Xilinx ParallelCable IV vs. Linux

[Stephen Williams]

Does anybody know if the Xilinx Paralel cable IV cable can
be made to work under Linux w/ ISE 6.1i.03? And to make it
even more interesting, my Linux is AMD64, will the driver work
at all on this system?


..... and while we're on the subject, the Linux driver source is
itself is pretty basic. Is there programming informatino for the
cable that one can use to write custom software to drive the
device.
--
Steve Williams "The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
steve at icarus.com But I have promises to keep,
http://www.icarus.com and lines to code before I sleep,
http://www.picturel.com And lines to code before I sleep."

 

[Neil Glenn Jacobson]

The following solution record should help:

http://support.xilinx.com/xlnx/xil_ans_display.jsp?iLanguageID=1&iCountryID=1&getPagePath=18612

There is information that allows for customized cable use.

Stephen Williams wrote:

Does anybody know if the Xilinx Paralel cable IV cable can
be made to work under Linux w/ ISE 6.1i.03? And to make it
even more interesting, my Linux is AMD64, will the driver work
at all on this system?


.... and while we're on the subject, the Linux driver source is
itself is pretty basic. Is there programming informatino for the
cable that one can use to write custom software to drive the
device.

 

[Stephen Williams]

Neil Glenn Jacobson wrote:

The following solution record should help:

http://support.xilinx.com/xlnx/xil_ans_display.jsp?iLanguageID=1&iCountryID=1&getPagePath=18612


There is information that allows for customized cable use.

Not really. There is driver source, but all that does is allow
one to write programs to send bytes to the device. That does not
say what the interesting byte streams are. For example, is it a
bit-banged JTAG interface, or are there high-level commands that
the device understands.

I've downloaded and looked at the driver source in the tar file.
It is a very thin layer. This basically tells me there are ways
to send bytes, but nothing about what those bytes should be.

And these app notes say that Linux support starts with ISE 6.2i.
That is not what I was hoping to hear.

--
Steve Williams "The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
steve at icarus.com But I have promises to keep,
http://www.icarus.com and lines to code before I sleep,
http://www.picturel.com And lines to code before I sleep."

 

[Neil Glenn Jacobson]

Sorry - typo - there is NO information that allows customized for cable use.

The solution record describes how to make the driver work for iMPACT on
other Linux platforms.

Stephen Williams wrote:

Neil Glenn Jacobson wrote:

The following solution record should help:

http://support.xilinx.com/xlnx/xil_ans_display.jsp?iLanguageID=1&iCountryID=1&getPagePath=18612


There is information that allows for customized cable use.


Not really. There is driver source, but all that does is allow
one to write programs to send bytes to the device. That does not
say what the interesting byte streams are. For example, is it a
bit-banged JTAG interface, or are there high-level commands that
the device understands.

I've downloaded and looked at the driver source in the tar file.
It is a very thin layer. This basically tells me there are ways
to send bytes, but nothing about what those bytes should be.

And these app notes say that Linux support starts with ISE 6.2i.
That is not what I was hoping to hear.

 

[Neil Glenn Jacobson]

Sorry - typo -

There is NO information that allows for customized cable use.

The cable is for use only with Xilinx-supplied applications

Stephen Williams wrote:

Neil Glenn Jacobson wrote:

The following solution record should help:

http://support.xilinx.com/xlnx/xil_ans_display.jsp?iLanguageID=1&iCountryID=1&getPagePath=18612


There is information that allows for customized cable use.


Not really. There is driver source, but all that does is allow
one to write programs to send bytes to the device. That does not
say what the interesting byte streams are. For example, is it a
bit-banged JTAG interface, or are there high-level commands that
the device understands.

I've downloaded and looked at the driver source in the tar file.
It is a very thin layer. This basically tells me there are ways
to send bytes, but nothing about what those bytes should be.

And these app notes say that Linux support starts with ISE 6.2i.
That is not what I was hoping to hear.

