Updated from Vivado 2021.1 to 2022.1 and Genesys 2 FPGA Board license file stopped working.

[iree]

We purchased a Genesys 2 FPGA board from Digilent about 6 months ago. I installed the voucher based license for an OEM Kinetx-7 FPGA XC7K325T board under Vivado 2021.1 and everything worked fine. I just upgraded to Vivado 2022.1 and am having problems. I run the Manage Xilinx Licenses 2022.1 and it sees the license but indicates that the Host IDs Match = No. The DISK_SERIAL_NUM= an 8 character hex string starting with 0. In the License Manger View Host Information I see a the same 7 character hex string but it is missing the leading 0. When I look at the license I see “This is license NODELOCKED to HOSTID= the same 7 character hex string without the leading 0”. I have rebooted, updated Vivado reloaded the license, etc.. Is the missing leading zero causing my problem?

[iree]

I needed to install Vivado Enterprise to see the Genesys 2 board per post.

 

[asmi]

The license voucher only gives one year or upgrades, so for your case 2021.2 is likely the last version supported by your license. You can see it in your license manager (look at the "version limit" coluimn).

Edited June 22, 2022 by asmi

[zygot]

Your issue may well be a problem with the tools. A leading zero error is a typical software gaff. Since the tool claims that your ID doesn't match what's in the license ( though it did for the earlier tool versions ) such a scenario is a reasonable guess as to what's going on. You should be able to resolve this through AMD-Xilinx support ( if that's even possible these days ). It might be difficult but try and resolve this through yoru AMD-Xilinx user account.

Personally, I think that fewer tool releases are good for everyone now that the cadence of new devices has slowed. Unfortunately, the 1 year period for migrating node-locked licenses means that you are limited to fewer tool releases. Given the quantity of bugs in new tool releases verses typical benefit, that's not a bad thing; unless you need the functionality inly found in the latest...

BTW, the license is user readable and might help resolve what's going on. Edited June 22, 2022 by zygot

[iree]

Thanks, I have been working with AMD-Xilinx forum. I got the license sorted out now I cannot get the part or the Genesys 2 board to show up in Vivado. I downloaded the board files from Digilent and I can see the Genesys 2 and all of the other boards. But in Vivado I see most of the the Digilent boards but not Genesys 2.

 

[zygot]

It appears that AMD might be taking Xilinx in the same direction that Intel took Altera.

I'm curious about your Vivado Enterprise installation. Since this is a paid subscription version does this mean that you installed it as a 30 day evaluation? Vivado license manager should indicate how long your subscription lasts.

I interpret the language on the AMD-Xilinx Vivado product page as meaning that the free tools no longer support anything except the listed devices. They aren't clear about how what this means for new customers purchasing FPGA boards requiring a node-locked device license going forward. It certainly appears that AMD intends to mimic the Intel model of forcing customers into annual license fees for all but a few older devices.

If what I surmise is correct this is bad news for students and small companies. The free version of Quartus, for releases of the past few years, has been riddled with bugs that make it useless for some features like external memory controller IP, on certain OS hosts. If programmable logic is going to have a 2 tier system, in which there's the free tools that may or may not actually perform according to advertisement, and annual paid subcrtiption tools that just have the typical tool release bugs bugs then a lot of businesses will be in peril. Not many individuals or companies can afford $3K-7K per seat for the privileged of using a vendors product in their own products.

[asmi]

You can install "Enterprise" version if you want, as all license checks are performed when you start synthesis/P&R. You can use Enterpise without a license as long as you only use it for devices which are included into WebPack license (or devices covered by separate device-locked licenses you have). There is no real difference between "WebPack" and "Full" version, except the latter has support for all devices.

Edited June 24, 2022 by asmi

[zygot]

It's been so long that I've installed a new version of the tools with the intention of using a node-locked license that I forgot that it was the "full" version that I've been selecting. The wording on the official download site certainly has changed. I guess 73 GB verses 53 GB install download is significant. It would seem to be easier to follow Intel's approach and separate the device support install from the tools install. Since the user selects the device support desired at install time this would make things a lot easier for both vendor and customer. Of course, that 20 GB or so in difference between the two versions might not be all device data. I don't have an "enterprise" license so I can't make a comparison.