ISE 8.1i for Linux ?

Hi.

I got the same thing about 3 months ago. It's an excellent value.

I've never tried the Windows version, but 8.1.03i is apparently full-featured. I used to have problems programming the flash when I used the 7.1(?) Webpack, but these days it works almost perfectly. Simulations aren't working for me; I suspect it's a $PATH issue and it'll probably work for you.

You will be able to do everything up to generating the programming file. The drivers, however, are 32-bit only - so you can't actually program it when running a 32-bit kernel.

I'm not a professional user by any means, but I say if it works in the OS you're comfortable with, then there should be no problem.

It most certainly can! In the new project wizard: Family: Spartan 3 Package: FT256 Speed: -4

I never tried any of the evaluation software they sent with the board, but it should be an intuitive transition.

As of 8.1.03i, they have the code editor/main interface, the constraints editor and iMPACT converted to QT (yay). the rest is WindU (ugh, needs DISPLAY=":0" workaround and portmap to be running).

No problem.

Dan

I believe the only thing missing is StateCAD.

I run the Linux ISE 8.1 in FreeBSD under ABI emulation and I have this problem.

I *did* find a program which will program a Spartan 3 via the Xilinx III cable -

I haven't used it very much but it does seem to work fine (it can also program a flash chip)

I really wish Xilinx would open source the cableserver TCP protocol and a basic bit bang implementation.. It would make my life a lot simpler :) (Not to mention the current cableserver spins chewing CPU if the program that connected to it crashes [which iMpact is prone to do] ...)

I think it's the other way around.. Everything *but* iMpact is Qt :)

Also I've found in *BSD portmap/rpcbind needs to run in insecure mode (ie -i)

No.

================================================================= TO: Home Brew Robotics Club Silicon Valley Linux Users Group

WHAT: This note briefly describes how to get the Xilinx FPGA development tools to work on Linux

To learn FPGA design I followed in the steps of Chris Palmer of the HBRobotics Club and ordered a Digilent "Spartan-3 Board" for $99. You can order one at

Download the Xilinx free WebPACK 8.1i development software from the Xilinx web site. You have to register, but it is not too intrusive. The download is almost 900MB. Xilinx provides an IDE that looks like a C and Tcl/Tk wrapper around a bunch of command line tools. Instead of trying to keep up with the latest kernels and libraries, Xilinx just puts every library and executable it needs into the download and makes the tool completely self-contained. They missed libXm.so.3 and I had to copy it from a Fedora Core 3 system. (They built the IDE on Red Hat Enterprise Edition 3). For the record, I use Mandriva 2006 but it does not seem to matter too much which distribution you use.

The key to getting the Xilinx tools to work on Linux is to follow the directions at

As root, install the software with "sh WebPACK_81i_SFD.sh". Run the software as root and select HELP->Software_Updates to get the latest updates from the Xilinx web site.

The quick start is in Xilinx/doc/usenglish/books/docs/qst.pdf. Open this with xpdf or evince and follow the directions to create, build, and download a four bit counter. I made a typo error when editing the design and the tools wouldn't let me proceed until I fixed the error.

I am just learning Verilog / VHDL but I'd be happy to help if you want help getting to your first download of an FPGA circuit.

Bob Smith

Very cool. BTW, you should add a link to the club site. Looks like a number of interesting topics!

There is also a new board, called the Spartan-3E Starter Kit board that has a larger-density FPGA, lots of Flash, a display, DDR SDRAM, etc.

It is available for US$149 from the Xilinx store.

It too is fully supported by WebPack 8.1i. The kit also includes an evaluation version of the EDK software, which includes the 32-bit FPGA-based MicroBlaze RISC core and peripherals.

The user guide is available here ...

... and there are various reference designs available as well.

--------------------------------- Steven K. Knapp Applications Manager, Xilinx Inc. General Products Division Spartan-3/-3E FPGAs

--------------------------------- The Spartan(tm)-3 Generation: The World's Lowest-Cost FPGAs.

Dan McDonald wrote about using ISE on Linux:

Dan obviously meant that you can't program devices when running a

Xilinx, *please* give us 64-bit cable drivers in the next service pack, or at least the next release (8.2i?)!

Thanks! Eric

An easy way to achieve that would be to drop WinDriver and use the standard drivers like /dev/parport or USB access by a dedicated driver or by direct endpoint access via /proc/bus/usb

Uwe Bonnes writes: |> > Xilinx, *please* give us 64-bit cable drivers in the next service |> > pack, or at least the next release (8.2i?)! |> |> An easy way to achieve that would be to drop WinDriver and use the standard |> drivers like /dev/parport or USB access by a dedicated driver or by direct |> endpoint access via /proc/bus/usb

I second that! There is really no reason any longer to expose users to all the inconvenience of compiling and installing a loadable kernel module (which BTW will invalidate SUSE support), merely to talk to a simple USB programming cable. It is perfectly feasible for a normal user application to talk to usbfs on /proc/bus/usb directly (or via a library such as libusb).

(A certain competitor has figured out already a while ago how really easy using an FPGA USB programming cable can be made under Linux:

All that is really necessary is that root installs a tiny hotplug-invoked shell script that makes the /proc/bus/usb/ device file writeable for any user once the USB programming cable has been plugged in, and even that script could be included into the next hotplug release.)

Apart from the big hassle with the USB platform cable kernel driver, ise8.1i does seem to work reasonably well under SUSE Linux 9.3.

Markus

Pity their Linux design tools are not free though :)

I would prefer a binary (eg CableServer) with an open spec (and open source in my wildest dreams) which iMpact/ChipScope/etc talk to.

That way I could port it to FreeBSD and be able to do everything there instead of having to use a third part programming tool :)

Would also mean I could debug CableServer so it doesn't eat all the CPU when iMpact crashes.

I *did* file a web case on it :)