 

[Stephen Williams]

Neil Glenn Jacobson wrote:

Sorry - typo -

There is NO information that allows for customized cable use.

The cable is for use only with Xilinx-supplied applications

And the Xilinx applications with ISE 6.1i cannot use it under
Linux. Correct?


--
Steve Williams "The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
steve at icarus.com But I have promises to keep,
http://www.icarus.com and lines to code before I sleep,
http://www.picturel.com And lines to code before I sleep."

 

[General Schvantzkoph]

On Fri, 11 Jun 2004 11:31:18 -0700, Stephen Williams wrote:

Does anybody know if the Xilinx Paralel cable IV cable can
be made to work under Linux w/ ISE 6.1i.03? And to make it
even more interesting, my Linux is AMD64, will the driver work
at all on this system?


.... and while we're on the subject, the Linux driver source is
itself is pretty basic. Is there programming informatino for the
cable that one can use to write custom software to drive the
device.

The driver is tied to the kernel in Redhat 8.0 (I think it's 2.4.17). They
don't have a patch for a modern kernel.

 

[Stephen Williams]

General Schvantzkoph wrote:

On Fri, 11 Jun 2004 11:31:18 -0700, Stephen Williams wrote:


Does anybody know if the Xilinx Paralel cable IV cable can
be made to work under Linux w/ ISE 6.1i.03? And to make it
even more interesting, my Linux is AMD64, will the driver work
at all on this system?


The driver is tied to the kernel in Redhat 8.0 (I think it's 2.4.17). They
don't have a patch for a modern kernel.

The driver source is available, so it is *not* tied to RedHat 8.
There is an APP note that covers this.

--
Steve Williams "The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
steve at icarus.com But I have promises to keep,
http://www.icarus.com and lines to code before I sleep,
http://www.picturel.com And lines to code before I sleep."

 

[Neil Glenn Jacobson]

Stephen Williams wrote:

Neil Glenn Jacobson wrote:

Sorry - typo -

There is NO information that allows for customized cable use.

The cable is for use only with Xilinx-supplied applications


And the Xilinx applications with ISE 6.1i cannot use it under
Linux. Correct?

No. Applications like iMPACT and ChipScope should be able to use the
cables under Linux

 

[Stephen Williams]

Neil Glenn Jacobson wrote:

Stephen Williams wrote:

Neil Glenn Jacobson wrote:

Sorry - typo -

There is NO information that allows for customized cable use.

The cable is for use only with Xilinx-supplied applications



And the Xilinx applications with ISE 6.1i cannot use it under
Linux. Correct?



No. Applications like iMPACT and ChipScope should be able to use the
cables under Linux

Even if this is iMPACT bundled with ISE *6.1i*? I was under the
impression (based on APP notes and the like) that under Linux,
iMPACT starts supporing the PCIV cable at ISE 6.2. Certainly, when
I start impact, the radio button for Parallel Cable IV is grayed
out. Are you saying that when the cable arrives, I'll be able to
plug it in, install the Linux driver, and un-gray the selection?

--
Steve Williams "The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
steve at icarus.com But I have promises to keep,
http://www.icarus.com and lines to code before I sleep,
http://www.picturel.com And lines to code before I sleep."

 

[Stephen Williams]

Neil Glenn Jacobson wrote:

Stephen Williams wrote:

Neil Glenn Jacobson wrote:

Sorry - typo -

There is NO information that allows for customized cable use.

The cable is for use only with Xilinx-supplied applications



And the Xilinx applications with ISE 6.1i cannot use it under
Linux. Correct?



No. Applications like iMPACT and ChipScope should be able to use the
cables under Linux

Even if this is iMPACT bundled with ISE *6.1i*? I was under the
impression (based on APP notes and the like) that under Linux,
iMPACT starts supporing the PCIV cable at ISE 6.2. Certainly, when
I start impact, the radio button for Parallel Cable IV is grayed
out. Are you saying that when the cable arrives, I'll be able to
plug it in, install the Linux driver, and un-gray the selection?

