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A resounding success!
After a false start, I got yosys, nextpnr and apycula working together beautifully. A simple blinky synthesizes and places/routes in around 2 seconds (on my 10+ year-old equipment).
The toolchain installs very easily, just following the github instructions. Make sure to compile yosys with the GUI enabled -- it is disabled by default! I normally use a Makefile, but the GUI lets you load your design into an FPGA-editor-like environment, and zoom in on various components and wires, in case you want to manually place anything or just learn about the FPGA!
https://tildegit.org/stack/blink-tangnano1k
The repo contains a Makefile that builds the project; `make burn` will flash the FPGA.
The verilog file is basically a 24-bit counter for the 27-MHz clock, blinking the blue LED with one of the higher bits. The two buttons are wired to red and green LEDs. The green LED was too bright, so I and it with one of the counter bits so it's on half the time.
I am really psyched - this is the fastest synthesis/routing I've seen yet! Xilinx tools with modern boards have trouble doing simple circuits in under a minute! 2 seconds is more appropriate for my hacking needs.
I am expecting a Nano 9K board in about a week or so (I should've ordered it on Amazon for next day delivery at pretty much the same price as Aliexpress...)
The $20 Tang Nano9K board has a beefier/faster FPGA, more RAM, and a serial port via the USB connection, so I can make things more interesting than a blinky.
Jul 13 · 5 weeks ago