Good JTAG programmer for "Spartan-3 Starter Kit" - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / testgear

author: tom66
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 31, 2015, 04:59:49 pm
content: I was recently given a Xilinx Spartan-3 Starter Kit by DIGILENT, it's fairly old (2004) but seems like it would be a good start into the world of FPGAs. However the platform cable was missing, I only got the board, software (on CD) and manual. So, I would need to find some way to program this. What can I use?I was thinking about getting one of these:http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Xilinx-Platform-USB-Download-Cable-JTAG-Programmer-For-CPLD-FPGA-C-Mod-XC2C64A-/281560450280?pt=UK_Computing_Other_Computing_Networking&hash=item418e4f84e8Would that work?Thanks,

author: joeqsmith
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 31, 2015, 05:13:31 pm
content: Have a look at:http://www.digilentinc.com/Products/Catalog.cfm?NavPath=2,395&Cat=5I am using one currently. Cheap and they are MUCH MUCH faster than the Xilinx. Works with the Xilinx tools seamless (when you can get the Xilinx tools to work) .

author: tom66
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 31, 2015, 06:49:58 pm
content: Ouch - I don't want to seem cheap but I could pick up a Papilio One 250k, with an onboard programmer, for less than that... Are there any cheaper options?I'm just a hobbyist, so the speed of programming at the moment isn't extremely important to me.

author: bingo600
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 31, 2015, 10:18:14 pm
content: @TomI have one of those kits w. the "platform cable" as you call it.It's a "Xilinx ParPort" cable , and as i don't want to rely on having a ParPort om my Laptops , i have bought a clone that kools like the one you have linked to , a few years ago.My clone is working fine/Bingo

author: Mark
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 31, 2015, 11:34:45 pm
content: Hi Tom, the one in your first post works just like the genuine cable, I bought one a couple of weeks ago from the same seller and have been using it with no problems.

author: alex.forencich
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 01, 2015, 08:53:11 am
content: Quote from: tom66 on January 31, 2015, 04:59:49 pmI think I have 3 of those things. One at home, and two in the lab. They work perfectly. Well, we did have a couple of signal integrity issues with the wire leads, but that was solved with some careful positioning.

author: codeboy2k
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 01, 2015, 10:38:43 am
content: I have the Spartan 3E starter kit. It has a USB JTAG programmer onboard. You only need to use a USB port to program it, nothing else.Don't buy anything. Just plug in a USB cable, you need a flat to square, the USB A to USB B cable.It will enumerate as a Xilinx programmer.I've never done anything other than this to program that board.

author: tom66
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 01, 2015, 11:17:38 am
content: Unfortunately this board does not have a USB port. It is a very early Spartan-3 (not -E) board like this.It does have a serial port, but there's no programming logic on it that I can see, so I doubt it is capable of acting as a programmer over that.I think I'll get the Platform USB jig from China that seems to be recommended. Thanks all.

author: codeboy2k
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 01, 2015, 06:10:42 pm
content: Aw... sorry I misread. I thought you had the 3E board like mine.