--
Steve Williams "The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
steve at icarus.com But I have promises to keep,
http://www.icarus.com and lines to code before I sleep,
http://www.picturel.com And lines to code before I sleep."

 

[Neil Glenn Jacobson]

Stephen Williams wrote:

Neil Glenn Jacobson wrote:



Stephen Williams wrote:

Neil Glenn Jacobson wrote:

Sorry - typo -

There is NO information that allows for customized cable use.

The cable is for use only with Xilinx-supplied applications




And the Xilinx applications with ISE 6.1i cannot use it under
Linux. Correct?



No. Applications like iMPACT and ChipScope should be able to use the
cables under Linux


Even if this is iMPACT bundled with ISE *6.1i*? I was under the
impression (based on APP notes and the like) that under Linux,
iMPACT starts supporing the PCIV cable at ISE 6.2. Certainly, when
I start impact, the radio button for Parallel Cable IV is grayed
out. Are you saying that when the cable arrives, I'll be able to
plug it in, install the Linux driver, and un-gray the selection?

You know sometimes I wonder just how awake I am...
Yes, Linux usage of the parallel cable was first supported in 6.2i thus
all statements about Xilinx application support refer to release 6.2i
and later.
This means that if you are unable to upgrade to 6.2i or later and need
to use the parallel cable and Linux then you are stuck.
The (slower) MultiLINX cable is your only download option on Linux
previous to 6.2i
Sorry for all the confusion but I think we have it straightened out now.

 

[Stephen Williams]

Neil Glenn Jacobson wrote:

Stephen Williams wrote:

Even if this is iMPACT bundled with ISE *6.1i*? I was under the
impression (based on APP notes and the like) that under Linux,
iMPACT starts supporing the PCIV cable at ISE 6.2. Certainly, when
I start impact, the radio button for Parallel Cable IV is grayed
out. Are you saying that when the cable arrives, I'll be able to
plug it in, install the Linux driver, and un-gray the selection?


You know sometimes I wonder just how awake I am...
Yes, Linux usage of the parallel cable was first supported in 6.2i thus
all statements about Xilinx application support refer to release 6.2i
and later.
This means that if you are unable to upgrade to 6.2i or later and need
to use the parallel cable and Linux then you are stuck.
The (slower) MultiLINX cable is your only download option on Linux
previous to 6.2i

I use ISE Foundation in support of my Icarus Verilog work. I use
it to make sure Icarus Verilog simulations can support the various
libraries shipped with Xilinx products, and I also use the back end
tools to help me validate the FPGA code generator. (I generate EDIF
files that I feed to map/par and FPGAEdit.)

I have various Xilinx based boards that are a product of day-job,
and also a few other demo boards that people are likely to use while
playing with Icarus Verilog. (A Digilent board, a Wallace JTAG board,
an in-house PPC based board, another in-house board w/ Virtex and ACE...)

Since this is a open source (read: GPL, free) project, I can't really
afford the $2000+ of ISE. In fact, my current ISE 6.1i is a generous
contribution from your employer.

So yes, I'm stuck. But it's not holding me up.


--
Steve Williams "The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
steve at icarus.com But I have promises to keep,
http://www.icarus.com and lines to code before I sleep,
http://www.picturel.com And lines to code before I sleep."

 

[Rudolf Usselmann]

Stephen Williams wrote:

Does anybody know if the Xilinx Paralel cable IV cable can
be made to work under Linux w/ ISE 6.1i.03? And to make it
even more interesting, my Linux is AMD64, will the driver work
at all on this system?


.... and while we're on the subject, the Linux driver source is
itself is pretty basic. Is there programming informatino for the
cable that one can use to write custom software to drive the
device.

