
alfkatz@remove.the.obvious.ieee.org.y,

On Fri, 10 Jun 2005 12:07:31 +0100, "John Adair"
<removethisthenleavejea@replacewithcompanyname.co.uk> wrote:

>If you just need synthesis, p&r, then ISE Webpack can be used as a stop gap 
>for Spartan-3 devices up to XC3S1500.

That's what I'm using, but I'm told that BlockRam is difficult to use if you don't have the CoreGen
part which doesn't come with Webpack - not looked into this yet though. 

Depends what config you want. If it is just a single blockram, or a single 
depth of blockram, then that is simple to instantiate. The Xilinx libraries 
guide is a good place to start for info. Look for RAMB16 as a root name. 
There are also some templates listed in ISE for instantiation which you can 
adapt to fit any particular RAMB16 variant listed in the libraries guide if 
not directly listed in the templates.

If you need less than 16K address locations then you should get away with a 
single depth of block ram, e.g. a 16 KByte ram would be 16 block rams on a 
x1 organisation supplying one data bit each. Don't need data muxing this way 
or any modifications on address.

John Adair
Enterpoint Ltd. - Home of Broaddown2. The Ultimate Spartan3 Development 
Board.
http://www.enterpoint.co.uk


"Mike Harrison" <mike@whitewing.co.uk> wrote in message 
news:kg1ja11katq3ojaud6kuqfjtr1atvbdqp4@4ax.com...
> On Fri, 10 Jun 2005 12:07:31 +0100, "John Adair"
> <removethisthenleavejea@replacewithcompanyname.co.uk> wrote:
>
>>If you just need synthesis, p&r, then ISE Webpack can be used as a stop 
>>gap
>>for Spartan-3 devices up to XC3S1500.
>
> That's what I'm using, but I'm told that BlockRam is difficult to use if 
> you don't have the CoreGen
> part which doesn't come with Webpack - not looked into this yet though.
> 

On Fri, 10 Jun 2005 14:29:17 +0100, "John Adair"
<removethisthenleavejea@replacewithcompanyname.co.uk> wrote:

>Depends what config you want. If it is just a single blockram, or a single 
>depth of blockram, then that is simple to instantiate. The Xilinx libraries 
>guide is a good place to start for info. Look for RAMB16 as a root name. 
>There are also some templates listed in ISE for instantiation which you can 
>adapt to fit any particular RAMB16 variant listed in the libraries guide if 
>not directly listed in the templates.
>
>If you need less than 16K address locations then you should get away with a 
>single depth of block ram, e.g. a 16 KByte ram would be 16 block rams on a 
>x1 organisation supplying one data bit each. Don't need data muxing this way 
>or any modifications on address.

thanks - I'll take a look at that when I get a chance - I'll probably end up needing 4 or 5 seperate
small blocks in different configurations but I'm still starting on the learning curve so there's
probably enough to get started at least.
 I also noticed that the S3 kit CD has a 60 day eval of Foundation so I imagine I can install that
to generate the parts I need if necessary. 
 

"Mike Harrison" <mike@whitewing.co.uk> wrote in message
news:cenia1pc7q3ptsc4rrhts8phl8085g2smh@4ax.com...
> Wondering if anyone else has experienced this....
> After the recent X-Fest seminar in Cambridge UK, I ordered the Memex FPGA
Design Starter kit on the
> x-fest special offer, as it was a cheap way to get the BaseX software.
> I'm now told that the kit won't be shipped til mid-August. I have no
problem with that as I don't
> need the hardware immediately & already have the S3 starter kit..
>
> However when I contacted Memec to ask if they could ship the software
immediately (which
> Incidentally they charged my card for 2 weeks ago), they claimed that this
wasn't possible, and when
> I pressed them they said they'd ask Xilinx but were fairly sure they
wouldn't do it.
>
> I'm sure I'm not the only one who ordered this offer as it was a very good
deal compared to the
> normal price - has anyone else had any joy getting the software out of
them ahead of the hardware ?
>
> Seems like a pretty daft situation.....


Hi Mike,

I haven't ordered mine yet (still in shock at the 8-10 weeks delivery). I'm
fairly horrified that they charged your card before they had the stuff to
send.

I'm going to copy this to the Xilinx Apps manager and see what happens.

On past experience (are you there Xilinx !!) it won't be much - I'm still
waiting for price and delivery from Memec re S3E parts from an enquiry I
made on 20th May.

