Hi There, I'm new to FPGAs and wanted to ask what may be a naive question:

Is it possible to connect multiple Alchitry Au boards via the IO pins? I.e. can you connect the output pins from a first board to input pins in a second and use the digital signal generated from the first board to drive the second one?

I am interested in combining several FPGAs to build more complex logic and scale up my prototypes

Hi all, 

I'm new to FPGA's but eager to learn the ins and outs of the Xilinx Vivado design suite for the Alchitry AU FPGA Development Board (realization of 3 custom-made shields as use-cases for a project at work). 

I'm here to seek advice what would be the best language to learn as base knowledge. I have experience in php, java, python and linux, but programming a fpga is a little different I understood ?

For a good foundation is VHDL, or Verilog the best route to take as a language course to follow (next to the examples on this website) or is another language like C a better choice for me?

I work/learn best in a real (live) classroom setting, with an actual teacher, homework assignments and motivated colleague students, instead of an online course. Problem with VHDL or Verilog is that these languages are not very common, at least not in the Netherlands where I live. So to follow such a cource I can imagine an online course will be the solution.

If VHDL or Verilog is the route some of you took?? What course (url) would you advice to take? Udemy has a lot to offer, but what content is good?? I still prefer an actual real company to supply the course even if it cost lots more (if the quality is good). In the tutorial for the Alchitry boards I saw yet another language: Lucid. Is this the route to take, or am I better of doing that extra step with a more difficult language to 'master'?
Is Lucid (the language mentioned in and used in the Alchitry tuturials) the same as the dataflow programming language designed to experiment with non-von Neumann programming models??  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucid_(pro..._language)

Hope to hear from someone. Would you go for a mainstream language like C or go straight to the point with VHDL or Verilog or Lucid?? Ps which one would be better for use with the Alchitry AU: VHDL or Verilog or Lucid??? I've heard Verilog is a little easier to understand/grasp then it's counterpart, but I'm taking your advice at heart

Last question (I added/edited this part later to my message)
Is it also possible to use Verilog (as your main programming language) and use iCEcube2/IceStorm as your toolchain for the Alchitry CU???
I'm not certain if the AU is a little overkill for the project I have in mind.
If I programm in Verilog and the CU turn out too 'light' my guess is it would be 'easy' to ugrade to the AU hardware... Or am I mistaken is my assumption?
For my use-case I need lots of FPGA boards (acting as motherboards), a cost of 50+% (compared to the AU) that act as the heart of the system is a lot of money to save

With kind regards and thank you in advance, Jeroen Wolf

Hi, I decided start creating board with SRAM 16 Mbit (2M x 8) 10ns included two of sets original sockets to use it as expand board. SRAM is more suitable for my projects than DDR included on AU/AU+. I welcome any idea and recommendation. Thanks a lot.

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Hello,

For some reason I am unable to program the .bin files generated from Vivado to flash. It appears to program the flash ok, but after power is cycled there is no 'done' LED and the board does nothing. The .bin file itself works fine if just programmed into the FPGA.

I can program the flash with examples built in Alchitry Labs and those work. It's just the .bin files from my vivado projects that I cannot program to flash.

Hello, I have bought the Alchitry Ft board and I'm trying to use it with the Alchitry Au+. Do you have any tutorials explaining how to use it? Or anyone experienced it and can give me a feedback?

I'm currently looking at software simulation on Linux Mint 18 only... I want to buy some stuff, but things are really tight until January 2022. I was planning to install software on a new machine purchased for the purpose, but as I can't do that yet, I'm playing ultra-careful on the current Linux desktop I have.

Currently, I've downloaded/installed Lattice iCEcube2 and Alchitry Labs, but not enough of that software runs:

iCEcube2 launches, and has help files etc. I followed the tutorial, and it gets as far as the placement stage (with the Blinky example folder), then generates an error, and a red cross. That's not so bad though: At least the basic software runs.

iCEcube2 is supposed to have the much friendlier ModelSim bundled. There are certainly some related files in there, but I can't find an option for either launching it, or checking if it's there.

So I downloaded Alchitry Labs: Tarball, extracted, and... How do I launch/install that?

Hi all, 

I was intrigued by the nice design and possible extensions of this new FGPA board.
I have 2 questions before I commit into buying this board (first the CU to get myself familiar with the setup).

1. Is the development software free to use with no ristrictions (eg no hidden fees or costs)?
2. Is a HDMI (with embedded audio) or VGA + external audio-out shield available for the Alchitry CU board?

I hope to hear from someone, thx so much in advance,

Jeroen Ensing
from Sneek, The Netherlands

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Hi,

I have an old Mojo V3.  When I plug the USB cable into my Windows 10 computer, I can see "USB Serial Device (COM3)" in Device Manager.  However, when I use the Alchitry Loader to 'Erase', I get "Status: Connecting..." and it stays there.  I have to kill the program through Task Manager and on the second time I try to erase, I get "Status: Looking for Mojo serial port..."  Any ideas on what I might need to do to connect to the device?

Thanks!
Mike

I plugged the AU+ into my windows 10 laptop yesterday via usb c and the board ran with the default program. Then I programmed it using the alchitry loader a different example and it worked. 
Since then I moved to a new laptop and now the board is undetectable even with the same versions installed. I moved back to the other laptop and that now cant connect.
I have tested the output voltage and current from both the USB from a laptop and from the 2 power pins on the side of the board and they both draw what I would expect from it working correctly. Does anyone have any idea what is likely to be wrong with the board?
Is there any chance the USB-c from the new laptop might have killed one of the chips and now the FPGA is unprogrammable.

Good day,
Is there any way I can find out which pins on my Cu board are connected to which pin on the Io board? A list or something?

I need this info to be able to work with the io and cu board in icestudio.

With kind regards