[hpsdr] HPSDR - FPGA updating

Sun Nov 8 04:35:16 PST 2009

Hi Chris,

Glad to hear that your results were successful.  I'm sure there is a finite 
number of times you can re-program the EEPROMs but I guess is going to be 
more than the life of the various cards.

In the past I've included both Janus and Phoenix in the JTAG chain so yes 
you can extend the chain as required. As I mentioned previously, Excalibur 
also completes the JTAG chain so you can leave that in situ when programming 
the other boards.

Using the Quartus programming software is quite good but I was hoping by now 
we would have an 'click and forget' way of doing the updating. Seems this is 
still a little way off.

I endorse your request for someone to document this process please.

73's Phil...VK6APH

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Chris Smith" <chris at vspl.co.uk>
To: <phil at pharman.org>
Cc: "HPSDR Reflector" <hpsdr at openhpsdr.org>
Sent: Sunday, November 08, 2009 8:24 PM
Subject: Re: [hpsdr] HPSDR - FPGA updating

Phil

Thanks for the response. As you can see from the subsequent exchange
I've now managed to put Roland's method into practise. It means that
Penny & Mercury can be updated in situ in Pandora. The only drawback,
if it can be so described, is that BOTH devices have to be programmed
each time. I don't know if there is a limit on the number of times
each device can be erased and reprogrammed. I imagine if there is a
limit it is is so large that it is unlikely to affect our usage.

As Roland's method is so useful maybe someone with documentation
skills should write it up as a step-by-step procedure?

I assume that those users who also have Janus plugged into Atlas can
extend this method to include Janus?

Cheers & 73

Chris
G4NUX

PS Apologies to those who like to adhere to "netiquette" but I cannot
agree that pre-quoting previous text is the right way to go. I want
the latest response at the top of the exchange and not have to scroll
down several pages to find the answer. I know that is going to upset
some people. However, someone coming to the thread late can still
catch up by starting at the "end" and working forward. That may
inconvenience the late-comer but makes life for those involved in the
thread soooo much easier. My three-pennyworth.

On 8 Nov 2009, at 00:05, Phil Harman wrote:

>> Roland/Phil
>>
>> Is the JTAG bus section of the Atlas bus bi-directional? Reason for
>> asking is that, using the excellent back-plate for Pandora, Ozy is
>> last on the bus with Penny/Mercury preceding. If I put the "Last
>> JTAG"
>> jumper on the board nearest the power connector (sorry, I'm working
>> from memory without the rig in front of me) will Roland's method
>> still
>> work?
>>
>> Cheers
>>
>> Chris
>> G4NUX
>>
>
> Hi Chris,
>
> Not its not - you have to have the boards in consecutive slots and Ozy
> farthest from the power connector.
>
> BTW, Excalibur has JTAG pass thought so you can add it anywhere in the
> JTAG chain and program the other boards as before.
>
> 73's Phil...VK6APH
>
>
>> On 7 Nov 2009, at 12:23, roland etienne wrote:
>>
>>> ***** High Performance Software Defined Radio Discussion List *****
>>>
>>> Some precisons:
>>>
>>> Instead of running the Altera Quartus IDE to access to the
>>> programmer, you
>>> can run a stand-alone version (the last is 9.1, a 122 MB file...).
>>>
>>> And of course, you can update only one of the device (Mercury or
>>> Penelope),
>>> so the best way to do it is:
>>> Auto-detect, and then select the device that you want to update, and
>>> change
>>> the file to load the correct .jic file, don't forgot to check the
>>> programm/configure checkbox for the device concerned, and then
>>> start, and
>>> wait..
>>>
>>> Hope that helps,
>>>
>>> 73, Roland F8CHK
>>>
>>>
>>> -----Message d'origine-----
>>> De : hpsdr-bounces at lists.openhpsdr.org
>>> [mailto:hpsdr-bounces at lists.openhpsdr.org] De la part de roland
>>> etienne
>>> Envoyé : samedi 7 novembre 2009 12:19
>>> À : phil at pharman.org; hpsdr at openhpsdr.org
>>> Objet : Re: [hpsdr] HPSDR - FPGA updating
>>>
>>> ***** High Performance Software Defined Radio Discussion List *****
>>>
>>> Hello,
>>>
>>> The process to update the Flash EEPROM on the Mercury and Penelope
>>> boards
>>> without having to move the boards, as we did before, is really
>>> simple using
>>> the programmer interface within Quartus.
>>>
>>> After loading the soft witch make Ozy appears as a usb-blaster, you
>>> run
>>> Quartus, in Tools you run Programmer, you choose USB-Blaster as
>>> hardware
>>> programming tool.
>>>
>>> To test the JTAG chain, you can run the auto-detect function, witch
>>> should
>>> show you the EP2C8 and the EP3C25 if everything is correct (last
>>> JTAG strap
>>> in good position, in my case the order of the boards is Ozy,
>>> Penelope, and
>>> Mercury in last position).
>>>
>>> After the auto-detect, delete the two devices, and add file, first
>>> the one
>>> for Penelope, and then the one for Mercury. These files are the
>>> *.jic files.
>>> Check the program checkbox for the EPCS4 and the EPCS16.
>>>
>>> Then start to program, and wait...
>>>
>>> Now that the boards are in Pandora, this process is painless!!
>>>
>>> Best 73,
>>> Roland F8CHK
>>>
>>>
>>> -----Message d'origine-----
>>> De : hpsdr-bounces at lists.openhpsdr.org
>>> [mailto:hpsdr-bounces at lists.openhpsdr.org] De la part de Phil Harman
>>> Envoyé : jeudi 30 juillet 2009 05:58
>>> À : hpsdr at openhpsdr.org
>>> Objet : [hpsdr] HPSDR – FPGA updating
>>>
>>> ***** High Performance Software Defined Radio Discussion List *****
>>>
>>> HPSDR – FPGA updating
>>>
>>> The process we currently use to update the flash EEPROM on the
>>> Mercury and
>>> Penelope boards was only ever intended to be an interim solution
>>> until we
>>> had a more convenient way of  doing it.
>>>
>>> Unfortunately, the volunteer who was going to undertake the project
>>> was
>>> unable to continue and the project has languished for a while.
>>>
>>> Basically what we do at the moment is to load some code into the FX2
>>> on
>>> Ozy that makes it look like and Altera  USB Blaster.  We then use
>>> standard
>>> Altera command line programs in a batch file to load the new data to
>>> the
>>> HPSDR board.
>>>
>>> This requires the target board to be in the next Atlas slot to the
>>> Ozy
>>> board.
>>>
>>> What is needed is a way to identify the position of each board on
>>> the JTAG
>>> chain and send the new code to the appropriate board.  That way the
>>> boards
>>> can be left in situ when we need to update their code.
>>>
>>> The Altera  tools seem to allow you to identify what devices are in
>>> the
>>> JTAG chain but that is a far as I have got.
>>>
>>> Is there perhaps a volunteer who would like to tackle this project?
>>>
>>> 73’s Phil….VK6APH
>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
>>
>
>

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