USB programming cables

So, having bought the V4FX-12 kit from NuHorizons, it arrived with a 
parallel-port JTAG cable. Normally I'd be just *fine* with this, but 
today my new quad-xeon Mac-pro arrives, and I bought that specifically 
to get some oomph in P&R (running linux using "parallels", of course).

The mac doesn't have a parallel port. Ahhh. Is there a USB programming 
cable suitable for the FX-12 ? A fallback plan is to do most of the 
work on the Mac, but have a mini-itx machine next to it just for 
programming - the itx machine *does* have a // port, but it's woefully 
underpowered for any serious work on it...

Ideas gratefully received :-)

Simon

I've been using the Xilinx Platform Cable USB for some time.  They now have 
a second generation out there with lower power *and* is lead free.  I only 
wish I could have multiple USBs connected at once since my Xilinx Spartan3E 
starter kit board has a "built-in" platform USB cable that just needs a 
standard USB cable to connect to my system.  So nice.


"Simon" <news@gornall.net> wrote in message 
news:2006091508283364440-news@gornallnet...
> So, having bought the V4FX-12 kit from NuHorizons, it arrived with a 
> parallel-port JTAG cable. Normally I'd be just *fine* with this, but today 
> my new quad-xeon Mac-pro arrives, and I bought that specifically to get 
> some oomph in P&R (running linux using "parallels", of course).
>
> The mac doesn't have a parallel port. Ahhh. Is there a USB programming 
> cable suitable for the FX-12 ? A fallback plan is to do most of the work 
> on the Mac, but have a mini-itx machine next to it just for programming - 
> the itx machine *does* have a // port, but it's woefully underpowered for 
> any serious work on it...
>
> Ideas gratefully received :-)
>
> Simon
> 

Digilent sells a USB JTAG cable.  The downside is it isnt compatible
with Xilinx drivers, so you have to download and use the digilent load
software.  This adds an extra step to the process, although ExPort (the
digilent software) will download the BIT file into the FPGA fine, you
have to take some additional steps to get an SVF file out of your MCS
file for the PROM, the load the PROM from the digilent software from
the SVF.


John_H wrote:
> I've been using the Xilinx Platform Cable USB for some time.  They now have
> a second generation out there with lower power *and* is lead free.  I only
> wish I could have multiple USBs connected at once since my Xilinx Spartan3E
> starter kit board has a "built-in" platform USB cable that just needs a
> standard USB cable to connect to my system.  So nice.
>
>
> "Simon" <news@gornall.net> wrote in message
> news:2006091508283364440-news@gornallnet...
> > So, having bought the V4FX-12 kit from NuHorizons, it arrived with a
> > parallel-port JTAG cable. Normally I'd be just *fine* with this, but today
> > my new quad-xeon Mac-pro arrives, and I bought that specifically to get
> > some oomph in P&R (running linux using "parallels", of course).
> >
> > The mac doesn't have a parallel port. Ahhh. Is there a USB programming
> > cable suitable for the FX-12 ? A fallback plan is to do most of the work
> > on the Mac, but have a mini-itx machine next to it just for programming -
> > the itx machine *does* have a // port, but it's woefully underpowered for
> > any serious work on it...
> >
> > Ideas gratefully received :-)
> >
> > Simon
> >

Paul wrote:
> Digilent sells a USB JTAG cable.  The downside is it isnt compatible
> with Xilinx drivers, so you have to download and use the digilent load
> software.  This adds an extra step to the process, although ExPort (the
> digilent software) will download the BIT file into the FPGA fine, you
> have to take some additional steps to get an SVF file out of your MCS
> file for the PROM, the load the PROM from the digilent software from
> the SVF.
>
>
> John_H wrote:
> > I've been using the Xilinx Platform Cable USB for some time.  They now have
> > a second generation out there with lower power *and* is lead free.  I only
> > wish I could have multiple USBs connected at once since my Xilinx Spartan3E
> > starter kit board has a "built-in" platform USB cable that just needs a
> > standard USB cable to connect to my system.  So nice.

Cheers, both :-)

I've ordered one of the Xilinx USB ones. $150 for a cable seems ...
overkill ... but I guess it'll work with just about all the devices I
use from now on (still waiting for the Darnaw1 :-) Anything for a
simple life :-)

Simon.

I have a open-source cableserver which works with Impact. Today I've
just finished to implement the Digilent JTAG-USB support in it. This
weekend I will upload the 0.2 version, which will have the digilent
support.