Stephen,

not sure if this will help:

I have faced the same problem - not being able to program
Xilinx Devices using Xilinx Software and Xilinx hardware
under linux. So I wrote a small dumb program that can take
a bit stream and directly upload it to an FPGA.

You can find it here: http://www.asics.ws/tools/ljp.c.gz

This works with both Parallel Cable 3 and 4.

Regards,
rudi
========================================================
ASICS.ws ::: Solutions for your ASIC/FPGA needs :::
...............::: FPGAs * Full Custom ICs * IP Cores :::
FREE IP Cores -> http://www.asics.ws/ <- FREE EDA Tools

 

[Philip Freidin]

On Fri, 11 Jun 2004 11:31:18 -0700, Stephen Williams <spamtrap@icarus.com> wrote:

Does anybody know if the Xilinx Paralel cable IV cable can
be made to work under Linux w/ ISE 6.1i.03? And to make it
even more interesting, my Linux is AMD64, will the driver work
at all on this system?


.... and while we're on the subject, the Linux driver source is
itself is pretty basic. Is there programming informatino for the
cable that one can use to write custom software to drive the
device.

I am not sure how relevant this is, but there is some source code
and other notes in the FAQ: "Downloading a Bitstream under Linux"
Here's the URL

http://www.fpga-faq.com/FAQ_Pages/0028_Downloading_a_Bitstream_under_Linux.htm




===================
Philip Freidin
philip.freidin@fpga-faq.com
Host for WWW.FPGA-FAQ.COM

 

[Jan Panteltje]

**** Post for FREE via your newsreader at post.usenet.com ****

On a sunny day (Thu, 17 Jun 2004 12:29:34 +0700) it happened Rudolf Usselmann
<russelmann@hotmail.com> wrote in <car9vf$tp5$1@nobel.pacific.net.sg>:

Stephen Williams wrote:


Does anybody know if the Xilinx Paralel cable IV cable can
be made to work under Linux w/ ISE 6.1i.03? And to make it
even more interesting, my Linux is AMD64, will the driver work
at all on this system?


.... and while we're on the subject, the Linux driver source is
itself is pretty basic. Is there programming informatino for the
cable that one can use to write custom software to drive the
device.


Stephen,

not sure if this will help:

I have faced the same problem - not being able to program
Xilinx Devices using Xilinx Software and Xilinx hardware
under linux. So I wrote a small dumb program that can take
a bit stream and directly upload it to an FPGA.

You can find it here: http://www.asics.ws/tools/ljp.c.gz

This works with both Parallel Cable 3 and 4.

Regards,
rudi
I get:

claim parport: Invalid argument
I am using kernel 2.4.25.
Any ideas? This comes from:
if (ioctl(d, PPCLAIM)) err(-1, "claim parport");

Nevertheless interesting code.
Regards
JP


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[Jan Panteltje]

**** Post for FREE via your newsreader at post.usenet.com ****

On a sunny day (Thu, 17 Jun 2004 05:39:28 GMT) it happened Philip Freidin
<philip@fliptronics.com> wrote in
<rhb2d0p905uo73cmostsda9j6nf16ogu2v@4ax.com>:

On Fri, 11 Jun 2004 11:31:18 -0700, Stephen Williams <spamtrap@icarus.com> wrote:

Does anybody know if the Xilinx Paralel cable IV cable can
be made to work under Linux w/ ISE 6.1i.03? And to make it
even more interesting, my Linux is AMD64, will the driver work
at all on this system?


.... and while we're on the subject, the Linux driver source is
itself is pretty basic. Is there programming informatino for the
cable that one can use to write custom software to drive the
device.

