Compatibility Inquiry: ALTERA Cyclone II FPGA with LinuxCNC-RIO

[Tpj-root]

Sir, I have an ALTERA FPGA Cyclone II EP2C5T144 board. Is it possible to use this with LinuxCNC-RIO for real-time I/O? If yes, could you provide any guidance or steps to make it work?

Thanks!

[multigcs]

not shure, the problem is that ‘Cyclone II’ is no longer supported by quartus and i don't know if rio works with the old version.

[multigcs]

in this zip-file i have a test gateware with makefile, if this runs with the old quartus than we can add support for this fpga: http://multixmedia.org/EP2C5T144.zip

[multigcs]

ok, i installed this version: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/software-kit/711790/intel-quartus-ii-web-edition-design-software-version-13-0sp1-for-linux.html

and by removing some lines from pins.qdf (..IO_STANDARD..) i can build the bitfile.

so it looks good, but i can not test it.

[multigcs]

Ok, i have add support for this board :)

https://github.com/multigcs/riocore/commit/afc4bd855d440148068b1e432f1e019f482381ae https://github.com/multigcs/riocore/commit/2849eedc1c1d7464477d58fa2bb9e2861c62d59e

but please tell me if it realy works, the demo config is only for blinking the LED

riocore/configs/EP2C5T144/config.json

[Tpj-root]

Sir, thank you for the immediate response. Please give me a few days. The board is available in the hackerspace lab, and I have requested them to send it to me. After I receive the package, I will try to install it and report to you on how it works..

[Tpj-root]

Sir, I finally received my package today and successfully compiled it, but I encountered an error. How can I fix this?

[multigcs]

hi, the flash command depends a lot on your hardware, you have to see how it is normally loaded on the fpga, maybe try OpenFPGAloader

[Tpj-root]

Sir,

I uploaded the .pof file using my friend's Windows machine, and it was uploaded successfully.

After that, I tested it with an oscilloscope:

• PIN 17: CH1 (clock)
• Push button on PIN 144: CH2 (I get a signal when pressed)

I think it’s working. Now, I am waiting for your response to confirm if it’s really working.

[multigcs]

is one of the LED's blinking (1Hz) ? then it's working

next step is setup something for the host connection (SPI / W5500), and create some IO's like StepDir or PWM outputs.

to flash, you can also try

cd Output/EP2C5T144/Gateware
make prog

this will use the 'quartus_pgm' command to load the bitstream

[Tpj-root]

sir, To test the LED blinking using a push button and a 1kΩ pull-up resistor.

[multigcs]

the LED have to blink constantly with 1Hz after flashing, no SW / PullUp / ... needed.

[multigcs]

but not shure my test bitfile have the blinking LED part, you have to build and compile your own bitfile

riocore/configs/EP2C5T144/config.json

[Tpj-root]

Okay, sir, I will try my best.

I tried the command but it didn't work:

quartus_pgm -c 1 -m jtag -o "p;rio.sof"

The output error is:

Error (213019): Can't scan JTAG chain. Error code 86.

I also tried this command:

quartus_pgm -a

---

Info: Command: quartus_pgm -a Info (213045): Using programming cable "USB-Blaster [1-7]" 1) USB-Blaster [1-7] Unable to read device chain (Hardware not attached)

I also tried changing the permissions:

sudo usermod -aG dialout $USER
sudo chmod 666 /dev/bus/usb/001/009

[multigcs]

after 'usermod' you have to logout and re-login your user.

what programmer do you have ?

[Tpj-root]

sir, I have an Altera USB Blaster.

[multigcs]

hmm, ok, normaly it should work

[Tpj-root]

Thank you for your guidance, sir. I will try it out.

[Tpj-root]

Sir, after using OpenFPGALoader to manually upload the .svf file, the changes are temporary. Now the LED is blinking. Could you please confirm if it worked?

[multigcs]

looks very good :) try to add '-f' option to your openFPGAloader command to write to flash

[Tpj-root]

Sir, The -f command does not work. I think .sof and .svf files are not used for permanently programming the FPGA. I need to use a file format that writes to non-volatile memory, such as .pof

.sof vs .pof Both files show significant differences in their hex structure.

I believe the only way to permanently program the FPGA is by using the .pof file. It seems to be the only solution.

Sir, I need your guidance.

I want to continue with this setup: LinuxCNC_RIO with the .svf file. After learning RIO and all the fundamentals (config, modules, and plugins), I will jump into RIOctrl FPGAs.

Can I continue? Or which path is perfect for learning the fundamentals? Sir, Thank you for spending your precious time to answer my questions.

[multigcs]

what do you mean by RIOctrl FPGAs ?

[Tpj-root]

Sir, after that, I became familiar with RioCore. Is RIOctrl FPGAs suitable for advanced-level work in making CNC machines?

[multigcs]

you mean this board !?!? https://github.com/festlv/rioctrl-hw

as far as i know, the basic parts are already working, but it's still in the test phase