The digilent software doesn't support all the Xilinx devices and very
slow with Platform Flash.

www.sourceforge.com/projects/xilprg

Regards,

Zoltan

Paul wrote:
> Digilent sells a USB JTAG cable.  The downside is it isnt compatible
> with Xilinx drivers, so you have to download and use the digilent load
> software.  This adds an extra step to the process, although ExPort (the
> digilent software) will download the BIT file into the FPGA fine, you
> have to take some additional steps to get an SVF file out of your MCS
> file for the PROM, the load the PROM from the digilent software from
> the SVF.
>
>
> John_H wrote:
> > I've been using the Xilinx Platform Cable USB for some time.  They now have
> > a second generation out there with lower power *and* is lead free.  I only
> > wish I could have multiple USBs connected at once since my Xilinx Spartan3E
> > starter kit board has a "built-in" platform USB cable that just needs a
> > standard USB cable to connect to my system.  So nice.
> >
> >
> > "Simon" <news@gornall.net> wrote in message
> > news:2006091508283364440-news@gornallnet...
> > > So, having bought the V4FX-12 kit from NuHorizons, it arrived with a
> > > parallel-port JTAG cable. Normally I'd be just *fine* with this, but today
> > > my new quad-xeon Mac-pro arrives, and I bought that specifically to get
> > > some oomph in P&R (running linux using "parallels", of course).
> > >
> > > The mac doesn't have a parallel port. Ahhh. Is there a USB programming
> > > cable suitable for the FX-12 ? A fallback plan is to do most of the work
> > > on the Mac, but have a mini-itx machine next to it just for programming -
> > > the itx machine *does* have a // port, but it's woefully underpowered for
> > > any serious work on it...
> > >
> > > Ideas gratefully received :-)
> > >
> > > Simon
> > >

Did you mean the Tarfessock1?

We have slipped a little due to the amount of customer work that has
come in over the summer but will like be available in approximately 3-4
weeks. Our main limitation is the arrival of the cardbus frames and
covers which we are waiting for.

Darnaw1 and Craignell1/2 are roughly on the same timescale.

All of these designs are looking very good and I'm pleased with the
results that our team of engineers have achieved. Generally everything
that we said we were aiming for has been achieved in each of these
designs.

John Adair
Enterpoint Ltd.

google@gornall.net wrote:
> Paul wrote:
> > Digilent sells a USB JTAG cable.  The downside is it isnt compatible
> > with Xilinx drivers, so you have to download and use the digilent load
> > software.  This adds an extra step to the process, although ExPort (the
> > digilent software) will download the BIT file into the FPGA fine, you
> > have to take some additional steps to get an SVF file out of your MCS
> > file for the PROM, the load the PROM from the digilent software from
> > the SVF.
> >
> >
> > John_H wrote:
> > > I've been using the Xilinx Platform Cable USB for some time.  They now have
> > > a second generation out there with lower power *and* is lead free.  I only
> > > wish I could have multiple USBs connected at once since my Xilinx Spartan3E
> > > starter kit board has a "built-in" platform USB cable that just needs a
> > > standard USB cable to connect to my system.  So nice.
>
> Cheers, both :-)
>
> I've ordered one of the Xilinx USB ones. $150 for a cable seems ...
> overkill ... but I guess it'll work with just about all the devices I
> use from now on (still waiting for the Darnaw1 :-) Anything for a
> simple life :-)
> 
> Simon.

On 2006-09-17 01:03:05 -0700, "John Adair" <g1@enterpoint.co.uk> said:

> Did you mean the Tarfessock1?
> 
> We have slipped a little due to the amount of customer work that has
> come in over the summer but will like be available in approximately 3-4
> weeks. Our main limitation is the arrival of the cardbus frames and
> covers which we are waiting for.

No, I meant the Darnaw1 (S3S1200E module, yes ?) - it's for a different 
project than the V4FX board :-)

> Darnaw1 and Craignell1/2 are roughly on the same timescale.

I'm assuming the casual mention of a completely unknown (at least to 
me, and I can't find it on your site :-) board is a marketing ploy 
designed to tease out the question: "What is Craignell1 and 2 ?". Ok 
then [grin], dish!

Simon

Craignell family are are a set of DIL style 5V tolerant modules based on 
Spartan-3E. Mainly aimed at obsolete component replacement they can also be 
used for hobby electronics due to their mechanical pitch. I should have said 
there are actually 3 members of this family to release supporting DIL28, 
DIL32 and DIL40.

