JTAG-HS2 software to program SPI devices

[Eric Thompson]

We have a couple JTAG-HS2 devices that we are using to program FPGAs.

I see on the Digilent site that the JTAG-HS2 also has an SPI mode. I have an SPI flash part that I would like to program, a Microchip 25AA256-I/SN. 

What I can't find is any software for using the JTAG-HS2 for SPI programming. I see mention of the SPI mode in the software SDK. 

Does Digilent have software for programming SPI devices using the JTAG-HS2?

Thanks.

[JColvin]

Hi Eric,

I don't know this for certain, but I believe the Adept software with the SDK will let you program SPI devices with the JTAG-HS2. You can download Adept 2 and the SDK from its Resource Center page here. I haven't personally used this before though, so I'll ask some of our applications engineers about this and they'll get back to you here on the forum.

Thanks,
JColvin

[artvvb]

Hi Eric,

You can use Xilinx's Vivado to program the Quad SPI Flash on many Digilent boards. A tutorial for loading a configuration file, so that the board will program itself on startup, is found at https://reference.digilentinc.com/nexys-video:pg in step 5. To my knowledge, this is achievable with any board that both works with Vivado and has QSPI Flash.

I haven't personally attempted to load non-bitstream files onto the Quad SPI Flash, but worst case, you could create a project to transfer data through the FPGA. A possible solution would be to set up a Microblaze processor and use an AXI Quad SPI module - to communicate with the flash memory - as well as an AXI UARTLite module - to receive your data from a PC. Each of these modules are provided by Xilinx in the Vivado IP Integrator.

Thanks,

Arthur Brown