Avnet Technical Support Terrible!!!

Is this the ML403 board?

No, this is Avnet's Virtex-4 Evaluation Board. Not sure if it has a corresponding reference rumber. It does have Xilinx PROM and Xilinx's Virtex-4 on the board.

The ML403 is Xilinx's own Development Board

Chris

What is the problem with the board? Maybe we can help. I guess it is the 'Virtex-4 FX12 Evaluation Board' with the OLED.

Kunal

Thanks. When I posted I was pretty steamed was probably venting more than looking for help. But, here's some of the details. I should have been more specific. It's the is the Virtex-4 LX60 Eval Board.

I don't actaully know where the issue(s) is/are. It could be in one of at least three places.

1. A board level issue.
2. The Platform Cable USB used to interface to JTAG
3. Xilinx's Impact software.

I have been attempting basic communication to the board. Nothing fancy. I tried using Impact's "Initialize Chain" command to see if the software could find and recognize the devices (PROM and Virtex-4) on the JTAG chain.

I get the following:

Identifying chain contents ....read count != nBytes, rc = 20000015. read failed 20000015. '1': : Manufacturer's ID =Unknown INFO:iMPACT:501 - '1': Added Device UNKNOWN successfully. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- write cmdbuffer failed 20000015. write cmdbuffer failed 20000015. write cmdbuffer failed 20000015. write cmdbuffer failed 20000015. write cmdbuffer failed 20000015. write cmdbuffer failed 20000015. '2': : Manufacturer's ID =Unknown INFO:iMPACT:501 - '1': Added Device UNKNOWN successfully. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- write cmdbuffer failed 20000015. write cmdbuffer failed 20000015. write cmdbuffer failed 20000015. write cmdbuffer failed 20000015. write cmdbuffer failed 20000015. write cmdbuffer failed 20000015. '3': : Manufacturer's ID =Unknown INFO:iMPACT:501 - '1': Added Device UNKNOWN successfully.

... And it goes on telling me that there's a huge number of UNKNOWN devices on the board

I have also tried checking the ID_REGISTER values with Impact and got the following.

// *** BATCH CMD : ReadIdcode -p 2 read count != nBytes, rc = 20000015. read failed 20000015. ERROR:iMPACT:583 - '2': The idcode read from the device does not match the idcode in the bsdl File. INFO:iMPACT:1578 - '2': Device IDCODE :

00000000111111000000001110010000 INFO:iMPACT:1579 - '2': Expected IDCODE: 00000001011010110100000010010011 write cmdbuffer failed 20000015. write cmdbuffer failed 20000015. write cmdbuffer failed 20000015.

...

Which looks to me like the communication is just Garbage. I have tripple checked and the Board's Jumpers are all positioned correctly for JTAG.

I have also opened up a Web Case with Xilinx, but am still waiting to get some more information back.

If anyone has some insight I'd be very thankful to get some feedback.

Thanks!

"Waage" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news: snipped-for-privacy@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...

Hi Chris,

1) what avnet told you first was good and correct, its EASIER to get FPGA tools to run on Windows then Linux. It just is like that.

2) Impact is not software. its nightmare.

3) USB Cable as the 'newest' one seems still to have most problems.

So you fixed issue 1 what is under your control, but now you are stuck with an nightmare called impact and usb cable.

There is unfortunatly little you can do:

1) jtag chain debugging, with impact, measure signals... boring timeconsuming most likely will only give you info that everything seems to be ok and SHOULD work

2) try use ChipScope to check the chain, the low level drivers/access of chipscope and impact are different, sometimes the other one works !

3) open webcase, and be ready to prepare lot of impact log file, they will ask for them, or to speed up add the log files to your webcase to speed up the issue.

4) make more steam to avnet

I could suggest to try our jtag software but as usb cable protocol is prop. we dont support it (only parallel cables)

As the readback was something else than contstan 0or1 then I think the board is not completly dead, and that the jtag chain actually is scannable, so its some tool issue.

make sure the usb cable is updated, well in our case 1 of 2 usb cable stopped to work completly after firmware update, but in that case you can return it, or open another webcase

Antti PS we have also an Avnet FX board (LX25) I idid order it the minut it was announced, it was the FIRST V4 board announced as 'available' - first Avnet did delay about 6 months !!! then when I got the board only to find out that XMD does not suport usb cable and Virtex 4!!!! so I was not able todo any EDK system debugging on that board. The board itself works also with usb cable I think, the issue was only with the combination of V4+usb cable+edk xmd

Does anyone know if using XMD over the USB cable (specifically the newer Platform USB Cable from Xilinx) is possible these days? I wasn't sure if you were only referencing your first experience Antti. I just picked up a ML403 with the Platform USB cable, and am hoping to be able to debug over XMD with it...on Windoze,that is...

Thanks, John

schrieb im Newsbeitrag news: snipped-for-privacy@g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...

was

Avnet

that

any

cable+edk

not sure. the usb cable works. the xmd works. V4 is supported. just at the time I needed them together they did not together. I think there have been no edk service packs since that so possible the issues still remains. in that case you would need to wait for EDK 8.1 update scheduled for dec 2005.

maybe I am wrong and there is a patch fix for the issue, after getting frustrated at first attempts I have had no more time to play with that board.

Antti

Antti,

Thanks for all your input.

I have done as you suspected, and I have downloaded an evaluation version of ChipScope. And now I have one more datapoint. ChipScopePro can not find the JTAG chain, but it can find the USB box. It reports that a connection has been made to Platform USB and then reports...

ERROR: Failed detecting JTAG chain.

So, at least at this point I am VERY suspecious a communication issue from USB to JTAG. Does anyone know if there's some way to snoop the communication inside the Platform Cable?

Avnet do seem to be basically useless.

The problems I had with the last Avnet board were that, due to use of engineering sample silicon for the Flash to program the Xilinx, the download cable MUST NOT be plugged in at power-up; basically the power ramp to the flash is slowed down too much so the flash breaks the jtag chain.

So, try powering the board up without the cable plugged in, then plug the cable in to the LX board.

I hope this fixes your problem, coz I am about to try to start downloading to my LX60 board any minute now.

Thanks Gavin,

I tried what you suggest, powering up the board before plugging in the download cable. Unfortunately, the behavior is still the same.

I have contacted my local Avnet FAE and he is setting up a similar board with USB cables and getting his environment setup and working. Then I am traveling to him with my board and cables and we'll swap in my stuff one piece at a time and see if we can't identify the problem.

So, to be fair Avnet is helping me get through the issue.