[SOLD] Xilinx FPGA - Spartan 3E Starter Kit (UK) - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: RogerRowland
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 05, 2015, 02:41:34 pm
content: Apologies for bumping my old thread, but ....... does anyone in the UK (mainland preferred) want this FPGA board as pictured below (WYSIWYG)?After an unwelcome downturn in my health, I'm de-cluttering and re-focusing my hobbies in the time I have available and I keep tripping over this thing, which I can't use effectively and I'm just looking for some pennies to play with a CPLD instead.SOLDPostage to most of the UK is only going to be £10, so does anybody want this for £25+postage, Paypal only? If not, make me an offer?--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I'm not 100% sure if this is right for the Buy/Sell section, but it's my best guessBack in 2008, I bought a Spartan 3E Starter kit (for £134 inc) and played with it for a few days. Never really did anything other than change the wording that scrolled on the LCD.Now, I'd like to get myself more familiar with FPGA development and I dug out the box to find that this kit was obsoleted in 2011/12 by Xilinx and it's not supported by the latest software. Also, the last version of software that does support it doesn't run on Windows 10 (or Windows 8, or 7). So I'm a bit stuffed. I would rather use Windows because that's my normal development environment at home and work.I'm looking to buy or trade something similar - well similar capacity if not with exactly all the peripherals etc. - but I have no idea whether or not this bit of kit is worth anything.It's had almost zero use, and cost a lot (for me anyway) originally, so I'm reluctant to throw it out.Is it worth anything to anyone here? Open to offers (buy or trade), before I try my luck on eBay. UK only preferably. The pictures show exactly what's there and the last pic shows it working with the configuration which I'd last uploaded. The only thing I can't find is the adapter that converts the universal PSU to a UK power socket.Alternatively, if anyone can suggest a way I can still use this (believe me, I've tried everywhere and everything, except Linux, which I'd prefer not to do), advice appreciated.Thanks all

author: andy_silicon
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 05, 2015, 03:19:33 pm
content: Can you not install Xilinx ISE in an XP virtual machine ? ( use VirtualBox )As far as I recall - this Dev board is programmed through USB ?

author: bingo600
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 05, 2015, 03:22:51 pm
content: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/microcontrollers/guide-getting-xilinx-ise-to-work-with-windows-8-64-bit/msg479087/#msg479087

author: RogerRowland
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 05, 2015, 03:28:06 pm
content: Quote from: bingo600 on September 05, 2015, 03:22:51 pmYes, I've seen this and, as andy_silicon suggested, I did consider a VM. But to be honest, if I'm going to do this for any length of time I'd rather be using the latest tools on a single OS.However, if there's no mileage elsewhere, I'll probably re-think and give this a go. It just feels a tad unsatisfactory all round, if you know what I mean ....

author: SundayProgrammer
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: September 06, 2015, 06:02:37 am
content: Quote from: wilfred on September 05, 2015, 11:46:42 pmYep. I'm using ISE on 64-bit W7. ISE version 14.4 (64-bit).Axel.

author: 6thimage
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 06, 2015, 11:48:23 am
content: Quote from: wilfred on September 05, 2015, 11:46:42 pmI'm surprised you've got problems with Mint - I use xubuntu (15.04 at the moment) and it runs ISE fine. The only problem I have had is that I can't get the FPGA editor to work, but I never use it anyway. From what I remember, getting the JTAG interfaces to work can be a pain, but I don't remember it being that difficult (I use an FT2232H based solution at the moment which doesn't use impact).I'm a little annoyed by Xilinx not supporting the spartan 6 in vivado, I understand leaving the spartan 3 series behind, but the spartan 6 isn't that old. Considering vivado is an improved version of plan ahead, it seems very short sighted of them.I'm guessing RogerRowland is probably looking at the zynq boards (arm processor and fpga) as most people seem to be attracted to them (they are often cheaper than equivalent artix fpgas) - just be warned, you might spend quite a bit of time configuring the arm side of things.

author: RogerRowland
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 06, 2015, 11:54:49 am
content: Quote from: 6thimage on September 06, 2015, 11:48:23 amWell I wasn't .... but I am now! Thanks for the hint .... I'm probably more concerned with running something against up to date software. I could probably fudge the Spartan 3E and get it limping along on Windows 10, but it feels a bit of a dead end. I suspect others feel the same because nobody has pinged me with an offer for the board, so eBay is probably where it's heading ....

author: Godzil
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 06, 2015, 04:36:23 pm
content: Alternatively, you could go to an Altera FPGA, Terasic make cheap, official and good board, the DE0-Nano is a good FPGA board for ~£70, and even older version of quartus II (like the 13.0/13.1 if you need support for Cyclones III) works perfectly under Windows 7, 8 or 10 (Quartus II 14 and beyond only support Cyclones from the IV)How much do you want for the Spartan 3A board?But yes xilinx did a really bad move by not supporting Windows 8/10 on ISE:

author: RogerRowland
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 06, 2015, 04:42:30 pm
content: Quote from: Godzil on September 06, 2015, 04:36:23 pmNo idea ... I expect it's worth whatever someone would pay for it. Oh, and it's Spartan 3E, not 3A (if that makes a difference). If you'd like to make me an offer, just send a PM.... thanks for the Altera hint too, I see the Zynq boards are a bit to pricey for now ....

author: bingo600
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 06, 2015, 07:47:36 pm
content: I'm using ISE on Mint17 without any "serious install" troubles.And i'm using a xilinx (clone) programmer wo any problems.The same goes for Altera's QuartusIIThere are a few "quirks" that needs a little fix , or an extra library (xilinx pace comes to mind)/Bingo

author: RogerRowland
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 06, 2016, 09:49:22 am
content: **** bumped **** See edit to first post.

author: Godzil
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 31, 2016, 03:35:58 pm
content: Quote from: RogerRowland on September 06, 2015, 04:42:30 pmOh yes, sorry for the mistake, from memory the xA are the "normal" version, and xE are the IO count optimised version (or logic block count, can't remember)