4DSP Support Forum

Products => FMC Products => Topic started by: roengrut on May 19, 2014, 05:50 AM

Title: FMC168 connection with ML605 board: Cannot be connected properly
Post by: roengrut on May 19, 2014, 05:50 AM
Hello 4DSP support,

I currently have a FMC168 and would like to test it with my ML605 Development board from Xilinx. I just received the FMC board and would like to connect it using FMC Analyzer Plug-in and Application, as suggested by the 4FM Getting Started Guide (r4.15) on page 26 (Section 4.9.5). I think I connected everything correctly and followed the procedure suggested in Section 4.9.5.3. Everything seemed to be OK and I think my ML605 can find the FMC168 except that errors of the program trying to exit keeps occurring. It seems that the hardware detection fails to operate. You can see from the attached picture here.

Could you please suggest me how to operate the FMC168 board with my ML605 correctly? I do not know how it could fail. Furthermore, I do have another board which is FMC204 and I also would like to test it similarly as I did for FMC168. Thank you and look forward to receiving comments from you soon.

Roengrut
Title: Re: FMC168 connection with ML605 board: Cannot be connected properly
Post by: tonyku on May 19, 2014, 11:30 AM
Hi,

Is your board on the HPC or LPC connector?  It has to be on the HPC connector.


Title: Re: FMC168 connection with ML605 board: Cannot be connected properly
Post by: roengrut on May 19, 2014, 01:54 PM
Hello,

Thanks very much for your reply. It was on the LPC connector when I tested it last time. I will try it again on the HPC connector when I go back to my office tomorrow.

Please correct me if I am wrong. Since it is LPC-compatible, will its capacity be reduced to 4 channels (just like FMC164) on the LPC slot? Does it need any changes in the Reference Design if it is still used on the LPC connector? If it does require changes in the Reference Design for use on the LPC connector, will it be working with the FMC Analyzer ?

Thank you for your time for my questions. I hope to receive your comments again.

Roengrut
Title: Re: FMC168 connection with ML605 board: Cannot be connected properly
Post by: tonyku on May 19, 2014, 02:12 PM
Hello,

Our standard ML605 FMC168 constellation firmware will only work on HPC side on that card, and our reference software as well as the analyzer is only designed to work with the provided firmware.   Any customization on your end will require your own modification on the provided reference software code.   

However, we do not provide the source code to the FMC Analyzer, it is designed to only work with our reference firmware.


-Tony

Title: Re: FMC168 connection with ML605 board: Cannot be connected properly
Post by: roengrut on May 20, 2014, 11:52 AM
Hello Tony,

Thanks very much again for your reply.

Today I already moved the FMC to HPC connector and it seems to be found by my ML605. This time I have another problem with the onboard monitoring device. I check from the reference software code that it should first check the temperature and then the voltage. It seems that it cannot read the temperature at all and the software returns error (as seen in the 1st picture here). I am not sure if the problem comes from an incorrect device ID or incorrect firmware. I did try several times both with the bit-file from the "Recovery" directory that has been already generated and also a bit-file that I compiled by using ISE Project Navigator. The result is still the same. I also tried with KC705 development board that belongs to my colleague and obtained the same error (as seen in the 2nd picture). Another test gives me the same error when I tried to run a fmc16xAPP.exe software (3rd picture).

Please suggest me what I should do with this error. Does it have to do anything with the vhdl code before compiling a bit-file ? Is the problem related to the "sip_mac_engine" star/component and anything with the communication; for example, the Ethernet IP address setting ?

Thank you very much for your time again today.

Roengrut
Title: Re: FMC168 connection with ML605 board: Cannot be connected properly
Post by: tonyku on May 20, 2014, 04:34 PM
Hi,

What version of the BSP are you using?   can you download the latest (I believe the last one released was Friday of last week) BSP and use it?   There was a bug that was fixed in the reference application/design a couple of weeks ago that will cause this problem so please make sure that you're using the latest BSP.


Tony

Title: Re: FMC168 connection with ML605 board: Cannot be connected properly
Post by: roengrut on May 21, 2014, 07:01 AM
Hi Tony,
 
Thanks very much. Today I downloaded the latest version of BSP (I believe it is version 2014.5 as I opened the license file that I obtained). The communication between my ML605 and FMC168 is fine as you can see from the 1st picture. The 2nd picture shows the valid Ethernet connection. But I have another problem to ask for your advice.
 
I purchased 2 FMC boards from 4DSP, the other one is FMC204. It wasn't really working previously and the error is quite different. Since I downloaded the new BSP this morning, I expected it would also work for my FMC204. I added both of my FMC cards when I downloaded the new BSP and the new license file (which I got one file) lists both serial numbers of my boards; i.e., "PRODUCT=095_ml605_fmc204 VERSION=2014.5 SN=serial1;serial2 ...." where serial1 = FMC168 S/N, and serial2 = FMC204 S/N. After I finished testing my FMC168, I began testing FMC204. Although I downloaded the bit-file from "Recovery" folder or from the one I generated using ISE Project Navigator, the communication between host PC and the boards cannot be initialized (from 3rd picture), which confirmed by the 4th picture (no Ethernet communication). It is strange because all the jumpers on ML605 are at the same positions. If you can suggest me what to do again, it will be really really appreciated.
 
