IceStudio with BlackIce MX

Alwil 2020-05-24 16:23:24 UTC #1

Hi
I've just started with my BlackIce MX. I'd like to use it wit IceStudio to try out some projects.
I am on a mac.

What is the status of support in IceStudio? I've gotten the blink example to work through terminal, but no examples currently work with Icestudio. I upload and nothing happens, no error reported.

Can anyone help?

Folknology 2020-05-25 12:38:06 UTC #2

It may be that it is using the wrong PCF file. The PCF file specifies which pins are connected and used on the board. The blink example is probably based on the old BlackIce board not the newer Mx. In the project folder that has been created there should be a PCF file you need to edit this to reflect the BlackIce Mx pins. You will need to set at least the led pin and the clock pin. the generic BlackIce Mx pcf file is here showing all of the pins: https://github.com/folknology/IceCore/blob/master/Examples/blackice-mx.pcf

The ones you need for blinky are:

LED pin
set_io red_led 56

Onboard 25Mhz oscillator
set_io clk 60

Obviously the names need to match those in the verilog/icestudio file, change as appropriate, perhaps copy the contents here so we can see what it has created

Alwil 2020-05-25 15:18:06 UTC #3

I'm not sure that is the problem. Because in Icestudio, when I select BlackIce MX as the board and add a pin out, I get a drop down menu that corresponds to the list in the pcf you linked to. And indeed I checked the pcf file and the pins are correct.

Folknology 2020-05-25 15:21:17 UTC #4

I wonder if you can build the project on the command line using APIO (I believe this is what IceStudio effectively does). By doing that you might get some feedback about the issues?

Alwil 2020-05-26 09:01:37 UTC #5

Ok I went ahead and used apio with the command line. I did have to install the blackiceprog so I thought that might resolve the problem, but no luck. I've gotten to the point of building and uploading the test example, which is supposed to turn on all the leds.

After apio upload I get:

MacBook-Pro-3:leds alwil$ sudo apio build
Password:
[Tue May 26 10:53:31 2020] Processing blackice-mx

======================================================================================= [SUCCESS] Took 0.23 seconds =======================================================================================
MacBook-Pro-3:leds alwil$ sudo apio upload
[Tue May 26 10:53:41 2020] Processing blackice-mx

black-iceprog /dev/cu.usbmodem00000000001A1 hardware.bin
Wrote 135100 bytes
======================================================================================= [SUCCESS] Took 12.10 seconds =======================================================================================
MacBook-Pro-3:leds alwil$
But the Mx does not react.
It remains in a constant state with the blue led to the left of the hdmi on and the red led in between the two usb ports (the green led between the usb ports flashes on and off when I plug it in).

thanks for your help! Anything else I should try?

Folknology 2020-05-26 10:03:02 UTC #6

Can you upload the project files maybe we can take a look?

Alwil 2020-05-26 16:11:21 UTC #7

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-gwGM5LW0iLltGtmxBEXv5HCzeFKd54o/view?usp=sharing

Alwil 2020-05-26 16:13:15 UTC #8

Not sure which files are relevant. That is the hardware.bin file made with the build command.

Folknology 2020-05-26 21:00:03 UTC #9

That's just the hardware.bin output file, we would need to look at the source files

Alwil 2020-05-27 11:22:14 UTC #10

here is the project i've tried building and uploading. It is just the 'quickstart' apio example: leds. I only modified the pcf so that LED1-4 reflect the RGYR led pins on the MX.

Folknology 2020-05-28 12:21:08 UTC #11

Ok so when I look at the leds.v:

module leds(output wire LED0,
            output wire LED1,
            output wire LED2,
            output wire LED3,
            output wire LED4);

assign LED0 = 1'b1;
assign LED1 = 1'b1;
assign LED2 = 1'b1;
assign LED3 = 1'b1;
assign LED4 = 1'b1;

endmodule

And the leds.pcf:

set_io LED4 49
set_io LED3 52
set_io LED2 55
set_io LED1 56
set_io LED0 95

So both appear incorrect (there are only 4 leds on BIMX) LED0 appears to be connected to one of the SDRAM pins (95) the others look ok, are you sure you have sent me the right files?

BTW if you want to turn the 4 leds permanently on, take them low (1'b0) rather than high (they are pulled up, active low), easy mistake to make without looking at the schematic

Regards
Al

Alwil 2020-05-29 11:06:22 UTC #12

Thanks for taking the time to help me.

