Problem downloading with parallel converter

[Hendra Gunawan]

Hi folks,
My laptop does not have a parallel port. So, I bought this PCMCIA to
parallel port converter. http://www.quatech.com/catalog/parallel_pcmcia.php
It claims to work exactly like a native parallel port. But I have problem
using it with my FPGA.
10% of the time, it works perfectly. But 90% of the time, I get an error
while downloading the bit stream to the FPGA. Impact gives me the following
error messages:

Device #1 selected
//*** BATCH CMD : Program - p 1
PROGRESS_START - Starting Operation
Validating chain...
Boundary-Scan chain validated successfully.
'1'rogramming device...
done.
INFO:iMPACT:579 - '1':Completed downloading bit file to device.
INFO:iMPACT:580 - '1':CHecking done pin ... done.
'1': Programming terminated, Done did not go high.
PROGRESS_END - End Operation.
Elapsed time = 10 sec.

All the download attempts, the successfull and un-successfull one, use the
same bitstream file. My FPGA is D2E from digilent.cc. I have Webpack 6.2i
with latest service pack installed, Windows XP Professional, PIII 700MHz and
256 MB RAM. Does anyone have any suggestion on how to fix the problem? Is
there any other PCMCIA to parallel port converter, other than spp-100 from
Quatech, that is available in the market?
Please help, I really need to use this FPGA for doing my work!
Thanks a lot in advance!

Hendra

 

[Gary A. Gorgen]

Hendra Gunawan wrote:

10% of the time, it works perfectly. But 90% of the time, I get an error
while downloading the bit stream to the FPGA. Impact gives me the following
error messages:

I had a problem like this with a batch of cpu boards.
The first set worked, with no problem.
The second set, failed like you describe.
The only difference in the boards, were day-codes on the SIO chip.

The problem was INIT getting glitched, I think.
Try it on some different machines, or a USB parallel port.
You may have to get out the scope to find it.

--
Gary A. Gorgen | "From ideas to PRODUCTS"
tunxis@comcast.net | Tunxis Design Inc.
| Cupertino, Ca. 95014

 

[Peter Seng]

"Hendra Gunawan" <u1000393@email.sjsu.edu> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:c5c9lk$6lunr$1@hades.csu.net...

Hi folks,
My laptop does not have a parallel port. So, I bought this PCMCIA to
parallel port converter.
http://www.quatech.com/catalog/parallel_pcmcia.php
It claims to work exactly like a native parallel port. But I have problem
using it with my FPGA.
10% of the time, it works perfectly. But 90% of the time, I get an error
while downloading the bit stream to the FPGA. Impact gives me the
following
error messages:

Device #1 selected
//*** BATCH CMD : Program - p 1
PROGRESS_START - Starting Operation
Validating chain...
Boundary-Scan chain validated successfully.
'1'rogramming device...
done.
INFO:iMPACT:579 - '1':Completed downloading bit file to device.
INFO:iMPACT:580 - '1':CHecking done pin ... done.
'1': Programming terminated, Done did not go high.
PROGRESS_END - End Operation.
Elapsed time = 10 sec.

All the download attempts, the successfull and un-successfull one, use the
same bitstream file. My FPGA is D2E from digilent.cc. I have Webpack 6.2i
with latest service pack installed, Windows XP Professional, PIII 700MHz
and
256 MB RAM. Does anyone have any suggestion on how to fix the problem? Is
there any other PCMCIA to parallel port converter, other than spp-100 from
Quatech, that is available in the market?
Please help, I really need to use this FPGA for doing my work!
Thanks a lot in advance!

Hendra

Hello,

1.) what are the parallel port settings You use? SPP, PS2, EPP or ECP
mode?
If possible, try all in above order. Most incompatible mode is ECP mode.
We randomly suggested Quatech SPP-100 to our customers using our
parallel-port based products, never had problems...

2.) what kind of download cable do You use?
Xilinx parallel cable III (DLC5) or newer cable (parallel cable IV)?
This newsgroup tells that DLC5 may have some problems depending on PC, setup
and circomstances. But never had those problems ourselves. Try to find hints
in the newsgroup archieve, some people use a cap at a pin....


with best regards,

Peter Seng


#############################
SENG digitale Systeme GmbH
Im Bruckwasen 35
D 73037 Göppingen
Germany
tel +7161-75245
fax +7161-72965
eMail p.seng@seng.de
net http://www.seng.de
#############################

 

[Hendra Gunawan]

"Peter Seng" <NOSPAM@seng.de> wrote in message
news:c5g43e$jhp$1@online.de...

Hello,

1.) what are the parallel port settings You use? SPP, PS2, EPP or ECP
mode?
If possible, try all in above order. Most incompatible mode is ECP mode.
We randomly suggested Quatech SPP-100 to our customers using our
parallel-port based products, never had problems...

