What kind of FLASH do you recomend ?

Altera_Forum · ‎10-26-2005

I am making a fpga board now for our puporses and i would like to try NIOS on it too.

What kind and what size of FLASH mamory (I like QFP package) may I use?

Let me know the model names and prices for example.

I looked altera.com for NIOS board and found AM29LV128MH there.

Is it a good flash or not ?

It costs in Moscow Russia about 10-15 $$

Altera_Forum · ‎10-26-2005

i can't recommend sizes or brands without knowing what you're trying to run, but in general, you should use a CFI (Common Flash Interface) chip; I think these are generally made by AMD and Intel. It will make your life easier, since it's already supported by Nios2.

Altera_Forum · ‎11-02-2005

Questions on flash and cfi and "cfi-sort of" keep being posted and I don't think the answers really help anyone. If cfi-compliance doesn't mean what is says, and Altera is not going to recommend anything other than the hard to get parts on the development boards, what to do?

After a first time success with AM29LV065MU112REI, I've become very nervous about a board turn we're about to do where I need to use larger flash but don't want to risk a problem. I want to go to 64Mbytes and up without using lots of parts.

My suggestion is that members post the part numbers of flash devices thay have used and found to work without problems with the Altera HAL and Cyclone. Problem parts, or at parts that have "unresolved issues" could also be posted.

Once collated, I think that would save a lot of time for many people, we could all dip into a pool of lower-risk options. Not guaranteed, but a head start.

Altera_Forum · ‎11-02-2005

Good idea. I'll start:

Non-CFI flash: Altera EPC4, EPC8 and EPC16.

(Seriously, though, Altera needs to add "flash drivers" as a driver category to HAL or something. At least publish the flash programmer JTAG UART protocol so people can write their own flash programmer slaves.)

Altera_Forum · ‎11-03-2005

I've used without problems a Spansion GL128M10FAIR1, which is a 16Mbytes one.

I hope it helps. Bye,

Luis

Altera_Forum · ‎11-03-2005

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At least publish the flash programmer JTAG UART protocol so people can write their own flash programmer slaves.)[/b]

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I agree with you totally. Maybe give the source code of firmware_rom.hex in <nios2>\components\altera_user_board_setup\system.

Altera_Forum · ‎11-03-2005

--- Quote Start ---

originally posted by luisalba@Nov 3 2005, 04:25 AM

i've used without problems a spansion gl128m10fair1, which is a 16mbytes one.

i hope it helps. bye,

luis

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It does, thank you. Looks like I can go up to GL512N in this family. Did you use 8 bit or 16 bit data bus with the Altera HAL?

Altera_Forum · ‎11-04-2005

some older post

AMD FLASH PROBLEM

because it was difficult to buy an AMD FLASH AM29LV065DU-120REI,

AMD recommended to use the newer S29GL064M11TAIR0, which is pin compatible and CFI

compliant.

Now we have some custom boards,where the NIOS FLASH Programmer does not

work with the S29GL064M11TAIR0 (boards with AM29LV065DU-120REI work fine)

QUARTUS 4.1 SP2

NIOSII V1.0 SP1

Altera_Forum · ‎11-04-2005

Hi,

You have to upgrade to the Spansion N version which is exactly the same as the AMD. There is a newer family M but this can not work with the current NIOS flash programmer. So the N family is OK.

For example:

Use the S29GL064N11TAIR0 instead of S29GL064N11TAIR0.

Bye,

Luis

Altera_Forum · ‎11-05-2005

I'm getting worried again. We know without doubt that

AM29LV065DU-120REI

AM29LV065MU-112REI

work with Cyclone, Altera HAL and Altera flash programmer.

Luis said

S29GL128M10FAIR1

works. Fischer says

S29GL064M11TAIR0

does not work with Flash programmer, but these are parts from the same family!

Luis now says use the N-series (which actually is the newer technology) and not the M-series. Luis can you clear up which part you used and whether it worked with the flash programmer?

It would be nice if there was some idea why the Flash programmer might not work with CFI-compliant chips. It is a minefield. Guidance from Altera? Anone out there used S29GLxxxN series without problems?

Altera_Forum · ‎11-05-2005

to make confusion perfect,

We wanted a direct replacement (pin compatibel, alternative part) for AMD FlASH chip Am29LV065D,

the AMD FlASH chip Am29LV065D is difficult to buy and expensive,

i think the N series starts with S29GL128 (cannot find S29GL064N11TAIR0) and is not pin compatible to Am29LV065D.

I'm not a flash expert, I had some discussion with altera and amd representives, but

no really results.

I guess that the problem is the missing single word program command in x8 mode,

in x16 mode the command is in the table (Program 555 AA 2AA 55 555 A0 PA PD)

I refer to

datasheet S29GLxxxM_00_B3_E.pdf page 112,113 table 35 and table 36

so maybe this is why S29GL128M10FAIR1 (x16 mode ???) works and S29GL064M11TAIR0 (x8 mode)

works not.

I do not trust CFI-compliant, it would be nice to have a list of working flash devices

(exact type ! and avalon connection).

here is a mail i've received from altera

...

Hi Thomas,

We have identified why the Spansion flash that you are using does not work

with our flash programmer or with our HAL routines. Our HAL library and our

flash programmer write to flash using the AMD "Program" sequence. The vast

majority of AMD flashes support writing to flash using the "Program" sequence.

However, the flash part that you are using does not support the "Program"

sequence. Instead, the S29GL064M11A1R0 part can only be written to using the

"Write to Buffer" sequence.

Unfortunately, there is nothing in the CFI table that indicates if a flash

part supports the "Program" operation and/or the "Write to Buffer" operation.

The majority of AMD flashes support at least the "Program" operation and many

of their flashes support both "Program" and "Write to Buffer". However,

some of the new MirrorBit families when used in 8-bit mode only support

"Write to Buffer" which is the case for your part. If we modify our flash

programmer to use "Write to Buffer" instead of "Program" then we will run

into problems with other AMD parts such as the CFI compliant AM29LV017D

which does not support "Write to Buffer".

So the S29GL064M part is not a direct drop in replacement for the

AM29LV065DU as it uses a different programming sequence. I have contacted

AMD and they indicate that they do not recommend using the S29GL064M part

as a replacement for the AM29LV065DU. They indicate that they AM29LV065DU

is still a valid part number and they would recommend that you continue to

place orders for this part number. They believe that in the near future

Spansion will have a part that is a more suitable replacement.

We will research the feasibility of supporting the Spansion part that you are

using in the future. However, for now I would recommend using the AM29LV065DU

if possible.

...

Altera_Forum · ‎11-07-2005

Hi:

Sorry for the confussion. The one which works is the M family. Right now we are working with a GL128M10FAIR1(x8 bits) without problems.

Bye,

Luis

Altera_Forum · ‎11-07-2005

I do agree with Fisher.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div>

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I do not trust CFI-compliant, it would be nice to have a list of working flash devices

(exact type ! and avalon connection).[/b]

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I too have had my "run-ins" with the so called CFI-compliant flash. I am currently using the AM29LV065MU for now, but can be at times a pain to get a hold of.

I list of known working devices is better.

Doug