Spartan 3E with Labview 2012 (32 bit) on WIndows 7 64-bit - Error Code: -310602 NI-COBS: Unable to communicate with device over communication cable.

[Utkarsh]

Hello everybody,

I am trying to use the DIgilent Spartan 3E board with Labvew 2012 SP1 32 bit.  I am able to compile the example code for LED shift.  I am however unable to transfer code to the FPGA.  I get the following error message:

**********************************************************************************************************************************

Error Code: -310602 

NI-COBS:  Unable to communicate with device over communication cable. 

Please verify that the cable is connected to a supported device and that the appropriate drivers are installed.

**********************************************************************************************************************************

My system configuration is as follows:

Windows 7 (64 bit) on Dell XPS laptop.

Labview 2012 SP1 (32 bit)

Labview FPGA 2012 SP1

Labview 2012 FPGA support for Spartan3E

Xilinx 13.4 tools

DEFB LV FPGA 2012sp1 support installer

Xilinx USB cable driver v1.3 installed.

I took all the precautions mentioned by others on this forum and others, mainly that the cable must be disconnected before installing the Xilinx cable driver. All software and drivers were installed correctly.  I even uninstalled and reinstalled the entire Labview software set I had.  I still get the same error.

A few other questions:

1.  Is the Xilinx cable different from a regular USB cable of the same configuration ?

2.  When I program the FPGA I only have the USB cable connected between my computer and the Spartan 3e board.  Should any other cable be connected ?

3.  What should be the correct jumper settings for J1 - JP30 (especially J30, J11, JP9, JP6, JP7, etc) ?

I have been at this or over 3 days trying to figure it out.  Any help will be greatly appreciated.

[Utkarsh]

Forgot to mention:

I also have the Labview 2012 FPGA support for Spartan 3E installed.

[WenR]

Hi Utkarsh

I am not sure on if I will be able to address all your questions correctly. After reading your post the first thing that came to my mind is that you are only conecting the USB cable to the spartan while trying to deploy the FPGA code. From my college courses, I remember you would also need to feed power to the spartan to get it to be recognized by the computer, since the curent from the USB cable will not be enough to feed the spartan by it self.

Also, after reading on the web, I found that, in order to get this device to be programmed correctly you need to connect the power cable first, and a couple of seconds later (one the Power red LED is ON), plug in the USB cable.

From my perspective, the USB cable should be similar to other USB cables.

I found this guide for deployment of the Spartan 3E, even if the code is developed in Xilinx ISE, the procedure to deploy it is pretty similar, since LabVIEW communicates with Xilinx compile tools to create the bit file and deploy it to the device.

WenR

[Utkarsh]

The power cable was connected when the problem occurs - the power LED comes on along with the LED next to the USB connector signifying the establishment of a USB link to the board.  It is the transfer of the compiled FPGA bitfiles to the board that is failing.

[KHartley]

Per this thread, I believe you issue may be that you are using 64-bit windows.

If you see this thread and in the getting started info we don't support 64-bit atleast the latest documentation says we don't. 

Can you try running a 32 bit VM with the required software installed?

http://forums.ni.com/t5/LabVIEW-Embedded/SPARTAN-3E-XUP-unable-to-detect-commnication-cable/m-p/1621...

[Utkarsh]

Thanks for the info, Kyle.  I will probably try to find an older 32-bit XP machine.  VM is just not an option for me right now.

[estebanFuerte]

Hy Kyle,

is the LabVIEW FPGA support for the Spartan 3E XUP board still only for a 32-bit Windows available? Are there any activities to support the board in a 64-bit OS?

Thanks & Best regards

Stefan

[RenKylo2]

Hi Stefan,

The getting started guide was written for LabVIEW 8.6, the FPGA module at the time only supported 32-bit OS. The recent Spartan 3E XUP driver works with LabVIEW FPGA 2012, which should support 64-bit OS. Since the thread is over a year old, I suggest you making a new post.