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I want to buy a Papilio Pro. For programming this FPGA, I need a cable. I can use a Xilinx programming cable or others cable which are cheaper like this cable.

I suppose with Xilinx programming cable, I can use Xilinx programmer kit. It is possible to use it with a cheaper cable ? What can I do with a Xilinx programming cable which i can't do with a standard cable ? It is illegal to use Xilinx programmer kit with a cable which is not a Xilinx official cable ?

Azwaw
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    I recommend Digilent programmers. They are faster, cheaper and save you s lot of trouble while installing on Linux. It's even easyer to use multiple Digilent programmers on one PC. Most new board have Digilent programmers on them (SmtJtg1 or newer). [Digilent programers](http://www.digilentinc.com/Products/Catalog.cfm?NavPath=2,395&Cat=5) – Paebbels Jun 01 '15 at 23:23
  • I will work on Linux. If I understand theses cables are fully compatible with Xilinx devices and works better with Linux. I will try this cable and I will give my opinion. – Azwaw Jun 02 '15 at 14:08
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    You can use Xilinx iMPACT with the already shipped Digilent drivers (it's a plugin and standalone tool) or Digilent's own Adept tools. I don't know if Adept only works with 3rd party boards or offers a restricted feature set like only programming the FPGA. – Paebbels Jun 02 '15 at 21:10
  • As mentioned here : http://www.digilentinc.com/Products/Detail.cfm?Prod=ADEPT2 Digilent drivers works with "Xilinx FPGAs on Digilent system boards" – Azwaw Jun 03 '15 at 09:36

2 Answers2

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You do not need a programming cable to program the Papilio Pro board. It includes onboard USB -> JTAG functionality. All you need is a usb type-a to mini usb cable and the Papilio Loader program.

That said the following Xilinx tools depend on a supported JTAG cable connection: 1. Impact: Programming, FPGA status, and readback. 2. Chipscope: internal logic analyzer and basic gpio controller operation 3. SDK: debugging and programming functionality only

For these the aforementioned Digilent programming cables (such as the HS3) are a good option that is cheaper than the Xilinx cable.

You can probably do without Impact fairly easily but you will miss the Chipscope functionality if you are doing any significant logic debugging and the use of the SDK debugger if you are doing significant software development/debugging using the microblaze processor.

I believe Chipscope requires a non-free license.

davidd
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I got a Papilio/Pro, it doesn't have { R8, R10, R11 } resistors X____X which means the FTDI2232 chip is NOT connected to the fpga's jtag port

urfusion
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ghost
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