Hi Peter, first of all, thanks for answering my questions.
How do I know which settings I have?
In device manager, it shows that I have LPT1, no interrupt and IO range but
it doesn't say anything about the port settings.

2.) what kind of download cable do You use?
Xilinx parallel cable III (DLC5) or newer cable (parallel cable IV)?

I have regular parallel cable. I believe it is the same with the parallel
cable that people use for parallel scanner and backup tape drive.
Thanks in advance!

Hendra

 

[Matthew E Rosenthal]

Hendra,
I doubt this will help much but I have a parallel IV cable and I have had
some times where it only works intermittently. It works pretty
consistently for days and then for no apparent reason in starts acting
real wacky. i.e. done did not go high, parallel tap navigation failure
I hypothesize that sometimes its cuz something is wrong with the jtag
chain but 2 things i try to fix the issue are.
1. try downloading the design with chipscope instead of impact.
2. try to program any proms on your board instead of programming the
device itself.

Those steps may lead to some more useful debug output.
for some reason the d/l in chipscope seems to work a higher percentage of
time.

matt

On Tue, 13 Apr 2004, Hendra Gunawan wrote:

"Peter Seng" <NOSPAM@seng.de> wrote in message
news:c5g43e$jhp$1@online.de...
Hello,

1.) what are the parallel port settings You use? SPP, PS2, EPP or ECP
mode?
If possible, try all in above order. Most incompatible mode is ECP mode.
We randomly suggested Quatech SPP-100 to our customers using our
parallel-port based products, never had problems...

Hi Peter, first of all, thanks for answering my questions.
How do I know which settings I have?
In device manager, it shows that I have LPT1, no interrupt and IO range but
it doesn't say anything about the port settings.

2.) what kind of download cable do You use?
Xilinx parallel cable III (DLC5) or newer cable (parallel cable IV)?

I have regular parallel cable. I believe it is the same with the parallel
cable that people use for parallel scanner and backup tape drive.
Thanks in advance!

Hendra

 

[Peter Seng]

Hello Hendra,

comments see down:


"Hendra Gunawan" <u1000393@email.sjsu.edu> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:c5i2ao$6mpr9$1@hades.csu.net...

"Peter Seng" <NOSPAM@seng.de> wrote in message
news:c5g43e$jhp$1@online.de...
Hello,

1.) what are the parallel port settings You use? SPP, PS2, EPP or ECP
mode?
If possible, try all in above order. Most incompatible mode is ECP mode.
We randomly suggested Quatech SPP-100 to our customers using our
parallel-port based products, never had problems...

Hi Peter, first of all, thanks for answering my questions.
How do I know which settings I have?
In device manager, it shows that I have LPT1, no interrupt and IO range
but
it doesn't say anything about the port settings.

First try to make changes to the parallel port settings - see Quatech
documentation. If You can not change the mode, try to set base adress to
3BCh (this address should not be capable to work in EPP or ECP mode) or
contact Quatech and ask if the mode can be set to a user defined status.
Interupts are of no interest - they are not used by parallel cable III.
SPP and PS2 ports use a range of 3 adresses, EPP uses a range of 8 adresses
and ECP uses two ranges of 8 adresses.
Which I/O adresses are accessed (adresses and range)?

2.) what kind of download cable do You use?
Xilinx parallel cable III (DLC5) or newer cable (parallel cable IV)?

I have regular parallel cable. I believe it is the same with the parallel
cable that people use for parallel scanner and backup tape drive.
Thanks in advance!

??? do You use the Xilinx cable and a standard parallel cable to make the
Xilinx cable longer? If yes, try to use the Xilinx cable without the
extension. If You need to make the Xilinx cable longer be shure to use a
cable with all pins connected, meaning all ground and all signal pins of the
25-pin connectors are connected in a 1:1 fashion.
Look at the hints in the archieve of this newsgroup for any topics
concerning parallel cable III. Can´t give you hints cause we never had
problems with this cable, and most times we use our own download device,
emulating parallel cable III (but with very different hardware, amplifieing
and filtering).

Hendra

good luk,

Peter Seng


#############################
SENG digitale Systeme GmbH
Im Bruckwasen 35
D 73037 Göppingen
Germany
tel +7161-75245
fax +7161-72965
eMail p.seng@seng.de
net http://www.seng.de
#############################

 

[Hendra Gunawan]

"Peter Seng" <NOSPAM@seng.de> wrote in message
news:c5iov3$sfa$1@online.de...

First try to make changes to the parallel port settings - see Quatech
documentation. If You can not change the mode, try to set base adress to
3BCh (this address should not be capable to work in EPP or ECP mode) or
contact Quatech and ask if the mode can be set to a user defined status.
Interupts are of no interest - they are not used by parallel cable III.
SPP and PS2 ports use a range of 3 adresses, EPP uses a range of 8
adresses
and ECP uses two ranges of 8 adresses.
Which I/O adresses are accessed (adresses and range)?

