Answers Database

Flow Engine 6.0.1: How to speed up the Translate step (wir2xnf) in XACT 6.


Record #1958

Product Family:  Software

Product Line:  FPGA Core

Problem Title:
Flow Engine 6.0.1: How to speed up the Translate step (wir2xnf) in XACT
6.



Problem Description:
Key Words: wir2xnf, translate, speed

Urgency: Standard

General Description:
With XACTstep 6.0.x, the Translate stage (specifically WIR2XNF) of the
implementation of Viewlogic designs can take a long time.  This time can
be greatly reduced by creating a virtual location for the xnf files.

This solution applies to both Windows 3.11 and Windows 95 and assumes
that the Xilinx software has been installed to C:\XACT.


Solution 1:

1. From the Windows environment, run SYSEDIT to bring CONFIG.SYS up in a
text editor.  Add these lines (if they don't exist already):

DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS
DEVICE=C:\DOS\RAMDRIVE.SYS 4096 /E

Be sure to use valid paths to these .SYS files.
To change the size of the RAMdrive, change the 4096 number.

2. Reboot the computer and see what drive letter has been selected for
the RAMdrive (it will be shown at startup, and can be seen in the File
Manager).  For this example, we will assume that it is the E:\ drive.

3. Create an XNF directory on this new virtual drive.

4. In your XACT project directory, open XDM.PRO in a text editor.  If one
does not exist, you can copy the original from C:\XACT to your project
directory.  Modify the entries for WIR2XNF, XNFMERGE, and MEMGEN.  Change
the "xnf" references to "e:\xnf".  For example, the WIR2XNF line will look
like this:

Options WIR2XNF -B -OD e:\xnf

This will write all the XNF files for this project to the E:\XNF directory
instead of the XNF directory within the local project directory.

This modification can be done to the original C:\XACT\XDM.PRO file, but
realize that xnf files from all your projects will be written to your
new RAMdrive.

5. Open the Design Manager and watch how fast the Translate step runs now!




End of Record #1958