CMOD A7 Unable to program

[StijnVM]

Hi guys,

I wanted to get into FPGA's using the CMOD A7 board. I first installed Vivado on an ArchLinux installation and was able to program the board (after starting the hw_server manually). Unfortunately, after programming the board one time and resetting it, I could no longer program it. cjtgcfg enum returned no devices. Fiddled around a bit and gave up. 

Then I switched to windows and was expecting a more stable experience. Unfortunately, Vivado never discovered the board.

I have tried reinstalling Vivado, the Adept system/utilities, different USB cables, (tried about 4) but nothing comes up.. FTDI's FT Prog however discovers the FT2232H device while Adept/Vivado is unable to discover the device..

It seems multiple people on this forum seem to have stability issues with this board in Vivado but some are able to program it using the Adept utilities or using different USB cables. See this thread
Since I have only seen it being discovered once in Linux and never on Windows, I want to make sure I'm not missing anything.. I included a screenshot with some necessary info.. Does anyone see something out of the ordinary? Or any other suggestions?

In the meantime I will keep trying with any cable I get my hands on but since it's not unstable but completely dead (The interface anyways.. The FPGA still responds to button presses etc) I'm thinking it might be something else.

 

Thanks!

[jpeyron]

Hi @StijnVM,

I have sent you a pm about this issue.

thank you,

Jon

[xc6lx45]

You can try a different PC or at least USB ports. The polyfuses on the USB interface side can cause nasty surprises.

Please note that you are not allowed to change any programming using FT_PROG. In other words, pressing CTRL-P once will most likely render the board unusable.

[D@n]

@StijnVM,

FT_PROG will render the board unusable?  Likely.  Recoverable?  Definitely.

If you have reprogrammed the board at all using FT_PROG, please say so--the Digilent staff has been more than helpful to folks recovering their boards from this problem, and it could help quickly cut down the troubleshooting time for your board.

Dan

[StijnVM]

I did not use the tool to reprogram the board. On purpose, anyway. ? But I can try it to rule out wrong programming.

 

[jpeyron]

Hi @StijnVM,

Are you using a powered usb hub? Your device manager screen shot shows what you should see for port and universal serial bus controller. Do you have any other FDTI devices connected to your pc?  One way to test if your usb cable can do data and not just power is connect a smart phone to your pc and you should be able to import photo and files.  Do you have another pc you can use to check the Cmod A7?

thank you,

Jon

[StijnVM]

First succesful attempt was with a powered USB3.0 hub. I tried directly, on all ports of the PC, with all my available cables.

I also have an FTDI USB-UART cable but I don't think it was connected at the time of the screenshot. 

All USB cables I tested are able to do data because the PC detects the chip.. See the FT_prog. Remember I also programmed it succesfully once.

I will check it on a different PC later this week.

Thanks guys, it seems like I'm not missing anything obvious yet.. Will continue to research

[StijnVM]

Thank you Jpeyron! I reprogrammed the eeprom with your tool and now Vivado can find the CMOD A7

No idea how it went wrong in the first place however.. If I find something, I will let you know.

Thanks everyone!

[jpeyron]

Hi @StijnVM,

Glad to here that your Cmod A7 is now being recognized by vivado.

thank you,

Jon