Xilinx Student Edition - 
Frequently Asked Questions 

Is there anything I need to know about my software installation? 

Instead, please leave all of these components selected: 
 + Program Files 
 + X-VHDL Compiler 
 + System Libraries 
 + Keylock drivers 

"Sample Projects" selection is still optional. 

As a result of this installation fix, your installation will require 12 MBytes 
more Hard Disk Drive space than was previously determined. 

If you have already installed your Xilinx Student Edition 1.3 software, then 
follow these instructions now: 

1. Insert Disk 1, the Foundation Series Design Entry Tools CD ROM. 
2. Select Install Design Entry Tools and follow the next set of simple prompts. 
Installation will notice that there is a "Previous installation found". 
3. Select "Update existing version (recommended)" option. 
4. Select "Next >" . 
5. Under Setup Options, select "Custom" . 
6. Under Select Components, put a check box next to "X-VHDL Compiler" and 
"Keylock drivers" only.  This will install drivers necessary to run the XABEL 
text synthesis. 
7. Select "Next >" and continue through the rest of the install process. 
 

How do I determine my PC "Host ID"  (C: drive volume ID or Ethernet address) ? 

To obtain your Ethernet address, log onto your PC, access a (DOS) Command Prompt, and enter the following command: 

         %XILINX%\bin\nt\lmutil lmhostid –ether 

where “%XILINX%” represents your path name for the Xilinx Implementation Tools installation.  This is normally “\Xilinx”.  (Using your Foundation Implementation Tools CD, you can also substitute “%XILINX%” with “D:” or your CD-ROM drive letter instead.) 

To obtain your C: drive serial number, log onto your PC, access a (DOS) Command Prompt, and enter the following command: 

          Vol C: 
 

How do I use my 'license.dat' license file? 

Security for the Xilinx Foundation Series Student Edition is initiated using the FLEXlm™ 5.0 license manager using a Node-Locked license.  To setup security using node-locked licenses, you must: 

• Set up an LM_LICENSE_FILE environment variable pointing to the license.dat file.
• Obtain license codes from Xilinx’s web site.
• Set up a 'license.dat' file as specified by the LM_LICENSE_FILE variable and place the license codes into this file. 

For information beyond the instructions below, see Chapter 6 of the Acrobat file on your Design Implementation CD <CD-ROM drive>:\Xse\Docs\Commerc\f1_3rnc.pdf”. 

1.  Obtain your Xilinx Student Edition Serial Number.  If you have the Xilinx Student Edition package from Prentice Hall, this 13 digit character string is on your Hardware Discount Coupon. 
 

2.  If you have an ethernet card, obtain your computer's Ethernet address. Otherwise,  obtain your computer's C: drive volume serial number.  Xilinx recommends that you use the Ethernet address instead of the C: drive serial number when possible. 

3.  Using your software serial number and your ethernet address or vol ID, go to the Xilinx Student Edition License Generator to obtain your 'license.dat' file. 

4.  Save this resulting text as a text file on your PC called "C:\flexlm\license.dat" . 

5.  Set the LM_LICENSE_FILE variable as follows.  If steps 1 through 4 were done before installation of the Foundation Implementation Tools, this step 5 is not necessary. 

For Windows NT 4.0 

• From the Start Menu, Select the Settings folder and click on the Control Panel icon.
• In the Control Panel, double click the System icon.
• Select the Environment tab from the System Properties window.
• In the Variable field, type LM_LICENSE_FILE.
• In the Value field, type in the drive letter or network letter and full path of the 'license.dat' file. For example, for a 'license.dat' file on the C drive located in \flexlm, you would type this:

Note: If you are already running FLEXlm security as part of another vendor’s software, you can set up the LM_LICENSE_FILE variable to point to the Xilinx license.dat file and the vendor’s license file. You can specify multiple license files in the LM_LICENSE_FILE Value and separate each with a semicolon (;), as in the following example. 

          C:\flexlm\license.dat;c:\other_vendor\license.dat 
 

• Select Set and Apply to set the variable.  Select OK.
• To verify that you set the variable, select Start -> Programs -> Command Prompt. In the Command Prompt window, enter the following command:

• The full path that you set as the value of the variable should display.

Note: Make sure you do not have an LM_LICENSE_FILE variable set in the System Variables area and another one set in the User Variables area; the variable must be set in one area only. 
 

For Windows ’95 

• Add the following line to your autoexec.bat file.

Note: If you are already running FLEXlm security as part of another vendor’s software, you can set up the LM_LICENSE_FILE variable to point to the Xilinx license.dat file and the vendor’s license file. You can specify multiple license files in the LM_LICENSE_FILE Value and separate each with a semicolon (;) as in the following example. 

          set LM_LICENSE_FILE=c:\flexlm\license.dat;c:\other_vendor\license.dat 
 

• Reboot your system so that the autoexec.bat file is reread. Otherwise, the change has no effect.
• To verify that you set the variable, select Start -> Programs -> MS-DOS Prompt. In the DOS window, enter the following command:

• The full path that you set as the value of the variable should display.

Why do I have 3 license files? 

Each time a computer's hard drive is reformatted or partitioned, your C: drive volume ID is likely to change.  Since the 'license.dat' file may be linked to your specific C: drive volume ID, you would need to obtain another 'license.dat' file in these cases. 
 

What does this mean - "M1: ERROR: basnb - SECURITY ERROR"? or other License file problems 

First, make sure you register your Xilinx Student Edition software to obtain a "license.dat" file. 

Second, ensure that you have saved your "license.dat" file as a true text file, using Notepad or true DOS text format editor.  You can also use another text editor, like Wordpad, but save the "license.dat" file as a DOS Text file rather than ".RTF" or ".DOC", which are binary formats. 

