Getting started with the LOGI-Pi

jpiat

Go to http://valentfx.com/wiki/index.php?title=Logi-Pi_Quick_Start_Guide

ionray

Nice forums! My Logi-Pi arrived a few weeks ago, however I
tried running the code from Xilinx where it compiled fine but when transferred the
.bit file does not work on the board.  The
done LED lights up but the others do not.

I can confirm:

·        
The VHDL code is correct.

·        
The Logi-Apps work on the board.

So next is something has gone wrong in the Xilinx settings
however I cannot find the problem.   The
only area I can adjust when setting up the project is the chip settings and that
is exactly as described from the guide. 

Do you know if there is anywhere else I can check or adjust
to see why the code will not run on the board from Xilinx? Any advice to help
me debug the problem will help.

Thanks in advance.

jpiat

Hi,


is it the blink_led demo that you are trying to get working ? If so, the UCF file (thatd assign which signal is connected to which pin of the FPGA) might be off. I'll correct it as soon as possible.

Regards,

Jonathan Piat

jpiat

I just tested the logi_wishbone and logi_blink_led projects and they work fine on my side. Can you try doing a git pull in logi-projects and logi-hard to make sure everything is up to date, then re-build and test on the logipi ?

Thanks a lot.

ionray

Hi Jonathan,  

Thank you for your reply.  I went through to the Logi-apps folder and logi-tools folder and did "git pull origin"; the apps updated but the tools had "Already up-to-date".  I gave it another run but still does not work.  I assume that the raspberry pi is set up correctly because it can already run the example logi_blink.bit; it just wont run any .bit files from Xilinx.  Is there a sample project folder somewhere with all the files so I can just compile and run?

Regards,

Ryan

jpiat

Do you mean that you are trying to designed and run the the blink led example as described in the wiki ?

On your host PC you can clone the logi-projects and logi hard-repository.

https://github.com/fpga-logi/logi-projects.git
https://github.com/fpga-logi/logi-hard.git

The logi-project repository contains sample projects pre-configured for the logipi and the logibone and the logi-hard repository contains all the VHDL files for the logi-board. In logi-project you can open the project in logi-blink_led/hw/logipi/ise/ and try to compile and load it to the board. On the first time you open the project ISE will mention missing files that are in the logi-hard repository, so you'll need to point it to the first missing file and it should find the others. I'll have a look at the Wiki to see what is wrong.

valentfx

Welcome IronRay!  You should get an award for being the bravest soul to write the first post on the forum!  Note that the forums are still very much beta, so give us feedback on what you like and dislike.  We will be making changes along the road until we are all happy!

The problem with the wiki quickstart guide is that it was initially written for an earlier version board.  In the last few days I have updated the 6 Create and Synthesize a blink LED project for the Logi-Pi using Xilinx ISE to work with the R1 boards that are shipping from the kickstarter. 

As Jonathan noted you can run the projects from the github repository.  I have made sure that the blink project is up to speed with the R1 boards. 

Note that it may be easier for you to run the packaged projects repository.  These projects include all of the external dependent files within th project so that they are guaranteed to build correctly.  It looks like the blink led demo is not in there yet.  I will add it now.  

Please keep up posted on your thoughts, suggestion, like dislike, hates, etc!  Again welcome!

Cheers,

Mike

ionray

Hi Mike,

Thank you for your kind welcoming message, I am happy there are forums and think they are great, obviously when more people are using them and there are more discussions you will see what is needed. 

So this is what I have done:

git clone https://github.com/fpga-logi/logi-projects

navigated to: logi-projects\logi-blink-led\hw\logipi\ise

ran logipi-hw-mod.xise

linked logipi_blink.vhd and logipi_blink_R1.ucf from logi-projects\logi-blink-led\hw\logipi\hdl

compiled and generated the .bit file but still when transferred over the same result with no blinking LEDs.

There were no errors but the link below is an image that shows the warnings Xilinx has produce.  Hopefully the warnings are useful.  

warnings

mjones

Hi Ryan,

Something funky going on.  the "logipi-hw_mod* files should not be part of the project.  We need to keep cleaning things up.  You correct project file is "logipi-hw_mod.xise".

Here is an archived project of project that should work:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/9los1ayzx7ixwm5/logipi-hw.zip

Here is a bit file that you can try that was built with the project:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/oyp7i4iw8lfu4er/logipi_blink.bit

Let me know how these turn out.  I will keep working on the repository.

Cheers,

Mike

ionray

Thanks Mike for those links.  For some reason your project works but when I copy the .vhd and .ucf files to my project it does not!  The settings seem exactly the same, I am not sure what the issue is.  I will spend some more time to try and dig much deeper. 

jpiat

Hi Ryan,

this i likely to be a config problem in the ise project. Do you have any way to share your project files ? This would help us find what when wrong and modify the documentation if needs be.

Thanks a lot for your feedback !

Regards,

Jonathan Piat

mjones

Working on the file upload feature.....

ionray

My project file can be found here: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/83864113/logi_blinkCopied.zip

jpiat

Hi,

i just tried your project and it compiles and run fine on my side. Can you take your project, go to Project -> cleanup project files and re-compile it then try to run it again.

ionray

I don't know what the issue was but going to Project -> Cleanup Project Files... and re trying has now made it work.  Thank you for your assistance!

jpiat

ISE sometime does not take into accounts changes made to the project and keep recompiling old files ... There must be a cache somewhere that needs to be cleaned to get things working.

mathewss

Just a quick scan of the schematics for the Pi version it looks like serial. Does anyone have an idea the upload speeds between the Pi and the FPGA? I need to be able to trasfer 5MB ish of data to the FPGA and faster if possible. I was looking at using a DE0-Nano and doing a fifo 8 or even 12 bit bus between the boards to get the speeds I need. I can see serial going very fast if the lines are short etc. Does the BBB version have a good amount of pins between the board connected? If so that may be better for my needs.

Thanks
 Re
 Sean M

mjones

Hi Sean,

Thanks for dropping by and welcome!

I just put together some information in the wiki at the following links. 

@jpiat is has developed the drivers and may chime in with further details, but in short this is my understanding.  

RPI using SPI:

Currently the RPi SPI logi drivers support up to 4 MB/S raw, 3.8MB/S using wishbone.  This is based upon the current max stable clock rate of 32Mhz.  We have found instability above this clock rate.

BB using GPMC:

The current bandwidth support from BBB to FPGA using the GPMC bus is 69 MB/S.  

So if you need high bandwidth the Logi-Bone is the way to go.  

http://valentfx.com/wiki/index.php?title=Logi-Pi_User_Guide#Raspberry_Pi_SPI_to_FPGA_Interface

http://valentfx.com/wiki/index.php?title=Logi-Bone_User_Guide#BeagleBone_to_FPGA_Interfaces

Hope this helps.  

Mike

JFrodsham

I see I am not the only who ran into the mysterious not working on first build.  

-Justin