I am not sure how relevant this is, but there is some source code
and other notes in the FAQ: "Downloading a Bitstream under Linux"
Here's the URL

http://www.fpga-faq.com/FAQ_Pages/0028_Downloading_a_Bitstream_under_Linux.htm
I have taken that source, added a makefile, and added a way to add the

bit filename in the command line, also added some error checking.
http://ip51cf87c4.direct-adsl.nl/panteltje/download/impact-fl-0.1.tgz
Untar with tar -zxvf impact-fl-0.1.tgz

JP





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[Jan Panteltje]

**** Post for FREE via your newsreader at post.usenet.com ****

On a sunny day (Thu, 17 Jun 2004 16:44:17 +0000 (UTC)) it happened Uwe Bonnes
<bon@elektron.ikp.physik.tu-darmstadt.de> wrote in
<cashp1$6vi$1@news.tu-darmstadt.de>:

Do you have the ppdev kernel module loaded? If no, do it. If yes, do you
have any other device claiming the papalle port loaded (e.g. a parallel
port CDROM or such). If yes, unload. Try again.

Bye
Did some testing, there is no module named ppdev.

panteltje:~# lsmod | grep p
parport_pc 14192 1 (autoclean)
lp 6592 0 (autoclean)
parport 24992 1 (autoclean) [parport_pc lp]

Removing and insmodding any of these does make no difference, except now I get:
open parport: No such device
Of cause I have /dev/parport0 etc...
Maybe I should not be using /dev/parport?
JP

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[Uwe Bonnes]

Jan Panteltje <pNaonStpealmtje@yahoo.com> wrote:
: >rudi
: I get:
: claim parport: Invalid argument
: I am using kernel 2.4.25.
: Any ideas? This comes from:
: if (ioctl(d, PPCLAIM)) err(-1, "claim parport");

: Nevertheless interesting code.
: Regards

Do you have the ppdev kernel module loaded? If no, do it. If yes, do you
have any other device claiming the papalle port loaded (e.g. a parallel
port CDROM or such). If yes, unload. Try again.

Bye
--
Uwe Bonnes bon@elektron.ikp.physik.tu-darmstadt.de

Institut fuer Kernphysik Schlossgartenstrasse 9 64289 Darmstadt
--------- Tel. 06151 162516 -------- Fax. 06151 164321 ----------

 

[Neil Glenn Jacobson]

Stephen Williams wrote:

Neil Glenn Jacobson wrote:

Stephen Williams wrote:


Even if this is iMPACT bundled with ISE *6.1i*? I was under the
impression (based on APP notes and the like) that under Linux,
iMPACT starts supporing the PCIV cable at ISE 6.2. Certainly, when
I start impact, the radio button for Parallel Cable IV is grayed
out. Are you saying that when the cable arrives, I'll be able to
plug it in, install the Linux driver, and un-gray the selection?



You know sometimes I wonder just how awake I am...
Yes, Linux usage of the parallel cable was first supported in 6.2i
thus all statements about Xilinx application support refer to release
6.2i and later.
This means that if you are unable to upgrade to 6.2i or later and need
to use the parallel cable and Linux then you are stuck.
The (slower) MultiLINX cable is your only download option on Linux
previous to 6.2i


I use ISE Foundation in support of my Icarus Verilog work. I use
it to make sure Icarus Verilog simulations can support the various
libraries shipped with Xilinx products, and I also use the back end
tools to help me validate the FPGA code generator. (I generate EDIF
files that I feed to map/par and FPGAEdit.)

I have various Xilinx based boards that are a product of day-job,
and also a few other demo boards that people are likely to use while
playing with Icarus Verilog. (A Digilent board, a Wallace JTAG board,
an in-house PPC based board, another in-house board w/ Virtex and ACE...)

Since this is a open source (read: GPL, free) project, I can't really
afford the $2000+ of ISE. In fact, my current ISE 6.1i is a generous
contribution from your employer.

So yes, I'm stuck. But it's not holding me up.

If you just want to download, you can use the free WebPACK version of
iMPACT. This would include the latest software and be backward
compatible with bitstreams generated from any version of ISE ou have.
So you are not actually stuck.