Xilinx Spartan 6 XC6SLX9 Core Board

name: Xilinx XC6SLX9 Mini Board

  • FPGA: Xilinx Spartan 6 FPGA-XC6SLX9 - 9152 logic cells package: TQ144
  • non-volatile configuration device: W25Q64BV (previous version of the board had W25Q32BV?)
  • onboard 50 MHz oscillator
  • onboard USB to UART converter (FTDI FT232RL)
    • 3.3 V LDO for IO supply
  • eight LEDS
  • two tactile switches
  • one reset button (for device reconfiguration, RST = SW3)
  • 2 x 40 pin headers: + 5V, + 3.3V, 72 GPIO pins
  • 14-pin JTAG connector
  • power: + 5V from usb or external supply
  • PCB size: 50 mm x 75 mm

J2 (JTAG header)

TMS
TDI
TDO
TCK
GND
3V3

pin assignments

50 - GCLK

46 - FPGA_TX (Rx from FT232)
47 - FPGA_RX (Tx from FT232)

132 - SW1
131 - SW2

138 - LD1
137 - LD2
134 - LD3
133 - LD4
120 - LD5
119 - LD6
118 - LD7
117 - LD8

SPI flash (W25Q64BV)

 38 - CSO
 70 - CCLK
 64 - MOSI
 65 - MISO

Back to FPGA page.

Links

Links: github: hoglet67/AtomBusMon, AtomBusMon wiki, Xilinx XC6SLX9 Mini Board, level shifter board: 5v DIP to 3v3 DE0-nano, Xilinx links: XilinxVirtualCable, other links: Github: daveyliam/spartan6_programmer, Xilinx JTAG Linux, xc3sprog, matrix-io/xc3spog, UrJTAG, FPGArduino: upload bitstream from Arduino IDE, OpenOCD, openocd-xilinx-loader, DEC Emulation website, projects: Grant's MultiComp, douggilliland/MultiComp, AtomFpga - Dave's version of the Acorn Atom FPGA, based on AlanD's original from stardot.org.uk, Spartan-6 Hello World, w11 (w11), pdp8, Project Oberon, Pepino Multicomp, Multicomp Papilio Duo, socz80, SocZ80, more projects: minimal DVI-D, DVI-D Output, HDMI, Intelligent LEDs (WS2812B), SD card testing, Async VGA, DDR3 Controller for Xilinx Spartan6, Spartan-Mini-NES, vterm, fpga-vt, VHDL-Pong, MyStormOnMiniSpartan6, RGB LED Panel Driver Tutorial,

local links

c1, e1, FT2232 breakout board,

local projects

Oric in FPGA,

local tools

ISE - Debian, Fedora, FreeBSD,

forum threads: Stardot forum, thread, 6502.org thread,

History

2021-08-04: I re-created this page on my self-hosted web server.

2018-10-30: e1 - spartan-6 - HelloWorld - changing the constraints file (.ucf) so that

clk_in = P50
OnBoardLED = P138

recompile, then use iMPACT to generate a .svf file from the .bit file. finally, send the .svf file to the FPGA. No visual indicators, but afterwards the LED LD1 blinks quickly. Pressing the RST (= reset) button restores the original program.

2018-10-30: it seems that the SPI flash is a W25Q64BV - 64 Mbit - 8 Mbyte.

2018-10-30: e1 - spartan-6 - connected the board to a DirtyJTAG adapter (Blue Pill) and ran jtag:

jtag> cable dirtyjtag
error: libusb error: libusb_claim_interface failed: -6

for some reason it helps to disconnected the first DirtyJTAG (also a Blue Pill), then connect this one

jtag> cable dirtyjtag
jtag> detect
IR length: 6
Chain length: 1
Device Id: 00100100000000000001000010010011 (0x24001093)
  Manufacturer: Xilinx (0x093)
  Part(0):      xc6slx9 (0x4001)
  Stepping:     2
  Filename:     /usr/share/urjtag/xilinx/xc6slx9/xc6slx9

ok, so that works.

jtag> bsdl path /home/tingo/doc/Xilinx/docs/fpga/bsdl/
jtag> detect
IR length: 6
Chain length: 1
Device Id: 00100100000000000001000010010011 (0x24001093)
  Filename:     /home/tingo/doc/Xilinx/docs/fpga/bsdl//xc6slx9_ftg256.bsd

that works too. Great!

