Xilinx programming cable; Linux notebook w/o parallel port; Am I doomed?

Hi,

I bowsed through some threads about using the various Xilinx
programming cables. It seems like with my Linux notebook without a
parallel port I am doomend and not able to use any of them.

At the moment I have a parallel cable IV and from what I read there is
no way that I will be able to use that with the notebook, even when
booting it with Windows, as no USB-to-Parallel adapter will work with
it. The notebook does not have a PCMCIA port, so such a parallel
adapter will not be an option either.

Concerning the new Xilinx Platform USB cable I read that it does not
work under Linux, so here the only option would be to boot the notebook
with Windows to get that going.

Is there really no way to get the parallel cable going with a
USB-to-Parallel adapter?

TIA

Guenter

no way. the parallel cable will NOT work with usb-2-parallel

Antti

I have seen PCMCIA/Cardbus plug in parallel ports that could solve your 
issue. Maplin in the UK have one 
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=47119&criteria=parallel%20port&doy=20m3 
.and some others on Ebay.

Longer term we will be doing a fairly cheap S3E PCMCIA card that will have a 
programming solution integrated with it. It is on roadmap now as the result 
of some customer feedback and awaiting a free engineeriing slot. The 
integrated programmer can also be used to program other boards and will look 
like Parallel Cable III.

John Adair
Enterpoint Ltd. - Soon to be Home of Tarfessock1. The PCMCIA Spartan3E 
Development Board.
http://www.enterpoint.co.uk



<GHEDWHCVEAIS@spammotel.com> wrote in message 
news:1142871917.392979.167810@i40g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
> Hi,
>
> I bowsed through some threads about using the various Xilinx
> programming cables. It seems like with my Linux notebook without a
> parallel port I am doomend and not able to use any of them.
>
> At the moment I have a parallel cable IV and from what I read there is
> no way that I will be able to use that with the notebook, even when
> booting it with Windows, as no USB-to-Parallel adapter will work with
> it. The notebook does not have a PCMCIA port, so such a parallel
> adapter will not be an option either.
>
> Concerning the new Xilinx Platform USB cable I read that it does not
> work under Linux, so here the only option would be to boot the notebook
> with Windows to get that going.
>
> Is there really no way to get the parallel cable going with a
> USB-to-Parallel adapter?
>
> TIA
>
> Guenter
> 

GHEDWHCVEAIS@spammotel.com wrote:

> I bowsed through some threads about using the various Xilinx
> programming cables. It seems like with my Linux notebook without a
> parallel port I am doomend and not able to use any of them.

Gues you'll just have to make your own.

Find yourself a (linux compatible) USB-enabled microcontroller and
treat the problem as one of in circuit configuration of an FPGA by a
micro.

You'll get higher rates if you let the micro do the timing and feed it
buffered data through the USB.  Trying to bit-bang it through the USB
is possible, but really slow given the higher latency of things like
USB-to-parallel chips vs old parallel ports.

cs_posting@hotmail.com wrote:
> Gues you'll just have to make your own.
>
> Find yourself a (linux compatible) USB-enabled microcontroller and
> treat the problem as one of in circuit configuration of an FPGA by a
> micro.
>
> You'll get higher rates if you let the micro do the timing and feed it
> buffered data through the USB.  Trying to bit-bang it through the USB
> is possible, but really slow given the higher latency of things like
> USB-to-parallel chips vs old parallel ports.

I am not sure whether I understand that right. Are you talking about a
general USB-to-parallel adapter that would work together with parallel
cabel IV in connection with impact? Or is there another way to solve
that?

I have been thinking about a USB-to-parallel adapter.

One thing I would like to avoid is having to program my own driver and
preferable I would like to use an available virtual COM port driver.
However, as I understand it, impact does not recognize those.

John Adair wrote:
> I have seen PCMCIA/Cardbus plug in parallel ports that could solve your
> issue.

Unfortuanetly my notebook does not have a PCMCIA card.

Not sure what HP was thinking about. I guess I should not have gotten
such a cheap one ;)

GHEDWHCVEAIS@spammotel.com wrote:
> I bowsed through some threads about using the various Xilinx
> programming cables. It seems like with my Linux notebook without a
> parallel port I am doomend and not able to use any of them.

The only other solution I can think of is pretty nasty, and that is
doing some linux driver work to emulate the bit banging over the usb
cable parallel port.

On a sunny day (20 Mar 2006 13:07:34 -0800) it happened
"GHEDWHCVEAIS@spammotel.com" <GHEDWHCVEAIS@spammotel.com> wrote in
<1142888854.711945.278530@z34g2000cwc.googlegroups.com>:

>cs_posting@hotmail.com wrote:
>> Gues you'll just have to make your own.
>>
>> Find yourself a (linux compatible) USB-enabled microcontroller and
>> treat the problem as one of in circuit configuration of an FPGA by a
>> micro.
>>
>> You'll get higher rates if you let the micro do the timing and feed it
>> buffered data through the USB.  Trying to bit-bang it through the USB
>> is possible, but really slow given the higher latency of things like
>> USB-to-parallel chips vs old parallel ports.
>
>I am not sure whether I understand that right. Are you talking about a
>general USB-to-parallel adapter that would work together with parallel
>cabel IV in connection with impact? Or is there another way to solve
>that?
>
>I have been thinking about a USB-to-parallel adapter.
>
>One thing I would like to avoid is having to program my own driver and
>preferable I would like to use an available virtual COM port driver.
>However, as I understand it, impact does not recognize those.
I am a bit anti-usb (because I still have not got to grips with those drivers
100% perhaps), but there exists a PCMCIA to jtag plugin module for tv hacking.
Google PCMCIA to JTAG shows a lot.
And then perhaps address the PCMCIA directly as IO?
If you could use the par cable 3 JTAG soft (as Digilent uses to program the D2)
maybe it would even be possible to connect that PCMCIA connector directly to that
cable..
Have not tried.
Memory mapped, make a simple interface?

The new Xilinx Platform USB cable does work under Linux.  You apparently 
read some out-dated information.


GHEDWHCVEAIS@spammotel.com wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> 
> 
> Concerning the new Xilinx Platform USB cable I read that it does not
> work under Linux, so here the only option would be to boot the notebook
> with Windows to get that going.
> 
>
> 
> TIA
> 
> Guenter
> 

Neil Glenn Jacobson wrote:
> The new Xilinx Platform USB cable does work under Linux.  You apparently
> read some out-dated information.
>
>

You are right, I found that information. What I saw before was from
October of last year.

So I guess I will give that a try, before spending more time getting
the cable IV to work.