Configuration of Arty A7 using 6 pin JTAG

[Fadi]

Hey Everyone,

Has anyone successfully set up the Arty A7 using the 6-pin JTAG connector? If so, what essential information should I be aware of for this configuration?

[JColvin]

Hi @Fadi,

I have configured the Arty A7 through the 6-pin JTAG connector (J8 on the underside of the board). I would personally consider the following details to be relevant.

• Because the Artix 7 FPGA only has one TAP controller to facilitate a JTAG connection, you'll only be able to configure/use the ILA on the board through one connection at a time; either this 6-pin JTAG on J8 or through the microUSB port on J10.
• There is no integrated UART/serial terminal connection on J8 as the FTDI USB/JTAG solution is not connected to this port. You might be able to get some serial data through BSCAN primitives through the Xilinx software suite in SDK/Vitis, but Digilent doesn't have support for this particular setup.
• You'll need an external JTAG programmer of some kind to connect to J8 in order to be able to configure the board as the on-board FTDI solution is not connected to this port.
• The board will need some sort of external power supply as you cannot power the board through this connection.
• If you're using port as an alternate way to configure the device with an existing bitstream without needing to install Vivado (perhaps for out of the office configuration), make sure your solution facilitates all of the configuration styles you need. Digilent's Adept software for example does not have support for configuring the flash memory. (In theory, you could configure the flash via Adept with a SVF file, but I was unsuccessful programming the flash with an SVF file directly from Vivado. Your mileage may vary)
• There might be more things, but that's what I can think of at the moment.

Thanks,
JColvin

[concept]

Hello @JColvin

I have similar questions regarding the jtag connector J8

1- If I install J8, do I need to disable the usb/jtag device so it doesn't interfere with the jtag?  unfortunately Digilent hides the schematic page on how the jtag is hooked up, so it is not clear from the existing documents

2- What is the partnumber of the connector (with zig/zag pins) that goes in J8?

thanks,

Matt

[JColvin]

Hello,

I responded to your other thread here:

Thanks,
JColvin