2018-10-30: DirtyJTAG pinout

DirtyJTAG
STM32 JTAG
PA0     TDI
PA1     TDO
PA2     TCK
PA3     TMS
(PA4    TRST)
(PA5    SRST)

the last two are not used here.

2018-09-15: the Pepino is also interesting. Projects: Pepino_Multicomp, Pepino PlusToo - keyboard, sound + virtual SCSI drive via SD card. and Project Oberon - Pepino Oberon,

2018-08-14: ZX-Uno is an interesting project. The hardware is Xilinx Spartan XC6SLX9-2TQG144C, SRAM AS7C34096A-10TIN 512Kb, 50MHz Oscillator, microSD card slot, PS/2 keyboard, composite video via RCA, joystick connector (DE9), VGA and RGB output possible, see also github ManuFerHi/ZXUNO_VGA_2M,

2018-07-19: e1 - connecting the Spartan-6 board to my linux laptop via JTAG pins on GoodFET42. As soon as I connect the VCC pin on GoodFET42 to 3V3 pin on Spartan-6 board, it is powered (note: the USB cable is not connected!)

2018-07-19: e1 - connecting the Spartan-6 board to my linux laptop via the USB to mini-usb cable makes the board turn on (red LED LD9 (PWR) lights, yellow LED LD10 (DONE) lights, and a test program makes the user LEDs (LD1 - LD8, blue) light up in a pattern. Button SW2 does something, button SW1 doesn't appera to do anything. From /var/log/messages:

Jul 19 17:26:29 kg-elitebook kernel: usb 3-3: new full-speed USB device number 6 using xhci_hcd
Jul 19 17:26:29 kg-elitebook kernel: usb 3-3: New USB device found, idVendor=0403, idProduct=6015, bcdDevice=10.00
Jul 19 17:26:29 kg-elitebook kernel: usb 3-3: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
Jul 19 17:26:29 kg-elitebook kernel: usb 3-3: Product: FT230X Basic UART
Jul 19 17:26:29 kg-elitebook kernel: usb 3-3: Manufacturer: FTDI
Jul 19 17:26:29 kg-elitebook kernel: usb 3-3: SerialNumber: DN03HYM0
Jul 19 17:26:29 kg-elitebook kernel: ftdi_sio 3-3:1.0: FTDI USB Serial Device converter detected
Jul 19 17:26:29 kg-elitebook kernel: usb 3-3: Detected FT-X
Jul 19 17:26:29 kg-elitebook kernel: usb 3-3: FTDI USB Serial Device converter now attached to ttyUSB1

ok.

2018-07-18: level shifter - in this post, there is a schematic for level shifter. Looks like you need 5 x TXB0108 chips (one signal over, or you could have managed with four). Info on TXS0108 in 1v8 to 5v level shifting diaries; part 1, part 2.

2018-07-18: eBay - the package with the Spartan-6 board showed up, straight into my mailbox. Contents: 1 x Spartan-6 board, 1 x USB to mini-USB cable. The physical layout of the Spartan-6 board is a bit different; JTAG (J2) is a 6-pin single row header, and some LEDs and switched has moved.

2018-07-06: level shifter - it looks like the 5v DIP to 3v3 DE0-nano level shifter board is out of stock.

2018-06-26: eBay - got a notice that my order was shipped, estimated delivery: Monday July 9 - Monday August 20.

2018-06-23: from eBay seller eepizza, I bought 1 x Xilinx FPGA Spartan 6 XC6SLX9 Core Board (111640406811), the price was USD 31.- shipping included. I want to try this out with the AtomBusMon project, an open-source In-Circuit Emulator for the 6502, 65C02, Z80, 6809 and 6809E 8-bit processors. I will also need a level shifter board.