Third, check where you installed your Xilinx software. If you install your Xilinx Software on a drive other than the C: drive, you may need to move your "license.dat" file to C:\FLEXLM\LICENSE.DAT and set environment variables appropriately.  For example, in Windows '95, if you install Xilinx Foundation Software on a D: drive, your AUTOEXEC.BAT should have these lines at the bottom: 

         SET XILINX=d:\Xilinx 
         SET XILINX_CD=E: 
         SET LM_LICENSE_FILE=C:\FLEXLM\license.dat 
         SET PATH=d:\Xilinx\bin\nt;%PATH% 

If you installed your software following the defaults, your autoexec.bat should include these lines at bottom, (assuming E: is your CD ROM drive): 

         SET XILINX=c:\Xilinx 
         SET XILINX_CD=E: 
         SET LM_LICENSE_FILE=C:\FLEXLM\license.dat 
         SET PATH=c:\Xilinx\bin\nt;%PATH% 

Here is the formal solution record #2181 for this error message. 

If you still have difficulties setting up your 'license.dat' file, then solution record #2547 will probably have the answer. 
 

Why won't the Web License Generator accept my Serial Number ? 

Your printed serial number may be difficult to read.  Do not confuse letter "O" (oooh) with numeral "0" (zero), letter "V" (veee) with letter "Y" (why), or numeral "1" (one) with letter "L" (elll). 
 

Disk 2 - Installation Tools - does not install, or "setup.ins" error 107 occurs - Help! 

You may need to contact your CD-ROM vendor to get updated Win'95/NT compatible drivers before installing your Xilinx Student Edition software. 
 

What's included in the Foundation Series Express 1.4 upgrade? 

• IEEE standard VHDL and Verilog synthesis capability, based on Synopsys' FPGA Express technology. 
• Increases maximum size FPGA Implementation capability from the XC4008 (15,000 gates) in version 1.3 to the XC4010 (20,000 gates) in version 1.4.  As in version 1.3, all XC9500 CPLDs are supported.
• Adds all Spartan family FPGAs from XCS05 (5,000 gates) to XCS40 (40,000 gates). 
• Significantly improves FPGA compile time performance. 

See the Foundation Series Express 1.4 flow diagram for a description of the design flow using Foundation Series Express 1.4.  In this picture, note that with release 1.4 for universities, some of the VHDL & Verilog features from within the "Foundation Design Tools" dotted-line box are not fully functional since the Metamor parallel port key is not included.  However, the Synopsys based Foundation Express VHDL and Verilog entry method is fully functional.  There are two common design flows to support this: 

1. HDL Top Level Design. An design written completely in VHDL or Verilog can be synthesized within Express, and then the Xilinx Implementation Tools (Design Manager, or \Xilinx\bin\nt\dsgnmgr.exe) can implement the resulting XNF netlist.
2. Mixed Mode Design.  Incorporating Express VHDL or Verilog blocks into a Foundation schematic, also known as mixed mode design, is also possible.  See Creating HDL Macros with FPGA Express 2.0 for instructions. 

How do I install the Foundation Series Express 1.4 VHDL & Verilog upgrade CD? 

ftp://ftp.xilinx.com/pub/swhelp/foundation/f14_docs.zip

• F1.4 Quickstart Guide
• F1.4 Install and Release Docs
• F1.4 Express User Guide
• F1.4 Express Application Note Supplement

In summary, to upgrade from F1.3 to F1.4, follow these steps: 

• Uninstall the Foundation Project Manager (Design Entry Tools)
• Uninstall the Foundation Design Implementation Tools. 

If uninstall does not work, then delete everything including and below C:\Xilinx directory, assuming that was the directory under which you installed your F1.3 Design Implementation Tools. 
 
• Insert and install Disk 1 of 3, Foundation Design Entry Tools. 

Deselecting Sample Projects is optional, but it will save you 41 MB of drive space.

• Insert and install Disk 2 of 3, Foundation Design Implementation Tools and Documentation.  Install the 'Typical', 'Base' configuration. 
• It is unnecessary to install these Software Components. Deselecting these items will save 47 MB: 

'Network Installation Files',   'XC3000L',   'XC3100A',   'XC3100L',   'XC4005L, XC4010L',   'XC5202, XC5204, XC5206, XC5210',   'Spartan XCS05, XCS10, XCS20, XCS30, XCS40'. 
- Although the XS40 and XS95 boards do not support Spartan pinouts, the F1.4 student edition software does enable all Spartan FPGA implementations. If you want to use the Spartan family, you should not deselect that group. 
• Depending on disk space, you can highlight "Online Documentation (18 sub-components)" and click Change... to install none, some, or all of the online documentation. At a minimum, we recommend that you select ' Implementation Tools Online Help' and 'Documentation Browser'.
• Under 'Registry Settings Options,' do not change the options that the installer provides. 

• When finished with Disk 2, close the 'Xilinx Foundation F1.4 Master Setup' window, insert, and install Disk 3, Foundation Express. 

• When finished, reboot your computer to allow Registry settings to take place.

• In addition, Xilinx HIGHLY recomends that you install these software patches in this order: 

1. Core Tools Patch for 1.4 FPGA Implementation Tools (Fixes several minor bugs) 
2. Win '95 Performance Patch (Improves compile speed drastically) - for Win'95 machines ONLY 
3. Foundation Project Manager modification - for Win NT users only 
4. Express VHDL & Verilog Synthesis Patch - for all F1.4 users 
5. CPLD Patch for 1.4 (Allows XC9500 designs to use UCF files)