Xilinx Customer Support

FPGA Express Interface: Getting Started

Installing FPGA Express on Windows 95
Installing FPGA Express on Windows NT 4.0
Installing and Setting up XACT 5.2.x/6.0.x with FPGA Express in Windows '95
M1(Beta and Pre-Release) Setup with FPGA Express

Installing FPGA Express on Windows 95


Before installing FPGA Express on Windows '95, make sure you have all of the following:
If you do not have any of the above items, contact Synopsys.



If you do have all of the above items, follow the steps below:
  1. Insert the FPGA Express CD into your CDROM drive.
  2. Right-click on the 'Start' button, which is on the gray Windows 95 Taskbar, and select 'Explore'.
  3. Double-click on the CDROM in the Windows 95 Explorer. The contents of the FPGA Express CD should now appear in the right-hand window of the Explorer.
  4. Double-click on the 'Setup' icon, which has 'Type' Application. This will start the install.
  5. When the 'Select Components' window appears, be sure to select both 'Install FPGA Express Software' and 'Install License from File', since installation of the FPGA Express software and the FPGA Express license are separate steps.

Installing FPGA Express on Windows NT V4.0


Before installing FPGA Express on Windows NT V4.0, make sure you have all of the following: If you do not have any of the above items, contact Synopsys.



If you do have all of the above items, follow the steps below:
  1. Insert the FPGA Express CD into your CDROM drive.
  2. Right-click on the 'Start' button, which is on the gray Windows NT Taskbar, and select 'Explore'.
  3. Double-click on the CDROM in the Windows NT Explorer. The contents of the FPGA Express CD should now appear in the right-hand window of the Explorer.
  4. Double-click on the 'Setup' icon, which has 'Type' Application. This will start the install.
  5. When the 'Select Components' window appears, be sure to select all three items listed: 'Install FPGA Express Software', 'Install License from file', and 'Install Driver for Hardware key' All of these items must be selected to correctly install FPGA Express under Windows NT.

Installing and Setting up XACT 5.2.x/6.0.x with FPGA Express in Windows '95

  1. Install FPGA Express under Windows '95
  2. Right-click on the 'Start' button , which is on the gray Windows '95 Taskbar, and select 'Explore'.
  3. Double-click on the CDROM icon in the Windows '95 Explorer. The contents of the XACT 5.2.x/6.0.x CD will appear in the right-hand window of the Explorer.
  4. Double-click on the 'Wn1' folder. A 'Install' folder will appear below the 'Wn1' folder.
  5. Double-click on 'Install'. Inside 'Install' a 'Winstall' icon will appear.
  6. Double-click on the 'Winstall' icon. The XACT 5.2.x/6.0.x install will now start.
  7. When the 'Main Window' window appears, click the 'Custom' button.
  8. The 'Custom Install' window appears next. There are three sections in this window.
  9. In the 'Packages' drop-down box, select 'DS-XXX-PC1 V6.0.1 Individual Products'
  10. In the 'Products' section, which is below 'Packages', select 'ds502 V6.0.1 FPGA Core Tools', and then click on the 'Sel/Desel' button.
  11. When the 'Sel/Desel' button is clicked, the 'Options in ds502' will list all the items that can be installed. Any of these items can be chosen not to install.
  12. Click on the 'Set path' button and verify where XACT 5.2.x/6.0.x will be installed.
  13. Click the 'continue' button and finish the install.
  14. Install the Xilinx Key. See page 2-5 of the Getting Started & Installation Guide, available from your Xilinx Distributor.
  15. After the XACT 5.2.x/6.0.x software has been installed and before rebooting your PC, check the XACT environment variable and path in your autoexec.bat file. In this example, the Xilinx software has been installed to C:\XACT. Substitute the appropriate directory paths that apply to your system: 
    SET XACT=C:\XACT
SET PATH=C:\XACT;%PATH%
  16. Reboot your system.

M1(Beta and Pre-Release) Setup with FPGA Express


In this example, the Xilinx M1 Core tools have been installed for Windows 95 or NT 4.0. FPGA Express has also been installed under Windows '95 or NT 4.0. The M1 software has been installed to C:\XILINX. The following settings must be placed in the autoexec.bat (Windows '95), or in the System Environment Control Panel(Windows NT 4.0.) Note, the LM_LICENSE_FILE variable refers to the Xilinx M1 license.dat file, not the FPGA Express license.dat: 
SET XILINX=C:\XILINX
SET PATH=C:\XILINX\BIN\NT;%PATH%
SET LM_LICENSE_FILE=C:\XILINX\DATA\LICENSE.DAT