Hello. I picked up this Spartan-3AN development board to follow along this good book: "FPGA Prototyping by VHDL Examples", Xilinx Spartan -3 Version, by Phong P. Chu. The book appears to be published by Wiley-Interscience. It's a very good book to learn VHDL with.
Dr. Chu recommended using ISE version 8.2 and Modelsim XE III. I tried using the latest ISE version (14.7), but it kept crashing. What I would like to ask is, can you recommend a tool-chain that is still available, and is compatible with the Spartan 3 series boards?
I am able to synthesize a project using ISE 8.2, but I can't program it with the IMPACT tool, per the book. The book describes how to perform the programming process using a "boundary scan" via the JTAG interface. I do not have the JTAG dongle, so I'm tyring to use the on-board USB programmer, but I can't find any information on how to use it.
I saw one post mentioning a tool called "Adept", so I tried downloading it. It requires a "bash" tool to install it, so I gave on that. I would spend more time on it if I knew what is the correct tool-chain to use, given that this is an old outdated board with little support.
Should I try to get the latest version of ISE working, or find the programming software to use that USB programmer? Another approach would be to buy a dongle, but I'm not sure which one to get.
My JTAG interface is 2x6 pins. It looks like the same set of pins on each row, so I don't know if 1x6 interface will work. Digilent has 2 USB dongles, one is 14 pins (Jtag 2), and the other is 6 (Jtag 3). Each one is about $60, so I didn't want to just guess by buying that 1x6 (Jtag 3) programming dongle.
It seems to me that the Type B USB cable connector was made for programming, but I don't know what software it will work with. The IMPACT tool keeps crashing when I try to communicate with my board.
I can do synthesis and generate the bit file, but I can't program it. I also can't run the debugger. Could someone please make a suggestion to help extend the life of these excellent Spartan-3 boards?
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RichardV
Hello. I picked up this Spartan-3AN development board to follow along this good book: "FPGA Prototyping by VHDL Examples", Xilinx Spartan -3 Version, by Phong P. Chu. The book appears to be published by Wiley-Interscience. It's a very good book to learn VHDL with.
Dr. Chu recommended using ISE version 8.2 and Modelsim XE III. I tried using the latest ISE version (14.7), but it kept crashing. What I would like to ask is, can you recommend a tool-chain that is still available, and is compatible with the Spartan 3 series boards?
I am able to synthesize a project using ISE 8.2, but I can't program it with the IMPACT tool, per the book. The book describes how to perform the programming process using a "boundary scan" via the JTAG interface. I do not have the JTAG dongle, so I'm tyring to use the on-board USB programmer, but I can't find any information on how to use it.
I saw one post mentioning a tool called "Adept", so I tried downloading it. It requires a "bash" tool to install it, so I gave on that. I would spend more time on it if I knew what is the correct tool-chain to use, given that this is an old outdated board with little support.
Should I try to get the latest version of ISE working, or find the programming software to use that USB programmer? Another approach would be to buy a dongle, but I'm not sure which one to get.
My JTAG interface is 2x6 pins. It looks like the same set of pins on each row, so I don't know if 1x6 interface will work. Digilent has 2 USB dongles, one is 14 pins (Jtag 2), and the other is 6 (Jtag 3). Each one is about $60, so I didn't want to just guess by buying that 1x6 (Jtag 3) programming dongle.
It seems to me that the Type B USB cable connector was made for programming, but I don't know what software it will work with. The IMPACT tool keeps crashing when I try to communicate with my board.
I can do synthesis and generate the bit file, but I can't program it. I also can't run the debugger. Could someone please make a suggestion to help extend the life of these excellent Spartan-3 boards?
Thank you, Richard V
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