Thank you very much again !!!
 
Roengrut
Title: Re: FMC168 connection with ML605 board: Cannot be connected properly
Post by: tonyku on May 21, 2014, 11:37 AM
Glad to see you got FMC168 to work.

Have you tried with the reference software (FMC204App) directly with the board?   Also, after you load the firmware and have the ethernet cable connected between your omputer and ML605, are the ethernet lights flashing/ON?    You have to wait until the ML605 establishes communication on the ethernet port before running any application.   Typically when you get a CID of 0xfffffff it means the onnection isn't there.

There is a general help on the forum on this:  http://www.4dsp.nl/forum/index.php/topic,1058.0.html.    Since you can connect with the FMC168 and if you're using the same computer/setup, it should work with the FMC204's firmware.   




Title: Re: FMC168 connection with ML605 board: Cannot be connected properly
Post by: roengrut on May 21, 2014, 11:51 AM
Hello Tony,

I also checked the Ethernet lights as you suggested. After the firmware is loaded and the Ethernet cable is connected, the lights are all completely OFF. That suggests me there is an communication error.

I did check everything as suggested by the forum that you suggested,  http://www.4dsp.nl/forum/index.php/topic,1058.0.html. But I still could not have communication between my computer and ML605.

Should I try installing the 4FM on another computer and use another license file? I have the one that is only for FMC204 that I received earlier when I downloaded 4FM. In that file, the software version is 2014.5

Roengrut
Title: Re: FMC168 connection with ML605 board: Cannot be connected properly
Post by: tonyku on May 21, 2014, 12:04 PM
Hi,

The issue isn't software - when you power on the board, do you see the ethernet light on the ML605 on?  Sometimes it takes a while for ML605 to recognize an ethernet connection.    If the board does not show lights on after power up (without loading firmware), then it's a connectin problem either on the PC or the ML605 has hardware issues.

Are you loading the reference firmware that was provided?   THe second step is that once you see lights on the ML605 after power up, load the firmware.   Wait a bit and the light should come back on.   Software has nothing to do with the ethernet powerup - those are automatic between the firmware/hw of the ML605 and the PC's ethernet port.

On the PC you need to make sure that autonegotiation for the speed is turn ON (do not set it to 100 mbps or 1 gbps manually) - i.e. the defalut configuration.




Title: Re: FMC168 connection with ML605 board: Cannot be connected properly
Post by: roengrut on May 22, 2014, 11:20 AM
Hi Tony,

I took a look closely at the Ethernet light when power is supplied to my ML605 without loading the firmware. The light is turned on, so there is no problem with the connection. Then, I plugged in my FMC204 and downloaded the firmware "ml605_fmc204.bit" from the directory ...\Recovery\095_ml605_fmc204 (CID = 95). I still obtained the same error (a CID of 0xfffffff). So, I returned to trying with FMC168 with its firmware (CID = 363) downloaded just to check it still works. And yes, it does work again. I just thought it is really strange. So, I tried FMC204 again but with the firmware of FMC168 (CID = 363) downloaded just to see if the Ethernet light is on, and yes it is on. Then, I downloaded the FMC204 firmware (CID = 95) without turning off the power supplied to ML605. Now communication between PC and the boards is OK and everything works fine. I tried this a couple times. I don't know what happens to the firmware CID = 95 but just would like to let you know.

Thank you very much for all suggestions you have made for me. Have a great day!

Roengrut
Title: Re: FMC168 connection with ML605 board: Cannot be connected properly
Post by: tonyku on May 22, 2014, 11:29 AM
Hi,

I believe the firmware uses the Xilinx own ethernet core as an interface and depending on the speed/negotiation of the PC's ethernet interface, sometimes it does take a while to load up.

If you wait for a while, does the light goes on?    i think if you were to load the 204's firmware and wait, it will eventually light up.   Then you can run the app.
Title: Re: FMC168 connection with ML605 board: Cannot be connected properly
Post by: roengrut on May 23, 2014, 04:51 AM
Hello Tony,

I returned to do it again and continued as you suggested. After downloading the 204's firmware and wait (not running the app yet), I did not see the Ethernet light turned on. The wait was more than 4 minutes. So, I just downloaded the 168's firmware to check the light and found it is on, then downloaded again with the 204's. By doing like this, the light is on and my PC can communicate with the boards, which confirms what I did and found yesterday. 

Roengrut
Title: Re: FMC168 connection with ML605 board: Cannot be connected properly
Post by: arnaudNL on May 23, 2014, 05:44 AM
Dear Roengrut,


Thanks for the feedback, it looks like the PHY init is missing in the FMC204 firmware.


We will schedule the modifications.


Best Regards,
Arnaud
Title: Re: FMC168 connection with ML605 board: Cannot be connected properly
Post by: roengrut on May 23, 2014, 06:31 AM
Dear Arnaud,

You're welcome and thanks for your comment. It helps me a lot when trying the boards and communicating with you all. Please let me know when the 204's firmware is modified.

Best Regards,
Roengrut
Title: Re: FMC168 connection with ML605 board: Cannot be connected properly
Post by: arnaudNL on June 13, 2014, 08:04 AM
This topic is being closed because the issue is considered as resolved by 4DSP. Feel free to create a new topic for any further inquiries.