John Adair
Enterpoint Ltd. - Home of Broaddown4. The Ultimate Virtex-4 Development 
Board.
http://www.enterpoint.co.uk

"Simon" <news@gornall.net> wrote in message 
news:2006091710251416807-news@gornallnet...
> On 2006-09-17 01:03:05 -0700, "John Adair" <g1@enterpoint.co.uk> said:
>
>> Did you mean the Tarfessock1?
>>
>> We have slipped a little due to the amount of customer work that has
>> come in over the summer but will like be available in approximately 3-4
>> weeks. Our main limitation is the arrival of the cardbus frames and
>> covers which we are waiting for.
>
> No, I meant the Darnaw1 (S3S1200E module, yes ?) - it's for a different 
> project than the V4FX board :-)
>
>> Darnaw1 and Craignell1/2 are roughly on the same timescale.
>
> I'm assuming the casual mention of a completely unknown (at least to me, 
> and I can't find it on your site :-) board is a marketing ploy designed to 
> tease out the question: "What is Craignell1 and 2 ?". Ok then [grin], 
> dish!
>
> Simon
> 

John Adair wrote:
> Craignell family are are a set of DIL style 5V tolerant modules based on
> Spartan-3E. Mainly aimed at obsolete component replacement they can also be
> used for hobby electronics due to their mechanical pitch. I should have said
> there are actually 3 members of this family to release supporting DIL28,
> DIL32 and DIL40.
>
> John Adair
> Enterpoint Ltd. - Home of Broaddown4. The Ultimate Virtex-4 Development
> Board.
> http://www.enterpoint.co.uk
>
> "Simon" <news@gornall.net> wrote in message
> news:2006091710251416807-news@gornallnet...
> > On 2006-09-17 01:03:05 -0700, "John Adair" <g1@enterpoint.co.uk> said:
> >
> >> Did you mean the Tarfessock1?
> >>
> >> We have slipped a little due to the amount of customer work that has
> >> come in over the summer but will like be available in approximately 3-4
> >> weeks. Our main limitation is the arrival of the cardbus frames and
> >> covers which we are waiting for.
> >
> > No, I meant the Darnaw1 (S3S1200E module, yes ?) - it's for a different
> > project than the V4FX board :-)
> >
> >> Darnaw1 and Craignell1/2 are roughly on the same timescale.
> >
> > I'm assuming the casual mention of a completely unknown (at least to me,
> > and I can't find it on your site :-) board is a marketing ploy designed to
> > tease out the question: "What is Craignell1 and 2 ?". Ok then [grin],
> > dish!
> >
> > Simon
> >

Any info on the Craignell boards would be nice. Will these have
built-in platform flash?

They will use SPI prom for loading. The FPGA will be a Spartan-3E in a CP132 
package.

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

"radarman" <jshamlet@gmail.com> wrote in message 
news:1158670362.300984.116900@m73g2000cwd.googlegroups.com...
> John Adair wrote:
>> Craignell family are are a set of DIL style 5V tolerant modules based on
>> Spartan-3E. Mainly aimed at obsolete component replacement they can also 
>> be
>> used for hobby electronics due to their mechanical pitch. I should have 
>> said
>> there are actually 3 members of this family to release supporting DIL28,
>> DIL32 and DIL40.
>>
>> John Adair
>> Enterpoint Ltd. - Home of Broaddown4. The Ultimate Virtex-4 Development
>> Board.
>> http://www.enterpoint.co.uk
>>
>> "Simon" <news@gornall.net> wrote in message
>> news:2006091710251416807-news@gornallnet...
>> > On 2006-09-17 01:03:05 -0700, "John Adair" <g1@enterpoint.co.uk> said:
>> >
>> >> Did you mean the Tarfessock1?
>> >>
>> >> We have slipped a little due to the amount of customer work that has
>> >> come in over the summer but will like be available in approximately 
>> >> 3-4
>> >> weeks. Our main limitation is the arrival of the cardbus frames and
>> >> covers which we are waiting for.
>> >
>> > No, I meant the Darnaw1 (S3S1200E module, yes ?) - it's for a different
>> > project than the V4FX board :-)
>> >
>> >> Darnaw1 and Craignell1/2 are roughly on the same timescale.
>> >
>> > I'm assuming the casual mention of a completely unknown (at least to 
>> > me,
>> > and I can't find it on your site :-) board is a marketing ploy designed 
>> > to
>> > tease out the question: "What is Craignell1 and 2 ?". Ok then [grin],
>> > dish!
>> >
>> > Simon
>> >
>
> Any info on the Craignell boards would be nice. Will these have
> built-in platform flash?
>