Hi everybody,
I am looking for an open source JTAG programmer/debugger and stumbled across the Bus Blaster. I am fairly new to working with CPLD's, FPGA's and was wondering if it is possible to program my Xilinx chips with impact using the Bus Blaster? I read about the "XILINX tools driver" but couldn't find any firm answer on what is really possible then. So far I only used a parallel programmer for programming but a parallel port is kinda hard to find nowadays ;)
thanks in advance
You can use BusBlaster in linux with ISE using this driver:
http://rmdir.de/~michael/xilinx/ (http://rmdir.de/~michael/xilinx/)
You can also use it to program the CPLD on buspirate.
It is certainly not the fastest solution. But it works.
You can also generate SVF file from impact, and use UrJTAG to play the file. It will "program" the PLD device much faster, but you will loose the interactivity of impact.
cool, thanks for your answer. But using the Bus Blaster with ISE only works under Linux and no other OS?
Well, there is no driver for ft2232 chips for ise under windows. So yes only linux is supported right now.
Note that even ft2232 driver on linux "works" with iMPACT it is incredibly slow. It simulates the parallel jtag cable, I don't know how slow the real parallel cable is, but it is 2-3 times faster to manually create XSVF using iMPACT and load it into cpld/fpga using urjtag compared to how it works with the par port emulation..
If you are doing something "big", need chipscope etc etc, I really recommend getting a proper xilinx platform usb cable (or making one)
btw there's a nice hack if you use ALTERA but I didn't see anyone selling Xilinx usb platform cable clone so far. The schematic is available and I heard ppl successfully made it ... I think I have all the parts and that I'm about to try to make one too but .. time ..
too bad but thanks for your answers nonetheless...
I thought that this discussion was about a xilinx USB platform cable clone that worked in impact:
viewtopic.php?f=19&t=3363&p=33247#p33212 (http://dangerousprototypes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=3363&p=33247#p33212)
ebay is now loaded with various clones of that cable, who knows if they work. Search
for "xilinx usb platform cable" and you'll see them starting at $37, buy-it-now. They even have
the trademarked logo and the part number DLC9G.
http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/dsjtag ... ?cPath=174 (http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/dsjtag-2-in-1-usb-jtag-cable-for-fpgacpld-p-1040.html?cPath=174)
that is also xilinx platform usb cable
all those clones are xilinx platform usb cable 1. It works but all dev kits I seen have xilinx usb platform cable II, xilinx talk mostly about platform cable II and also I'm not sure if with 1 you can work with all devices and have all voltage levels and what the speed difference is ... I have all the parts to make platform cable 2, and schematic, need to make a pcb and try it out, just, need to get some time first
I poked around throught the xilinx datasheets on the dlc9g and dlc10, the primary
difference seems to be that the dlc9g uses an unspecified CPLD for the I/O and
the dlc10 uses a spartan-3a. It also has an extra I/O line (HALT_INT_WP), and
an internal unique serial number. The dlc9g manual doesn't say if there is an SN.
It looks like the available timings and voltages are the same.
Both manuals say that IMPACT will program the adapter microcontroller and upgrade
the internal CPLD/FPGA as necessary so I guess that if the hardware is properly cloned
then the software takes care of itself.
Where did you get the hardware info on the xilinx platform cable? Is it public?
I only have a dlc5, which xilinx says not to use on any chips that fry on 5V, like the CR-II
and the spartans. It looks the the issue is that they used 74125s that can't be driven
above Vcc so the parallel port frys the interface when Vcc==3.3V. So my digilent board
is stuck in windows due to their built in AVR based USB programmer. (or use my BP).
it started from here: http://www.fpgacentral.com/group/fpga/x ... yee-91466/ (http://www.fpgacentral.com/group/fpga/xilinx-usb-cable-schematic-now-officially-publised-yippiiyee-91466/)
I can't find that original pdf (the pdf was source of some dev kit that included platform cable 2 on pages 14-16) but attached the files from mikrokontroler.net that should correctly display that part of the schematic