I went ahead and made the changes you mention. Still no reaction from the MX.
I changed the two files so this:

module leds(output wire LED0,
output wire LED1,
output wire LED2,
output wire LED3);

assign LED0 = 1'b0;
assign LED1 = 1'b0;
assign LED2 = 1'b0;
assign LED3 = 1'b0;

endmodule

And for the leds.pcf:

set_io LED3 52
set_io LED2 55
set_io LED1 56
set_io LED0 49

No reaction after rebuild and upload.

I also cannot update the firmware using the instructions here: https://lawrie.github.io/blackicemxbook/GettingStarted/GettingStarted.html

I get this DFU-util error:

Opening DFU capable USB device... ID 0483:df11
Run-time device DFU version 011a
Found DFU: [0483:df11] devnum=0, cfg=1, intf=0, alt=0, name="@Internal Flash /0x08000000/04*016Kg,01*64Kg,03*128Kg"
Claiming USB DFU Interface...
Setting Alternate Setting #0 ...
Determining device status: state = dfuERROR, status = 10
dfuERROR, clearing status
Determining device status: state = dfuIDLE, status = 0
dfuIDLE, continuing
DFU mode device DFU version 011a
No valid DFU suffix signature
Warning: File has no DFU suffix
DfuSe interface name: "Internal Flash "
Downloading to address = 0x08000000, size = 35840
...................................
File downloaded successfully
Transitioning to dfuMANIFEST state
Error during download get_status

Alwil 2020-05-30 17:03:39 UTC #13

Hi again.

Any idea what the problem might be between IceStudio and BlackIceMX? I am using the tinyFPGA BX without problems with IceStudio, but I would rather use my MX. Can someone point me in the right direction?

thanks.

Alwil 2020-05-30 17:04:18 UTC #14

Or is my MX defective?

Folknology 2020-05-31 10:01:00 UTC #15

This seems to indicate that the BlacxkIce Mx is working as expected so I do not think it is the board.

With your new verilog/pcf file does the manual APIO upload work?

almejia 2020-06-01 22:58:10 UTC #16

I already use IceStudio with BlackIce MX (In fact I colaborated on support for BlackIce MX) , you have to download last Nightly version not the last release, Nightly is working ok in Windows and Linux, for OSX there is a problem with python programer , then you have to create .bin file and program as Folknology said

Alwil 2020-06-02 06:49:43 UTC #17

OK that clarifies the current situation.
Thank you!

almejia 2020-06-03 16:12:33 UTC #18

Here you can see IceStudio (compiled from source, running in Ubuntu Linux 2020) and BlackIce MX

Alwil 2020-06-05 12:11:13 UTC #19

Hi. I've tried uploading several times through apio to the BIMX to no avail.

My steps:
-I take an led blink example from icestudio, export .v, .pcf, .asc, .bin.
-check that the pins in pcf are correct. As far as I can tell they are and are binding to the correct outputs in the .v file: in the example here, pin 49 and 52 are being blinked alternatingly, (but I've also tried binding to the 55 and 56).
-apio verify, build, upload. All successful.
-no reaction from black ice mx.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HTJ77dOMB5FVEsD1uebCi6_V-Qt13wIQ/view?usp=sharing
Here are the files. I've also included the BlackIce-MX folder from Icestudio.

I am not sure what I am doing wrong. Any ideas?

thanks for your help.

Alwil 2020-06-07 12:15:50 UTC #20

Hi @almejia and @Folknology.

So I am getting somewhere. I can upload files to the MX using cat from terminal.
I can also do simple blink examples from icestudio if I export the .v, .pcf, .bin, etc.. and upload with cat.

However, if I upload a project using the pmod pins (which I select in IceStudio pinout dropdowns), the pins come out wrong: the .pcf generated by icestudio does not correspond to the pins in the blackice pcf in the IceStudio/app/Resources/Boards/blackice-mx folder.

So if I take the two alternating blink example (which works if I select led pins) and change the pin out from the leds to two pmod outs, say 38 and 37, IceStudio produces a pcf file that is binding to 49 and 102. (the clock points correctly to pin 60).

Does this help point us in the right direction? How can I tell icestudio to use the correct pinouts when generating a pcf?