Michael Kellett

On Fri, 10 Jun 2005 16:56:22 +0100, "MK" <nospam.please@here.ever> wrote:

>
>"Mike Harrison" <mike@whitewing.co.uk> wrote in message
>news:cenia1pc7q3ptsc4rrhts8phl8085g2smh@4ax.com...
>> Wondering if anyone else has experienced this....
>> After the recent X-Fest seminar in Cambridge UK, I ordered the Memex FPGA
>Design Starter kit on the
>> x-fest special offer, as it was a cheap way to get the BaseX software.
>> I'm now told that the kit won't be shipped til mid-August. I have no
>problem with that as I don't
>> need the hardware immediately & already have the S3 starter kit..
>>
>> However when I contacted Memec to ask if they could ship the software
>immediately (which
>> Incidentally they charged my card for 2 weeks ago), they claimed that this
>wasn't possible, and when
>> I pressed them they said they'd ask Xilinx but were fairly sure they
>wouldn't do it.
>>
>> I'm sure I'm not the only one who ordered this offer as it was a very good
>deal compared to the
>> normal price - has anyone else had any joy getting the software out of
>them ahead of the hardware ?
>>
>> Seems like a pretty daft situation.....
>
>
>Hi Mike,
>
>I haven't ordered mine yet (still in shock at the 8-10 weeks delivery). I'm
>fairly horrified that they charged your card before they had the stuff to
>send.

I did order a 9500 kit on the same order which is due to ship now so I'm not especially bothered
about that aspect. 

>I'm going to copy this to the Xilinx Apps manager and see what happens.
>
>On past experience (are you there Xilinx !!) it won't be much - I'm still
>waiting for price and delivery from Memec re S3E parts from an enquiry I
>made on 20th May.
>
>Michael Kellett
>

"MK" <nospam.please@here.ever> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:d8ccr7$hg9$1$8300dec7@news.demon.co.uk...
>
> "Mike Harrison" <mike@whitewing.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:cenia1pc7q3ptsc4rrhts8phl8085g2smh@4ax.com...
> > Wondering if anyone else has experienced this....
> > After the recent X-Fest seminar in Cambridge UK, I ordered the Memex
FPGA
> Design Starter kit on the
> > x-fest special offer, as it was a cheap way to get the BaseX software.
> > I'm now told that the kit won't be shipped til mid-August. I have no
> problem with that as I don't
> > need the hardware immediately & already have the S3 starter kit..
> >
> > However when I contacted Memec to ask if they could ship the software
> immediately (which
> > Incidentally they charged my card for 2 weeks ago), they claimed that
this
> wasn't possible, and when
> > I pressed them they said they'd ask Xilinx but were fairly sure they
> wouldn't do it.
> >
> > I'm sure I'm not the only one who ordered this offer as it was a very
good
> deal compared to the
> > normal price - has anyone else had any joy getting the software out of
> them ahead of the hardware ?
> >
> > Seems like a pretty daft situation.....
>
>
> Hi Mike,
>
> I haven't ordered mine yet (still in shock at the 8-10 weeks delivery).
I'm
> fairly horrified that they charged your card before they had the stuff to
> send.
>
> I'm going to copy this to the Xilinx Apps manager and see what happens.
>
> On past experience (are you there Xilinx !!) it won't be much - I'm still
> waiting for price and delivery from Memec re S3E parts from an enquiry I
> made on 20th May.
>
> Michael Kellett
>

It was VERY surprising to see Memect to offer S3E kits, but all their
leaflets with pictures of the S3E kits where made with 'blurred' image of
the Xilinx S3E chips so it was quite clear the photos where FAKED, eg they
did use dummy packages for photo shooting. So for me it was also clear that
there is no hope to expect actual deliveries before late august/september.
business as usual (for Memec) announce, charge and let customer to wait for
6+ months.

If I would have any trust that Memec can deliver (orderdable products from
their web shop) I would have ordered the S3E kit rigth away, but knowing the
past I did not bother.

Antti

Mike Harrison wrote:
> On Fri, 10 Jun 2005 12:07:31 +0100, "John Adair"
> <removethisthenleavejea@replacewithcompanyname.co.uk> wrote:
> 
> 
>>If you just need synthesis, p&r, then ISE Webpack can be used as a stop gap 
>>for Spartan-3 devices up to XC3S1500.
> 
> 
> That's what I'm using, but I'm told that BlockRam is difficult to 
 > use if you don't have the CoreGen part which doesn't come with Webpack
> - not looked into this yet though. 

uh ? which part is supposed to be hard ? in the very worst case
one's got to write a tiny script to generate INIT_xx content to
preinitalize BlockRAM contents... otherwise everything's there -
including instantiation templates ready to cut and paste from
Language Templates

lukasz
(happily using tons of BlockRAMs without even touching coregen)