iMPACT Boundary-Scan Error

Hi, a few months ago I purchased a Spartan-3 Starter Kit from Xilinx. It had been working fine up until recently. I never had any problems configuring the device via iMPACT (using the Parallel III cable included in the kit), but now whenever I run Boundary-Scan Mode I get the error code "585", with it saying:

// *** BATCH CMD : Identify PROGRESS_START - Starting Operation. Identifying chain contents .... done. ERROR:iMPACT:585 - A problem may exist in the hardware configuration. Check that the cable, scan chain, and power connections are intact, that the specified scan chain configuration matches the actual hardware, and that the power supply is adequate and delivering the correct voltage. PROGRESS_END - End Operation.

When I load the ".cdf" file I had saved from previous download attempts that were successful, I get the error "1210":

// *** BATCH CMD : setMode -bs Validating chain... INFO:iMPACT:1209 - Testing for '0' at position 12.The Instruction capture of the device 2 does not match expected capture. INFO:iMPACT:1206 - Instruction Capture = '11111111111111' INFO:iMPACT:1207 - Expected Capture = 'XXXX01000XX001' ERROR:iMPACT:1210 - '2':Boundary-scan chain test failed at bit position '1'. A problem may exist in the hardware configuration. Check that the cable, scan chain, and power connections are intact, that the specified scan chain configuration matches the actual hardware, and that the power supply is adequate and delivering the correct voltage.

I don't have any idea why this would happen. The only wires connected to the board is the power supply's wire and the JTAG cable. It is set in the mode I have used in the past to configure the device. The power supply hasn't changed either.

I've tried using different designs to download to it but they give me the same error as well.

Can anyone help me? I have searched Google for an answer but the only things I saw were too general and didn't seem to apply to my situation.

Sorry if anything I said didn't make sense; I'm a beginner to the FPGA scene. Thanks for your help.

Sincerely, Darien A. Gothia

Reply to
Darien A. Gothia
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try the File-Start Debug Chain to see if the JTAG is alive at all. From what you wrote I would say either cable is broke or bad contact or the FPGA is fully dead. If cable is OK, the JTAG pins connected then you should see the device in impact no matter the config setting on fpga

antti

Reply to
Antti Lukats

the FPGA is fully dead. If cable is OK, the JTAG pins connected then you should see the device in impact no matter the config setting on fpga

I'm pretty sure the FPGA isn't dead; I had it load the factory default configuration from the Platform Flash device and it worked fine.

I've tried running the Debug Chain prior to posting my original message, but it seemed the JTAG was okay. Like I said, I'm a beginner to this, but looking online I was somewhat able to figure out how it works and tried making sure the FSM was okay. I tested every transition and they all worked. I didn't try doing the other tests the debug mode gives you though, should I do this? If so, is there a place where I could get a tutorial on how to do so? Thanks a lot for your help.

-DG

Reply to
Darien A. Gothia

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