Sparkfun Spartean3e Board

Hi

I have a SparkFun Spartan3e development board which uses an ATMEL AT45DB161D serial SPI flash for configuration. Here is a photo:

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I can program the FPGA using JTAG but can not figure out how to get ISE to program the SPI flash. All my attempts end with "Program Failed" messages. SparkFun has a utility to do this but they did not include direction on how to install and use the utility. Also this _should_ work from ISE, right?

Is anyone using this board? Any pointers on generating a .mcs file? Any pointers on how to program the SPI flash?

The Verilog project is just the four bit counter in the Xilinx tutorial.

thanks in advance Bob Smith

Reply to
Bob Smith
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I didn't think the SPI had a native link from the Xilinx tools. See (for example) the SPI programming designs for the Xilinx Spartan3E starter kit.

Look for "SPI" on the page:

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- John_H

Reply to
John_H

Usually there are either 2 seperate headers for JTAG and SPI programming or 1 header with a signal switch. Looking at the photo on your link there appear to be 2 headers with JTAG signals but with different pin layouts so these may be the 2 headers. Look up Xilinx XAPP455 for more information on the wiring aspect of using JTAG headers for SPI programming.

There is SPI programming support, in the Impact part of ISE, in the last few versions of ISE. It is a seperate menu option from the boundary scan option.

Once you find the option ensure the prom selection matches exactly your SPI device otherwise you will get errors. Your may also need to hold Prog_B low whilst programming the SPI to avoid drive conflicts. If you have a Parallel Cable III look-alike be careful of using extension cables. Often these cause issues.

John Adair Enterpoint Ltd. - Home of Drigmorn1. The Low Cost FPGA Development Board.

Reply to
John Adair

The Xilinx config parts have JTAG, so I don't think I've ever tried to use Impact directly.

There is a sample picoblaze system that programs SPI flash devices, though.

--
Ben Jackson AD7GD

http://www.ben.com/
Reply to
Ben Jackson

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