I use 0378-037F. According to the quatech manual, the only configuration
mode that use standard port mode is configuration #9. I tried to change to
that mode but it won't let me to set the base address to 03BC because it is
used for another device.
Could you tell me the address range for SPP, PS2, EPP and ECP so I can play
with it?

??? do You use the Xilinx cable and a standard parallel cable to make the
Xilinx cable longer?

No, I don't use Xilinx cable at all. My FPGA board is a simple one.
https://digilent.us/Sales/Product.cfm?Prod=D2E
I just connect the board to my laptop using a standard parallel cable.
https://digilent.us/Sales/Product.cfm?Prod=PLLCBL
Thank You!

Hendra

 

[Peter Seng]

Hello Hendra,

see down please:


----- Original Message -----
From: "Hendra Gunawan" <u1000393@email.sjsu.edu>
Newsgroups: comp.arch.fpga
Sent: Saturday, April 17, 2004 1:58 AM
Subject: Re: Problem downloading with parallel converter

"Peter Seng" <NOSPAM@seng.de> wrote in message
news:c5iov3$sfa$1@online.de...
First try to make changes to the parallel port settings - see Quatech
documentation. If You can not change the mode, try to set base adress to
3BCh (this address should not be capable to work in EPP or ECP mode) or
contact Quatech and ask if the mode can be set to a user defined status.
Interupts are of no interest - they are not used by parallel cable III.
SPP and PS2 ports use a range of 3 adresses, EPP uses a range of 8
adresses
and ECP uses two ranges of 8 adresses.
Which I/O adresses are accessed (adresses and range)?


I use 0378-037F. According to the quatech manual, the only configuration
mode that use standard port mode is configuration #9. I tried to change to
that mode but it won't let me to set the base address to 03BC because it
is
used for another device.
Try to set the occupying device to another address, or if possible disable

it.

Could you tell me the address range for SPP, PS2, EPP and ECP so I can
play
with it?
Standard base adresses are 3BCh, 378h, 278h (named LPT1-LPT3, in this

order), but 3BCh is the only not able to be set to EPP or ECP mode. Ranges
see above. EPP and ECP may use a secondary adress range at baseadress +
400h.

??? do You use the Xilinx cable and a standard parallel cable to make
the
Xilinx cable longer?

No, I don't use Xilinx cable at all. My FPGA board is a simple one.
https://digilent.us/Sales/Product.cfm?Prod=D2E
The hardware does not look as it is Xilinx compatible, different drivers and

missing capacitors.... On our systems we also use different drivers and no
capacitors at all - but we do it inside an FPGA - and we also had problems
first - so we included digital filtering (instead of capacitors) and it
worked afterwards.
-> Try to built or lend a Xilinx download cable (Parallel cable III,
schematic on the net, see Xilinx). If it works use this.
or
-> try to connect a 1nF capacitor between TCK and GND of Your board. Not
shure if it works....
and/or
-> ask digilent what to do, describe your problems

I just connect the board to my laptop using a standard parallel cable.
https://digilent.us/Sales/Product.cfm?Prod=PLLCBL
Thank You!

Hendra

good luk,


Peter

#############################
SENG digitale Systeme GmbH
Im Bruckwasen 35
D 73037 Göppingen
Germany
tel +7161-75245
fax +7161-72965
eMail p.seng@seng.de
net http://www.seng.de
#############################

 

[Hendra Gunawan]

"Peter Seng" <NOSPAM@seng.de> wrote in message
news:c5vttk$4df$1@online.de...

Standard base adresses are 3BCh, 378h, 278h (named LPT1-LPT3, in this
order), but 3BCh is the only not able to be set to EPP or ECP mode. Ranges
see above. EPP and ECP may use a secondary adress range at baseadress +
400h.

Hi Peter, apparantely I can not use 03BC at all. It is used for Pentium II
to AGP Bridge controller. I can not modified its IO range at all and if I
disable it, my computer run at 640x480.

The hardware does not look as it is Xilinx compatible, different drivers
and
missing capacitors.... On our systems we also use different drivers and no
capacitors at all - but we do it inside an FPGA - and we also had problems
first - so we included digital filtering (instead of capacitors) and it
worked afterwards.
-> Try to built or lend a Xilinx download cable (Parallel cable III,
schematic on the net, see Xilinx). If it works use this.
or
-> try to connect a 1nF capacitor between TCK and GND of Your board. Not
shure if it works....
and/or
-> ask digilent what to do, describe your problems

I will try the capacitor trick and just email digilent. Let's see how it
works and I will report back.
Thanks for your time!

Hendra