Cheapest way to get a chipscope compatible cable?

Hi,
It seems like Chipscope only supports the original Xilinx cable...no other
JTAG cable would work. Anyone knows if there is a way to obtain one for
less than the very high 250$ they ask for?

Thanks,

Diego	   
					
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"dlopez" <d@designgame.ca> wrote in message 
news:XJadnTyZCM4EJYPWnZ2dnUVZ_gSdnZ2d@giganews.com...
> Hi,
> It seems like Chipscope only supports the original Xilinx cable...no other
> JTAG cable would work. Anyone knows if there is a way to obtain one for
> less than the very high 250$ they ask for?

I've got one of these:

http://www.absolute-data-services.co.uk/xilinx_platform_usb_cable.htm

A number of parallel port based cables, like our Prog2 cable, will
work for Chipscope/Impact tools. USB solutions are not readily
available as yet unless you are a student where there is an option for
a cheaper cable. We may offer something of a solution in a little
while but remains to be debugged as yet.

John Adair
Enterpoint Ltd.


On 8 Dec, 20:35, "dlopez" <d...@designgame.ca> wrote:
> Hi,
> It seems like Chipscope only supports the original Xilinx cable...no othe=
r
> JTAG cable would work. Anyone knows if there is a way to obtain one for
> less than the very high 250$ they ask for?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Diego =A0 =A0 =A0
>
> --------------------------------------- =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0
> This message was sent using the comp.arch.fpga web interface onhttp://www=
.FPGARelated.com

>A number of parallel port based cables, like our Prog2 cable, will
>work for Chipscope/Impact tools. USB solutions are not readily
>available as yet unless you are a student where there is an option for
>a cheaper cable. We may offer something of a solution in a little
>while but remains to be debugged as yet.
>
>John Adair
>Enterpoint Ltd.
>
>

Thanks for the reply,
I am a Student, but I couldn't find anything on the Xilinx website about
discounts...could you elaborate more?

I would definitely prefer a USB solution.

Thanks,
Diego	   
					
---------------------------------------		
This message was sent using the comp.arch.fpga web interface on
http://www.FPGARelated.com

For students http://www.digilentinc.com/Products/Detail.cfm?NavPath=3D2,395=
,716&Prod=3DXUP-USB-JTAG.
I have not used this myself but Digilent have had access to the Xilinx
programming circuit for some years so I would not expect any major
problems. Our solution will be something similar and will ship with
our development boards as an optional extra.

John Adair
Enterpoint Ltd. - Home of Drigmorn2. The Embedded FPGA Board.

On 8 Dec, 23:01, "dlopez" <d...@designgame.ca> wrote:
> >A number of parallel port based cables, like our Prog2 cable, will
> >work for Chipscope/Impact tools. USB solutions are not readily
> >available as yet unless you are a student where there is an option for
> >a cheaper cable. We may offer something of a solution in a little
> >while but remains to be debugged as yet.
>
> >John Adair
> >Enterpoint Ltd.
>
> Thanks for the reply,
> I am a Student, but I couldn't find anything on the Xilinx website about
> discounts...could you elaborate more?
>
> I would definitely prefer a USB solution.
>
> Thanks,
> Diego =A0 =A0 =A0
>
> --------------------------------------- =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0
> This message was sent using the comp.arch.fpga web interface onhttp://www=
.FPGARelated.com

John Adair <g1@enterpoint.co.uk> writes:

> A number of parallel port based cables, like our Prog2 cable, will
> work for Chipscope/Impact tools. USB solutions are not readily

Is the ChipScope/Impact software interface documented? Is there a way
I can write a plug-in for my programmer so that it will work with my
own programmer?

Petter
-- 
A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text.
Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?
A: Top-posting.
Q: What is the most annoying thing on usenet and in e-mail?

Petter Gustad <newsmailcomp6@gustad.com> wrote:
> John Adair <g1@enterpoint.co.uk> writes:

> > A number of parallel port based cables, like our Prog2 cable, will
> > work for Chipscope/Impact tools. USB solutions are not readily

> Is the ChipScope/Impact software interface documented? Is there a way
> I can write a plug-in for my programmer so that it will work with my
> own programmer?

 Petter

Are you kidding ?
-- 
Uwe Bonnes                bon@elektron.ikp.physik.tu-darmstadt.de

Institut fuer Kernphysik  Schlossgartenstrasse 9  64289 Darmstadt
--------- Tel. 06151 162516 -------- Fax. 06151 164321 ----------

Uwe Bonnes <bon@elektron.ikp.physik.tu-darmstadt.de> writes:

> Are you kidding ?

Not actually. I was hoping that Xilinx had specified some of the
interface to allow for 3rd party development of debugging interfaces.

Petter
-- 
A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text.
Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?
A: Top-posting.
Q: What is the most annoying thing on usenet and in e-mail?

Petter Gustad <newsmailcomp6@gustad.com> wrote:
> Uwe Bonnes <bon@elektron.ikp.physik.tu-darmstadt.de> writes:

> > Are you kidding ?

> Not actually. I was hoping that Xilinx had specified some of the
> interface to allow for 3rd party development of debugging interfaces.

I always bug Xilinx on fairs to document the interfaces, but while technical
people at the booth understand the point, they mostly tell that higher
levels in the company will strongly oppose.

So the release of the DLC10 cable clone on the SP601 board came as a
surprise, but it doesn't help with using other cables for Chipscope
communication.

One way for resolution could be that the Xilinx devellopers see the ease of
using the FT2232H and supply a cable with it. As the FT2232H needs no
firmware, other FT2232H cables would work too.

The other way would be to intercept the USB communication with the DLC9/10
(at least on Linux in the libusb level) and translate the DLC9/10 (already
reversed engineered) primitives to primitives for the target cable. Another
project on my list...

Bye
-- 
Uwe Bonnes                bon@elektron.ikp.physik.tu-darmstadt.de

Institut fuer Kernphysik  Schlossgartenstrasse 9  64289 Darmstadt
--------- Tel. 06151 162516 -------- Fax. 06151 164321 ----------

Uwe Bonnes wrote:
> 
> I always bug Xilinx on fairs to document the interfaces, but while technical
> people at the booth understand the point, they mostly tell that higher
> levels in the company will strongly oppose.
> 

No big surprise here: if they sell a cable worth about $10 in parts for 
$250 they think it's good busyness. Doesn't take into account the loss 
from bad PR this generates.
In any case there are now compatible Xilinx cable clones that are always 
available on e-bay for around $70 or so. In addition my understanding is 
that Digilent has a compatibility library now that allows their very 
inexpensive USB cable to be used with Xilinx tools. Didn't try it myself 
as I have both a genuine Xilinx cable and a clone from China that works 
just as well just in case.

-Alex.