Zybo Z7 20 DDR change to Zentel

[fenixzhang]

Hi,

I just purchase a Zybo Z7 20 board, the schematic from Digilent web show the DDR is Micron. But laser mark on the DDR on my board is Zentel A3T4GF40BBF. I don't see this memory part number in Vivado. Could some one teach me how to setup the DDR in Vivado？

Thank you!

[artvvb]

Hey @fenixzhang,

The Zentel and Micron parts are effectively drop-in replacements that don't require any changes to Vivado projects, so you can use existing materials like the Zynq preset in the board files as-is. That either part might be loaded isn't mentioned in the reference manual and we'll be sure to add some text to call it out. Apologies for the confusion.

Thanks,

Arthur

[fenixzhang]

Hi @artvvb

Thanks for the response!

However, I still have some question.

From the Zybo reference manual, the DDR3 memory is Micron MT41K256M16HA-125 DDRL

But I don't the exact DDR3L memory in memory part in Vivado.

Which memory part should I choose？

 

[zygot]

The DDR on the ZYBO is controlled by the PS. This means that you can't control it from the PL logic, so Vivado, and MIG isn't involved.

[asmi]

3 hours ago, zygot said:

The DDR on the ZYBO is controlled by the PS. This means that you can't control it from the PL logic, so Vivado, and MIG isn't involved.

He didn't imply that to be the case, and the screenshots he provided are clearly not of MIG's, but Vivado's Zynq configuration. It seems that he doesn't use the Zynq preset provided by Digilent for the board.

[artvvb]

Hi@fenixzhang

As asmi mentions, you don't need to select the part yourself. Block automation handles it for you by applying a Digilent-provided preset, which also requires using Digilent board files and a block design (if you really don't want to use IPI, there are likely still workarounds for pulling the provided parameters over). The preset also pulls in some other critical parameters like the delay introduced by PCB trace lengths. Do note that using the preset will result in some critical warnings related to those delays, caused by some changes in Xilinx's recommendations since the board was originally designed - these can be safely ignored.

Thanks,

Arthur

[asmi]

On 2/22/2023 at 2:04 PM, artvvb said:

Hi@fenixzhang

As asmi mentions, you don't need to select the part yourself. Block automation handles it for you by applying a Digilent-provided preset, which also requires using Digilent board files and a block design (if you really don't want to use IPI, there are likely still workarounds for pulling the provided parameters over). The preset also pulls in some other critical parameters like the delay introduced by PCB trace lengths. Do note that using the preset will result in some critical warnings related to those delays, caused by some changes in Xilinx's recommendations since the board was originally designed - these can be safely ignored.

Thanks,

Arthur

You might want to consider uploading a Zynq preset (.tcl file) for those who don't want to use the board files for some reason, as that preset file will let them configure Zynq to the board specification. If you open Zynq's IP dialog, there are options to save/load presets, that's how you can generate this file.

Edited February 24, 2023 by asmi

[fenixzhang]

On 2/22/2023 at 11:04 AM, artvvb said:

Hi@fenixzhang

As asmi mentions, you don't need to select the part yourself. Block automation handles it for you by applying a Digilent-provided preset, which also requires using Digilent board files and a block design (if you really don't want to use IPI, there are likely still workarounds for pulling the provided parameters over). The preset also pulls in some other critical parameters like the delay introduced by PCB trace lengths. Do note that using the preset will result in some critical warnings related to those delays, caused by some changes in Xilinx's recommendations since the board was originally designed - these can be safely ignored.

Thanks,

Arthur

Hi @artvvb Could you point me to the link that instruct how to apply the digilent-provided preset?

Hi all, thank you for the feedback！

[artvvb]

For using IPI, instructions are in here, you run block automation after adding the Zynq PS to the block design, and make sure the apply preset box is checked: Getting Started with Vivado and Vitis for Baremetal Software Projects

Without IPI, it's more complicated, and requires a file that you would need to export from the Zynq config with it loaded in IPI, which is where asmi's suggestion comes from - which we'll consider, I think it's a good idea.

Thanks,

Arthur

[fenixzhang]

17 hours ago, artvvb said:

For using IPI, instructions are in here, you run block automation after adding the Zynq PS to the block design, and make sure the apply preset box is checked: Getting Started with Vivado and Vitis for Baremetal Software Projects

Without IPI, it's more complicated, and requires a file that you would need to export from the Zynq config with it loaded in IPI, which is where asmi's suggestion comes from - which we'll consider, I think it's a good idea.

Thanks,

Arthur

Got it, thanks for the feedback!